Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

invol ved in some other aspect of the motorcycle field? If the o p p o rt u n i ty a rose to voluntarily move awa y from th e associa tio n to a related area that would keep me in close touch i t would h ave to be the, Am erican Motorcycl e H eritage Foundation , which we cre a ted a few years ago . I was instrumental in the basic planning o f it , which was set up as a tax-ex em pt. publ ic ed uca tion foun- . d ation w ith th e IRS. It s goal is to protect the heritage of motorcyding in America. We began fund raising in 1983 a n d ex pect to have a much m ore ag gressiv e campaign in 1984. I h ope tha t well before the end o f th e de cade th e H eritage Foundat ion will hav e it s own museum in o pe ra tion . Other than th e Harley-Dav idson museum . whi ch .is d edi cated to a si ng le br and , th er e is no o ther strictl y moto rcycl e museum in th is co u ntry. ' T h ere a re so me fantastic co llectio ns . but in m o st cases th ey share th e facili ty w ith a u tomo bi les. I can e n vis io n m yse lf totall y involved with that, and to m e i t is a very ex citing direction . ' . H ow did yo u r interest in motorcycles develop? I beca me p reoccupied with m o to rcycle s before my teens. By th e time I was 10 yea rs o ld I would stop de ad in m y tr ack s when a m otorcycl e went b y a nd did wha t kid s like th at d o - sen d o ff to a ll o f th e di stributors th at advertised in th e m a ga zin es for th eir l iteratu re. I literall y wore th at st u ff .o u t looking a t it. Today , th e eq u ip me n t is so expen sive th at a yo u ngs te r ca n ' t go o u t a nd g et a bi ke with paper ro u te m oney, and th e industry is becom in g a ware of th at. T hey have a lmos t sh u t o ut t he ir entry level customers . N ew pe o pl e a r e not co mi n g i nto m otor- cycl ing for two reasons: affo rda biJity , . a n d becau se th e eq u i p ment h a s become so soph is tica ted it sca res people a way. T hey a re not even su re tliey want so me thi ng like th at because th ey ca n ' t co m p re he n d ex ac tly what it is. T he industry is go ing to hav e to co rrect th at , a nd th ey are head in g in th at direct ion with sim p ler entry level mo tor cycles. The so p h is tica ted eq uipm ent is ni ce fo r th e m o re experie nced rid er s, b u t th ey a rc go ing' to h a ve to brin g in n ew c us to mers. I've a lways o w ned a m o to rcycl e. exce p t for a t h ree-yea r span in undergrad ua te sc hoo l when I felt th a t I co u ld n't a fford to h a ve o ne. Wh en I wa s in ' grad ua te sc hool (working toward a d eg ree in Englis h L ite ra tu re ) I bo ught a BMW single and us ed i t o n a dai ly ba sis - int er es tin gl y enough , it was fo r mostly eco nomic reason s. I lived wa y ' o u t of tow n, had a car th a t go t terribl e gas m il eag e a nd bou ght the BM\\' so I wo uldn 't hav e to use th e car so mu ch . As I thi n k back on a ll o f t he bikes I' ve o w ne d , it ma kes me feel o ld to reali ze m ost o f mv fondest m em ori es a re o n b rands th a'nlO lon g er e x is t bra n d s th at som e o f th e yo u n ge r peo pl e toda y n ever kn ew a bo u t. When I was in high sc hoo l. o ne of th e hottes t bik es goi ng wa s an NSll. and I o w ne d o ne fo r a time . T he re a lso wa s Zun dapp, Ad ler a n d a ll o f the Brit ish brands. As a dedicated touring rider. do yo u h ave any particu la r "dream rides" in mind? I've a lways wan ted to start a t o ne en d o f Ca nada , say i n New fo u nd la nd , a n d ride a ll th e wa y across the co u n trv . A fr i en d o f m in e h as to ld m e th e Cillla d ia n Rocki es a re just astou nd ing w hen co m pa red to th e Ro cki es in the U .S. Ther e a re so m e bea u tifu l r idi ng opportu ni ties in t he Pa cif ic No rthw est , a nd I think th a t th e m o st interesting wa y to ge t th ere wou ld be to r id e across Ca nada . What do yo u do to escape from motorcycles? I'm g ett in g in volved in sa iling , a n d m a yb e for some o f th e sa me reasons th at I like m o to rcycling - yo u ' re o u t in the a ir a nd the env iron ment i n genera l. I' m not rea l good a t it - m y w ife is actuall y better at handling th e boat than I a m . We have a n 18-fo ot d a y sai ler, a nd live a lo n g a reservoir. T he lak e is na rrow . but is a p proxi ma te ly 14 m il es long , so yo u ca n reall y get some good runs o n it w hen the w ind is righ t. As is th e case with motorcycl ing, it' s a lso fun to bench racewi rh oth er sa ilo rs. Wha t brought a bout yo u r involvement with sid ecar rigs? It 's so methi ng I got into w hen my chil dren were very sma ll. With two young boys. we fo u nd ad d ing a sidecar was a way to a llow th e entire fami ly. to go riding a nd it wor ked well. A side car is not a motorcycle by a ny stretch of th e imagi na tion - it's a to ta lly di ffere n t vehi cl e. Ma ny peop le th at ge t i nto it find that it sticks since it is its o w n ki nd o f fun , Yo u ge t a co m p le te ly differ ent fee l fro m that of a solo bik e, but I enjoy it: Wh en I ge t o n m y sidecar rig (a BMW ) I ta ke a tota lly di fferent a ttit ude abo ut rid ing tha n w he n I r id e the so lo bike. T hey are m o re c u m berso me. don 't accele ra te o r stop as qu ickl y. a nd it' s so methi ng yo u ha ve to co mpe nsa te fo r. I we nt to a Di strict Tou r wi th o ne th is p ast summ er a n d too k on e o f m y so ns a lo ng. \\'e poked alo ng becau se I felt tha t was a sa fe speed fo r th e rig w ith h im in it. H ad I tak en the so lo bik e. I would 've go tte n th er e a lot qui ck er - b ut al so w i th a d iffe re nt a tt i tude. What is yo u r fa vorite type of mota- rized competition? On e o f m y grea t thrill s o f ch ild ho od was wat ch in g d irt tra c k rac ing wi th cars - a ny t h i ng from mid get to spr in t ca rs. Durin g th at peri od o f m y lif e th e s pan evolve d from the Ind ytyp e, Oflenh au ser-p owered ca rs to th e S uper Modi fied s. It 's d ied o u t a lot , bu t tha t's sti l l m y fav ori te rypeof raci ng. Becau se I got so 'in vo lved in th a t asa chi ld. whe n I sta rre d ge tt ing in vo lved in m o tor cycl e rac in g I a lso gra vi ta ted in th e d irt track d irecti on. T he per iod in whi ch I becam e interes ted in m o torcycl e ra cing were th e fin a l ve.u s o f t he KR m odel H a rlevs - II;e i!iOcc si de- va lves - a nd th'ey we-reru nnin g agai nst th e Bril is h o verhe ad val ve engi m1s. that were !iOOs. It was th en the ru les cha nged, a nd a llowed la rger d ispl acement O llV eng ines. That was 'a ve ry e xcitin g ti me in t he de velopme nt o f d in trac k rac ing . T' lu-n- were a lot o f brands invo lved a nd th e persona li ties were interes tin g. I still co n sider d irt trac k as o ne o f m y fa vori te ty pes 0 1 m ot o rcycle racing . Aside from yo u r ass ociation with motorcycfing as a profession , wha t has kept vou in the sp o rt as an active en l h usia~ l? For m e it ha s been th e reall y si m ple . th ings. I star ted m y rid in g on a stree t bike an d did so me o ff-roa d stu ff like ri din g en d ures , bUI m y first m otiva tion was th e joy o f a stree t bike a n d it still is tod a y. It 's th o se thin gs m o st riders ta lk a bo u t. th at m o st peo p le think sou n d very na ive a nd si lly you a bsolutely ca n not get th e ex perien ce o f tou rin g with any o ther vehi cl e th at you ca n ge l w i th m o torcycli ng . It' s th e so u nds , th e smell s. th e se ns itivi ty o f th e en viron men t. temper ature cha n g es - a ll o f that is a p leas u re. •

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