Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128639
"This isn't to say that we should n't be concerned with the environrnent, because we should." Colin Kudos I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Colin Edwards on his World Superbike Championship . It has been a long time coming for Colin . I have watched him race over the years and he always seemed to me to be the "nice guy" on and off the track. I thought he might be too n ice and not aggressive enough on the track, but he proved me wrong th is past season and I'm glad for that. Each year I try to make the trip to Laguna Seca for the World Superbike rac es. Ove r the years I have met with Colin a few t imes in th e pits , and I must say of all the ra cers there he seem ed to be the most approachable guy. He was v ery nice and gracious t o the fans - an eas ygo ing gu y . Thank you, Colin , I have enjoyed be ing a fan of yours and I w ill contin ue to do so . Shane M cCarthy rucson, AZ Cobb The Novice I would like to add someth ing reg ard ing Cycle New s ' glorific at ion of road rac er Ed Cobb. Th is past season he wo n 56 of 58 races he entered, having c rashe d o u t of one and fin ished sec ond in the othe r o nly after conta ct broke his fr ont-brake lev er. Yes , Ed, is a fast rider. The probl em I ha ve is that he accomplish ed all of this ra c ing as a Novice in WERA . Numerous rid ers wrote letters and vo iced their displeasure with a racin g o rg an izat io n allow ing such blatant cherry pi cking , b u t th e y r efus ed to mo ve h im up . The re were man y ra c es whe r e h e would send someone else to pick up his trophy because of th e booing that wo u ld happen if he h imself show ed up . I have nothing against Ed personally, but he should b e as ha m ed o f h im s elf a n d he a lso shou ld b e an Ex pert - not a Novice. W ERA should als o be as hamed. I Adams \I1a the InffHnet The Election T h e re cent l ett e rs t o Cycle News abo ut the dangers of elect ing A I Go re and his likel y im pac t on publi c land u se are almost laugh abl e. Why ? Because off-road people are g oin g t o lose their right to r id e . It has been happening since 1970 and it is not going to sto p . The environmental ists are o n l y slig htly less dedicated to their cause (the destruction of off-road vehicles) than those nut cases who blew a g iant ho le in th e USS Cole were to theirs . Off-road people, on the other hand , are mu ch too bus y r id ing , working on their b ikes or partying to bother voting , organizing , or (gasp !) donating money to fight th e green weenies. In an article in the November 4 issue of the Washington Post this line jumped out at me: "T he Sierra Club, $5.4 7 million, th e enviro nmen ta l group running ads against Bush . " They spent $5.47 million t o d efeat G.W . Bush? How muc h di d the AMA, Blue Ribbon Coalition. Honda, Yamaha , Suzuki , Kawasaki , KTM , the motorcycling press and the rest donate combined to defeat AI Gore? Can anyone honestly tell m e that a n y of the b ig bike m a n u f ac t u re r s couldn't have quietly funded a defac to anti -Gore campaign to the tune of $5 million if they'd rea ll y wanted to? If they rea ll y cared? What of our wea lthier riders: Our Hollywood celebs who r ide or our music -industry types kn own for their o f f - r o ad ad ventures? A r e the re no m i lliona i res in th e m ot or c ycling world? D id an y of them start a private c o m m iUe e t o run T V ads aga inst Gore and Co .? Did the y poo l the ir m oney to support a pro -ORV c andida te ? Jan e F o n d a b y herself wrote two c hec ks totaling $1 I mill ion to su p p o r t th e p olitic al caus e sh e believes in . Why didn't th e AMA , instead of build ing a b ig, fan c y mus eum , us e that money to gain so me real influ ence in Congress the way the envi ronmental organ izati ons an d " Bi g Business" do? It 's called " do na tions" AMA and MIC. Donations , c as h to ca m pai g ns, " so ft money ." Every on e el se is doin g it and if yo u don 't get se rio us ab out it we 're all toa st and y ou c an fill up y our m useum w ith all the dirt b ik es i n th e U .S . be cause th ere won 't be an y place left t o rid e th em. U ntil ri d er s get as o rga nized an d fa na t ic al as the green wee n i es an d th e m ot or c y cl e m a n u f a c t u r ers bec o me as dedicated t o th e ir cu sto mers ri ghts as their enemies are to destroying m otorc ycling , the environm entalist wackos will c onti nue to nibble away at o ur rig ht to ride un til it 's gone . And if A I Gore is (or was) elect ed , the nibbling will turn to big bites and y ou might as we ll sell your dirt bike, or at least get ready to rid e o n the motorcycling equiva lent of an Indian Reservation (" Give 'em useless land, they've go t no rights" ) . I began desert racing in 1970 and I recall some riders at a rac e talking about the then -new id ea of closing th e desert to protect it from off -ro ad vehicles. The gu ys all agreed that the de sert was public land and be longed to eve ry one so it cou ldn 't be cl osed . Thirty y ears later the very land where those guys stood and talked , Ocotillo Wells, is in very rea l danger of being closed and lik ely will be closed. I hate to be pessimistic, but I have seen absolutely nothing from the offroad communi ty or the bike manufacturers that gives me ho pe or leads m e to believe that in the lo ng ru n we have a prayer of retaining our rig ht to rid e on publ ic la nds in any meani ng ful wa y . W e will lose ou r right to ride be cau se " o ur side" lack s the necessary l eadersh ip, financial com mit m ent fro m th e big money interests, and th e fanaticism from the ra nk and-fil e riders to stop the eco -nazis as th ey goosestep over us . Neville Chambe rla in should be the head of the Motorc ycl e Industry Councilor the AMA. Doug Klassen \I1a the InffHne t Election II B y t h e ti me th i s l ette r m ak es it to print, th e Presidentia l election will be o ver, an d I sure hop e AI Gore is n't ou r new Pr es iden t. I t w ou l d b e a t r ag ed y l a rg er than th e m ill i ons of mil es of off -r oad rid ing area we ar e sure to lose, w hic h, ac cording t o Mr. Reardon 's letter (Voi c es , Issue #44 , Nov ember 8 ) , really shouldn't matter. A cc ord ing to Mr. Reardon, we should be co ncerne d with " l a rg e r i ssu es ." Well , Mr. Reardon , what th e go ve rnm ent and Presiden t dec ide to do with p ub lic la nd is a big issu e. The Presid ent can sing le- hande dly re-desig na te th o us an d s of sq uare m iles of pub l i c la nd, la nd th a t belong s to th e pe ople , w ith a single signature - and w ithout any account ab ili t y . To m e , th i s smacks o f th e ki nd o f gove rn ment o ur fou n d ing fathers feared. What is at issue here is how govern ment should respo nd to the peop le from w ho m its powe r is derived. Isn't th at a " l arg er issue "? But righ t now , the presen t administra tion is not r esp on d in g - ex c e p t to what it deems as po lit ic all y ex pedi ent. If saving the environment we ren't po p u lar righ t now, Mr. Clinton and certa in politici ans wo uld drop it like a hot pot ato . Th is isn't to say th at we sho ul d n' t be concerne d with th e environ ment, b ec au s e we sho u l d . But i t' s a ll o r nothin g with th e c ur re nt ad m ini st ra t i on , an d th ings are n't l ik ely t o c hange und er Gore if he is o ur new Pr es id en t. Ther e i s n o r ea s oning ; th er e is no rationa le . It' s ei t he r/o r, and th er e is no m iddle ground - a lot eye I e like your thinking, Mr. Reardon . The budget, the Supreme Court. Social Security and the national debt are all i m p o rtan t issu es, but how can you possibly say that the closure of public l an d s isn 't a "real " is sue . Can 't we have many concerns, with the closure of public land among them? F inally. Cy cl e New s is a publica t ion for motorcycl ists, not a general in te r est publication , and as such it should rightfu lly be concerned about and active in issue s i m po rtant to it s read ership. I t hi nk I ca n sp eak for the members of th e off -roa d community in saying that we would li k e your sup port, Mr. Reardon , so that wh en the government or th e President tries to radically alter or abol ish the form of m otorcycling you l ov e, we will be th ere to support you and your motorc ycling ca use . Randy Olson \I1a the Inmm e t G uzzi Man I ju st thou g ht I' d se n d a note to express m y su rpri se and del ight at seei ng th e V 1 1 Spo rt sid ebar in the " nak ed " bik e compa rison in the current iss ue. Scot t Ro u s sea u d o e s a g reat job o f sum marizing t his bike's appeal in concise fas hion. It is gratifying to see so meone in th e motorcy cling pre ss w ho is ca pa ble of getting beyond perf orm a nce num be rs fi nall y giving some crede nce to the q ual itat ive ex p erience that t he Guzzi pro vides. I m i g ht h a v e known that I wo ul d see it in Cycle News first . As th e owne r of 16 (at last c ount ) bik es rang in g fr om Veloc ettes to Hon das, I can now rid e pretty much any t hi ng I want to . Yet , when I walk into t he garag e these d ay s, it' s th e VI1 Sp ort k ey s th at seem to end up in my hand . It appears that those folks in Mandello ar e o n to so m et h ing . nevus PJ Rtz6eraJd \I1a the InffHnet N O VEMBER 15, 2000 5