Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141064
Go l d water and Mathias ple n to re-in trod uce the bill , wh ich woul d create a d esert park o f the multi -use c o nc e p t , af t e r w orking o u t a c o m p r o m ise with the Office o f Manage m ent an d Budget to ens u re its p assage.) Photo by Jack Cox. Biker Barry Goldwater, Jr. b y J ohn Ulrich Congressman Barry M. G oldwater Jr., representing the 2 7th Congressional District o f California, serves on th e House Committees on Science and A's t r o n a u t i c s , and Governmental Operations. He has earned a re putation as one of th e strongest advocates of aerospace /a viational projects that su p port a large number of the pe opl e he represents, w o rkin g in the California d efense industry. He h as w o rk ed for aviation co llisi o n av o idance systems, imp roved social security for sen ior ci tizens, better m ethods t o fight fores t fires , high e r quality education for deaf stu den ts , an d go vernmental reform. He has supported e ffo r ts to prote ct th e Santa Monica Mo untains from ind es cri m in a t e d ev elopm ent an d authored a report on waste in fede ral audio visual p rograms. When Barry Goldwater Jr. is no t doing th in gs lik e th ese , he enjoys riding his Yamaha in the Califo rn ia desert. Congressman Goldwater Jr., lives in a pressure co oker known as th e Federal Government: Citizen Barry Goldwa ter Jr. escapes o n two wheels. CYCLE NEWS: What do y ou sec as the b i g gest p roblem faci ng off ro ad m o to rcyclists in th e fut ure? GOLDWAT ER: Space and access to th e open co un try. That is th e big problem that faces p eople who are in the off-ro ad busin ess. CN: H ow do y o u view the feeling hel d by some ' organizations that off-road vehicle use should no t be allowed in California? GOLDWATER: Motorcycles and other off-road vehicles have just as much reason , justification, I guess we should say righ t, to usc t he desert s as an ything else . I think we need a balanced program o f multipl e use fo r all th e people who wan t access to th e d ese rt . We no lo nge r can e nj oy that fre edom we o nce had, wh en we co uld ju st pa ck up an d head out to whe re ver we wan ted. It is a very serio us q uestion , one wh ic h all segments of go ve rn m ent an d th e con ce rned rid ers the mselves should ad dress themselves to. How d o we a pportio n off lan d so that we all can h ave f un o n it? I introduced a bill , along with Bob Mathias, H R 966 1, two years ago th at would have established a California National Desert an d Conse rvati on area. In th is b ill was a pro viso c alling fo r th e de termin ati on o f la nd use. T he bill d id n o t p ass, b eca us e the O fficie of Management and Budget did n o t wan t to ap prop riate th e 2 6 m illion dolla rs th at it cal led fo r. In th e me an time , the Dep ar tmen t of th e In terio r, d ue to the in terest th at has b een sh o w , free d 200 tho usand d ollars to estab lish a d ese rt ranger force t o stop the irresponsi ble usc that o ccu rs th ere. (C o ngressm en CN : In other word s, off-road vehicle use must be allowed in th e d esert , b ut it mu st be regu lat ed? GOLDWAT ER: T hat is right. We have no o ther choice . I used to go, wh en th ere was reall y little conce rn , o u t to th e dese rt an d ride m y m otorcy cle any pl ace I wanted to. ' Bu t n ow we are startin g t o feel in Washington th e co nc e rn of th e l and o w n e rs , environmentalists, and o the r users of th e d esert . The pressure is being p ut o n us , and we are going to h ave to d o something. We ca n n o longer afford the freedom and luxury we used to h ave . T he deserts arc very fragile. T he y repair the mselves very slowly. Some so rt of co n trol is needed in order t o p rese rve the d ese r ts . I t hink . that m o st con scien ti o us, res ponsib le peo ple wh o rid e o ff -road vehicles wo uld agree. I w as born in the d eser t. I know th e deser t; I know just ' h o w d elicat e it is. Bu t I also know how much fu n it is t o rid e o ut th e re . Riding al most every t im e I co m e out to California gives me a tremendo us re lease fro m the p ressur es of Washin gton, D.C. I go out and literally kill m yself. When I get through, I go back to Wash in gt o n feelin g all refreshed. But the fa ct is that the ti me of regulations and control has go t to co me. The pers on wh o enjoys th e us c o f off-road vehicles ha s go t to make his muscl e felt in regard to this co n tro l and re gulations. He h as go t to make hi s voice heard in Washington, Sacramento, and the co u n ties. 'He h as to tell th e go vern ing o fficials, " Hey, we 're here too! We want to use th is desert ." They must help establish some orderly, balanced program for th e multi -use co n ce p t. It's co ming , like it or not. CN : H ow can th e average m oto rcy cl ist ma ke himsel f h eard as you sugges t? GOLD WATER : T hroug h . associations , clubs, as an individual b y writing a letter, You can ma ke' an ap poin tmen t with y o u r legisla to r. T he indust ry a lrea dy has re p re se n t a t i ves in Wash ington . T hey .should b e e ncouraged to flex th eir muscle. It can be d one. They guy wh o has a motorcy cle or a d u ne buggy cannot ass u m e the attitude that so m eb o dy else is go in g to d o it for him. He himself has go t to tak e whate ver ti me h e h as , use whatever co n tacts he has, an d m ad e hi s feelings known . C N : H ow much mail supporting preservation o f the desert versus mail supporting o ff-road vehicle us c of th e d esert docs y o u r offi ce receive in a given p eriod o f time ? GO LDW A T ER: We seldom hear an y thing from m o to rcycl ists . In a mon th 's ti me I probably receive in pu t in one " f o r m o r a not her fro m conservationists about 15 0 or 2 0 0 times. From m otorcy cli sts , m aybe once in the sa me p eriod o f time. CN: What abo ut th e noise aspect of off-road veh icle usc ? GO LDWA T ER: I d o no t think it is asking too m uch for us to quiet our m o t orcy cles in respect for other peopl e. It is not an issue .. .i t just must b e done. CN: What d o y ou feel need to b e done in the ar ea of co nsu me r protection in the area o f mo torcy cle sales, part s sales, and se rvic e? GOLDWA TE R: I thi nk th e gre ates t con su me r protection in p u t is from th e co ns u m er himsel f. He is a fre e agent. lI e d o cs not have to b uy a m otorcy cle. He h as op portu nities to ride a n d ex ami ne it before b uying, and warran ti es a f te r b u yi ng. If a motorcycl e com p an y pro d uces an inferior machine , it will go o ut o f business, If a shop is no t providing good servi ce , it will go out o f business. The consumer is the greatest " consumer pro tec tor" th ere is. CN : T herefore you would b e opposed to a b ill like Congressm a n Che t Holifield's Con sumer Pro te ction A ct O f 19 71 ? GO LDWAT ER: As it pertain s to m o torcycles, yes. I'~ afraid that if we create a super age ncy the consu me r is th e o ne wh o is go ing to pay for it . I thin k the c o ns u mer himself is hi s own best so urce o f protection . Stuff designed to grab y o u r greenbacks and ottierw ise def late your w all et . e " .., '" ~ w ::l > W Need J: 1- Z Three 0 w oJ Wttl U HandS? ..J _.-• > U J: 0 ~I ..JIJ) ~:3 o W Q. IJ) Ca r ry it wh ether o n y ou r H oda ka o r your 1 0 spe ed. T he Ide al way to carry your b o o k s t o school o r y ou r lu nch & sp are p lugs on the trail. $2.50. POSTER ' !I ~ m POSTER @ $1 .50 Each. No. Hot Hats @ ~ .00 ·Each. No_ Stickies @ SOc Each . N o _ .... Back Bags @ $2 .50 Each. N o _ . s Pr i n t Clearly ! ! Na me Add ress ° T ot al T ot al Total Total T otal $ ? ip Code _ _ _ _ _ _ Send Check or Money Orde r. A llow To :CYCLE NEWS Stuff Two to Three Wee k s For Our SomeP.O. Box 498 t imes Post Office. Long Beach , Ca lif. 90801 11111 ~~~N01;AS eU~T~CO Stop by an~ pick up your ticket for the drawing to be held JULY 6, for a 250 MOTOCROSSER. No purchase necessary. AL ANDERS BULTACO 1140 Cypress#G, La Habra, Calif. 90631 (714J 870-9990