Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

LAYING 11 DOWN by Dave Sch oon maker I am o f t he o pi nio n th at criti cism should n't be laced with sugge stio ns becau se of wh at might b e call ed t he "n egativ e react ion ego sy ndrome." Th at mean s th at if so meo ne knocks wh at yo u are doing and th en -att empts to tell you how to do it right, you wi ll m ost likely b e ab o ut as at te ntive as my cat wh en involved with tuna fish. In December I took so me cuts at the Saddleback T r an s -A M A in p a r ticul ar a n d Tran s-AMAs in gen eral. No w th at ] oe Parkhurst ha s go t te n b ack up o ff th e flo or of hi s bathro om, an d it do esn't se em that I am to im mediately join th e r ~nk s of th e unemployed , I'd lik e to add a fe w not es that o ccured t o me at the time a nd have congealed ov er t he past few w eeks. I' ve b een mulling ove r and o ver in 'm y mind wh at it is t hat let s down in bike 'racing. What might make it a success? Naturall y eno ugh, I didn't come up with the answe rs, b u t I h ave developed a wa y to look at ra cing wh ich might be be neficial in the hands of th e proper promoters. The fir stprem ise that I believe has to be accep te d is that, in o rde r to b e a success, motorcycl e racing will have to attract non-motorcycli sts . A s of now, I don't believe that the maj ority o f bike ra cing does a ny t hing like that . How do you appeal t o a non-motorc yclist ? Try lo oking at spo rts as ove rall assaults on the senses amo u nti ng to em otional and ,sensu al reacti o ns. Yes, thrills and spills, but th at' s n ot all. Look at th e level of appeal as th e suc cess in tittllating the five sen ses. The fir st and most ob vious sense is sight. In the previous editorial I used th e examp le of b oxing as a successful sport and the first criterion , sight, gives th e firs t clu e t o its success. At a b oxi ng match , action takes pla ce in a sma ll ring and you do n't rea lly mi ss much. You might say that it is about 9 5 percent visible, with five percen t b eing lo st beh ind the refere e o r to turned b ack s. At a motocross o r a road ra ce I w ould consider it a go od sit ua t io n if 50 percent o f the track was visible to the spectator . At sp eedway an d indoor races . it is much b etter, so t h e p otential non-m otorcyclists spectator might end up in Mad ison Square Garden or at Orange Coun ty F airgr ounds. But more than likely he 'll end up at home watching his tube where he will see ab out 99 .9 per cent of the actio n. Unfo rtunately, it will probably b e football. That , I hav e fin all y decided, might be th e reaso n that motor racing is such a success in Europe. Th e Europeans are n 't memb er s of the Am erican Tube Ra cers Club. Th ey don't mind co mi ng o ut of th eir d en s. The n ext mo st apparent sense is hearing. On th e televisio n yo u can ' co ntrol th e volume to wh atever level you lik e. Obvio usly you ca n' t turn th e vohlme u p or d own o n live raci ng, so th e trick might b e to find o ut how m Sc_ramblin' - 'A r o u n d a =i o :I ~ r- much noise is desired . Or, yo u might co nside r th e adva ntages o f let ti ng t h e spe ctato r be mobile so h e o r sh e ca n dial in th eir o wn volume . Another aspect of so u n d will o bvio us ly b e d ecent anno u nci ng. An yb ody wh o has b een to a sp eedway rac e at Oran ge Co unty will kn ow wh at an em otional level ca n b e built on annou nci ng. I' m goi ng to lump sme ll and tast e toge t h e r , n ot b ecau se th ey are unimp o rt ant but b ecau se they are similar. If you 've b een foll owing the t elevisio n lin e of reasoning yo u' ll see the first loop hol e to ge t ting around th e t ub e. A s of yet te levisio ns do n't sup ply sm ells. One thing w h ic h c ontributes incredibl y . to the excite ment of a speedway rac e is th e sm ell o f burnt fu el. Dr ag racing produces reall y p ungent odors too . Cast or base two st ro ke oils ar e fantastic, ex ce pt fo r b eing some w ha t poisonous. Ev en smo king four-stroke road rac er s put o u t a re ally fine odo r. The realm of tast e is o bv io usly at t he concession stand; hot d ogs, pe anuts, coke, b eer, so o n-. They' re as much a part of b aseball as the pitcher's mound. People go to sport ing events to eat. Matter o f fact, the only place I can think of that I like popcorn is at a sporting event or a m ovi e. You're pr ob ably w ondering how I'm going to get touch into this. So wa s I until I re alized th at pr ograms, peanuts, hots dogs a nd th e rest are touch objects too. They provide so me t hing to play with if atte ntio n slip s ' from o t her proceed ing s. O n a slightly fuzzier level of to uc h is vib ratio n. One of th e most enjoyab le time s I've spe nt at a motor race wa s at a Tran s-Am car race. I was parked b y th e fen ce wh ere I could see . A s I h ad a headach e from the night b efore, I ro lle d up th e windows and st uffed my ears with cotton and w at ch ed Parnelli J on es scra mb le b y in a car j ust like mine. Revelation: th e gr ound really sh ook wh en th at D etroit monste r went by. I co uld fee l it all the way up through th e F·70' s and the D elco Pleasur e-rides. Reference to bike ra cing: if yo u ge t clos e eno ug h, yo u ca n feel motocrossers land after a b ig jump. You can see now -t hat our model spectat or is co mpletely engro ssed, and , if o ur w ork has b een successful, he has reached escape velocity and nine -t o-five is so far away that it will take maj or catharsis to bring him back .: He 's seeing ac t io n , h earing action that's being monitored for him, sme lling good fumes in the air, munching o n peanuts a nd g uzz ling b eer, a nd his eye s are somewhat glos sy due t o the goo d vibe s coming up through his po st eri or . When it 's all ov er , he'll wander o ut to h is C ornuc opia F our-d oor seda n, no t knowing just what happ ened, b ut kn o wi ng h e go t hi s mo ney's worth. Ask a spee d wa y fan . : By now it is apparent t ha t ' th e co mmo n d en omin at or fo r t he five senses is dist ance. F requently that will be sy no ny mo us with clo seness, b ut not alw ays . T ak e five senses as t he obj ec ts th at ar e to b e sa tis fied b y a motor race an d d istance as t he volu me control, and ma ybe there is as tart to wa rd a b ro adly based appeal. This totally ign or es tr affic co ntro l, rest ro o ms, person al comfort, and suc h , but I'm afraid t hey will have to b e acce pte d as t he axioms rather th an desirables. Th ey alone ' wo n't make fo r succ ess. by Mauree n Lee It wasn't b ut two years ago wh en riders were moaning th at IT Scr ambles were dead . It sure lo o ked like it. I thin k th at year we h ad so me thing like 14 eve n ts , but it m ay h ave b een less. T he reasons we re many . One was tha t a lo t of th e old time scra mbles cl ubs disb anded, like th e Cal ifornia Gophers. Ano ther was th at clubs wh o sponso red all differen t ty pe s of eve n ts de cid ed a b it col d bl o odedly that th e w ork involv ed (whic h real ly isn't that much ) didn 't justify the small pro fit the club m ad e, so th ey stuck with th e desert. There, every th ing ex cept trophies wa s profi t. Down an d d own went IT scr amb les, th e t rain ing groun d for our profession al flat t rack ride rs. No w, sud de nly, in 197 3 we're b ack on the ki nd of sche d ule we u sed to have years ago . A scramb les ru n just about every bl o omin ' Sun day . Unless 1 can ' t co un t (which 1 can ' t) I th in k we 've go t 4 2 TT 's, three rough scr am bles an d four Gr ands Pri x. I can jus t hear the groans fro m th e lad s n ow . T wo years ago th ey c omp lain ed ,th ey could n' t ge t eno ugh ridin g; n ow th ey 'll be yellin g th ey ar e getting too much . One th in g a sche d ule like th is will poin t up again, and you've heard me on this subject many a time , is that th e b oy s who ge t help will stan d much more o f a chance at th at Numb er One pl ate than th ose wh o don't. Or even a two digit number. We all kn ow bik es wear ou t. If a sh op puts m on ey in yours, thank y our lu cky st ar s. There ar e a lo t of rid ers wh o support th eir scooters on a part-time job after school if 'th ey ' re young as m ost ar e, o r th ey have Dad who d oes a good en ough j ob to either do it for ' em or h elp o u t and a mother wh o is willing to go with out new furniture fo r a season. ' ' But there ar e rid ers who reall y h ave to go it alon e. This is OK if y ou're a grown man and workin g but no t so hot is you 're a kid. I still win ce a bit when I remember Charlie H ock ie telling me th e ye ar h e won th e desert pl ace he went through three m otorcy cles to d o it , and paid fo r them all himself. T T isn 't as hard o n sco oters as desert ridi ng but th ing s d o wear, so y ou ca n b et the re 'll be a lot of midnight oil burned this year in vari ou s garages. One go od tip is th at a good stron g cup of te a is better than a Coors a t midnigh t. T hat w ay y ou won 't pu t th ings in up sid e d own! T he reason IT's h ave b een given anoth er shot in the arm is the creation of a n ew scram b les club : Sandak Racing Association. If all go es as pl anned, all th eir scram b les will be thrown a t Corona Racew ay. The San da ks ar e a n ew gr oup an d b o und and d etermined to d o th in gs right, just th e w ay th e ste ward s say they sho uld b e done. Th ey even called West erville to get th eir ref ere es fo rms . My firs t mee tin g with the Sandaks is kind of fun ny. At least it is to scram b les p eople. Th e ni gh t they join ed Di strict 3 7 their reps sh owe d up dressed in business suits, o r at leas t well- cut sp orts clo th es , wh ereas the usual attire is very casual. T he subject was the BLM ,th a t night and, as discu ssion con tinu ed, my eyes kept going back to th ese three cha p s in the fr ont row wh o just looked differ ent. Old eagl e eye he re of th e susp iciou s mind th ou gh t " H mm " an d poked Vice Presiden t Froelich who was in th e ch air. He didn't know th em either; n either did , A NEW PLACE TO R ID E We are p lease d to ann o unce the open ing of a n ew cycle park near Ba ke rsfield. After man y m on th s of planning , co nstruc tion has b egun and wee kend o pe ration will comm en ce in early Feb ru ary . A m o tocross track , hillclim b an d mi nibike track will be featured in th e initial stages , with a lawn, trees and trailer faci Iities to be adde d soon. Two h undred acres will be availab le for rid in g wi th a half-mile of river frontage invi ting use by swimmer s, sunba the rs and even fisherme n . Kern River Ra ce way is loca ted five miles North east of Bakersfield, across th e river fr om La ke Min g. It is easily acc essib le fr om Round Mountain R oad . l\1cE lroy. Off the platform went McElroy to co n fer wi th Sloan and o ur guests wer e in trod uced as th e club app lying fo r Distric t membership. Said Sloan ch eerfully , " We just wan ted to make sure you we ren' t BLM, " amid st laugh ter. The p oor guys probably w ondered wh at wa s going on but th ey sure are we lco me in Dist rict 37 , 'sp ecially if they throw scra mbles. This p ast Sunday the Cactus Cats h eld a b enefit ru n for th e EI Caj on M.C. It p aid Distric t 3 7 an d 38 p oin ts an d showe d w hat can be d on e whe n p eopl e care enough to ge t toge ther, m ove fast and m ake plans. T h ree che ers fo r you, Ca ts, especially "Cactus" J im . If yo u d on't know Jim Hone ter, yo u should. The y are going to ha ve to physically p ull his deser t o u t from un de r him to sto p him fro m riding on pub lic d omain . Nice to know th ere are so me othe r w arriors aroun d. Neville Chamberlain o nce made a few to o many concessions t o a c e r tain paperh an ger n amed Sch ickelgruber and you all kn ow wh ere th at led us! The AMA in surance con tr oversy still goes o n . I w en t to t he Long Beach T rade Sh ow whe re all th e goodies are exhibi ted an d saw th e AMA exe cu tives in full force, all n at til y d ressed in th eir red co ats. Russ March, wh om I me t for th e first time , seems a very n ice cha p an d easy t o ge t alon g with ...when I think of Bill Berry ! Anyway , Russ has a good sen se of humor, says he won 't we ar h is re d coa t to th e District 37 mee ting, j us t in case. On hearing that remark, a 'm o tocrosser frien d of mind said , " May be h e should. It won't show the bl ood." N ow gu ys , d on 't ge t too mad. Rememb er I'm up on th at stage too , o r ma ybe I'll sn ea k off to an other sea t th at n igh t and make rude n oises . into Ron Schneiders' tape recorder . From what I h ear , a lot of guys don't really w an t to leave the AMA . I don ' t myself. I just want th em o ut of th e insurance business or at least not forcing us into it . If a policy is offe re d it could be b etter th an th e one we've go t. Many o f us have worked for compa nies wh o, wh en a p olicy p roved un satisfactory , h ave ch an ged to ano ther company in mid -y ear so the re sho uld n' t b e an y ' h an g-up th er e. Basic ally , I ap p ro ve of th e re gional represen tative idea bu t they sure as heck h ad better have all th e answers right at th eir fin ger tip s when a member calls them and wants so me inform ation or help with a p robl em. Otherwi se , drop th em , drop the dues an d we 'll -al l go b ack to fightin g wi th West ervill e like we used to figh t wi th Columbus. I feel ancien t in the AMA by a lot of standards since I ge t my Ve te ran's pin thi s ye ar. (If th ey let me h ave it , h a hal . Their current insurance man is Jim Manning. J im an d I go t along fine yers ago wh en h e and I were behind the A FM and the ACA in th eir stand fo r the righ t to hold ra ces again st the AMA 's stand th at th ey were o u tlaws. Jim was in the insurance bu siness then and so me of his co mme n ts abou t th e AMA and ~ ~ .~ o ~ . ' ins u rance a t th a t time have c o m e to pas s but they were off th e record. In those d ay s, I had a h un ch th a t so meone should h ave ta ken a look a t wh o w as on th e AMA Board an d wh o wa s on th e ins u rance company Board . Li ke who _ really ow ne d who. We all know th at eo n s ago Harley-Davidson was th e AMA. Could the insuran ce bu siness now be part of it? Ent r y B la nk s for Daytona A mateur Events Available; Road Race Entries Close Feb. 21 . WESTERVILLE , O. - En t ry blanks fo r am ateur even ts du rin g Day t ona Sp eed Week March 6-1 1 are no w avail ab le. , Am ateur and N ovice p ro fessio nal rid er s who qualify for th e March 7 Amateur Day road ra ce sh ould write to the American Motorcy cle Associa ti on , P.O . Box 14 1, Westerville , Ohio, for entry b lan ks. En tries must be re turned by February 21 and no p ost entries will be ac cepted. En tries fo r the annual Alligator En d uro, whic h will be run March 8 , may b e obtained by wri tin g the Day ton a 2 00 Mo torcy cle Club , P.O . Box 25 02 , Da ytona Bea ch, Fl orid a 3 2015.

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