Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

WIST , America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sharon Clayton, Puhlisher Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to the Publisher. Victoria Smith, Advertising/Editorial Asaiatant. ' Editorial Dale Brown. Senior Editor. Mark Kariya, Editor. Lance Bryson, Editor. Advertising . Skip Johnson, National Sales Manager. Terry Pratt, Sales Manager. Duane Johnson, West Sales Manager. Linda Brown. Advertising Coordinator. Dan Rodriguez, Advenising Assistant. Graphics and' Production Kristin Cooper. Graphic Artist. Donna Shipman, Assistant. Marion Haluhiu, Typography. Dennis Greene, Laboratory. Accounting Mike KlingeT, Manager. Donna Bryan, Accu. Receivable, Shelly Zaiom. A.a,. Accu. Receivable. Terry Dailey. Credit Mana!!"r. Circulation Rheba Smith, Mana!!"r. Michelle Bernier, Sarah Taylor, Laura McQueen, LaNe"e Vassar, Debbie Walker, Assistants. Want Ads Jocelyn McMumt, Want Ad Sales. Services and Support Chris AilCbeson, Receptionist. Gregory Hanaon, S&S. West 2201 Cherry A.... Long Beach, CA P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 908010498 (U5) 4Z7·7455; L.A. Line 656-8844. East 4190 Firat Ave., Tucker, GA. P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 50084·0805. (404) 954-7850. Cycle New./West (USPS 141·540) is pub. IiaIted weekly except the Ii...t and wt week of the calendar year ror $ZO per year hy Cycle New•. Inc., ZZOI Cherry Avenue, Long \leach, CA 90801·0498. Second class poota!!" paid at Long Beach, CA. POSTMASTER: Send form 3&19 to Cycle News, P.O. Box ..... Long Beech, CA 9010'1-lM98. Subscription rates: One ye:ar, second d~ mail, $20; two years, second dati mad, $55; three yeara, second class mail, $55; Z5 weeks, $11. Foreign rates available on request. q~le N.... welcomes t1f!5Olicjted edi· tonal material including stories, cartooDS, ph~os, etc. Such material, if publisbed, becomes the excl",i.. properry of Cycle News. Such accepted material is sub,iec:t to ~on as is neee.ary in the JOle dilc.retl0D of Cycle News. UDIOJicited material which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a ..Ir addr:esoed Ilamped envelope. All un· solicited material will he handled with reasonable ca"'. however, Cycle N.... assumes no ....ponaihility ror the sarety, 1011 or daJn.-.ge to luch material. Reprinting in whole or pan only by perm....on or the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be ..nt upon requ.... SeeS.R.D.S. Copyright. Cycle News. Inc. 1181. TrH_k Cycle News reglattired U.S. I'1Itent OffICe. All righta . . MI'Ved. ON THE FRONT PAGE: Broc Glover ClIpped off hi. yeer by winning the Coca-Cole Supercroa Rnels before his hometown crowd In Sen Diego. No one could touch him. Photo by Dale Brown. Buck to the Duck Well, here it is almost Thanksgiving Weekend again, and instead of the roar of the masses, I am stunned by the sounds of silence. I know that for obvious reasons, some people must be silent, but what about the rest of you? I have not seen the letters that I normally see this time of year, and the ads to "help the Duck" seem to have dropped from sight and mind. But he stiD needs your "bucks" now mOTe tMn ever! I know what I am going to be doing over the Thanksgiving Weekend - do you? I am going to be out in the desert riding my bike from Point B to Point V. I am going with my family and friends to do what has become a tradi· tion among us and wiD continue to be for many years to corne. I have heard that there is going to be a race next year (from Point B to Point V). But how many times have we heard this before? (BLM propaganda.) I am going to continue to support the Duck, and I hope you do, too. So send "a buck to the Duck" and see you in a few weeksl Quack! Quack! THE GOPHER Published letters do not neces· sarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc, Send letters to Voices. Box 498. Long Beech. CA90801. Guest Editorial Gifts that keep on giving; ..... a Ids that keep on seiling A s I write this, I'm talking to "the trade: .. i. e., bike tUakTs and their van'ow suppliers. You CWo am read over their sJwuId· ers, ijyou'd like. See ijyou don't agree ... tomers Two seemingly unrelated occurrences haunt my mind, this foggy autumn evening here in Seattle. The first, early this spring, was Bill Spencer's Safety Fair. BiD's a former AMA Class "A" board member, a serious enduro rider and a certified safety instructor who teaches the Motorcycle Safety Founda· tion's rider courses through the auspices of Sixpence Motorcycle Club. His fair came off like a small·scale "cycle expo" with exhibiu by the riding ~hools and safety organ. IZatl0n:". moVIes, guest celebrities, stunt ndmg shows, hot barbecued ribs off the broiler, the whole works. I took Jon Jon, set up a table to plug Cycle News, ate some ribs, kicked back and watched the folks drift in and out. What I saw was lou and lou of old· line bikers, died·in·the-wool enthusiasu who'd come to see On Any Sunday one more time, people with weather· beaten faces and lightly graying locks. Hey ... something's not right, here. A safety fair, by design, should reach the folks with less than three years' riding under their belu. This crowd is mellow and having fun, but it's the wrong crowd. These guys know this stuff, alreadyl To give ~i11 J:Us due, he'd used every means at hIS dISposal to publicize the fair - handbills, press releases, per· sonal diplomacy, guest appearances on talk shows, the whole shot. The plain truth is, his intended audience is just not reachable without mega·bucks worth of hype. They all got fed up with gas prices, walked into some deal· er's shop, bought a bike - and dis· appeared. The dealer had just one shot at 'em sold 'em one bike each, and lost 'em: They'l! ~ever read a moto-magazine, never Jom a club, never go to a race. They'll never spend much on riding gear or accessories, either. I see 'em every day; schlock helmet to keep the rain off, old fishing waders and a hunt· ing jacket for foul weather; a milk crate lashed on behind the seat and a flay· plexy bar-mounted windscreen that's it. They'll a1Io never be exposed to quality rider education. They'll IICI'eW yan?W up. crash, get terrified, hurt or killed. Either way. they won't be bad 'for a aecond moteJrc:yde. Gone. Repeat busi· ness, where'd you disappear to? PooderiDg these questions, I muddled OIl through the 1981 IeUOIl working ~e, teaching rider schools, coy. enng ~ few races, f.inally buying a used ~ce bike and haVIng another fling at It. As I went along, I began noticing the rebates. I was seeing $50 or $100 per bike advertised and thinking "Whooeel That's a lot of money t~ budget for sales promotion." V'see, I was once a dealer (went broke); and I know what those kind of numbers mean, regardless of whether ~ individual dealer, his supplier or his trade association is actually footing the biD. It was a measure of how badly the trade wanted and needed to move motorcycles, since the combination of high prices and gonzo interest rates apparently have caused the market's collective sphincter to tighten. I knew then that things were gl?ing to get bad. That rebate money/was going to walk out the door with those first· time customers and disappear with them. I began thinking then, "It shouldn't have to be this way." This evening it all comes rushing back. I just learned that two local dealerships have closed; two more are on the brink; and two of my friends in the. trade are unemployed. Once agaID, the customers had gone away, and never come back. It's all too . familiar, all too repetitive. Will tbe same old cycle begin again next year? Will all you guys in "the t~de" again bud~t $50 to $100 per bike to get a slugguh market moving? If so, consider the following altematna before giving the money out as cash again. _ . Instead of that rebate, consider giv· Ing one or more of the follOwing with each new bike sold: 1) A year's paid·up AMA member· ship 2) A year's season ticket to a local racetrack !) A year's subscription to a-favorite enthusiast's publication 4) A Rider Training gift certificate, redeemable at any course certifted by the Motorcycle Safety Founda· tion, or iu equivalent. The cost of any of these promotions would be in the same ballpark as a $50·$100 rebate; and in many cases, would be considerably less. Each one of them has the net effect of getting that customer tuned in, turned on, properly trained in motorcycling. It's a plain fact; people who are never taught proper riding skiDs are the most likely to become turned·off ex·motorcyclisu - if not dead ex· motorcyclisu. Either way it kills repeat business. By the same token, people who never race, never read about bikes never join clubs or enter activities spend less money on acCe5llOries and riding gear than people who do these things. If you accept these truth, then con· sider this: Of the estimated 18 million American riders, less than five million ever read a moto·mag; barely 140,000 belong to the AMA; less than 10% ever become involved in any kind of activity. Some folks would read those numbers and weep. I say they repTeleDt the odds for improving the quality of motorcycling, and of the motorcycle business. In that sense, the odds in our favor are fantastic, if you guys will just pick up the dice and roll. What do you say, AMA, MSF, MIC, promoters and sur· viving. shop owners? Get it t ~ on a nauonal Kale, and you can be a party to motorcycling's Renai....nce throughout the '801. Do nothing, and you can be each other'. pallbearers. . Lane C8mpbel

• Cover