Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

By Russ Sa nfo rd UPON THE SUBJECT OF BENEFITS Recently, Art R a yno r wrote- a let t er to the editors of Cycle News suggesting that organized cl ubs conduct benefit even ts wi th t he proceeds to go to MORE to aid in the advancement of motorcycling. He also suggested that clubs offer event discounts to persons with valid MORE membership cards. Art is one of the very first members of MORE and one of our most active members. For mo re than two years Art h as distributed our information and newsletters to dealers througho ut the Sa n Fernando Valley. And on weekends, Art is p assin g out MORE in formati o n at eve n ts a nd ex hibits. He and o thers- like hi m are the real bac kb o ne of MORE . I wish to take this opportu nity to publicly extend m y mo st sincere thanks to A rt for all that he has done, is d o ing, and, hopefully , will continue to d o . Upon the su bject of b enefi ts, m an y clubs and eve n m any pers ons h ave m ade genero us contrib u t ions to MO RE . I have ele c ted to p rivat ely th ank th ese co n trib uto rs a nd n ot publici ze th eir donations for tw o re asons, which I hope the cl u bs u nde rs ta nd : I . Club donations h ave ranged fro m $5 to $1.000. A d o nation of $5 ma y work as mu ch hardship o n o ne cl ub as a $I 0 0 d o na ti on fro m a nother cl u b. Our feelings are that it is th e . tho ught, not th e amo unt, that really counts. 2 . A club whic h makes a donation t o o ne charitab le association, should not be subjected to solicitations from other causes. I nvari a b ly , this happens from p ublicity. With respect to benefits, there have been several highly publicized events over t he past two years wh erein l\IORE was the partial or total rec ip ient. The Co n ejo Trail Riders started it in November of 1970 with a MORE Benefit Enduro in which nearl y $500 was r aised . Later, a Bay Area club (which shall remain nameless) raised S39 at a Stag Party in which a 'drag' was taken from the poker games. This was further supplemented by showing 'porny movies' at a nickel per head. (No, Mother! I honestly didn't know about it in advance.') Walt Vaughan, Director of the Sacramento Racing Association, is conducting a series of 'Novice Only' motocrosses in which he offers a dollar discou nt to all contestants holding a val id MO RE m em b ersh ip card . This no t only helps MO RE, but constitutes a $9 saving to the participants in this 10 -event series. O n A pril 9, the Lomp oc Slo Pokes again staged a ben efi t m o t o cro ss at Santa Maria with th e total p ro ceed s to go to th e Am erican Mot o cro ss T eam . Here, too, participants ho lding a va lid MORE m em b ership card were given a o ne d oll ar d isc oun t a t the t im e of en try. I was on hand at th is event to sign up new membe rs and issue cu rre nt MORE m emb ership cards for the an n ual fee of o ne dollar. In this wa y , a particip ant who is no t presently a m ember of MO R E can join ' free' by ob tai ni ng his MO RE m embe rsh ip card first and then sign in g u p with th e dollar disco unt. Besid es , t he re was a special d rawing for all person present, spectators and participants alike, who h ave a valid MORE m emb ersh ip card in their possessio n. On April 15 and 16 the Sand Sailors ~I.C. conducted a Hare Scra m bles at Lancaster wherein o ne d ollar of ea ch entry fe e w ill be d onat ed to the MOR E Motor Voter campaign to help purchase bumper stickers whic h proclaim that t he occupant is a mo torcy clist and registered voter (See Cycle News of March,1972) . On Sunday, May 7, the Stockton M.C. , the Stockton Scramblers M.C ., and the Lodi M.C. will join efforts to co nd uct their 5th Annual Archie Clark Memorial Scrambles at the Lodi Cycle Bowl. We feel very honored that MORE has been selected as the total recipient of the net proceed from this event. Also, I would like to publicly thank the promoters of various motorcycle exhibits and shows who have allowed MORE to attend and participate in these events. On April 9, MORE was on display in fou r widely separated areas. As mentio ned earlier, at Santa Maria with the AMXT Benefit. MORE was also represented at the Cow Palace in San Francisco fro m April 5 t h ro ugh 9, and at th e Cal Expo Motorcycle S how in Sacrame nto fro m April 7 thro ugh 9. Likewise, MO RE was a t Evel Knievel's Mo un t ain Lion Mo to cr o ss in Ply mouth on April 8 an d 9. Who sa id we are spread pretty t hin? And th en on Ap ril 13 t hrough 16, MO RE was on d ispla y at the Cycle World Show in Los A ngeles. Art Rayno r, wh om I men tio ned earlier, assisted m e in the boo th . If yo u are a member o f MORE from th e San Fernando Valley area, it 's highly likel y that Art is respo nsible. The p ro b lem with writing an article suc h as this is that yo u can't acknowledge all of the fine people an d clubs who have teamed together to make MO RE a success. But, you know who you are, a nd I know who you are. God bless you. scramiDn' around' By Maureen Lee Ah me. [ see we've a new columnist in CN and as us ual this fello w declines to use his own name. So now we have good old Papa Wealey who I've only seen once , and once was enough. It was a full m o o n that n igh t and I was d elivering co py and m et a creatu re who ran baying to his va n when I approached. Yep, turned out to be Pap a , or so th ey tell m e. T hen th ere 's also Rod Breaker wh o's ac tually q uite a good mech a n ic when h e's no t watch ing old movies on T V a nd co ncentrates on wh at h e's p u ttin g to geth er . A nd now, o f all things Prot eus Echo! Pro t eus fed seals in t h e days of the ancient Greeks and, being a deity, had the power to cha nge h imself into beasts, trees o r what have you . (Being a tree occasio nally could get you inside a motocross course, couldn't it?) A Proteus can also be a th ree toed thing with external gills (ugh. till, he might get along with Papa Wealey) while Ec ho was a maiden who died of love for a chap called Narcissus who loved only hi mself. So ma yb e our new columnist writes his column from t he seal pond at the LA zoo and sings songs of unrequited love. Can't see quite what that has to d o w it h bikes though, and say what you will about me or Ron Schneiders, we don't hide behind phony names! Ascot opened and what a great plant it is. Ascot always had a c harisma about it even when it was a bit gri my and it still had it with J .C. doing a " Pygmalion" on the place , from a viol et ped d le r to a lady of fashion. On behalf of all the lady patrons of the plant, we say "thank you" for th in k in g of us! And wasn't th e raci ng great? Can't me ntion everyone so we'll stick with just three guys we've known for a long time . K eit h Mas hb u rn lo o king so smooth in his heat h e could have kept that style up all night; and Steve Nicholls, w ho also learned his trade on local trac ks to the point he can pick any groove he wants with uncanny pre cision and if you heard singing during the Novi ce event, it was Jack Vaughn singing "What a difference a frame makes" as he blasted th e troops in his he at. Some time ago I made the statement I t ho ugh t all Insurance Companies were finks . Two weeks after th at we got a chec k with a small reduction on auto insurance so all companies aren't finks but if yo u run into one who is. let 'em have it. T here's an insurance co m m issio n in Los Angeles who will listen to any complaints yo u have. Did you know that when insurance co mpanies have t o payo ut more than 20 cents on their dollar they get unhappy? They do. One company is now trying to tell me that the fees they've paid for my p hysician for many mo nths are "above what is reaso nabl e ", and trying to get us t o come up with the extra b read . Well , if th ey t hink th ey 're going t o get a way with that o ne , they don 't kn o w abou t m y good o ld suit of armor, b itching about Wh y all this in su rance? Well, th is wo n' t en dear m e to th e Al\IA, b ut have any of you looked at what the benefits you got last year for your seven bucks an d what you're getting this year? Last year (just to pick out a couple of ' items real quick) if you bought it last year your family received $1 ,000 for Loss (that's your life or dismemberment) when on a bike anywhere in the world, day or night, etc. T h is year you get it as long as you are not in participation in raci ng, speed or endurance contests . So, if you should be killed while racing an AMA-sanctioned event (and you can 't ride one unless you cough u p that seven bucks) the insurance will not cover you. You do get some medical benefits but they are p retty small. All I can say is, I th ink it's G.D. lo usy that when a family cou ld most need the money the company will not pay. How about getting another insurance co mpany, AMA? And I hope space in the pap er can be found to show exactly how the benefits changed so q uic kl y in just o ne year. Went to Indian D unes over the weekend to see our Canadian friends. The trip they had down h er e was unbelievable (like the co -p ilot was also the barman) and you could write an article about t heir adventures getting to su n ny California. Unfortunately, it wasn' t so sunny when th ey did get here. All o u r shoes had split for the bread a t Hangtown, although Wally Sukaroff says that John Rice only went becaus e he's scared of them. and he'd crashed o n th eir easy little course in BC last year. Th ey 're a great bunch of guys, a nd I 'm o nly so rry that some of the th ings they wer e promised a nd the hopes t hey had for a terrifi c race d idn't work ou t. A friend told me I wouldn 't lik e th e . Lions motocross cours e, said "they're making a breed of weird rid er s o u t there , known as American IT motocrossers". \Vel1, saw it myself th is weekend, and I hate to tell my buddy, but I thought it was a better course than some of th e bigger ones I've seen over natural terrain. It's rough and bumpy, and most of all, it keeps a rider "busy, busy, busy" as Billy DeWolfe says. That's what motocross is a ll about. You're not supposed to have even one section when you can rest a bit: it's fiat out and working all the time. CMC has done a lot for motocross since the days when Wes Cooley go t starte d wit h ACA (and th rew so me of the to ughest 'cro sses you ever saw) . I'd like to find out what makes the CMC races so p opular when the District ones are having a time of it to keep going. I hope the Al\IA takes a good hard look at some of these other excellent organizations and finds out what makes ' em tick. Last week you read of the tremendous effort put out to find Phil Nyland who got lost on the Stumpjumpers Enduro. Read it carefully if you ride desert, you might learn something, even how to assist in one of these searches should it be needed again. It was a great effort on the part of everyone, and every man who took part in it not only gets a tip of-the helmet but a red rose from me. THE ELEPHANT IN THE BUSHES! Last weekend was the Four Aces' Grand Prix, and if you don't think it was panicsville for t hem when rig ht at t he last minute they found out t hey couldn't use Willow when they had t he advertising out and flans made. you didn't see the tons 0 Excedrine being delive red t o t heir meeting house. What hap pen ed is t he property owners to the back of th e course decided no, they didn't wa nt the bikers in there and wouldn't budge. Wes Cooley, who is the director of motorcycling at Willow scheduled a road race there th e sa m e d a y thinking the Four Aces would be o u t in the boonies , When he found ou t ab out it, Wes offered immediatel y to caned out his race so the Four Aces could use what they could of th e t errain but there was not ro om there for a Gr a nd Prix. Can you imagin e j us t the asp halt and that b it of gro u nd in t he middle o f the circuit? Bec au se t he club k no ws t h at in past years \\"es Cooley was o ften a controversial figur e th ey want to say "thank you" for the full co-o peratio n they received from him in this matter. '" " C> = c, NEEDED: A Motorcycle Trail Patrol By Charles Clayton Whenever I talk with governme nt land managers about the mu tu al problems present in the accommodation o f dirt riding on their domains. I always get asked the same question: what organiz ation of motorcyclists is there that park superviso rs, forest rangers o r wha tever can work these problems o u t with ? Ex cept in New En gland, where Bob Hicks and his friends have a Trail Rider Association going great guns, the question is almost without an answer . Here and there local trailriding clubs, often not associated with the American Motorcycle Association, can be counted upon to help . Michiga n's Cycle Conservation Club, Texas' T rail Riders of Houston and South Texas Trials Assn., Tennessee's Volun teer M.C. and t he Indiana Motorcycle Association are wo rking with the Forest and Parks peo ple alrea dy: In other places, I have to re fer the m to the state MIC p re siden t (if there is o ne) and hope for the best. It is a sad situation that now, when we nee d them the mos t , th e national AMA is turning its back on the dirt moto rcycle rec reationist, . What is desperately needed not next yea r, is a today, natio n-wid e Motorcycle Trail Patrol like the skiers have. The Ski Patrol grew out of the grass-roots concern of responsible skiers for their own safety and their hobby. It began with a group of med ically trained skiers (doctors, nurses) who volunteered first aid to people injured on the slopes. It organized, set high standards and grew in a very short time to the elite natio nal, s em i -p r o f es s i o n al institution that the Ski Pat ro l is today. You have to be a very good skier, with practically a degree in medicine to get into the Ski Patro l now. AMA has in its comp uter memory banks thousands of names and addresses of expert trail riders - th e class A and B End uro rid ers. Among these are literally hu ndr ed s who have some med ical degree, and hundreds more who have b een trained in first aid, as firem en, policeme n o r military corpsmen. It wouldn't take a who le lo t of effort to survey the end uro riders and their q ual ificat ions and learn availability to serve on a local Trail Patrol. But it doesn't look like th e AMA is quite geared up to provide t he kind of leadership we ne ed in this la nd crisis. Perhaps we ar e unwise to expect leadership to come fro m the top. AJ\IA may feel it stands to gain if casual trail riders are forced to enter an event in order to ride, I don't know. All I know is the p laces where some semblance of trail rider organization is in to uch with the people who control the land; there is legal land to ride. Where lan d managers are working alo ne, b ikes are being shut out. T he answer to the question in the first paragraph can only co me from trail riding en thusiasts, possib ly like yourself, who trouble the mselves to communicate wit h the Forest ry , BLM, Co rps of Engineers, Agric ult ure a nd Park agencies where they like to ride. I n many cases it will be the first time any mo torcyclist has introduced hims elf to these people. T hey'll have a lot of cu rious ideas about bike riding that you may be ab le to straigh ten out. They'll offer suc h opportunities as making trai ls, inspec ting the m , rid ing safety patro l, advising on regulations, etc. They can probably arrange for patrol volunteers .t o take a free course in first aid. Rest of all, they'lI be ab le to open their lands fo r riding with clear co nsciences, being reasonably sure that the safety o f all users is provided for. If the sk iers ca n ge t up a Ski Patrol for their own goo d without b eing threatened with their sport's extinction, why can't motorcycle trail riders do something o f the kind when their exis ten ce is at Slake? 1 kno w it can be done , it bei ng done in c ertai n places. " Yo ur" pla ce is probably not one of them. oond N r-. Ol N '" ~ « 3! w z W ..J (J >- (J

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