Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N '" .'" C1. BENDY BARS WARNING VOICES OF THE WEST M ,... ~ N' N . > :;: en '!: w Z w oJ U >- U IT SHOULD N'T HAPPENED HA VE Friday night, May 5, 1973, Ivan Shigemasa, a Junior flat track rider, was killed in the n o r th tum of As cot Park. It could have been av o ided. Since the openin g of As cot Park under t h e leadersh ip o f J . C. Agajan ian, ma n y uadvertised" improvemen ts h ave been m ade . Ho we ve r. to my w ay of th inking, it's abou t ti me Agajanian and the AMA officials who r un the flat track ra ces on Friday n igh ts ge t together o n so me very im p o rt an t safety features for the riders. T h ey 're lo n g overdue. First, Sh ige rnas a might n o t have di ed h ad the re been h ay bales p la ced close to th e wa lls, su ch as ' is the case in m o st o ther flat track events througho ut the co u n try . Se condly, why weren't th e Fl ashin g red beacon Iigh ts us ed to stop th e ra ce after the c ras h occu rre d? T he race was all owed to con tinue while th e fall en rid er la y undern eath his machin e. In fact, it was a ph otographer wh o finall y pulled the bike off th e rid er. Where Was the AM A official in that co m er? Third, it' s about time some competent medi cal p eople or re scue -trained personnel we re on th e scene to admi nister firs t aid in the fonn of immediate , and I mean immediate, response. It was at least a full min u te or m o re before anyone got to the rider and even then no oxy gen or closed chest heart mas sage was attempted. It mu st have b een a full 20 minutes before the rider was ta ken off th e track and anothe r five or six minutes were wasted wh ile the ill-tuned ambulance stalled in the pit parking lot. A ll th ese factors add up to this: a n yo n e who attends an d e njo y s co m petitive fla t t ra ck racing , as I h ave ~ done for a numbe r o f years, d eserves to see at leas t a p ortion of his m oney go for th e protection an d sa fe ty o f the ra cers . ... In th e last an alysis, it's th e rid er s w ho are m aking the bucks fo r the promoters. With out th e rid ers, y ou'v e got n o a ttractio n a t all . J . A LSTON L os Angeles, Calif. A fter atte nding m o t orcycle rac es at Ascot last F riday n igh t and seeing Ivan Shige masa kille d , be cause h e crashe d in to the wall at full speed, I feel th e re mu st b e so me th in g t hat can be don e to prevent or at leas t le sse n the ch anc es of being kille d this wa y. Las t year I atte n de d th e Nationals at As cot an d for th at race th ey put bales of h ay around th e en ds of th e track so when anyone fell th e y an d their bike w ould hit th e h ay befo re hi t ting the wa ll. I don't know if this would have prevented S higemasa from b eing kille d but if it w o uld lessen j ust o ne accident or preven t o ne person fro m being k ille d I think it wo ul d be we ll worth it , n o matte r w hat th e cost. As an in d ustrial n urse , I kn ow each ti me we have an acci dent everyone is co n ce rn ed about finding th e ca use and th en so me way to p re vent th e same accide n t f ro m h ap p enin g agai n. T here • mu st be so meway to p re vent this sa me accide n t from h appening again. I o nly h ope th a t Ascot R ace wa y will so me how try to preven t an oth e r similar accident. SHARON SAXTON L on g Bea ch, C ali f~ See Asco t report t his week... Ed. AMER ICAN M/C OBITUARY It is with p rofound re gret th at we ann oun ce e ffec tive May 3 0 th, Yankee Mo t or Company wiII b e forced to te rmi nate manufac tu re o f it s Yankee mot or c ycl e du e to i rr eversible, un favo rable variance s in all cost areas. A rrangem ents h a ve b een conclu de d w ith the O ssa m o t o rcy cle factory in Spain to carry o n p ro duction o f th e Ya n kee T w in. in cludin g a street s C r amble r versio n an d th e 460cc m o t o c r o s s s ing le. R e a son abl e in ven tories o f the Yankee 500 and rela te d spare p arts h ave be en esta blished by us to ins ure continuity o f shipments to our dealers un til O ssa can esta b lish produ ction of th e Yankee. J O HN A. TAYLOR Pre sid en t . Yankee Mo tor Co. Schen ec t ad y , N , Y. WHO WON? enj oy ed your repo rt on th e Anglo-Ameri can Match ra ces , b u t I th ink th e question of wh ich co u n try Pa ul Sm art should ride for is deba table. H oweve r , I feel th at th e ass um ption by th e AMA t hat the Americ an s, in effect , won the series is e rroneo us. Had Pa u l S mart rid d en fo r A me ri ca isn' t i t possib le tha t th e Bri tis h ri de r rep laci n g h im m a y h ave do ne b ette r than Smart ? Th e im p ortan t th in g is that the com pe titio n was b o th e xc e lle n t and we ll b al an ced an d h ope full y the beginning of so me go od se ries. \Vha t an in te resting seri es co u ld be staged he re with Riv erside, Laguna Se c a , O ntario, etc . ALAN HERBERT Corona Del Mar, Calif. I We aske d Do n Woods , who wr o te t ha t press re lease , a bo ut it. He sai d that it wa s done just as a publ ici ty gim mic k t o sti r up some controversy. It was ai me d at t he gene ral press rat he r t ha n th e bike pr ess. The o n ly prob le m t hat we fo rse e is t he Brit ish react ion to it. Winn in g wasn 't too importa nt. Th e pla ying was magn ifi cent. "Trippe , Co x, t he prom ot ers of t he Anglo-American series ha ve som e plan s fo r inter national me et ings on th is sid e of th e Atlantic. Mexico Cit y is ex pected to be t he sit e of one rac e . Trippe-C o x a nd Kawasaki, wh o toge ther promote the Laguna Se ca Nat ion al, would like t o br ing so me of t he Brit ish sta rs over for it, particula rly William s. One of t he t hings that made the ra cing in t he Match ser ies SO good was the pr ogram arr an gement with lots of short rac es close toget her and run on rider 's courses. The AMA co uld learn so me t hing from it . The racing was clo ser, there were mo re spe ctat ors, and , cons eq uent ly , everyone made more money ...Ed. HANSEN FAN A ft er read in g so me d e ro gat o ry state rne n ts in you r p ape r about Bob Han sen, I w o uld lik e to exp ress my o pi n ion. He is o ne of th e n ic est persons I've e ve r m e t. I was trea te d c o u r te o usly an d w ith resp ect. I am fo rtunate to run o ne o f his motors o n th e half-mil e a t Asco t. I'm j ust a firs t y e ar Novice, but wh en I talked to Bob Hansen he made me feel like I was Na tio nal N u mber I. After b lowing my motor on ope ning n igh t a t Ascot and n ot receiving any h elp fro m K aw asak i, Bob Han sen calle d fro m italy t o h elp so rt out problems. I fin d it h ard to be lie ve a nyth ing bad abo ut th is man . A ll h e's d on e is hel p m e. J AM E Y BLUNT 6 1x Palos V e rdes, Cal if. T hey weren 't our rem a rks ; we we re q uot ing. W. think Bob H ~ n se n is nift y peop l•.. .Ed. CHERRY HOUND CREEK HARE 'N' May 27th w ill see the 14th r un ning of the Cherry Cree k H ar e 'N ' H ound Moto rcy cle C lass ic. We need yo u r h elp in p reservin g th is eve n t fo r all m otorcy cle riders to enjoy fo r years to co m e . As yo u are aware , rest ric tio n s an d legis lation m ake it m ore di ffi cu lt to put o n an eve nt th at us es th is amo un t o f ground. The Bureau of Lan d Managem en t is w a t ching to see th is year h o w much in te rest is in o u r land a t C herry Creek. Th is .y e a r th e eve nt will b e approximately 90 mil es o f th e to ug hes t terrain in the U n ited States pl us miles of Sahara-type sand dun es. The course offe rs every ty p e of ch alle nge fro m m oun tain passes to hi-speed sand washes. Our even t is for all riders fro m all parts of the co u n try an d the entry fees are as small as possible. We n ee d your h elp to ic t everyone know quickly th a t Cherry Cree k is alive and well. LA R RY D. CHID EST E R Salt Lake M.C. I want to start thi s le tt e r by saying I 'm no t sn ivel ing abo u t losing a ten spo t. I learn ed a lesson and le ssons co st so me th ing. Everyone k nows that I.IX is just about th e h ard est tes t of men and equip ment. So anythi ng tagged MX is assu me d to be heavy duty . We ll it ain 't necessarily so. I p u rc h ased a pair of Monarch MX · handle bars an d I bolted the m on the appropriate pl ace . I th en proceeded to do som e co w trai ling . I ran out o f rev's on a rather st eep up hill and did a fairly eas y ge t off. Wh en I picked the bike up the left side of th e bars were bent b ack . an d d o wn at a 45 de gree an gle. I w asn ' t too u pse t ? I took a p recision adjuster (h am me r) an d go t the m approximately righ t again. Twenty mi n u tes later wh ile trying to ride a b erm the bike sq uir ted o ut fro m u nderne ath m e. T his time th e righ t side of said bars were a t a 20 d egr ee ang le, fo rwa rd. Necd less to say I gav e up riding fo r the da y. A ll of m y rid ing sp ee d s were d on e at 10 10 15 MPH. I w ould h ate to see w ha t wo uld of h ap p en ed at MX speeds . And I w ould hat e to see sorue o ne D N F b ec ause th eir b ar s w e re S G o u t shape th ey couldn ' t rid e . I cal led Cycle House where I boug h t the bars a nd they told me " so rr y abo u t th at" b u t they we re n ot guaranteed, I cal led Mo n ar c h Di st . Co. They a lso to ld me sorry about that. This kind of junk sh o uld n ot be sol d t o an unsuspecting pub lic. T h e b a rs bend like th ey we re made o f soft cl ay . Mo n arc h m ay o r ma y n o t be one o f y o u r advertisers but I thi n k y ou and y o u r rea de rs should kn ow abo u t this co m p any an d t hei r shod dy products and attitude. RO Y MARTI " O ran ge , Cal if. PIT SQUID OF TH E WEEK F o r th e p as t two iss ues you mad e a p oin t of showing Fishe r an d frie n ds doing wh eelies in the pits a t vario us even ts. T he cap ti o n s h ave leaned mo re toward .h u m o r th an the c ri t ici sm they should receive. I h o p e Cycle New s' attitude toward . pit racers (p ro fessio n al or otherwise) hasn 't c h an ged . Wh en will the th reats of d isq u al ifica t ion for this ty pe of c hil dish action become reality ? STEVE WI"GA RD _ Hermo sa Beach, Calif. In Italy t hey don't disqua lify yo u. They applaud...Ed. .-..•.............. .. ...........• •...•• · ; aJI~1 il ••• America '« Number I week ly mot urc vrlc new sp aper. You 'll .ilwavs SCl' it first in Cy cl c New s (M-t'c:] ~~~~CYCLE I N D UST R Y CO U NC I L " MX" doesn 't mea n heav y duty , so me rac ing handl ebars are purposely mad e too ligh t to wit hsta nd dr opping . On e sho uld not try t o straig hte n ben t ligh tw e ight bars as t hey will probably brea k ... Ed . JOE L, COME HOME ! As you may have n o tic ed , I've p laced a privat e ad in C YCLE NE WS fo r my lo st bear. Un fo rtu nately, the lost bear ads h aven' t produced a ny su ccessful resul ts a n d - h is wh ereabouts con ti n ue t o re main a m y st e ry. I know t he 300 p ound b eauty is still alive. Just last weekend (S a tu rday, May 5th) h e was sp otted b y so me local folks ne ar Midway, California . T h e loss of my b ear, wh o ' s n am e is Joel, has ca us ed me financi al hards hip. Th e past two years h ave b een sp en t training J oel to rid e a m otorcycle. This ye a r I h a d severa l promotional ap pe arances sc h ed ule d for J oel shop p ing ce n te rs, su pe rmar ke ts , fairs, e tc . an d the d a tes h ad to be can ce lled. I wi sh to ap p ea l to Cycle News West reade rs to h elp m e o rgan ize a bear hun t (n o fire arms pl ease ) th a t would b e p lanned fo r th e 1st weeke n d in June. T he o n ly re mu n eration that I can offer a t this tim e is a keg of b eer an d so me interesting mo torcy cIe bear stories. If yo u 'd lik e t o j o in me o n a non -vio le nt bear hunt, c all or w r ite. Thank y o u fo r you co nside ra tion . D A VID J . H OU G H P.O . Box 483 San Lean d ro , Calif. 94577 (4 15 ) 352-6 10 9 Charles Clayton .. •.. ... . Ma nagmg E ditor S haron C layto n . •. . . .. • ..• • . • Pub l i sh er Tom Cu lp . . . . • . . . •. . . .Ge ne r al Manag er G ra ce Cam p . • • •.. • • • . .. • O ff tc e Manag er Art F r iedm an •. .• • . • . . . . . •. . . . . . E dit or Dave Sch o on m a k er .• .• . . A ssistan t Editor H owie Fow ler A d verti si n g Manager W endy B l a n t o n • . . . . Advert ising Assi stant Rh eba Sm ith . . • • . •. . C irc u l atio n Manager Marla B oudreau • .• . . Ci rc u latio n Assi stant Cher y l Ste i n be rg . . . . C i rc u la ti o n A ssi stant Mik e Dill on .. . . . . . . • Production Manage r Rosali n d Quinn • • • • . Prod uction As sistan t Hect or Aguilera .••. • • . • . . Lab 'r ec nntctan Mari on Hat astt lta . . . . • • .. • . .Typographer Melvin Ph elps • ..•• . A ssi stant T yp ographer Dave C ro we • . . .• . . . ..c ouect tco Manager Barb ar a B eb ec k . . . . . A c counting Assista n t C hri s Kolb et . . . . . • . Acco unting A ssistant Ga rn et Du nn . . . . . • • A cc ou n t ing A ssi stant Mich ae l Colika s . . . • . ••Se r vices & Su p po r t K e n Lee • • . . . • • • . • • • • Se r v ices & Suppo r t sc oeee v Ha yn es . • •• .. Services & Suppo r t D av id Paul i • . . . . • . • . . services & Suppo rt N an cy G o odma n . •. • • •. • • • _R ecep t ion i st Nation al Ad ve rt ising D irect o r : T o m Culp Cycle News Wes t a nd Head q ua rt e rs p .O . Bo x 4 9 8, tong Beac h Cal ifo rni a 9 080 1 (2 13) 427 ·7 4 3 3 ; L. A. 636 ·884 4 T E LE X NO . 673-474 I am writing a report on mi nibi ke s and I need so me informa tion. I would be p leased if you c o uld send me so me ma terial o n minibik es. ALAN HALL Sh eridan, Wy o . • : • • • • • · · · · · Cy cl e News. Central Ed it ion 11 18 West 6th Street A ust in . T e xas We aren 't int o rmrus much. Try one of t he min ibike mont hlies... Ed . S u bsc r ip t io n : One y ear , second c lass mai l 2 years, second cl as s mai l 3 y ea rs, second c lass mai l Single copy p rice DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS GEO R G IA R EED, GEORGEAN NA BR OWN, D EA NE BRO W", GARY DOUG LAS San ta Barbara, Cal if. • • • Cy cle News , East -D ix ie Ed it io n 4 19 0 F irst A ven ue T u ck e r , Geo rgia M INIS? Re garding the ·IT S cra mb les a t B ak e r sfi e ld , Calif. April 2 2 by A ccuRepo rt (w h a tev er that is), any h ow , fo r 2 50 No v. y o u h ave in 3rd pl ace Allen Reed on a Bul. First of all, his n am e is ALAN Reed and he rid es an OSSA. I kinda w on de r h ow man y others y o u goo f on! We have a foster h ome a n d m y husband (A lan) is te ach in g th es e kids to rid e an d maintain th eir o wn bi kes and h e is so meone these kids lo ok up t o so pl e ase, ge t t hings righ t, so th e y know it is th ei r Dad' s name in th e p ape r. T h ey lo ve to ta ke the magazin e to sc hool an d sho w the o ther c hil dren. He ma y n o t be th e greatest ri de r, b u t we thi n k h e is. • : · · : 5 12 .5 0 5 2 2 _50 . : 530_00 : 5 .50 Pub lish ed w ee k lv' ex cep t the first a nd last wee k of th e ca lend a r year by Cyc le News, Inc ., Post Office Bo x 498, Long Be ach , California . Second Class Po st age paid at Long Beach, Calif. Edi torial st or ies , ca rt oons, photos, etc. a re wel come . Ad dressed, st amped e n velope assures return of ed ito rial matter. Reprinting in w h o le or part onl y b y permission of the publishers. Ad vert is ing rates and ci rc ula ti on information will be sent upon request. S ee 5 _R.D .S . Co py righ t re) Cycl e News , I nc. 1973 all rig h ts rese rved ..•..•.•.•••••.... ........ ••.... .... .. .

• Cover