Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

._._---_._._._._._-_._._._-_._._._._.- .............................. ~ ~ ~ rolled along , look ing be tte r all the time. In ea rly December , howeve r , th e first hint of p roblems to come a ppea red . when Doris Da vies a nd Cyndy Mandell. two o fficia ls of th e Vict or Vall ey S pe cial Olympics Committee , placed ads in th e local newsp ape rs d iscla im ing a ny connectio n with th e event , ( b u t they would ac ce pt any and all monies derived fro m the event). The y had be en informed b y th e BLM that th e y (the Special Ol ympics Comm itt ee) could be hel d liable fo r any injuries th at might occ u r durin g th e e vent. This, al ong with other int ernal rea sons , spa r ked th eir act ions . The co ntroversy be gan to ra ge within the local S.D . co m mi ttee itsel f with most of t he members still supporting th e Puett even I. This pub licized " wa r" left its ma rk , however , as some of the m erchants began pulling their support from the Trea sure Hunt , Puett had never put on suc h an affair before , a nd , although su ch clubs -as the Viewfinders offered to help him , he felt he had all well in hand with th e help of five or so people from th e Victor Vall ey S,O , Committee , all of wh om were also tota lly ine xpe r ienced wit h any type of m otorcycle acti vit y, W ith no final detailed "g ame plan" in mind . Puett sti ll figured every th ing would some how m o ve al ong sm oothly as trucks , ca m pers, a nd trailers began to descend o n the a rea whil e th e clouds omi nously hovered da rkly o ver head. One o f th e advert ised event s fo r Sunday was the Odyssey-A'TC race which wa s fi rst ig no red b y th e spo nsor and then cancell ed , as we re the ot he r Saturday " ga mes" includ ing a ba seball g am e schedu led for the:a fternoo n . The Desert Donkeys recognized a real p ro blem emergi ng and so contact ed Pu ett wh o , by this tim e , was more than ready to accept t hei r help. The club began some prepara tio ns for the Sund a y events. The even ing ba rbeque was a lso sa lvage d from to ta l d isaster by th e help o f t he Sh amro cks M.C . a nd th e Viewfinders M .C . wh ose m embers pit ched in a nd set u p th e barbeques a nd d id th e cooking . A stea dy m ist was fa lling by th is tim e, but th is did not d ete r th e ban d t ha t was se tti ng up in the open. rea d y to enterta in fo r the eveni ng. W hat th e music lack ed in qua lity it m ad e up in vol ume. Sund ay dawne d with su ns hi ne, a lt ho ugh as a warning of events sti ll to come. da rk clo uds hovered a lo ng the base of th e su rro u nd ing mountains. And st ill the campers an d trucks kept co ming. A t least a thousand vehicles entere d th e area , many ca rry ing fou r or m ore peopl e. The newly elected 39th Dist rict Assemblyman . Bob Ha yes, was among those to a r rive on Sunda y. Alth ou gh he was short o n time a nd would lea ve to ca tc h a plane before th e final " fi reworks" took place . he was hi s usual verbal self co ncern ing numerous issues facing this event . as well as other issues of interest. Though he too had to agree that th e event left much to be desired as fa r as its handling was concerned. the basic concept was "g rea t." He stated. " It 's being done by people who want to do something to help others," The firs t thing one no ticed about Bob Hayes' garb wa s the unloaded cap and ball pistol he had strapped in a ho lster and hung on his hip . He was quite open about the reason for wearing it. "T he BLM rangers ha ve no business wearing th em , When they take theirs off, I'll ta ke off mine ." Hayes stated t ha t he had in his possessi on a co py of a letter se nt to th e Victor Valley S. O . Comm itt ee with the sta te ment about t he fac t th a t th e co m mi ttee mi ght be hel d liable f;;;' any ' occ uring inj u res d uri ng t he weeken d o f the H u n t. What th e BLM fai l..d to a lso tell the committee 'was that t here was $ 1.5 m illion in insu ra nce coverage th e e ntire ac ti vity . H ayes co m m e nt e d t hat since the com mittee had not had previou s deali ng with the BLM . they believed th ey had received t he fu ll story from th is "reputable" federa l agency, H a yes left th e va lley fu lly co n fide nt that th e b ike people . as he kn ew t he m, would be a bl e to handl e th e " less t ha n professional " situa tio n with out too m any problems . The first event scheduled for Sund ay was th e Treasure Hunt for t he kid s: some as yo u ng as two yea rs o ld . There were a t lea st 100 little on es eager ly await ing the sig na l to scramble for th e white plastic tubes whi ch had been scattered about 100 ya rds in front of them . The event was d ir ected a nd guided b y some very fam iliar fa ces above th e OCMC jers eys a nd by some d auntless Desert Do nk eys. Eve ry child won a t least two pri zes, wh ich included to ys as well as number plates a nd suc h . Six-year -old (soo n to be seve n) Vin cent H awt horne won an ea rly birthday present , th e ATC 110 . A pl ane was su pposed to m ak e t he drop o f the " prize tu bes" for the o lder grou p , but the airfield was soc ked in wit h fog and the plane never go t o ff th e grou nd. so the tu bes we re st rew n over the sea rc h a rea by hand . The sta rt was a n experience! The bi kes we re restricted to first gea r use o nly, so t he wh ole sce ne was in slo w motion . The lin e soo n fo rmed a t prize head quarters as th e riders re tu rned to claim t hei r p rizes . wh ich ranged fro m AI Bak er num ber plates , Ma lcol m Smith wall et s, Bell hel mets to four Huskys, a nd an O d yssey. Winning th e top prizes were Steve Kiunke of Br ea ( Road Runners M .C .) wh o wo n th e 390 Husky Automa tic a nd Bri an Fo u nt ai n of W estminst er who became th e o wne r o f th e 25 0 cross-co u ntry Husky. T he two 125 MX Huskys went to Sco tt Shel do n of G a rden Grove (Sodb usters M .C . ) and of North ridge W e nd y Smi th (Sha mrocks M.C . ). The O dyssey found a home with M arvin Van Sick le of Sa ugus (Desert Kn ig h ts 1\1 .C . ). About hal fway thro ugh the p rize distribution, wo rd ca me from the tra iler parked at the entra nce that it had be en broke n into and seve ra l thousand dollars had been stolen . A shocked sile nce encom passed the scene a nd th en tot al d isb el ief set in. The bike rs. bei ng very "g iving" a nd open people, im m ediately bega n taking up a coll ecti on wh ich g rossed S300 in cas h a nd a $300 check. Seve ra l hundred d oll a rs ad ditiona l we re realized when the unclaimed prizes were a uc tione d off instead of raffled as origi na lly planned. By this t im e, however, some groups were claiming " fr a ud, " " rip-off, " etc. Others were saddened by the e vents and tried to help financiall y as much as th ey could . The she riffs department t raced th e break -in to one of the teenagers that Puett had befriended in the va lley over the past months . The money was recovered but th e controversy continues to rage o n. Because numerous sponsors pulled o u t before the event , m ore m oney had to be spent o n materials for the affai r. The qu estion st ill remains unanswered as to wh ether th e kids are go ing to real ize an y m oney fro m this benefit or not. • • ~ ~ ~otorcycle Industry Business Seminar ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ E , . ~ t ~ 0') Open to all dealers.and oth er motorcycle industry representatives : t--- ~ April 1-8, 1979 ~ ~ ~ (reservations must be made before 1-30-791 ~ ~ Hila, Hawaii _ ~ ~ This tour includes • • -• • • • • Jet Air v ia United A irlines 747 Deluxe Hotel Accommodations Round tri p t ransfers between airport & hotel Porterage at your hotel Cocktail Party Welcome an d Farewell Dinners City tour o f Hilo • 4 Days of Business Seminars For complete information & Free Brochure (213) 886-1966 (Marti) or write: Cycle Tours, Inc. 10176 Mason Ave. Chatsworth, CA 91311 Suzuki of Van Nuys New '77 PE 250 B ••••••••••••• •• • $I099 New '77 RM IOO B ••••••• •••••••• $ 699 New '77 RM 370 B $II99 Many to choose from Similar savings on all '78 models Suzuki of Van Nuys West Coast "'I Volume Dealer 16141 Sherman Way , Van Nuys, CA 213-994-::1800 213-994-2882 J Blockl Welt of the San Diell:o Free_ay Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you diet. The jersey you' lie been looking for C~I' De~I~~n?u~~!~~t!~ 778 N i l M ( Citr fPn B lv d S p.,," NV 89 43 1 Service. Motorcycl Sa les . ~ 1""""4 c:<") e-, I-< ~ ;j ~ ~ ~ Tour price $597.00 (from Los An geles) call 0') 1""""4 702 359 0 6 6 3 Parts. Accessories 7eaclt 'n 7zallet; U'e..t 2663 E. CoIoredo Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91107 213·795-2711 _ _ -J S a m m y Tan n er Dist rib u t in g WIRI-TECH 2 139242 11 1

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