Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

:<.1 tl '~ WAsltiNGTON, DisCLosEd 6l 1 C • The Continuing Saga Of U.S. Rep. Robert Walker T he legal types at the Un ite d St ate Department of Justice a re trying to figu re out j ust what it is that attracts some of us foo lt hardy folks to motorcycles. Here's what they've come u p with : "T he re is, more over. a hard to defin e. nea r mystical bond betw een a bik er and his bike , as 'to fell as an ill defined au ra abo ut motorcycles . . . reve rence for th e m ot orcycle 'l~ has prompted co up les to p arti cipa te in ~11 club sponsored wed di ng ri tuals while sitti ng on th eir bik es as the club p resi den~dsreads m o~k vows fro m a H arl eyD I n a vi on rep aIr manu a . T he exa ct rela tionshi p between a biker a nd his 'c hop per' ca n no t be tot a lly ex p lai ned. Nevertheless. law en force me nt personnel should be awa re of this bo nd ." Okay, you m ystical types out the re , get ready . Th e J usti\'e Departm ent seems extremely interested in a ll this ill defined au ra, H ·D repai r m a nu al ritu al stuff. And if you th in k U.S. Represen at ive Robert W alke r's Hou se Concurrent Resolu tion held dis to rted views, wa it 'IiI you hea r some of the find ing co nt a ine d in , "Outlaw Motor, cycle Ga ngs: An Interim Report ," comp iled by th e Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA ), Offi ce of In telligence , Dangero us Drugs Sect ion of b the U.S. Justice Depa rt m ent . As stated i n the report's purpose (a nd th er e's always a purpose to mad ness), th e e doc ument provides cri te ria for DEA 's investigation of motorcycle gangs and "it is anticipa ted tha t this report will be used as a fram e of refere nce by rt Regiona l, District, and Residen ce Offices to judge th e cr-rni nal importance of ou tlaw mot orcycle gangs ." In genera l, th e report incl udes just a bo u t every inn uendo a nd hea rsa y ever printed a bo u t motorcycle ga ngs, and throws an interesting light on th e way fede ra l bureaucrats view them . Bu t. more on that later. Of real irnportance is th at Congressm an Walker says he used information conta ined in , th e study to fuel his argument th a t motorcycle gangs are the main cause a for the drug problem in this count ry. 0 T he report, however . does not back Walker's statements in many areas and is further evidence of th e legislator 's , attempts to distort the truth and undermine the welfare of the entire motorcycling population. Two weeks ago, this column exp lored the shaky grounds Walker staked his outlaw gang bill on by comparing testimony he obtained to second hand sources in the form of a magazine article and a television program. Also, it was mentioned that the group which conducted the investigation Walker led is not an official congressional committee, but merely a Republican " research" organization. The conclusion r:; l' was that W alk er is jus t try ing to get ree lec ted by keying in on a goo d hometow n issue with to ta l d isregard for lhe possibility of creating a n at mos p here of ha rassment for every motorcyclist who ma y a p pea r to be an ou tla w. T his week. we'll further explore some of th e inco nsistencies between Walker's "facts" a nd where he got th em . Walker often sta tes that 95 percent of all drugs transported in this country are mov ed by motorcyclists. In addi tion . all the methamphet amines pro· d uced here are by the b ikers . Furthermore , 95 percent of all illegal drugs sm uggled in from South Ame rica are brought in by th ese gangs. The Justice Department rep ort is used by Walker as the source of t hese a lleg a tions. Yet, accordi ng to the DEA study, "at least 20 pe rcent and as much as 50 percent of th e entire U .S. methamphetamine market may be co ntro lled by ou tla w gangs ." And , while last year th ere were 235 "cl andestine laboratory seizures" rep orted to th e DEA , "only eigh t of the seized laboratories were known to be d irectl y controlled by outlaw motorcycle ga ngs ." Does eight out of 235 sound like th e ga ngs co n tro l 95 percent of th e market ? Does 20 to 50 percen t tot al 95 pe rcent? I think not. Rhet orical questions aside, it appears W alk er eit her can' t add or can't read plai n Eng lish . The repor t also sta tes th e gangs are "provincial in their outlook ," and th us, "h ave not d eveloped th e highest level contacts for heroin , coc a ine , an d marihu ana (sic) as ha ve th e m ore tra ditional groups of organized crime . Part of th is may be exp lained ," the report adds , "by th eir ba sic mistrust of and prejudice aga inst m inorit ies a nd foreign ers ." Still , Walker says he lea rn ed fr om t he study that bikers move drugs in from South America a foreign country - and operate like the Mafia , a minority. This even prompted the congressm a n to testify before the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, July 7, 1980, in Philadelphia , that: "Ou tla w motorcycle gangs hav e on th eir own and in some cases in collaboration with traditional organized crime families gained control of a portion of the illegal drug market in this country.' To compound the situation, the DEA report mainta ins that motorcycle gangs' "penchant" for drugs "does not indicate that the gangs necessarily have developed the expertise to produce illicit drugs." Hmmm. Is that why Walker bell yaches in a news release that, "T he fact that they (the Justice Department) have said nothing and done little to address the problem of outlaw gangs on 'a national scale is puzzling." Of course it's puzzling, the Justice Department obviously does not believe it has a ca se - and besides, it has more important th ings to worry a bo u t like Billy Carter . Independent from m a ny co nstraints the bureaucracy faces, a co ngressman like Wa lker is relatively free to tum the facts to his liking ... whic h he is doing in th is case . And W alke r won ders, in his release, "W ha t kind of p ressures have been b rou ght to bear which have resulted in so little atten tion to so evide n t a menace .' Poor Con gressm an Walker , he's now the m artyr , a lone in his strugg le against th ose nasty bikers. " I a m keenly aware of the at tem pts a t political intimidation , which have been direct ed a t me a nd th e other cospon sors of H . Con. Res. 220 ," he says. And beware of th e moto rcycle press , he told th e Hou se Select Com m itt ee in Ph iladelphia , for th e co mmi ttee will discover " tha t pub lications and organizations within th e legi tim at e motorcycle comm u nity are rapid to sp ri ng to th e d efense of th ese ou tla w gangs . . .' Nobody's defending th e ou tla w gangs. They ha ve better lawyers th an m ost of us. W e a re , however . fighting th e promulgation of half-truths, lies and legislative chicanery which serves as the basis for Walker's b ill, a nd whic h will ultima tel y lead to influ ence public opinion of motor cycling in genera l. But let's not get pe rsonal. If Walker sees a problem with th e gangs , th en he sho uld name th em in his bill . The Justice Department does not make any sweeping allegations against outlaw motorcycle gangs , it names th e fou r gangs it feels are ca using th e problem. Once again. why doesn 't Walker do th e same? He sa ys over and over again tha t he is not trying to hurt th e image of th e majori ty of law- abiding cyclists . tha t th ey shou ld not be concerned with his bill . T he n why d id Walker tell th e Motorcycle Safet y Confer ence ea rlier th is yea r in W ashin gt on , D .C ., that : " I think. too, that the mo torcycle industry ou ght to be con cerned about cleaning up its im ag e." T his sta tem ent beli es everything W alk er says a nd hin ts th at he feels a ll m otorcycl ists a re really the cu lp rits. Aside from wh a t t he Just ice Depa rt ment report does to W alk er's credibil ity , it co ntains a n amazin g a mount of pertinent informa tion . For exa m p le, d id you know that th ere are four ca tegories of bikers ? One of them is en titled, "Fun Seekers," a nd th e boys a t th e DEA say tha t " for a lac k of a better term , Fun Seekers are generally impressionable you th who view an association wit h a motorcycle club as an esca pe to 'pa rt ying a nd having fun .' '' And let 's see , t he Hell 's An gels were or igi na lly called the POBOB 's for "Pissed Off Bast a rds of Bloomington ." O h , and what do we ha ve here .. . " Some a uthorities , h ow ever . have voiced th e opinio n that outlaw gang m embers a re confirmed nihil ists who be liev e th at Am er ican socie ty will eventually fall through its own mismanagement a nd greed." Hey, that sounds like J immy Carter talking! But th e Justice Department takes it one step further , because it says, "W hen this occurs, outlaw motorcycle gangs expect to be in a position to 'pick u p the pieces.' '' And I always thought it was th e meek who will inherit the earth. The report a lso expla ins to law en forcement types what F.T.W. means (in very gra phic terms for lawyers , I might a dd), a nd what exa ctly constitutes a top and bottom roc ker . We also lea rn that the Outlaws M.C . in Atlanta "em p loyed" red lights in its clubhouse "in the even t tha t th e clubhouse ca me 'u n der attack' or th e members were fo rced to flee th e premises ." Why the red ligh ts? So gang members cou ld "facilita te a rapid adjustment to night vision ." Finally, th e report contains sa m ple outlaw motorcycle gang constitutions, in which we learn that th e Bandido's M.C. does not allow , " No fat Mexicans." T he most important part of th e re o por t . no do ub t, is the dictionary of motor cycle jargon. " Bible: HarleyDavidson Ma nu al." Hey l I live an d breathe by my Du ca ti ma nu al , what gives? • Jim Zoia THE NATIONAL.. PAPERS I watched another chapter being written into the books at Laguna Seca recently when Kenny Rob erts wheeled his brand new Ya maha 500 to a win , his 29th ca ree r victory . I also saw him win his first one back in 1972 when he won at Houston as a rooki e Expert. A nine -year span , b et tering· the dozen yea rs it took Bart Markel to set the mark at 28 . topping J oe Leonard's 27 that also co vere d nine yea rs . It was rather amusing to read an article talking about Kenny recently in on e of th e cycle monthlies. It sta ted that perha ps a lot of rac ing fa ns did not know that Kenny was also a former d irt track ra cer! Rob erts won five di rt Nationals befor e he ever won his first road ra ce. T h at came during his third season as an Expert on the Na tionalcircuit. I told Kenny in the winner's circle a t Lagu n a Seca tha t I ha d run out of reco rds for him to challenge. A few years ago, we had him goi ng after the one where a rid er wins all five by type . He d id it , and th en we had him goi ng for all five by type in a single season . He did th a t, also . Last yea r he became th e win ningest road racer in ou r racing books. and now he ha s won more N at ion als than an y ot her rid er. Wha t's lef t? It is a lso interesti ng perhaps to po in t OUI that that all four class main events a t Lagu na were won by riders that sta rted th eir racing careers as dirt tr ackers . Rich Arnaiz won the No vice final in what ma y be his first or second a ttem pt at major road racing, or road racing of any type. Eddie Lawson ran awa y with . the Expert 250 fin a l in record tim e. Freddie Spencer, who is always happy to tell you that he is a dirt tracker first and road racer second , topped the Superbike class, and of course, Roberts won the Formula One race for th e fifth time at the track often called, "A long Laconia ." Much has been said of late that bigger is not really faster. Roberts no w has ridden a 500 instead of a 750 on two occasions in AMA Na tionals, and won them both. Why a nyone would have to have a powerplant th a t ran faster than his (or was bigger) is a real mystery . It was also perhaps fittin g that Kenny should take the record b y win ning a road race. Nearly half of his record total came from pavement wins from coast to coast , and there is no road ra ce course listed that he has not won a t least once. (Continued to page 2J) 3

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