Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

or more cylinders and to $5 for vmicles with less than eight cylinders. In the event that the minimum purchase is more than needed to fill a tank, the purchaser pays the difference to the dealer. We have seen no mention of fuel tank size as a determining criteria. Suppose St. Joan of Claybrook has had a hand in writing these regulations? Anyway, these regulations will go under a !lO·day public comment period after they are released next week. We'll let you know Where and when as soon as we find out. Other measures in the 'conservation' plans call for limiting the use of all gasoline and diesel powered vmicles for one, two, or three days per week, depending on the severity of the shortage. Under this plan you pick the day (or days) when none of your families' vehicles can be operated. Another measure would restrict motorboating on Sundays or the entire weekend. There is little Iiklihood that dirt bikes will escape this fate as well as tire boaters if large·scale restrictions begin. C.N. will keep you posted. It looks like a virtual certainty that Carter will dump some or all of these restrictions on us this year. The Sagebrush Rebellion Override attempt in the California Legislature will probably take place Thursday, Jan. !II according to Assemblyman Hayes' office. The battle for the speakership of the Assembly appears to be about over, at least for the time being, clearing the way for Hayes to make his run at overturning the Governor's veto. The Sagebrush Rebellion Bill, known officially as Assembly Bill 1407 , would have cleared the way for the state to take over the lands presently administered by the BLM. The Governor vetoed the bill on the advice of his environmentalist advisors, and the Sierra Club is lobbying heavily to sustain his veto. We must lobby equally as hard to overturn that veto. There is still time for a last minute call to you Assemblyman's office, look it up under the State Government heading in the phone book, call his local (or capitol) office and tell them politely 'to vote in favor of the override of Hayes' AB 1407. This column will report on the vote and the floor arguments of each Assemblyman. CAM PAC and CORPAC, I hope you are listening. The vote on this issue should be a deciding criteria in establishing which districts should be targeted fo.r support or opposition in the upcoming elections. Another new bill was tossed in the hopper last week. This bill AB 2111, by Chappie, will transfer the money in the Green Stickie program from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the State Lands Department. The legislation will move the program from a preservation-priented setting to an agency where resource use, including recreation, has a high priority. Chappie is running for Congress and says he wants to make sure the program which he created is in good hands before he leaves for Washington. In anothu recent development, Assemblyman Vic Calvo from the Bay Area district around Palo Alto and Mountain View announced his retirement suddenly late last week. The only declared candidate at this time is Four Wheel Drive Association's Greg Morris. Calvo was one of the Assembly's strongest Sierra Club votes. This development may clear the way for another pro·off road assembly. man. C.N.Deepthroat WRITIN' AROUND Mysterious poker run A friend of ours got a phone call the other day. "Didn't you used to belong to the (deleted) Me.?" The voice was that of a sexy young woman. Our friend, being recently singled, was interested. He said that he did. "Do you still ride in the desert?" Our friend admitted that he does. "Well would you like to take a ride this Sunday?" "What's this all about?" our friend demanded. "Come on the ride and find out." That Sunday. our friend pulled up at the place - a familiar enduro trailhead. There were a number of trucks parked, no people around anywhere in sight. Except for one guy with his bike: loitering in the pucker bushes. who might have been just another rider. Nearby, at the beginning of a trail marked with fresh biodegradable tape, stood a small folding table with stacks of money held down by rocks. A sign said "Honor Poker Run" or something like that, "Entry Fee $!I. Take a card." Our friend made change for a twenty, took a small, sealed envelope containing one playing card, and set out on the trail. The trail was wellmarked and fun. Our friend remembered it 'from a famous enduro that he used to ride every year before it was run out of the area by government landlords. The ride was good - not too easy, not too hard. The desert scenery was at its finest. At three places along the trail were stacks of cards in envelopes, and he took one of each. As the trail circled back to his van. he met a young lady holding a blackboard. There were two names written on it in chalk. Wordlessly, she handed him an envelope and he tore them open. A pair of sixes. Not good enough to get his name on the board. The girl was deaf, or pretended to be, to his questions, but our friend didn't mind. He had had a good time. She handed him his finisher's pin. It was a neat, enamelled model with the letters "BLM M.C." Now our friend is waiting for another call, another ride. He thinks he had it figured out. Somebody is reestablishing old, traditional motorcycle trails in this anonymous way. They are utilizing public land open to non-organized trail riding. By telephoning up to 50 friends in this mysterious way, they don't need to go through the rigamarole of government red tape. yet they are well within the letter and the spirit of the law as regards motorcyclists' use of public lands. ' The only thing he hasn"t got figured is the initials on the finisher's pin. BLM Motorcycle Club? "Do you think they are one and the same?" he asks me. "The Bureau of Land Management?" HI doubt it," I said. Hbut invite me on the next one, an'd I'll swear off my journalistic instincts and promise not to tell the who, when or where." C.C. 3

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