Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

anot h er exa m p le of trivial over-reg ulation of products whi ch th e co nsum er is fu lly ca pa ble of u nd ersta nding. In th is case, th e so lu tio n lies n ot in eradica ting th e product, but educa ting th e cons umer. T ha n k yo u for yo u li me . MARK A. T H O ME Aberd een , SD - Letter from Senator Abdnor Thank you for wri ti ng to con vey yo ur opposi tion to a possi ble ban by the Consumer Product Safe ty Co mm ision (-CPSC) on fu rther use of threewh eeled a ll -terrai n vehicles. You r correspondence.togelh erwilh my co m me nts, have been forwa rded lO th e Chairm an of C P SC, T erre nce Sca n lo n. Again, Mark, thank yo u for g iving me th e opportuni ty to be o f assi stan ce. Pl ea se be assured tha t I will forwa rd th e Chairman 's response as soo n as it a rr ives. With best wis h es, WEST ·A m erica' s weekly motorcycle newspaper Sh aron C layto n. MiLe PUIJ li.~h"T Klin~ . Co mpl rolJn SLip j ohn se n , Associate Publisher ! .vall01lal Sales lUatUl£n Carol ine G("ndry . Ex ecutive Se crrta ry to th,. Pu bl ishe r Editori.1 Joh n Ulrich. Edi tor Kit Palmer. Associatr Editor Mall Hi lgenberg. A ssociat e Editor J im w olcon. Associate Editor Paul Carru thers, Auociale Editor Advertising J AMES ABDNO R Un ited Sla te Sena tor Wash in gt on, DC - Terry Prall , Snit's Atanagn T im Ryan . Salt's Managt'T Mark Thorne, Salt-s M anag t'T Linda Brown . Adt1t'rtisi nK Coordinator Nanc,' Wao;,(("II. Adlontisingl Editorial A ssis tan t Letter from Senator Pressler Graphice .ndProduction Larry Gill . Graph ic Art ist GinKt"f Devaul, GTaph,-c Arl;sl M. l lcol m \\' ih o n. CrlJphic Artist < Marion Hatashi ta , T)' ~st'ltn Carolyn Bra nha m . 7)pt'm ln Den n is G reene, Lab. T ech. Inaccurate magazine Accounting/O.ta Proceuing Donna Bryan, A rcoun ts R« ,.;l lfJ bl , Coordinll.lor Gn1M Repa ss•.Assi,stant 'a Fra n H a m ~·C"Y . Credit Circulation Rhd xa Smith• •\fanagt"T Sara h Taylor. Assistan t Lvna Hood. Assistant g ebecca Braa k, A .t.t;jttlnl Alma Anguiano. A.uutanl Deeler S.....nd Service Bob Elliott. Deater SIll,.! M an aK'" W.ntAds S IMrt · G runt'f . W an l A d S aks Service .nd Support Ch ris Aitc·ht.'SOl1. R t"lt'p tio n isl ' Grt'~ory H anson . SbS West 220 1 Cherrv Ave.• Lo n g Beach. CA 90806. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach, CA 9Ol!01·(H98 (2131 ,127·7433: LA. Line 636·88H. East 4190 Finl Ave.• T uc ker, G A. 3008-1 . P.O. Box 805, TueLl'r. GA ,3()()8!)·OK05. . ( 10'1) 934·7850. . Cyc le N C'\\'~ / \\' l~1 (U SPS H I·3 40) i'!io published weekl yexcep t I he- firSi a nd la'll week of the ca len dar year for S25 JX'T year by Cycle News. Jnc.•2201 CherryAvenue.Long Beach , CA 90806 , Second cl ass POSla~t' pa id at LofIK Beach , CA . POSTMASTER : Send form 3579 to Cycle News. P.O . Box 49B. long Beech. CA 90801 -0498. Su bwri pric n ra tes: One }'("' r. second dan d mail. $25: two vea rs, second da!t...-, ma il. S43: . three years, ~d cia" mail, $68 ; 25 week... S13. Fo reign ra tes avai la ble o n req uest. Cyc le NC"\\''!io welcom es unsoljch ed ed uoria ! mat er ia l inc l ud ing sto ries, ca rtoons, phot os . etc. Such ma ter-ia l, if p ub lished, becomes th e excl usive pro pertv o f C~..c le ~ ('''' ~ . Su ch acce peed mal ('fial i5 subject 10 rCO'"i..ion as is n t'Ct'\!iar)' in (he sole di scre tio n o f Cycle S ('W\. U n .-.olici tnl mater ial wh ich is l10t used will be return ed if accompa nied by a !tl'lf add ressed stamped en velope. All u nsolicited ma teri al will be handled whh reaso na ble ca re , ho wever , C ycle Nrw \ ass u mes no rnpon~ i bilil )' for the sa rt'lr . l o~!iior dama","t" 10 Mach ma lerial. Rr p ri n lin ,:t in whol e o r pa rt on ly by pl111lis.\ion of the p ublisher . Ad\'t'rti \in~ rdtnand ci rcu la rion inf orma tion will lx' st"nl upon n'q u~ l , St"l'S .R.D.S. Copyright$ Cycle News. Inc . 1985. "T rad. m. rk Cycle News reg istered U.S. P.tantOffice. All righurelllKV8d. ON THE FRONT PAGE: A close-up view of Yamaha's new XJ700N. air-cooled. Maxim street cruiser. See page 22 for complete test. Photo by Jim Wolcott. 4 Co untdown would like to assure th e readers of Cycle N ews th at co n trary lOwh at the cu rr en t issue of Dirt R ider magazine sta tes, Thee Computer is available as adverti sed in Cycle N ews wa nt ads. If a n yone is co n fused as a res u lt o f this shocki ngly inaccurate and in co m p lete article. p lease ca ll us a t 8181 348-838 1 for the Iacts. After fin ding o u t th e facts , if yo u feel th a t, based o n th e Dirt Rider article, yo u were duped into pu rchasin g a n in ferior product. yo u shoul d co ntact.Dirt R ider direct. Ever yone shou ld be ca u tious about m isleadin g advertising claims, bu t it is a sad da y when m ot o-journ alists. th e self appointed a u thorities o f o ur spori, ca n not be tru sted lO deli ver cu rrent, accura te information that yo u, th e reader . have p aid for. JE R RY CO UNTS , Owner Cou nt down canoga Park, CA Letter to Stuart Statler I wo u ld like 10 express my feel in g o n the CPSC's cu rre nt approach lO the issue of all-terrai n veh icle safety. Wh y have yo u ad vocated a course o f actio n wh ich calls fo r a n outrigh t ba n on ATVs when th ey h ave been sold in th e Un ited Sta tes sin ce 1969? I' ve read in articles o n the issue that yo u feel ·ATVs a re inherently unsafe: th a t child ren an d even o lder users do not co m p rehe nd th e ri sks in vol ved in th e opera tion o f these vehicles: a n d th at it is mo rall y wrong lO a llo w thes e users to ris k life a nd limb th rough th e co nti n ued o peration of AT Vs. In Sou lh Dakot a a nd th ro u ghout th e Un iled Slates, ATVs a re used in farm ing, co nslruction, an d forestry industri es as safe, cos t-effecti ve met h ods o f transporta tion in off-road situa lio ns. ATVs are a major so urce o f mot orized recreational enjoy ment al a rela tivel y low cos t pei un it . You refu se to o bserve th e facls th a t the AT V-relat ed acci de nts th a t do occ ur are largely a ll ribu ta ble lO p oor rider ins lru clio n a nd non-u se o f sa fe ty eq u ip ment such as helmets, eye pro- tection and appropria te clo th ing, Li ke automobile a nd boating accidents, manv ATV accid en ts are also alcohol related . BUI Mr. Stat ler , ar e th ese rea lly ATV accidents: or wou ld n't it be more proper lO call th em " peop le accidents? " Thousands of people are an n ua ll y inj ured and killed in a utomobile acci de nts, boati ng accide nts, rra cto r vfa rrn accidents , ind us tria l acc idents, h o m e accide nts, tr eeclim bi n g accidents, etc, The list is inf inite, Have we ba nned automobiles, boat s, tractors and farms, wh ol e industries. homes. a nd trees? Of co urse n ot . Similarl y, we sh o u ld not be ban ned from th e op portunity to ben efit from th e use of AT Vs. The a ns wer is in user educa tion as lO pro p er and sa fe use o f the se mach in es. T his a p proach h as helped to tremendously red uce the num ber o f cas ua lties in eac h example listed above: there is no rea so n it would not work with ATVs. Pl ease reco nsi der these facts before yo u rush into any h asty decisions rega rding th e future of a ll-terrai n vehicles . MA RK A. THOME Aberdeen , SD Letter to Senator Abdnor Please fin d enclosed a co p y o f a letter I sent 10 Stuart M. Stat ler , a m ember o f th e Co ns u mer Product Safet y Commissio n. I a m co mpe lle d to write to yo u o n th e possibility o f Mr. Statler 's propo sal that th reewheeled a ll-terrai n vehicles be banned from fu rt he r use. I a p p ea l to yo u to look into th is ma iler for severa l rea son s. Ask any farmer in South Dakota how h e feels a bo u l h is three-wheeler. T he n ask how he'd feel a bo ut nol being allowed to purchase a new one. These mach ines a re used dai ly by farmers an d ra nc hers as a cos t-effective alle rnati ve to p ick ups, snowmobiles, horses. a nd traclOrs. Wh at th e C PSC is proposing is as ridicu lo us as th e OS HA lOilets of lh e ea rly 1970s a n d the IRS vehicle mi lea ge logging rul es you've recently work 10 elim in ate. I'm sure that a fter so me investi ga tion o n yo u r part. yo u' ll agree lhis is Tha nk yo u very much for yo ur letter rega rd ing the proposa l th at threewheeled all -terrain vehicles be ban ned fro m further sale a nd use. I h ave contacted th e Federal T ra de Commission o n yo ur behalf. As soon as I hea r from th em , I will be back in touch with yo u. In the meantime, p lease let me kn o w if I can be of a n y further assis tance. Thanks again for writing, and p lease stay in touch . LA R R Y PRESSLER U nited Stat es Sena tor WashinglOn, DC Letter from Statler T han k you for yo ur recent let ter regarding ATVs. T he Co nsu mer P rodu ct Sa fely Com miss io n is cha rged wi th regulatin g products that pose a n " u nr eason a ble risk of inj u ry" to co nsu mers. Although a num ber of the acci de nts and / or injuries associa ted with ATVs are d ue to rider m isbehav io r, many ap pea r 10 be relat ed lO th e design of the veh icle itself. We are repeat edl y hearing a bo u t exa m p les of f1ipovers, turnovers. and ro llovers when an ATV is moving uphi ll or hits a rut or ob stacl e, a nd difficult y or loss of co ntrol (leadin g lO ro llovers ) when a rider attempts 10 turn quickly on flat terrai n, or o n a paved or gravel surface. The Commission is trying to do its job by a lerti ng co nsu mers 10 the possible probl ems a nd risks associ ated with th is veh icle, a n d determining as quickl y as p ossible wha t more needs to be done. For yo u r furth er information, I a m enclosing a br ief statement I p rep ared on this subject, together with a fact shee t m y o ffice a ssem bled . STU ART M. STATLER U .S. Consu mer Prod ucl Saf ety Co mmission Was hi nglon, DC Another letter to CPSC O u r famil y is very much lh reewh eeler and mOlOrcycle ent h usiasls. Besides lhe fact thaI it is a 101 o f fun, it gives people and kids a n interest in lheir life which is m uch needed with the ea sy access lO dr ugs a n d cri me n owadays. I lh ink it's gr ea t they have fin ally buill somethi ng a nyone ca n (Conti n ued to page 25)

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