Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Leading Los Angeles candidate is on bikers' side Howard Finn is one candidate running for Los Angeles' first district City Council scat (vacat ed by Louis Nowell , who is running for co m p t ro ller). Two things set H owa rd Fi nn apar!. One is th a t a priva te poll sho ws him leading th e m ulti-cand id ate horse race. T he other is that he ha s com e down squarel y o n th e sid e o f off-ro ad bik ers in the strugg le for placesto rid e Jack W ollard , a sidehacker who tr ied un successfully to o btain a close in publi c recsit e in recent years , is su ffi cie nt ly 'im p ressed with Finn 's int egrit y to ba ck his candid a cy wh ol eh eart edl y. Intervi ew ed by ph one , Wollard said, " I ca n' t think of anyon e more solid or honest than H ow ard . .. H e's got an e x te nsive background in city hall , , , c ivic service d ating back to 1939. " Posters distributed in bike shops throughout th e di st r ict (Sunl and , Tujunga , Sy lma r, Arleta , North Holl ywood , Sh adow Hill s, Lakeview T erra ce a nd vicinities) sho w th e mid -fifty ish Fin n sill ing in Wollard's sideha ck and a re headl ined " Hel p is o n th e wa y." . According 10 Wollard , Finn will be a co unc ilm a n who will not back awa y from co m m itme nt s to th e riders, as o t her pol iticians ha ve don e . Finn , himself a terrain expe n , builder a nd enviro n mentalist , claims th at th ere are sites in the Los Angeles valley area tha t co u ld accommodate rnor o r rec rea t io n without harm Finn ha s o ne main h eadquarte rs ( in Sun lan d ) a nd tw o bran ch offices elsewhere in the First District ( the ci ty's largest ). H e ha s a strong , wello rg a n ized ca m p a ig n , and , says W ollard , a pri vat e poll gi ves Finn a strong cha nce of winn ing th e April 5 non -pa rti san e lec tio n . Thething th at co u ld put h im o ver the top , a nd st re ng t he n t he m otorcycli st s' hand sta tewid e , would be a strong biker/vot er turnout. If yo u live in Los An gel es Council District I , find out more a bou t th e man , register, a nd • vote Apri l 5. MSF tells how to start Rider Ed in your town According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) , 1977 is th e year to do it. The nonprofit foundation , supported by grants from the J apanese " Big Four" (H o nd a, Yamaha , Kawasaki , Suzuki) plus Harley-Davidson , sp ell s o u t a se ve n-step program tha t any o rgani za tio n (mo to rcycle club , PTA , or just a group of concerned parents) ca n follow to ga in a cc eptan ce of motorcycle safety education in th eir com m u nit y school system. Here are the basics: I, A qualified instructor - o ne who has completed a teacher prepara tion program at an approved in stitution. The MSF, since its found ing, has qualifi ed o ver .3 ,000 college and high -school level motorcycle riding instructors through campus seminars around - the country , 2, A quality curriculum - the motorcycle Rider Course', developed by th e Foundation over a threeyear period, fills this requirement, providing texts, audio-visual aids and teaching guides. 3. Motorcycles - the five rnanufa cturer-sponsors of MSF have a motorcycle loan p rogram through which motorcycles will be provided free of charge for the co urse. 4 , Insurance - for tea chers, st u dents , motorcycles, and liabilit y coverage of the sponsoring organization , Usually, this co verage can be obtained reasonably by adding a rid er 10 an existing po licy. 5 , A riding facili ty - a 200 x 100 foot paved a re a will prov id e a n a deq ua te sp ot for ins t r uctio n . Use of a school parking lot wh ich is on sch ool prem ises often hel ps ease the insu rance burden, as well. 6. A classroom - for cond ucting offcycle' instruction, 7. Range equipment - traffic cones, gas cans, first aid kit, tool kit , gas , oil, spare spark plugs will fill m inimum requirem ents for supplies , Promises, promises List ed below are the grant appl ications received through January, 1977 by California's Parks and Recreation Department. The Department is scheduled to in turn submit these requests (which com e from Cal ifornia local government units) to the legislature for Fiscal Year 1977 -78 appropriation . The money , if approved , will then be used for OHV Park acquisition and development as spelled out for each project, Interested riders are urged to lobby th eir local -area legislators fo r approval. Without such approval , these proposed grants are no more than em pty promises, Pro ject Cost Motorcycle Park County of Santa Clara Sacramento County Orr-Road Vehicle Park Development, Phase I County of Sacramento Nonh Tahoe Regional Park Nonh Tahoe Utility District Orr-Highway Vehicle Parking Area & Loading Ramp County of Shasta . Sacramento County Orr-Road Vehicle Park Operation for 1977/78 County of Sacramento Rowher Flats Orr-Highway Vehicle Park, Phase I County of Los Angeles Huron Cycle Park City of Huron San Gabriel River Orr-Highway Vehicle Staging Area Los Angeles County Flood Con trol District Santee Orr-Road Vehicle Regional Park County of San Diego Nea l Snipes Motorcycle Park City of Norco .De Anza Motorcycle Park Count y of Riverside 16 TOTAL $ 52,500 ,00 511,500,00 75,000,00 75,000,00 125,000.00 531,975,00 142,500,00 108,178,00 750,000,00 37,500,00 -45,000.00 $2,454,153,00 The Foundation already repons that the Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Associat ion has sponsored statewide Rider Ed programs with considerable success, . To obtain , d etailed information on each of the sev en po ints , and how to solve th e problems tha t arise , cont act Motorcycle Safety Foundation , 6755 Elkridge Landing Ro ad , Linth icum , MD 21090 , Gi ve th em your name , address, t itle (if any) . and the o rga n iza tio n yo u represent: ask for the complete story. • (Contin ued / rom page 4) t ho ugh sno w Forced a ltera tio n of the co u.rsl' three d a ys prior to the event. we felt W(' still had a layo ut th at rnr-t o u r nhje.·('l in 's . Con t ra ry to so me co m m e n ts t h at ri b hon o f th e sa m,' co lor cross ed o ur co u rsr-, we found no ev idence o f this . There was ribh o n (pink) in adj acent areas to o ur co urse , bu t yo u had to h-a ve th e courv to find it . A s a dvcr t isc d in ou r ri de rs ' inst ructio n, yellow and pink ribbon was oti li,,'d for th e Desert Rat Course , All or hcr rib bon o uts ide o ur COlIfS(' was I>illk only . So m .. 80 riders were disqua lified for C hec k # I . Of t his tot al , 16 ri ders filed wr it t c n p ro t es ts claimin~ a Fly in~ Check is not a le~al chec k. It u'as a "'ga l chec k in 1976 , a nd wr- in vin - your sc ruti ny of till' 1976 ' ·S. 1977 R ule Boo k. Th« Desert Ra ts reminded t he Cornperi rion Corn mim-c t luu our ran' was pl a n ned in 1976 , an d held th e second w .... k of J anu a ry 1977 . W ell publishcd ru l.. c ha n~es for 1977 we-re- fo llo wed by t he Dese rt Rat s p r im ari ly rh« posting o f ora nge.' Da y-Glo m arkers 10 m inuu-s p rior to th e sta rt o f t lu - race . missin,~ Flyin~ 'I' h« F ly i n ~ C hec k u ltim ate ly prou-su-d was w.. 11 pub licized (riders' in st ruct ion ) prio r to r a c c t im e. Iron icall y, no 011<' ad vised the Cl u b th at a Flying C h..ck was i ll('~a l - t his i nc lu dv d D istr ict 3 7 Sp ort an d Com petit io n Com rni ucc m embers w ho a uvnd ed an d raced t his evcn t , If we ( lkst'r! Rat s) wen ' a bo ut 10 b reak a ru le why wi-re w.. not advi sed by th os« res ponsihk- for th e.' ('nfOf(TmCI H of Dist rict ru les who wer e rhcn -? T his quest i o n was asked of rhe Co rn pcririo n Co mm itt ee 's J. Trani. Il is rep ly was tha t th e District had no contro l nvr-r the layout - o r m a rk ings of a co u rse . The tru t h is 1111 1111" knew t he ru le had b vcn ch a ng ed . Ho wev e r . the prou-sts were uph eld h y t h., Co mp(,titio n Comm ill(' (' by a \'011' of six In thr..... T h us , all ri d(,TS covn lhe ""Iin' ("nurse . T h is \\.,., 5 t he in tc n t of tht· chec k. an d ha d it h('('n a " T'lOk Card C h....k.. insll'a d of a " Fl y i n ~ C Ilt'(' k," t ho ,,' d iSllu al if i,'d wo u ld h 'l\'" n 'ma i,lt'd ,lisq ua lifi('d for he in~ off UH IP't' . or Illissing a r heek. T he ,It-cisio n hy t h,' Com pet it inn ( :ol1l1 niu("(' in f ;l\'Of of t ill" ri d e rs will ne('('s~i ti:lt<' OJ n('w sc t of result s, Th ese a n ' now b eing- worked o n a nd sh ould he in th e mail SOOI1 . The Iks..n Rats do n ol wish ' 0 a lt er th ei r origina l lro ph y d ..s i~ na l io ns, hut a lso fee l ohli g-clted to n: ward a ll ridefs whe re possih le . including- thost' n ·instau·d . T Ill' ( :Iuh tllI'n'lim' ha s d" ('i

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