Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- ---- --- - --..... -- - -.-- ..------- -- - po te ntial in AMA and AMA ra cing. Also, it is no accident that purse , point funds a nd co nti nge ncy funds have incre ased fro m $32 ,000 in 1970 to ove r $9 70 ,00 0 in 1978 . Bill m entio ned t ha t the AMA co ul d use some-road re ps, to help sell AMA raci ng . He is correct. W e co uld use road reps. Ho weve r , it costs a co n siderable a mou nt of m o ney to hir e and pu t reps on the road. W he re will this money co me fro m? When we talk of increasing A MA mem berships we get co mplaints from our. m embers. If we talk about in cr easing sa nction fees we get com p lai nts fro m ou r promoters . including Bill. Bill b roug ht up the fact that we had road re ps a few.yea rs ago . We did.lb ut found that we couldn't a fford it and they were el imi nated . I'm sure that we woul d co nsider p utting reps back on the roa d a nd when if we co uld afford to. Bill goes on to question m y corn pe te nce as a Ma n ager of P rofessional . Motocross, and he has th e right to do so . All I ca n say to t hat is look a t my record for the p ast three years . [ feel tha t motocross in ge n er al h as gotten better over the last three years a nd that the sport has grown in statu re. Whether t he timing was righ t , or I had somet hi ng to do wit h it [ don't know , but it happened . " To answer Bill's question on "Who is th e sport , " t he sport includes everyone who is invo lved. or has an in terest in motorcycles, It involves the spectator, the rider, the dea ler , the manufactu rer , the accessory dealer , the mechanic, the road rider , t he thousands of amateur riders , the promoter a nd the press. The AMA is here to try to coo rdinate all of the activities co n nected wit h the sport and to pursue. promote. and protect the in . terests of motorcyclists . OPBN· LB......BR DiPrete rebuttal I' d like to begin by sayi ng that Bill West is as inconsistent in his interview ( Cycle News, Mar. 8) as he is whe n he di scusses th ing with me . In one paragrap h he praises promoters and riders and in another he puts th em down : He vac illat es ' in h is thi nking so much it m ak es me wonder if he knows wh a t he is ta lkin g a bout. Bill cla im s that the new rulin g req ui ring riders to ch oose a class is killing him . Wh at ca n rea lly kill him is the comme nts in his article . He has told a ll of the potential specta to rs wh o re ad Cycle News no t to come to h is race because it will no t be a good race . Therefore , when it comes time to promote his race he will need to spend more money to co nvinc e spectators to co me to see the race . That doesn't seem to be a very smart thing for a good promoter to do . In fact , I think the racing will be be tter this year. I think more of the goo d riders will be able to get out front and race and therefore provide better racing fo r the fa ns . I also believe that w~ will see some new yo ung ri ders show their talent this year because of the new program . Now the question is what d o we do with the new potential stars? We promote t he m . Thl; AMA , manufacturers , the promoters and the press must make an effort to expose present and future stars to the public. And this exposure must be presen ted through motorcycle , local and national press as well as through television , ; If the above is accomplished we will ~overcome the problem , which Bill · pointed out, of having on ly fo ur or five. . promotable rid ers. .In stead of having o ., only four or five promotable riders we may have twelve to fifteen promotable riders. Next Bill picks on his co -promoters. He claims tha t part time promoters who are not into p romotion as a business are hurting the sport. Well, let me point out a very important fact to Bill and everyone else . We have some " p a rt t ime" and "cl ub " promote rs who put on our m ost suecessfu l eve nts . For example : Dirt Diggers Nort h and Mo to-X 338, which are clubs , promot e very successful even ts . R e d Bud , Hi gh Po int Raceway, Mid -Ohio MOlO Park and Unadilla are a ll part-time promoters (promoters who have ot her prime oc cu pations) who promote successfu l events. [ wou ld say that none of these promoters are out to make a fast bu ck , as Bill indicated , or out to bu ild monuments. Bill claims that we had a 50% turno ver-in promoters. In fact , we have onl y two (2) new promoters in all of our [978 series of races. Bill claims we have no leadership at . the AMA. He also states that the riders and promoters have their act together. ( [n another paragraph he claims that riders a nd p romoters do not have their act together) . I think we have all (promoters. riders and' AMA ) progressed a great deal over the last few years. Promot ers are doing a bette r job in prom otion a nd trac k p repara tio n , m ore of t he to p riders a re aware of the im p orta nce of do ing P. R . work · and are d oin g it , a nd th e AMA has become more aw are of th e needs of promoters, riders and spectators and is working toward meetin g t hose needs. The Florida series is in fact grass roots racing. If Bill is seriously interested in this type of racing he should be very happy because he has h ad more Pro riders in Florida this yea r than ever before . This is th e first yea r these riders had a cha nce to compete agai nst ri ders of thei r own cal iber a nd to show thei r talents. The AMA sa nctioned a sta di um race meet in Seattle , W ashington , on February 18, 1978, whic h turned ou t to be a very successful firs t year eve nt. The date of February 18, was the o nly avail ab le date at the Kingdome . Bill was told t his, whi ch he still does not believe, and was a lso told th at he cou ld check with the stadi u m for t he - accuracy of m y sta te ments. I gu ess he di d n' t want to take the time to che ck it out, or by not checking it out he cou ld co nti n ue to co m pl ain . t Bill complain s th a t I, or w~the AMA do no t listen to him , 0 ther p romoters . Bill , you're wro ng. Iri act f!la ny of the changes tha t ha ve been made over the last co up le of yea rs have 'com e from riders , promoters and press people. Just because som eo ne doesn't accep t every single recommendat ion that is made d oesn 't mean that he isn 't liste ning . In m aki ng cha nges you must liste n to everyone, ta ke the best and fit it to you r situatio n to make it work . If it doesn' t work you modify it u ntil it does work . I think we a re'doing just that and we will continue to do so in the futu re . My last comment to Bill is that if he , or anyone else has some goo d co nstructive criticism to m ake I will be glad to liste n . Bill stated tha t the AMA doesn't feel that we need grass roots racing . In fact we know we need grass roots racing a nd that is wh at we are striving for. W e no w hav e a full racing program that gives a ri d er of any cal ib er .a program that will fit his needs. We ha ve m in i , a ma te u r, progressive p rofessional, regional and professiona l racing. A rider ca n sta rt with AMA at a n ea rly age and continue right on through to professional status if he so desires. The fact that R.J . Reyn olds. Co ca Cola and T oyota are major sponsors in professional competition is surel y a n indication t ha t b ig business sees the MICH AEL A. DiPRETE Professio na l Mot ocross Manager, A MA Westerville.Oh. .... MIi! . - . «r ~ -----------_...:..._--_.:.-_-----------...,...--------''--------------------------------- r---.. . . -------------- ~ -----.. . .. ---.. . . . . . . . - 'I l ~I ~ f ~ ~ I I I I I 348COTA ~ I ~ ~ 1978 ~ ~- --.., mnntesa l. ~ I I -----~_........----~ ~-.....------ 0' J eTelesco " Hydro Bag" Rear Shocks e New Cable Adjusters eProgresslve Front Fork Springs elmproved Clutch Springs eNew 4th Gear Sliding Dog •••••And More I J I ~ I ~ I Sec.use the dem.nd 'or . top notch ttI. /s m.chlne s upplies . re limited See your de.I., now so you c.n be . ssuted teceMn, one In 1978 0' The machine that is already considered a standard for observed bials has again added newer improvements. British trials rider Don Smith had the following comments in his recent test of the 1978 Cota 348: "A first class trials tool" "Looks right, feels right" . "I would like to own one" ~ ~ I. I . ' ..." ~ ~ I ~ lJ.!.v~B!!~.£~~~!.~~!~~~~~~~r~a..!!~£~9l~.§~~!~!..~.:!i..!Q.~~~~~.!.~!!"~!~~!!~~ 31

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