Roundup
ROUNDUP
THE AMA
Hard news from the American Motorcycle/Motorcyclist Association, the name of which is presented in this fashion as just one sign of serious problems.
From its creation until recently, the AMA’s middle name was Motorcycle. Then the men in charge decided an image change was needed and changed the middle name to Motorcyclist. Now the rankand-file (if we read the accounts correctly) have voted to change the name back.
Another sign is that the association’s executive director, A. Barrie Best, has resigned. After a short term in office. The announcement said Best decided that the AMA’s status and future direction “do not align themselves with the career objectives that Mr. Best holds for himself.”
Gene Wirwahn, former AMA legislative director, who earlier resigned from the AMA to join a Washington, D.C. law firm, has agreed to delay his departure and serve as acting director until a permanent one can be found.
Reporting on the AMA is like reporting on a meeting in the back room across the street. What you get is what somebody tells you was told to them by somebody who was there.
In this case, we’re told there are clashes between the staff and the elected officials, with side skirmishes between professional racers, the promoters and representatives of the motorcycle industry.
Next problem is that odds are the reader who’d followed this far is probably thinking, Oh, the AMA again. Who cares? The reaction is likely because there are something like 20million people in the U.S. who ride or own one or more of the five million or more motorcycles in the country. The membership of the AMA, after an intensive recruiting effort, is about 150,000.
So. Most of the people who own or ride bikes don’t belong to the AMA. Further, the usual reaction from those who don’t belong is, Why should I? Most members are either dedicated road club people or racers of one type or another. If you’re going to compete in national road racing or flattrack, the Camel Pro tour, or national motocross or try out for the ISDT team, you must belong to the AMA to get your racing license.
As a trade for this, the AMA gets various fees for sanctioning races and the racing members can (and do) say that they support the rest of the club. Which in a sense they do. And the non-racing members can (and do) say that the AMA devotes most of its time and effort to the racers, which in a sense is also true.
Then come the various types of membership. There are just plain folks, there are the various classes from within racing and from the motorcycle industry. OK, a good case can be made for this, too. The industry has spent a lot of money on the AMA. There may be some self-interest but it’s also true that on countless occasions the industry representatives have voted against their own short-term goals in behalf of the sport.
Too bad there are no villains in all this. If there were some, we could throw them out and live happily ever after.
As it is, what we have is good and dedicated people working in their own way toward goals which sometimes are the. same and sometimes aren’t. And we have a club which doesn’t draw what one could call whole-hearted support from what should be its ranks. We have the professional staff not pleased with the leaders, we have internal dissension, in fact if what we’re told is true, the racers and the promoters and the staff and the elected officials are planning to walk out on each other any day now.
Still, we do need a professional organization for the professional racers, so they can deal with the promoters and provide continuity and get our chaps into international racing with the other chaps, while providing fair and exciting competition for the fans.
How about something like NASCAR?
The various motorcycle manufacturers and aftermarket firms and related industries are entitled to a say.
How about their own organization?
Most of all, we everyday bikers, weekend warriors and just plain folks are entitled to a club. Our club. With all due thanks and respect to the industry and the racers, it’s hard to feel a warm sense of comradeship when some votes are more important than other votes. We need a club with popular support, with leaders who speak for us and for nobody else. We’re getting the short stick when it comes to road legislation (How many states have mandatory seatbelt-use laws?) and we’re sure as hell getting the shaft off-road. One thing you must grant Sierra Club officials, they know how to lobby and present their case. (Did you know that Ralph Nader’s outfits have seven paid lobbyists at work in Washington? Just because they’re reformers doesn’t mean they’re dumb.)
So. Without forgetting that this magazine gets to report and criticize without having any actual responsibility, we pass along an idea from Suzie Mann of Motorcycle Weekly:
Reform the AMA as a membership club only, for motorcycle enthusiasts and amateur racers. Survive the first year of the break by persuading the motorcycle companies to make one final contribution. Every buyer of a new motorcycle gets a paid AMA membership for one year. Give the club that year to sell all those members on the club. If that doesn’t work, if the club sort of fades away, well, then we’ll know the truth in the saying about a people getting the government they deserve.
A.G.
TRIUMPH OF THE YEAR
1he legend lives on, as they say. Shown is the 1978 Triumph Bonneville, as displayed at the opening of the new' headquarters of Triumph of America, Inc.
For 1978 there will be two models, the Bonneville with two carbs and the Tiger with one. Both will have Girling gas/oil rear shocks, Lockheed disc brakes front and back and a claimed weight of 395 lb. Bonneville buyers can have black with crimson flash, blue with silver or chocolate with gold, the last also coming with a brown seat and nice it is, too. The Tiger is crimson with silver trim.
The bikes are only part of the story. The workers’ co-op, helped by financial angels and the British government, has bought the factory and the rights to distribute Triumphs in the U.S. They’ve formed a new company and are stocking parts, signing up new' dealers and encouraging old ones. Plan is, the 750 Twin will keep the company in business w hile new models are developed and the range is widened. They don’t plan to challenge Honda for No. 1, but they do believe there’s a place in the U.S. (and the world) for British motorcycles.
We agree. Soon as the bikes come out of the crates, they’ve promised one for test.
QUIET NOISE
hue nobody disputes the studies showing noise to be the motorcycle's chief flaw in our relations with the nonmotorcycle public, we aren’t alone. Finding a cure may be even harder than we think. A study financed by the Outboard Marine Corporation (powerboats have their critics too) measured the noise level of a 25 mph wind on a lake at 96dbA for a man in a sailboat. 97dbA for a man on the beach and 92dbA for a man on a motorcycle. If the wind freshened to 29 mph. the noise level rose to more than lOOdbA.
Figure that we now have noise limits of 83dbA for road-going motorcycles and some state laws requiring 86dbA off-road and you can see how' difficult it is, even allowing for different test procedures. When a motorcycle is silent as the wind, it may be breaking the law'.
The punch line is that the same study shows 10 percent of the population would object to any noise they aren’t making themselves.
POST-CHRISTMAS BLAHS
he Christmas Bonus (in our Decem ber issue) was fun to do. But when you take a dozen people working with hundreds of items, there are bound to be some mistakes.
Which there were. The Metzeler tires came from Berliner Motors. Railroad Street and Plant Road. Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. 07604. Berliner also sent tires for our desert racing bike, so we do wish to get the record clear.
Next, the fairing on the touring Honda Gold Wing was from Motion Trends, a firm which apparently has gone out of business. (We say apparently because we cannot reach them by mail or telephone.) So anyone wishing to buy a fairing is advised to look elsewhere.
The bodyw'ork on the cafe Kawasaki was done by Tracy Design. PO. Box 5112. Santa Barbara. Calif. 93108.
Finally, some of the prices quoted came from dealer catalogs and are wholesale prices. If you order equipment and the man tells you the price is higher than w'e said, the man is right and it’s our error.
LAVERDA'S LATEST
ewest entry in the Bigness Challenge is Laverda's Triple, last seen as the 1000. At the Paris Show, Laverda displayed the 1200, although in actuality the bore and stroke of 80 x 74mm work out to 1115cc. The French Laverda distributors said the model would have 97 bhp and a top speed of 142 mph, and that the newest version of the engine would have chain driven weights to improve balance. The show bike had full road gear, a two-person seat and higher-than-Jota bars, so the 1200 appears to be aimed at the sports/touring market as well as endurance racers.
KAWASAKI KX250
md of a sneak preview but here's the Kawasaki KX250. the 1978 moto cross offering we've been expecting for at least a year. The Kawasaki reps brought one around for inspection only. There are more improvements than we can list (do notice the finned leading-axle forks, though) and in general we're told the 1978 racers will be just about what the factory raced last year, with fewer exotic metals and a few more pounds. The motocross bikes will in fact be built by the racing department, which is one of the reasons there are none for sale or test yet. Look for `em in a month or two.
RIDING ON WATER
etbike is the name and AMA racer John Hately is enjoying the game. The makers, AVR Corporation, call the Wetbike the hottest bike on skis. It's powered by a two-stroke Single of unan nounced parentage, rides on front and rear skis, jumps waves and has a claimed top speed of 40 mph.
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR MOTORCYCLE TODAY?
hat a fine slogan that is, once the shock wears off. Comes from C.J. “F” Ventures, P.O. Box 554, Addison, 111. 60101. They came up with the slogan as a way to let the public know there are lots of motorcyclists in the world, even if sometimes we must drive trucks or cars.
The slogan comes as a bumper sticker and a poster, and should be available (for $1.25) at your local bike ship. If not, ask or send to the sponsors.
