Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1985 06 19

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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CPSC plan (Continued from page H ) th e decisi on ," Marchica said in a phone interview from h is office in Bethesda, Mar yland. But Mar chica was quick to point o u t th at th e Commi ssioner s vot ed on April 3 to co n tinuean agency-wide invesrigation und er Marchica's direction and to hold public hearing s, wi th out proceeding directl y to co m p lia nce ac titivies. Asked a bo u t Commissioner Stuart M. Sta tler 's repeated ca lls for a ban a nd recall of AT Vs, Mar chica said " From m y pe rs pec tive, he is only o ne Co m m issio ne r. I have my mar ch in g o rde rs from th e ent ire Co m m issio n. My actio ns a re more ind ica tive of th e Co m m issio n as a wh ol e." Mar chica co m mente d th at th e response from ATV ent h us ias ts a nd adv ocates ha s been sign ifica nt, a nd said " 1 a m taking what th ey are saying into co ns idera tion." Marchica an d ATV Task Force C hi ef Enginee r Roy Deppa a re schedu led to continue field investigations into ATV use in Californ ia at th e cnd of June, including riding sessions at Pismo Beach. UBan 'em" Statler's latest tactic: Statler chargesATVs unstable when turned ยท (withou t ATV design experience) indicating that ATVs should hav e independent rear suspe nsio n and differential s. In testimony before th e May 21 Congressi na l Hearings, expert-witness-for-hire She rwood B. Menk es, an enginee ring p ro fessor, said "Suffice it to say that, withou t the di fferential, it is necessary to lift ei ther th e o uts ide or th e in side wh eel o ff th e grou nd, to avo id excess wear o n th e tir e." In testi mony before a C PSC h earin g in J ackson, Mississippi Ma y 30, Dr. T lung En g T an of th e Department o f Mechan ical Enginee ring a t Memphis State Un iversi ty to ld th e co rnmi ssion th at ATV design was faulty because ATVs lacked a d ifferential a nd independent rear suspension. Bo th Menkes a nd Teong En g Ta n ba sed th eir co ncl usions o n th eo ret ica l a na lysis o f ATVs withou t practi ca l test ing; T eong En g Tan indi cat ed drawing conclusions based on what one or more ATV owners' manuals say. Jackson (Con tinued from page 14) sio n with a no ther ATV , was not the ATV 's fa u lt; G raham advoca ted a mandatory helmet law a nd an interlock to prevent starting th e en gi ne witho u t th e helmet on th e rider 's h ead. Mik e Blankenship of the Mississippi Farm Bureau said ATV safety problem s a rise from mis-use and related h is agency 's gr eat success with ATV rider ed ucation programs run through public sch oo ls, wh ich ha ve reached over 20,000 people in th e state in th e last seven months. Dannie Reed of th e Mi ssissippi Cooperative Ex ten sion Service criticized th e speed ' ca pa bilities of ATVs a nd advocated ImIm~ WORLD MOTOeR THE EUROSA SUNDAY, By John Ulrich LON G BEACH, CA, J U NE 4 The latest tactic u sed by Commi ssioner Stuart M. Statler of th e U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in his crusade agai nst three-wheeled ATVs is to declare th at ATVs must be ridden precariousl y on two wheels in o rde r to m ak e th em turn . Statler says this means th at ATVs must be mad e unsta ble to turn. On th e Jun e 2 NBC Nigh tl y News, Sta tler told th e television au dience " If th e vehicl e itself ca n on ly be ridden by inducing in stabil ity, I'm not ' sure that co nstitu tes so serio us a defect th at th e vehicle sh o u ld n' t be out there in th e firs t p lace." Spea king a t a Congressio na l hearin g in Wash ington o n May 21, Statler said " We al rea dy kn ow that, to operate such a vehicle prop erly, the rider must induce instabi lity. " Le t me elaborate on th at cri tica l p o int. In a tte m p ti ng to turn a th reewh eeled ATV, o ne o f th e rea r wh eels must be ra ised fro m co ntact with th e gro un d or pa th . T he ATV is the n awkwardly and p recariously balanced o n two wh eels, one front, one back. After the hearing, Congressm an Larry Craig , h imself a n ATV owner and rider, to ld Statler th at he was wrong about how an ATV turns a nd that a rear wh eel didn 't ha ve to be rai sed o ff the ground. T he comment didn 't faze Statler. And acco rding to sources in sid e th e C PSC, Statler recentl y instructed his sta ff to research ATV owners' manuals to locate instru ctions indica ti ng that the in side rear wheel must be lifted to turn an ATV. As o u r so urces tell us, th e staff did find some ow ners' manual s with th ose instruc tions: Sta tle r is expected to use th o se man!1a ls as p roof o f ATV in stabil ity, despite th e fact tha t practica l rid in g experie nce indicates differently. Sta tler a lso h as h igh regard for testimony from engi!leeri ng, :;~w!S; :, . aft er the hearing - in response to this reporter's questions - that he would not advocate use of independent rear sus pe ns io n on ATVs used for racing or other hi gh-performance ap p licatio ns because he felt that under those co nd itions independent rear suspens io n would mak e it more difficult to ma ne u ver a n ATV an d make the machine less co n tro llaf I' at speed. Experienced AT V riders have comm ented that th e th eoreti cal positions taken by Menkes a nd T eong Eng Ta n reflect their inexperience with ac tua l d ynamic use of ATVs and a fa il ure to co nsi der bo th ride r interaction with th e machines a nd the varia bles o f terrain surface and avai la ble traction. So me so urces ha ve indicated that th e best repl y to Sta tler's new tacti c is th e use o f videotapes showing riders turning ATVs o n all three wh eels a nd cha lle nging th e CPSC to co nduct field testing of ATVs in stead of JUN~ 30, 6 HOURS OF CONTINUOUS ENTERTAINMENT JI.~ JI Two 500cc World Championship Motos a-c Kawasak tf{~ SAN CTIONED Two 250cc Motos featuring America's top stars The 3rd Annual Shimano Mountain Bike Grand Prix 3000-Square-Foot Nissan Display 1000-Square-Foot Kawasaki Motorcycle Display Beer Gardens - Concessions And More! ICGB-FM

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