Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

:! is the in ab ili ty of brain ce lls to h eal or regen era te. In other words, d am age to th e brain (t he cen ter of m an 's ph y sical being) is not repairable. Skin an d muscle lacera tions can be sewn togethe r. bones repositioned, and severed b lood vessels reconnected, but damaged brain cells can never be repaired. by any means. As if in realization . that brain damages is permanent, nature provided a well-designed skull which acts as a brain crad le. It is not easily fractured by the bangs and bumps of ordinary hazards. The skull bones of an adult are thick and unyielding... to a p o in ts. However, skulls will not withstand most impacting forces resulting from the spe ed of travel of curr en t m o t o rcy cles and cars. In such sit uations the skull bones will break and even fragment when forced against suc h objects as pave ments, bri dge a b utments, windshields, telephone poles, an d so o n. You migh t think that, even though the skull is broken or cracked, maybe everything migh t sti ll be okay after so me med ical attention . Li ke , isn ' t the brain so rt of a t ou gh , ru bbery mass? Well, it's j ust n o t th at way at all. T he brain reall y is qui te so ft : an d ove rlayed wi t h d e l i c ate blood vessels an d connec tive tissu e . It can b e mo ved gen tly b ut is easily dam aged . YOUR BRAI N " F LOATS" The b rain is cushioned to some extent by its arrangement in th e skull wh ere it is surround by a layer of cereb ro sp in al flu id. Weird as it may seem, it is abl e to m ove about inside the skull, and can be thought of as sort of "fl oating." Herein lies another danger. If a h ead propelled at slow speed strikes another obje ct, na tural safety features su ch as th ick scalp tissue and b on e, and th e h yd raulic cu sh io n ing o f th e cere brosp inal fluid, will safegu ar d the brain. But if the head is moving very fast , the "fl oating" brain will slam in to the inside of the skull . This situation is com para ble to the momentum which carries an unbel ted au to passenger forward in to in tenor structures after the motion of the car has been abruptly halted. \Vhen a seve re deceleration or acceleration causes a brain to slam in to th e in ner skull , the brain tissue may swe ll. This swelling is a serious ma tter b ecau se there is li ttle room fo r . 0 "> Q. M .... Ol 6 N .C .., '" ~ w Z w ..J SKIN SKULL BONE o >- u ~,\(~}.: ~:, _. ~'~: :" ~'~' ~~?~-" '\' )1/,1 " . " '-. \ 11 ,It'"' -".\ , / , . I ,. • • • • • • • " ... " • •• • , . ' I \ " :.. . II I , ~llll r~":""" I I ' \ "',:11I,'\ II ,.1 \ ·'.\, 1 \ I, ; . ' I .I • "What about MY helmet?" Sk ull cu t away to reval side view of brain Many motorists, particularly cycle riders , hav e nev er really thought about why there ar e so many vibes am ong safety types about wearing helmets when riding. and safety belts when driving. Well, a lot of it has to do with the urgent need for preventing damage to the head in the event of an accident. It 's pretty obvious that in an auto accident, oc cupants not using res training devices will be thrown about and smashed against unyielding surfaces. But with the m o t o rcy clis ts, eve n a low-speed accident is far more h az ar d o us. What gives? Why is the head so susceptible t o damage ? It appears to be to ughe r than oth er p ar ts of th e b ody. Some mi ght even think of it as bein g a fairly solid mass. "Driver" decided to talk t o a man wh o kn ows some of the answers, yet is not d own o n motorcycles. In fact . Dr. vo n Ha zmburg is an avid motorcycli st who rides almost daily with gr eat enj o ymen t. He knows what It's like to ride on the open road, free and un hel meted with the w ind rushing through his hair. Bu t he also sees it from 1M other sid e and knows riding with o ut a helmet, or driving unrestrain ed by safety belts is not w o rth the risk. Here 's why... TH E HE A D IS DIF F ERENT There are certain aspects of the head that are really fa r out an d unique. On e . * * CREAM THE COMPETITION SALES & SERVICE 1101 E. 6th St. - Corona (714) 735·7721 6624 Atlantic , Bell, Ca. (213 ) 5 8 1·3 9 8 3 •• ••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••• USED PARTS ALL MAKES .-qD~-q(, 40%to ~ ~-9 Y-q -1i-q~ (Includes all passengers & 1 bike) 50 DAY RIDERS $1.00 25 MI. NO. of SAN BERNARDINO on INTERSTATE 15 (take Oak Hill Rd. Exit) FOR INFORMATION CALL (714) 244·2422 OPEN EVERY DAY 4,000 ft. elevation I Klocke'r's YAMAHA of CORONA * DAY V ISiTORS * Husqvarna .• * 600 ACRES OF CYCLE TRAILS * REST ROOMS and HOT SHOWERS * 152 CAMPER HOOK·UPS * OVERNIGHT CAMPSITE•••$3.50 * - R eprinted from "Driver" Magazin e. . ~ Mike Patrick's OAK HILL WHEEL WORLD CYCLE PARK .... OYERNIGHT CAMPGROUND e xp ans io n , If a brain is put under pressu re in th is manner, o r as a res ult of a n ou tpouring of blood th rough dam aged b lood vessels, the result is often fatal. Blood can accumulate quickly in sid e an inj u red (b ut not necessarily frac tured) skull, be cause the b rain is supplied wi th ap p roximately on e sixth of the b lood pum p ed by the heart. Also, the blood vessels of the b rain are d ifferen t fro m the run-of-the-mill type fo und elsewhere in the body. Instead of constric tin g after being cut or tom, they tend to remain open. They lack the elasticity foun d in other vessels, so tend to bleed easier. And, of co urse, it is not possible to stop the bleed ing by applying pressure as in the case of a cu t arm o r leg . So, th e only way to stop the bleeding and avoid the fa tal res ults of pressu re build-up with in the skull is th ro ugh delicate brain su rgery. Sometimes after a severe b lo w to the h ead a p atient will appear to recover and n ot re quire furthe r attention. When th is h appens, it is no t unusu al fo r the sy m ptoms of hemorrhagin g to sh ow up at a later da te. T he b rain m ay h ave been bruised so that a slo w bl ood seepage occurs wh ich must b e arrested surgically is possib le . CUT A WORM IN HAL F In certain animals, such as th e earthworm, the nervo us system is somewhat decentralized. In m an th is isn't the case. Eve n tho ugh n erves are spread to every part of th e body, the co n trol of all nerve activi ty an d body func tio ns is cen tralized in the brain. T his is a lot of power and responsibility for su ch a sm all piece of the body (ap pro xim a tely two percent of total' bod y w eight). This ce n traliza tio n co u pled with th e delicate nature of the b rain, and th e permanence of brain damage; "lake this organ deserving of m a x i mum pro t e e t ion . 1\1 0 s t motorcyclists know they run a greater risk of accidents than the auto driver, due in p art to the rela tive " invisibility" of a cycle to other m o to rists and the lac k eve n of sheetmetal p ro t ecti on . " Driver" feels th a t if a m o t o rcycl ist unde rstands so me of these unusual facts about th e b rain, an d ackno wledges th e high -risk factor of riding, h e will wear a helmet all the time he rides. We h ope so. SCRAMBLER MOTORCYCLES 60°" 1801 W. Burbank Blvd. Burba nk. Calif. 849-5907 or 845-8738 Ex. 7 off J&J MOTORS r No rt h we st Motorcycle Capito l Kawasaki, Norton. AJ5 , Maico, Montesa, ',amekill CZ 73's Yamaha , Suzuki, Hodaka, Hu sky • H cia $8.95-$2 I '" on 4.95 ~ Available from most Loeal Dealers 1973 Accessories Catalog $ 1.00 ARE IN ! NEW 5 SPEED GEAR BOXES, SUNBURST HEAD AND RAC ING T YPE TA NK . LIM ITED QUA NT ITY, TE R RI FIC SAVI NGS ON ALL 72 MODELS. lV. PRECISION CYCLES 1717 Victory Blvd. Glendale 12131247 -1623 P "lenl~ P..ndrn" " " '.. harVGld phoenIz. CIlZ 1500I Hoda ka Specialists - Complete stock of Hodaka Motorcycles an d parts. Get acq ua inted S pec ial 10% Savings on all pa rts -ser vrce-mecnrnes NGK plugs - 75ijl' Plug Carriers - $ 3. 79 Alley Off· Road Cycle 5620 East La Palma Anaheim, California 92806 Loc at ed by R ivers ide Fwy . at Imper ia l Hwy . (714) 993-5070 - Weekdays. 9 ·5 Saturday. 3,30-9 ,00 a .rn . competition dynamici CZ, Penton, Largest Parts Stock in Northwest. Complete line of MX and di rt rid ing accessor ies, Full Bore and Hi Poi nt boots, Fe msatronics fo r CZ 's. 1 Day ma il order serv ice, custom machine work. 3620 SE Powell P.O . Bo x 06396 Port land , Oregon 97206 23 5-8938

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