Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

moto , fou r -lap rip in the Col iseum is as follows: $15 to join GNC ; $10 to ra ce a qualifer ; $25 to enter th e Coliseum eve nt plus q u al ifier and Su perbowl gate fees of $ 12 for the rider and $ 15 for his mechanic. It all ads u p to $77 per rider a nd his mechanic to ge t into th is p restigious ripoff. We have enjoyed th e Su pe rbowl of Motocross (the real one) and look forwa rd to seeing it, but why do Goodwin and AMA allow this followon leaching of the Amateur riders? WlS! GEORGE THOMAS Sa nta Fe Sp rings, CA America's No.1 Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper Charles C . Clayton. President Bobi Scon, ASSL to the President Sharon Clayton, Publish er Caroline Gendry, Secretary to .he Publisher Advertising Jim Ryan , Sa les Ma nager. La rry Litt le. Sales Ma nager. Margot Bergm a n . Sales Manager. Chris Kolber . Assistant . Editorial Charles Mor ey. Man aging Editor . Dale Bro wn . Edi to r , Bria n George . Assistant Editor. Graphics and Production Jan Gill . Prod uction. Marion Hatashita. Pal Phillips, Typography. Dennis Gr een e . Laboratory. VOICBS Be careful of fire hazards Accounting Mike Klinger. Manager. Jeanne Hammond , Accts . Rece ivable. Nata lie Magee. Asst. Accu. Receivab le . Holly Hale , Coll ection and Credit. Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager, Debbie Dra yden . Patricia Depasquale. Sherry Kaufman. Sandye McKa y. Assistants. Services and Support Pat Cardenas. Receptionist. Ginn y H arper, Want Ads . jim Pisaretz , S&5 . West 2201 Cherry Ave . , Long Bea ch , CA P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801 (2 13) 427 ·743 3 : L .A . Line 636 -8844 . East 4 190 First Ave. . Tucker. GA. P.O . Box 805 , Tucker, GA 30084. (404) 934 ·7850. Subscription One year, second class mail, $15 : two years, second class mai l, $27 ; three years , second class mail, $37 .50 . Copyrigbr" Cycl e New s, In c . 1978. Trademark Cycle New s' registered U.S . Patent Office. All rights reserved . Published weekly except th e fi rst and last week of th e calendar year by Cycle New s, In c. , P .O. Box 498 . long Beach , California . Second class postage paid at Long Beach. CA 90801. Cycl e New s welcomes unsolicited editorial material including stories , cartoons. photos, etc , Su ch material. if published. becomes the exclusive cop yright property of Cycle New s. Such accepted material is subject to revis ion as is necessary in the sole discretion of Cycl e News. Unsolic ited material which is not used wiIJ be returned if accompanied by a selfaddressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, however , Cycle News assumes no responsibi lity for the safety. loss or damage to such material, Re printing in whole or pan only by permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. SeeS.R.D.S. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 t o Cycle News. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach. CA 90801. ON THE FRONT PAGE: The empty arena and the top gladiators, Bob Hannah and Marty Tripes, await the night of Superbowl VII . See p. 34 for a preview_ HannahfTripes photo by Jim Gianatsis. two 4 "To put on an event of this magnitude. and in as many states (I 3), costs a lot of money." said GNC promoterJ erry Surber. Surber went on to say th at the qu alifier tracks gets the 110, or whateve r t he individual entry fee is. and th at rid er and mechanic Coliseu m gate fees are 18 and 111, both including insurance. T here will also be 1 10,0 00 in trophies. "If you run fou r to five laps on a stadium track, it's equal t o six to eight laps on an outdoor course, " added Surber, who said t he riders would get four laps of practice, and would ride at least two elimination motos offour or five laps each . . . Editor. BLM lauds riders' " t ho ug htful inv o lv em ent" Our compliments to th e American Motorcyclist Association and Cycle N ews West for their efforts to encourage thoughtful involvement in the Bureau of Land Management's review procedures, The Ma y 17 article " BL M Wilderness - Can we afford to say , I've done enough?" squarely sets out the issue, As the article notes, those .who support responsible O RV use on the public lands must take part in the full process if they want their views considered. Walking out of a meeting without providing the requested comments is like lea ving the voting booth without pulling the lever. We commend you for bringing home that poi nt. T he ti me is rapidly approaching when the cycling community should participate in the most important wilderness decisions which could bear on recreational vehicle use . Presently, the Bureau of Land Management in the Ca lifornia Desert Conservation Area is inventorying all 5,OOO·acre roadless areas to find those with wilderness characteristics. This is the first step in a wilderness review. Those lands identified in the inventory will be studied for possible inclusion in the wilderness system , and soon this process will be repeated throughout the Western Sta tes. A lot of time has been spent at meetings discussing what a road is and what "roa dless" means , Of equal or greater importance to public land users is whether an area has wilderness characteristics in the first place. A 5,OOO·acre "roadless area " must meet the criteria of the Wilderness Act of 1964 . It does not automatically become wilderness. An important considera tion sta ted in the Act is whether the imprint of ma n's work on is "substantia lly the land unno ticeable." From a practical point , what does th is m ean to ORV users? By illus tration . if a 5.000-acre "roadless" a r"a is criss-crossed by ways . trails, tracks, o r ru ts , an d the imprint of m an's ac ti vities is no t only obvious. but irrepara b le, the area isn't likely to be inventoried. Ma ny of the areas you want and enjoy are goi ng to fall from considera tion early on because they don't have wilderness cha racteristics. If the effects of cycles and other offroad vehicles are "su bsta ntia lly noticeable" and an ' area becomes a wilderness study a rea , it will be studied further to see if it should be wilderness. During the study and review procedure. O RV use can continue if the use doesn't expand the existing ways, trails. and roads or ruts to a point that wilderness values are impaired. The studies will be done locally and will consider wilderness values along with all other uses for the land . BLM will make a grassroots assessment of the ultim a te and best uses of the la nd , including recreational use, with full p u blic participation, People who are knowledgeable about the co untryside ca n be very helpfu l to us in these decisions . In what may appear to be an "arduous" process , we strongly urge your members to emphasize the why behind th eir concerns when they comment to the Burea u . The reason why is what we're obligated to consider. We can't make a thoughtful determination on comments that simply express a position for or against wilderness . Again, we appreciate your concern and your efforts to explain what we in the Bu rea u of Land Management must do according to law a nd how recreational users can contribute to the process. We trust they will co ntinue to do so. FRANK GREGG Director, BLM Washington . DC GNCripoff? T he Texas carpetbagger is coming to Los Angeles June 26 , T he "GNC," whic h is supposed to m ean Grand Nationa l Ch a m pi on sh ip , now is entering the L. A, Coliseum to h ang the big banana ou t in front of a ll the Amateur and Sportsman r iders on the W est Co ast. The event is billed "Super bowl Amateur National. " GNC states in their promoti on m a ilers and ads tha t this race is "fi nanci ally feasibl e for everyone ra cing," while the real fact is. that it's the most expensive motocross event ever to be la id o n the Amateu r rac er. The cost for the two - Because of the heavy rains this past winter there is a very heavy wild grass crop throughout the state of Califo rn ia . Coupled with the lasting effect of the prior two years of drought. the potential fo r wildland fire ignition and spread is expected to be higher than normal. Dep end ing on the fire weather conditions during this fire season , fire agencies are expecting trouble ; therefore, the Department of Forestry is asking for your cooperation and offer the following fire safety tips for users of the wildland a reas . I , Do not d rive vehicles off roads in high fire -da ngerous wildlan d areas unless absolutely necessary. Under no circumsta nces stop or pa rk except in an area clear of flamma ble vegetation. All vehicles exhaust systems a re not hot enough, when in operation and im media tely following operation : to ignite dry vegetation and ot he r flam mables. 2 . W hen vehicles are ca talytic con .verier equipped, be sure the en gine is properly tuned a nd opera ting normally. If the engi ne is malfunctioning. do not operate the vehicle. 3. All vehicles, that by absolu te necessity must be operated off road, should be equipped with a shovel and five-gallon backpack pump. maintained in operating condition. 4. All engines. including motorcycles. operated on hydrocarbon fuel such as gasoline, diesel and p ropane. except passenger vehicles, trucks and buses. are req uired by California law to be equipped with an ap proved spark arrester which is maintained in effective working order when operated on ti mber, brush or grasslands. M .O . SCH O R] Chief, Fire Protection Sect ion Sacramento, CA Cycle Ne ws hopes tha t all our readers will be carefu l in areas of high fire hazard. A motorcycle-caused fire wou ld be just what th e rab id land closure monster nee ds . . . Edit or. Publ ished letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc_ Send letters to Voices. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801.

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