Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ ... Read This If You Want To Race Pro Motocross l:: Summary of 1973 AMA Motocross Rules en o N .ti .1: ~ w Z ~ ~ U th an ks to J ohn " Ligb t Brown" Lan cio ne He re it is. T he scoop for 197 3. We learned a bunch in 19 72 and th ese rul es are th e ' result o f th e efforts of a lot of rid er s, me chan ics, dealer s, fa ctory peopl e, promoter s, AMA staf f, an d sp ecta tors. As th e National Motocross Refere e I am looking for ward to this year as the best ever. Questions and problems are bound to com e up so don' t besitate to call or write the AMA (P .O. Box 141 , Westerville , Ohi o 4 3081, 614.8.91-242 5) or my self (Un iversal Accessories, In c. , 17I2 So. Akard S t., Dallas, Texas 7521 5 , 214-42 8-8 357) . The actual rule book is mailed to each holder of a Competition License with hi s Lic en se. Additional copies of the rul e books are available from th e AMA or myself for S 1.25 eac h e xcep t th e se t of three FIM rul e books which is $ 7.00. I urge every interested person to read the rule book and be familiar with its contents. It sure eliminates a lo t of ha ssling at the ra ce track. All riders and mechanics competin g in or working at an AMA Professional event must be licensed by the AMA . The Competition License is $35.00 and the Mechanics License is $10.00, both are good until the end of De cember, 1973. For riders, we again have available the "John Doe" Mechanics License. A rider may purchase a "John Doe" License(s) and use it for an yone he wishes to enter the pit during th e year. The cost is $10.00. The person who uses it to sign in must be an AMA member and present hi s membership card in addition to the "John Doe " License at the time of registration and pay the $4.00 insurance fee . If they do not have the plastic membership card they have to buy a new one. Factory representatives must display proper credentials (Mechanics License, etc.] for entry to the pit area. Members of the press!! Please do not come to us for pit or press passes. Press passes are the resp onsib ili ty of the promoter. There is no such thing as "The AMA only gave me a few press passes." The promoter is in direct con trol of who does and does not get press passes. If the promoter asks for money for a press pass, as a few did in 1972, you are getting ripped off. The promoter is now allowed to charge riders a general admission fee at meets with a purse of S 1200 or more except National or International meets. One free admission to the spectator area only will be furnished to each rider upon request at all meets. Mechanics do not have to pay the general admisstion fee but do not get a guest pass. Riders are classed as Novice or Expert. Advancement from Novice to Expert requires 80 points. Advancement points are awa rded to ten.place in each Moto. First gets ten points, second gets nine points, and so on. Riders may be advanced to Expert without earning a su fficient number of points with the endorsement of two members of the Competition Congress and hi s District Referee. No advan cem en t, however, can be made after the license is issued. The following apparel must be worn: Helmet: must meet the safety Helmet Council of Ame ric an (SHCA) standard and carry its serialized approval stic ker and a permanently affixed exterior marking showing the name or number of the approved product. Goggles: must be shatterproof. Shirts: Jerseys or shi rts must be long sleeved . Only th e riders last name, number and letter can appear on the back . Nothing else. Pants: Leather pants must be worn. Boots: Must be at least eight in ches h igh. Promoters of professional races must have no less than two ambulances at th e track before practice begins. Ra ces will not be allowed to con tinue if there is not a t least One ambulance at th e track at all times. The cos t of track - to - hospital ambulance is the responsibility of the promoter . For all International and National Motocross even ts the promote r will furnish a metal st ar tin g gate acceptable to th e AMA. All -Motocross star ts will be made with a mechanical devi ce: Rubberband gate R t Annual rs Y AMA SPECIAL SANCTION - *SATURDAY* MARCH 17, 1973 110 m 6lap-minicyc .H are-Houn~ ilele Team Race - 2 riders per minicycle required No Wheels Less Than 14-inch rim slze -No Rigid Frames o to 65cc - Age up Through 10 years. 66 yo 80cc - 81 to 100cc - Super 100cc o to 65cc - Age 11 and 12 Years 66 to 80cc - 81 to 100cc - Super 100cc o to 65cc - Age 13 and 14 Years 66 to 80cc - 81 to 100cc - Super 100cc Do all these things right, go fast, don't break and you still have to beat this guy. or a mechanical gate. Each single machine must ha ve one meter (3 .2 feet) of starting spa ce. Th e Referee may hold a lottery to determine starting positions for the first Moto, In subsequent Motos, the riders will be allowed to choose positions on th e starting line accordin g to th e position in which th ey finished the previous Moto. The flags thi s year are: GRE EN: Start, WHITE : One lap to go, YELLOW: Danger on track, RED: Stop the ra ce , BLACK with I" white border: Individual rider disqualification, WHIT E with BLACK CENTER: Another rider trying to pass move over, WHITE with RED CROSS : Ambulan ce needed on track, BLACK & WHITE CHECKERED: Finish of race. There are three equipment classes based upon en gine size : 0·125cc; 126 - 25 0cc and Open. In National Championship Motocross a rider may enter only on e clas s. Both Expert and Novi ce riders are eligible to ride any motor class . Novices will not be permitted to participate with Experts, un less the Referee declares a me et a combined p rogram, due to lack of en tries. Three or more classes can be run if prize money is greater than $9 00 minimum. Mo tocross races are scored on the "Olympic System". On e point for first ; two points for second ; three for third, etc. Th e rid ers wi th the low number o f points is the winner. In case of a tie , the last Moto will be the tie breaker. Any rid er who did not star t or comp le te on e - half the laps of the winner and takes th e ch ec kered flag , will receive points corresponding to the to tal number of riders en tered in hi s cla ss. Th e standard Mo tocross meet shall con sist of either two 30-minute (m inim um) Motos or three 2 0-mi n u te (minimum) Motos for th e Ex pert class. Novi ce riders will have two 20 minute Motos or three 15-minute Moros. If there are more rid er s in a class than can safel y be accommodated on th e course, qu alifying Mo tos may be held. Motorcycycles mu st b e equipped with a fun ctional ele ctrical and/or mech an ical ignition cu toff swi tch or bu tton, mounted on th e le ft handlebar, wi thin rea ch with hand on th e grip . Wheel axles must be steel. T itanium fram es, swing arms, or handlebars will n ot be allo wed for AMA competition. Side stands and cen ter stands mu st be removed. All footrests mu st fold backward at a 4 5 degree angle. Th e length of th e fo o tre st from the pivot point not to ex ceed five inc he s. Handlebars mu st be stee l. Cr ack ed or broken handleb ars are pr ohibited . Eq uip men t used in Motocr oss mu st have a muffled exhaust sy stem meetin g 9 2 dB on "A" scal e measu red a t 5 0 fee t. Noise will be measu red an d if your bike is too loud, yo u won't race. Num be r Plat es. T h ree number plates ar e re quired : Min imum dim en sion s are 9 inch es and II in ches wid e wi th the fo ur comers cu t off at a ra dius of fo ur inch es. Metal pl ates sh all be n o less th an .045 in ch th ick, o r .030 inch if b ead ed fo r additional stiffn ess or no t less than one- six te enth inch thick if fiberglass or A BS plastic. N um ber Pla tes mu st be sec u rely mo un ted in a workman lik e manner. Th ey mu st be affixe d so th ey are clearly visib le an d n ot obstru c ted by an y p art of the motor cy cle or by the rid er wh en h e is in the riding po sition. E xpe r t rid er number pl:, tes sh all be white wi th bl ack numbers. Novi ce rid er number plates shall be white WIth red number s. Numbers must be at least inch es in height and of stan dard ty pe block let te rin g, with no shad ing or ou tlin ing. Letter no less than " inches in wid th mu st appe ar in th e low er righ t hand corn er of the pla te an d be at least 2 inch es high. All riders must have numbers a minimum of eigh t inches high and letter s a m inimum of th re e inches high 0" their b acks and and numbers on ea ch side of th e helme t a minimum of three in ches hi gh of a con tras ti n g color. This is a number and leiter assigne d as a professional compe ti ti on license predicates. All rid ers mus t ha ve th eir last names in block lettering on th e back o f th eir leathers , or jersey , at the shoulder ~in e. Onl y rider's last name, numbers and le tter may appear on ba ck of leather s or Jers ey . Eac h class will have a m inimum weigh t limit for th e motor cycle. No b allast will be allowe d to be attach ed to any mo torcycle. 125 cc Clas s - Each motorcycle mu st weigh at least 80 kilograms (176 pounds) . 250cc Class - Each motorcycle must weigh at least 88 kilograms ( 194 pounds) . 500cc Class - Ea ch motorcycl e must weigh a t least 95 kilograms (209 pounds). Weight will be without gasoline but with oil . And ye s, we will ha ve scales at ! h e races. • No one except rid ers officially entered may ride or practice on the race course the da y of the me et. A ri de r wh ose machine is di sabled before he reaches the fin ish line may, by his own unaided mu scular energy, push or carry his ma ch ine acro ss the fini sh lin e to comp le te the race. Any rid er leaving th e co urse sh all only con tinue th e meet fro m th e poin t wh ere he le ft the course. No rider shall at any time ride in su ch a manner as to endanger life or limb of oth er riders , o fficial s, or the public. Violato rs of thi s rul e are subje ct to immediate d isqualific ati on and suspe n sion by the Referee. T he clai ming p rice of 0-250cc Motocro ss ma ch ines is $2 000. For Op en Class m achines th e pri ce is $2 50 0. T he re is more , so ge t a copy of th e Rul e Book and know what's in it . It's too la te th e d ay of th e race. Your commen ts an d/or cr iti cism s are app re cia ted . Just let us know. 5 " Oldest rider on team determines c1ass-proof of age required $4 .00 Entry Plus $1.00 insurance per rider. Sponors Fee $10.00 per Minicycle Total Fee $20.00. All Riders Must Be A.M.A . Youth Divis ion Members. March 1 Deadline for Number and Starting Postion Drawing. Any Entry Received After March 1 Will Pay An Additional $10.00 Sponsor Fee. No Entry Will Be Accepted After March 12, 1973. Sponsored by Sout hern Nevada Jackrabbits M~C. For Information Phone (702) 878-7546 Or Write to : 4367 W. Charleston, Las Vegas, Nevada89102 Silencers Required Here is Tom Sm ith pr esen t ing Ms: Dolly DiffBrak e, a visit i ng d ign it ary f rom Uganovak ia (you can te ll by t he fu nn y name ), w ith an awa rd fo r hav ing t he snap piest ea rri ngs at th e Barstow-to-Veqa s ban':lue~. Oh nO.o.Er ah , th ere seems to have been a mistake. Dolly D. is giving Tom the certificate (wh ich 1$ ~eaJl y a ch eck) fo r such a nice even ing. e r, day. Or rat he r fo r wi nning th e B to V th ing. O r so me t h ing. But th at 's OK . We st ill t h ink that your ea rrings are t rick , Ms. DiffBrake.

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