Round Up

ROUND UP

JOE PARKHURST

CALIFORNIA STATE legislators got a shock recently. The results of a survey made by the Department of Conservation and the state Lands Commission returned the news that lands used by recreation vehicles had suffered only “negligible damage” even though the lands were being used by motorcycles, four-wheeled recreational vehicles and snowmobiles. Further, they found that present regulations, adopted in 1969, are adequate to deal with any problems resulting from off-highway vehicles use of the nearly 89,000 acres of state forest land. Naturally, the California Legislature had asked for the report expecting to find that the increased use had “resulted in disturbances of the natural resources.”

GREATEST DRIVER

“The greatest racing driver in the world” is the way Road & Track’s Henry Manney described Juan Manuel Fangio. Now retired in his native Argentina, Fangio still takes part in racing. His protege is the Argentine cross-country race champion. Fangio visited the Road & Track/Cycle World offices recently to meet with one of this country’s leading off-road racing car drivers, Vic Wilson. For one season we sponsored Vic’s single-seat dune buggy that won the Mint 400 Mexican 1000, and had the Baja 500 in the bag but fell to second place after mechanical failure.

Fangio was in our offices to learn what he could about the Baja races. No, he’s not going to enter himself, but he is considering entering his protege, in a dune buggy. Fred Belair, one of the leading proponents of observed trials in the west, organizer of the Trials De España (one of the most popular trials events in the west), brought Fangio to our offices after Fangio spent several weeks vacationing and spending a little time at the CYCLE WORLD Show in the Gilera Argentina booth. CW show visitors had a rare chance to meet this incredible man, holder of four world championships in grand prix and sports cars a few years back.

MOTORCYCLE SALES

The prestigeous Ward’s Automotive Reports continues keeping track of the motorcycle sales boom. Imports were up to 1,545,179 for 1971, up from 1,091,954 in 1970. Projections for 1972 run as high as 2,000,000. Japan leads the field, of course, with 86.9 percent imported, Honda’s share being a whopping 84.7 percent of that number! Value of the motorcycles imported during the period was a staggering $497,288,000. It was $307,441,000 in

1970. Neither figure includes an almost equal amount in parts.

Anderson Sales & Service in Pontiac, Mich., holds the record as the country’s largest dealer, with 5,000 units sold in

1971. Honda’s total of the U.S. market was 52 percent, or 692,000 units. They are looking for 800,000 for 1972. Industry sales for 1972 are expected to reach 1,600,000, only 100,000 less than

the number of imported cars anticipated. CYCLE WORLD’S staff of experts and market research men feel both figures are “extremely conservative.”

Many experts attribute the growth to the fact that many motorcycle owners purchase more than one bike. I was most interested in Ward’s remarks, “The motorcycle buyer, according to companies, is more sophisticated than auto buyers.” Said one spokesman, “He takes the time to shop, he knows about the advantages of oil injection, superiority of one type of frame over another and the best kind of shocks to have for off-road riding. He reads the magazines and puts his money where he is certain it will do him the most good.” Ward’s asks, “When will the motorcycle boom end? All indications are it won’t—at least not in this decade.” fol