Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125848
The right to risk : Where do you draw the line? Personal vehicles (cars, motorcycles) are on the losing side in a camp aign b y th e U.S. Departmen t of Tran sportatio n to create passengers for so me fut ure mass trans it scheme. The weapons o f the burea ucracy a re rid icule gad. '. •d ~et ry. ~,nd par anol a .- promote .as Safe ty b ut reall y aimed at breaking up Am~ ri ca 's love affair with th e automobile, We die-hard enth usiasts are suffering alo ng with t he m asses, eve n th o ugh th e bureau crats must realize that if th ey wan t to ta ke away o ur motorcy cle s, they 'll have t o pry our d ead fingers off the handleb ars . My qu esti on is, whe re do we draw the lin e ? A t what p oi n t in the DO T pro gram do we st art to resist ? If having to strap o n a $5 0 helmet for a tri p _t? the co m er doesn' ~ make you feel ridiculous, wh at else will they have to make you do before y ou get mad enough to ' defend your dignity? Paint a yellow stripe up your back? (It's been proposed ], We already arc forced to pay for ove r S I 00 of DOT gadgetry with every new car or cycle that we buy. Those flashy flashers , rubber ~umpers, buzzers, buckles, and straps Just fo r openers. And if you think you've known fear when beetling home with a burned-out headlight in daytime, try to imagine No-Fault In surance. In effect, you 'd be a prime target for every frustrated driver on the road or off. Where do you draw the line? I put that question to hundreds of motorcyclists recently, conducting a poll, as it were. And the majority opinion goes something like, "I hate politics and so I don't want to think about it." Among the minority opinions some dirt riders reckoned they'd soon be restricted to riding on private motorcycle reserves and they would draw t he line arou nd the boundaries of th eir real estate. A few darkly hin ted that they might secede from society and form a community of die-hard bikers and car nuts in the wilderness. One pe rson in my poll thought a demonstratio n of protest might be fun : " Yo u know. like burn up a bike on the capitol lawn o r so mething." Only two people (about half of one percent in the poll) said they thought the governme nt had already gone too far ~n d that t hey m igh t write a letter or lo bby a politician before things got really bad. The Right to Risk Many of the majority rat ionalize th eir attitude with th e hope that we en th usiasts may so meho w be ignored while th e go vernmen t co nce n tra tes it Anti-U-Drive ca m paign on the co mmo n he rd. By taking no action in their own behalf, they hope to avoid a tt rac ting attent ion to o ur litt le side issue. That 's what they think. Out of all this opinion gathering, I have fash io n ed wh at I believe - the only is ra ti o nal course fo i me an.d CYCLE NEWS to take. I draw ~e line ar<;>und our op pon en ts - the anti-cycle, an ti-fun gang. I believe t ha t we s ho u l d hammer them b ack into bureaucratic obscurity by every fai r means. I strongly believe that we should and m us t take back o ur m ost basic freedo m, what I call " T he Righ t to Risk ," by repealing the helme t law. In th e wh ole United S ta tes of America there are about 12 mi llio n mo torcy clists and all bu t 50,000 of you , if w e can trust the results of m y p oll, "don't want to think about it . " Tha t leaves only abo ut h alf o f one percent (. 05% ) to draw support from. Of tha t elite number, experien ce tell s that o nly one percent (5 0 0 ) can be be c o un ted upon at any given time. Unfortunately, these 500 fr eedom fighters ar en't evenly distributed ten to a state. Mostly they reside in states which already have gotten rid of the helmet law and thus have the subsequent problems under control. Where will the defenders of freedom come from who live in those states which have no t the desire to win their freedom back? Fortunately, creatures who' bury their heads at the threat of danger frequently get their fannies kicked. And All it takes To begin your advertising campaign Is a phone call To the advertisinq departmen t at Cy cle News ~:r;.:;~~ stroke carbs . Also conversions for alcohol & nitro fuels. BURAK BYE-PRODUCTS t5 170Raym&rSl · - YanN\! ya,CA (2t 31 780- 11151 213- 427-7433 WHITTIER HO DA Motor cycle Trailers Bell Helmets Full Bo re Products 1432 4 E. Whitt,er Blld . 12131698-0065 Complete stoc k of parts and accessories for street and dirt. oss~ so I trust and pray that the bureau's figurative blows to the posterior may hasten enlightenment in a few of those mo to rcycl ists who "don't want to t hink about it." An American citizen is the most powerful cr eature on earth w he never he gets fed up and starts to act like a responsible citizen. Dear Reader, please heed these words: the federal b ureaucracy is out to ST RONG D". CMarrl__ " otorc..c 1733 Hiawatha Dr. Glendale, C ~ 91208 (21 31247·2850 Dealer Inquiries Invited take away your ca rs and motorcycles like th e he lmet law to ok aw ay your Right to Risk . Even if yo u d on 't want to think about it , remember th at yo u were warned in advanc e. If there's an ybody reading this wh o is red up or want s to co mmunicate with th e freedom figh ters , yo ur newspaper is read y. Chuck Clayton Hodaka Mon ten Carabe la "~J .. . Motorcy cles fII...M... .. fII ~ ~~~U ~l~~~~ S p o rt Cycle Maleo GUY R . LOUIS (71 4) 893·7057 7219 West~.inster,Ave., Westminster , Ca. DKW THE LITTLE BIKE THAT WINS THE BIG RACES 19