Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126825
exploration of speed limitations, rea r axle shielding, restraining belts, protective roll cages , restricti ons on sa les of ra cing m od el s, increased rider awaren ess programs and development of li ghte r , co o le r h elmet s, Mike Bishop, Chairman o f th e Ca liforn ia Department of Parks an d Recreati on 's Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission detailed California's experienc e with a relatively low accident and injury rate - his testimony was essentially the same as he gave at a Congressional Subcommittee hearing in Washington on Ma y 21. john Eubank of the Mississ ippi State Safet y Council criticized manufacturers of ATVs, advocated fitting counterweights to the front of ATVs to prevent wheelies, sh orter seats to prevent two-up riding, horsepower restrictions and increased rider training. A panel of eng ineerin g " experts" incl uded Dr. T eung Eng Tan of the Mem p h is Sta te Universit y, who advo- ca red use o f di fferentia ls a nd in dep endent rear sus pe ns ion; Dr. Fran cis Cline a med ical donor , wh o sai d th at a ny pa rent wh o enco ura ged h is ch ild re n to rid e a n AiV was guilty o f ch ild a buse; h e detailed various injuries to h is patients, admitti ng tha t o n Iv a few wore helmets and the n sta ti ng "Cert a in evidence suggests helmets ma y aggravat e cervical spi ne injuri es." Mr. O. Takeuc hi , Senior Staff Engineer for Honda R&D Ltd . o f japan and th e inventor o f th e original ATC, ans.....ered questions from th e Commissioners a nd said th at adding a roll cage o r shortening th e sea t would prev ent the rider from pro perly shifting hi s or her weight an d decrease mobility, stability an d safety. A panel of Miss issippi law enforcem ent officials co ns isted of Oktibbeka Count y Sheriff Dolph Bryan ; Hinds Count y Deputy Sh eriff j .L. Vin son; Capitol Po lin ' Director Ra y Keyes; and City of Morton Po lice Chief Clell 5CH Ha rrell: Bryan su mmed u p th e pa nel's pos itio n by sayi ng " I don 't think we have a signi fica m ATV problem in th is stale. l th in k we ha ve a peo ple problem ." A pan el of m anufacturer s' representati ves incl ud ed Alan Isley o f th e Specia lty Veh icle Institu te o f Am erica, Ed Gl ynn of American Honda, an d Roger Hagie of Ka wasaki Motors Co rp . H agie test ified th at all 1986 Kawasak is except th e ra cing T eca te would co me with throttle-travel-limit ing scre ws a nd th at th e com pa ny would advoca te a minimum rid er age o f 14 for riders. Gl ynn said th at H onda would recommend a minimum age of 12 for ATC rid ers. Isley det a iled industry efforts to cooperate with th e CPSC, co nt ra ry to frequent co m p la ints by Statler th at the industry .....as "dragging its feet " a nd not coope ra tin g. Two panel s included representatives from ATV dea lers a nd busi- PIO 5 P I 5 AMERICA CARLSBAD RACEWAY------....... ..... 500ee WORLD MOTOCROSS ENTRY LIST SCHEDULE OF EVENTS aturday, June 29th, 1985 ign up and Tech Inspedion easoup Andersons 10:00 A.M. See t h e stars in person. ) hotos and Autographs nternational Time Trials nd Pradice arlsbad Raceway Noon unday, June 30th, 1985 ates Open radice acing Begins 8:00 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 1:00 P.M. Andre Malherbe Dave Thorpe Broc Glover Ron Lechien Danny Chandler Eric Geboers Hakan Carlqvist Leif Persson David Bailey Micheli Margarotto Claudio Dicarli Danny LaPorte Billy Liles Goat Breker Jukka Sintonen Kurt Nicoll Laurence Spence Jeremy Whately Georges Jobe Jacky Martens Andre Vroman s EASY ACCESS AND EXIT Front Gate Admittance for All Motorcydes REE guarded parking on the asphalt. o o ne ne Day Day Day Day Belgium/Monaco England EI Cajon, CA EI Cajon, CA USA Belgium Sweden Sweden Axton, VA Italy Italy Yucca Va lley, CA Fairburn, GA Riverside, CA Finland England Ireland England Belgium Belgium Belgium Honda Factory Honda Factory Yamaha U.S.A. Honda U.S.A. KTM Austria Honda Japan Yamaha Holland Yamaha Holland Honda U.S.A. Kawasaki Italy Honda Italy Husqvarna EI Cajon Kawasaki U.S.A. Kawasaki U.S.A. Husqvama Sweden KTM Austria Kawasaki UK Kawasaki UK Kawasaki Japan Husqvama Sweden KTM Austria 250ee ENTRY LIST Rick Johnson Johnny O 'Mara Scott Burnworth EI Cajon, CA Simi Valley, CA EI Cajon, CA Yamaha U.S.A. Honda U.S.A. Suzuki U.S.A. ETC. Advance tickets are available at TIcketron or charge to your MasterCard or Visa by calling (714) 498-0460. ' GA Adult Child 12 & Under $8 - Advance $16 No child discount Reserved - Advance $18Adult - Advance $13Child 12 & under $8 Reserved No child discount - Advance $18- nesses: a mong th e witnesses were Mich ael Rob ert s, Ge nera l Manager of Honda o f Lafa yett e, Lou isiana; j oe Speed of North j ackson Honda/ Yamaha; Chuck Garner o f Chuck 's Bike in j ackson; Gal e Butler, a j ackso n Honda deal er ; Norm H ochreiter , Manager of j ackson Mot or Spo rt Center; Steve San ders of Sa nders Honda o f So u th Springfi eld , T ennessee; Gary Su rdyke, a Yamaha deal er from Crvstal Citv, Missouri; Bill Ca rl in o f N~Tlh ja ckson H onda /Y amaha; . Charles Mil an o f Mil an 's Honda of jack son ; Dan Ri chard s; Ty ro ne Dubrox of T . Racks o f j ackson; a nd Charles Hunter, a Honda dealer and Southeastern Reg ional Representative for Deal er s of American Honda. Garner deli vered a lett er to th e Commissioners signed by over 500 ATV riders a nd enthusia sts ..... ho frequent his bu siness, a nd wh o ask ed him to present th eir o p pos itio n to Statler's proposed ban a nd recall. Hochreiter advocat ed a yearly in spection o f ATVs to a vo id maintenan cerelated safety problems. Sanders sa id hi s biggest market was for agricu ltura l use o f ATVs. foll ow ed by kids rangin g from five to 16 years o ld a nd yo u ng mal es in la te teens a nd ear ly 20s. Sanders says hi s dea lers h ip sells safe ty, sell ing ATVs to fit th e rid er 's size a nd needs, refu sin g to sell nonO EM tires a n d s ta bi lity -a ffec ting afterma rket prod ucts like fork extenders - Sa nde rs sa id th e " u nsta ble" AT V sho wn in ABC TV 's 20/20 burndown o f ATVs wa s fitt ed .....ith n onstoc k for k ex tende rs .....h ich redu ce sta bilitv, Sanders a lso said th at his business has grown 70 tim es since 1981 a nd co ns ti tu tes 300 ATVs a year. Su rdy ke sa id th at CPSC co m pa riso ns of acc ide nt figu res for trailbikes, sn o wm obi les a nd AT Vs don 't tak e into co nsi de ra tio n th e year-aro u nd use o f ATVs versu s th e o the rs, a nd th a t the typical ATV sees 250 da ys o f usc per year versus 15 days a year for th e a verage snow mobi le a nd even less for rh e average rra ilb ike. He al so said th at ATVs reduce car h ighwa y acci de nts beca use kids who grow up rid ing ATVs underst an d the la ws of p hys ics affecting a veh icle. un de rsta nd h o w 10 contro l a slidi ng veh icle a nd ca n bett er avoid acciden ts. Surdyke al so pointed o u t th at he is a n America n ci tizen and ru ns a n America n bu siness, a nd th a t h is bu siness is o ff abo u t 20% du e to the co m motio n rai sed in th e ge ne ra l p ress by Sta tle r. (Co m m iss io ner Da wson addressed Su rd yke a fter hi s testimon y, referring to Sta tler's action s, say ing " Mr. Surdyke, I regret we've had a n eco nom ic im pa ct from a ny th ing we've done. I'd lik e to em p has ize tha t we are independent Commissioners."J Ri ch ards o bjected to th e irresponsible reporting of th e ATV situa tion by th e general news media , especially TV cre.....s which left after crashers testified and d idn 't stick around to hear wh at deal ers had to say. Carlin advocated mandatory helmet law s for ATV use. Trince said his dealership gives a video-tape of a Honda-produced safety film to every purch a ser of a n ATV. and that h e's already bought 200 copies of the tape. Hunter pointed out the tremendous economic impact on sma ll businesses that co m p rise most dealers and said that dealers in his organization reported 25% to 35% reductions in ATV sales in the last six months, du e to Statler 's widely-publicized statements th a t ATVs are inherently dangerous. CPSC Executive Director Leonard Def'iore said that the Consumer Product - Safety Act. which establ ished the CPSC, requires the agency to consider the economic impact of its actions, a nd that the effects of th e CPSC's and Statler's actions on ATV dealers' would be irivestigated. . ... , ....... 23