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/126842
ch ild will never know a fa ther; and many peo ple lost a larg e port ion of their lives 10 this u ntimely dea th , whic h, accordi ng 10 a n eminent ne urosurgeon, was p reven ta ble through use of a helmet. There has 10 be some correlation between personal freedom and perso na l obligation 10 loved ones. T~e freedom of riding without a helmet IS not worth a sudden, preventable death . The bouom line is this - if you love anyone, or if a nyone loves you, wear a helmet: WEST .... (I,) ..!:J o .... u o RO N TOUDOUZE Hurst, TX America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Ban fools, not Sharon Clayton. Publishrr Mik~ Klingn.Comptrolkr Skip johnson, A ssociate Publisher t Nalionn.l Salt's Managn Caroline Gendrv. Exe cuuue St'Cfd ary to tht' Publ isher Editorial John Ulrich, Ed itor Kit Palma. Associatt' Editor Mati Hilgenberg. Associate Ed itor Jim w c lcou. Associate Edit or Paul Carruthers. Associate Editor Advertising Terry Pran S,Jlt'J Managn Tim Ryan. Salt's ManaK" Mark Thome, Sales Ma1l4gt'f Linda Brown Advn'tuin ~ Coo rdi nator Nan cy Wastell , Advntismg lEditorial Assistant Gr8phica and Production Cingtr IkVaul. PTOducti.on M~nagtT Malcolm Wilson, Graph l" ArtlSt NOlie Rauba, Assistant s Marion Hatashita , TYPt' ntn Carolyn Branham. T yfHst'lln Dennis Oreeee, Lab , T ech. Accounting/Date Proceuing Donna Bryan. Accounts R t'u ivabk Coordirudor Gnln'a Repa ss, Assi.slanl Fran H amwey, Credit Circulation Rh eba Smi th. ManagtT Sarah Taylo r. Assistant Lyna Hood, Assis tant Rebecca Braak, Assistant Alma Anguia no.A.u istant Ollllier Sales and Service Bob Ellio lt , Dealer Sal es Manag r-r Want Ads Ca ndy Hand. Want Ad Sal~s Service and Support' Q"lris Ailchnon. R eception ist Leo nard Herring, SiTS West 2201 Cherry Ave•• Lo ng Beach, CA 90806. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach, CA 90801·0498 (213) 427·74~~; L.A. Lin e 6.16-884 4. East 4190 First Ave.• Tucker , GA. 30084. P.O. Box 80~ . Tucker. GA ~0085-080~ . (404) 9~4 ·7850 . Cycle New. /West (USPS 141 ·~40) i. publishrd weekly except th e first and la st week of the ca len da r year for $25 per year by Cycle News, tnc. , 2201 0>erTy Avenue . Long Beach. CA 90806. Second cia ss postage pa id ar Long Beach, CA. POSTMASTER: Sandform 3579 to Cycle N_s, P.O. Box 498, Long Beech, CA 9OB01 -049B. Su bscription roues: One year. srcond class mail. S25: two years, SCC'On~ class ma il. $45: th ree yean. second class mall . .$68: 25 weeks. $13. ForriJCTI ra tes availa ble on req uest. Cycle New s welcomes un solici ted editorial material inclu ding stories , cartoons, photos . etc. Such mater ial, if publ ished , beco mes th e excl usi ve pro pert y o f C ycle New s. Such accepeed mat erial is su bject to revision as is necessary in the sole d iscreti on of Cycle NC'W s. U nso licited material wh ich is not used wi11 be returned if accompanied by a self addressed scam ped envelope. All unsolicited mat eria! wlJl be handled with reaso na ble ca re. h ow ever . Cycl e New s as su mes no FC'spon sibil ~t y forlhe.s.a~et y . Jess or damage to such mat erial . Rep r int ing 10 whole or ~U1 onl y by perm ission ol lhe p u blishcr. Advertismg fOlIC'S and ci rcu la tio n inf onnation will be scm upon request. See S.R.D .S. Copyright ~ Cyc l e N_s, Inc. 1985. Trademark Cycle Ne_ registered U.S. Patent Office. All rights ... served . ON THE FRONT PAGE : Two views of the 1986 Honda VFR750 Int ercept or: on the street, and exposed . A complete look at Honda 's 1985 line-up begins on page 14 . 4 Rainey fans i n mourning? Alas. poor Wa yne has not d ied. j us t gone to Honda ! Could thi s be an other a tte m p t by Honda 10 buy /protect the 500cc World Cham p ion ship? How , you mi gh t ask? Well since Wa yne will be rid in g o ver here he won 't be a ble to go to Europe a nd com pe te o ver there to ga in the expe rience he needs to become th e Worl d Champi on. H ow does Fred Merkel feci ab out thi s now tha t th e 1983 Superbike Champ comes ba ck to give it a no ther go , o n the very machines he dusted .in '83 o n those ancient two -valve, a ircoo led Kawas akis! How does Mik e Baldwin feel abo u t this, since Honda left him on his own la st year , o n ly to jump right on the bandwagon aft er Mike took his fourth U.S . Formula Championship, and now they hire another rider to fill hi s place, why nOI hire th e current cham p? Alas, my biggest sorrow is that Wayne is riding for a Superbike learn t h at will surely fall seco n d 10 Schwaruz and Suzuki I Is Honda worried that Flyin Fred can' t cut it aga ins t som e 21-year-old rid er on an oilcoo led motorcycle? I on ly wish that Suzuki, or Yam ah a, o r Kawasaki had Formula One team in th e U.S. so Wayn e co u ld have joined th em an~ then go on to co nq ue r Europe.rhat is if Eddi e doesn 't do it aga in first ! Maybe th is will force Yam aha into su p plying a few worth y riders over here with some Eddi e Law son-type Formula One bikes, wouldn ' t that be nice! So , as g lad a s I am to be a ble 10 see Wavn e co mpete in person next yea r, I o n lv wish he were riding for some o the r brand. No doubt th e pay off will make it well worth the effort ! a FR ED MAGGIORE Santa Ba rbara , CA Dual-purpose rid e s Congratularion s to AMA District 37, Jim Pil on an d a ll th e su p port perso n n el wh o h av e orga ni zed a n d worked so hard to put on the last dual purpose motorcycle rides. I'v e had the opportunity to ride in these four events and beli eve me when I say th ey were fun ! There will be at least three more organized events before the end of t he year, one of whi ch will be the Barstowto-Vega s Du al Purpose ride. Check th e Ca len da r sect io n or ca ll District 37 at 8 18/ 249-214 1 for information on a n v o f th e rides. If yo u o wn a street legal dualpurpose motor cycle a nd en joy beautiful scenery, gr eat ro ads (pa ved and dirt ) a nd good people, wh y nOI give this a try? I don 't think you'lI be disap po inted! RON BUZBEE Valencia, CA Open letter on helmets I agree with the right o f a n .in d ividual to choose about weanng a helmet. Bei n g a rider myself, I understand that helmets can be hot, heavy, and limiting to vision and hearing. These are constants thai cannot be denied. I buried my best buddy the first week of May of this year. H e had a motorcycle accident one mile from home and suffered what was known as "dosed head injuries," meaning his brain suffered severe trauma wi th no external sign of injury. He swerved to avoid a motorist. hit a curb, and co n tacted the other curb with his head, without a helmet. My friend was a very experienced street rider, with cross-country trips on hi s 1976 KZ900 to his credit. He a nd I had ridden together for 15 years without an incident. He chose the personal freedom of riding without a helmet , since it is legal in the state of T exas. The end result was my friend lying in a bed in ICU, wi thout external sign of damage. He could have been kepi a live in thai state indefinitel y, if being on life-su p po rt system s is truly a state of life. He looked like he cou ld get OUI of bed and walk a wa y a t an y lime - bUI he never co u ld a nd never would. His famil y allowed the life-support 10 be eased, and many organs were dona led to people with at least a cha nce of life. My friend's famil y lost their son; his wife lost a husband; his unborn A TVs In the hands of fools and drunks cars are lethal weapons, but we don 't hear of cars being considered for banning or recal l. Likewise. in the hands of fools and drunks, ATVs ar e letha l weapons. The problem is not the ATVs, it is the people who ride them. My family a nd I rid e safely and responsibly. We wear he lmets a?d goggles and do n OI use excessive speed or do cra zy stunts, We resent it wh en other riders show no consideration for others: that is foolishness. We resent it when other parents do not make their children ride safely and with proper protection; that is foolishness , also. And we really resent it wh en we see people with sixpacks in their hands OUI for a " good lime" ; that is murder! We d o not feel that we should be punished for the ac tio ns o f fools . If you want sa fety, zero in o n the people wh o rid e AT Vs. n OI the vehides th em sel ves, How ca n we preach safety wh en th e most important ones o f a ll, the deal ers a nd th e renters of ATVs. do not even mentio n saf ety, let a lone stress iI?Theyonlycareabout theAlmighty Dollar. Wh en we rented so me threewheelers last year at the Sand Hills rest ar ea between Yum a. Arizona, and EI Centro. California, we had 10 ask thern for helmets and goggles. It should be mandatory! We've seen people riding those rental bikes with no helmets, wearing shorts. and no shins. etc. So what happens then? T hese same people decide they love three-wheeling and go out and buy their o wn . And I~ey say to themselves, "Wow! I can ride this thing with the wind rushing through my hair and with m y shorts on so) can gel a tan! After all, that's what they're doing down here, so I sho u ld be able to ride like this all the time!" Do you see what I'm saying? Don 't restrict the bikes, restrict the people who ride them. Mak e a law making helmets, long paints, etc. mandator}'. Mak e DUllaw for ATVs . Mak e people pa y a f ine if they ignore those laws. The people who have alwavs ridden responsibl y will not be sca red of laws like th at because those are unwriuen law s that we have followed all al ong. GLORIA L. FRENCH Chino Valley, AZ Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Letters for publication must be typed and double-spaced; letters must in clude the author's correct name and address; unsigned or anonymous letters cannot be used; due to the volume of mail no letters can be ret u rned or acknowledged . Send letters to Voices. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801.