Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

What is it that m ak es people so against motorcycles? Ma ybe Ms. Zonker should try it. We are constantly being mistakenly catagorized as "Hell's Angels" instea d of the family a nd com petition clubs tha t we are, I'd like to know where I can write to Ms. Zonker. I'd like to let her know how I feel , a nd I'm sure a lot of people would like to do so as well. I love motorcycles and it a p pa lls me tha t anyone could sav suc h horrib le things a bo ut them . DARLA LOWTHER Rowland Heights, CA o 00 (j') .-4 WIST Unity plea America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sharon Clayton . Publisher. Ca roline Geedry. Executive Secretary (0 the Publisher. Nancy Gorak. , Marketing/Promotions Executive Secretary. Editorial Charles Morey. Managing Editor. Dal e Brown, Editor, Mark Kariya . Editor. Advertising Skip Johnson, Natio nal.Sales Manager. Terry Pratt. Sales Manager. Linda Brown , Adv ert ising Coordinator. Graphics and Production Kristin Cooper. Graphic Anist. Moni ca Ba u ma n. Assistan t. Ma ri on Ha rashita , Typography. Den n is Greene, Laboratory. Accounting Mik.e Klinger. Manager. Jeanne Hammond. Aceu. Recei va b le. Donna Bryan, Asst. Accu. Receivable. Terry Dailey, Credn Manager. Circulation Rheba Smith. Manager. Shirley Short. Sarah Taylor, Michelle Allan, Assistants. Duane johnson, Dealer Sales Mgr . Want Ads Leslie Tharp. Wan' Ad Sales. Service and Support Chris Aitcheson. Receptionist. j im Le al , 5&5. West 2201 Ch erry Ave .. Long Beach, CA P .O . Box 498 , Long Beach . CA 90801 (215 ) 427 ·7455 ; L .A . Line 656 ·8844 . East 4190 First Ave. , T ucker , GA . P.O . Box 80S. T ucker . GA 50084 . (404) 954·7850 . Cycle News /West (USPS 141 ·540 ) is published weekly ex cept the first a nd last week of the cal endar year for $20 IX'f year by Cycl e News. Inc.. 220 1 Cherry Avenue , Long Beach . CA 90801. Second class postage' paid at Long Beach, CA . POSTMASTER: Send f orm 3519 t o Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801. Subscription fa tes: One year . second class m a il, $20 ; two years , seco nd class ma il, $35 : three years . seco nd class m ail. $53: 25 weeks, $1 J. Cycle News welcom es unsoli cited editcrt a l material including stori es. ca rtoons, p hotos , etc . Su cb material. if published. becomes the excl usive p ro pe rt y of Cycle News. Such accepted ma teria l is subject to revision as is nec essa ry in the sole di scretion of Cycle News. Unsol icited ma terial wh ich is no t used will be re tu r ned if accom pa nied by a selfad dressed sta m ped en velo pe . All u nsolicited material will be hand led with reasonable care. however . Cycle Ncws assu mes no responsi bi liry for the sa fety , loss or damage to suc h m a teri al. Reprint ing in whole or pan on ly by pe rm issio n of the publishe rs. Adv ertising rates and circu la tion infonna tion will be sen t upon re~uest. SeeS .R.D .S. Copyrig ht Cycle News. Inc. 1980. Tra demark Cycle Ne ws registered U.S. Pate nt Offic e. A ll rig hts reserved. 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: NMRA Ind y Top Fuel winner J im Bernard readies the Ro n Teson (standing) and Bernard Yamaha f or a sub-eight-second quarter m ile adventure. Coverage of the eve nt on p. 14. Pho to by Joel Breault . Zonker has valid point Never mind the fact that the cover of Patricia Zenker 's book shows an automobile radial tire skid supposedly made by a motorcycle front tire which appear.; to be bleeding red blood (usu a lly motorcycles bleed black oil from the engine, not the tires). Never mind the near-hysterical tone that pervades most of her discussion of motorcycling. There are two things about her bo ok that I think are worth appreciating. Your contributing writer, Rex Reese , did his very best to ignore her very valid point that regardless of who is at fa ult in a motorcycle accident, it is still the motorcyclist who pays for somebody's d umb m istake with his broken bones, blood , snot , etc. If you think some insurance bucks (provided the car driver even has insurance, provided he even stops after he creams you) will make up for the inj uries you can suffer in a motorcycle a ccident , you should sit down and th ink it over again. Secondly, Ms. Zonker is prejudiced and she makes no bones about it. And that's OK. Certainly helmets provoke the same kinds of reactions among motorcyclists . Bu t I find her obvious prejudice far less harmful to motorcycling than something as cynical and biased as the 60 Minut es special on the " ra pe" of the California deserts by offroad vehicles . While masquerading as unbiased news coverage, the crew interviewed mostly well -dressed , articulate college professor types who condemned off-road riding. The defenders of off road riding were, uh well , pretty typical dirt bi kers - neither welldressed nor articulate. T he arguments in favor of off-road riding wer e poorly presented and would not favorably impress either the general public or ma ny lawmakers. Face it: Pa tri cia Zenker's book appea ls to people who read Family Circle and Sunset. It will not persuade any bik er to give it up . It will stir up feathers with a Jot of moms and wives who never did and never will understand what it's like to blast up a sand wash WFO, or to straighten out a mountain road , or to bor e a hole in th e horizon . O r to just kick back a nd •'•. cruise at '50 mpg. ' Incidenta lly, she must have had a very pa tien t proofreader to straighten out he r English. She says , " I have in the book a loss of testicles . .. " Perhaps in her boo k she cited a case in whic h a rider lost his testicles, but I am su re she did not lose her testiclesl J IM OUELLET Long Bea ch , CA Murderboats I a m writing in response to the interview with Patricia Zonker, author of Murdercycles: The Facts A bout A me rica 's Nu mber One Blood Sport. in the J uly 12 issu e of Cycle News . I have been riding motorcycles since I was six . years old - I' m now 16 - and I haven't been hurt badly yet. I ca n't believe that a nybod y wou ld give motorcycles that kin d of a bad na me. Motorcycles have done a lot of good for a lot of people. The sport is a good way to escape the pressures of everyd ay life in favor of fun, competition, friends a nd enjoying the environ ment. I do n't feel that Ms. Zonker gave the good side of the sport any thought ; her feelings seemed to be biased and rather contradictive. My father and some friends helped fight a fire in the Sequoia National Forest. Bec ause rangers could not get down to the fire fast enough , they rode the ranger.; down on motorcycles and stayed to fig ht the fire . Highway patrolmen can do their job on motorcycles using less gas and less of the taxpayers' money. What about the races where the proceeds go to bum ce nters and crippled children? Why didn't Ms. Zonker mention any of these things in her book? I don't feel that motorcycling is any more dangerous, or has any more injuries, than other sports such as skiing, football ; etc. It can ha rdl y be cornpared to war. Peo ple know when they begi n the sport tha t fa lling is part of it , and you d on 't get dra fted into motocross . Bob Hannah had been riding for several years and hurt his leg water skiing. Isn 't it ironic that what inspired Ms. Zonker to write the book in the first place was being hospitalized by a boating accident? Why didn't she write a book 'clltted Mumerl1oatsl ' I was going to let th is issue drop , but when an intelligent , ca ring man like Jim go t confused as to my point, it' s time to clear things up a bit. My last plea was not a threat, it was a warning. A warnin g to the thousa n ds of bikers who feel their individ ua lity and personal ex pe rien ces are an adequ ate weapon against the Sierra Club and the BL M , ra the r than becoming part of a united group. These groups ca n provide the facts and money necessary to keep our desert open if they have fu ll support. The Sierra Clu b is a formidable foe for all t hose who wish to use the desert , whether for recreation or livelihood. T hat's because they are a single, unified gr oup. T hey have been a ble to strike blows a t raci ng a nd riding from which we (as bikers ) will never recover. When it comes to the issue of desert use the Sierra Club is dead wrong. However , they're go ing to win, bec a use of unified power . T he ORVers are still d ivided into four or five groups wh ich total about half the ORV users , Many bikers are not affiliated with a ny group that will support their cause. If all th a t doesn't change , we'll lose more dese rt than we ca n im agi ne , a nd that's sickening! Yes J im , it's the same Marge ; I'm still figh ting for you and our fri en ds. I belong to the Sierra Club because they do a lot of good things . just no t in the dese rt. I belong to AMA because they are do ing the right thi ngs for th e desert . I belong to Cleansweep because they're one of the leaders in the desert figh t. Jim , you 'r e an organizer, help us get people to join AMA , NOC , CORVA, etc . - whoever fits their fancy - and create a unified fight. MA R GE REESER Rosamond , CA Auburn area angel One of the members of the grou p participating in the recent Fred Chase Two Day Annual Industry T rail Rid e and Destru ction Derby in northern Cal ifornia last weekend , m an aged to put a fist size hole in the p rimary case of his 1T 500 Yamaha . He was finished until we found Fra nk Warmuth's Warmuth O u td oo r P roducts shop in Auburn, CA . When Frank heard the story he sto pped the work he was doing a nd took the tim e to fix the case im me di ately so the 1T 500 rider could continue on the ri de . H e did an excellent job, charged a very fair price and I would advi se a ny trail rider u p in the Au burn area that if you are eve r in trouble or just need some weldin g don e , W a rmuth's de serves your patrona ge . T his guy likes bi kers, G EORGE HU EBN ER Marketing Direct or , R .C . Engineering P.S. T o Fred C hase - next year I pro mise not to brin g m y desert sled up for the rid e . Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Send letters to Voices. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801,

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