Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

In a June 8 decision, the California New Motor Vehicle Board ruled for a group of Yamaha dealer-s in their action against Yamaha. The matter was over Riva motor scooters; Yamaha arguing that they were a separate "line make" and therefore not covered by existing franchise agreements. MMVD Administrative Law Judge Merilyn Wong disagreed, saying "The Riva is deemed to be a 'motorcycle' within the terms of the franchise ... under the terms Qf the Yamaha dealer agreement, the protestants are entitled to be Yamaha Riva dealers." "A complete disaster" is how OHV enthusiasts classified the 1.8 million acre California wilderness ."compromise" reached between Senators Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson. Despite the pre.enc,e of regularly used and maintained trails. three wilderness areas in the Sequoia National Forest - South Sierra. Domelands and Monache - are included in the bill. as are 81.000 acres'in the Sierra National Forest, Only two popular areas Fish Canyon and Scodies - are exempted. along with seven dirt roads in northern California. Political activists we talked to felt that the wilderness bill should pass the Senate with ease; our best bet at stopping it will be to put a lot of pressure on the House of Representatives. especially California representatives. Local telephone directories carry district office addresses of congressional members. or they can be written to at Washington. DC 20610. New with this issue isa column dealing with government attempts to restrict the freedom of on- and oH-road motorcyclists. It's written by AMA Legislative Analyst Matt Benson, and we've titled it Against Government B.S. Ron Turner won the first ever Supercross race in Hawaii June 30, The Continental Motorsport Club-sanctioned/Skoal Banditsponsored race was held in the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu and drew over 17.000 spectators, Turner. Brian Myerscough. Rodney Smith. Chris Heisser and Jimmy Ellis were the only mainland riders to com" pete. Complete coverage of the "Alohacross" will appear in next week's Cycle News. Brian Myerscough has signed a contract with Kawasaki to race in South' Africa for the remai nder of the year. Myerscough's main competition will be American riders Suzuki'sJim Tarantino, Honda's Larry Wosick and long-timeS. Africa resident, Yamaha's Rex Staten. IN MEMORIAM: Katie Kick. 68. co-founder of the Virginia City Motorcycle Marathon. passed away Sunday. June 17. in her home. The Marathon. an annual fund-raising trail ride from Tonopah. Nevada to Virginia City. has run th'e past seven years. It has raised money to help area persons or families in need of medical attention. Katie passed away three days before this year's Marathon. and as a result. all. 27 riders participating. including the Phantom Duck of the Desert Louis McKey and California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission member Jim Uvermore. wore black armbands. Donations to the Marathon. which this year raised money to help 3-year-old leukemia victim Dylan Wiggins. are tax-deductible and can be sent in Katie'smemory to VCCM. P.O. Box 464. Virginia City. NV 89440. Gary Bowman was the winner in the 250cc Pro class at the Mammoth Mountain MX- ahead 01 Mike Larson. Bowman also finished second in the Open class and third in the 125s. Northern California's Jim Ellis (Yam) was the Open winner, while Larry Brooks (Hon) took the 125cc title. "Mr. Mike" Fisher finished second to Brooks. Complete coverage next week. Belgian Georges Jobe (Kaw) won both motos at the Canadian 600cc MX GP held at the Moto Park complex in Chatsworth. Ontario; Honda's Andre Malherbe went 22. while. teammate Andre Vromans follo.ed with a 3-3. Canadian Ross Pederson (Suz) finished fourth overall with a 4-6. Malherbe still leads the point chase over Jobe. 290 to 263. with Eric Geboers third at 246. Team Honda's Bob Hannah had the cast removed from his right wrist/ hand on June 25, and practiced on June 29, the first time since breaking the wrist at the Atlanta National MX on May 13. Team manager Dave Arnold said he fully expected Hannah to be on the siart line' for the July 8 Unadilla 250cc GP MX. (Continued to pa.ge /5) ,l\NYrnRCYCLE 1" IINOOSTRY CHANGES Acquired Marsee Products, a manufacturer of motorcycle luggage and riding apparel, by Bell Helmets, Inc.; Marsee founder Rex Marsee will continue designing products for Bell under the Marsee label; distribution plans to be announced soon. Wadded A 1984 Honda V45 Sabre equipped wtih a Hondaline fairing and saddlebags, doing qver . $1000 wor.th of damage, by Motocross Action magazine assistant editor David Gerig; he was unhurt. Bom Harry Bryce Oxley III, June 26., to speedway racer Brad Oxley and wife Tammy. Hired David Mallet, 35, as Features Editor for Cycle Guide magazine; an attorney at law, Mallet practiced for five years in Wrangall, Alaska and sold freelance articles to Cycle World and Road Rider. Retumed Stadium Motorsports Vice President of Sales John Bradley, following a leave of absence to learn about television syndication with Tatum Communications. Totaled As in demolished, a Porsche 928 owned/driven by Danny "Magoo" Chandler, after four deer jumped out into the road while the MXer was traveling at a high rate of speed. Porsche wasted, Magoo unscathed. Quit Yamaha Motors Corp. U.S.A. after II years, Advertising Manager John Rinek, to become Marketing Director of Sanyo; Asst. Manager Ron Crawford assumes Rinek's duties until a replacement is named. \.. I I II , lJ~ill4t GOVERNMENT B.S. By Matt Benson The U.S. Congress has a wilderness problem. Or perhaps more accurately, we, the trailriding public, have a wilderness problem because of Congress. The problem right now is stopping, or at least slowing, a flood of wilderness bills roaring through the halls of Congress. After three years of near inaction on legislation adding federal lands to the 70-million-acre National Wilderness Preservation System - inaction stemming from the Reagan administration's attitude toward wilderness and from a cO'ngressional .standoff over the wording of wilderness bills - a com promise among key mem bers of the House and Senate recently broke loose a wilderness logjam. The first piece of flotsam came through on May 21, when President Reagan signed a bill creating a 16,500acre wilderness in Missouri's .Mark Tw.ain National Forest. Two weeks later, Congress sent him five additional bills dealing with l.l million acres of national forest lands in Oregon, Wisconsin, Vermont, North Carolina and New Hamps1)ire. After the compromise, legislators also took action on wilderness bills for Washington, 'Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Virgina. The preservation of wild lands is not a bad thing. But the wildernessdesignation process in recent years has been skewed from the original intent of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Under that law, federal lands designated as wilderness are supposed to be road less and untouched by man. Trouble is, lawmakers - under a constant barrage from the powerful environmental organizations - have included lands containing such natural features as former oil fields, buildings, roads and, yes, motorcycle trails. Motor vehicles are prohibited in wilderness areas, and motorcycl ists in California, Washington, Idahoand other states face the loss of trailriding areas included in pending wilderness bills. Remember, we're not talking about losing areas which may someday be considered for trails; these bills would close trails in use now. Trails p.aid for through riders' federal income tax, state gasoline tax and ORV registration fees. The threat to California oH-roaders is the best example of today's misdirection of wilderness legis'lation. Pen'ding in the Senate are three bills - one sponsored by the late ·Rep. Philip Burton of California and two oHered by the state's senators, Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson. The Burton'and Cranston bills are similar, each designating more than two million acres of national forest lands as wilderness. One survey, how.ever, foundat least414 miles of Forest Service·constructed roads and motorcycle trails within the boundaries of these two bills. Wilson's bill I wasI the last in, and he made a show of taking recommendations from ORV groups and others on how much land his proposal should Inch.ide. His "compromise" measure is 1.7 million acres, arid would close some existing trails as well. To contrast the acreage in the California bills, consider that the Forest Service, which manages the lands under consideration, recommends only about 1.2 million acres for wilderness. Thanks to the lobbying and public relations eHorts of preservationists, Congress has virtually ignored the recommendations of probably the least political of all federal agencies. The American Motorcyclist Association has o((ered testimony on the California legislation, as well as the bills for Washington and Idaho. But in this debate motorcyclists tend to get lump,ed in with other "exploiters" like loggers and miners. Collectively, our concerns and comments have been discounted. ' Instead, the debate has two participants: members of congress and preservationists. The latter have mounted an all-out effort to make 1984 the biggest year ever for wilderness. Even some Congressmen who have a stake in the outcome get left out of the decision making. Opposing a bill which would designate a large portion of his district as wilderness, Rep. Robert Smith (ROregon) commented recently, "This compromise (over the Oregon bill) is being settled between the environmentalists - the environmentalists here and the environmentalists there. I have not been a part of the compromise, nor has anybody who is opposed to the bill, in the beginning or even now. " The wilderness concept is generally supported by the public (until one's job or favorite activity is threatened), and this being an election year, politicians with qualms about wil,derness misappropriation aren't likely to try to halt the legislative flood single-handedly. Nor is a president who wants to boost his environmental image before November likely to veto wilderness legislation, as he did last year with a Florida bill. All of this puts dirt riders in a tough position. If congressional leaders and the president aren't going to question dubious wilderness choices, and if motorcycling's best lobby is ignored in the proceedings, what are we to do? . First, you've got to inform yourself of any legislation proposed for national forests in your state, and whether it will have an eHect on trail riding. The AMA (at P.O. Box 141, Westerville, OH 43081) or the local National . Forest supervisor can help fill you in on that. The AMA can also tell you how to find the status of pending wilderness bills and organize local opposition if riding is threatened. You've also got to let your elected oHicials know your opinion. Get out your stationary and tell your U.S. representative and senators that you as a taxpayer and a legitimate user of public l.ands oppose the loss of riding opportunities. You should also tell the same thing to the chairmen of com· mittees considering wilderness legislation you oppose. It's an election year, and these people just might hold your opinion in higher regard than usual. If you don't like their answers, write again; after all, they're your public servants. Congress is considering about three dozen wilderness bills for two dozen states. The wil.derness flood is moving q uickl y and has not yet crested. If you don't act today, the flood just may sweep away some of your favorit~ rAin~ Ii! s(tp.rv0~ro,"i·l I 11'· 3

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