Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

cling and we don 't like it. Yo u r photo that accompanied the article ' shows a rider wearing the p ro p er sa fety equipment and I'll bet he is riding on private property (lega ll y). In st ead o f throwing sto n es at ATVs, we shou ld work on so lvin g th e real problem o f irresponsible paren ts and adu lts who don't ca re about safety u ntil it's 100 late. 00 00 Q') ....... America 's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharon Clavton, Publish" Mike I\linW:r.Co mp tro lln Skip J ohnso n . Associate Publish" ' Na tion al Salt's Manag" Ja d Mangu s, AlSocialt' Publish er/ Edi tor Rheba Smith, Ci rcu lation Ma nagnCa roli ne Ge ndry . Executive St'CTt'tary to tht' Publisher Edito ria l Kit Pal mer , Associate Editor Paul Carruthers. Associate Edit or Farren Will iam s. Associate Edi tor Nat e Rauba, Associ ate Editor Edwi na Man gu s. Calendar Editor Advertising Mik e Ch u rch , Sen io r Salt's Mana g,., T erry Prau Senior Salt's Manager Ma rk T ho me. Wt'sttTn S alt'S Managn Don S toeber, Wt" stt'm Salt's Managn Mar k Mitchell . Eastern Sales Mana gn T ho mas R. Go mer, Eastern Sales Managn Ca thy Corrao Wt'stn n Ad Coo rdinator Ca rla Bord en . Eastern Ad Co ordinat or T on i Ili: m~ ke. AdVn'tising Assistant Grap hics and Prod uction M.al rolm. Wilso n.P rod uct ion Managt''' D13n a H ilgen berg , G rap hic . b tu t / Stacey Cun i. G raphic ATtu t J imm ir:- O 'Dell. GTap hic ATtist Mario n Ha tash ita , TYPt>Sl'u ~ Ca ro lyn Branham. TYP~Jd t~ Der mis Gr een e, Lab . T ech : Accounti ng /Data Processing Do nna Bryan • Accts Receivable Coo rdi nator Gem'va Repass, A,ssi.dan t Fra n Hamw ey, Credit Circ ulat ion . Letter to the New York Times Want Ads Sa/~J Se rvice a nd S u ppo rt Ch ris Aitcheso n, H ea~ ua Tt~Ts R ecep tion ist Leo n..rd Herrin g , Se rvice and SUPPO Tt Nati o nal Headquarters 2201 Che rry Ave.• Lo n g Beach, CA 90806, P.O . Box 498. Lo ng Beach , CA 9080 1·0498 ' (213) 427· 7433: 213/636-118 11. FAX (213) 127·6685 Eastern Office 4 190 Firu Ave.• Tucker, CA , 30084; mai.lin K address P.O . Box 805. Tucker , G A 300850805. (104) 931·7850.FAX (404) 934·3 112 C ycle News (US PS 141·340) is p ub lished weekl y exce pt th e Iir st a nd la.. week o f tbe ... calendar year for S32.5O per year by Cycle New ... In c., 220 1 Cherr y Aven ue, Lo n g Beach. CA 90806. Seco nd d~. pos tage pa id Oi l LOI1K Beach , CA. a nd addi tio na l mat hnJ: o Hiro. POS TMASTER : Send fo r m 3 5 7 9 to Cycle New s. P.O . Bo x 498. Long 8each. CA 908 01 . 0498. Su ~M.Tip tion ra tes: One year. seco nd cla ss . mall . $32..1)() Cycle ='l'rws welcomes un sol icit ed editorial ma tt-rial including sto ries, ca rtoons. p hotos, t-IC. S uch mat eria l. if p ub lished . beco mes th e exclus ive properly of Cycle Xews. Such accep ted ma terial is subject 10 revis ion as i necessarv in the sole d iscretion o r Cvcle Xews. U nsol icited ma terial which is n OI will be retur ned if acco m pan ied by a sd f a dd r~M.-d sta mped envelope. Alt u nsol icited mat eri a l wil l be ha nd led wit h reasonable ca re. ho wever, Cyc le S ews ass umes no respons ibi li ty for the safety. lo ss or da mage 10 such ma ter ial . Rep rintin g in w ho le o r pa rt (~nl Y by permissio n of the p ub lis her . Ad veru Sin g ra tes a nd ci rcu lation in formatio n will be M"OI upon tL't:I Ut'S I , See S.R.D .S. used Co pyrigh t " Cy c le Ne w s. Inc. 198 8 . Tra de·mark Cy cl e News registered U.S . Pat ent Office . All rights rese rve d. BPA Consumer Audi t D iv ision M embership App li ed For December 1986. ~ ,I."• S nry" 4 Does Yamaha mak e th e d i££eren ce? I don 't kn ow . I'v e been a n AMA Pro road rac er si nce 1978 and m ost o f th ose years have been spe nt in th e 250cc G rand Prix class. Grand Prix road racing is th e ep itome o f th e sport , right? Well , Kenny Rob erts (the best man to put two wheels between hi s legs) an d Kenn y Cl ark (Ya m aha racing m anager) h ave been Grand Prix advocates for many yea rs. sta ting that Grand Prix racing wa s a t a higher level than su per bike ra cing, I've agreed in part with this, but. I .a lso realize th at superbike racing should play a major role in the racing world. 1£ Kenny R obert s and Kenny Clark are so inter ested in Grand Prix _ ra cing, then who made th e mi stake at Yamaha and forgot about a co n tin ge n cy program in the 250cc Grand Prix class a t AMA Camel Pro Nationals? Whoever it was didn 't forget about th e Superbike or th e Supersport classes at th ese events. The only thing I can say to Yamaha is, if yo u " make the differen ce," put yo ur money where yo ur mouth is. I hope someone at Yamaha ca tches this error. Then I! too, ca n say, " Yo u Win some, yo u Win so me." DAVID BUSBY Los An geles, CA Sarah Tay lor. As.sistant Alma Angu ia no . Assistant Cheri Chapma n. Anisiant Ma rila Adams. Anistant Debbie Win kler. Wan t Ad Yamaha and Grand Prix rac ing Your report on the Justice Department 's ac tion to ban three-wheeled ATVs was a great disappointment. I expected more from th e Times than th e simplistic and one-sided report yo u provided. Nowhere in th e article was evi dence of journalistic probing for both sides of th is issue. The antiATV viewpoint the T im es presented overwhelmed the meager mention of the other side of this issu e. Addition ally, this sol e reference attributed th e pro-ATV argu me n t to ATV manufacturers, implying th e manufacturer's position is founded on profitmotivated self interest . This ignores th e man y ATV u sers who are fightmg th e ban a nd is far from th e co m p lete truth. A balanced article m ight h av e pointed o u t th at even af ter lengthy and exhaustive research , th e CPSC itself has not found an y design faults with th ese vehicles. 1£ ATVs are inh erentl y d anger ou s " k i ll e r mach ines" (as cri tics loudl y say ), th en how is it possible fo r so me people to ride them for years w ithout ge tt ing killed o r injured ? The a n swer is , th e ve hicle i s neither safe n or unsafe. It ca n be eit he r, depending o n th e people who use it. The problem is with th e human co n tro ll ing it. The responsib ili ty is with th e human riding it. However , since th e Justice Department 's decree la st m onth, Am eri cans like you and I will be prevented from own ing a cert ain product by the U.S. governm en t. This is regardless of wh ~ther yo u or I will u se it properl y or Improperly. It is in sp ite o f no proof that th e produ ct itself is defective. This co mes, o f co urse, from th e adm in istration that promised to ge t go vernment o ££ your back. One-sided reporting an d grands ta n d ing officia ls co n vi n ce th e nat ion, (then) government bans a p rod uct that it ca n' t prov e defecti ve a nd th at many peop le use without incide nt . We all lose. Even if yo u don 't ride ATVs, pe rhaps yo u do rid e bicycles, or yo u go boating , or maybe y~ ski, or yo u fly sm a ll planes, or chmb m ounta ins, or yo u r son pl ays high school football. . P ~opl e hurt th emselves participatm g In all types of ac u viues. Which o ne will be th e n ext pi ece of meat for the frenzied media and government sharks? Maybe it will be your favorite pastime. Maybe it will damage your employment. I would li ke the Times and its readers to take a seco nd look at the ATV controversy . . . from both sides of th e issu e. Rea ders might a lso express opinions .to th eir elected representatives. Remember to tell them that you vote. NEIL TOLHURST San Pedro, CA T olhurst sen t th e letter above to th e I:Jf!W York T imes foll owing a story In the newspaper on n egotiat ed settlements betuieen ATV makers and th e U.S. Justice Department. The sett lem en ts outlawed th e sale of new three-w hee led ATVs in th e United Stat es . . . Editor. Letter to the Toledo Blade The recent article, " Fam ily Fun Ma chin e is a Kill er Machine ," reflects an o ther attempt to attack m otorcyclists and th e motorcycl e industry, while skating around th e rea~ problem with ATV safety a nd accidents. The " rea l" problem is the com p lete lack of responsibility by the pare':tts of th ese children to properly proyld e safety eq u i p m~n.t, training or instruction, supervisron and a legal p lace to ride. As a 15-yea r veteran motocross racer , I have see th e ATV from i ts co ncep tio n and have wi m e ssed hundreds of reckless ATV riders who o pe ra te th eir ATVs without an y safety equipment at all. No h elmet boots, eye protection, etc. I hav e even see n barefoot riders. They allow unprotected passengers to ride as well , even though ATVs ar e not designed for two . Children ride unsupervised down city stree ts. Is this th e fault o f th e m anufacturers? Ch ildren a nd adults ride while intoxicated . (Richard) Narkewicz, (the reporter who wrote th e article), conven iently forget to mention th at th e CPSC report indicates that a lar ge percentage of ATV acci de n ts involved alcohol. Is this th e responsibility o f th e manufacturer? Let's ge t seri ous. Any machine is a potentia l hazard .and a ny ad u lt would be naive to think otherwise. Wh ether it is a ben ch grinder , chain saw or ATV, it must be used with th e proper safety eq u ip me nt and respect . No parent would send his ch ild out to p lay unsupervised with a chain saw but this same sen sible ca u tion is not used with ATVs. Th~ motorcycle industry has co m promised enough by h alting th e p roduction o f three-wheel ers and pro.vidin~ a t~ini.ng m echanism. Articles like this mislead th e public and damage th e sport o f m otorcy- JEFFREY A. CLARK T ol ed o ,OH Clark sent th e letter above to th e T oledC! Blade foll ow ing a January 31 article In the newspaper w hich began, " W hat would happen if a n f!W cold m edication was found to be k ill ing 200 peo p le a year, half of th em children? In credibl y, jus t such a death rate is occurring today from th e use of a diff erent but deadl y product. Th e m enace at issue is th e 'family fun ' machin e: the all-t errain veh icle." Clark sug~ests, " we all shou ld tak e a [eur minutes to write to th e Toledo Blade and express our op inion." The address is: Toledo Blade , 541 Superior Street, Toledo, OH 43660 . . . Ed itor. . . Missed the point Enclosed are two articl es clipped from th e San Francisco (Ca lifornia) Chronicle. A Paul McHugh article (" Desert on th e Frontier ," published January 25) so me ho w differentiates between th e " good" driver in th e desert and th e " bad " driver. H e includes himself in th e " good" group in his Subaru Brat. The " ba d" group are th e folks at Ocotillo Wells who ride motorcycles, quads and other green sticker vehicles. For th e life o f me I ca n' t see th e d ifferen ce between ~ " good" tire tra ck a n d a " bad" one. I guess I miss the point. McHugh 's a rt icl e actua lly h a s some good information co ncern ing (A ':lZa) Borrego (S ta te Park ), a delightful place to ride. Let's all wr~te letters recommending that acting Parks a nd Recr eation boss (Henry) Agonia n ot be co n firmed . Maybe Borrego will th en be reopened to green sticker people. Columnist J on Carroll dedicated another column to ATV folks con cluding on ce again that th ey deserve to di e. Carro ll 's third (and hopefully last) jab at off-road people appeared January 27. A reader from Palo Alt o agreed with Carroll's assessment of off-reade rs. end in g her letter wi th , "1£ ATVers flourish, more deserving folks will live." (T he reader su ggested that ATV rid ers should be allowed to "run wild" to increase th e su p p ly o f donor organs). Acting Californ ia Parks and R ecreation Director H en ry R. Agon ia, w ho closed A nza Borrego State Park to off-TOad vehicles shortly after his tak in g office in 1987, m ust be con firm ed Februa ry 17 by th e Californ ia Senat e or his position wi ll not be p erman ent. Off -TOad rid ers wh o o p p ose A g ona 's confirmat io n shou ld write the ir state senators at: Honorable (name of senator), Stat e Capitol, Sacram ento, CA 95814. Letters to th e San Francisco Chronicle ma y be mailed to 901 M ission St ., San Fran cisco, CA 94103 ... Editor. Published letters do not necesserily reflect the po sition of Cycle News. Inc . Letters are s ubject t o co nde nsati on d u e to space limi tati o ns. Anonymous letters w ill not be published. Send letter. t o Voices , P.O . BOll 498. long Beach. CA 90801 0498.

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