Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

greater and more powerful than any of the AMA'S or BLM's grandest hopes. DAVE HOLEMAN Montrose, CA Put your front wheel where your mouth is lIBS! O'l CN ... ~ ..0 e ~ > o Z America's No.1 Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper Sh aron C la yto n. Pu b lisher T om Culp. Market ing Dir ector Caroline Ge ndry. Sec. to the Pu b lish er Marg ie So ut he rn . Sl:' . to the Mtkg . OiT. C Advertising Jim Ryan , Sal es Ma nager. Larry Littl e . Sa les Ma nager. Skip j oh nson , Sa les Man ager . Chris Kolber . Assistant. G in Harper . Wa n t Ads. Editorial Charles More y. Ma n agin g Edi to r. Dal eBro wn . Ed itor . Bob i Scott , Edi tor . Graphics and Production Dav Pauli , Production Manager. Ju d y Klinger , Prod uction Assistant. Marion H ata sh iea . Ka ren Farhat . Typograp hy. Dennis Greene. La bo rato ry. VOICES Accounting ~l i k (' Klin g e r . Manag er . J e a n n e Hamm on d . Acco . Receiva ble. Donna Brya n . Asst. Accts . Rece iva ble . H oll y Hal e , Collecti on an d Credit. Circulation R h e b a Sm ith , Manager . She r r y Ka ufm a n , Christy Bell, Tammy T aylor. Assistanu. Services and Support P a t Ca rdena s , R ece p t io rrist . Br u ce Pett it , 5&5. West ~~O l Cherry Ave . , Long Beach. CA P.O . Bo x 498 . Lon g Beach . CA 90801 (~ 13 ) 4%7·74 33 : L.A . Line 636 ·8844 . East 4190 First Ave .. T u cker , GA . P.O . Box 80 5 , T uc ker , GA ~00 8 4 . (404 ) 934 ·7 85 0. Subscription One yea r. second clas s ma il, $15 ; two years , seco nd class m a il. 527 : th ree yf'a rs, seco nd class m ail , $3 / .50 . Co pyrig ht ~ Cyc ie News. h .c . 1 978~ Tra d ema rk Cyc le News regi ste red U.S . Pa re n t O ff ice . All ri ghts res e rve d . Publ ish ed weekl y ex ~ f' p t rhe first and last wee k of th e ca lenda r y("a r by Cycle News. I n c .. P .O . Bo x 498 , L on g Be a ch , Cal ifornia . Seco nd class pos tage pa id at Lon g Beach , CA 908 01 . Cycle News wel comes u nsoli ci ted ed itor ial ma terial incl ud ing sto r ies. ca rtoo ns, ph ot os. etc. Su ch ma te -rial. if pu bl ishe d . becomes the exc lusive co pyrigh t prope rt y of Cycle New s. Su ch accepted m ate rial is subject to rev ision as is nrcessary in the sole di scr etion of Cycle News. Unso lici ted m a teri a l whi ch is no t u sed will b e return ed if accom p an ied by a se-lfadd ressed stamped env elope. A.II u n solicited ma teria l will be handled with re aso nab le ca re, however . Cycle News ass u m es no responsibil it y for the safety, loss o r da mage lO su ch materia l. Rep rin ting in whole or pan o nly by pe rmis sion of th e p u blis he rs. Adverti sing rates and ci rc u latio n inf orm ati o n will be sent u pon request. SC"t'S .R.D.S . POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498. Long Beech, CA 90801 , 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Rob Sutliff negotiates the icy, wet terrain of the Redding Dirt Riders' Buckhom Nat'l Enduro. (Insert) The AMA's Mike Di Prete . Photos by Dave Schoonmaker and Charles Morey. Protest more-for-fewer policy Did you know that th e Californ ia Desert Conservation Area is la rger than Ohio. South Carolin a or West Virgi ni a? It is bi gger th an N ew Hampshire . Vermont , Massa chusetts. Connect icut and Rhode Isla nd co m bi nedl T he land tha t is u n d er consid e ra tion for wild erness use is larger than Ora nge , Lo s Angeles, Kern, Ven tura and San Diego co unties co m bi ned . Only about 5% of ou r popula tion uses a wild erness area. Tha t means a bo ut half of th e California Desert would be set asid e for 5 %' of th e population . It 's not fairl Show th e government you are tir ed of giving in , Rid e th e Barstow to Vega s trail with a fr iend Sa turda y, Nov. 25 . SON of DESERT DUCK Quack l Quack! Open invitation from old duck and young duck Wanted: 49 frien ds, one for eac h yea r of m y age , to help me p ut a fitti ng end to a good old USA half ce ntury of free do m by taking a long tra il ride on our m ot or cycles on the now infamo us Barst ow to Vegas tra il. My son , 16. also wants to ce leb rate beca use we feel he is not going to ha ve 50 years of freedom . H e is a lso inviting 49 you ng friends to rid e with him . Let 's make a ball out of itl Moms a nd Da ds ride with me : daughters and sons ride wit h m y son . _ Time: 8:00 a.m . , Sa t. Nov , 25 . 1978 Pla ce : B-to·V start line . 1·15 pa st Yermo to Harvard Rd . Follow Frontage Rd . for three miles, east to Alvord Rd . . left over th e fr eewa y a nd a hal f m ile north . Gas at Razor Rd . (50 m iles), Cim a Rd. (52), Statel in e (2 7); Blu e Diamond Rd., La s Veg as (56) , Look for th e light gr een '72 Ford pickup with an ora nge fla g a nd blu e d uc k on it. We have decal s for th e 4g er Du ck Ride , a nd for th e you ngs ters , 16· 44 Du ck Rid e: For m ore information , plea se ca ll 714/52 1-5785 after 4 :50 p .m . JOH N DRAK E (a dd ress wit hheld by request ) N ote: This is not part of the Phantom Duck Trail Ride. It is a family party ride for th e friends of old and young du ck . (A drak e is a 77UJle duck.} AMA out of bounds I am aghast at the AMA mernoran dum printed in last week 's Cycle N ews. The AMA is asking US no t to gather in groups of larger than 50 people in the desert . A dozen families will comprise more than 50 people . And 'we are su p p osed to refrain from group ga the rings until 1980 - nuts to the AMA . Just wh o does the AMA think they are? I hav e been an AMA member for 14 yea rs and have had many dealings with them in action . I ha ve be en with th e AMA during their dealings with th e BLM . I can only sa y that ne ith er th e AMA or BLM personnel ca n boast of excelling in anything but lip service. I regret to say that both the truth and / or ded ication to " win " are mot ives that are not in th e AMA 's rul es wh en d ealing with any go vernment agency. Do you remember who sto pped the manda to ry helmet law from passing in Calfiornia for three years ? It wasn 't th e AMAJ Has the AMA really 'arrested , let alone sto p ped , land closu re in th e Southwest desert regions? Hell no . Have they solid ly won ju st one case or incident with th e corrupt and in co m pe tent BLM ? The AMA's idea of winning is "com p ro mise. " Well com p rom ise IS somet hing like letting all 55 starters cross the finish lin e at th e same moment so everyone wins and nobody loses. I think that is more like everyone losing and nobody winning. Just who is the AMA to tell us we can' t gather in groups of 50 or more? In the future I sugges t that th e AMA stick to their own business (wha tever it is). Telling motorcyclists when . where or how they can congrega te is not th e AMA's business , And if they think that group gathering or demonstrati ons will n ot so lve problem s with government regulations th ey're blind. What do they think led . to th e civil rights legislation, helmet la w defeat or end of the Viet Nam war? As U .S. citizens, we have t he right of free speech and peaceable assembly under th e First Amendment of th e Constitution . And that law is far It has been said that there is a tide in the affairs of men which if taken at its he ight will le'ad to victory but if taken at its ebb leads only to misspent effort and fu tili ty . Cycle News and th e AMA cannot recommend that you attend the Barstow to Vegas sightseeing trail ride. They would open themselves to prosecution or criticism from the very government whose cooperation they must mamtain in order to remain comfortable in their business . But you . fellow dirt rider, need to sit down righ t now and think hard about the futureof your sport in California. And after you have done that, you had better come to the conclusion that for " dirt riding in the USA, it is going to be high tide this Saturday at Barstow. On that day , all of the talk, all of the letters written , all of the telegrams sent and all of the votes cast. will be distilled down to one single act : A demonstration of our will to win . Do we have it ? And can we get it together, all in one place, at one time, and use it? Or will it be the same old story? A lot of mouth , a lo t of complaining, but no real action, Like a lot of the people that I have talked to , who have some exce lle n t reasons , complete with music , about wh y they shouldn't go to Barstow. After all, it's Thanksgiving Weekend , and it's traditional to spend it with your family in front of a cozy fireplace , or watching a good football game, or doing yard work , or riding someplace where they give trophies or whe re there is no danger of being hassled by the law . And really, it's such a long drive out there , and it will probably be cold and windy , anyhow . Right. The same old story. If that's your story. and if you don't ge t it together and get out there to the Barstow to Vegas trail · ride on Saturday, Nov , 25, I hope that you never again raise your voice in a curse at th e Sierra Club for stealing our desert. When you do, I will have to remind you that you have only yourself to blame, if you, buddy, don't have the guts to put your front wheel where your mouth is; On the desert, this Saturday morning, seventeen miles out of Barstow on 1·15 on the dirt road to Vegas . SYDCLOPTON DAVID CLOPTON JOHN CLOPTON Whittier. CA Duck backer - with contingencies I just received notice of the proposed Barstow to Vegas ride to be held on Nov.. 25 . I want to let the world know that we will be there to rid e . and we hope everyone else will be , too . Our company will give away 100 certificates for a pair of tie downs and100 certificates for any Grand Prix Plastics visor of you r choice to be redeemed at your local dealer after the ride . I phoned Dan Hopkins at Duralube Oil Company, and he will dona te 120 bottles of two-stroke oil on the same basis. We w.ould challenge other manufac turers in our industry to follow our lead ; maybe we can get a good number of motorcyclists to come ride with us . We hav e all been hit up by the MIC. MTA and every other organization to donate money, time or what hav e you . I personall y think th is (Continued to page 38)

• Cover