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/126298
INSIDE Man anij land 4 Land suffers while man playsgames SCORE Mexicali 300 6 It would have been Parker 400 but . CMC/Suzuki Go lden State Series . .. .•.. .. .. .. .... . 8 Staten. Turner do it at Dunlap How to ri de like the Hurrica ne 10 T urns and berms Flo rida W inter-AMA.... 12 Round one in th e sand a nd sun 14 Des ert hotline Desert Squirrel's Nutcra cker 4 16 Emission contro ls It's later than you think 17 National Pape rs Racing in Florida 18 Western Hotline Impression: Kawasaki KX250-A4 20 Mean and green 26 Northern dateline ON THE FRONT PAGE: While men play adversary games and bicker over who'll use the land , the prize itse lf was h es a nd wi~l wasteland, Who e rod es win? (Above) Once a popular recreation area . site of proposed Santee ORV park lies neglected and eroded today. into ~ nyone? Man and land By Charles Clayton I sense a change this yea r. You see, every year I attend these land plan versus off-roa d motorcycles m eet ings and suffer through the Charln C. Clayton . Pr esid ent 80b i Scott . Au t . to th e Pr esid ent Sha ro n C layto n . Publisher Edn a Mewron . Sec re tary to the Publ isher Advertis ing J im Rya n. Sa ln Manage r . La rry Li nl e. S.1oln ~bn a Kt"r . Mugot Bergman . S.1o I("5 ~bn a Kt' r . Ch rill Kolber , Assisu n L Editorial C h.1o rl("ll Marry. Ma na ging Ed itor . Dale Brown . Ed itor . Brian George . Assistant Edi tor . Graphics and Production Sur Mor ey. J an Gill. Prod uction . Marion H arashira . Donna Cabard . T ypography . lknnis Greene . Laboratory Production . Accounting Mikt' Klinge r . Man agtT. j ea n ne Hammond . ACCb . Rec eiva b le . Natalie Magtt. Assl. Accts . Receiva ble . juanita Bla nton . Co llect ion a nd Credit. Circulation R be ba Smit h. Ma n age r. Debbie Drayden , Rob in Hol bert . Sandi McK .1o Y Kath y BOon. . Assistants. Services and Support Lin d a Baca . Rt"Crplionist . Jim Piurt"u . S&S. West 220 1 Cht'rry Ave . . Long Bea ch . C A P.O . 80.. 498 . Long Beach . C A 90801 (% U)427 · 7 4~~ : L.A . Lin.6~ 6 ·8844 . East -41 90 Fint A,,('. . T uc ke r, GA . P.O . Ball: 805. Tucker , GA 30084 . (404 )9~ ·78;o . Subscription O ne vea r. second class mail. S15 : 2 vran. srcond claM mail . S27 ; 3 vears. W't"omf da!t!o ma il. 137.50 . . Copvr igtn" Cyclr News. Inc . 1978. T rad emark Cvcle ;\Irw s regi stered U.S . Pat en t Of fice . A ll riKh ls re-served . Pu bl ished w« "("kly ~'ll:('("PI t ht· finl and 1;1101 """ '('k "f t he ca len d a r vear b" Cvc b;\Ir "",s. Itu '.. P.O . BUll: 498 . L"n.sc"fkodd l. Ca li. Iornia . mood c1a~ ~J!iola/il:(' paid d l l..ull '" Br ac h . CA 9080 1. Cvc le News welcom es u nso licired rdiw ria l m~tt·rial incl ud ing stories . ns. photos . etc . Such ma terial . if ca rto o published , becom es the exclusive cop yrigh t proprny uf Cyc k- Ne ws. Such accep ted ma teria l is su bject til revisio n a, i5 nt'ct" s5dry in t he 5u lt' disc retio n o f Cycle Ne ws. Unsclicued m at erial wh ich Is n OI used will be ret u rned if accom pa n ied by a self -ad d ressed stamped envelope. All u nsoli cue-d ma n-ri al will !lr handled wit h rea son abh- r-are , however C ycle Nr'ws a ~." u m M no rt"!llk lfThib ility fur rhe u ft'I Y. Im& nr damage 10 su c h ma n- rial . Rt"p rint inK in "", ho lt' o r p a rt o n ly b y pe-rm ission of rbe pub li ~ h,·n . Ad vr rt ir.inK U I ("!i a nd circu lation in form a tio n will be sent upon requec . SN" 4 same old slide shows. It 's been the same since 1968. T he Sierra Cl u b geo· archeo-zoologists d emonstrate what surface damage u nma naged motorcycli ng can do. We bikers argue that if these places where we ride, without permission , were accommod a ted in the land plan ning, we would gladly .prese rve and conserve th e land . Even if it were possible to cease a ll trai l riding in the nation today, who woul d stop the gullying and erosion that th e next rai ns will bring? No body. appa re ntly , except us bikers . An d we ca n on ly d o it on the co nditio n th at we co nt inue to rid e. T en yea rs have gon e by, a nd I think I detect a spa rk of reason in th e resp on ses of th e la nd planners , It has taken all th is tim e to de mo nstra te that di rt bike recreation won't d isappear, ca n be responsib le . and has needs that mu st be m et. Even if mot or cycle trails a re less desirable in a comm u ni ty th a n a prison farm , we've go t to sanction them for th e sake of th e la n d . The ' altern a tive is continued d amage to th e trails t hro ugh unm an aged tr espass. I thi nk it is beginnin g to sink in tha t ou r tresp asses mayor ma y not be forgive n , but they are inevitable unless we own som e propriet a ry interest in our trails. While both sides pla y th ese ad versary games , the land q uietly d issolves away, Somebody in th e Sierra Club must risk the wrath of his peers and endorse th e plan , for the sake of the land . • [Tex t of C, Clayton 'j jp eech to t he San Dieg o Cou nty Planning Commissio,n) SAN DI EGO , CA , FE B. 15 T here is a tim e for plann ing , and a ti me to say , " O kay, le t's go for it." For the past seven yea rs, recreation vehicl e rid ers h ave been working in co-operation with th e co u nty pa rks plann ing agency to esta b lish a n OR V recr eation site in Sa n Diego County. In the meantime , ORV recreation has do ubled a nd tri pled in th e co u nty . T o have some idea of 'the scope of what we a re ta lki ng abo ut , you need only to fly over San Dieg o County a nd observe the most prominent fea ture of the. landscape - the network of dirt tra ils, many of them made or used by ORV recreationists. Bik ers call them "cowtrails" and "lire roads." A glance te lls you that it is d ifficult to mo nitor this ou tdoor maze well enough to sta mp ou t recreationa l trail riding totally. Even if it were possible to cease all mot or vehicle rec reation today. who would take ca re of the trails that a lready exist? And yet , the a u t ho r ities ca nnot ig no re it. Complaints fro m citize ns co me in every day and twice on Sundays. . The only viable alt erna tive. as they used to say. is com p ro m ise . T he au tho rities are just go ing to hav e to ac co m m od a te us a nd our m isunderstood hobby, or else for give us ou r trespasses. Oddly enough, you see , much of th e O RV recreation that transpires in San Diego Cou nt y is a kind of trespassing. As a result . n ob od y is tak ing resp onsib ilit y for co nservation of the land or m anagem em of the trail users. This situ a tion will go on as long as the re is no legi tim at e place wher e citizens a re permitted to pursue O RV recr eation in th e cou my . There is no way we can mainta in the land wit ho u t official permission to ride it. It ha s go tten so bad , th is neglect of recreation needs , that the very land itself is begin ning to suffer. 1 rode around the Sa n tee project in a co umy 4·wheel drive ve hicle . The recent ra ins had washed ou t the water treatment plant dam and badly erode d some .of the heavier used slopes of th e hill s. Some of the hills wer e made of to u gh e n o u g h stuff to withstand th e u nm a naged use, b ut a lot of go od tops oil will slip into th e gullys if it isn't recontoured soo n . . T oday, you will vote whe ther to go ahead with th e Sa nt ee ORV p roject . The off-roa d recr ea tion citizens ha ve lived up to their part of the a nti -no ise sloga n th at originated right here in Sa n Diego live years ago : " Less so und equals more grou nd ." The users. th rou gh ORV registration fees and fuel purchase taxes, have provided th e money for the project. And we will continue to wor k closely with the authorities in managing the project. T he users have done th eir p art , the bureaucra cy has done its jo b, now you must do your d u ty, bite the bull et , ta ke the heat or whatever you call it. a nd approve this p lan. After that. there sti ll re ma ins a big job to do . W e 'v e got to get st arte d o n m anagement tech n iq ues a t Santee th at will accom mod a te th e use rs, in vig orate t he e nv ir on men t . a nd placa te the neighbors, Aga in . we , the users and th e ind ustry, will cooperate with th e county agen cies to do a good job . to be go od neighbors. lf you back ofHrom you r d u ty, well , it won 't m ake much difference to th e off-road riders, They'll just go on doing wh at th ey've always d on e. But wh ile we pl ay th ese adve rsary games , I the land will go away , The la nd needs ou r help just as much as we need the la nd. R igh t now . even more so. We h ave used the land without putting a nyt hi ng back into it . Indeed , it is not our fa ult . W e would cherish a nd main ta in the land , th e on ly stipulation is th a t we be permitt ed to ride on it. This is a fair p roposition . I u rge that you approve this p la n on an emerge ncy use basi s, so that we can ge t started conserving the la nd. • I I /AIIf 1!'~ 7JlEY£4R.- cur!! \ S.R.D.S. _I