Motorcyclists around the country
fought and won the battle to kill the
Motorcycle Safety Act of 1987,
which would've taken sportbikes
off the roads in the U.S.
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fought and won the battle to kill the
BY KENT TAYLOR
BANNING
TOGETHER
In the late 1980s, sportbike
enthusiasts around the country
dodged a bullet when Senator
John Danforth ditched his bill that
would've taken most sportbikes
off the roads in the U.S.
I
t is something of a paradox, but it could
be argued that motorcyclists make up
the world's largest group of loners. We
may ride in groups, belong to clubs, or sit
on the same starting line with our fel
-
low racers, but beneath all of the Kevlar,
leather and plastic layers, there is a solo
soul who wants only to be in a place
called "away from everything."
In the late 1980s, these free-spirited
cyclists encountered a very real and formi
-
dable opponent, one that had the power to
change the way they rode. It was the U.S.
Government versus the motorcyclists and
had not this collection of individualists
gathered together to become one giant two-
wheeled lobbyist, we would be living in a
very different world of motorcycling today.
The man in the government suit was a
United States senator from Missouri by the
name of John Claggett Danforth. Along
with being an heir to the Ralston Purina
pet food company, Danforth was an at
-
torney and an ordained Episcopal priest.
He served a long and distinguished career
in the Senate and even made George W.
Bush's short list of running mates in 2000.
In 1987, Danforth became motorcycling's
public enemy number one when he intro
-
duced federal legislation that would've
banned nearly all sportbikes.
It was called the "Motorcycle Safety
Act of 1987," and it might as well have
been called the Motorcycle Safety Axe
because it was designed to chop off the
head of the sportbike industry. Danforth
