Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... "> g Q. N ..... ell I!l ' N C -. '" ~ w Z W ...J U >- U aJI~1 I ••• " America's No . 1 w eek ly motorcyc le newspaper . Yo u'll alw ays see it FIRST in C~le News!" Publisher Charles Clayton Business Manager Sharon Clayton General Manager Tom Culp Managing Ed itor John Bethea Ass istant Editor David Swift Circu lation Manager Rheba Smith Circu lation Ass 't Mar la Tarbet Production Manager Ed Drechsler Production Assistant Ph il Stranske Advertising Assistant . . Barbara Richard Bookkeeper Dorothea Lang Bookkeeper Ass't, . Eleanor Duke Lab Technician Larry Groves Circ ulation Promotion Mgr. . J im Brooks Cycle News East, Dixie Cycle News and National Ad vertising in fo rma t io n: Tom Culp, Nat ional Advertising Director. Cyc le News (West ), P.O . Bo x 498, Long Bea ch , C al ifornia 90801 . (2 13 ) 427 ·7433 - L.A . 636-8844 . TEL EX NO. 673-474 Subscr iption : One year 2nd class mail 2 years 2nd class mail 3 years 2nd class ma il S ingle copy p rice . . . . .59.00 . 5 15.0 0 . 5 18.0 0 . . 5 .30 Published weekly except the first and last week of the ca lend ar yea r b y Cycle News, Inc ., Post Office Box 498, Lo ng Beach, Californ ia , al so p ub lish ers of Cycle News East, a nd Dix ie Cycle News. Second Class Postage pai d at Lo ng Beach , Ca lif . Editorial st ories ca rt o on s photos, etc. are we lcome. Addressed: stamped envelope ass ures ret urn of editorial matter. Reprin t ing in whole o r in part only by p erm ission of th e publishers . Advertising rates and c irculation info rma ti o n w ill b e sen t upon request. See S .R .D.S. Copyright Cy cle New s , Inc . 1971 -72 a ll rights reserved (~~)~~~~~~~~~~~~e ~~~~ BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME My faith in human nature is restored . . Th~ dog-eat-do~ attitude in the large cny IS so contagious that we ten d to forget that we are all God's children and there are some good people left. My family and so me friends, (17 in all) attended the S.R.A. sponso red Novice and Amateur desert race at Lucerne Valley January. While at the pit stop in Barstow, I los t m y b illfold. It contained $70 in cash, plus, a check, p lus all the va luable we ordinarily carry with us. After Sl;arching fruitlessly, I finally drove my big Motorcycle Set-Up truck 35 miles over to the finish line at Four Corners. As I was parking, a gentleman ap proached me and gave me my wallet. Compl et ely intact. His son had found it in the dir t at t he pit stop, and associated the check in t he billfold with the name on my truck. What more can I say, then, "God bless you son," and my co mpliments to yo ur p aren ts for th eir philosophy in rais ing you. BILL PIERC E Mo to rcycle Set -Up s visit several schools east of the Mississippi t hat desire to establish such a program. This time I'll be accompanied by my wife o n her bike. We will have been motorcycling through the 48 contiguous states and Alaska. If any of your readers know of a school where such a p ro gram might be feasib le, they can co ntact me at LACC and we'll arrange to get to them on o ur trip. The price? Two cups of coffee or two beers, depending on the weather. Thanks for your help. DON LANDAUER Professor Department of Engineering LACC 855 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 Posters are being distributed, but if you can't find one, give us or the club a phone call for further info. Anyone interested or that knows anyone who would be, please try to make it, or co ntact so meone that you think would enjoy the reu nion. Entry fee is $5 . DI NG US ! Desert Ch all en gers M.C. Box 437, Rancho Mirage, Ca. 92270 STATE YOUR PURPOSE I just read the article by Ron Schneiders about last year's endures. I en joyed the article very m uch as I rode m y first enduro J anuary 9, put on by the CERA near Indi o. US MEANIES On J an uary 4, th e TV series " Cannon" did a great injustice to the already unsturdy image of the bike rider. We we re view ed as the usual chain-swinging cri minals, trying to run people ove r with our bike, and t erro rizin g Can no n and his friend. We've been kicked in the p an ts agai n an d it h urts. DAVE G RIEVE Sac to , Calif. It was nice to hear fro m yo u, b ut d id yo u send a lett er to Cann on 's spo nso rs? .. Ed . TOW CYCLE I'm interested in a trailer to pull beh ind a Harley-Davidson 74. I have b een unab le to find out any information, so I'm writing to you in hopes you will be able to put me in co ntact with someone who could give me som e infonnation on a trailer. GARY D. BROWN P.O. Box 225 Three Rivers, Mich . 49093 GOOD KIDS Reach Out Rialto is a youth center which started about a year ago. The suppo:t of the center is thro ugh d on at io ns and th e teenagers ea rning m o n ey . T he teenagers also do t he main tenance. Needing money badly, two of the boys who are racing enthusiasts came up with the motocross idea. Last September, Bill Klears, 17, and Mike Bennett, 16, started to work in preparing all the paper work and details to present to the many city officials. With help from a few adults such as Malcolm Smith, Brent Rhoads, and others, they gave a complete presentation and finally got the go-ahead fro m the city. The property used is flood-contro l lan d . With ou t any financial support excep t the teenagers h ol d in g car wash es an d collecting pop bo t tl es they are doing all th e work, clearing all th e land , p utting u p th e required fencing, etc.. that the ins urance re quires. And b elieve me, the city is really making some tough demands. 1 feel that these teenagers need all the support th~y .can get to make this a big success. If It IS, they may open this area for all bike riders all year long. H ope to see some of you people Jan uary 23. H.HOLLADAY R ialto , Calif. BARGAIN COURSES Las t summer I rode through all th e western states t alking to people who were interested in our motor cycl e engineering courses here at Los Angeles City College. This summer.I 'm going to VOICES OF THE WEST MY LIFE FOR A HOT DOG I was th e vic tim of an inexperienced corner flagman. Upon cresting the starting hill at Baymar e I was greeted b y a d owned bike in m y path. T he flagman had go ne d own t o h elp th e fa lle n rider instead of staying at th e top o f th e hill t o ca ution other riders. Endo city! S om eone could have been seriously h u rt . All too often promoters recruit small childre n fo r flagmen , paying them with hot dogs and Pep sis, This makes for a very dangerous situation as the kids don't really know what they are doing and th e rid ers have to really depend on them. Personally I don't like the idea of risking my neck because some promoter is too cheap to hire top-notch flagmen. Som ethin g sho uld b e done about riders who put profits ahead of safety . DAN WALLER Santa Barbara, Cali f. PICKING UP If you are interested, and maybe if 1\1r. Ron Schneiders is on his way to the desert Saturday morning, January 29, around 10 a.m., the Lost Angels and SoCal M.C.'s are going to patrol the area of Hi Vista for trash, garbage, etc. You may want to get a slant on the good side of things. Hi Vista is still a good place for bikes. We are trying to keep it that way. CO HYTTEN Lost Angels M.C. Sun Va lley, Calif. DESERT REUNION On Sunday , Feb . 6th, the Palm Springs 100 , a 100 mi le Hare & Hound will be held by the Desert Challengers M.C . T he promoting organization is attempting to lure any and all riders that were around and competing in the 'Fifties into dragging out their old iron (or new, if t hey h ave any), and sharing a little nostalgia with a bunch of old sandwash buddies. In order to kick this off properly a "Free Fifties Reunio n " gathering will b e h eld the nigh t b efo re a t th e dew In t er n at ional Hotel in Palm Sp rings . Just w ear your o ld drinkin' wedgies and spend th e evening b en ch-racing an d wo rk ing up side-bets for th e following day 's hare and hound. Sounds like a lot of fun wh ether you ride o r n ot. Most o f th e wives will probably do their gathering in down town Palm Springs on Sunday. LET'S TATTLE I'd like to say that most desert racers do it with the righ t idea in mind - fun - but there is a large number of racers who have forgotten that "it's not how you win or lose, it's how you play the game." A desert race is not an easy thing to put on by a ny club. They can do just so much, but t he spectators out there know what's goi ng on yet they wo uld rather p lay os trich . One reason for t his is that anyone who co mp lains is im m edia tely tagged a "sniveler" . Come on, folks . Le t's open o ur eyes an d mo uths and q uit being afraid t o report cheati ng. Desert racin g is a great sport; let's keep it that way. WILMA MARK La Puente, Calif. DEAR RUSS SANFORD: O nce again the first of a new year has arrived and with it th e time to ren ew my fello wship wi th MORE . Encl os ed is m y mere pittance fo r the family an d h er e' s hoping th at you will be as success fu l this y ea r as y ou have been in th e past. Without your efforts 1 feel that the motorcyclists of California might b e no more. To prove that point, if y o u will pick up a recent copy of U .S. News and World Report, dated Jan. 3. you will be 14 - ~ GOOD SHOW Due t o h is p erformance in the Mic k Andrew s Trial, Danny Sm ith has been inv it ed b y the organizers of the Trials de Espana to make the trip to Spain along with fou r other western U.S. Trials riders. Dann y has arranged fo r th e time off but needs PNTA 's help in raising expense money. The organizer, Fred Belair, informs us that approximately $800 will b e n eed ed for th e three-w eek trip. We are currently attempting to organize so me benefit eve nts to hel p Danny re p resent the PNT A on the Internat ional level. Any suggestio ns would b e very welcome - pl ease contact L. Wilbanks at (503) 566-350 1 or 5 6 6 -35 26. E D CH ES NUT PI\'TA Westo n, Ore. DESERT ANARCHY CLUB R on men tions three d ifferent groups of en duro riders: 1. Th ose wh o like strictly-time d eve nts; 2. those w ho like th e ISDT type; 3 . those who ride ju st for fun. In m y op inion, any end uro fo r Na tio nal points shou ld b e of ISDT cal ib re b ecause we do need training ground fo r Internati onal eve nts. Th ose who like timed eve nts and 'th ose wh o like fu n eve n ts prob abl y outnumber the serio us riders 10 to I, so we need those kinds of eve nts, also . I do not care to become an expert and ride for p o in ts so I d o not care to ride an event that finis h ed 10-20%. 1 want to finis h every event I enter, unless of mechanical failure. To be fair, I believe all ads and entry forms sho uld state what type of eve n t is to be run : ISD T, t ough ex pert, cloc kers , or fun. T hi s way a novice or b eginner w ill no t clu tter the course because of lack of ab ility o r ma ch in ery fo r tough eve n ts . . BO B EARL Bue na Par k , Cal if. • interested to find an article on "Fun Machines" and legislation affecting them in the future. Hopefully, ~IO RE will sustain itself fo r the new year and continue to fight bad legislation. I set a personal record for letters to Sacramento, includ ing th e Governor and one to Washingto n. BILL SP ENCER Menlo Par k, Calif. ~ We are st arting a d eser t club. O ur p urpose is to participate in Dist ric t 3 7 desert races and generally enjoy o ur chosen sport. Our only require ment is th at y o u h ave a m a ture attit ude towa rds desert racing . This is a broad statement an d incl udes many things, so think it o ver. Th ere will b e n o o ffic ers , consti t u tio n, bylaws , dues. in iti ation fee, o r routine attendance requirements. If th er e is a d esire o n the part of the m embers, we'll have a fa mily get-together occasionally. We would li ke eno ugh memb ers to lose th e closeness of a gro up like this can achieve. We wa nt Novices and beginners wi th en thusiasm and a few Amateu rs and Ex p erts who are w illing to pass o n th eir riding knowledge. Then we'll all combine our willingness to help one another for the enjoyment an d com radeshi p desert racing is. We w ill n o t p ut on any races. If you are in terested or h ave any h elp fu l comments, see Mark Widic k (208T) or Tom Widick (48X , bl ack jump er with yellow d o t ) in th e d esert or call Chuck Talbot, (2 13 ) 3 49-1 00 1. or Tom Widick, (805) 492-1028, evenings. (NAME WITHHELD) WHERE 'S MY BRASS? On Oct. 3, 1971, I raced the All Junior Day at Ind ian Dunes. I won the Powder Puff Division and on th at date I spoke to one of the officials and stat~d since Indian Dunes is over 10 0 miles from my home, San Clemente, 1 w ond er~d if t~ ey co uld mail m y tro phy. They said Watt fo r the r esul ts and write them my request and ad d ress to mail th e trophy. I di d just as they said and sent a $1 to cover costs and said if postage and h an d lin g was m o re I would gladly re mit. Since then I returned to th e Dunes for another race and again checked on my trophy. They said it w asn ' t there (two mo nths later) an d th ey would be sure to m ail it and again left my name and address with th ree d iffer ent p eop le. I never received resul ts on that ra ce and still no trophy . I have known a couple of o th er people who nev er got th eir troph ies fr om ACE either . I paid m y en try fe e ($8) and exp enses of traveling and at least they could have the decency of giving the proper awards as stated in their advertisements. . SHERRY McCLUNE San Clemente, Calif. Write to Cycle Scene West... Ed.

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