Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Pennsylvania , and an ac count executi ve w ith an investm ent firm. In No ve mber 19 6 6 , Be rry ann ounced the a pp o in tmen t of G arry Payne as assist an t to the direc t o r. At the same ti me th e two o rganizations, the AMA and the governmental relations functio n of MS&ATA. m o v e d to new headq uarters at 5 6 55 North High S t ree t . A West Co ast inform ation office fo r the MS&ATA had already been opened. thus removing th at function from beneath the AMA/M S&ATA roof p ri o r to the headquarters m o ve. Afte r the m o ve , Mc Crillis kept the title of governmental relations director, b ut as a m a tte r of fact he "ran" the MS &ATA while Berry was responsible fo r operations of the AMA. T h us, fo r the first time since 1919, the American Motorcycle Association w as, in a practical sense, operating with a dire c t or n ot sh a r ed w ith the mo t orcy cl e trade association. It is t rue tha t there we re a number of com m on office rs of MS& ATA and AMA and t ha t most Cl ass B m embers (manu f a c ture r and acc e s s o ry co mp an ies ) st ill bel onged to both . but an obvious tr end toward sep aration h ad begun, a trend that w ould hi t full stride in 1967. In th e April , 19 67 issue of AMERICAN MOTORCYCLING Berry reviewed the st ruc t u re of the AMA . H e ind i c a ted h i s co n fidence that the organization could and would func t ion to achieve it s objectives. He then las h ed ou t at th e mo t orcy cl e p re ss. wh o se cri tic i s m o f Harle y-Davidson domination of the Association is as sumed by many t o b e one o f the re asons for th e basic d eci sion to split the MIA from the MS&ATA . Berry said h e felt th e cri ti cs shou ld focus their attention on the intents an d purposes of the AMA as outlined in the bylaws a n d h e co n tin ue d, " I have o ft en wondered during the p as t few months to what heigh ts th e A.\1A would h ave risen with the help and sup p o r t of all segmen ts of th e in d ust ry. There is n o doub t in m y mind th at AMA gr owth and activities have been curtailed by unjust c ri tici sm . Si gnifi cantly , that same issue of AMERICAN M0TORCYCLING carried the fi rst official indica tion of th e existence within the AMA o f a st udy committee to examine the feas abilit y o f rep lacing the Competiti on Committee with a rul e-making b ody co ns isti ng at least in part o f elec te d represen t atives . , A month later, t h at co m m ittee got th e "g re en l igh t " to f ormul at e a recommendati on on th e sub ject to be con sid e red by th e Execu tive Committee for forw ardin g to the ful l Clas s B membership. . T h at d o ne and th e proposal appro ved b y th e Executive Committee . the Class B m emb e rsh ip was b al lo ted by mail and in December 19 6 7 the announce ment was m ad e of a change in the association by-laws creating the MIA Competition Co ngress c o n s i s t i n g of two representatives fr om each manufacturer or dis tributor of two-wheeled ve h icles; one AMA member fro m each of 3 6 dis tric ts elected by the cl ub s wi th each clu b having one vote ; six licensed pr o f e s sio n al rid ers. two fr om each region, to b e elec te d from amo ng th e p ro fessional riders in t ha t region; and two A.\1A staff m embe rs, the executive director, who would serve as chairman of the Co n gress , and the director of compe ti tion. T he first M IA Competition Congress mer October, 1968 to formulate r ules fo r the 19 69 season. One of th e first proposa ls was to in cre a s e t he dis placement li mit on approved overhead va lve m o t or c y cles (the n on -Harl ey s) to 650 cubic centimete rs. Co n gr essm an Wal te r David son of th e H arl e y -D a v id s on M o t or Comp an y quickly m o ved to am end th e m o tion t o 75 0 cc to allo w Harl ey th e op por t un ity to dev el op its 750 cc fl athead in to an over head model wit hout drasticall y al te ri ng e ngin e di mensions. That motion h avin g p assed, Davidson then mo ved to d ela y e nac t m en t of th e new eq uip m en t form ula for one y ear , makin g it effective January I, 1970 . An obvious atte mpt to buy time for Harley -D avidso n ' s d evel op m en t of an ov erhea d va lve 750cc engine, th e propos al w as voted d o w n and the 1969 seas on saw the fla thead Harley-Davidson tt 750s comp etin g h ead-t o -head w ith th e 750cc o ver head valv e models of the fo re ign competition. Har ley - Davi dson , the only m anu f a c turer with an uninterru pted h istory outdating that of the AMA, still is among the brands rep resen ted on the Board of Trustees ' of the American Motorc ycle Association. But any argument th at "Harley runs the AMA" rang a b it hollow after the m o m en t o us votes taken in Oc t ob er 1968 . If d o ub ts lingered in the m in d s of any reaso nable obse rver. they should ce rt ainly have been d isp elled i n 1972 when the overhead valve X R-75 0 , approved at the 1971 Congress pending the coun ting of the requ ir ed 200 m achin es , w a s banne d at the 1972 running of Daytona w he n Ha rl ey -David son could not p roduce the r equ i r ed n u mber o f b ikes . T heir suggested co m p romise-- tha t th e AM A . cou n t engines only-fell on d eaf ea rs. The re su lts of th e 19 72 classic show La rry Darr of Mansfield, Ohio , on a f 1 a t h e a d KR. as th e 0 n I y Harley -Davidson fin ish e r in a 6 3-b ik e field. . . By con tras t , an d to pu t the en ti re qu estion of manu f a ctu r er a n d particularly Harley -Davidson co n tro l of the AMA in perspective. the late William .S. Harley, one o f th e fo u nders of the Harley -Davidson Motor Comp an y, w as posthumously awarded the Dud Perkins Award, th e hi ghest h onor of th e American Motorcy cl e Ass o ciation a t th e 1974 Daytona Awards ce remony . H e w as ci t ed for his p ersonal contrib utio ns and the contributions o f his com p an y t o the sp ort o f motorcycling and t he long an d est ee m ed h ist o ry of the . A m erican Motorc y cl e As sociation. L a te in 1969 a furth er st ep tow ar d dem o cra cy w as m ade when th e MS&AT A -which like t h e M&AT A was a lign ed ve ry clo sely w ith th e AM A --merged w ith the West Co as t Mo t orc ycle Safety Council (MSC) to form the Moto rc ycle Industry Council. Pau l McC rilli s, execu ti ve secretary o f th e MS&ATA. re tained that ti tle with th e M I C wh ich immediately began lo oking for new o ffic es in Washington D.C. T h e MSC was a n or g an i zation representing Japanese and Eu ro p ean m anufa c turer s and ex iste d largely b e c au se of t he beli ef t hat "H arl ey-D avidson ru les the AMA an d, h en ce . the MS&ATA ." F o r mat i o n of th e MIC a n d abandoning the practice of sharing o ffices with th e AMA w as prob abl y the l a s t sign ifican t ste p toward erasing claim s of H arl ey -David son d omin ation. T h e MIC n ow se rves t he m anu f a c tur ers i n te chni c al and le g i sl at i ve areas an d coordi na tes a membersh ip of over 3,00 0 m o t orcy cl e dealers. The m o ve toward democracy w hich start ed wi th the formation of the AMA Competi tion Congress has continued . But th e period from 1966-69 is most signi fican t because it is here that th e indust r y leaders, und er whatever pre s s ure an d for wh atever reason s, fo rmally con sen ted to loosen ing their control over the AMA. They agreed t o a llo w wh at h ad alway s been an a c tivity-orie n ted gr oup intended to i ncrease sa les to m a t u re into a re presentative and responsive national organization geared to the needs and desires of the enthusiast members. That d eci sion pa ved the way for the m o st exciting pe riod in the 50·year history of the AMA. ElL Adolf Weil, 1973 Trans-AMA winner ov er all. The facto ry works Ma ico We il ri des is ra ce prepa red w ith Bel·Ra y lubricants. Bel-Ra v and Wei l, interna ti o na lly reno w ned champions. Roger DeCoster, three time world motocross champion. Suzuki mounted DeCoster relies on Bel ·Ray racing lubricants. Willy Bauer, 2nd place winner of the 1973 world championship MX series, 500cc dass. Bauer's factory works Maico is race prepared w ith Bel-Ray lubricants .. . a consistent winner in in t e rn a ti o na l motocross competition. BlAEHWEll E Pl ln HA HOlEomB PomEROY ZAHRT Ame rican Maico Factory Rider These riders are racing to win, so, they rely on BelRay. Their machines are race prepared with Bel-Ray total performance lubricants. You can be a winner too. Ask your dea ler for Bel-Ray. Ame rican Maico Fac tory Aider American Maico Factory Ride r Bultaco Fact ory Rid er National Winner Bultaco Fact o ry Rider THE RUS S MARCH YEARS Bill Berry's te n u re at the American Motorcycle Association was so methi ng less than fo ur years an d h is successo r. Ru sse ll E. Mar ch, was in co m m an d for slig h tly less ihan three . Th at seven -y ear p eriod saw so me of th e m os t b rill ian t su cces s es, stunn ing f a ilure s and wr enching cha n ges eve r witnessed b y a n y su ch o rgan iza t ion. The full impact of th is period will b est be m easured b y histories ' further rem oved in time th an this one . for the sh ock waves of th e la t e 60s an d early 70s ar e still being fe lt t hroug ho ut the AMA and indeed throughout motorcycling. Tho ugh best known for hi s involvement in the development of th e ,XMA Co mpetition Congress and for a two.cvcte Racing l ubrlca nl • MC·l • 1 ·Cyclf' For1lfif'd all • e .cvcte RaCing 0,1 • RaCIng Gear Ot l - 5,. In One - RaCing Fod.. Oil - Mol yl uhf' Anli·Siue - Wh ee l BearI ng &: C han tS G.ea,f' • RaCIng ChaIn lube - Cable lub.. calor • Motorc...c te lubricat ion • Chart for all b llo.M Bel-Ray Company, lnc., Termalene Divisio n P.O. Bo x 5 26, Farmingdale , N.J. 07727 (20 1) 938-242 1 25

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