Today in motorcycle history, October 16, 1989

 


          
  

  C'mon, Ponch, let up...

  Since the beginning of September the CHP (California Highway Patrol) has been erecting roadblocks every Sunday along a two-mile stretch of Mulholland about 200 yards west of the Rock Store.  And although the authorities say the tactic has eliminated motorcycle racing, the Rock Store's proprietors say it is strangling their long-established business.

 "I'm down about 85%," said Veronica, who with her husband has run the Rock Store for 28 years and is usually known simply as "Vern."

  Hare Kokkinos, a Northridge resident taking a break from his latest weekend motorcycle ride, stood outside the Rock Store and described how Sunday afternoons used to be at one of the best-known biker pit stops not just in L.A., but in the world.

  "This place was packed with metal; motorcycles were everywhere," said Kokkinos, nodding at a long parking lot off Mulholland Highway that fronts the store about two miles south of Agoura Hills.

  "It was wall-to-wall bikers."

  The Rock Store, a small cafe and grocery that draws a wildly eclectic mix of motorcycle enthusiasts , patch-holding club members and upscale "yuppie bikers," including Hollywood figures such as comic Jay Leno and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Far fewer motorcyclists come in now, say the store's owners, Ed and Veronica Savko, who blame a determined--and controversial--California Highway Patrol effort to stop motorcycle racing along the highway's scenic but deadly curves.

  "They're trying to force us out of business," Ed insisted. "You wonder if this is a police state or something."

"The Highway Patrol is not out for a good purpose," snapped a middle-aged motorcyclist from Santa Monica who identified himself only as "Joe".

"They totaled three patrol cars out here chasing motorcyclists," he said with a laugh. "And I guess that made the CHP angry."