Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.. N t ... M '" . c: .., " lJ) ;;: w Z W -J U >- U ' WE DON'T NEED THE FENCE . ' FDXTZ I Re c e n t ly t h e g re a t Carlsbad mo toe ro ss track was en tireJ y encircled in chain link fence, Within a matter of we e ks a rid ers wa s kil led in a co Uisio n with the barrier, T he person responsible for this addition apparently is not acquainted with the racing conditio ns on a motocross track. No matter th e amount of skill or daring present in the rid ers, wh ether Eu ropean Experts or Beginners, it is bound to happen that -a fast movin g rider will make contact with th is immovable hazard. Reasoning behind the fencing must be fo r spectator co n tr o l - obviously not for rider safety! Personally, my daring has reached its lirni t , and I feel it is unsafe to race OIT such a d an gero us ly equipped track. It is worth m y tim e an d effort to drive the e x tra few miles to a track utilizing snow fe ncing. May I suggest that other rid e rs wi th m y same sense of se lf-preservation do the same in h op es of forcin g the re moval of the steel fen ce , Must we wait fo r more d eaths to con vinc e us all ? ERIC ANDERSON Vall~y Cen ter, Calif. la 'I~1 IIWI . .~. lMt'cl America ' , No . , Wee kly Motor cy cle New sp ap er Sharo n Clayton •• • . • .. • . . • •• • Pub li Sh e r 1 0 m C u ll) • • • • . • • •• • • • •Genera l Mana ger Ed na M ewto n •. • .. Se cr e t ar y to PUb li sh er Too R affert y • . • • . • . .• . . Ma nag ing Ed i t o r Art F r ied m an . • . • • . • .. • . . . . • . • • •Ed lt o r Dave Sc h oo n m ak e r . . . . .• A ssistan t Ed i t o r Howie Fowler • • • . •• • A dve rt isi n g M an ager Wend y Bla nt on •. • • . Adve rt is ing A ss ist an t Rheba Smit h • •• • • •• • C ircul a tio n M an ager Marla Boud reau •. •• • C i rc ulation A ssis t an t Cheryl S t ei nbe rg • • • • C i rculation A ssista n t M ike p illo n . • •. •• . •. Pr Oduc ti on Ma n ag er R o salind Qui nn ••• .• Prod u ction A ssist an t H ector A g u il e ra • • • • • • • •• •La b Tecl'l n lclan Mar lon H a ta sh it a •• ••• ••• . • •Ty pograp her Melvin Ph elps • • • ••• A ssist an t Ty p o gra p he r D a ve Crowe . •. • • . . . _ .Co llec tl o n M a n ager Grace Cam p •• •• • • • • •A c c o un t ing Ma n ager Barba ra B ebec k • • • • • A c c o u n tl ri g A ssista n t Ch ris Kol b et • • • • . • • A c cou n tin g A ssi st an t G arnet Ounn • • • • • • . A c c o un ti ng A ssis t an t M ichael Colik as • • • • • •• Se rv i ce s & Supp ort Ken L ee • . • • • ••• •• • • • services & Supp o r t SQueeky Ha y n es . • . • . • Services & S uppo r t Da vid Pa u ll • • • •• • • • • • Se r vlces & SUPP o rt N an c y Goodman • • • ••• • • • • • R ec ep t ion ist Nat io nal Advert ising Dir ector: Tom Cul p Cy cle News West a nd Headq uarters r.o. Rox 498. Long Beach California 9080 I (2 13) 4 27-7433: L.A. 636-8844 TELEX NO. 6 734 74 Cy cle News , East-Di xie Ed itio n 4190 Fi rst Avenue Tucker , Georgia (404) 934·7850 Cycle News, Central Edition I 118 West 6th Street Austin. Texas (512) 476-7571 S ubsc ript io n : O ne yea r , secon d c lass ma il 2 ye ar s, second class ma il 3 yea rs, sec o nd cla ss ma il Single copy price $12.5 0 $22.50 $30 .00 $.50 Puhl ished weekly except the firs t and last week of th e cale nd.ar year by Cycle New... Inc., Post Office Box 498, Lo ng Beac h, Califo rn ia. Seco nd C las.~ Postage pa id at Lo n ~ Be.ach, Calif. Edi tori al s to r ie~ , c ar to o n s, pho to.., c tc. are wel come. Addressed , stamp ed envelo pe assu res return o f ed ito rial matter. Reprinting in whole o r part o nly by premissio n of th e publishers. A d verti s ing r u e s a n d cir c u la t io n info rm atio n will he sent u pon req uest . See S.R.D.S. Co pyri ght Cycle News. Inc. 19 73 all rights rcooerved . .. _. In the M ay 25 edition of Cycle News, Ron Schneide rs presented a bitter c ri ti cism of an endu ro sp onsoring cl ub to which he assigned the acronym XY A . The use of the letters XY A and the specific exclusion of m an y other clubs (CE RA, SRA and all AMA member clubs) has led many enduro oriented readers to the conclusion that the subject of Mr . Sch n eid e rs ' displeasure was the URA. For that reason it is necessary to answer Mr. Schneiders' allegations with facts about.the URA. I have had the pleasure of riding the URA's last fou r endures (Littl~ Tuffy, IRRC Benefit, Frosty Cactus, and Lame Dog) and have neither wi messed or heard complaints of any of the faults attributed to the XY A. The m o st serious accusations Mr . Schneiders directed at the XY A we re that the club ' provided po o r rescue facilities an d h ad no conce rn fo r the safety of the riders, Neither of these criticisms are applicab le to the URA . The URA en dures are 'alwa ys on interesting but safe courses, and d an ge r markers are placed as p ru de n tly as those of any cl u b. Apart fro m that, the URA's res cue se rvic es are consisten tly o utstanding . T he IR RC . is always present at U RA e vents and, m o re recen t1y , Service Search and Res cu e, a p rofessional rescu e organization whose members have paramed ic training, has also b~~n p~s~nt. URA ~nduros always includ~ radio or r~ scu~ v~hicl~s station~d along th~ cours~ to facilitat~ fast respons e to em e rgen cies. Mr. S chneid~rs stat~d that th ~ XYA would ru n 15 00 rid~ rs through a bo t an ical gard~ n if that \V~~ th~ ~ asi~st way to g~t ~n o ugh miI ~s fo r a loop. Th~ last four URA ~n du ros ( S ~p t~mb ~ r 197 2 to April 1973) h av~ b~~n run at R~d Mountain , California City, and D ~ scrt C~n t~r. All of th ~ s ~ lo cations a re w~1I ~s tablish ~d ~nduro ar~as and co nsi st of v~ry rugg~d t~rrain. Furth~r, th~ UR A h as not had 1500 or ~v~n half th at many ri d~ rs ~n t~ ~ d in any on~ of th os~ fou r ~nduros. Th~ XYA was also accus~d of haphazard ribboning which c ontrib u t~ d to rid~rs g~tting lost. URA ~nduro co urs~s ar~ v~ ry w ~1I m ark~d. Th ~ o nly probl ~m th ~ URA has had with lost rid~rs was, I b ~li~v~ , at th~ IRRC B ~n ~fit Enduro, wh~r~ th~r~ was substantiat~d ~vid~nc~ that th~ c o u rs ~ markings had b~~n tamp~r~d with. At abo u t th~ sam~ ti m~ p ~ri od and in th c sam~ ar~a th~ CEA and th ~ SRA also had ~nduros whic h w~ ~ sabotaged. Ch~ cki ng th ~ official r~su lts of th~ p ;~vi o us fou r URA ~nduros did no t r~v~al R on Schn~id~rs' nam~ on an y o f th~ lists. Surely if Mr . S chn~iders had b~ ~n riding an XY A ~nduro , ov~r trails h ~ d~scrib~d as being boring and worn .. h~ would hav~ finish~d th~ ~v~n t. In fact, to b~com~ su ch an ~xp~rt o n a club as Mr. Schneid~rs is o n th~ XYA, it s~~ms r~asonabl~ th at ' h~ sh ould h av~ ridd~n a t I~ast tw o or thr~ ~ o f th ~ XY A's ~ ndu ros . It is n ot a p p=nt th a t h ~ h as rid d~ n any U RA ~ n d u ros . If Mr . S ch ~nid~rs' attack is agai nst th~ URA , it is d ~m~ anin g t o C y cl ~ N ~ws that o n~ o f its r~gular con tri butors has, for h is o wn re asons. mis use d hi s p rivil~ dg~d ~ xposu r~ to p ~s~ nt an u n fact ual and damagin g cri ticism of a v~ry good cl u b . If ~I r. S ch ~n iders' XY A is not th ~ URA I ' off~ r h im m y apo logi~s, alo ng with th ~ sug~stion that . h~ should ha~ b~ ~n mor~ sp~cific in ~xclu d ing th ~ URA fro m his cri tici sms. RON EVA NS Internal Specs CO LUMN : Papa 's lat est LOCA L MX: Bishop T EST: Ho w is a Honda CL -450 lik e a h am b u rger? .. .• PRO M~: T he Atlanta Nat ional PRO S MOOT H T RAC K: Asco t ENDURO : Little Burr. : TR ICKERY : What th e Eu ropean fa ctory gu ys ride WO R LD CHA MPIONSHIP MX: F in n ish 500 GP E ND U RO: Are y o u ma n enough to lick th e G ran ny ? PERSONALITY : Her b Uhl . . .. . ... . . . . . . .. . ... . . OP INION : Schne iders (J en ni ngs), Langley (Sc hneider s), DESERT : Ch e rry Cree k ROAD RAC IN G : ACA Willow Sprin gs . .... . • ... .. . NAT IO NA L: Road At lan ta, S u zu ki mak es it two POLIT ICO : Biker Ba rry Go ld wa t e r, Jr SECTIO N : North SPEEDWA Y GR AN D PR IX : SRA R ive rside CALE ND AR , RESULTS : .4 5 . . . .. .. . . . . . . . .6 8 10 12 14 15 16 .... • ... . . .. . .18 Birt (Baja) ' 20 22 . . . . . ... . : 23 :.24 27 28 30 32 34 38 Voices of the West DIFFERENT STORY This le t ter is in regards to your article on CMC's race at Irwindale Raceway o n May 20th. The article kind of shot down the 500 Int. winner, Den nis Clark. My wife a nd.I we re there, and we saw this guy beat all the Experts in two of th e races an d even win the last race with an exciting ride. which we real ly e njoyed. Then y o u r art icle turns around an d says he co uld n ' t h old the experts fo r th e d ist an ce, It kin d of shoots the guy's efforts d o wn the tube, I'm sure he m ust fee l badly abo u t the a rticle, I'm sure I would if I were in his shoes, You also rn a k e r efe r ence to the Expert's sponso rs. Yet no word ab o u t the sponsor of th is guy. W~ think D~nnis Clark rod~ on~ h~1I of :i good rid~ and should g~ t a Iittl~ mor~ c ~ d it than h~ did. It would in t~r~stin g to s~~ th~ final total on poin'ts, I wpn't b~ surpris~ d if Cl ark didn 't b~ at all th~ ~xp~rts p oints "is~ and if h ~ 'd b ~~n an ~xp~ rt would hav~ won th ~ mon~y for first plac ~. BUD & JACKIE RYAN Walnut, Cali f. Sources o f our own indicate that our reporter seems to have been inatt enti ve and inaccurate. You're right; Clark did be.t the Experts ...Ed. ZAMBIA VASE TEAM PENTONS TO BE SOLD What go~s h~~, Papa W~al~y? Of co u rs~ w~'11 s~1I th ~ ma chin~s ridd~n by th~ Trophy T~am rid~rs aft~ r th ~ ISDT ~v~nt. Not only will w~ s~1I th~ U.S. Trophy T~am m a c h i n ~ s , hut wc'lI s~1I th e Italian Trophy T~am m a chin ~, s and th~ Sw iss ,T rop h y T~am machin~s, and, if y ou still want furth~r proof that w~'r~ run nin g · stoc k P~ntons, w~' 11 s~ 1I th~ Belgiu m Vas~ T~am m ach in ~ s and th~ Finnish V as~ T ~am m a chi n ~ s and th~ D ut ch Vase T~am m ach in es, and, if w~ still h av~ buy~rs , w~'11 ~v~n s~1I th~ Zambia V as~ T~am machin~s . Th~y'll a ll b~ riding st oc k P ~ntons an d th~y 'll all b~ fo r sal ~ im m~ dia t~ly a ft~ r th ~ ISDT ~v~nt a t th ~ sam~ standard pric~s th at w~ '11 s~1I th~ qualifying machin~s for. MATT WEIS~IAN Adv~rtisin g Manag~r P~n ton Imports NOREX O n Friday, May 18, I att~ n d~ d wha t wa s called th ~ First Pa cifi c Co as t R~gional . Half MiI~ Championsh ip at Asco t. Pri or to th at nigh t I had h ~ ard ad vertis ing o n the radi o an d read in C y cl ~ N ~ws that su ch rid~ rs as R~ x B ~auchamp , Mik~ Kidd , and G ~n~ R om ~ro would ~ c o mp~ ting in th is eve nt. T ho ugh th ~ pri c ~ of ad mi ssio n was rais~d from $ 3.5 0 to $4.50 I felt that it would b~ worth th~ ~ xtra dollar to s~~ th ~ M idw~st Champ, B ~auch amp, and T~ xan Mik~ Kidd. I arriv~d at As cot and bough t a program which had a pictur~ of non~ other than R~x B ~auchamp on the front with a ca p tion th at' said h ~ was go ing to be making his first Ascot half mi l ~ d~but of this s~ason th at night. Waiting anxiously th rough o u t p racti c~ to see these superstars, my anticipation fad~d as t im ~ trials drew to a c1os~. Neith ~r B~auchamp, Kidd, nor Rom~ro had b~~n out on th~ track. Th~y had not shown up for this " Pa cific Coast · R ~ gion al Championship" and no announcemen t Was made relatinK to th~ir abs~nc~. I f~It as though I had been tak~n. Th~ usual clan of Ascot rid~rs such as Scott, Aldana. and Hat~ly w~r~ p~s~nt. Th ere:: were even a few Juniors and Exp~rts from out o f stat~. How~v~r, th ~ y s~~m~d to ~n d up in the back of th ~ pack. N on ~ w~~ th~ w~1I known h otsho~s, that w~ h ad ~~n promi~d . All in all th~ nigh t was not worth th ~ ~ xtra dollar. I f~eI that I am th~ victim of anoth~r Aggi~ Ripoff. MISS CANDY PETTY Bu~na Park, Calif. WE CAN 'T LONGER WAIT MUCH Enclosed is a copy o f the letter I am sending to the S ta te Park & Recreation Com mission regarding the classification o f Red R o ck Can y on . Maybe you can urge others to write simi lar le t te rs to show o ur concern. Obviously, we: ca n't all take off from work t o go to th e p ublic hearing, although I'm go ing to try . We've go t to do some th ing an d we can 't wai t m uc h longer. Gentlemen: I am an avid camper and enjo y mo torcycle riding in th e d esert , both 'in competition and for relaxation with my family. I ride with caution, as do e.' my nin e- y ear -old son. I have never purposely hurt eith er plant or anim al life . I can honestly say ihat we 've always left our campsites as clean or cleaner than th ey w ere upo n our am·val. My wife and three children enjoy th e outdoors as much as I d o. Unf otunately we are seeing more and more of 'our ' land being tak en away from us. My main co ncern is that my children will grow up to find that their only view of th e outdoors will be in th e museum, beh ind glass, at Exposition Park. Please leave R ed R ock Canyon and similar areas op en to all. R easonabl e co ntrols are one thin g, bu t th e co mplete clo sing of areas suc h as th is to an y group is neithe r th e u!t imate or even inlen'm answer. Thank you f or tak ing ~he tim e to read this let ter. P. N. SEPUL VEDA Culver Cit y, Calif. IN SEARCH OF ACCURACY K~~ping acc urat~ly, abr~ast of aU t h~ n~ ws , is pro b abl y on~ of th~ m os t diffic ult tasks aro u nd to day. S p~cificall y , ref~ r~nc ~ is m ad~ t o your rep ortin g of_th ~ May 4, As cot rac~ an d th~ incident which I ~ d to th~ accid~nt in which I van ' S h ig~ masa was kill~d . B~ing a c1os~ p~rso nal fri~ nd and l on gti m~ m~chanic for Ivan Sh ig~ masa I naturally want to ~port th~ tru~ facts. Th~y ar~: I. Shig~masa cam~ fro m pass~d Danny Ho ckie to third tak~ pl ac~ and th e I~ad . 2. Ivan d id not ~ntcr th~ turn too fast and hit th ~ wall. 3 . H ~ had n ~v~ r pr~vi ously fall~n in that same tum. nor h ad h e ever sustained an injury at an y tim~ a t As cot. Knowin g that yo u r p ap~ r is always int~r~st~d in prin ting th ~ truth. I sub m it th ~ abo,,~ in th ~ h op~ that yo u will print it as it r~ally was. In closing, I w ould Ii k~ to th ank th c many p~opl~ wh o ~nco u rag~d , inspir~d a nd ph ysically heIp ~d Ivan and m yself to r~ach th~ r~sp~ cted pl ac~ in cycl~ ra cing that I"an h as a ttai n ~d . I s in c ~rel y ho~ th a t h ~ will 'always b ~ ~ m~ m b~ r~ d as th ~ alw ays fair, co mpe te n t ra cer he was. T o m~ h~ r~p~s~nt~d what all cy cl~ rac~rs sho uld b~. CLYDE E. CHISLER Salinas, Calif. CLEAN UP OR GET OUT Last weeken d. whil~ camping and trailriding across the high wa y from R~ d Rock Canyon, my fri~nds and I we r~ appall~d at the amoun t of garbag~ left str~wn about b y n ~glig~ n t dirt bik~rs it s ~~ m~d Ii.k~ ~~ry bush con tain~d half a do z~n b~~r can s! M ~ss~ s like this co uld b~ ~asily avoid~d if ~~ryon~ cl~an~j up their own trash - oth~rwise, the land closur~ fr~aks will b~ provid~ d with all o f th~ ~vi d~nc~ th~ y n~~d. Unl~ss w~ cl~an up o u r .own act, w~'lIlos~ it all. DOUG POSSON R~s~da, Calif. . .-' r~;,-=-- .. -:-:-~--_/ . Cycle News is your voice - use it

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