Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... " '" '" e, aJI~1 11111 ... N Cl g > ~ ::; ~ W Z W ..J U >U A mer tca's Num ber 1 weekl y motorcycle ne wspa per , You'll always see it fi rst in Cy cle New s MOTOR~~'2:te~ I N DUST RY l,;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;;iO;;Ui;iN;iiCiii'L~ Ciii (Mfi ) ~ ... A NOTHER CHANC E I w ill try your pa pe r o ne m o re year, bu t as a lo ng time su bscribe r I have fou nd th e p ap e r h as d rif ted away from wh at it was. T he main reason I lo o k you r paper was fo r the new items and espe cia lly new cy cles. II re all y di sgusted me wh en you didn't say a ny th ing abou t the Yankee 2 stro ke or th e llonda 250 4-stro ke until the magazines did whi ch are two month s beh ind. Next it'll be th e nation als and so forth , it always happen s in sm all steps. R . C . r-IANNI NC Charles Clayton Sharon Clayton Tom Culp John Bethea John Huert er Art Fr iedman Ed Drechsler Barbara R'chard Rheba Smith Morla T arbet AI Duke Paul Boudreau How ie Fowler Larry Groves Marion Hatashita Bobi Culp Randy D ietzel Eleanor Du ke Barbara Bebeck SQueeky Haynes Beverly Townsend Publisher Business Manager General Manager Managing Editor Editor Ass istant Editor Advert ising Manager Advertising Ass istant Circulat ion Manager Circulat ion Assistant Circulat ion Assistant Product ion Manager Production Assistant Lab Technician Typogra pher Ass istant Typographer Book keeper Bookkeeping Assistant Bookkeeping Assistant General Secretary Receptionist Natio nal Advertising Director (Cy cle News West, Cycle News Eas t , Cy cl e News Dixie) : Tom Culp . Cycle New s West, P .O. Box 498 , Long Beach, California 90801. (2 13) 427 -7433 ; L.A. 636·8844. TELEX NO. 673-474 Subscript ion : O ne yea r, second class ma il 2 years, second class mail 3 years, second class ma il S ingle copy price $10 $1 7 S2 1 $ .35 Major Inside Reports M OTOC R O SS : u.s . CuP at se eeneeec« .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 COLU MN : Th e L a test Po op • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •9 ROAD RACE : ACA' s Car lsbad Circui t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 SPEE DWA Y : The Irwindale O pe ne r . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ... . • .... : • ... . . . ... . . . . . . . 14 TR IALS : T he Fam o us B er k shir e . . . . . .. .. . .. .. .... .. . • . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ENDURO : SRA C ol or ad o River F u n Run . . ... . • . .. .. •• . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . • • 18 SERIES M X : Sw iss G P R ecap ; .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . • . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22 A MA NAT IONAL : San Jose Mile 24 TT/HALF-MILE : A scot Weekend D o ubl e-h ead er .. . . . • • . . • • . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . • .2 6 NORT H: Fr em on t Pr o Short Track . .. . . . ... . . . . . • . • . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . •2 7 DESERT: Dese r t F o xes' H are Scram bles ..• ..•. •. . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . • . • • . •.. 3 0 O ur Federal helm e t case has been accep ted : and we h ave a th ree j udge panel. bu t no date h as been set fo r th e hearing, yet. T he three ju dge p an el me ans th at the appeal (by e ither side) will go directly fro m th e U.S . District Court to the Ll.S. Supreme Co urt , wit h no stop -off in between - i.e, Circuit SCRAMBLES : W ho Say s I I's Dea d wit h All Of These • . • . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . • . • . • • • •3 2 CALENDAR _ 36 RESULTS (4 B ig Pages! ! !) . .. .. . . .• •. ... .. . . . . . . .... . . .. .•...••.•..• . .. ... .38 C O L UM N : T h e H o m e worksho p . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . • • . . . . . . . . .4 2 Court. The only way we co uld lose this case would be by not collectin g enough money to con tinue - then i y o u know what would happen to EVERYBODY in the entire co u n trv, th at rides a bike ! Again , we want to express o u r thanks to you for your support , both present and future. C .V _SIr-ION, Treasurer Natio n al Mo t orcvcle Helmet Committee , i nc. MOTORCYCLING 101 I T HE LADY IS A NOV ICE 1 am a "NOVICE" Lig htweight desert rid er , my number plate and District :H ca rd say so. I am also a female. I go alo ng with Curt Shipper " bout new gir l ride rs being made Amat eurs, if it is true. [ am not an Amateur or an Expert, an d I do n ot feel worth y of su ch a d istrict rat ing. I also feel it would be very unfair to me if these girls are riding Am ate ur and leaving fift ee n m inutes o r so ahead o f m e each wee k if th ey are no better rid er th an I. T h is doesn' t d o much fo r m y m orale.I f wh at Mr . Shipper says is true , I will ' neve r have a chance to see if [ am as good or bette r at desert racing than so me of th os e gals. CRAND:-'IA MAT US La Mir ad a, Cali f. Copyright €I Cycle New s, Inc . 1972 all rights res er ved I _iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~ TAKING IT TO THE SUPREME COURT 1 have sta rte d a nd teach a class at Dos Pueblo s Hig h Sch o ol, ca lle d Mo t o rcycle Safely, T heory , a nd Tune-up . I feel th at it is a trem endou s class fO T " the mot or c ycle o rien ted stu de n t a nd believe me there are a lot o f them ! I tal k safe ty an d teach students to ride a m oto rcy cle. With so ma n y mot o rcy cles on the marke t for a person to p u rch ase , the theory of how th ey wear and d iffer becomes an exci ting part of the course. Th e stu de n ts also learn how to main tain the ir bike s. Local dealers help o ut in m an y ways hy do nating tools, eq u ip men t, literature , parts . speakers. Mo st see m to be happy with the program. Sometimes 1 take students with me to the District 3 7 enduros and Hare an d Hou nds th at I participate in . They can really see first hand the excite ment of desert events. In gene ra l the class is needed, educat ion al, and fu n. I fee l m o re high sch ool s shou ld run th is type of p ro gram , (would n't it be great 10 have h igh sc hool mot orcycle teams compe ting against each o the r in an organized leagu e P) Cycle Ne ws is o ne o f th e best w ay s to stay ab reas t. Weekly I bring in m y co py to di scu ss and p ass aro un d . I can ' t tell y o u h ow mu ch 1 and m y st uden ts lo ok forw ard to each Wednesd ay - th e d elivery d at e. WILLIAM PO EHL ER In st ru ctor, Do s Pueblos Hi gh Sch o ol Pub lish ed weekly e xcept th e first and last w ee k o f th e cal en d a r year by Cycle News, ln c ., Post Off ice Bo x 4 98, Lon g Beach. Cal ifo rn ia . Also publishers of Cycle News East , and Dix ie Cycle News . Sec o nd Class Pos t age paid at Lo ng Beach, Calif . Ed itorial stories, cartoons, photos, etc. ar e welcome . Add ressed , stamped enve lope assures re t urn of ed itorial matter. Reprin ting in w ho le or in part only by perm ission of the publish ers. Advertising rates and circ u lati o n inform ation will b e se nt upon req ues t. See S .R.D .S L.-- VOIC OF THE W ES EST AMA REASONS REJECT ING M /C PATROL "'-- FOR TRA I L Ilaving reviewed ou r past discu ssions o n the motorcycle p atro l id ea , I have d iscussed th e su bject m a n y tim es with our sta ff. Du ring th e last m a n th we decided t o lo o k in to this su bjec t furth er and m ake a d ecision w he ther o r not th er e is some thing th e AMA could d o effectively . We felt tha t th e last sen re n ee in th e fou r th p aragraph o f your recent letter was the key to th e wh o le thing - "betrer no patro l at all , th an an undependable one." Our initial resp on se was to rela te to the ski patrol as th ey appeared to be the closest to the type of organization we were interested in. In investigating this area we q ui c kly learned that m o st of the ski pa tro ls ar e actually fo rmed by th e private ski reso rts and are not volun teers in th e sen se we kno w th em. T hese ind ivid uals are p eople inter ested in sk iing wh o work o n a full -time b asis at a particular ski reso rt or o n a part-tim e basis in evenings a nd weeke nds for a fee. This co ncep t. of co urse , is o ne that win no t work o u t fo r th e AM A . In ad d itio n , we talked to th e various cl u bs regarding th eir in te rcst in b eing inv olved in su ch a p atr o l. Almost unive rsall y we can say th at th e clubs w ould have some interest , bu t th e ac tual training that wou ld take place and th e willingness of the person t o be com e totall y involved is n ot there. This would lead to a situation where we would have an undep endable group in each a rea . In o rd e r to make th is patrol truly effective they would have to u ndergo some extensive training. Non e of the m embers we h ave talked to reall y feel they would be interested. T hev all seem to h ave th e o pinio n tha t it is 'grea t b ut th e y d on ' t have th e time each weekend fo r th ree or fo ur week s to involve th emselves in th a t type of ac tivity. Also, th e cost of their main tai nin g the mach ine for co nstant use in the woods b others th em. T h is cost , o f cou rse, would fall o n their sh oulders and m ost d o n ot feel they are wi llin g to absorb th is ex pe nse . .. \Ve co me down to a situa tio n whe re m o st o f u s li ke t he ide a , b ut we d o n ot feel under th e circu ms ta nces th at it is prac tical. On th e o ther h and, we d o fee l th at if we are ab le to es ta b lish p arks a nd recreational fac ilities which become co mmercial ve nt ures: that th e m otor cy cle patrol will be devel oped co mmercially at th ese establishments. If so me thing opens up in this area o r if y o u h ear o f a p atrol bei ng formed th a t become s eff ec tive, I would certain ly lik e to k n ow about it . If we can encourage one o f o ur ac tive cl ubs to d o so me th ing like this, we certainly will follo w th ro ugh and let you know about it . R USS EL L E. MA RCH 'E xecu tive Dire ctor , AMA GREAT AMER ICAN DOLLAR Your ariicle prompts m e to jo t a few words co nc e rn ing C AM. I can imagine th at by now you h ave received several hundred le tte rs, an d th a t .in some cases it is diffi cult to separate th e ding-a-lin gs fro m th e real thin g. It w ould see m fro m y our article. h ow ever, that there are a few se riou s con tribu to rs, on e of wh om I would like to present a complementa ry case to. Russ Shreve , it would seem, feels th at pri ce is o f pri m ary import an ce. This ma y be true in a m a rke t wher e th e go od s are in h igh demand be ca use o f ne ce ssity to the user, but when th e huye r is spending hi s d iscre tio n ary in come he pla ce s an entirely d ifferent set o f values on his se lection. When emb arking o n a new venture in an already well estab lished field, th e best assurance of success is found in fillin g th e biggest e xisting market gap. T his mu st be evalu ated of co urse in th e Iigh t of p o ssibl e-return fo r doll ar -in vest ed , A 100 p ound, 5 0 0cc world-beater trail bi ke would sell like th e Pill a t any p rice , b ut d evel opment costs cou ld brea k Uncle Sam. T he mot or c y cle as a tr ansportation/ touring veh icle will neve r h ave more than limited appeal and th at market sector is fairly well occu p i d . The competition oriented m a rke t is p retty well covered too , b ut 10 m e th e area fo r greatest lo n g-range gro wt h poten tial is in the sem i-off-road recreation marke t. This is the area also o f greatest consume r turnover. No t prod uc t turn ov er bu t bu yer turn over! lie ge ts o ne ou t o f c u rios i ty and within a year sel ls it a nd never bu y s ano ther. Why ? li e go t took. He b ou gh t the b ike from a de aler wh o co u ld n' t rid e any better than he a nd d idn 't care as long as the chec k w as good. lie fel t st ra n ge an d un comfortable because the b ike to ok a Jot o f atte n ti on just to rid e it. Off th e road, he was afra id to go ove r 20 mph becaus e he didn't kn ow. wh ich way it was go ing to b ounce. A nd althoug h he co u ld d o min or m aintenance an d didn' t mi nd paying a me ch ani c once in a while , eve ry week was too much. Her e it is in a nu tsh ell : ease of opera tio n, better stability and contro l, minimum ma in ten ance and maximum reliability . Wh at 's needed is th e Cad illac of trail b ikes an d the outdoor recrea tion en th us ias t will pay th e price. I could go o n and on about a lot of dumb engineering in motorcycles for which there is no excuse. BILL OC IIELTREE Van Nuys, Calif. M o . Ro E . POWER O Before I begin this, I suppose 1 should p ut in so me info rmation, so all you membe rs of M.O .R.E. ou t th ere don 't th in k I'm bab bling through m y M.O .R .E. hal. My en tir e fa m ily, an d mo st of ou r friends , arc me mbe rs. The on ly o nes th at are n ' t , a rc p eople wh o d o no t o wn bike s. O f co urse w e're wo rking o n the m to o. N ow to th e p o int. Mo st of yo u r memb ers h ave seen Ru ss Sanford' s tru ck , right? Eno ug h said ! I have hea rd, th rough wh at I suppose y o u cou ld call a p rivate grapevine, th a t Ru ss would like to bu v a new truck . WITII HIS OWN :-'IO NE \' ! Th is is wh er e th e prob le m ra ises, wh a t 1 consider, it 's " ugly" head . R uss feel s th at if he b u y s a new truck , th e members will thin k th at's where their m oney is goi ng. Yo u m a y have y our opinio n , but I k no w wh er e m y m oney is go ing, an d I would ce rtain ly di slike the ide a of finding o ut th a t he mi ssed so me h ap pen in g ve ry im p o rtan t to all of us j ust because th at "beautifu l" tru ck broke down halfway th e re . Le t's put it this way . All of you who would actually fee l th is way, we ' ll put on a list . T hen when he gets st uck , a nd 1 hope it ' s two o'clock in the m orn in g, he can ca ll an d have you get h im th ere o n time! T h in k about it . Who cares if you d o n' t ? M. E. BUNO No . 911 000 17 Sac rame n to , Ca. TH E ON LY GOOD INDI AN IS A QUI ET IN DIAN When I asked an official at Indian Dunes when th ey were going to require silencers on all bikes , including racers , he answered. " Well, we asked a few of the riders, and they st at ed that they would rather no t use a sile ncer, so we aren 't going to require the m." Th is, to me , indic ate s to tal and utter disregard for th e comfo rt of racer s, spectators, an d other p articipants. It seems th at Indian Dunes is afraid th at they will lose th eir foll owin g if the y -d o require silen cers. Other parks have m ad e this small bu t necessa ry conc essio n and are still in busines s. Maybe if we boyco tt Ind ian Dunes th e y will wake up. BILL SMALLEY A.C.Eo No. 5 12 Manah ttan Beach , Calif. More Vo ices

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