Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

MIKE McCHARGUE Phoenix, AZ In addition to being a fine writer. Henny Ray Abrams shoots p ictu res so sharp they can't legally be taken through air po rts. We' re very lucky to have him on th e team ...Editor. Pub lished letters do not neces- sarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Send letters to Voices, Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 , California and others, please back sa, 58 W ith a ll th e good news pa cked int o th e Ma y II issue of Cycle N ew s / W est vo u rnav h ave o ver loo ked th e fact iha r S Bi58 o n ly pa ssed in th e Cali - fornia Sta te Sen a te. Pr esentl y. this bill that would delay th e Ca liforn ia Ai r R eso u rces Boa rd -im posed cata- lyt ic co nvert er requ irement. is wai t- ing 10 be h ea rd by th e Sta le Assem bly. Now is the ti m e 10 wri te 10 yo u r State Assembl ym an . A sho rt . po li te. o ne - pa ge le uer to le t h im kn o w that yo u o p pose th e use o f ca ta lytic co nverte rs o n m ot or cycles is a ll tha t is necessa ry. Be s ur e 10 incl ud e th at you a re a Cal i- forn ia taxpa yer a nd a regis tered vot er. If yo u have ever been bu rn t by a sta n da rd m otorcycle pi pe o r muffler. th en yo u kn ow th e pai n a n d th a t ~ I seems to tak e forever to heal. En g i- neers wh o design n ew p roducts a re a wa re o f th e po ssib le p rodu ct liab i l- it y probl em s that mi ght arise durin g a co ll isio n wh en th e hotter runn in g ca ta lytic co n verte r mi ght sta rt a fir e. The Air Reso u rces Board was not co nce r ne d a bo u t thi s . but yo ur Assemb lyman m ight be. lf yo u would lik e to ta lk to so me - o ne wh o was recentl y pinned under a tru ck whil e fou r ga llo ns o f gas leak ed o u t of h is m otorcycle tank. stop by Alhambra H onda a nd ta lk to Mike Mill er , th e parts man. H e has copies o f lett er s written in su p port of Alan Robbin s' bill SB158. If we don 't ac t now th e list of m ot or cycles Ca li forn ia ns ca n' t bu y is goi ng 10 grow . Th is tim e th e list will include both roa d a n d dual-purpose four-stroke models. Since th e California Air Reso urces Board h as suggested that motorcycle manufacturers rais e th e cos t of all U.S. model s to cover the proj ected $300 to $500 cost. per motorcycle for the catal yti c converters, all out-of- state letters sho u ld be sent to Gover- nor G eorge Deukmejian, State Capi- tol, Sacramento, CA 95814. Hopefull y this will help SBI58 pass . PAT O WENS Temple City. CA Yeah, Hanny Ravl I can' t sa y as I recall th e name H enn y Ra y Abrams, but after read- ing his write- u p on the Ita lia n RR GP, I will make it a point to read any- thing that may have Mr. Abrams' name penned to itl Th e d etail a n d the meticu lous attention 10 tying the story together is superb. The questions Mr. Abrams asked the ra cers (and the a nswers he was ab le 10 get !) left me with a feeling of actually riding through the chi- cane, watch ing Fast Freddie pull away fro m me. Mr. Abrams' race coverage is the best I've seen thi s side of Grand Prix I n ternational, and it takes them a full maga zin e! a irpo rt safe ty 10 th e Weather Bureau . must th en be fin an ced by borrowing (o r a bo lis hed ). Including th e U.S. Forest Service's recreati onal trail a llo t- m ents throughout th e co u n try . H a v- in g a lrea dy seen th e Forest Ser vice budget d ecline o ver th e pa st two yea rs. th ere is no strong rea son to bel ieve it will n ot continue to decline o ver th e nex t few yea rs. a t least . Wh o then, becomes an increa singly im po rta nt arch ite ct of hi s (o r her ) o wn recreational future? Very likely - the motorcvcle volunteer. The Motorcycle Industry Council has a verv excellent 18-minute slid e!casseue sound show avail abl e for 30-day loan. on a limited ba si s. Call Pa ul Golde at 714/752-7833 for detai ls. The successful, and most rece nt form of this in Sequoia National Forest. has been the "Adopt-A-Trai l" program. What do youget out of it? There are lo ts of benefits, and so far, the following have adopted trails in Sequoia: Ba rbenders M.e., Ca lifor- nia Enduro Associa tion, Chapparrals M.C ., Dirt Diggers M.C ., MIC, Sand- blasters M.C., and th e United Enduro Association. Does your loca l forest have an Adopt-A-Trail program? If not, yo u ma y want to have your Forest R a n ger request the above loaner film, and discuss how to start 'o ne, Would yo u like to have a mernora- bleand eventful weekend in a beauti- ful selling? You can do no better than to Adopt-A-Trail in Sequoia. Clubs. form al or informal groups , families, or businesses, a re welcome. All it ta kes is your com mitment to work one or more da ys per summer. Our club had 24 volunteers last summer, but any gro up, down 10 3-5 in num- bers , can do it We wi ll be close to Camp 29 or 30 in Troy Meadows Cam pground, the first weekends of July, August a nd -September, a nd wi ll be lookin g forward to seeing you. Bu t p lease ca ll or wri te the Forest Service no w, to get your . adoption papers, U .S. Forest Service. P .O. Bo x 6, Kernville, CA 93238, 619/376-3781. KATHY HERNDON P resident, Ba rbenders M.e. 1633 Hill Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90041 213/255-5815 Sequoia ' 8 3: Adopt-A-Trai l By now, many western trail rid ers have dis covered th eir best possibl e ta x dollar a t work: R ecreational bik e trai ls in Sequoi a, just for us. Wh en new riders a re introduced to th e " Seq uoi a Experi en ce," th ey are an ywh ere from su rpr ised to a ma zed th at mot orcycli sts can reall y legall y rid e here. T all thi ck pines. g ra zing ca ttle, pea ceful brooks, a n d white-water rivers. Riding through such pa storal scenes really is h eaven-on-earth . So memorable is its recreational rid ing, that even out-of-stater s regularly trek to this paradise. Unfort unately, there are always those who don't share zeal for our spot. And sti ll others who constantly and publicly state to the powers that be, that our form of recreation is wrong for such a beautiful natural sell ing. As things have developed, these tiny minds have not disappeared. But, they ha ve. become marked ly re- duced in numbers. Why? A belling man might sayan exceedingly stro n g trail riders volunteer program in recent years . A program where rid ers/ users hav e recognized and acc epted their responsibilities to maintain trails and - best of all - build new ones. . . Recrea tio na l tra il riders ca n now beconsidered the pride of the Sequoia National Forest. Not onl y have they . had widespread and positive press publ icity. but have out-volunteered every single Sequoia user group. In terms of sheer n u m bers, regu lar com- mittrnent, and dollars saved , motor- cyclist have outgunned hikers, hor- semen . hunters, fishermen, en viro - menta lists, and oth ers. Mostl y by miles. Perhaps the most ominous sig n on the horizon is the possibi lity - no, likel ih ood - that th e government's cavernous deficits will continue, or deepen . According to a n April '83 report of the Nationa l Sma ll Busi- ness Association , 74% of the federal budget now goes for th e Presid ent 's defense programs and ent i tlements (Socia l Security. Medicare, and d ebt interest ), and will exceed total tax revenues by 1986_ So what? Why do motorcyclists care? Because everything else , from WEST America 's weekly m o t o r c y c le newspaper ON THE FRONT PAGE. Closed roed entics on Honda 's VF750F Intercaptor were wheelie f un . Our i m p ressi o n begins on p . 24. Photo by Dale Brown. Sk ip J ohnson , ~a (i ()n <.t l Sa les ~lanagl·1". T erry P rall , Sales Manag er. S teve \Vi l ~ son , S a les Man a f;;"t"T. L inda Br o wn , Advert isin g Coo r d i n ato r. Hill o ah Corry, Advert isin g Assist an t . Editorial Dal e Brown. Sen ior Ed i to r . La nce Bf}'. son . Ed itor. Ka rel Krame r . Ed i tor . Da vid Ed wa rd s. Edi to r. Advertising Sh a ro n C layt o n . P ubl ish er Ca ro lin e O endry. Exec ut ive Sec reta ry to th e Publi sh er N an c)' Dan ger . Ad vertivin g -Ed iro r ial Assistan t. Graphics and Production Kristin Cooper . Graphic Art is t. Rona Kramer . Assi stan t. Gen e Bennett . Assis - tant . ~tar ion H ar ashi ta , Typogra p hy . De n n is G ree ne, Labora to r y. Accounting /Data Processing M ik e Kl in ger . Cont ro lle r. Do nna Bryan. Accou nt s R ece i vabl e Co o rdi n at o r . Ge ne va Repa ss. Assis tant. T erry Da iley. Cr ed i t Manag er . Circulation Rh eba S mi t h, Man a g e r. M ic h ell e H anna. Sa rah Ta ylor. De b bie Walker . L yn a H ood. Ass ista n ts, Want Ads L yn da M illi gan. Wan' Ad Sa les . Dealer Sa les and Service Tim R yan. Dea ler Sal es Manage r . Service and-Suppcrt Chri s Ait ch eson. Receptionist. Greg o ry H a nson . 5&5. West 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Bea ch . C A P .O. Box 198 . Lo ng Beach . 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