Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• The Beginning o f Ihe End? / FEDS BOMB MOTORCYCLES! b y Charles Clay ton June 18 In a sneak attack launch ed Friday , Mr. R obert Fri o f th e E n viro n mental Pro tect ion Agen cy p roposed that Co n gress e nac t laws restrictin g local m otorcy cle registr a ti o ns at 19 73 levels o n the grou nds. that tec h nology fo r controlling m ot o rcycle e missions is lac kin g. Fu rthe rm o re , starting May I , 1974 two-s t roke m otorcy cles, " the wo rs t p oll ute rs ," would be. to tal ly b ar red in th e six-county Los ' Angeles b asin during the "smog-prone daylight h o u rs" of su m me r m onths. T h is would spell an en d to d ay time ridi n g a nd racing in the L. A . area, if e n acted . Si nce learing of th e mo torcy cling air pollu ti o n probl em t wo m on th s ago , th e mo t orcy cle industry has b ee n in close to uch with the E PA o ffici als. T he industry was repeat edly assured that EPA did not co ns id er m o torcycl e emi ssions "a sign ifi can t p roblem. 1t Th e new EPA pl an was " not re ally a surprise " to th e Moto rc ycle Indus t ry Council lobbyists in Washingt o n, said Ex ecutive Director J am es Potter today . The MIC h as called 'a meeting o f it s Tech n ical Standards Committee to prove th at th ere is n o lack of tech nology for co n trolli n g motorcyclin g em issio ns. T he MIC h ad p reviously announced it s willingness to participate in organized eff o rts to se t emissio n standards for motorcycles, and t o help the in d us try in m e eting th e requirements. The MIC Board meets in Los Angel es June 2 7 and will t a ke actio n on th e EPA bombshell, Potter promises. ~ Un less amended, California has until October I o f this ye a r to sub m it a detailed com plianc e sched ule to lim it L.A . are a motorcycle registrations, not to exceed the total number registered in 1973, and prohibit two-stroke operation in the six so u thern coun ties between the hours o f 6 a.m, and 8 p. m. from July through October. Already, the state Attorney G en eral has asked the MIC for comments on "whether it would be feasible or legal to ban motorcycles on city str ee ts" en tirely in California. . When you're up you 're up, and 'w hen you're down you're down, but when you 're only half way up.••. Saddleback H illclimb b y Bu zz Ba ty IRVI NE , CAL., June · 17 T he Saddleb ack Park folks c u t themselves a brand new hill climb and if you' re fain t o f heart o r suffer f ro m vertigo, d on 't try to walk down it, or lo ok down, especially if yo u ' re one of those pe ople wh o have a feeling they want to j u m p fr om h igh pl aces. The dis tance be tw een th e timin g lights m easured 35 0 fe et up a hill th at lo oked to be 4 5 d egrees and maybe ev en 50 degrees in spots. With nitro p ourin g fro m the exh a us ts in quantities su ffi cien t to bring tears to th e eyes of the m o st ard e n t drag fan , local hero and favorite, Neil Mackel bl ew through th e lights and cle ar ed the t op in 7.79 sec onds o n his 750cc m odi fied Triumph T win . Neil , howe ve r, was not th e overall winner. T h e overall winner was Jim True , a member o f the Northern Cal iforn ia co n tin gen t, by yitue of topping th e hill more times than anybody else all day. Wi th 1000c c' s of fuel burnin g Harley -Davidson between his legs, Jim ' s best time ove r the top was 8 .03 secon ds. Th e organizat ion seemed top notch, and it see med as everyone was read y, willing , and a ble to do th eir job. A di scordant note was struck howeve r, b y th e co mp e ti to rs th emselves , wh o many times through the day were no t ready t o co me: to the line when called, causing long d ela ys and o ut ~f se que nce runs . soon'to 'be incOrporated in the MX course . "' 1 M .... Cl CD N ., c ::> .., ~ w Z W ..J U >- U

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