Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

of $3, dealers were allowed to become Class C members of the M&AT A and to receive as well a membership in the new American Motorcycle Association. At th e outset, the creation of th e AMA wa s lar gely a n ame change in that the M&ATA Competition Committee simply b ecame t h e Comp etiti on Committee of th e American Motorcycle A s s o ci ati on, ke epin g i ts sa m e o ffi cers--George T. Briggs, presid ent ; Arth ur Davidson, treasurer an d A.B. Co ffman, secretary. The p urpose o f the AMA was to assu me th e responsibility for ALL rider activity, pure and simple. Sanctions were to be issued in the name of the AMA, and events like the Gypsy Tour, the National Rally and the new National Six-Days Trial were to be run under the auspices of the :\'\1 A . All M&AT A registered riders in good standing au tomatically became AMA members, an d all :'I&ATA registe red clubs we re im me dia tely chartered with the n e w A merica n Mo to rcycle A s s o ci a t i on. Th e Ne w Jer s e y M o torcy cle Club w as gran ted AMA Charter Num ber 1. Each m ember of the AMA wh o paid his $1 an n ual dues in advance was given "a hands om e gold and enamel pin of a most attractive design" and to th is day , the memb ership pin is an imp o rt an t part of the membership benefit ill the m inds . of a great many riders . Dealers wh o registered for Cl ass C memb ership were given a large window sign, allowing them to "nofity all rider me mbers o f the AMA that this dealer is one o f them." It is interesting to note that, despite the passing of a half-century , the American Motorcycle Association of 1924 was confron ted with many of the same problems th at can be found today. M 01'0 RCYCLE AND BICYCLE ILLUSTRATED noted that the slogan "An Organized Minority Can Always Defeat An Unorganized Majority " was an i ndication of the new :\.\IA's d ed icatio n to p ro tec ting the interests of its ride rs from unfair legislation. "The legisla t ures of 45 st a tes m eet next year an d th e re will be a flood of laws pro pos ed , m any of them extremely b ur densom e to th e mo torcy cle rider. Unless there is an effective organization to combat them, many of these laws will be passed. Therefore, it behooves every rider and dealer to help make the organized minority a force for his own protection .., Publi c re la t io ns a nd f a v o r ab le publicity we re high on th e list of pri o ri ties also . MOTORCYC LE AND BICYCLE ILLUSTRATED no tes tha t " In every day publicity such as that given to tennis, boxing, football and mo st every other sport, the m o to rcycle is decidedly and apparently pointedly excluded." That same publication lent considerable support to the new AMA, edi torializing, "Within the next 12 mo n th s, there should be a membership of at least 1,000 in Class C and 25,000 in th e AMA. Have you joined? Get on the bandwagon . Be one of the boosters." W. f1 . P a r s on s , editor of MOTO R C YC LE AND BICYCLE ILLUSTRATED an d the first chairman of t he M &A T A C om p e t i t i o n Committee , no ted in h is first "Rando m Thoughts" co lumn after the fo rmation of t he AMA : "T he A me rican Motorcycle Association w as born to succ ee d th e regist ered riders divisio n o f the M&ATA and organized to tak e ove r con tro l of motorcycle rider acti vities wh en the old FAM no longer had sufficient vital ity to do so." The ide a was that a new riders ' organi zation would take over and th at AMA w ould be the first step. " While th ere wa s n o c ha n g e in p ersonnel , it is hoped. h ow ev er, th a t r id er intere st and in itiative will in cre ase until the organization be comes stro ng enough to st and on its o w n two feet with out finan cial or administrative assistan ce from the m anu facturers, wh ich h as b een necessary to keep things going fo r the last five years." It is interesting to note th at, while the AMA did in fac t grow and prosper, th e influence of the industry remained strong thro ughout its history . There develo ped an unusual stru cture o f de moc racy -w ith in a framework of indus try ' co ntrol an d to this d ay . the A me ric an Motorcy cle Association is un ique a mong " user" groups in " , The AMA service pin has decorated the caps and jackets of memben since its inception in 1934. ~ . • In 'Oldest and Best Motorcycle Supply House • 60 years of service to the Motorcycle Industry.' Congratulations AMA on your 50th! BECK/A N EY C ORP. sa USTa .... 1•••• 14. . . ., LL, I.Y. 117. . ...... tAl ., ~~\""CJA ~I\I'-~ ~\.~SIlRII'.r. . ~ .q PARTS&~~ BECK/ ARNLEY CORP. WESTa 3130 E as. ... Sine, c..,.., LA. c.L 90221 11

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