Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ w Z W ..J U >- U aJI~1 I ••• America's Numb er 1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'lt always see it first in Cycle News MOTI NDU S T R Y OR~~teE [Mfi ) L:iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiUiiiN;i;Ciii'~ CO L ~ '- GOOD CHOI CE As the immediate past president o f the American Motorcycle Association, it was w ith a gre at deal more than passing in t erest that I noted your se lection of Russ March as "Man of the Yearn in your February 1st ed ition. God only k nows (as we ll as a few m o re of us) t hat Ma rch certainly deserves this recogn iti o n , fo r he has truly worked very hard - a nd lo n g - to upgrade and d iversit y the AMA's activities, do ing a superb job of implementing the m a n y p rograms entrusted to him b y the A.'vIA Executive Com m ittee and o th ers. BILL BAGNALL Bagnall Pu b lish in g Co. Sierra Madre, Calif. Charles Clayton Publisher Sharon Clayton Bus iness Manager Tom Culp Gen eral Mana ger Joh n Bethea Man ag ing Ed ito r Ass ist an t Ed it o r David Sw ift Rheba Smit h Circ ulatio n Ma na ger Circ u la t io n Assistant Marla Ta rbet Jim Broo ks .C ircu lat ion Prom o t io n Mgr. Production Manager Ed Drechsle r Ho w ie Fowler Prod uct io n Assistant Barb ara R ichard . . Ad ver t ising Assista n t Lab T ec h nicia n Lar ry Groves T y p og ra ph er Marion Hatash ita Book keep er Do roth ea Lang Book kee per Ass ista n t Elea nor D u ke Recep t ionist Beverly Townsend Cy cle News Prod uct s Bobi C ulp Nati o nal Advertising Director (Cycle New s Wes t, Cycle News East, Cycle News Dixie) : Tom Culp . Cycle News West, P.O . Bo x 498, Long Bea ch , Ca liforn ia 90801. (2 13) 427 ·7433 ; L.A . 636·8844. T EL EX NO. 673474 Su b scr iptio n : One year, se co nd cl ass m a il 2 years second class mail 3 years, second class mai l Single copy price S9.00 S15 .00 S18.00 S.30 CLAYTO N CORRECT ED STAND S I read wi th interes t your edito rial, "Motor Vo ters", in th e J anuary 18 , 197 2 issue. In the se cond paragraph from the end you state - "Most of the off-road lice nse fee wi ll b e h and ed t o th e Cal ifornia State Park and Recreation Dep art m ent with the stipulatio n tha t the money be . spent solely on rno to rcycl e recreation ". Y a u are correct that this fund that sets up the identificatio n plate provision effective J ul y I , 197 2, an d establishes the $15 biennial fee , is a special fund t o be used reprin ted for the general pub lic to see, si mply dist rac ts from th e acco mplish ments of performers such as Evel Kni evel and m y sel f. T he fo llowing suggestions, eve n though they vary somewhat fro m my pas t accomp lishments, are be in g m ad e t o p reven t th e sport of motorcycle j um p ing fro m being reduced t o the cred ibility lev el of, for in st a nce, wres tli ng an d roll er derby. I would ap preciate h ea ri n g from the AMA as t o th e foll o win g suggestions : I. Distances o f jumps to be determi ned by th e measured di st a nce b etw een th e highes t points o f b oth take-off and landing ramps by a Could 'y o u give any dates of enduros that would be good for beginners? C LIFF ROBERTS Woodland Hills, Calif. Try the SRA's Calico Enduro, Feb. 20, at Carico Ghost Town. It shou ld be fun...Ed. GOT GAS DISGUSTED We are really in disgust after seeing wh at we sa w wh en leavin g the race o n Jan. 23 rd. He re we are driving from the p it a nd camping area next to the Rescu e 3 t ruck, when all of a sudden I looked to the left and I see a small boy falling jus t nex t to me o n his "cu te" lit tle Honda 50 t ra ilbike. He has just hit one o f th e gir ls t ha t work wit h Rescu e 3, b rig h t re d jacke t and white p an ts. Sh e end s up wi th a broken wr ist and a p ossibl e brok en back o r pelvis. O ut o f all the d esert a rea we have away fro m t he camping and pit area we always have t h e ch ild , a nd even t he adults , trying to show off or whatever in th e p it s. If you can't police yourself and conduct yourselves as adults, and take better car e of your c h ild ren a nd not let them ride or race just anywhere, wh y th e h - bring them or yourself o u t and possibly hurt somebody like th is poor innocent girl. Rescue 3 is a God send and sh ould b e to all desert-riders. But if this sort o f thing continues on, we wouldn 't feel too bad if Rescue 3 stopped attending and helpi ng at o ur races. DA R RYL & JO ANN No.57c S .B.V_ I. C. '> Copyrigh t€) Cycle News, Inc . 19 72 all rig hts reserved i_iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~iiiiiiiiiiiio:-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~iiiiii~iiiiii~ T RY CALICO What with com p eti ti o n in the desert becoming more and more intense. it sure is nice to be re minded that there are still those who are willing to help another rider even th ough h e wears another club 's colors. In the recent O .C .l\I.C. Hare Scramb les I ran o u t of reserve gas just as I entered th e p it a rea an d found myself im mediate ly in fro nt of a we ll k nown "racer" club p it. My own pi t (Prospec to rs) was ap prox imately o ne cu p o f gas (b ut a lot of push ing) down th e lin e. T o my d isbelief I was refused gas by thi s " club " and so b egan t o push at which time I was waved in to the Vikings MIC pit and with ou t ano ther word was gassed up a nd pushed off. I did n't h ave an opportunity to th an k them after the race and I am not big-on letter w rit in g bu t I fe lt co mpelled to let them know t hat their courtesy was most ap p reciated and also to compliment them on their excellent "Virgin Voyage" of 1·9 -72 , complete with on time, printed resu lts . I don't know any of their members p ersonally but if I ever see o ne who n eed s a hand, you can bet he'll ge t mine - clubs like theirs are what it's all about. ROGER l\IARI:-IE Am. No. 145X Manhattan Beach, Calif. Pub lished w ee k ly e xcept th e first and last week of the cal endar y ear by Cycl e News, Inc., Post Off ice Bo x 498 , Long Beach, Ca liforn ia . Also publ ishers of Cycl e News Eas t . and Dix ie Cy cle New s . Second Class Po st age pa id at Long Beach , Ca lif . Ed it o ria l st o ries , cartoons, p hot o s, etc. a re welcome. Ad d ressed . stamped envelope assures return of ed itorial matter. Re p rintin g in wh o le or in part only by permission o f th e p ub lishers . Ad verti sin g rates and circ u lat io n informa tio n will be sent upon req uest . See S .R.D .S . VOICES OF THE WEST for the purpose of establishing areas and tr ails fo r off-highway vehicles. I must stro ngly correc t the use of the wo rds "solely on motorcycle recreation" b ecau se tha t b y it sel f is not tr ue. T his b ill, th at is no w law , deals with a ll o ff-h ighway veh icl es th at will b e used o n p ublic lands a nd wo ul d incl ude go-carts, m in ib ik es, d une buggies , 4 -w heel drive veh icles and ATV's. Our projectio ns in dicate tha t th e b ulk of t he money will come from t he motorcyclists and, the refo re, the maj o ri ty o f th e p rojects will b e designed for moto rcycle use, bu t it will not be solel y for mo torcycle use . We accepted the responsibility under this legis lation to develo p special areas and trai ls for off-h ighway veh icle use to be funded out of this identification pl ate fee . As I mentioned to you several t im es in person, we do in t e nd to fully coope rate. with the m o t o rcycle ind ustr y in working together in the establishment a nd operation of these new off-highway facilities . The user fee concept has been very successful for the boaters and we feel that the motorcyclists and other off-h igh way veh icle users will also , in time, find th at the us er fee concept for th e es ta blishment of special areas and trails to be the only way to insure the futu re of a great recreati o nal activity. ROBE RT H . ME YER Deputy Director Cal if. Dept. of Parks & R ecreatio n TO TH E AMA In recent week s 1 have b een read ing abou t many claims to n ew m oto rcycle jum pi ng rec ords a nd , in my op inion, the whole th in g is ge tti ng rather ridiculo us . I wish t o make so m e suggestio ns in th e hopes that p o ssibl y the AMA ca n get into the p ic t ure and eliminate m a n y of these fa lse claims . As you realize, a n AMA official certified my jump at Sa n Jose on October 31, 1971 ,as being 144 feet from take-off point to touch down. My re cent jump a t the Cow Palace, while not certified by an AMA officia l, is being certified b y three reputable and impartial witnesses famili ar to District 36 officials. By setting specific standard s for determining the success andjor the distance of a ramp-to-ramp jump, I feel the general pub lic would be getting a true picture of what is involved in accom p lishing th ese feats . False claims by p romoters of world rec ord s being GUEST COMMENT rep resen ta ti ve of the Al\IA fo r ce r tification. Obviously , this distance must be su ccessfully cleared . 2 . J umps where the rider falls upon landing should not be considered success fu l. (There are cases where, d ue t o either da mage to the motorcycle or st o pping space is limited , t he ride r must lay d own the motorcycle or "th row it away' bu t. so long as he has co n t ro l, the jum p shou ld be coun ted .) 3 . Landing upon a 'safety ramp ' o r o ther device t o protect the rider in the eve nt of a short jump, o bvi o us ly should disqualify th e jump sin ce th e rider fe ll short of th e specified distance. 4 . Ph o to grap hs. which include both ram p s a nd the rider at some stage of h is ju mp, should be available to substantiate any new claims of jump ing record s. 5. A m in im u m height for take-off ramps should be established. I suggest th at this distance be approximately six feet t o six feet, six inc hes to clear the roof o f the averag e van, used b y both Evel K nievel and m yself, just ahead of the landing ramp. I most sincerely hope that the Al\IA wi ll decide to enter into this new field so the air can be cleared , or at leas t publicly endorse these gu ide lines . The sport of motorcycling hard ly needs false clai ms of new records to confuse the general public. SUPER J O E EIN HO RI' R ich m ond. Calif. About 0-37's ISOT Plan By Lynn Win eland R on Schneid ers has taken his usual p o sitio n o n th e soap bo x to t ell of Dis tric t 3 7 Sports Committee's pro p o sal to th e AMA fo r a n ISDT site . With greatest res pect for my fe llow journalist , I submit that Ron is a bout as wet as the water he describes at great lengt h in his report. Having provided h im th e District's d uplicat e of th e package sent to the Al\lA and sanctioned h is doing a b rief (?) story for Cycle News, I accep t the bl am e for it h appen in g. Sc hneiders is a good fell ow, b ut h is commentary on IS DT matters mu st be weighed against h is experience: he 's never been to one. Am erican team part icip ati o n is now in its ninth yea r. I've been involved in eight and am learning a lo t each time I go . As to th e Las Vegas locatio n, it's an idea I've ta lked up in Europe since 1965 a nd then: has been enthusiastic response to such a plan in eve ry Six Da ys group. Jack (n o t Larry ) Hurley and I were a p reliminary study group to determine the feasib ilit y of th e region. It had th e h o usin g, met needs for c o urse varieties an d distances -what we need checked was th e receptiveness of the community to such an event. It was outstanding! O n every ha nd we m e t with enthusiasm and comple te cooperation. At this poin t we scarcely wished to put a damper on the momentum generated by civic officials and businessmen, thus certain of their show o f avor to the idea is a b it carried away - such as selection of optimum dates to sui t thei r schedules. The IS DT of 19 73 will probably be in late September-early October if it is in Las V egas . d ue to the deadline im posed b y t h e FlM who ha ve their an nual meeting in mid-october a nd require that t he Six Da ys p recede that conclave. A great part of the IS DT' as with the Olympic Games , is the pageantry preceding a nd fo llowing t he eve nt. As such, a demo ns tratio n by the USAF "Thunderb irds " (no, not the Navy's "Blue Angels ") could w ell be a sti rri ng bit of showmanship , as suggested by Mayor Gragson of Las V egas. Wh o knows , we might even get our American t eam d ressed neatl y for th e ceremonies ; more than we managed last year in the Isle of Man. That won 't hap pen again!!! The courses publish ed wi thin you r paper should ha ve been kep t m or e confidential, just in case they would b e used. Actually , these are only genera l t o in d icate th at suc h gro u nd d oes ex ist t o th e n eeds for 1000-1200 miles used in six t days. Alt h o ugh no restrictions we re placed o n Sc h nei d ers , it see ms th at so m e th ought sh o uld have b een give n to divulgence of informat io n of so p articu lar a nature a t th is ea rly d ate. The area about Las Vegas does encom pass nearl y eve ry kind of t errain - p erhaps even "Iern on meringue (sic) pie" - and at least o ne sectio n w hic h has snow nine m onth s o f the year, thus Ro n m igh t well fi nd ice cream b efore pas t ry . N on e of th e ISDT 's 1 h ave attended h ave had m uc h snow , eit he r, so let 's not estab lish it as a criteria. Las tly, I stick by m y gu ns in stating th at of th e areas unde r consideration, Southern Cali fo rn ia provides "the great est aggregate of IS DT experience." Wh ile I do not ch alle nge the ta lent of the Penton fami ly's "Amherst Meadowlarks" club , fro m Oh io, I has te n to remind everyone tha t more ISD T riders fo r more ye ars have come fro m the local area than a ny o th er , and these men provide the know-how to STAGE the event based on th eir experience. This includes no t only com p et it o rs , b u t journalists, industry personnel, and enthusiast-spectators. I hope Ron will get involved in the ISDT through this year's q ual ifying and preliminary events. Perhaps he'll catch the enthusiasm that has engulfed those who co m e in contac t wit h it a nd journey to Czechoslovakia in September to see the "Big Show." As such, he'll be another westerner with usable talents to help co me 19 73 and we're not turning down knowledgeable help. Does Las Vegas h ave a chance at t he Six Days, allowi ng for help from neighbori ng Southern California??? I think so . The other p rime a reas under consideration now are O rego n , V ir gin a, Tennessee, Texas and Ke n t ucky - n on e of which has (to th e best of my knowledge) ever had a rider in the IS DT. That should count for so mething. ,

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