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/125889
(Cont inued from page 3) Let your eyeballs do the shopping in the Cy.cle News Want Ads BOOTS Top Gil.' Buckle High Lace Cycle AemeCowbOv Durango Harne'Ss Oanpcll t Logger Engi neer Drns Zipperl Work Shoes ~~ Largest Sel ectio n $59 . ...tee 35 . value 25 . value 27 . \l9lue 60 . value $44.95 26 .95 17.95 19.95 34.95 25 . \/Blue 25 . value Coast Mota Cycle 17 .95 ~ 17 .95 1J .95 25 . value 20 . W1lu~ 12 .95 Add $2.00 Mail Order p lus tax Mot ocross - Desert Wor k Shoes Unlimited 12086 Braokhurst . Garden Grove 714 -537 ·65 35 Distribut or f or l-(.· ndra mjni Bo o b ' ._........-- klf-._IDwo_ "M.-. _ .... ' Or 1.:l1-.c1 th. _ oft+OOICE .. tNDlJSTRIt:S --- ...................... - .•...-. . ..... ~ ~."*- MwdodI w_ ... plw, .............. Murdoch .. ~w".._ 18 2334 Newport BI~ .. ................... ,utW- ........ Ie.. 0 . - . CA .,7C. ~& 600,900 1000 ~series concentric 2 & 4 stroke carbs. Also conversions for alcohol & nitro fuels. » Costa Mesa. CA 92627 714·645·8008 1772 No . Tustin Ave.• Orange 12522 Westminster at 17th St '. Santa Ana ~1P~ BURAK BYE-PRODUCTS ! 5170 Ravmer 5 1 • Van Nuy s, CA . CO M P L ETE {213\780· 1768 MACHINE SHOP ANO R~PAIR SERVIC~ i & rr' ~ P'stoll Deafe r ~Cycl. Eng ln ••rlng & Supply 1140· A N . KRAE""'IER c; e . e aeoe .. "' ..... £ 1.... . (714) 830·5720 meeting to decide strategy for cancelling the world's largest (and best) motor race. Thanks to them, the Bureau of Land Management has had to prepare a huge Environmental Impact Survey at a reputed cost to the taxpayers o f $300,000. At most, the Bureau hopes to recover about 53,500 on the race. But it is symbolic of the 570 ,000 a year that motorcycle recreationists pay the BLM for the privilege of riding organized events o n their desert. the an ti-b ike rs kil l the If Barstow-Vegas ru n there will be nothing t o stop them fro m ending recre ati o nal use of the public lan ds altogether . That is p rob ably why they picked o ur b iggest event, in the m ost deso late desert , for their targe t. Three a nti-bi kers stopped th e e ntire state of Indiana fro m opening its p ublic forests to m o to rc ycles , o n th e day before they were due to be o pened, just a couple of months ago. This "victory" has no doubt spurred th e strong southern California contingent - of anti-bikers to greater efforts against the Barstow-to-Vegas run. But why, we ask, are they against our harmless fun? The answer appears to be that it is all a big misunderstanding . The desert protectors seem somewhat paranoid in the belief that our numbers are ever- increasing. This is not so, of course, for the number of desert riders reached its peak in the early 1970's, when land closures closer to home forced thousands of riders to seek the desert as a last resort. Since numerous riding parks have opened in the I ast few years and enforcement of "written permission ordinances" has slackened off, the people-pressure on the desert fro m motorcyclists is diminishing, not incr easin g. The more new areas tha t ' open close to population centers, as ORV registration funds become available. the fewer people the desert will have to accommodate. Desert protectors have a fear, rather frequently stated , t hat if ORV use is allowed, bu lldozing contests m igh t become the rage, with prizes for the D-9 Cat operator who can destroy th e m o st desert surface in a set ti me! Well, somehow I have the feeling that the BLM wouldn't go that far in granting a special use permit. I have seen with my own eyes, however (and nearly ridden into), random holes scraped in the desert by some sort of earthmoving device. Whether they were d ug by prospectors or just somebody o ut playing with a back-hoe, they seem to cause a more se rio us di sruptio n o f nature than 3,000 motorcycles eve r did, and I would pro ba bl y welcome the Sierra Club 's help in bringing wh o ever is digging these wheel traps under co n trol. Motorcycles don't hurt th e desert, or the puckerbushes or the c r ucifix ion thorn or the gila monsters n ear as much as the desert helps the peopl e who ri de motorcycles there. The BL\I's environmental impact study of th e Barstow-Vegas race made m uch of the benefit to desert lovers of "just knowing that the desert exists, even if they never go there." Well , we've been going to the desert for quite a few years now , and the desert is getting along just fine . You don't have to protect the desert from motorcycle riders, de sert protectionists, but you ought to take a look at what the developers a nd the land speculators are doing out there . Perhaps we should join ' forces as desert-lovers and p revent the real "license to d estroy." Bu t first you 11 hav e to get off our backs and acknowledge that we might respect th e land as much as anyone does. You could start by leaving the Barstow-Vegas race alone. Charles Clay to n