Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

th eir con tinuing wor k to fight anti m o tor cycl ing legislat ion . W , strongl y urge all motorcyclists tc join the Associa tion. T ogeth er Wt stand, div ided we fall. To join the AMA , call (toll-Iree ) 800 1AMA· JOIN . . . Editor . Why other motorcycle publications don't mention it The president of Cycle News America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharon Cla yton, Publisher Mike Klinger .Camp'TOIIn Sidp Johnson . Associate Publishert National Sale s Managn. J ack , Mangus. Associat e Publish"' Editor Rheba Smith. Ciuulation ManagnCaroline Oendry, Ex ecuti ve St!cutary to 'h e Publish", Editorial Kit Palm er, Associate Editor Paul Carruthers. Associate Editor Nat e Rauba, Associate Editor Brian Cauerson. Associate Editor TJrone van Hooydonk, Assis tant Edit or E wina Mangus, Calendar Editor Advertising Mike Church. Senior Sales Manag er Terry Pratt Sen ior Sales Mana gtT Mark Thome, Westt'm Sales Manag" Don Stoeber . WesttTn Sales Manager Mark Mitchell . Ea.Jt~ Sales ManaJ{t'T Thomas R. Gomer. Eastern Sales Mana gtT Cathy Corra o WeskTn Ad Coordinator Carla Borden, Eastern Ad Coordin ator T oni Don eske. Adv"tising Assistant Graphics and Production Malcolm Wilson ,p,.oouction .UanagtT Diana Hil genberg. Grap hi c A,.tist St.a~ G uest. C ,. p hi c Artist a J imm ie O'Dell, C,.aph ic Art ist Mandy Loc, GraphiCA rtist Derri ck Pressley. Graphi c Art ist Marion Hatashita, T yf>t'SdkT Carol yn Branham, TypesdttT Denni s Oreen e. Lab . T ech; ? Accounting /Data Processing Donna. Bryan. A cro Re ceivable Coordinator Gc:n V3 Repass, As.sistant C' Fran Hamwey, Credit Circulation Sarah T aylor. Awlant Alma Anguiano , Assistant Cheri Chapman, Assistant Marita Adams. Assistant Circulation Development Ron Davidson , ManagtT Want Ad s To the Members of the Cal ifornia Assembly: I am returning Assembly Bill No. 36 without my signature. This bill would require all persons riding on a motorcycle 'or motorized bicycle on a street or highway to wear a safety helmet. If I were to ride a motorcycle, I would certainly wear a helmet because it provides an additional margin of safety to the rider. I am co ncern ed, however, about th e need to mandate all motorcycle riders and passengers to wear helmets in all conditions on all highways or be in violation of state law. The current studies of motorcycle accidents indicate that the majority of accidents involve young, relatively inexperienced operators who have frequently engaged in the cons ump tion or alcoholic beverages. The incidence of accidents involving m ature o pe ra to rs with yea rs of experience is dramaticall y lower. I believe that it is unfair to require th ese responsible mature opera tors to wear helmets in all weather condi tions and on all public roads and highways. Rather, I believe it is more appropriate to require motorcycle o pera tors under 21 years of age to wear helm ets , for all drivers to participat e in meaningful training programs and to enhance vehicle licen sing and testing standards. I have been advised that most of the opponents of this bill would support such a measure and I would be willing to sign it. Debbie- Winkler. Want Ad Sales Service and Support Ouis Aitchcson, HeMqUQrttTS Receptionist Leonard Herring, StTVIU and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Beach, CA 90806. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach. CA 90801·0498 (213) 427-7433; 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 427·6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave.. Tucker. GA. 30084; mailing addr ess P.O. Box 805. Tucker. GA 30085· 0805. (404) 934·7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle New. (USPS 141-340) is published weekly except the first and last week oCthe calendar year for $32.50 per year by Cycle Ne-w In c., 2201· Cherry Avenu e. Lon g s. Reach . CA 90806. Second class postage paid at Lon g Beach. CA, and additional mai ling offices. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle N...... P.O. Box 498 . Long lIeech. CA 90801-0498. S ub~p:tion roues: On e year, second class mail. $32.50. Cycle News welcomes unsol icited edit orial material including stories, cartoons, ph otos. etc. Such mate-rial. if published. beco mes th e exclusi ve pro~ y of Cycle News. Such accepted material is subj ect to revision as is necessary in the- sole discretion of CycleNews. Unso lici ted material wh ich is nor used will be return ed if accompa nied by 3 sell addressed stam ped envelope. All unsolici ted material will be ha nd led with reasonableca re. ho we-ver . Cyc le News assum es no respon sibility for th e safely. Ios s or da mage 10 such mat erial . Reprinting in wbo le or part on ly by perm ission of the publisher. Advertisin g rates and circu lation inform ati on will be sen t u pon request, See S.R .D.S. BPA Cons umer Audi t Divisio n Member· ship Applied For. Copyright. Cycle New•• Inc. 1 9 8 8. Trade· m ark Cycl e New. registered U.S . Pat ent Off ice . All righ ts reserved. 4 GOV. GE O RGE DEUKMEJIAN State of Ca lifornia Sacramento, CA Working together: It can make a difference Three cheers to Cycle News! Your timely and significant coverage of recent hap pen in gs in California (State Assemblyman R ichard Floyd's (D-Hawthorne) mandatory helmet bill, AB36, and U.S. Senator Alan Cranston 's (D-Ca l ifo rn ia ) Desert " Pro tectio n " Act, S7) made a great contribution to awakening the consciousness of motorcyclists everywhere as to the threats of arbitrary legislation. \Vhil th e AMA 's Go vern ment Relations Department (G RD) follows and works on motorcycling related legislation on a daily basis, even ts of thepast year have proven that it tak es a coll ecti ve.effort to sto p the' forces working against us. Thus far in 1988, the GRD has trac ked over 500 pi eces of m o to rcycle re la ted legi slation on the state and federal levels. To put that number in its proper perspective, th e GRD on ly track ed 310 bills for th e enti re year of 1985. The cooperative effor ts of th e motorcycling media is o ne vita l tool in our fight against bad legi slation. Cycle News'excellent co verage is only on e example of wha t we can do wh en we a ll work together. I hav e no doubt that Cycle News'immediate publishing of th e GRD 's legislative alerts over the past few weeks spurred riders all across the country to write Gov. George Deukmejian, urging him to veto AB36. In the end, the governor listened to reason and showed a genuine interest in enhancing motorcycle safety. Cooperation of the media is only on e facet though. As AB36 has shown us this year , just as the "Superbike Ban " and the "Clean Air Act Amendments" showed us in 1987, motorcyclists need to band together to fight unfair legislation. From sportbike riders to long-distance tourers. From off-road recreationists to com petition riders. From Maine to Texas. From California to New York. We all have the same stake in it: the protection and ultimate enhancement of the sport of mo torcyc li ng. T hose of you who took the u me and effort to call and write Gov. Deukmejian, you can sta nd up and be proud of your accomplis hments . Those of yo u who didn't, do n't be lulled into a false sense of security and think that your support isn't needed. It is. If you didn't write or call this time, remember to do it when the next crisis arises. And those of you wh o did , don't sit back. Make sure that you' re ready to assert such an effort eac h and every tim e a crisis situation crops up. Rem ember, if oneof us is wronged; we'll all even tuall y suffer. One more decision against us is on e more nail in the coffm. Amidst the threats to our sport during the past year we've come to realize one thing: we can make a difference! The Superbike Ban legislation was dropped after AMA members and motorcyclists all across the country made the ir voices heard. Sen. J o hn Danforth (R-Missouri) hadn 't even been aware of the AMA's existence, or clout. Sen . Dan forth turned his attention to working with the AMA in developing a more meaningful a pproach toward motorcycle safety. The senator also supported th e AMA in its efforts to secure Federal 402 funds for motorcycle safety programs. The AMA's membership currently stands at an all-time high of almost 146,000 members. That's a lo t of voices and a lot of influence with elected officials. If you 're not an AMA member, your new membership could prove to be the difference. One more AMA member means one more voice on th e side of all motorcyclists. . We're now in an age where th e threats to the sport of motorcycling are very real and very severe. Realizin g this , every person involved in the sport of motorcycling need s to work . together to assure th at our rights are addressed. By working as one large, collective voi ce we ca n get legislators to work with us toward improving th e sport of motorcycling, rather than trying to eliminate it. The future depends on us. Let 's work at making motorcycling better for future generations. RAL F PANSCH Communications Coordinator Government Relations Dept. American Motorcyclist Assoc. Westerville,OH Thanks [or th e kind words, Ralj. And th ree cheers [or the AMA jor openly opposing the helmet law. The president advocating breaking the law should AB36 pass. Please don 't bother sending me a renewal form. HOWARD GUTMAN Glendale, CA T hat hurts . . . CC. Sidecar help wanted I'm writing from the Midwes t where sidecar motocross is unheard of. A photo in Cycle News . and a Dennis the Menace TV program has inspired me to graft a MX hack o n m y H onda X R5 00. T he fourwheelers in Mich igan have widened all oUT bike trai ls and there's roo m for a hack. I'm no stranger to sidecars; I've had a Spirit of America on my road bike for a few years and have even taken it off the road a couple of times, where I can't go over a snail's pace. Any help with plans or p hotos to help me build a sidecar for my trail machine would be greatly appreciated. The sidecar will have to be a left-hand deal so I can kick start that big beast MARSHALL F. LAFFERTY 202 South Lincoln Blvd. Augusta, MI 49012 616/731-5879 Fast guy from Minnesota I was very disappointed in yo ur coverage of the May 29 Springfield Mile. You showed a picture of (Chris) Carr and (Bryan) Villella on the podium after the 600 National. Carr and Villella , both have good spo nsors and good eq u i p me n t. David Durelle, who is completely on h is ow n wi th a little help from Neil Winston, co m pe ted agains t these guys and came in thi rd. And you couldn 't even get him in the picture l Come on, shape up! I've raced with David Durelle since he was about 10 years of age. H e is the on ly person from Minnesota who has gone this far in professiona l motorcycle racing. Us Minnesota flat trackers are proud of him. So please give him the recognition that he deserves. BUZZ ARNDT Brooklyn, MN Isn't that David Durelle, #58, in th e photo directly above the winner's circle photo? . . . Editor. Dear Unadilla: Ward (R o b i n so n , Unadilla' s promoter), I'm protesting the " no alcohol" rule. I'm protesting the .gesta po -like shakedown I'll be su bjected to at the entrance gate. If you 'r e trying to deter attendance at th e race it's going to work if I go through wha t I did last year (a complete searc h of my truck and confiscation of th ree cans of beer). I agree tha t something mus t be done to end the wanton dest ruction of . facilities at your track. .Please note now that you ruined my weekend and the outhouses were still demolished by those who smuggled in booze and dope. (Continued to page 79)

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