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America's
motorcycle newspaper
Volume
XXVI
Sbaroa Oay"",. Publislon
Mike J(]u,l!<'". Comf>'rOlln
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4
U.S. _ .
Open letters to Bell's Dean
Fisher
I read the long, long letter you sent
to Cycle News regarding Gary
Busey's comments about helmets.
Being senior vice president of Bell
helmets, I know you fully understand that you missed the point
entirely. However, in your "offical
capacity" you had to make the
proper response to further your
career. (Nobody makes it to senior
vice president without a generous
share of ambition.)
The real reason motorcyclists
should be allowed to ride helmetless
was best stated by Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential
liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety, deserve neither liberty nor
safety." I do believe that the (ounding fathers never intended that there
should be a Law governing every part
of our lives.
I will not give up, nor will I
support any law that requires someone else to give up any part of their
liberty that does not violate the righ ts
(of) someone else. I wear a helmet
but I do not have the right to
forcefully require everyone else to.
CARY C. FUJITA
Gardena, CA
Your open letter to Gary Busey
(Cycle News, April 12 issue) was
absolutely excellent.
I have been riding motorcycles for
30 years and to date have been
accident free: I agree with everything
you pointed out in· your letter, and
my riding constituents concur.
I am happy to say that I have
exclusively used Bell helmets during
my riding career and am going to
do so in the future. Several years ago
my wife and I purchased mountain
bikes. After riding for one day I felt
strange without a helmet. I immediately purchased Be1l bicycle
helmets.
My personal safety motto is: I ride
a motorcycle in the same manner in
which a Boeing 747 captain flies and
maintains his aircraft - he will be
the first one to an accident and will
be unable to talk about his experience after the crash. A helmet IS a
necessary safety device and I consider
it to be mandatory in case of a crash;
it may make the difference between
life or death.
JOHN S. SOMERS
Winchester, CA
What you see is what ...
Mr. Machiavelli goes to Daytona:
The much-heralded prototype Rutter reproduction Seely Matchless G50 recently arrived at Daytona, armed
with entries in the AMAlCCS endurance race and the AHRMA historic
race.
Mr. Rutter's claim is that the entire
machine is built "in house" by
Rutter Developments ERM. Close
examination of the machine, however, reveals that the gearbox is a
Team Obsolete MK III magnesium
six-speed. The original identifying
marks have been removed. The
gearbox is now re-stamped "ERM."
The clutch and belt drive are products o( Bob Newby Racing, also
with the "BNR" machined off and
replaced with an "ERM" stamping.
However, Rutter missed the "BNR"
on the inner side of the clutch basket.
This was still visible to the careful
observer. The crankcases bore the
unmistakable characteristics of Ron
Lewis Engineering. Again, the
"RLE" was missing. Finally, the
cylinder head was clearly recognizable as having been cast from Mick
Taberer's unique patterns. So much
for the claim of being built "in
house."
In the endurance race, Rutter's
motor emitted a loud, expensive
noise and abruptly stopped. This
was confirmed by the rider, Keith
Gonyou, and the entrant, Ken Greziak of British Only. Yet Rutter is
reported to have informed Mick
Duckworth o( Classic Bike (magazine) that gearbox failure was the
reason for non-6tarting the historic
race the next dayl To his credit,
Duckworth sussed out the true facts.
Upon his return to the U.K., Mr.
Rutter changed his .s~ories (the falsity
of his gearbox story having been
revealed). He is now reported to be
blaming the engine (ailure on Greziak, alle~edly for tampering with
the cam uming. This accusation is
vehemently denied by Greziak.
None of this should be taken as
any criticism of "Prince" Rutter's
business ethics. But he should consider changing professions. Politics
would be a more appropriate calling
(no disrespect meant to politicians).
ROB IANNUCCI
Team Obsolete
Brooklyn, NY
Another Daytona Cycle Week has
passed and with it another Alligator
Enduro. Each year Daytona Dirt
Riders Association members put
forth a lot of time and effort to
present a quality event. This year we
had approximately 440 entries and
de.spite the unseasonably cold
weather everyone seemed to enjoy it,
and that is what makes it all
worthwhile.
We would like to thank the following companies for their generous
contingency donations, and their
supp?rt of motorcycling: Malcolm
SmIth Products, Scott USA, Acerbis
Plastica, Boyesen Engineering,
AGV-USA, Tucker-Rocky Dist., and
Spector Oils. A special thank you to
Blaine Birchfield and Bevo Forti for
their extra effort.
We would also like to thank our
friends from up north who come
down to help every year, and last but
not least, Scott Girvin and Consolidated Tomoka Land Co. for the
privilege of using their land for this
event.
DAYTONA DIRT RIDERS
ASSOC.
Holly Hill, FL
Daytona, one more time
I feel your response to Mr. Al
Nagy's letter (April 5 issue) was lame.
Every big-time racer had to start
somewhere. Nobody disputes the
level of up-and-coming racers at any
time, unless, of course, they stand out
in some way. It does not seem that,
when folks lament the present level
of competition at Daytona, the
dispute is over what your publication seems bent on dweJling upon
at aiL
For starters, here are a few names:
Barry Sheene, Ron Haslam, Kel
Carruthers, Graeme Crosby. None of
these gents were club racers or
pubescent din trackers when they
first turned a wheel at Daytona. And
those are just names on the tip of
my tongue.
Next, I take you back to the only
Daytona I ever attended - 1983. A
three-time World Champion named
Roberts smoked two (near) future
World Champions named Lawson
and Spencer along with a five-time
U.S. champ named Baldwin and
some British go-faster named
Haslam.
Even by the time 1988 rolled
around the odds on favorite and
eventual winner had never won a
major championship in any class. Of
course, he has since gone on to bigger
and better things. Just as most who
gridded this year hope to do. Seems
to be a pattern developing here.
In fact, your response to Mr. Nagy
wreaked pungently of a politician's
denial. It does not take a journalist
to see what has happened at Daytona.
The real show has moved 3000 miles
west to Laguna Seca. No amount of
pace cars and production bikes will
change that.
DOUGLAS UDELL
Painesville,OH
Did either you or Mr. Nagy see where
John Kocinski, who won the 250cc
race at Daytona, went on to score
wins in both the Japanese and the
U.S. 250cc GPs? ... Editor.
Published
letters
do
not
nece8B8rily reflect the position of
Cycle News. Inc. Letters are
subject to condensation due to
space limitations. Anonymous
letters will not be published. Send
letter to Voices, P.O. Box 498.
Long Beach. CA 90801-0498.
