Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I- f The bitter irony is. it sh ou ld n' t hav e been a su rp rise; the R ussians neve r rea lly kept it a sec re t. There were litera lly reams of Russia n -la ngu age scie ntific paper s sitti ng in t he halls of the Sta te Depar tment t hat clea rly wed'\cted Sputn ik's laun ch m onths before th e b ird went u p . Nobody had gotten around 10 transla t ing t hem b~ca use we were sho rt of tra nslators. Wh at 's a ll t his got to do with motorcycles? ' W o ul d you beli eve we . also. are su fferi ng from a tra nslator slionage? No. not to tra ns la te Ru ssian . The langu age in questi on is far m ore formi da b le tha n Ru ssian. Ir 's bure au crates e . Ask any body who's had to deal wit h b ure a ucracy a ny len g th of tim e. T he language of gove rn ment is virtua lly u ntranslat abl e 10 a ny bo dy wh o's not barmy a lready . It "m a kes lou sy reading, even to th ose wl'io try to u nd ersta nd it. Up until rece n t ly . n o se lf- res pec t in g biker wou ld even bo the r to try . There was a ti me wh en b ik ers. a nd gove r nm e nt vin ua lly ig no red eac h ot her. T ha t .I . ti me IS past. • Last year the Motorcycle Industry Council a le r te d its m ember co m pan ies t9 more th an 1.500 govern ment actions that wou ld have a ffec te d motorcyclin g . O f those. 21 1 p roposal s becam e law . In a ll. MIC's staffers 19ure to have waded through ove r one million p ages of solid bu reaucrat ese , sea rc h ing for ' t hi ngs pote nt ia lly da m aging to th eir business. From a slightly different tack. AMA' sta ff d id likewise in th e interests of rid ers. T ha t's a lot of pa pe r. MIC has a bout a dozen peop le th ey can t h row into t he breach . A MA has about fou r. ' What we ha ve . in th e wo rds of the o ld cql9 'warriors , is a tra nslator gap! l(s a lrea dy hurt u s . W e k ne w motorcycle emis sion co ntrols were in t~J works as ea rly as 1975 . T oda y. some people wh ose livel ih oods d epend on m ot orcycles a re jus t now getting the ITl.C§Sage. j ). few of us had a ll th e necessa ry pa per right in o u r hands . but weren 't ca pa b le of correctly tra nsl a ti ng th e bure a ucratese into pl ain En gli sh . I was one . a nd I kn ow I fail ed I though t . bac k in 1975 . t hat it a ll m eant th e burea uc rais were killi ng the hi gh peiforma nc e two stroke . a nd with it . th; road· wrinkling Superbike . I was wro ng . The Superbi kes are yet with us. a na .it turns o ut there a re wo rse things tha n t he dem ise of the tw o -strok e street !?ike . W e are on ly now finding o u t wh a t a hamm erl o ck th e burea ucra ts a rc pla cing on what we can buy . what we ca n sell. ho w we ca n ride it. ho w we m a y fix it. tr ick it out . o r rework it. hat's j ust emissions. There's also land use pl ann in g . no ise regs . equipment sta ndards. th e pe re n nial hel met- ha ssle . safety statistics , the deba te over Rid er Ed (To be. o r no t to be ?). wilderness. endangered species. price regulation . ene rgy po licy and o n a n d on . A m ill ion p ag es a year . ex pecte d 10 a bo u t double every co u p le years. It 's as if govern ment we re the o nly g rowt h ind us t r y le ft in the count ry . Between you and that descen di ng mass of bu rea uc ratic gunge sta nd jus t ove r two doze n m en and wom en ; trying to tr anslat e it into English in ' time for you rider/dealer/racer/ partsbuilder/wha tever . 10 react. Some of them wo rk for M IC . Some of them wo rk for AM A . T he re 's Russ Sanford a t M.O. R .E . A few more wo rk for not hing wit h AB ATE . MM A . D istrict 37 and t he like. jus t trying 10 co pe . Y ~lU owe th em something . eve n if it 's jus t a year's associa t ion dues to th e group of you r choice . The translator gap is real . it's h urting, it 's wide open . T he gap's not going 10 get filled if th e well is d ry. t • Lane Campbell A letter from the Vice~President.• • c entr al '{ oshi mura #3\ :' 2600 s W F ~17 7 098 H oust on . (7 \3) :,23 ·:'504 da ' I n Ca n a . N orthw est y oshimura d Eas t \44 '{ ale RO~C V2P -2P3 Chilliw ack . (604) 792 -3 45:' . ura East . 11 H ill Rd . '{ osh lm 264 M ar sh a N' 07 480 l W Mi\£or c • J ('lin) 728 -\770 . DistributOrs: R&D v oshim ura . 1 eu n AvnCAe 9\60\ 55 \ 7 Cleo d N H ollywO O • . ) 98:;.23 3 \ (2 \ 3 . . a sou th east '{osh\mu~ ro n Hw y . sE 355:; COV1~~ 30207 Conyers . 6 (404) 78 6 -202 When all else fails and you've read the instructions and that doesn't hel either, let the mechanic do it. ~~ I I~l'" ,\~ mu 1111 ~.f III Periormloce .DIstributing• Inc. ~~ III MAJOR MIDWEST DISTRIBUTOR FOR: ·Complete line for racing bikes ·Requires no oiling ·Smoothest pulling cable ·Flexible throttle w ire gives long life "Haavv duty housing. resists stretch and abuse U PO Box 1321, Hesperia, CA 92345 (714) 247·2646 • PO l iSTHE SUSPENSION SPECIA LIST FOR '78. DEALERS WRITE FOR Y3UR YOUR PROOUCT·Flll EO CATALOG . :,. _~.. .. Bel·Ray Oil Yokohama Tires Scott USA Mi kuni Carbs. S & WShocks and Springs Clarke. Rep lica Tanks Write for Free literatu re Terrycable Out of state call loll free (BOO) 854-4691 ] ] 50 Wen Highwly 13 Burnsville, Mlnnesot, 55J31 Phone: 1612)890·51>41 P.O. Box 118 Axton , VA 24054 703/650-3030 I· .. ... .,..;;;'; .~c ' ., :"' t . , "i. .. ) t" . ' . . ' j '~'" •• ~ Authorized Bultaco Dealer We ship bikes Large parts inventory UPS&PP Lots of specialty Items Handlebar set-backs HI Pipes fit all Pursangs and Fronteras 5

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