Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ -c ~ w Z W ...J U >- U Charles Clayton Sharon Clayton Tom Culp . . John Bethea David Swift . Art Friedman Ed Drechsler Barbara Richard Rheba Smith Marla Tarbet AI Duke . . . Paul Boudreau e'I~1 I ••• Amer ica's Number 1 weekly Howie Fowler . motorcycle newspaper... You 'll always see it first in Cycle New s MOTOR~~'g~eE INDUSTRY (Mfic:) L:iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 0i;i i;i iiiCiii';i; ci;i u N L TAKE TO THE ST REETS T he purpose of this letter is to make a couple of suggestions concerning the fight against a helme t law in Califo rn ia. Those who choose to wear a helmet all the time do n't need a law to make th em do it, but t hey should sti ll give us t heir support because of our common in terest. Firs t , to insu re a hard-hitti ng lett er writing campaign, Cycle News sho uld ask all the moto rcy cle clubs to ca ll a meeting of their m em b ers fo r the purp ose of writing letters to California legislato rs. This wa y lo ts of letters wo uld b e written which might otherwise b e put off. To make o ur pro test visible to Califo rnia legislators and p erhap s to hel p in other states as well, our mo torcy cle p ress could call for and o rganize a ride on Sacramento . This co uld be a two day affair with riders co nverging on the ca p itol from all over th e state. Street mach ines could be rid d en all the way while desert bikes co u ld be hauled in the usual manner to add to the impact. Big demo nstrations seem to be the only language those tax-happy --- understand. I b elieve th at mandato ry h elm et laws are very discrimi nato ry (and probab ly un constit u tio nal) in th at they are aimed at a sma ll, special segm ent of the pop ulation. And furt he rmore, since the vast m ajority of the people t h ey do affect are de mo nstra bly agai nst th em, ho w d o suc h laws get pass ed in th e first place? Wha t it me ans to me is that th e politician s o bvio usly don't give a d amn what we think. Let's try to find o u t if just laws ar e made t h ro ugh the co nsen t of th e governed. If o ur go vern m en t h as lost sigh t o f th at principle th en it is o ur righ t and our duty (accord ing to T ho mas J efferson) to make some changes. FE RG BYA RS Northridge, Calif. HASSLED AN D HUSTLED Your article abou t James Lt d. incensed me eno ugh to write this no te to yo ur n ew spap er. A more approp ria te titl e for this article would have b een "The Latest Poop. " As a wo man I have h ad no d ifferen t tr eatm ent from th ose j erk s th an in so me of the greasiest b ike shops aro un d . I bo ught a b ike t he re a year ago, and now I can't even get it serviced there. It see ms to me that yo u mu st have ask ed th at Hill man guy what he thought o f the p lace. Yo u o ught to try to be a customer - especially a woman - and see if yo u d o n't get has sled o r hustled. MRS . J OA N HA N LE Y Corona Del Mar , Calif. HE D ID N'T GET T H'= MON EY < EITH ER It seem s very stra nge that whoever covered th e April 2 ACA race a t Carl sb ad d id no t notice the 125 Intermediate and Exp ert race wh en a 15·year-ol d In termediate name J eff Vidi c ro de h is Pento n to win in the Intermediate class. If h e had sign ed up as an Ex pe rt h e would have won $50 . I think a rider like this should get mo re recognit ion . JACK/HAZA RD Anaheim, Calif. MORE JUMP JUNK Reference a letter to the editor appearing in your paper about two weeks ago. Also it is no tewo rt h y that the author elected not to sign his name as is customary for these type letters. The writer referred to the thought that Gary Davis and Rex Blackwell (Mel Larson 's Flying Cycles) did no t jump the 21 cars because of their position to t he ramp . Du e to the co nst ruc t io n of t he uprights on th e ramp it was imp oss ibl e to place all cars under t he ramp . However, fro m take off to land ing spo t · . . , . Publisher .Business Manager · General M anager · Managing Editor · . . .. . Editor · Assistant Editor Nat io nal Advertising Director (Cycle News West, Cycl e News East , Cycl e News Dix ie) : Tom Culp . · Circulat ion Manager Cycle News West, P.O . Bo x 498, Lo ng Beach, Ca lifo rn ia 90801. (213) 427 ·7433; L.A . 6 36-8844. · Circulat io n Assistant · Circulat io n Assistant T ELEX · Advertising Manager .A dvertising Assistant NO. 673474 · Prod uct ion Manager · Product io n Assistant Larry Groves . .Lab Technician Marion Hatashita · . . . . Typographer · . . _ . Bookkeeper Dorothea Lang . Eleanor Duke . . . Bookkeeping Assistant Beverly Townsend · . . . . Receptionist Bobi Culp .. .. . . .Cycle News Products Subscript io n : One year, second class ma il 2 yea rs, second class ma il 3 years, second c lass ma il Single copy price _ $ 10 $17 $21 $ .35 Publ ished week ly e xcept the first and last week of th e cal endar year by Cycle News , Inc .• Post Office Box 498, Long Beach, Cali fornia . Also publ ishers of Cycle News East, and Dixie Cycl e News. Second Class Post age pai d at Lon g Beach, Cal if . Ed ito ria l sto ries , carto ons, photos. etc. a re w elcome. Add ressed, stamped e nvelo p e assures retu rn o f edi t orial meeter . Reprin t ing in wh ole o r in part only by permission o f the publishers. Advert ising rates and circ ulatio n information wi ll b e sent upon request. See S .R .D .S. Copyrigh t€) Cy cle News, Inc. 1972 all righ ts reserved '_iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;;;;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~ the d istan ce was 138 feet for Blackwell and 138 .3 for Da vis and had the cars been under o r between or wherever, that dista nce certainly is equal to the width of 27 (NOT 21) Datsuns. It is u n fo rt u nate that in the past the performance of t he j ump has been measu red by cars ra ther th an feet. Not o nly ha ve Gary and Rex cleared 138 feet, b ut all of th eir landings have been o n t he wheels an d rid ing away . equals their Wh e n a nyo ne performances, they will b e recognized. However, it wi ll take some skill to better these two ta lented rid ers. ME L LA RSON Pho en ix , Arizona L- MIKUNI MEDDLINGS we st ill have th e right to use wh at little public land is lef t to us in th e high d eser t as we h ave alwa ys used it. We do n't h ave to beg fo r anythinlJ if we get behind Russ Sanford (MO RE) and kill th e bills that are anti o ff-ro ad rid ing b efore th ey become law . Our righ t t o use what land is left is b ein g tak en away fro m us by th e efforts of th e so-called co nserva t io nists led b y the Sierr a Club. The problem is land spoilage by mas s use. T he wa y t o stop land spoilage is by Mikunis are used on all Japanese machines except Hondas. The parts fo r different sizes spread ing ' o ut th e masses wh o use the are often interchangeable. Off-hand th e only d esert and not to confine th em to on e that I can th ink o f that uses a 24mm is designate d rid ing areas as o u r Pr esident the Kawasaki 250 cc A·l. Wander Into your would like to see. As th e d esert we rid e neighborhood dealer with the instrument in o n ge ts small er an d smaller, due to land you r hot little hand a nd te ll him yo ur closures, th e riding areas receive a problem... Ed. gre at er concen tratio n of p eople and more damage is do ne. T he greatest damage at any riding ar ea is done b y hill climbing. The hills that are used most ar e at o r in sigh t of th e p ark ing areas so the unskill ed con te stan ts ca n wall ow in at ten tio n an d make up for th eir lack of d esert riding ab ility. Riders of th e flat desert find sa nd wash es an d trails to ride on, which cau ses little adde d dama ge to th e des ert. The bald and ero d ed hill s and littered parking areas gives the Sierra Club and ecology vote seek in g politician s a gre at to ol to clo se more land to us. Mr. Sanford is right abo u t - one point; the Sierra Club sure would like to h elp us find so me other lan d to rid e o n - Ascot Park ! .. Mr. Sanford . [ think yo ur co mm en ts bel ong in the Sierra Club News. It BUT IT'S CLEAN would also be a gre at cam p aign speech I used to be a steady customer of for an o ffi ce in Tricky Dick's cabinet on J ames Ltd. until last summer when ant i bike legislation. We sure as h ell something changed, and I don't thi nk don 't need you, your co mments , or th e shop quite lives up to your article. your Honda one. Of co urse the shop is clean ...they have Mr. Sanford, what are your no Service Department! How Suzuki cred en tials to critici ze our efforts to lets them get away with it is beyond me . keep what we h ave? Who are you? What You may get parts quickly, but try to group do you lead, if a'.'y? get your bike fixed! The work is farmed o ut ! IVAN B. GORDON, As far as customer relations g O t it's MORE member no . OFOl280 hard sell all th e wa y. And j ust try to get KATHY GORDON, a refund without a hassl e. Do you miss MORE member no . OF01281 Ralph Williams ? You'll find his rej ects CATHERINE, selling bikes at J am es Ltd. MORE member no. 2B08751 RAY STANTON RICHARD, Co sta Mesa MORE member no. 2B08752 TERESA, MORE member no. 2B08753 MORE ON "CHROM E AND HOT KAREN, LEAT H ER" MORE member no. 2B08754 Big OOOOOOPS ! - th e ph o to s fo r " Ch ro me and Ho t Leath er " were WHAT IS NORTHEASTERN o ffe red free of ch arge fo r yo u to p rint MONT ANA LIKE? in - th e " Cycle News", "'OT to o ffer I have recently been ass igned a two th em to public. So EL ST UPIDOS of us ye ar stay in North Eastern Montana no t to state it clearer ! PLEASE be with the Air Force. As an avid KI ND : put short corr ectio n note in en th usias t , I am wondering what to yo ur n ex t issu e; send this and the expect in terms of other dirt freaks, co rrectio n issue tearsh eet; stamp clubs, shops, comp etition, etc.... en clo sed ; THANKS! Can y o u be of any help or possibly AREJAS VITKA USKAS in fo rm me of someone, place, or thing World-W ide News Bureau to get in touch w ith. J ers ey City, N.J . WILLIAM B. SPROUL 13 1 Green Valley Ct. BOO ZOO Pittsburgh, Pa. 15220 Bob San ford's proposal in th e March Maybe one of our readers can tell y ou...Ed. 21, 197 2 issue of Cycle News th at th e d esert riders change their at t it ud es and tactics to sit b ack a nd hire professional mo ney raisers, organizers, lobbyists, PR m en and image mak ers, all of whom p robably never h ave co mpe te d in an AMA desert event in th eir lives, to our view s is totally rep resen t unacceptab le. Mr. Sa nfo rd states in his art icle, "If we fight th e good fight an d d o the j ob, we may n o t enjoy off -road rid ing ' as we know it' , but at least b y God, we'll be ab le to ride off th e road " . Well , I for one do not in te nd to ride in a zoo , known as a cycle p ar k, whe re pimple faced, u ndiscip lined, pit racing punk kids ru n wild , jeop ard izing my lif e. If th e d esert go es, I go ! Bob baby. don't try to tell me that b eing barred from the open d esert and put in cy cle parks isn't like being put on a reservation. You don't seem to understand' that I need hel p with a 24mm l\Iikuni carb uretor . The p roblem is getting p ar ts. When I approach a dealer, he wa nts to know make, y ear, mo d el. T he 230 main jet is too rich and the 4D need le is too lean. Whe re can I get need le an d needl e jets . I am ap plyi ng it to a 250 Bultaco Matador. BOB T HOMAS San J ose , Calif. VOICES OF THE WEST OUR APOLOGIES, CLETE Th e followin g is a quote from Clete Roberts in a letter written to u s reg arding o ur letter o n the Indian Dunes sto ry : "I can a pp reciate how angry yo u mu st b e o ver the Indian Dunes st o ry. I didn't lik e it eit he r. It got on the air wit hout m e seeing i: befo rehand . (T h e edit ors desk au thorized it .) If I had see n it I wo uld have co mplained bitterly . I probabl y kn o w as mu ch or mo re abou t Indian Dunes than yo u d o . I watch ed them build it. I go past t he re fou r or five ti m es pe r m onth en route to Santa Paula whe re I keep a small, single seater pla ne whic h I built and fly. (I guess it is noisy an d p ollutes the heaven s a b it.] I. pe rso na lly. t h ink Indian Dunes makes a lot of sense. I recall the area as a sandy river botto m. It does no t offend my eye as it stands today. I have passed your letter on to management and ho p e they will respond. In any eve nt, pl ease te ll yo ur mo to rcycling friends that I am no t part of a ca mpaign agai nst bik es. (I even hav e two Honda b atteries in my pl an e.) Let me kn ow wh at yo u h ear fro m KNXT ." (Signed Clet e Rob ert s) We were un ab le to contact Mr. Rob er ts to o b ta in hi s p ermissio n to prin t this, b ut he d oes ask th at o ur motorcycl e friends b e told . O ne interest ing th ing, Clete Rob erts sta te d th at Bill St out is t he o ne resp onsible and that we should tell him how w e feel. MR . & MRS. JOHN MA L FET AN O T uju nga, Cali f. NEVER TOO LATE I am writing to ex press my basic disagreemen t wi th Bob Sanford's "Guest Co mment". How can any motorcycle rider agree with the first part of Sanford's article? lIe tells you that it is too late to do anything (about the presidential proclamation, etc.), Don't write, don't do anything. B.S., it 's never too late! Let's get with the Motor Voter program. It's n ever too late to keep o ur sport aliv e. BOB SHAW Desert No . 46IC Van Nuys, Cali f.

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