The Scene

THE SCENE

IVAN J. WAGAR

THE two biggies in the world of motorcycling, the Federation Internationale Motocicliste (FIM), the world governing body, and the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) have both held their respective congress meetings. And the decisions handed down by the FIM will probably have more effect on the sport in this country during the coming year than those adopted by our own association.

Item 14 on the FIM's agenda dealt with the question of American affiliation. Previously, the Wes Cooley MICUS organization was the FIM affiliate for this country. During 1970 a sort of partnership arrangement existed, whereby both MICUS and the AMA jointly paid dues to the FIM and both were permitted to issue international licenses and grant international sanctions. The partnership soured when internal strife reared its head within MICUS. The FIM, in a not too surprising move, decided to “temporarily” suspend MICUS from the FIM. The FIM now will recognize only the AMA as the governing body in this country.

And so ends the two-party system of which I have been a strong advocate. In AMA meetings I have fought against complete AMA control of our sport, mainly because the AMA’s boast of 120,000 members still represents less than two percent of the motorcyclists in the U.S. Also, unless there is big-time money or industry interest in any particular form of motorcycle sport, the AMA in the past has been reluctant to assist clubs or groups interested in promoting small events.

This is the world’s largest sporting motorcycle country, and it is difficult to imagine any one association ever filling the needs of all motorcyclists. The one ray of hope in all this is Russ March. Russ is the new executive director of the AMA and, unlike some of the members of the executive committee, he has dedicated himself to finding ways to accommodate splinter groups currently running under FIM rules and therefore previously bypassing the AMA. If Russ March can find a way to bring these groups under the AMA banner, and grant international sanctions and licenses to their members, we may find the FIM’s decision a wise one after all. Only time will tell if the move is an ego trip or a sincere effort to do something good for motorcycling.

Meanwhile, back at our own AMA Competition Congress, far less progress was made. Pete Colman, president of the Motorcycle Industry Council, with the help of John Harley, presented a noise proposal for AMA consideration. The proposal, drafted following instructions from the board of directors of MIC at their last meeting, would, with some exceptions, prohibit unmuffled machines from competing in AMA Sportsman competition. Many of the MIC board members, like Pete, have been haggling with county and locallevel politicians, especially in California, over the random closure of off-road riding areas. The plea to the Congress was made not as an industry directive, but as a plea to our sport governing body for help in trying to solve the biggest problem facing our sport and industry: noise. A muffler experiment for one year in Sportsman racing is very little to ask, and should only be opposed by people with very short-term interests in the future of motorcycling.

The current trend of closing down land to motorcyclists will continue and increase as long as kids think it is tough to make noise. At this writing at least six California counties have closed private land to motorcyclists. All of these counties have noise laws that could prohibit noisy machines from small riding areas, but they do not have the enforcement personnel to cope with the problem. The only solution is blanket closure to all motorcyclists, even the ones not creating a nuisance.

It was with this knowledge that the MIC requested Mr. Colman to make his plea to the AMA. The plea exempted machines competing in track, record attempts and road racing. The congress not only voted overwhelmingly in favor of the rule but even went a step further in the right direction when Gil Dosemagen, who obviously has been in a position similar to some of the West Coast industry people, insisted on a complete muffler rule for all Sportsman competition, period. Gil’s courage to make the proposal distinguishes him as one of the truly concerned people in our sport.

Even our friendly English motorcycle weekly. Motor Cycle News, reported that a chairman of a motorcycle club in central England made a plea to the English sport governing body requesting stiffer noise laws for competition motorcycles. After realizing that at least 500 district councils (which are similar to county jurisdictions in this country) are being besieged by noise complaints, chairman Johnson decided to go straight to the Auto Cycle Union with his plea.

Even though the ACU has noise limits for off-road racing in England, Johnson’s plea went on to say, “Silenced racing bikes have got to come. Unless we have quieter bikes, more and more land will be closed.” Sound familiar? You betcha it does.

But, back to the Congress, it would seem that we are on top of the whole problem, and way ahead of England, thanks to Dosemagen. For a whole day we had a blanket noise rule for AMA Sportsman racing. Then, at the beginning of the next day’s session, some idiot stood up and requested that the muffler thing be reopened for modification. With the remark “Well, you can’t make Bonneville bikes run with mufflers,” the trouble began. Other psuedo racers chimed in for noise exemptions. Eventually, the rule not only exceeded the original MIC proposal in its permissiveness, but became ridiculous in its exemptions. The AMA now has a muffler rule, except for: road races, dirt tracks, outdoor short tracks, hillclimbs, scrambles, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, and record trials. Clubs have the choice to advertise and sanction muffled races at any of the above listed races.

This is probably the best example of democratic blundering in the motorcycling history of this country. What will it take to make the racers realize that an elected official is not nearly as concerned about the needs of a few hundred motorcyclists in a county as he is about several thousand voters. The fact that the rule passed the congress and then got torn apart is completely beyond comprehension. This makes me believe that the AMA Competition Congress-that group of 60-odd people ostensibly dedicated to serving in the best interest of our sport and industry—is really only interested in their own little world and have no real concern for the future of motorcycling.

Noise is, after all, not a necessary part of going fast. Mr. Bulto, owner of the Bultaco factory, informed me that a muffler would be no problem, if all manufacturers were faced with the same rule. Malcolm Smith used a slip-on muffler to ride to the Baja start at Ensenada and felt the machine was just as fast and a lot more fun to ride. The race organizers at Perris, Calif, offer money prizes to winners, if the machine has a muffler and, not surprisingly, a lot of guys are winning with silenced motorcycles. But there still is glamour in making noise on a motorcycle.

Until we find a way to remove that glamour, we are all in trouble with the legislator. Thanks a lot, AMA Competition Congress. You guys really screwed up.