Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

\1181 ._ Amer ica 's No, 1 Weekly Motorcyc le Newspaper Sharon CI~yton. Publisher Tom Cu lp . Mark~t ing Dir ector Caroline Ge nd ry. Sec. to th e Publisher Margic;.Sou~hl"rn. S ("~. to th e Mt kg. Oir . Advertising J im R ya n . Sales Ma n age r. Larry Little. Sales Manager . Skip J oh nson . Sales Ma n ager . C hri s K ol ber. Ad ve r ti sin g Co ord inato r. Editorial C ha rles Morey. Ma nagi ng Ed ito r . Dal e B ro wn . Ed ito r . Bo b i Scott, Editor . Graphics and Production Da v Pa ul i, Prod ucti on Man age r . Ju d y Klinge r , Producti on Assistant . Marion Hatash ira . Ka ren Fa rh at . Typography. Dl"!lnis Greene. La bo ra to ry. , Accounting Mi kc , Kli nger , Ma n a g e r . J e a n n e Ha m m on d . Acet a. Receiva ble. Donna Brya n . Asst. Acct s. Rec eiva ble . Rick Goettsch . C redi t . Ellie Coner. Assistant . Circulation Rheb a Sm ith , M ana g er . Ba r bara Taylor , T a m my T a ylor , Shi rley Sh ort , Assist ants. Terry Pr a tt . De al e r Sa les Manager . Reader/Dealer Service Gin Harper . W ant Ad Sal es . Services and Support C hri s Aitc heson , Rece p tio n ist. Burke, S&5. I Chris West 2201 Cherry Ave. , Lo ng Beach, CA P.O . Box 498 , Long Beach, CA 90801 (2 13) 427 ·7433; L .A. Li ne 636-8844 . East 419 0 First Ave ., T ucker, GA, P.O . Box 805, Tu cker, GA 30 084. (404) 934 ·785 0 . Cycle New s/ West (US PS 141 -340 ) is publish ed wee kly exce pt the first an d last wee k o f th e ca lenda r yea r for $1 5 per year· by Cycl e Ne ws, l nc . . 220 1 Cherry Aven ue . Lon g Beac h , C A 9080 1. Seco nd class postagr- pa id a t Lon g Bea ch . CA . POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle News. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA90801. Subscripti on ra tes : O ne year. seco nd cl ass mail. $15 ; two yea rs. seco nd class ma il. $27 : t hr ee years . secon d cla ss mail. S37 .50 . C ycl e N ews wel co m es unso li ci te d edi to ria l m a te-ria l in c ludi ng st c r ies . ca rtoo ns. ph o tos . etc. Such ma ter ial. if pu b lis h ed . b eco m es t he ex cl u sive' pro perty of C vcte News. Suc h acce pted ma terial is su bjec t I n re vision as is ,necessa ry in the sa le dis cret ion of Cycle News . Unso lici ted m ateri a l wh ich is not used will he returned if acco mpan ied b y a self-add ressed sra m pr-d env elope. All u nsol ic ited m a te ria l wi ll be h andl ed with reasona ble carl'. however . Cycle News assumes no rc.·sponsihil ity for the saft'ty. loss O f dam ag e to su ch ma terial. R(' printinK in whole or part only by per mi ssion of the publishers. Adve rtis ing rates a n d circ u la tio n in form a ti o n will he se n t upon requ est. Sec S . R . D .S . Copyright 00 Cycle News. Inc. 1979. Trademark Cycle News registered U .S. Patent Office. All rights reserved . 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Jack J o h n s o n takes h is turn on the • La s Vegas ' 400- w inn ing H u s k y 390, He and Larry Roeseler won the g rueling " . hour event by only t w o min ut e s over Sco t Ha rd e n an o Br e n t W a lli n g s f ord . Photo b y Dale Brow n . In Puett'sdefense I keep reading negati ve letters pertaining to the Treasure Hunt , Surely there must be those among you who have something favorable to say about the event. In my opinion , the event was a success, especially since it was a first-year endeavor. Sure, there were problems, some having to do with the inexperience of the promoter . I'll even grant that he may be guilty ' of mis-management. There were problems that arose prior to the race having to do with · sibl ing riva lry among the ranks of the Special Olympics. The dust from the first day's string of entries hadn't settled when the first negative item was printed in the local paper, laced with acid quotes from two of the main officials of the Special Olympics. Then, the trailer break-in and theft. The youth that fell suspect wa s associated with Chuck Puett. Nothing since has been printed to the effec t that the boy's case was dismissed. Evid ence that there was no evidence to su pport the charge. Ther e have been letters with pointed questions, some of wh ich, I hold no answers to. But I have a few questions of my own . Ther e 'were few spo nso rs or contributors to the even t after the Special Olympics withdrew th ei r sponsorship, stating that th ey would merely " back it" . . . tak e th e money and run. How fair is that? Who paid fo r th e million and one things tha t were pa id for ? Who paid fo r th e band equipment stolen from the site? Who paid for the $1 ,800 worth offood co nsum ed ? Who. paid $250 a load for pa llets for firew ood so t hat peop le wouldn't be cold? Now. to show that a money count couldn't be correct from a pin count , ca r count or ri~er· ~ount. How m any people crashe d the ga te? H ow m any people ro lled in la te a t night a nd claimed less people ,tha n were actually in th e dark ca m pers a nd trailers? How m any pins were given to peo pl e claim ing th ey did n't receive them fo r o ne re aso n or a no the r? But the key word given to t he ga te te nders by C huck Puet t was " tru st." H ow ma ny peopl e entered t he event un der clai ms of frie nds hip to t he promo ter, feeling exempt fro m ent ry fees ? How many people cl aim ed they we re n't enteri ng any of th e prize events, so they d idn't feel that they had to pay entry fees? No one has lost more in this than Chuck Puett. H e has lost financially , m aterially and emotionally. He has lost the hope and dream of creating a world of help and acceptance for unwanted little boys . Maybe it wasn't all by the book , but his heart was sincere. He has stepped forward and made good on many of his promissary notes (checks) , many of which are still being mentioned in the newspapers . All these people know who they are! Personally. I would appreciate t hem stepping forward in written form and showing as much courage as Chuck Puett has . Let's face it - a lesser man wouldn't have hung around for "the public stoning. G. GREGLYN RIVERA Lucerne Valley, CA Sportsma n race f or sportsmen This is not a criticism of anyone rider, but a criticism o f th e organization that' put on the '79 Great Bear GP. The race in question is the unclassified Sportsman race Sa turday at 1:30 p .m. The top two finish ers of tha t event, Balent ine a n d Larsson, are n ot classified as Sportsmen o r unclassified riders , but are professional Experts. If they wanted to pre -run th e track, they should have done so with other Pro riders Sa turday m orning on 175cc bikes . I'm not degrading a ny o ne rid er. bu t professional rid ers should n ot be allow ed to ra ce any Sportsm an or unclassifi ed race . Any profession al rider sho uld ha ve to ride in th e race with all other professional s. If t his type of t hing was a llowed to . happen this yea r, wh a t will become of th e Sportsm a n a nd /or un cla ssifi ed race in years to co me? JO N MUD D Fo nt a na , CA BLM p ower play T he enclosed co py of a BLM Ne ws re le ase dated Ma rch 1979 , wa s postmarked San Bern a rdi no , CA , April 10, 1979 , and was received a t ou r m otorcycle club post office box today, Ap r , 11. . T he BLM sendi ng news to District 37 clubs seems like a good idea to me, but it's strange that our club didn't receive a copy of the March 31 , 1979 Wilderness Inventory Final Descriptive Narratives of the COCA. Off-road groups are quite capable of giving input to the W ilderness program, and yet the BLM has failed to remind us that June I , 1979 is the last and final date for public input to the COCA W ilderness Study Phase. • Perhaps the BLM is more intent on publicizing how it can use its power(?) and our tax dollars 'to prevent people from legally using OUT public lands than it is on informing the people how they can participate in the law forming process now being carried on concerning the future use of California desert lands. June I, 1979 is such a short time away . Anyone desiring COCA information can write to the BLM at 1695 Spruce SI. , Riverside, CA 92607, or call 714/787 -1426, and they will receive free, the latest books and maps describing our desert lands. Everyone should request a copy of these latest maps a nd Final Descriptive Narratives, and hopefully, they will also add QUACK, QUACK, DON'T LOOK BACK! on the request. The Phantom Duck of the Desert has already in itiated action to extend the final deadline for ,public input to th e COCA plan . Keep up the good work and the good news at Cycle News West , but don't forget the influence of Cycle News East either. I am receiving a large amount of mail from the east coa st. QUACK, QUACK, DONT LOOK BACK! . LOUIS H. McKEY The Phantom Duck of the Desert Fontana, CA Thanks, Phantom Duck of the Desert , for the reminder and we hope all our readers will take heed of the Wilderness deadline and do what they can to prevent the California desert from becoming an unused wasteland under Wildeme.u classification. The Duck sent in an accompanying two , ft7Jd a half page press release shounng . what the mighty BLM intends to do to punish the Duck and his friends. Sin ce it's t(JJC time, we should all take some time to think about wh at the government does with that big chunk out of everybody's paycheck . . . Editor, " Permanent damage" a lie I'm very concerned about this problem of land closure in California , Government and private organizations are saying that the damage that the wheels of motorcycles and four wheel drives may be permanent. They say they need time to study the problem. Some organizations feel that already there is positive proof that this damage is perma nent . I live in Thousand Oaks, CA. Near where I live is th e place once called Va lley Cycle Park , wh ich used to hold motocross ra ces and open riding. The p its and parking area were the rolling hill sid es that made up t his la rge riding area. Every weekend and during the week , people brought their motorcycles and their ca rs and trucks out to t h is park. The ground was stri p ped of the grass and weeds to make tra ils , motocross t racks and parking areas for spectators. The park was open for some ti me. Week after week these people came to ride thei r d irt bikes . T hen , due lO reasons I'm not sure of, the park was closed. A _ cou ple of years have gone by since then and no riding has been done o n t he trac ks o r trails tha t m ade up t his park. Now the hills are covered with green grass again. No more trails. No more parking a rea . N o more m o toc ross tra cks . T he a rea was simply left to nature to do wit h th e land as it sa w fit ,

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