Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I SIDE Evel ..... • •.• . .... .. . .2 The real Six Million Dollar Man Desert 8 Hot and scratchy .9, 17 Tricky trials 12 ,000 feet is a natural high Slidin' by r- ...... 10, 14, 15 Ascot, Denmark and points between National mile 12 Scott ? Which Scott? North Questions 18 22, 23 Do AMA politi cs and HSMX mix? Tech tr ick 26 A magnum of what? Trick tech 28 Wha t makes Elsie run? Results 32 Who, me? Win someth ing? Two tim e loser 35 Cat gets plastered, again. Dirty French pictures Calendar 36 38 ON THE COVER: Darylle Pur cell capt ures th e sportsman rider on the tip of his pen. .. Sharon Clay ton. Publisher Thomas R. Culp, General Manager; Edna Mewton . Secretary to Publisher. Ad vert isi ng Thomas R. Culp. National Dire ct o r ; Quis Kolber, Advertising Assistant . Editorial Otarles Clayton, Editor ;John D. Ulrich. Asso ciate Editor; Lane Campbell, Calenda r Edi tor. Art & Production Catherine Lampton . Ar t Director: Nancy Gray. Adverti sing Art Dire ct or; Hector Aguilera : Lab Technician. Marion Hatash ita , Typographer; Mc:lvin Phelps, Assistant Typographer. Circulation Rhcba Sm ith. Man ager; Pam Hobbs &: Chris Andrews. Assistants . Accounting Gaye Zaione, Manager ; Twila Wheeler & Linda • Mallard, Assistants; Rosemary Cha nd ler, Collection; Lani S jenk, As sistant . Services & Support Mike Co likas: Randy Davis : Bill RWly:an; Jeannie Dunivan, Receptionist . West P.O. Box 498. Long Beach, CA 90 801 (213) 427·7433: L.A. Line 636-8844. Ascot TTs Whatever hap pened t o o nce a mon th AMA TTs at Asco t ? Havi ng attended the recen t TT National at Ascot I heard Roxy announce that there was a record crowd in at tendance, and the spectators enthusiastically soaked up the excitement o f the action filled races . Ascot has a su pe r TT co urse, with its famous jump and tight left and right hand turns. It's also safer than any I have seen (in cl ud ing Castle Rock and other Northwest courses). In the Northwest, AMA TTs are run often an d d raw large crowds. However, in Southern California the only AMA TT held so far this season has been the National. " I'm sure there are many racers who wish to ride A..\IA professional races but would rather not ride flat track. (Which is all that happens in this part of the co un try.) I think the Ascot TT course deserves much more attention. CINDY PETTY Buena Park, Calif. Why? Why has there been no coverage of th e lea der for District 36 Blac k Plate _ No . One, Phi lip Anderson, 3H, who just happen s to be the uns ung hero , is a local guy, or I , an average enthusiastic spectator would be co mpletely in the dark as to his progress. So meone is c e rt a i n l y blowing it ; the whole black-o ut smacks of overinflated ego, and see my po litics. CAROL FARNLACHER Danville, Calif. You didn't hear about your hero for th e sam e reason yo u d on 't hearaboutalo tof local racers - if we start with him, w e '/I have to d o it for every local hotsho e. When he hits the nationals and starts winning there, we '/I be th e first in line to get an interview . . . Ed. East P.O. Box 80 5. Tucker, GA 300 84 (4 04 934·7850. Larry Huffman Central P.O. Box 13245, Austin , T X 787 11. (512) 444·7548. I have yet to talk to anyone who enjoyed the presence of Huffman and the people w ho sat around at the U.S . GP at Carl sbad we re glad the sound system was out of order where we were sitting. Mr . Twombly states in his letter in the August 13 issue that what th e " neop h y te " spectator doesn 't need is " a col d, i m persona l, u nemotional an nounce r who belches o ut, ro bo t -like , a mult it ud e o f details tha t are absolut ely me aningless to t he m." I th in k t hat is a pre tty good descrip t ion of Larry Huffman's style at the Superbowl. I find it hard to believe that Huffm an can actually be so wrapped up in the race that he can repeat, lap after lap "Heeeeeeeeere co mes Triiiiiliiilpes!" After one lap this is very boring and I wished there was a switch I could tum to silence it . Huff m an actually reported rid er s Subsaiption One year, seco n d class mail $1 2.5 0 ; 2 years, second class ma il, 522.50; 3 yean, second class mail, 5 30 .0 0; Single copy prier, 50 cents. .~ 4 Co pyrixht Cydto Nt"WI. Inc. 19 74 . Tr ade m;u-k ~Iilltored U.S. Patm t Office. All righ tl reserved. .... Put-liahed wttld y excep t the fint and 1 1 wee k of the ra lrndaevcar by Cyc1t' Ncwl, tec., P.O. bo. 49K. Lana: Beach. Califor'l ia. Sec ond d au po.t211:e paid .II Long Beach, CA . Edilorial ltories, artoo~. phOIOS, et c. ;lIT welcome . Adc1resKd. 11Mll~d cn~l~ allu rn return of un p ur ch ascd editorial m ail er . Rqlrin1lnl in w ho le o r pari on ly by ~nnillion of the publiahcn. AdVCTtWns: ratel and circulation mformal ion _iH be sent upon request, Me S.R.D.5. d o wn on the co urse at the same ti me they we re passing in front of me . The bes t pa rt o f the evening was whe n Ro xy Ro ckwoo d was at the micro phone . Motorcycling doesn't need a loud mouthed anno uncer to try to make it exciti ng, it needs a knowledga ble announcer who adds to, not detracts from the sport. I suggest Larry Huffman switch to radio co mmercials and maybe get into the more boring sports, such as baseball and golf. LARR Y E. THEOBALD Torrance , Calif. enlarge t he co ff ers of the ins urance companies. If we underst and th is, instead of trying to c arve o ut an exception for motorcyclists, we oug ht to band together to stop t his No Fault fallacy from becoming an insu ran ce co m pany bonanza. Sure I am an attorney, and I do handle accident claims for th e injured victims. Sure I have an axe to grind. However. if I wasn't performing a valid service in recover ing wha t the i n surance companies justifiably owe my cli ents, but won't pay without my services , I wouldn't be needed at all. What makes you think the ins urance companies are going to suddenly become altruistic an d pay all bonafide claims just because you lable the claim "No Fault?" As a matter of fa ct. it is only the exposure of what No Fault really is which has prevented the legisla tu re from adopting "No Fault Systems" in most states to date, notwithstanding the fact that millions of dollars have been spe nt by th e all powerful insurance co mpanies in promoting this No Fault insu rance scheme. It is a great slogan but like so many slogans, when analyzed carefu lly, it is reall y a way of spoon feedin g the public an otherwise unpalatabl e piece of I co mpu lsory legislatio n. VICTOR A. GABLES Riverside, Calif. Grinding the NFl axe I am astounded at the short-sighted viewpoint represented by the " Letter from Alan (Cranst on )," and the many similar articles which I find in yours and other motorcycle publications, regarding motorcyclists and proposed No Fault Insurance Legislation. All of the articles I am reading from the motorcyclists standpoint seem to be talking about trying to obtain an exemption from the No Fa ult laws so that we will not have the god-awful increase in insurance rates that will have the practica l effect of barring motorcycles fro m the highways. What if No Fault is adop ted and we get our cyclists' exemptio n, do we the n ri de without ins urances an d also wit ho u t the right to recover o ur d am ages against the negligent motorist? A re motorcyclists going to be exe mpted co mpletely from t his No Fault law and yet allow us " o st ill t pursue our right to fai r co m pe nsa t ion against the negligent driver for our losses. with the right to sue for damages , if necessary? Or, are we just going to be exempted from the necessity to take out No Fault insurance, thus leaving the mo t or cy cling public with no financial protection? Granted the No Fa ult laws tend to make exceptions to permit the injured victim to sue for his damages in certain cases of extremely serious injury and permanent disability, or where medica l expenses exceed ce rtain minimum th resholds (in some plans, as high as $5,000,000) . However, statistics show that at least 90% of the vehicular acciden ts fall within mon ey amounts not even beginning to approach these proportions. So, what about the right of the motorcyclist to recover his losses in those 90 out of 100 such cases? We all agree that most of the automo bile/motorcycle accidents are caused by the negligent automobile driver rat her than the mo to rcyclist. Bu t n o w we are ta lking about a situation where we won't have any right to compensation either under our own insu rance or from t he negligen t driver , if I understand th e co m pr omise the spokesman for the motorcyclist and the propone nts o f No Fa ult are suggesting. Actually, statistics presented by legislation hearings in Sacramento prove that No Fault. is not going to save any mo t o rist any money and. it is not go ing to accomplish any benefits for the driving p ub lic , automobilist or motorcycl ist, but it is simply going to Money hungry industry? After all I've heard about Califo rn ia raci ng I mus t say I' m t ru ly disappointed. From wha t I've seen 0 the MX scene since I've been statio ne in ' Frisco it's alm ost enough to make me quit. Is the racin g here jus t an ot he money h un gry industry? I can rem ember only payin g $3 rota to race three years ago. I realize tha prices go up, but when I tried t o rac here i t cos t me a fortu ne (in m y terms to join the " AMA, another fortune t join District 36 , a fort une to get int the gate, a fort une to sign u p fo r th race, and t hen I was told I co uldn't ge on t he track because my bike d idn' have a kill button, it did have a kic stand, and because m y number p lat e were the wrong color. What I would like to know is if th e are any organizations around t hat h oi MX ra ces and charge a reaso nabl e ra t (li ke $5 to $i) to race, and will let stock motocross bike race? If you ca n ' t help m e on that may you ca n tell me where to p ut in fo r transfer to . Some p lace where they st il race to have a good time. STUART P. SUTHE R LAN U.S . e.G.G. Midget FPO San Francisco. Calif. 9 660 Mine shaft rescue I wo uld like to than k J im Simpso and the two guys ridi ng on nu mb e r I in SRA's Crack 0' Dawn en d ur o fo pic king me up o ut o f th e m ine shaf whic h was unmarked. I'm very fortunate th at I'm onl bruised and was st ill ab le to fin ish t h race. T he m ine shaft was jus t a few fee off the trail, which in m y o p inio sho uld have been marked . Thanks again to those good guys. STEVE OG LES B Ar leta, Cali

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