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/125974
FREE WHEELING Hangtown Classic '75 April 5th Sportsman MX How to survive a depression Yeah , I said depressi on; no t a recession. It ma y be a recession t o the go vern men t , but when it 's your area that 's hit by 20,000 layo ffs at a crack, it 's a depressi on to you. I found this o ut the good 01' hard way in 1969, w hen the Cape Kennedy Space Cen ter laid off half of their 46,000 people in t he space of t hree mon th s. To mo st of the co untry , the n ews was deep cu ts in o ur Uwast ef ul" space p rogram. To the co mmunities of East Central Florida , it was depression, sp readi ng in widening, da r kening ripples from the Cap e. Houses and businesses with boarded w indows, desperate people wa lking t h e streets, fami lies that last year had been living Chigh on borrowed mo ney sitting, ii starving in th e barren living roo ms of - their $60,000 h o uses, wondering what ~ they co uld sell nex t, afraid to stay, '" afraid t o move. The only peop le who ~ had any mo bil it y were those who'd , never had anyth ing to begin wi th , the kids, th e derelicts, the beach boys, t he few wandering minstre ls of hippiedom th at strayed down to red neck-land . In those hectic months I learn ed a lo t ab o ut grass roots economics, and I learned that the m otorcycle b usiness responds in strang e and fascinating ways to the economic cycle. It cost me my shi rt an d m ore b esides, so I wo n't soon forget. . I had a ni ce little "Mom an d Pop" cycle shop th at specialized in di rt bi kes an d racing stu ff , b uilding a co mfortable trade o n the th o usands of young, ac tive engineers and aerospace wo rkers with more money than good sens e. When th e first layo ffs h it , my walk-in b usi ness dr opped to n ear zero . It stayed that way un til m y shop dried up and b lew away - t he o nly traffic through th e place was my fr iends and c ust o mers bidding tearful farewell to their o ld h ango u t before splitting to the fo ur winds in search of jo bs. , While I was d ying o n the vine, so me of my friends an d competitors in the trad e were making out like b andits. The reason ? TIley h ad tiddlers to sell, and they were selli ng th em like pray er bo ok s on judgement Day . They we re selling them to he ad s o f fo r me r tw o-and-three -ear families wh o were dumpin g the excess ca rs and buyi ng an 80 cc to 125cc j ap anese What zit go go hun t for a job o n. T he Honda, Yam ah a, Su zuki, whatever d eal er s wh o 'd h ad the ' sa vvy n o t to inventory up o n bank-fin an ced , high -ti c ket sports models and wh o co uld ke ep th eir distributors shi p ping th em t he tiddler s, th ey su rv ive d . Th ey ate shor t rations for awhile, but five yea rs later they wer e still th ere , fa t and sass y and sponsoring co m pe t itio n riders rath er th an le t th e tax ma n take the profits. I co nsid er it a min or mira cle t ha t the motorc ycle is so versa tile: a spo rt ing veh icle in fat times, ro ck-bottom t ra nsp o rt atio n in hard times. By recognizing th at fact, and keeping just a step ahead of the leading indicat ors, ours c a n be a dep ression-pro of industry . What's more , it ca n b e the res cue of th o usand s o f bikers in economic . distress. Righ t now , wh en we im p ort over a million j ap anese bikes a year to this cou ntry , we export some 60,000 jo bs to japan. I can't fa ult the japanese, as long as they can provide good motorcycles in the righ t vol ume a t the right price they've fIat been doing it better, But it can't las t. T heir oil, steel, and primary metals situation is creeping toward (Continued on page 17) April6th 125cc & 250cc National Champio nship MX Plymouth, California Remember what has happened to our great classics! Sport sman entries limited !! Sportsman classes for : 125cc - 250cc - 500cc displacement in Novice, Jun ior. & Expert classes Sport sman Mai l Entry - $10 .00 Sport sman Post Ent ry - $25 .00 This may be your last chance to ride'Hangtown'! AMA& Dist rict 36 sanctioned A MA & District 36 rules Entr ies accepted Feb. 16 - March 14t h Mail entry with 1 (one) se lf addressed stamped envelope to : ,Dirt Diggers North M.C. PO Box 699, Loomis , CA 956 50 Lim ited camping - $5 .00 per vehicle For info call: 916-652-7800 r---------------------------------------------~ I District 36 Official Entry Blank .. I D E .. •• N ...... t: ''''''NT) .-oro X AU NUMB E " " A I LING A DD " It • • CITY AIlI It YOU A ""' 1:"' 8 1:1' 0 ' A MOTORC Y CLE CLUB' NA" E Of" CLU B "'AK [ ST A T E . 0,.. MOTORCYCLE Z '" EN G . • 'Z I: \ CAIlID NO. IlII D lE.. C LA_ NOVICE JUNIOR EXPERT CC 0 0 0 Chec k Proper Box I hereby ag"e to conform to and comply w i.h the rvles gov.rning th is cont.st in conn_dio" w ith the Competition Rul•• of th e Amer ican Moto rcycle Allociation. Inc., and A.M.A. District 36 . ASSUMPTION OF RISK AGREEMENT I h.r.by acknowl edge that I am aware of . he dangers in cide nt to this even' and yoluntarily and knowing ly en t., the e ve n' w ith sa id knowledge . I further acknowledge that I am aware of the fad that any injurie s or damages sust ai ned by me du e to my participation in this eyent may be of a permanen t and g,av. nature and I, neverth.less, yoluntarily and le now. ing ly en ter sa id event. I furt her acknowledge ' hat du ring the course of sa id ev.nt th.,. may be times at which though not a dively participating in said e ye nt, I may be a spedaPor and that I may sustain permanent or g ray. inj uries as a spe d ato r and I, n.yerthereu. vo lunta rily and knowingly anum••"ch rilk. I furth er ack nowledge that I may sUlfa;n permanent or groye injuries a. e ither a participont or sp. d ator at this other persons includi ng pa rticipants. the American Motorcycle Asso ciation, the co nt est e Ye nt due to the neg ligence the le" . e s and thot comm ittee, the spon,oring club, the refe,.. , or other officia ls, the owners of the prem ise., or any with th is In mind, I, neyertheless , volunlarily an d know ing ly a ssume such risk. 0' 0 ' I HAVE READ TH IS ENTRY BLANK AND AGREE TO THE ABOVE CONDITIONS. l.---- I J DATE R'DER'SAGE I ~---------------------------------------------~ moving? Well , HOT DOG ! That means you've got another coupon to fill out. After all, we have to send your Cycl e News somewhere and what better place than your new address? So don't delay, do it today. --------------------------------------Fill out and mail to: Cycl e News, P.O . Box 498, Long Beach , CA 90801 old address new address You may stick on your mailing label here. name _ add ress _ zip _ address _ city state name city _ state _ _ _ zip _ 15