Discussions With·
BIG DADDY
ERects on LA Bikers
b y Joh n Ulric h
.
R aise th e name of J ess Unruh a t any
g at he r i ng : a nd you'll get va ried
resp onses. T he significant fac t is not
th a t th e responses vary, b ut th at th e y
exist. It see m s th at everyo ne has an .
o pin io n of Jess Unruh, and good or b ad,
th os e opinion s stand as tribute t o the
co n tro versial public life of Mr. Unruh.
I w as c urio us ab o u t the man himself,
and especially abou t hi s feelings on
s u b jects affecting m o t orcyclists. I
accepted wh en Gene Geary o f the
Team ste rs' Union o ffered to set up an
intervi ew wi th Mr. Un ru h, who is now
run ning for May or of Los A ngeles. It
t u rned out t o b e a very wise decision.
Shortly afte r co n firm a tio n of my
ap poin tme n t w ith Mr. Unruh , seve ral
noted . state and n ational political figures
I h ad b een trying to ge t interviews with
for m onths ca me through. It seemed
that the very name "Jess Unruh", and
his granting me an interview, op ened
d o ors that I never thought exis ted . It is
ob vio us th at Jess Unruh is well
resp ected in th e w orld o f p oli tics.
T h at is easy to under stand if one
recounts Un ru h's p o litical life . He ran
fo r the California Asse mb ly fo r th e fir st
time while st ill a Political Science major
at th e Un iversi ty o f So . 'Califo rn ia. That
was 1948 , an d Unruh lo st in the
p rim ary .
Bac k in pursuit o f p olitical office in ,
195 4 , h e defeated a 16 -year in cumbent
for state Assemblyman. He was then 32.
By 19 57 h e w as Ch airman o f the
Cali fornia State Committee o n Finance
and Insuran ce, and ran the Commi tte e
on Ways and Me ans for three ye ars
auth oring the state budget. He w as
ele c ted Speaker o f the Cali fornia State
As sembly in 1961.
Re-elected 27 ' times, his 7 year 3
month caree r as Speaker saw him guide
landmark civil righ ts legislation followed
"I have real reservations about no-fault•..••
by a se rie s of la ws dealing with
co n s u m e r pr o t e ction, sc h oo l
re or gani z ation and f i na nce
environm en tal planning, con flic t " of
i,;,te re st and ca m p aign . financing
disclosure,
R eform o f th e Cali fornia government
during hi s te nure as Speaker resulted in
sta ff , fa cili tie s, an d sal ari es su fficient t o
m ake Cal iforn ia state gov e rn me n t th e
standard b y which o ther states are
judged.
So I kn ew Unruh was a p olitical
hotsh ot, but th at was ab o u t all . A lo t
can b e learned about a man from th e
staff h e main tain s. While w aiting for Mr.
Un ru h t o return from d un paign in g for
Mayor o f Los An geles , I dis covered m y
wallet was barren to ransom m y Honda
back fro m the parkin g lot pirate who
had cru n ch ed it betwe en a Porsche an d
a Lincoln minutes before . Un ru h's
secretary gladl y loaned m e S 1.2 5. My
mind was at res t.
A look at Unruh's office is e ven more
imp ressive. Hi s .wall is lined with
ins cribed ph otos o f pe ople like J ohn F .
Kennedy (Un ru h managed his Ca lifo rnia
cam p aign in . 1960) and Richard N ix on.
T he collection is rounded ou t with
pictures o f R obert Kennedy , Lyndon
.:
Co
very own ci ty wh en I gr ow up. "
U
1 find m y sel f fac ed by a fr iendly-m an
telling me th at rather than d eal
ex clusively with questions related to th e
office he is c u rren tly see king (Ma yor o f
Los Angeles), he would "rather talk to
y o u about your problems".
A s far as th e city and m o t or cycles .'
go, Un ruh says "I thin k we o ugh t to
have a noise o rdinance, but I don 't
sing le o u t m otorcycles individually for
th at. We n eed a n oi se ordin an ce fo r th e
ci ty in general, and motorycl es an d
eve ry bod y else will h ave to con fo rm to
th at. But I don ' t propose to p ass sp ecial
legisl ation."
Was there an ything specific Unruh
would lik e done in th e ci ty co nce rn ing
motorcycles? " The only thi ng tha t I
migh t urge wo uld be tha t when bi kes
are sold, there be a co m ple te list o f
ins tru cti on s and usage suggestio ns
wo rked o u t b y the m anu facturers wit h
'sick le cl u bs so that pe ople ar e given
some backgr ound as to what's prope r
and wh at 's n ot proper. I also thi n k there
o ugh t to be tr affic sch ools they co uld
go to to find o u t how t o ride. Beyond
th a t, I d on't see an y gre at problems." A '
cand id ate for mayor o f a m ajor
Am erican ci ty advocating wha t amou nt s
t o m otor c y cl e dr iver education !
Surprise, surprise.
The n ext question dealt with th e
notorie ty o f ce rtain elements of th e
m o t orcycle industry for scre win g th e
Jess Unruh . When the crunch comes, which side do you want him on?
c o n s um e r , not followin g up on
warran tie s, giving people the wrong
infamous California no-fault . in su rance
(Congressm a n, R·California) bill which
parts, faulty service , an d a gene ra l
bill.
wouid n o t preclude the us e o f o ff-road
run -around.
'II have real res ervations about
vehicles, but I think there ought t o b e
Just what would Mr. Unru h like to
no -fault at th is point. I' m inclined to
rath er firm rules as to wh at the us age is
see done to promote responsibility
fe el that we have to m ak e progress in
and publish ed regulation so th at cy clis ts
th at ar ea, but I 'm reluct ant ab out ta king
and o the r users know what to exp ect.
away th e right of people to sue un de r
I'm n ot in favor· o f p recluding th eir
any and all circums tances. It w ould be
usage with eve ry thi ng , in th e public
v er y difficult to extend n o-fault
parks an d else whe re. From wh at I
in su rance t o m otorcycles. I d on ' t think
kno w, I th ink I w ould prefer
it will happen ."
Goldwat er's bill o ve r Cran ston 's bill
T he last questi on . co ncerned th e
(Se nato r A la n Cran ston, D.C ali fornia) a t
reg ist ra t io n fee imp o sed u pon
this p oint. I fe el th at all ORVs should
motorcycles in the state o f California .
b e licens ed to d ete r the f t p roblems."
Si nce m o torcy cles weigh less , generally
O ne problem t hat m o torcyclists in
displace and pollut e less, an d cost less
urban areas face , 'especially late at nigh t
th an cars , wh y should n 't th e state ado p t
and in other low traffic situa tio ns , is
a syste m of regis tra tio n e ncouragi ng
th at the lo op d etectors tha t tri gge r
m oto rcy clin g with lower fees? S uc h a
traffic signals will n ot resp ond t o
system could be b ased on weight.
rna torcycles unless the machi ne is
UI' m really not in favor of tha t,
p recisely placed o n th e ofte n hard t o see
because if yo u d o that, then yo u reall y
loop. Mo st motorcyclis ts d o no t kn ow
o ugh t to go in favo r of small ca rs over
ho w t o d o thi s ana so just run-red ligh ts ,
b ig ca rs . I'm n ot necessa ril y o p posed to
becomin g tic ke t bait.
th at , but- a t th is time I 'm n o t ready to
Wh at are th e chan ces of th e' ci ty
give the fore ign cars th at ki nd of
u nder t aking a program to so lve this
co mpeti tive advan tage over Ame rican
p roblem if Unru h is electe d m ay o r ?
cars."
"It seems that the p roblem would be
R eali st ically speaking, Unruh turned
two-fold ; d ealing with new ins tallatio ns
o ut t o b e. quite recep tive to th e needs
in which th e problem could be
an d w an ts o f m o t orcy cli sts, within the
co rrec ted , an d d ealin g with o lder
lim its o f hi s ove ra ll view . His advocation
ins tallatio ns. It see ms to me since bikes
of a pro gram of m ass m otor cyclist s
can trip th em, m ay be we co uld j u st run
educati on stands unique among political
a ma rker o r a pain t stripe t o indicate
figu re s I h ave talk ed with . Wh at wa s it
wh ere it is, and do it inexpensively . I
th at made Jess Unruh so in tune t o
kn ow th os e ti cke ts are fie rc e , a nd th e
m otorcycling?
co p s reall y b an g cycl ists aro u n d , t o o.
" Well , all three o f m y so ns h ave h ad
Particularl y if they 've go t h air down to
mot orcy cles at one time o r another , and
th eir coll ar."
o ne still has his Du cati. "
The ne x t subject dis cussed was th e
among members o f th e ' m o t o rcycle
industry ?
" I think quite cle arly that is o ne ar ea
that the ci ty Department o f Con su mer
Affairs ought to be in volv ed in ,
interested in, and concerned wi th. I
would lik e to see the clubs aro un d form
so r t of a self-policing o pe ra ti on so that
they co uld bring ' co m pla in t s in to the
Department o f C onsumer A ffairs. T he n
that Dep artment o ugh t to p ro secute.
Beyond that, I t hi n k we o ug ht t o urge
that warranty legislation be ti gh ten ed in
Sa c rament o, bu t n o t j ust o n
motorcycles, on e ve ry thing . Pe o pl e wh o
offer warranties h ave to live up to th e
strict letter of those wa rran ties. "
How ab o u t th e situation of off-road
vehicles _ u se in C alifornia? With h is
answer, Un ru h becam e th e fif th m ajor
political figure I had talked t o in three
months that pointed o u t the in evit abl e
fact that off-ro ad vehicle e nt h us iast s are
goi ng to have to accept so me limi tati ons
to th eir a reas in California in th e future.
" I th ink the re h ave to be guidelines,
an d there h as to be legislation d efining
what is proper use and wh at is impr op er
use , putting aside certain .ki n d s of areas .
for cert ai n kinds of uses. I'm in ge ne ral
John Ulrich likes to have his picture taken with political bet-shots. Left, Jess Unruh. Right , John
sy m pat!'Y with Barry Goldwater , Jr.'s
Ulrich.
I
