Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·INFTalkington ' OU C S: ' ByJim ntil last week, it had to have been at least six or seven years since my last motorcycle nearacci dent on the streets o f Cincinnati. It took all of my defensi ve driving skills and a large dose of luck to keep me fro m b ein g fitted for a pine box when I squared off with a garbage truck those few years ago. I can h on estly say that I've never felt smaller than the moment I wa s staring thai tr uck's grill in the face . I can't ima gi ne wh y it was going so fa st (gotta get the tras h on time?), where it came from or why the nut behind the w heel had pic ked that day to ignore traffic ru les at that particular intersec. tion. As our pa ths almost m e t, I ,cran ed my head back to see if the dri ver's face mirrored my own terror. All I could see was grill. This was a very big truck. Needless to say, I'm here today to recount the story. I wish it had ended with some spectacular evasi ve maneuver, but like I said earl ier, there was a large dose of luck. I rod e on more angered than an ything. It wasn 't until I reached work a few miles lat er and recounted the story that I reali zed how sh oo k up I should be. Wha t a wa y to go...chauffeured into the he reafter on the grill of a dumpster. Ghastly. That evening my gloves went on a ' li tt le s lower and my helmet was cinched a bit more deliberately than usual. I couldn't imagine anyone riding the streets without proper protective gear. Last week I had another streetbike near-accident and it again involved scant inches separating me from impact. Only this time I wasn't wearing a helmet or gloves or boots. Wh at excuse could I possibly have? I wasn't the guy on the motorcycle, I was the guy crossing the street with his takeou t lunch. When lea ving o ne o f th e city ' s finer chili emporiums, I noticed three fellows walking tow ard their parked motorcycles across th e street. There were two UJMs (Un iversal Japanese U Motorcycle) and a vintage H a rl ey. The Harley rider kicked h is bik e to life and blasted the all of 20 feet to the traffic light, where h e p romptl y stalled the engine. A novice, obviously. A novice with no helmet or protective gear. I always shout aloud at the "shorts and flip-flops" set, but this guy h a d s u ch a unique tw ist on "unprotection" that I was left speechless. Give the man major bonus points for the Hawaiian print shi rt unbuttoned to the navel. Figuring that the walk light was far more deserving of my at tention than this guy, I turned and waited for my pedestrian go-ahead to illuminate. "Walk," it said, so walk I did. Our boy the new Hawaiian Easy Rider got his signal, too . Apparently, a green light can be interpreted in two ways: A, go; or B, kick that sumbitch to life, yank the slide out of thecarb and gun for the kid crossing the street. He flew past, my pant legs fluttering in the wake of his unmuffled exhaust. I do have to give him credit for one thing, though. Not m any people ha v e left me speechless tw ice in a less -t h an one-minute period. (Ingri d, where are you?) This wo uld be a great opportunity to go on about the merits of proper riding gear and rider trai n in g, but what this "gentleman" prom pted me to think abo ut was the sport of motorcycling in general and just where new riders are co ming from. The newest recruits to streetbike riding I know are riding Harley-Davidsons, You would have to be in a total vacuum to have missed the fact tha t Harley-Davidson has do ne mo re to po pularize motorcycling in the pas t few years than all of the other manufactu rers combined. HD is th e status sy mbol o f the '90s. Who wo u ld ha ve ima gined even 10 yea rs ago that a Harley merchandise catalog would become the centerpiece of every affluent and trendy h ome magazine rack in Southern California? It really is amazing to consider that shops once considered to be catering to outlaws and hoodlums will now s e ll y o u running shoes or a baby spoon or a lunchbox with the H-D logo. It's always a pleasure to see our favored form of recreation growing in numbers, an d for that, I thank the powers in Milwaukee. More enthusiast than historian, I have to think that Honda's "You meet the nicest people" campaign has been the other most effec tive lure into motorcycling during my lifetime. Kind, gentle people on kind, gentle motorcycles were pictured enjoying a sensib le, fun form of transp orta tion and recreation. Mentioning those ads to a journalist friend of mine prompted him to stop typing and look up from his laptop to share in my enthusiasm. "Hey, some friends of mine just framed one of those ads for me from an issue of Life from ' 62 or so," he said. "A guy in a shiny blue suit was sitting on the bike and his girlfriend wa s saying goodbye in her little pink dress, wearing white gloves and a 'whi te pillbox hat. It was great!" Yeah, it wa s gr eat, for a few reason s. Am erica's current fascination with thi ngs retro makes those ads a wonderful reflect io n on where we were in the days of JFK. As a motorcyclist, they show m e a time when public acceptance of motorcyclists became commonplace in our culture. And as a motorcyclist w ho cares, they show me what is missing from motorcycling today. . As an advertising photographer, I have the opportun ity to work with people that are very creative, ma ke it thei r busin ess to stay aw ar e of trends and to know what the American public is d oing and thi nkin g. From tal king wi th th em abo u t their personal ex peri en ces w ith motorcycl ing and their percep tion of the current state of advertising within the in d ustry , we u sually conclude th e sa me thing . Most people th ink that th ey need a Harley to become a rider. Harleys are co ol. They don't want an ything if they can't afford a -Harley. What a shame. Whatever happened to entry-level? Don't get me wrong, the manufacturers do a wonderful job of advertising, but it's aimed at you and me ...the people that know the lingo and just have to have a Deltabox frame. Motorcycles have become rising-ra te linkages, dual discs, Pa ralevers, Telelevers, twinspar aluminum frames. Whatever happened to ju s t being a fun and effective form of transportation? For the past five years or so we've seen the same one or two entry-level mo torcycles offered by each manufacturer. Every year the magazines reluctantly test and ultimately berate their performance capabilities. No wonder the beginners ou t there want a Harley. Let's get as many people as we can on motorcycles. Let's no t forget to p romote them as a great means of transportation and not just stylish or highperformance luxuries. Lastly, let's teach how to ride safel y and be protected. The more people that ride, the greater our lobbying power. Wouldn't it be great? Who knows, maybe some day "you 'll meet the nicest peopl e on a Harley-Davidson." It's ironic to think tha t 20 yea rs ago people th ou gh t "the bigger the better" when it came to cars. Mo torcycles were being looked at for the first time as gas -conservative alternative forms of transportation, whethe r two- or fou r-stroke. To d ay, a H on d a Civic Hatchback gets 56 mpg (highway) and car manu fact urers see trem endous potential for two-stroke engine des igns . Motorcycles? The bigger the better. Reg ardless of w heth er or not we see a esu rge n ce in th e en try -level m arket, I'v e decide d to m a k e it a p o in t to s t re ss rider sa fety . I s u re don't want to see anyone pasted to the front of a garbage truck. I also don't want to make my final exit clutching a Styrofoam container of cheese coneys after being flattened by a blur of blue metalflake and chrome accessories. What a way to go. Ghastly! L"'i 1'< 25 YEAR SAGO N ovember 11, 1969 peedway racers Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger, along with mov ie stunt woman and artist Janice Brymer, w e re fea tured on ;..... ' the cove r 25 ye a rs . - -..-.- - .. , ago . The photo was accompanied by a short interview of both riders ... Dirt Tracker Mert Lawwill shattered three track records at Ascot Park, en route to the State ' Ch a m p ions h ip title. Dave Al dana took top Amateur honors, w hile John Hateley Jr. topped the Novice class ... Art Baumann won the premier international class at the 2nd Annual Cali~ forni a International Grand Prix road , races at Orange County International ~ Ra cew a y .. . The Ensen ad a-to-LaPaz . Baja 1000 was won by the H usqvarnaIm ou n ted tea m of J.N. Roberts and . Gu n n ar Nilsson. The duo completed the 832-mile race in 21 hours, 53 min'( u t~s and 52 .secon ds, w ith a speed . S I average of approx imately 38 mph. They were the first mo torcycle team to greet the checkered flag but finished fourth overall. Malcolm Smith and Wh itey Martino teamed up to win the 250cc class. Skip Van Leeuwen's partner in the race was Mike Nesmith of the made-for-TV. rock band The Monkees. Nesmith rode the team's first 238 miles before being "unable to continue ." Al Rogers, whose buggy had broken down, rode Nesmith's bike to a waiting Van Leeuwen. 15YEAR SAGO ... N ovem 7, 1979 . ber am aha unveiled its 1980 lineup, and the 650cc Maxima I graced the cover. Inside, some of th e other new Yamahas were fea- '-=~~::::::::::~ tured, in cluding the 850 triple, the YZ465 MXer, and the IT425 offroader... H usqvarna also unveiled its new '80 fleet of off-road and Y motocross bikes, including the fourspeed automatic 360 ACC ... D re w Smith dropped just one point to win th e Cowbell National Enduro in Bellingham, Washington. Rick Munyon finished second overall.. . Cycl e N ews began a two-part series on the bikes that competed in the Trans-USA MX Series. The bikes included in the first part were Brad Lacke y's KX440, and Steve Wise's Monda RC500, which featured a va ri ab le-leverageacti o n rear suspension s ystem .. . Shawn M oran topped the Ascot Long-Track Speedway Qualifier ... Jeff Jennings won both the 250cc and Open Pro classes at Saddleback Park MX... Rick Johnson won the 125cc Pro class at Carlsbad MX. 5YEARS A O . G ... N ber 1, 1989 ovem photo of To m my Lyn ch , Sc ott Russell , Doug Chan dl er, M ike Ha rth and Mi ke Smi th sprinting to the finish line for an AMA / CCS National at Talladega was featured on the cover five years ago, A LO()KiN~ BACK···· ·I as well as an inset photo of the top riders on the victory rostrum. Lynch fin'; ished inches ahead I '$ . "'. . Russell and Chan- ' .~: .' , . dler. Dutchman II ~;:-::'lf'~'i' ...--''~uff won the End ur- ..... ::.~.~ -::.:::: '..., ance Challenge : - " ' - -. race ... Randy H awkins clinched his second AMA National Championship Enduro Series ,title by winning the Little Rhody National in Rhode Island, it was the second-tolast round of the series. Jeff Russell finished second on the day, followed by Alle n Gravitt and Joey Hopk ins... Cycle News featured a two-page interview with newly crowned 125cc Na tional MX Champion Mi ke Kiedrowsk i. Kied rowski was also a last-minute replacement at the MX des Nations in Germany; he won' the 125cc class.. . We rode Suzuki's latest GSXR750L sportbike... Rick Johnson made his car-racing debu t at Del Mar, California, placing seventh in the Barbar-Saab form ula car series finale. (N ---

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