Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The October Iuue of Ge.tIeme.'. Quarterly ran an ad (p. 2381 for the National Wildlife Federation that shows a photo of an eroded hiU· side and blames ORVs for making wildlife hebitats an "endangered species." One quote from the ad: "In California's Dove Springs Canyon, for instance, reckless use of motorcycles and other off-road vehicles is driving more than 75 species of birds, reptiles and mammals from their desert home." Two lettars (at leastJ are in order here. One should go to Robert J. l,apham, President GO Magazine, I1Jc.; 360 Madison Ave.; New York, NY 10017. Another, also complete with the pertinent facts about off· road motorcycles and their riders, should go to Department 202. National Wildlife Federation, 1412 16th St., Washington, DC 20036. The Desert Scramblers M.C. will put an a bad desert race in Grand Junction, CO. on Oct. 19. How bad is bad? Eight hours badl Why, it's enough to 'put a wobble in 01' Papa's knees. But, there's a $5000 purse and contingencies, trophies and finisher pins to help soothe th'ose aches away. For more info, see the Calendar section or call Bear Hensley at 303/434·6136 during the evening or on weekends. • :THE NATIONAL ~PAPERS The old phrase, "Do you get the point?" sums up the 1980 Winston Pro Series National title duel between Randy Goss and Hank Scott, Randy got the point. The year's ballie ranks now with the '63 run between Dick Mann and George Roeder which also was decided by a single point. You have to dig deep to come up with the answer as to why Randy won and Hank lost. Hank was the big ",inner with five, Randy had one win. They raced against each other 20 times with each running ahead of the other on 10 occasions, Hank had the edge on the miles and ha'lf miles when he qualified for the final or did not have mechanical trou· bles. Goss, for the second year, did not have a single major mechanical prob· lem working his way into the finals. But Hank failed to qualify twice; both events were races he had won in the past. Randy missed one main event, being beaten in the semi on the last lap, last turn by a rookie - his only non· final in two seasons! On the mechanical side, the value of a good mechanic again comes up. Goss had young Brent Thompson. Hank had a long list of tuners during the season and even came to one race without one. Yet he won the race. Goss was so consistent, finishing in the top 10 16 times. Thirteen for SCOll. In fact, Goss never finished be· low 10th in any race for the points this year. Hank Scott started racing three -years before Goss, 1972 - the year his old~r brother Gary became a rookie Expert. Hank was a very good Novice and a top Junior. He was the high point first year Expert, winning the Syracuse mile his rookie year.1974. Since becoming an Expert, Hank has never finished lower than eighth in the Natiohal standings, but never higher than third, until this year. He now has II National wins to his credit, all on dirt in miles, half miles and short track, but no TTs. For Goss, the climb was much tougher. Coming up through the ranks two years after Jay Springsteen. Randy was the second· ranked rookie behind Garth Brow in '77. But until '79, Randy could not score well enough to finish in the top 10 in points. Then in '79, still a privateer, he got going strong enough to win his first Nationals (3), take a run for the title, lead the standings, and finish a close third behind Springsteen and Steve Eklund. Scott out·pointed Goss in both the half miles and the miles, but Randy was by far the better point getter in both the short track and TT events. This is where the difference really shows up. Goss became a Harley·Davidson fac· tory rider this season. replacing Steve Morehead. But again (what the Harley factory has been saying for some time) their machines do not run any faster than many of the good privateer rides. Proof: one win, which may be an all time single season low output for them. Fifteen different riders won at least one National this year, just two back of the 17 record set in '71. The competition was very well balanced and matched. The pressure of the whole season showed at Ascot in the final race of the year. Goss has been there many times and has won Nationals, Regionals and just plain Friday night events. But for the finale a lot of us wonder· ed what was happening. He turned in his slowest time trial, ran third in his heat and was never close to the front. (Pressure?) Before the race, many people had asked if Springsteen was being brought in to run interference for Randy. Hard· Iy, Jay was in front of him the whole race and never moved over once, even when it looked like points were needed to get the title. Jay fourth, Randy fifth. But what about pressure on Hank? He was behind Randy early in the final, then moved ahead, and then passed Springsteen. For the last five laps, he was right on Eklund, who was riding the best race he has run this season. But Hank never really let it hang Out for a pass and the title along with it. He had nothing to lose by trying a full shot run into one of the turns. If he made it he would have had a 50·50 chance of being the new champ - and close to $40,000 richer. (Pressu rei) If you believe that history does in fact repeat itself, then you will believe in the '80 season. The last time a rider won the title with one win was back in 1963. Dick Mann won one; it was an upset. Dick won that race on Septem. ber 21. Randy won one; it was considered an upset as he had never won a mile before. He won that race on September 211 In both '63 and '80 the riders that finished second in the points won more races than the rider that won the title. Roeder had three wins, Scott five. Each of those close finishes was under different types of point systems. Goss had carried what we call, "lucky number 13" for several seasons. Yet, the two riders that had it before him gave it up in favor of another number as they thought it was indeed, bad luck. (Aldana and Hocking, who are now both retired from dirt track racing. ) It takes luck and preparation. Ask Eklund and Springsteen about luck running out. So it really came down to the last race with both riders deserving of the .title. SCOtt -the bilt winner on the year, Goss the consistent rider week in and week out. I guess the best way to sum it all up would be to say, "Scott got religion, and Goss got a factory ride." See you at the Astrodome next February - where they just might run the Short Track on Saturday night and the TT on Sunday afternoon. Roxy Rockwood The last three months of 1980 prpmise to be very significant as far as the future of din bike riding in California is concerned. Besides the elections which will be held on Nov. 4, we will get a final decision on the BLM's Desert Plan on Dec. 8, Congress may act on the California Wilderness Bill which cleared the House recently, and the Department of Parks and Recreation is preparing to come up with fmal management plans for Hungry Valley and Carnegie Cycle Parks. . How will off· road riders fare in all of these events? At this point, it doesn't look real good for us. Most probably we will pick up some new friends in public office in the elections. Reagan still looks like the winner over Carter. Reagan has been making some very positive statements, His victory could affect the implementation plans of BLM as regards the Desert Plan. It will take time, however, to move out all of the environmentalists who hav.. taken the reins of government under Carter. The Congressional delegation from California might improve slightly. Congressman James Corman from the San Fernando Valley is having a tough time with his reelection. Corman has been a safe vote for the environmental interests in Congress. In Northern California, Congressman John Burton may be beaten in Marin and Sonoma Counties. John Burton's brother Phil is generally considered to be the leader of the environmentalists in the California Congressio~al delegation. Assemblyman Gene Chappie, who has long supported off·roaders in the , Assembly is running in a tough race for the Congress against Bizz Johnson. A Chappie win could put a real vocal supporter of dirt bikers in the Congress. The U.S. Senate race looks like a sure thing for Alan Cranston's reo election. Cranston has not been particularly anxious to do us any favors in his previous two Senate terms, although he is giving us some indication that he will seek some changes in the wilderness bill which is currently in the Senate. Whether he will still follow through after the election remains to be seen. The California state legislature has a great many seats up for grabs this year, and the final outcome could be significant as far as getting good bills through the legislature, and if necessary, overriding the Governor. CORPAC has finished the process of reviewing the records of incumbents, and rating challengers on the basis of answers to a questionaire which was sent to all candidates for the State Legislature. The results of the candidate evaluation appears at the end of this column. Many of the endorsed candidates appear to be particularly friendly to dirt bike riders. COR PAC is still hoping to hear from some of the clubs and individuals who would be willing to assist in walking precincts, preparing mailers, and otherwile volunteering in some of the campaigns. Specially targeted races include Assemblyman Bill Filante in the Marin County/San Rafael area; Greg Morris in the Santa Clara area; David Aquino in Santa Barbara county; Assemblyman Bob Hayes in San Fernando, and Ross Johnson in Orange County. In these specially targeted races, your help could make the difference. They won't forget that if they win. Contact CORPAC at P.O. Box 15052 Sacramento, 95813. Tell them where you live and that you would like to help on Nov. 1. Also they are still accepting donations for use in assisting in these cam paigns. BLM missed the date to get their Desert plans to the public. Plans called for a 30·day comment period starting Oct. 1. Unfortunately (for BLM), as of Oct. 6 almost no members of the public had yet received their copies of the plan in the mail. BLM's carefully laid plan to have a final product to the Secretary of the Interior so that it could be signed on Dec. 8, seems to be in jeopardy now. Any attempt by BLM to cut off public comments on Nov. I, will place them in a position of being arbitrary. And any attempt to lengthen the public comment by a couple of weeks, to correct for the late mailings, without also extending the Dec. 8 signing date will provide the lawyers with an open season to gain injunctions against the entire process. BLM has openly and repeatedly admitted that the original timeframe was "tight," but they concluded that they would still be able to react to comments by members of the public. If they extend the comment period to around Nov. 18 (as rumored), they will play hell trying to convince any Judge that they are really looking the public's comments if they continue on their Dec. 8 timetable. Have you gotten your Desert Plan yet? If you haven't, call them at 714/ 787 ·1428 and ask them where it is. Besides BLM's other problems, the State Legislature is going to hold hearings on the entire Desert Plan process, Our own Assemblyman Bob Hayes, who was recently appointed chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Lands, will hold two hearings. The first hearing will take place on Oct. 6, in Sacramento. The second hearing will take place in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 17 at the County Supervisor's Chambers in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles meeting will last from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Congress went into recess without passing a California Wilderness Bill. Burton's HR· 7702 may be considered after the elections when Congress reconvenes for a "rump session". Still in doubt is whether the Senate will consider anything other than money bill at that time. Burton is pushing hard to have his bill heard during this time, and to create his two million acres of wilderness this year. Write to Cranston and ask him to delay any action on this proposal until hearings are held in California on the measure. Let Hayakawa know where you stand also. West Coast readers in Washington and Oregon can help us in California by writing Jackson and Hatfield (respectively) in those states. The "Hungry Seven" advisory committee to the Depanment of Parks and Recreation on the Hungry Valley facility received more bad news from the Park department staff at their last meeting. The consensus is that the Department staff has their own ideas as to how the facility should be run, and cares little about their appointed advisors. Since the planning process first began, we have seen staff reports (Continued to page 29) 3

• Cover