Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... ~ C. .... N '" .. Q. « ~ W Z W ...J o >- o aJI~1 II•• America 's Num ber 1 week ly mo torcycle ne wspaper . You'll always see it first in Cycle News Mfic: Mem ber MOTORCYCLE ~ INDUS TRY COUN CIL EXTE NDING CRED IT I think it would be n ice if your writers would mention the novices and am ateurs more. G ive them some credit too. Some of them are pretty swift. The ama te u rs h ave to race with th e experts and all we hear about is the experts. I have a son a nd a nephew who are amateurs this year. Last y ear as novices th ey did very well. Even when m y so n won the Four Aces Grand Prix he go t one lin e. First overall in the 101-175 cla ss w asn 't so me th ing to push asid e . The experts go t one-and-one-half pages wri tten o n th em. Give cred it where cr ed it is due. I think m o re credit is d ue the novices and amateurs. MA RY COO KE Charles Clayton Sharon Clayton Tom Culp .. Joh n Bethea David Swift . Art Friedman Ed Drechsler Barbara Richard Rheba Smith Marla Tarbet AI Duke . . . Paul Boudreau H ow ie Fow ler . Larr y Gro ves . · . . .. Publisher .Business Man ager · GeneraI Manager · Managing Editor · . . . . . Ed itor · Assisjant Editor · Advert ising Manager .Advertising Assistant · Circulat ion Manager · Circulat ion Assistant · Circulat io n Assistant · Production Manager · Production Assistant .Lab Technician · . . . . Typographer Mario n Hatashita Doroth ea Lang . · . . . . Bookkeeper Eleanor Duke . . . Bookkeeping Assistant · . . . . Recept ion ist Beverly Townsend Bobi Culp . .. .. . .Cvcle News Products challenging track for anyone th at feels that he has mastered the arts o f rnatocrossing. We fed so concerned abo u t th e future of motocross as do many o th ers . We ar e holding a Benefit Race the 9th of April with all profits go ing to th e American Moto-Cross T eam, to show we ca re. See you at the track. BILL CZERWINSKI President Lompoc Slo-Pok es 12 GOOD HOURS My w ife and I recently co mp lete d a m o torcy cle safety class co-sponso red b y the San ta Clarita Valley T ra ffic Survival Sch o ol and th e lo cal Kiwan is Cl ubs. Th e three instructors : T o m Swa yn er , Haro ld Alexander and Jack Con wa y are each National Advertising Director (Cycle News West. Cycle News East. Cycle News Dixie) : Tom Culp . Cy cle New s West , P .O . Box 498 . Long Beach. California 90801. (2 13) 427 ·7433 ; L.A. 636·8844. TELEX NO. 6734 74 Subscription : One year. seco nd class ma il 2 year s second class mail 3 years . second c lass mail Single copy price S9 .00 S15.00 S18 .00 S.30 23 130 and 27160 of the California Vehicle Code obtained from the California Highway Patrol. The sound meter used was th e 5365.00 General Radio 1565-B. It m eets ANSI 51 4-1971, Type 2. A 400 Husky read s 90 dbA nat out in second gear at fift y feet. The point I'm trying to make is this: Let's not set rules and then d ilute them. Set realistic standards and enforce them. By th is, I mean not just walking down the line at a desert run and visually ch ec k ing to see if somebody has an em pty b eer ca n stuffed ove r a st inger a n . p ainted flat black. I understand that th e ski b oat people .re up aga inst th e noise problem also . f hey have t o have t heir big engines silenced by J uly 1, 1972. The Dep ar tme n t of Fish & Gam e. alo ng with DEEP T HOUGHTS T he J est er 's M.C. wo uld lik e to t hank all t he wo nderful peop le who ro de our run and m ad e it a success. Our thanks also to al l the m a nu factu rers for th eir co ntingency a wards. To the p ers o n or persons wh o to re our signs do w n a nd erased our lim e marks at Fo ur Comers : We think that you are lower t han whale m an ure, a nd it is at t he botto m 0 f t he ocean. GORDON M. BY RNE Secretary Jester M.C. T HEY CARE As president of the Lompoc Slo-Pokes I feel it is my tum to speak o ut concerning the m oto cro ss track in Santa Maria, (S pillway Park ). One of you r read ers wr o t e and said that it wasn't a mo t o cross track as it had too m u ch sa nd, others have said that is was dangerous and still others have said what a bitchin track it is, and requires all the riding skill and energy one can muster. We have taken a river bed and turned it in t o a motocross track. Sorry about the sand as we could not find a river bed without sand. As for injuries, after careful analysis of t he track to determine where the inj u ries were oc curring, we concluded that the sandy spots were t h e safest. Weare alwa ys so rry to he ar of any injuries and we are striving to mak e th e Spillway Park race track the safest in California. Some are probably saying, "What does a president of a club know about motocrossing?" Let me give you some of my background. I'm retired from the Air Force with 21 years service. I'm 42 years old and six months ago I started racing. I'd never ra ced anything b efore. I don't think I'll ever win a ra ce but just entering a ra ce gives me a driving urge t o compete. I've raced at Spillway Park, my sons ra ce there, they trophy o fte n and haven't b een injured. We think it is a safe track. I surely wouldn't all ow my sons to race any track that wasn't safe. To compete on this track a rider m ust use his skill to maneuver around the track and not necessarily h is speed. T o say the very leas t , Spill way Par k at Santa Ma ria is a d emandin g and very_ L..- VOICES OF THE WEST law enforcement m o t o rcy cle officers. They offer a co o l class in basic tech niques of m otorcy cle o peration, including m ai n t enance and motor vehicle laws. In o ur class were m en , wom en and children. We were se pa rated in to three grou ps depending upon the amo u nt of riding ex perience which ranged from no ne o n u p to two years. By t he end of the fo urth week eve n th e rank beginners were riding with confidence and the "old timers" admitted to learning m a n y new w o rthwhile tips. The classes are conducted on four co nsecutive Saturday m o rn ings from 9 a.m. to noon at , the Arroyo Seeo Jr. High School in Saugus. Classes are limited to 24 students, age 12 and up so we suggest you m ak e your rese rva t io ns early by wri ting th e T raffic Survival School at P.O . Bo x E, Newhall, Calif. 91321 or p h o n e (8 05) 259-9 960. This was our m o st worthw hile 12 bours of mo t o rcy clin g. T he information and instruction we rec eived will more than likely save us from skidding on our Glutens Maxirnus ' (rear -en d s) someday. By the way the school furnishes the motorcycles and h elm ets . DICK and PAT GISE Granada Hills, Calif. SHH! I understand t hat instead o f havi ng the m otorcycle man ufacturers and accessory people co m e d own to the 92 dbA level, t he AMA has upped th e level t o 96 dbA . Does this m ean th at if th e manufacturers d on't meet the 96 dbA level, the AMA will up the level t o maybe 100 dbA ? I thought that the whole idea was for " less sound, more ground". T he 92 dbA level is not unreali st ic, because we at Burak Bye Products ha ve a sile nc er that meets the 92 dbA le vel. WE are ru n nin g them on J .N. Roberts 400 a nd 450 Huskies. Also, we have one on John Hatelev's 250 CZ short track ma chine. We make them for a n y ma ch in e. Per formance on all three bikes has b een increased not only at the bottom , b u t all through the power range. Don't tak e our word for it. Have your reporters question these riders in the field and le t them listen for th emselves. Our sound level readings w ere ma de to co nfo rm with the sp ecifi c Sections I am wr it ing to express my basic agreement with the "guest comment" article by Bob Sanford in the March 21, 19 72 issue of your paper. I am a confirmed dirt rider with two off-road b ik es. I enjoy riding very m uch and feel that we off-road riders do have basic rights which we are being denied . I read the Pr esid en t ial Pr o clama tion several times an d started many letters to my congressman, senator etc. but was not able to finish these letters as I found myself in agreement with m a n y items the President cover ed . The things I did not agree with are those the President left unsaid .. .the ar eas which leave too much au thori ty with c erta in interests which may have ex cessive built -in prejudices against off-road vehicles. I agree with Mr. Sa nford in the sense that we must ind eed "take the iniative " and fight for areas-large, open and relatively uninhabited areas where we will no t c reate more problems. We are not go ing to alter what has been done, and unl ess we get busy in demanding o u r fair share we'll end up with nothing at all. I now have something I can say when I write t o the President , to my Senator a nd to my Congressman. I can say I want my share and since there's a lot of us a nd the number is growing daily, we want a big, BIG share . TIMOTHY McKEON Saugus, Calif. VI GILANT ES In reply to Wes Anderson Sr.'s lett er on pit ra cers : pit as well as course control is the res ponsibility of the promoting organization, and ca n no t be handled properly by the District 37 Sports Co m m it t ee. Un less , th at is , you'd like to le t them k now where the vigilante actio n will tak e place. I'm sure th ey all would help with the rope. HARRY WHALEN District 37 Board 0 f Directors AYB EE SEA In regards to your rece nt articl e "One Tough E nduro" in the January 18 th issue, I think I rese mb le that remark about the permanent Class B enduro rider. I am su re I meet the qualifications - of a Class A rid er but, w hat is a Class A rider? It is m y understanding th at you ar e a Clas s B rider until t h e AMA stamp s th e back of yo u r AMA car d o therwise (pas t pro cedure with th e old cards). It t hi s st ill in effec t? If so , ma yb e t he Al\fA need s a little b o ost. THOMAS R . BA R NES Tem pleton, C~if. KUTE KIDD IE KOMMENTS _ the Co as t Guard , will d o their enfo rcing . You k no w what t hat m ea ns. T hey don't have a ny vested in terests in th e boats, so t hey can be as to ug h as th ey want . .Is that what we a re going to let h ap p en to th e mo t o rcy cle world, or can we police o urselves? I k now that I don't need a bureaucrat on the desert trail s writing noise ci tations. It could h appen , you k now. DOUG MAYES Van Nuys, Calif. FA IR SHARE Copyright €I Cycle News. Inc . 1972 all rights reserved The author replies : " If yo u res ide in District 37 (w hich I assume yo u do , because you're riding the Jackass and Last Chance End uros ) you w ill be required to o btain an en duro card from District 37 . It will cost you $ 1. This end uro card will have your classification o n it. The distincti o n between A and 8 riders is quite simple. An y rider who fin ishes three AMA endures and scores in the top 10 percen t o verall in any period of time is classified as a Class A rider. Otherw ise , he is a Class 8 rider. This is spelled out quite clearly in the District 37 rulebook, which you will receive when you apply for your enduro card." - Ron Schneiders. ISDT PROPOSAL I received the following recen tl y fro m Ron Westb erg , Mo unt ain View, California. I tho ug h it was worth noting. MIKE MIT CHENER Pasadena :-,I.C. While m y buddy a nd I w ere ov er in Viet Nam, w e couldn 't help b u t think th is wo uld b e a perfect pl ace for the IS DT if all th e guns , etc. were eliminat ed . T h ink about it .. .24.MPH average through acres of rice paddies, beautiful mountains, and really groovy jungle. Until this happens , we can only h ope you will se nd us two entry forms for the next best thing: the Green h orn ! RON & KEN Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar year by Cycle News, Inc ., Post Office Box 498. Long Beach. Californ ia . Also publishers of Cycle News East. and Di xie Cycle News . Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach . Calif. Editorial stories. cartoons. photos, etc . are welcome . Addressed. st amped envelope assu res return of ed itorial -matter . Reprinting in whole or in part only by permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation informat ion w ill be sent u po n request. See S .R .D .5 . I t ho ugh t I wo uld sea t down to t ell yo u my feeli ngs abo ut Cycle News . Well, in general , it is the best new 's pap er I r ead. And the only one. My only co ncerne d is th at you only cover th e south lik e a really new's pape r. Please co uld you m ore new s about th e North . DA VID JOHN SON I am writ ing to you so I can tell yo u ho w good your p ap er is. My dad a nd I have been enjoying your paper for al most t h ree years. My nam e is Christine Neneman and I have a mini "enduro" ! A nd so d o es my sister. My mo m and dad have Ya mahas. This Sunday we are going to go riding. Bye. Your friend, CH RISTINE NENHfAN Omaha, Nebraska CARD GAME Ca n we d o anything about whoever' issues A .M.A . m embersh ip cards? I sent in my ren ew al fee o n one of those spiffy renewal slip s, the ones t hat look as if they w ill speed up th e processing. Well, I got t he cancelled check back from the bank. It was d at ed as being cashed on February 4. In the meantime I have written three letters asking w here it was. It has been over 40 days since February 4 and I haven 't heard a word yet. Now that 's what I call speedy processing. 'O r h as somebody in Worthington a bsco nd ed with my seven bu cks . JEFF ROBB IN S A .M.A. No. 33 7006 S houl dn't be too much longer. One staffer just joined in January and fi nally got his card the other day . He was rather pleased at the surprise in the ma il because he had comp letely forgotten he had signed up...Ed. BLOW UP Could y ou please inform us as to we could have a snapshot negative b lown up into a p ost er? LORENA GENTRY 314S.ESt. Lompoc, CA 93436 Photography magazi nes such as " Popular. Photography" , Modern Photogra phy", and " Kwik Pix Made E-Z" usually carry ads for where such ite ms. You can spot the ads a mile away; they always have somebod y's high school sweetheart as the sub ject of the poster. Maybe an enter prising estab lishmen t w ill co ntact yo u. The n again. maybe not... Ed. (Please turn to pg. 24)

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