Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. o ~ 0M .... by Ma ureen Lee It did my heart good last evening to '" see the member clubs of District 37 stand up for themselves and really back e th e AMA against the wall. The last time ~ we threatened to seceed was around en 1968. ;;: T hat little figh t was caused by ~ licensing problems an d th e Dirt Digger w sanction for Hope town. It was a spooky d tim e for the AMA as th ey tried to ~ control their largest District fro m boltin g, an d the gro und really sh oo k. Cooler heads prevailed an d we stayed with th e AMA but we sure got some a ct io n that benefit ed the wh ole co un try. T his time the co mp lain t is against the ma ssive inc rease in AMA fees this year, fro m S7.0 0 to S 10.00 and for wh at, th e average rid er is as king. Last nig h t th ey asked. Rath er pinned int o a corner w as an MIA lawy er , Gene Wirwahn , who attemp te d to show wi th t he aid of pretty ch art s wh ere the money is goi ng. I thin k all o f us will go alon g with th e increased public relation s and q ua lified peopl e to ge t on top of legisla tive action CD- o n s ta te an d gove rnme ntal lev el s. It's th at mandato ry insurance tha t's the main issue. An y firm I' ve worke d for and o thers I' ve ta lked with say the sam e thing, the re is group insurance b ut you don 't have to pa y in to it if y ou do n 't want to . The AMA just up and stu ffed it down o ur throats, up p ed the pr ices and dropped the b enefits. Well, I've had my ha ssles with in surance co mp an ies and don e a bi t of research on 'e m too an d I can ' t believe that they have lost that am ount of mon ey fro m we bi ke riders that thi s co mp any sa ys it h as. N ow for the prem ium we pa y , fo rcefully I'll add again , we ge t pretty darn litt le. If you check o u t the average dirt motorcy cle injury, especially in the deser t when you and pu ckey bush co me to grief, it 's a collarbone, leg .or arm , ma yb e a rib or two, et c. Now i t's w ritten into the insurance that we ha ve a S 1,000 ded uctib le an d most inj uries tr eat ed do no t co st th at mu ch . So to ge t yo ur mo ney out o f th e p olic y you hav e to bust y o ur buns but good, and not to tempt th e fate s, God fo rbid any of us do . Mr. Wirwahn is a goodlook ing y o ung lawy er , skilled in co urt room rh etor ic wh ich , unfort una tely did n' t prepare him for walki ng in to th e lair of Di str ict 3 7. lie d idn't have all th e ans we rs wh ich I bel ieve h e shou ld have had an d a t one poin t lost h is temper . He un fo r tun at ely p ic ked on one of OUT District stewa rds, J o h n Townsend who was asking very clear ques tion s and ph ew , fo r a minu te th er e I thought we were going to have a real brannigan, and na tu rally, I didn't have my sui t of armor on . But n o one th rew an ything, our Prez J ack Hu rley settled th ings down , 1 ca me o ut fro m under th e table an d the Sec retar y -T re a surer Roy McElroy resu me d his seat and off we wen t again. Nothing was se t tled b u t th e Dist rict wan ts all the an swe rs b y next mon th o r it could be Bye -Bye . T o give cr edi t where credi t is due , Mr . Wirw ahn was able to give the clubs so me answers on th e Bureau of 'L an d Man agem ent th ing, bu t h ere is wh at real ly got me . When th ings wer e going h ot and heavy, th e b ody was told that Mr. Wirwahn h ad n ot co me ou t here to answer qu es tions as to where the mon ey we nt but to speak on th e BLM sit uation an d th e EI Cajon M.C. So me where there was a breakd o wn in communica tions be cause everyone in that room h ad shown up fo r th e same reason, to decide if the District wo ul d stay with the AMA or no. I, with my evil lit tle min d , th ink that we saw an attempt for the big wheels to re -tre nch , huddle in a smoke filled room an d say " My God, wh at the hell are we going to do wi th District 37? " Howeve r, District 3 7 be haved like th e gen tle me n th ey are , lis tened to wh at had to be said on th e BLM and departed, but n ot quietly . I be t righ t n ow th at if th at comp u te r in Westervill e has a Reich ter scale on it tuned to District 3 7, it's gon e o ff th e pap er . Some - p erso nal co mmen ts o n th e evening. I can ge t so mad at th e AMA a t tim es I sto mp th e old soap bo x into th e ground but I'm proud of my card fo r personal reasons. I hav e suppor te d the AMA in a lo cal capa ci ty for many ye ars (no duckies, no t since th e days o f the Sco tc h Sq uirre l) but I do ob ject to th e price raise and enforced insurance. I do o bje ct to a mo torcy clin g organizati on sudde n ly starting to loo k lik e big time business and to wat ch riders who arc asking legitima te question s heing ho ne y tongued so th ey kin d of forge t wh at they we re say ing in the fir st place . And th inking agai n o f t ha t price raise, if yo u have receiv ed th at brochure en ti tled "AMA 9 173" it's imp ressive. Very. And ex pe nsive. High qualit y all th e way, but is it really necessary to spen d that mu ch ? It loo ks like th ey 'r e car ry ing Public Rel ations a bit too far o n th at one , and along with th e good programs it reall y beats the d ru ms for th e insurance and additio nal coverage yo u can buy. Maybe the best qu ot e I heard las t ni ght was "Get o u t of th e insurance bu sine ss - and stay with mo to rcycl ing." Amen. T here's m o re I co uld say, b u t my edi to r d oesn' t like to give me too mu ch spa ce and along with every on e else I'd made so me New Year's resolutio ns that I pro mptly brok e but here are a few I hop e o the r p eopl e ma ke. DAV E ALDANA . Not to fal l off on ce in '73 unless it's just for fun. DICK MANN . Neve r give up his thump er and win Dayt on a again. DAVE E KINS. Take tumbling lessons from Dave Aldana. AMA. Er...yo u know what yo u need to mak e resolu ti on s abou t. J O HN RI C E . A lways wear hi s Cana dian -sponsored mo tocro ss shirts . PET E COLM AN. Rid e nex t Lau gh -In Trials on a classic Goldstar. JIM HUNTE R. Ride a tw o-stroke on Baja t railin g parties. J IM LO VE . Not too lau gh too hard if J im does it . If y o u w o n der e d ab out the resolution for -Dave Eki ns, he just did a no-no in Baja , is back ho me but walking woun ded an d cross as a bear so if yo u know him ship him off a funny ca rd ca re of Modern Cycle. He 's a pre tt y n ice guy . by Charles Clayton MORE NOISE, SAY AMA "OLD BOYS" What would ha ve b een an astonish ing s te p to war d e nv i ron me n t a l resp o nsibilit y on t he part of American moto rc ycling was st ymied rec ently by th e all-po werful AMA Executive Board wh en they voted to veto t he will of th e Co m pe ti ti ve Congress. Th e E-Board has th e power to amend o r even veto rul es ma de b y th e AMA Con gress, bu t it rarel y tak es adva ntage of this pow er un less th e AMA staff recommends it, to co rrect m in o r details ove rlo ok ed b y th e Congress. The cas e a t issue was th e rul e change pass ed by th e 1972 Congress that would hav e required pro fessional ro ad race bikes to emit no more t ha n 92 d ecibels of so und . I t would have applied to th e 250cc b ike s this seas o n, and th e big bikes next ye ar. Nobody forced t he Congress to pa ss th is rul e. It wa s d on e in th e sp iri t of r e sp on sibl e r u le ma ki ng th at has ch aract eriz ed recent AMA C ongresses. The 12 0-d ecib el-and-up shrieks of th e ro ad racers are causing permanen t lo ss of hearing both to rid ers and spectato rs alike. It is only a quest ion of time before public a ut horities step in, as t he y alrea d y have in sno wmo b ile racing, to put a stop t o it . The Congress realized this an d t rie d to get ou r house in ord er befo re more bad publicity hit s the fan . A nyone who think s th a t at 92 decibel s road racers will sound lik e " Whooshmo biles " o ught to get his fing er s out of his ea rs and listen to th e amate ur road races some time . Th e "M otown Sound" is st ill all there. What 's missing is t he ea rd rum-shreddi ng pain t hat d rives spectato rs off with a ringing insi de th e head t hat doesn ' t go away fo r hours. I am d isappointed in the slight maj orit y of indu st ry execut ives who voted again st the so u nd me asure. I feel certain that in th eir heart s th ey thought th ey w ere ac ti ng "fo r th e good of the sport", how ever misgu id ed th ey might be. On th e Co ngress' side wer e several manufact urers wh o stood to lose as much o r more d evelopment research as t hose brands wh ich vo t ed t o ve to. The d eciding vot e was cas t, I am told, b y the AMA President, whose op inion ma y hav e been swayed by the fear that less noi se would result in less spectators at ro ad race s. He sho uld hav e realized , however, t ha t it is imp ossible to attra ct less spectato rs than the road race National that he promoted la st year drew. How man y stayed awa y fr om his rac e to avoid th e pain may never be known. Unless (and I reali ze th at th is possibility call s fo r intense st re ngt h of cha rac t er) the E-Boa rd reconsid er s it s decision a nd votes to reinstat e the noise-limit nil e, it ma y not be pos sible fo r t he rul e to tak e effect this season , since d evelopment work o n improved ex ha ust sy ste ms will sudd enly cease up o n news of the ve to . At t he very lea st , t he Boar d should reconsid er and vote to im ple ment t he noise limi t ru le beginnin g next season. Th a t wi ll giv e t he h oldout manufacturers o ne mare ye ar to comply, and the sport ma y yet b egin to d raw t he repeat spectators. . For the go od of t he sport, this Congress ru ling mu st pr evail. Whe n an d if it do es, I h ope th at th e AMA makes maximum use of th e o pportunity to generate so me good publ icit y for motorc yclin g in t he public med ia . rn.o.r.e. from file ca~ilol' . by Ru ss Sanfo rd COUNTERFE IT STICK lES . - Seve ral week s ago, we wer e informed th at some off-roaders wer e di spl ayin g ' gree n stick les' whic h although similar to th ose issue d by th e Dept. of Mot o r Veh icles, rea d "C ounterfeit O ff Hi ghw ay " in li eu of " Cal ifo rn ia O ff Highway " . We so rt o f lau ghed and found it am us ing , much in th e sa me vein as hum o rous bumper stic ke rs and th e like. We didn't believe for a m oment th at anyone would displ ay one o f these co unterfei t stickles with th e in te n t to deceive law en forcem ent officials. T he n recen tly, o ur telep h one began rin gin g itse lf off th e wall fro m vario us sta te officials wh o h ad received rep o rts fro m th e field indicat ing th e use o f ' co unterfeit stic kles ", and most certain ly with th e in tent to deceive. In wha t h as to be a pl ay o n wo rd s, th e December . 5 th issu e of Cycle Ne ws car ried an advertise ment pro claimi ng " G EN UIN E G RE EN STICKlES only S2 .00 to Genuine Co ., etc..... Bef o re yo u di g out th at issu e an d your two do llars, yo u had better co ns id er the conseq ue nc es : I. If yo ur bike is street-licen sed o r displays a legal "green stic kle ", you can di sp lay a 'c o un terfei t green st ickl e" as a fo rm of hum or. 2 . If yo ur bik e is n o t street-licensed an d /or does no t di sp lay a legal 'green stic kie' th e presence of a ' counterfeit green sti ckle' ca n b e presum ed to be an 'i ntent to de ceive'. 3 . If y o ur bike falls in the fore going cate go ry (N umb er 2) and y o u are apprehende d ridin g in an area wh ere a legal ' green stickle' is required, you may be in a "world of hurt" ! First, you ,,; 11 undoubtedly be cited fo r violation of the Off Highway Ve hicle Act an d be subject to heavy fines on a Misd eam or Charge. Second ly . yo u are also subject to ci ta tion fo r the Felony of vio lating Section 4463 of th e Veh icle Cod e, wh ich reads : SECTION 4463: Every person who, witM nten t to defraud , alters, forges, counterf eits, or falsifies any cert ificate of owne rship, registrat ion card, certi ficate , license or special plat e or perm it . , ... . pro vided for by th is code or any comparable certificate of own ership, registrat ion card. certificate, lice nse or special plat e relating to mo to r vehicles provided for by any fo reign jurisdict ion or who alt ers, forges, counterf eits, or falsif ies any such documen t or plat e w ith intent to represent the same as iss ued by th e department or who alt ers, fo rges, counterfeits , or falsifies w ith fraudul ent intent any endorsement or transfer on a certi ficate of own ership, or who with fraudul ent int ent displays or causes or permits to be displayed or have in his possession any blank , incomplete, canceled, suspended , revoked , alter ed, fo rged, count erfe it , or false certificate of own ership , registration card , certificate, license or special plate or permit or who utters . publi shes, passes, or attempts to pass, as tru e or genuine , any of the above named false, alt ered, forged or counterfeited matt ers knowing t he same to be false, alt ered, fo rged or counterfeited wi th intent to pre j udice. damage. or defraud any person is quilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be pun ished by imprisonmen t in the state pr ison for not less than one year or mo re than 14 years, or in th e coun ty jai l for not mor e than one year: ' . As me n tio ned ea rlie r, state officia ls are not lo oking upon this matt er in a humo ro us vein . The ir co mme nts to me were tha t they inten d to pro secu te to the fu llest e x ten t of th e law, mak ing examp les of anyone caugh t vio lating Section 4463. PERSONA L OPINIO N My personal o pin io n is that we sho uld stop fighting th is program and supp o rt it, ins tead. With o u t our fees, there wiII be no funds for the needed mech an ical par k facilities an d trail sys tems . With respect to the 'green sti ck ies', if I co uld n ' t affo rd the legitima te stic kie I would ride an d hope th at I did n't get caugh t. I w ould do th is with th e full relization th a t getting caugh t wo uld cost me more th an fo ur 'green stickles' at the very least. BUT, I certainly wo uld not di sp lay a ' co un terfeit gree n stickie' because ne ither I n o r my fam ily can affo rd a o ne -to-fo urteen year tour o f d u ty in th e state p riso n. I wo uld mu ch ra th er put S 13 with th e S2 fee fo r a ' co un terfeit green stickle' , and get the real th ing. T h en , th at way, my fello w riders wo uldn 't be loo kin g down th eir noses at me , kn owing th at I had sh irk ed my resp on sibili ty to those wh o h ave paid the fee .

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