Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ EVENT Foundation's Gear U '93 ~ MSF gea up in celebration rs MSF President Alan R. Isle y (right) presented AMA President Ed Youngblood (left) with the John E. Ha rle y Memorial Award at Gear Up '93. The award w in b e plac ed in the AMA Heritage Museum. Motor cycle Riders Foundation member Brian Stovall showed that there is more to a motorcyclist rights organ ization than just appearance. By Scot! Rousseau Photos by Nate R au b a SAN DIEGO, CA, AUG. 2()'22 h e Motorcycle Safety Founda tio n hosted Gear Up '93 in San Diego to, in part, celebra te their 20th anniversary. Launched in 1973 and funded by Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha and BMW, the foundation's goal is to improve the safety of motorcyclists in the United Sta tes. The foundation has been training riders, one million of them so far, to be all that they can be in terms of safety. But the Gear Up '93 conference, which was held at the Sheraton Ha rbor Island Hotel was more than just a celebration of th e fact tha t th e Motorcycle Safety Foundation has been around for two decad es. The event, which drew 265 pe0ple from across the country was not only a recogniti on of the strides being made in motorcycle safety, bu t it provided a setting for the a ttendees, many o f th em influential individuals in the mot orcycle safet y community, to get together an d exchange their individual organization's ideas on how mo torcycle safety is being dea lt wi th in their areas of expertise. "The purpose of Gear Up is to create a forum for growth in the motorcycle safety profession," sa id MSF Vice-Presiden t Pe ter Fassnacht. "There is a powerful desire for motorcycle safety information and programming. We're here to develop our knowledge in key program areas." With that in mind, Gear Up presented panel-style seminars over the weekend that covered a variety of subjects, ranging from legal issues like the effects of good and bad motorcycle legislation to how court referra l programs ca n be implemented to manda te tha t motorcyclists with traffic violations a ttend a rider training course. Also covered we re other safety areas such as the impa ct mot orcycle clubs hav e m ad e on sa fe ty an d h ow motorcycle organizatio ns can best deal wi th the growin g p opula tion of handica p ped riders. Th e subject m atter was diverse, bu t Gea r Up '93 crea te d a n opportunity for the segmen ted motorcycle safety com m unity to come toge ther and find a common gro und. T 38 Stovall looked very d ifferent than th e b usiness ma n who had begun on the podium. He concluded his address in a Tshirt, leath er jacket and cap, and leath er riding chaps. "As you have seen in the last few minutes, appearance is only the su rface," Stovall said . "What really counts is how we invo lve ourselves wi th each other to meet the needs of riders and ensure the continuation of motorcycling. For the last two days, I've met many of you wearing that sui t. For the rest of the weekend, I'll be dressed more like this. I hope we will b e ab le to ha ve the sa me d iscuss ions either way." . Though Gear Up '93 lasted well into Sunday, the p remier even t on the agenda (Below) MS F Vice-President Peter Fassnacht discussed the past, present an d fu tu re of mo tor cycle safety. Perhaps the mos t p rofound exam ple of the need to wo rk together was seen during the Sa rturday luncheon, w hich w a s h os ted b y the Miller Brewing Company. During the luncheon, Brian Stovall , a member of the board of d irectors of the Motorcycle Riders Founda tion delivered a brief speech discussing the invo lvement of motorcyclist rights organizations and state-run safety programs, and the impo rtance of no t judging these rela tionships by appea rance . As Stova ll, w h o w as w earing a suit and tie, addressed the audience he stopped intermitt en tly to rem ove a piece of clothing. By the time that he had finished speaking, was the MSF 20th Anniversary Banq ue t Ce le b ra tio n on Sa tu rday ni ght. AMA President Ed Youn gblood addressed the au dience, ap plaud ing the efforts of the MSF and the m o torcycling industry's ded ication to safety. "We need to be gra teful for an ind ustry that has taken a committed and longterm interest in its own customers," said Youngb lo o d. "Th is co m m it men t ha s resul ted in an org anization that, time and aga in, proves itself capable of outs tanding curriculum development." You ngbl oo d pointed o ut that the s trides made in th e sa fe ty fie ld were largely d ue to the unselfish effor ts of many of those in the room . "Especially, we need to be grateful for the ded ication an d energy of countless en thu siasts, low-pa id instructors and volunteers who have become the nat ional d elivery system, " Youngblood sa id . "I firmly believe that no one anywhere has had to pay wha t a rider education course is tru ly worth, either in an abstra ct sense . or in real value for time, knowledge, and personnel. The Am erican moto rcycle safety movemen t is an exam ple of a comm unity of people helping themselves, and we wo uld have to look a long way to find a better examp le o f gover nmen t, industry an d involved citizens working togeth er." But Youngblood also stressed that the qu est for a 100% safe motorcycling community is an ongo ing effort. "We need to honor ourse lves for wha t we have done, but then we must look forward to anticipate and p repare for the ch all enges that face u s, " sa id Youngblood. Youngblood pointed out areas which he feels warrant atten tion such as: 1) Guarding aga inst the dilution of quality rid er ed uca tion in th e form of mandatory ride r training. 2) Continuin g to em phas ize that safe opera tion is roo ted in atti tude; how we dress is im portant as ho w skillfu lly we operate ou r motorcycles. 3) Working for improved rider licensing and further exploring its positive link wi th rider education. 4) Revisiting the role of research in rid er safety . "The level of sophistication that rider trainin g has achieve d has indicates that it is time that it is time for us to learn more abo ut the complex rela tionsh ip between ride r a nd m ach in e ...We know so much about wha t happens afte r the accident, bu t we need to know more a bo u t what h a p p ens before," Youngblood said. Yo u ngblood said tha t the motorcycle sa fety community's effo rts and goal would go a lon g way toward helpin g mot or cyclis ts to gai n resp ect in a transp or tati on p ool where they are still largely treated like se con d -class citi ze ns. "We mu st not find ourselves apologizin g for who we are and w ha t we d o," Youngblood said. "We are not a public burd en, and to th e co n tra ry, we h av e knowledge to sha re w it h ot he rs abo ut self relia nce, pe rsonal joy, and community effort." MSF President Alan R. Isley presented the John E. Harley Memorial Award, trad itionally given in recogn ition of an individual who exemplifies the efforts and goals of the motorcycle safety com m unity. But in a surp rise break from tha t trad ition, Isley announced that the MSF was symbolica lly presenting the award to the more than 15,000 MSF RiderCourse instructors, 270 Ch ief Instru ctors and the thou sands of Motorcyclist-Licen sing Examiners, and co untless administra tors and coordina tors of all ki nds wh o ha ve se rved the motorcycle co m m unity for the past 20 years. Youngb lood acce p ted the award on the ir beha lf and w ill p lace it in the AMA Mot or cycle Heritage Mu seum in Westerville, Ohio. Th e se minars were w rapped up on Sunday, and Fassnacht brought Gear Up '93 to a close with some though ts on the futu re of motorcycle safety and rider education programming. "Technology is cha nging," Fassnach t said. " From MSF's s tan d p oin t, we've already begun an inquest into these hightech solutions (to rider training), such as Honda's motorcycle simulator. But the cost of this new technology is extremely high." Fassnacht sa id tha t the alternative to th is new technol o gy is a co n tin ue d s tren gthen ing and refinement of rider . education and safety programs. "Safe ty is n ec essary to ma intain gro wth," Fassnacht said. "It's very easy to forget our motorcycling roots. We need to remember those roots and remembe r the needs of the motorcycling co mm unity. Tha t way we can safely help new riders who want to discover tod ay's mo torcycling:' ~

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