Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

a ll candidates for office before the , elections so we can weigh the ch oices before we go to the poll s, not after t hey have been elected : . !INSIDE , ~ g Trials debutante t Tra ns-AMA. . . . . . . . . . . .. 6 RO N BU RPO Presid ent, Desert R acing Assn . California City. Calif. 5 Debbie Evans hits the big time . "Saddleback Spectacular to Roller de Coster Pat Richter. . . , .. . . .•. . 12 . From local hero to factory KTM Suzukis,3 by 3 14 Ball t hree Three -works bikes for the price of Kookie sired three pups on Oct. 23. two gi rls and a boy, I am hoping that the son will take the "Old Man's" pl ace in the desert. Kookie is doing pretty well and can still get it up at 141-2 years (over 100 in dog yea rs). Desert racers, make better Jovers: JOHN McCOWN South Gate , CA LIF. 2~ Brackets Have no fear 16 . West Hotline Cat Dez : 22 : .. 23 28 Rams , Ducks. Foxes. Coyotes and other wildlife BillWerner Kent .How e rto n 34 36 Kookie is the f amous wonder dog who achieved fa me as a during-race passenger on the gas tank of McCown 's motorcycle. Now retir ed, Kookie was replaced by a son, Kj, who died in a u alking- dog /s peeding-car collision a f ew_m ont hs ago . . . Ed . T he cowboy brands a big one Results···· · · ········ · ·38 ·Ca le ndar 41 ON THE COVER: Big "a" for Roger D.: Support for LaP ort e. Photo by jody Weisel. - L- -" Hayakawa the conservationist O1arles C. Clayton , Presiden t Bob i Scott. Assista nt '; ~ Sharon Clayt on, Publisher Edna Mewton, Secretary to Publisher Adveniling Robert L Nor Velle , National Adv ert isin g Sale s Man ager Deb b ie Wilkins, Western Regi onal Advertisin g Sales Manager . Ch ris Kolber , Ad vert ising Assistan t Editorial Lan e Campbell, Senior Edi t o r. J ody Weisel, Edi t or . John Ulri ch Editor. An and Production Barbara Mizuno. Production Manager ; Pr.odu ctio n : De nni s Cox , Lab Te chni cia n : Marion Hatashit a , Typographer t-cMike Klinger , Lab a nd Production Assista n t . Cireulat ion Rh eb a Sm ith. Man ager; ana Pam Gree n Assistant . : Account ing Ga ylene Zaionz • .M an ager ; Ken Lo rin. Assistant: J C3nnC Hammo n d , Aeets. R e c eivable; Pa mela Dickerson and Carol yn Branh am, Assistants ; J ud y Klin ger . Credit Dept.: Rh on da Van Doren, Co llect io n Dep t. Service and Suppan . ~1 i ch a C'l Co likas, Dennis Watt s, Juan it a Blanton. recepnon isr."' West P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801. (2 13) 427-7433 : L.A . Line 636-8844. east P.O . Bo x 805. Tucker. GA 30084. (404) 934-7850. . Sulncription O ne v earv' seccn d cla ss m ail 51 2. 50 ; 2 years. sec o n d clas s m ail . 5 2 2. 50 ; 3 years, second class m ail, $30 .00. We have a new California Senator who is a conservationist and wh o has been waging a war on off-road 'vehicles. I was shocked the n ight I went to the polls and _saw S , I. Hayakawa running for Senator. I couldn't recall at the tim e what it was that alarmed me about Hayakawa , but I went ahead and ca st my vote (not for H ayakawa), Wednesday morning I went through my files and found an article he had written fo r the Bakersfield Californian newspaper opposing motorcycle desert races and quoting ridiculous figures of damage from the Barstow to Vegas race - like 140,000 creosote bushes destroyed. 15.000 Yucca plants kill ed , and an unbelievable number of lizards and turtles run over. . To show you how far Senator Hayakawa is from reality and truth.' he refers to Barsto w to Vegas as a "Hounds . & Hare" and " Honda & Hare" race with over 3,000 st arting, includ ing motorcycles " BMW s" and " Ind ia ns." For all of you who voted fo r Dr, Hayakawa, it is too late to correct wh at lias been done. Although our recreation stands high on ou r list of priorities he 'm ay still possess the abilities of being a fine Senator on other issues . However, ' bea r in mind from this day on , our junior Senator from California is a very strong , conservationist leader. It will be up to all of us to watch Senator Hayakawa and stay -on top Of his activit ies. I suggest that all concerned parties take the time to notify our new Sena tor of our recreational needs Hopefully. in the future we can get the press to supply us with the views of Dirt Bike racing's threat to desert By S. I. Hayakawa They stretch out across the desert as far as the eye can see - Hondas, BMWs. Yamahas, Cah -Arns , Indians , H usq va rn as Bultacos, (H uskies), It is th e annu a l. Barstow-to: La Vegas " Hou nds and Hare" motorcycle race. in which over 3.000 riders took pa rt last year. Even d ivided into two heats. they .m ad e starting lin es more than a mile long . There are no roads. only sa nd and shrubs . The , racers follow piles of burning tires that mark the beginning of the course. After that ther e is nothing until Las Vegas , 150 mil es away. The m otorcycles. esp ecially modified for cross-country racing. are known as " d irt cycles " or " di rt b ikes ." and those who ride them are " d irt riders ." Dirt riding is a growing spo rt, attracting new adherents daily as promoters and motorcycle manufacturers devise new ways of arousing interest and participation . A writer in the February issue of " D irt Rider" unwittingly reveals the problem created by this sport 'in describing the Fo urth An nua l EightHour Desert Scram ble he ld in Grand J unction , Co lo. " Gra nd J u nction desert has a kind of silty sand that makes much d ust , yet it is so heavy as to severely lim it forward progress of the motorcycle . , , Much u p and down ; a high percentage of twistery . , , a lm ost guaranteed tha t the ground wou ld get q uite torn up ." What happens when t he grou nd gets torn u p is vividly described - by Roger Luckenbach ; . a graduate stud ent at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoo logy at the Universit y of California , Berkeley, in ' an article , " W h at the ORVs Are Doin g to the Desert ," in the J a nu a ry issue of "Fremontia," quarterly of the California Native Plant Society. When ORVs '(o r off-road veh icles. such as dune buggies. cam pers. fourwheel drivers , as well as motorcycles) - cross the desert, says Luckenbach , . they break the crust or " m a ntle" of natural pavement that protects the soil from wind a nd water erosion. Next . they compact th e soil . reducing its . ., 1/ 1CAlV 7Hf' E'J R LOTS o G 71I1 AB r WIJ lVG5 tJVT fWN. .Ul( .. . LIKEA... c CL ASS • AWl MEIllI8llll Co py riK t Cyc.!e News , In c. 1976. Trade h mark regis te red l l.S. P4.(C'nt Office. AU rights reserved. Publish ed weekl y e xcept , / !.!K£IT WtJ.. . blil ori a! st ori es. cart o on s, "ph o tos, (' {( .r • arc , v elcom c. Ad dressed, s t amp ed e n velope assu re s re turn o f unpurch asc d e di to ri al m ...n cr . k cpr innng in wh o tc o r P.IJ'I o nlj h y pe r mission .(,f the p ublishe rs. Ad \'l'rt is in l( rat es an d circul atio n inf orma tion w ill be scnr u pun re q ues t. St.l· S,R .D,S, ' N' }TtlFF,· IT'; GiJOP FeR. 711£'1. ANIJ 8fRPJ. RAIN'aEAN STHE AIR· PUCk} ~ ,~ , ,/ f Gtl AWAY,.. . / / " " The views expressed in this column and other columns appea~g on the Jollowing pages are solely those oj the authors and do not necessarily refle ct the o Jficial position oj Cycle News West or Cycle News, Inc. Qualified readers wishing fre e and equal rebuttal space should contact the Editor. "H; .. .e1f~ .RA ft1/. / !'IAHT~ PfANT5 t he fi rse and last wc e k o f (h.C' calen d a r y ear by Cv ctc' News, Inc , P.O. Bo x 4 9 H. Long Be.u:h , California. Second c lass postage paid at Long Beach, C.\ . 9 UM OI. -. The following article was.pub~ished ~n the Bakersfield Californian m February, 19 76. The art icle was headlined "Dirt .Bik e. R acing 's threat to desert , " and ran with (I photograph of newly· elected Se~tor . SJ. Hayaka.wa. Cycle News ~ :epnntmg th is piece with the permission of the Californian . . . .Ed. a bility to hold or percolate water. Insect pupae and larvae are des troyed . See ds lying in the earth cannot ge rminate for lack of wa ter . " Growth of native annuals and herbaceous perennials is eliminated by O R V activity, " writes Luckenbach, . "and the basic energy-fixation and transfer systems of the desert are disrupted , , , T he rains that cause the flow ers to bloom ind uce the ,em ergence of insects . . . Moths pollinate . morning glories. columbines . . . butterflies pollinate paintbrushes , fiddlenecks - beetles and flies pollinate verbenas. larkspurs . . . These inse cts in tum are food .for lizards, snakes. rodents. birds and carnivores . . . " To a biologist the plant and animal life of a desert the incredibly del ica te mechanisms by which living things preserve what littl e water there is to survive in an arid and un friend ly environment - is a source of constant wonder and delight. It therefore horrifies Luckenbach that " In o ne 'H on da and H a re' ra ce an est imated 140,000 creosote bushes. 64,00 0 burro -weed bus hes and 15 ,000 Mojave yuccas w!-'re destroyed or seve re ly dam aged over a stretch of 100 m iles . . . How lo ng it will take to replace them , or even if it's possible to .rep lace them once . the _- so il environm ent has been badly damaged . is not known. " Not only are trees and shrubs destroyed . Lizards and des ert tortoises are crushed by the speeding vehi cles , says Luckenbach. Fox arid rodent dens are crushed. The nests of grcund nesting birds, like the homed lark , are . crushed. Many birds and animals are frightened away, and their territorial systems are destroyed by the terrible • no ise of thousands of ra cing motorcycles. In 1967 motorcycle registration in California was a li ttle over 83 .000 . Today there are 1.2 million motorcycles in Los Angeles alone and probably another million used offroad and therefore not registered , There are also in California probably a ha lf- million four-wheel drive vehicles and 200 ,000 d une buggies. " Dirt riding" is clearly a n exciting and challenging activity , peculiarly Ameri ca n in its competitiveness as a sport . in its a bsorption in self im provement. and in its lavis h wastefuluse of energy. But can we - those now living as well as th e generations yet to come afford to have our deserts destroyed at a time when we are beginning to understand the preciousness of all the environment and th e relatedness of every part of the earth to eve ry other part? / ~. AJtIS/I(/f'-VPNIRK! /

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