Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

weekend . June 22-23. at Pocono In t ernat i onal Raceway i n Long Pond . Pennsylvania . If you w ish to contribute. but won 't be at those races you may send a check payab le to Wes Cooley Recovery Fu nd t o PMRA. P. O. Box 22658. In di anapolis. I N 46222 . T he P ro Rider Benefit Fund has co m mit ted 6000 to wa rd Wes Cooley 's n on- in surance-covered m edi ca l ex p en ses , a nd is acce p ting additio nal dona tio ns fro m the p u blic for Cooley. For informal ion ca ll Penn y Ni col ai a I 8 l 81i87-3497. Beginning on June 1 8 . t he Carneg ie Sta te Vehicu lar Rec reation Area. 10 miles West of Tracy• Cali fornia . w ill be closed every Tues day. Wednesday and Thursday from June 18 through September 12. Coyote Hills District Superintendent Larry Helm said the m id week closure was necessary to provide more state park ranger time on busy weekends for medica l emergencies and law-enf o rcement patrol. Arizo na recently passed H ouse Bill 2 105 in the 37th Legislature th at will m ake titl ing and registration o f all offroad recreat ion vehicl es a sta te law . Th ere wi ll be a S4 titl e fee a nd a number p lat e wiII cost S8. This will o n ly ap p ly to vehicles sold by a deal er a n d those presen tl y o wn ing of f road veh icles will n ot be responsi ble for th e regi str ati on. According to Daryl Drake of th e Maver ick Associat ion in P h oen ix. Arizo na . most of th e m oney will go towards th e Highway Users R even u e Fund with no allowa nce for providing more riding areas. The California All -Terrain Vehicle Association will hold an ATV riding skills workshop and drawing on July 6 at Pismo Beach . The event is sponsored by American Honda and concerned manufacturers. Proceeds from the drawing after costs will be divided between the CATVA. the Santa Barbara ATV Club and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving); for more info contact Sharon Bishop at 805 /965-9722. Th e L os Angeles Chapter of the Women o n Wh eels wiII present th e Cruise-Aid for Diabetes on June 23. The fundrai ser rid e will feature cele brities suc h as Goldie H awn. Kurt Russell a nd Perr y Kin g. Riders must ra ise a minimum of S40 in donation s with passengers rais ing a n additional $25 in orde r to part icipa te. For m ore info co n tact Cou rm ev Ca ldwe ll a t 213/274-5590 . Registrat ion for the Coors /Kawasaki National Championship Motocross in Lakewood. Co lorado w ill be held on Saturday. June 1 5 from 1-4 p.m . atthe Sheraton Inn Lake· wood 360 Union Blvd. Lakewood. CO 80228. Yamaha Deal ers in California and Nevada wi ll . once again. be selling Yamaha Tour Tickets for this year's Cha m p ion Spark Plug 200 atLaguna Seca, The Tour Ride ticket provides two days of admission plus a paddock pass. a special edi tion hat an d pin . entrance to a specia lly designated parking area and a ride around th e race cou rse on Sunday. T o ta ke the to u r around th e track. all riders a nd passengers must wear a helmet and th e speed of the group ill be carefull y controlled. All ticket urchasers must realize tha t the la p round th e track is a rare opportu nity nd each. participan ts cooperation is . vital if th is pa rt of th e even t is to co nt in ue beyond th is year. To find a pa rt icipa ting Yamaha dea ler. con tact Pat 714/ 761-7617 or 408/ 475-5970. V etter Prod ucts. a division of Bell Helmets Inc.• has notified the Department of Tra nsportat io n of the v oluntary recall of certain Vetterlite I and V etterlite II helmets. The products affected are the Vetterli t e I with serie s numbers 70003292 8 through 7 0 -0 0 4 5 0 67 and w it h manufacturing dat es from M ar ch throu gh J uly 19 83. The dates and number s can be found on aluminum f oil stickers in side the helmet. The Vetter lite II relates to a problem discovered with helm et s m anufactured by o ne of Vett er Products' ve ndors during t he pe riod f rom October 1984 through February 1985. The dates can be found on the v inyl ch in strap cover of t he helmet. G ary Ba iley will hold a fou r-d ay rid . in g school a t Kinca id Park in An chorage. Alaska o n J un e 26-29. Tui tion is $375 a n d pos itio ns were sti ll op en a t presst im e; for m ore info co ntact Chest er Anderson a t 907i 376-5940. • ~ORCYCLE INDUSTRYS CNANGE Anniversary Sammy T anner Distributing Co .. owned a nd operated by former dirt track star Sammy Tanner . will celebra te its 20th a n n iversa ry on June 15. Hired as Vice P resident of Marketing for Continental Tire. Joe Rich . formerl y of the William Esty Compan y which hand led the advertising account of Nissan, Inc. Opened Action Service. a motor cycl e repair a nd servi ce cen ter. by two-time AFM Ro ad Raci ng Champi on Frank Mazur; located a t 37175 Morain sr., Fremont. CA 94536. 4 151 794-4731. • CPSC Chairman , Scanlon: Statler broke law By John Ulrich LONG BEACH, CA . J UNE 7 u.s. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Terrence Scanlon charged Commissioner Stuart M. Statler wi th vio la tin g federal law in issuing a misleading news rel ease on ATV safety earlier th is year. In a Ma rch 12 memo to C PSC General Counsel Dan iel Levi nson. Scanlo n wrote "The attached one-man consumer alert and virtual press release o n Comm ission letterh ead o n ATVs agai n raises the issue on the affirmative dissemination by the Commission, or a single Com missioner. bea rin g generica lly on the safety of a consumer p roduct or class of consumer products. "The Commission las t summer .clearly violated Sec. 6(b)(6 ). in. my. tJ6;#:. ~ s";J. r ~.,.,...~ M emorend u m ~ u... CCI'..... _ ~ RESTRICTED _==N~= 4r , The C_h,lon ~ ThJ'Ollgh: 5147- Dunn. reta ,." • Through : Dlntel R. l e in son, ;enerll Counsel Through: l tonl r-d D 0,.. , [ucuthe Director eFi ..... r 1 r liAR 1985 . ~~) p . .A,..---v~ -.aCT , DI,id SChl.ltur, ,I,sso;i&tI Eu;uthe DI,..; tor DirKtoratl 'or ~1ilnce Ind A~lnhtrl the ll tigltion Ce-Pliln;e Cptlons R~ lrdlng Thret-Wheel.d A"-T.rrl in 'ehl;'e, I.t1'Odu; tl o. Ind 5_ '1 TIlt ' -Inion Is pre sl.tl)' e.., lde n .g acti on opt l0's f or th... . ·.ht.l ad , "-tarr.ln ' lhl c' l s (ATV',) . ThIs -..orand.. addressl' the c:.pl 1&ftCI and Info rc_t optlonl to reduct or 111~ 'ltl the n sk of Inju,." preSln tad II)' th e A rt's under $Ktl on 15 of the CPSA. Seet lOl1 15 of ~I CPSA enablls ~I ClIIIllnlo n to ' order correcthl Ictl on for products thlt pre ••nt I ',ubstantlll product hl zar d, ' thlt Is, I product tIIat hIS a product dlfect .hlclt (beet ull of ~. plttlm of dl f K t . the '_Ir of deftcth. produ;tJ dh tri buta d In c_rca , ~. , ...r1 t)' of thl nsk , or otllarwht ' c....tas I substa ntial n sk of InJul')' to the publfc. WI bll It.. ~at ghen the ' I rge and !ncreul ng numbtr of A Incl d, . ts In' oh l n9 IIrlo us Injurlll and dutlls, til, TV large a.d t.; " lIln9 nUllb.r of prodUCts In UII, ~I fact ~.t III of _. ~. products p...unt till potent al for uncus l njul')' or dlltlls. and ~I l nl dequl te .Irnlngs and ructlo.s Ic;e-pl.)'lng ~e product, till D " Rest rict ed" U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission fi les not cleared for public release indicat e a w ide range of misconduct on the part of the CPSC and form the basis for a story on page 14. This is j ust the type of stuff your congressman or congresswoman needs to know about; drop him or her a line today. While you 're at it. send a letter expressing your v iew of the actions of the CPSC and especially Commissioner Stuart M . Statler to Sheldon Butts of the CPSC (1111 18th St.• Washington, DC 20207) and demand that your letter be in cluded in the official record of CPSC public hearings. Better still. do all the above and attend a CPSC public hearing; make reservations to speak at a public hearing by calling Butts at 301 /492-6800 or 800 /638-2772. op inion . whe n it provided inaccurate a nd m isleading da ta on a m usem ent rid e deaths to the media and public." Scanlon contin ued. referring to a section o f th e Consumer Product Safety Act . the federal law that esta blish ed th e CPSC. " C learly there is a need for a prompt a nd critical look at our 6(b)(6) operations here at the Commission. P lease draft for Commission consideration a s soon as p ossible Section 6(b )(6) regulations so that the Commission. and the public. may know how the Commission determi nes the accuracy of generic informa tion and w hat steps h ave been taken to assure tha t Commission data is not misleading." Sca nlon sent cop ies o f his memo to other members of the Commission. CPSC Ex ecutive Directo r Len DeFio re. a n d CPSC M edia R el ations Manager Lou Brott. The section of th e Consumer Product Saf ety Act referred to in Scanlon's m emo reads " Wh ere the COmmi ssion in itiat es th e public disclosure o f in fo rma tio n that reflect s on th e sa fety of a co ns u me r product or class o f cons u me r products. whe ther or not suc h in formation would en able th e publ ic to asce rta in th e ide ntity of a manufa cturer or private labeler , th e Commission sha ll establish procedures designed to ens ure that su ch in formatio n is a ccu ra te a nd not misleading. Scan lon 's m emo came in response to a lett er sent on CPSC stationary by Statler and addressed "T O : Consumer Protection O ffices and O rga n izations R E: R isin g Dea th &: Inj ury Toll from AI1-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)". At a Congressional Subcommi ttee h ea ri n g in Wa shington on May 21. Statler told congressmen that h e h ad sent a bou t 700 copies o f th e letter a nd a n attached " FACT SHEET O N ATVs" to newspapers and broadcas t sta tio ns na tion wid e. as well as to state and local consumer protection agencies. The "Fact Sheet" compared ATV-rela ted injuries to motorcycle and sn owmobile-related injury rates without notin~ differing u se patterns of th e veh icles. and without specifying injury rate. per hour of veh icle use. The " Fact Sheet" presented ATV s as being unreasonabl y dangerous and questioned the stability of the veh icl es despite CPSC engineering staff memos - dated a lm ost a full yea r ea rlier - to the contrary. In the cover letter sent out with the " Fact Sheet." Statler wrote that CPSC options for dealing' with the rising number of estimated injuries included " . . . halting futu re 3-wheeled ATV production; to possibly recalling a ll su ch vehicles previously sold." CPSC Los Angeles hearing shortened By John Ulrich LOS ANGELES. CA . J UNE 6 The u.s. Consumer Product Safe ty Co m m issio n Pu blic Hearing on ATV safet y scheduled for Los Angeles in Octo ber will be a one-day hearing. not a twoda y hearing as previously an n ou nced . According to CPSC Compliance In vestigator Janice Mitchell of the CPSC Los Angeles office. the CPSC Co m missioners feel that everyone who needs to be heard can be heard in one day. T he Los Angeles CPSC office still favors a two-day hearing featuring testimon y from 300-400 people. with specialemphasis o n ATV en thusiasts and on proposals for red ucing th e soaring ATV acci dent rat e. The hearing will mos t likely be h eld on Octo ber 15 in Lo s An geles. Mitchell sai d . Persons interested in testifying shou ld contact Mitche ll a t the Los Angeles CPSC office. 3660 Wi ls hire Bl vd .• Suite 1100. L os Angeles. CA 90010. 213/ 894-7272. or contact Sheldon Butts o f th e CP SC's headquarters at 301/492-6800 or 8001 638-2772. .'. . .

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