Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125852
/ info rm ation by wntmg the Regional Forester. USDA Fo rest Serv ice . 63 0 San some Stree t. San Fra nciso, CA 94 11 I. T he USFS is seeking p ub lic in pu t o n use of th e Horsesh oe Mead ow - Tr ail Pea k area. Curr ent p lans do no t mak e any p rovi sio n fo r off-ro ad veh icles. Write to In yo Nati onal Fo rest, 295 7 Birch Street, Bish o p , CA 9 35 14 for fu ll par ticulars. Co mments are du e b y April 1st. wro te a cod e draft and p resented it to t he S t at e Par ks a nd Recreation Departm ent in Augu st of 197 3 , after coord ina t ing it w ith th e Calif ornia Off- Road Veh icle Association. This w as unk nown to Mr. Chappie , hen ce his intro ductio n o f th e Reso lu tio n to put the CH P in th e driver 's seat. In th e m eant ime , State Parks .an d Re creat io n has d istri bu ted the " M.O .R. E. Proposal" to t h e DMV an d t h e CHP . The DMV has r e s p o nd e d favora bly . . . the CHP 's p ositio n is unknown. M.O .R. E. has co n ta cted Mr. Chapp ie and is wor king w ith him in th e h op e th at th e " M.O. R. E. Proposal" will be use d. The M.O .R.E . Proposal " is len ient an d a t the same tim e ade quately overcome s so me of th e pro bl em s with r esp ect to w here ORVs m a y be legally op erated. Furthermore , it o verc o mes th e prob lems with r espect to th e o peratio n o f ORVs by pe rsons who ar e no t old eno ugh to po ssess an Operat o r's Lic en se. '1i - !I I Bureau of Land Management / BLM D istricts have begun to imp lem en t th e BLM's Cali fo rn ia Desert Plan (which wen t in to effect o n No vem ber I , 19 73) . Crew s are signin g ar eas no rth west of California Cit y, th e Saline Mountain Ran ge (lnyo Coun ty) , and the Darw in Fa lls ar ea as clo sed t o recreatio n vehicular travel. Sma ll signs o n five-fo ot h igh steel p osts w ill be placed o n th e perimeter of ea ch area everyone-third of a mile and at m ajo r roads o r trails. Mu ch o f th is signing is du e to desert torto ise preserve to pro tect an "endan gered sp ecies." -' Election campaigns are coming I ~;r I !, -..::,~~ S t ate Senator H.L. Rich ardson, represents Senate Distric t 19 , covering much of Eas tern Los Angles County. We have known " Bill" Richardson to b e an honest legisla tor fo r a lo ng tim e. He re co gn ize s that " ma n" is also part o f the eco logy, an d m ore im p ortant, th a t people sh o u ld be ab le to do th eir o wn t hing wi thout a 10t of bureau cratic interv ent ion. .He hopes to get th e Repub lica n No m inat ion to ru n fo r t he U.S. Senate agai ns t Ala n Cranston. Sen ato r Cransto n keep s tellin g u s how much he likes m o to rcy cles, h ow good ~t h e BLM is goi ng to b e to us in the dese rt, and how m uch we w ill lik e No Fau lt In sur an ce fo r o ur mo torcy cles. Cransto n n eeds to b e re p lace d. We can t hink of no b ett er choice than H. L. " Bill" Rich ard so n . He will need o ur support in t he Prim ar y Elec ti o ns. Mot or cy cle clubs and o rganized gro ups can have Sena tor Richardson me et w it h yo u by calling h is Distri ct Office a t (2 13) 445 -4404 or writing to 735 Wes t Du art e Road , Suite 304, Arcad ia, CA 91 006 . California Trailbike Guide With all o f t he re cen t cha nges in th e a va il a bili t y of public lands to off-readers, perh aps yo u ar e w o nderin g wh ere you can legally ride or o pe ra te yo ur off-ro ad vehicle . Last Sp ri ng , we were pl ea sed to an nounce t he Ca lifornia T rai l bi ke Gu id e pub l ish e d by D ri s c oll-Hough . T hey are printin g Vo lume 2 , a co mp le tely up-d ated vers io n of last ye ar' sv , Memb ers o f M.O.R. E. get a one dollar d isco unt. Road bikes AB 10 78 · (Lanterma n) was o rigi na lly a bi ll th at wo uld have re q uire d motorcycle m anu factu rers to inf o rm th e Departm ent of Mo tor Ve hicl es o f the de cibel rating o f eac h m o torcy cle produ ced. T he DMV wo uld th en add on an add itio na l regis tration fe e each year based on the decib el rating. The fee l wo uld have starte d a t $2 ex tra for 70 to 72 decibels, $4 ex tra fo r 7 3 to 74 decibels, and righ t o n up a gra d ua ted sca le to $ 20 ex tra fo r 89 decibels and up . This bi ll w as am ende d to inclu d e all mot or vehi cles a nd p lace t he Califo rn ia Highway Pa trol in th e testing business, with t he same results as far as ex tra fees ' wer e co ncerned . T his b ill w as ' killed ' on January 22nd. Do y ou ro ad -rid ers st ill feel t hat yo ur $ 10 me mb ersh ip in M.O . R. E. is no t wo rthwhile ? A B 1011 (Clin e) wo u ld h ave required that local co ur ts file every vehicle ex haust vio lati o n wit h th e DMV . Upo n a sec o nd or su bseq ue nt vio lati on, th e - local co urt co uld susp end your licen se fo r up to th ree ye ars. T h is b ill has been defeated in it s present form, but th e d o o r h a s b ee n left o p e n fo r Assembly ma n Cline to w ork o ut th e p robl em wit h us a n d p ossibly rein troduce amendme n ts. T he tim e lim it has ex pired for p assage of th e b ill in the Asse mbl y . T here will no t b e a ny furt her act ion o n t his bi ll t his year. I SB 15 77 (Pe tr is) pro h ibi ts t he sa le o r offering fo r sa le of any m o to r ve h icle manu factured o n o r af ter January 1t 197 6, wh ich has a m aximum sp eed ca pab ility o f mo re th an 60 miles per hour, ex cep t authorized em ergen cy , vehicles. Th is b ill has be e n cleared by th e Senate an d is no w b efore th e Assembly Transp o rta tion Co mmi tt ee, wh ere we hope to ' kill' it, o r at lea st ob tai n an exclu sio n fo r mo tor cycle s. Af ter all, the fu el shortage w on't last forever . Still fo rem o st in legislat io n whi ch aff ec ts ro ad- riders, is t h e subject of No Fault Insurance, o n bot h the Sta te and Fed era l levels . The Feds ma y be co ming to th e ir s ense s. The House of Representatives is n ow review ing S.35 4 (the Hart-Magn uso n Act ) and the latest wo rd is that they m igh t make a m e n d men ts s o motorcy cles ar e excluded , unless a given Sta te wan ted to include t he m under th e mandatory NFl pro v is i on s. Sena to r Alfred Song, Cha irman o f the California Senate J u d icia ry Comm ittee co n t inues to reassure me th at an y FN I Law enacte d in California will exclude mo to rcycles. But, w e must keep the pre ssure o n t o pre ven t a change of heart. J im Potter, Execu tive Dire ctor o f t he national MIC, sto pped by th e o ffi ce. You will recall th at th e Enviro n me n ta l Pro tecti on Age nc y h ad levied a b an o n th e o pe ra tio n o f bo th two- and four-st roke m oto rcy cles fro m 6 a. m . to OCMC Great Bear Grand Prix Course The Bear Guys claim that you will en joy 100 m iles of motorcycling competition on this 9 .1 mile course laid out at Rivers ide Intern at io na l Raceway. It's too late to ma il enter, though . Post entry is an even $100. It costs less to spectate. 8 p .m, du ring t he period fro m May I to October 3 , each year. T he EPA also ordered a b an o n t he registration o f mo torcy cles in numbers exceed ing the total n umber of registra tio ns for 197 3. However, o ur fe ars w ere so m ewhat allayed when th e EPA added a p ro vision that th ese b ans w o uld not b e en fo rce d if the Motorcycle-I ndustry co uld co mp ly w ith Em issio n St a ndards to be issued by the EPA. T he Mo to rcy cle Ind ust ry had ind ica ted th at th ey could de velo p an d man ufactu re emiss io n-free moto rcycles if given eno ugh t ime. Now , Potter has to ld me th at th e EPA has issued the ' Moto rcy cle Emission Standards and the re is n o way that th e m anufa cturers can b u ild two-stro ke motorcy cles wh ich w ill m eet th e s ta ndard s by th e d ead line ' dat e of Jan ua ry 19 76. T he o n ly co urse left o pe n w as to request an exten sio n o n t he tim e-peri od fr om the EPA. T here is no rea son to believe that th e EPA will co ns ide r it favorab ly. Mandatory helmets A s s em bl ym an J o hn T h u r man (Modes to) is giving serio us considera tion to a helm et bill. We have m et w it h Mr. Thurm an and he is goi ng abou t thi s busin ess in a sensib le ma nn er. Be fore int ro d uci ng th e bill . he is meeting w ith vario us mot orcy cle organizat io ns and so undi ng t he m o ut. He personally th inks t his is a good bill and is atte mp ti ng to find support fo r it fr om mo to rcy clist s. His greatest support has co me fr om .the Lobbyi st for th e California Moto rcyc le Industr y Co uncil, the sta te dealer a ssocia tio n. The Board of Directo rs of the CMIC has not ye t mad e up its m ind w he ther or no t they will suppo rt a mandato ry hel m et bil l. The next t im e th a t y o u are in a d ea ler 's sh op , yo u m ight ex pre ss yo ur feelin gs to him and he in turn w ill rela y you r opi nions to th e C1I.llC, if he is a mem b er. Mr. Thurm an is a lso so licitin g ind ivid ual o pinions a nd you may w an t to vo ice y o urs d irectl y to h im. T hi s is a rath er heated subject , b u t we implore you to write tac tful and co nstructive le tters to Assemblyman Jo hn Thurm an, St ate Cap itol Building, Sacra men to , CA 95 8 14. Do not m ak e threa ts or b elitt le t he m an , just exp lain yo ur reasons (pro or co n) to Mr. Th ur m an . Membership Do n' t fo rget! You ca n h elp us to help you with a m emb ership in M.O.R. E. fo r less than th ree ce n ts per day ! That in clu des th e w hole fam ily fo r . j ust ten d ollars per year. Gas can prohibition We learned that Los An geles County w as about to ena ct an Ord inan c e to proh ibi t the tr an sp ort at ion of gaso line in co n ta iners any p lace in L.A. County . We co ntac te d t he L.A. County Board o f Su pe rv iso rs an d ex p lained tha t suc h an ordi na nce sho uld contain w ord ing to allow persons to tra nsport gaso line for rec reatio nal purp oses. The o rd ina nce, which has now been p ut in to effect . now reads: " A perso n sha ll no t carry any m ot or ve hicle fu el in a portab le co n ta ine r in or o n any veh icl e. This sectio n d oes no t pro hib it the te mporary tra nsporta tion of m oto r ve hicle fuel in a portable cn n ta in er for u se othe r th an in the t ransporting vehicle." T he Anal ysis of t h is ordina nce read s : " T his ordinance will ad d Section 15. 113 to th e Fire Code to p ro h ib it a p erso n fro m carrying ex tra fu el to be used in h is ve hicle . T he ord ina nce is so d rafted t ha t it will n ot pro hib it th e carrying o f fuel fo r any purp ose o th er than use in the transp o rt ing ve h icle. For exa mp le, fu e l may be tran sp orted to b e placed in ano ther vehicle w h ich is out o f fu el, or to be used in a vehicle wh ich doe s n ot use the h igh ways, or to be used in recreatio nal eq uip me n t such as a bo at , o r to b e used at a perso n's resid ence in e quipme n t suc h as a The bird t o Bird Watchers T here is a gro up iri Sa crame nt o na med t h e " Bird Wat che rs. " T his J{fOU P '. o f stu den ts are preserv a tio n-or iented. T he "B ird Watch ers''' year-end rep o rt sta te d t hat Asse mb ly ma n Raymond Seeley (R-Blythe) wa s p retty far d own on their list. T o th is, Assembly man Seeley rep lied . " It 's n o ne of t hei r busin ess wh at I do . T he y did n' t p ut me here an d t hey 'r e ju st too fa r o ut for me." Seeley brush ed aside the rating by t er m in g the " Bird \Vat ch ers" as "environm enta lly unreali stic. " , Our hat is off to Assem bly man Seeley ! King Range National Conservation Area lawn mower." Off-Highway Vehicle Code Assemblyman Eugen e Ch appie has in t r o d uced a Resol u tio n fo r t he California High way Pa trol to develop a veh icle co de for Off-Hig hw ay Vehicles. This n o tic e has cau sed u ndue ala rm . -T h e o rigina l O ff-H ighw ay Vehicle Ac t of 19 71 direct ed th e Re source s Agency (wi th t he DMV an d the CHP) to develop su ch a co de . Rus s San ford of M.O.R.E . I- Z o s :l ~ W en w L... > ..Ig For almost a fu ll year, we have been ' battling' w it h th e Bureau o f Land Ma nagemen t over the m anner in w hi c h public hearings w ere cond uc ted with regard to a North ern Ca lifo rn ia are a th at th e BLM wan ts to classify as t he Kin g Ran ge Natio na l Conserv at io n Area. A seri es o f hearin gs was co nd ucted by th e BLM, bu t o ff-ro ad ve h icle gro ups we re not no tified o f the m ee tin gs un t il after some o f the m had been h eld. Altho ugh a special m eet ing was he ld , and eve n t h o ugh off-ro aders w ere there in abund anc e, it soon became ap parent tha t the BLM was m erely goi ng t hro ugh the m o tio ns an d that th ey had alread y de cid ed what th e o utcom e w ould be. M.O. R. E. pro tested t he BLM action w ith our 38 Representat ives and tw o Sena to rs in Wash in gton, D.C. In reply, our U.S. Congressmen went to the Departmen t of Interio r and th e BLM fo r t he ir answers. The BLM rep ly, wh ich was in turn sent b ack to M.O.R. E. , wa s prepared by n one o ther t han Mr. J.R. Pen ny , of th e BLM State Office he re in California. T o no one's surprise, Mr. Penny insi sted th at the BLM had done no wrong an d further in siste d that Russ Sa nfor d o f M.O.R.E. was being' untruth ful. T o th is, M.O .R.E. co n ta cte d a large number o f persons wh o ·had atten ded th e spe cial BLM hea ring. They prepared statemen ts th a t M.O .R. E. was co rre c t and Mr. Penny w as in erro r. M.O.R. E. sen t co pies of this sta tement wi th all of th e signatures to our Cali fo rn ia Delega tion in Washington, D.C . An invest igation of BLM prac t ices in Califo rn ia w ill soo n b e gettin g underway. Looks lik e w e have our own Watergat e. Mo~e later. • 15