The Scene

THE SCENE

IVAN J. WAGAR

IN the Dcc. `70 issue of CYCLE WORLD I leaned quite heavily on the motorcycle dealers of this country to help us fight noise. Noise pollution is rapidly catching up to air and water pollution in importance among citizens and legislators in this country. I have just returned from Tokyo where smog conditions are as bad as or worse than Los Angeles, and the water in Tokyo Bay is so badly polluted it is almost completely incapable of supporting life of any kind.

Yet, alongside these two serious environmental problems, noise pollution is considered equally abominable, not as a threat to life, but as a killer of peaceful existence.

Considering that Japan has half the population of the U.S. in a country approximately the size of California, we can better realize the considerations required to live peacefully.

In Japan the legislators are cracking down on the offenders. Noisy trucks, buses, airplanes and motorcycles are heavily penalized.

Unfortunately, in this country all motorcyclists are being penalized by land closure because of the noise created by some riders using open exhaust systems. As I have said before, it is much easier for law enforcement officers to control a blanket land closure situation than it is for them to weed out the offenders, putting the blame where it should be, and leaving the land open to the more thoughtful and courteous users.

So, until our retailers realize that our sport and their livelihood are being strangled by noise, we will continue to have blanket land closures. As 1 have said before, the elected county and state officials who are getting these bills passed are largely interested in votes. And because the majority of the voters do not ride motorcycles, anything antimotorcycle might just help get them elected next time around.

In Southern California, where five counties are closed to open riding, most riders are forced to truck their machines a hundred miles before firing up the engine. Many of the riders bought their new machines from smiling salesmen, after listening to all of the virtues of the physical and mental benefits offered through the carefree world of motorcycling, only to find they had to also buy a truck or trailer and spend most of the

day driving to reach an off-road riding area where they can dirt ride for a few short hours. Hundreds of disillusioned customers are storming back to their dealers complaining about these restrictive laws and, in most cases, the dealers are out to lunch on the problem.

Either through not caring, or through only profit oriented motives, most motorcycle dealers are not concerned enough about the sport to really get involved in motorcycling and its future.

There is a way that dealers can be “up to speed” on what is going on and what steps they should take to help you. Many concerned dealers nationally are joining the new Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). The dues are modest in the extreme and usually the sale of one motorcycle will pay the annual dues.

Through the MIC the dealer is better able to understand future rule making, not only in his state, but nationally. The association, which is comprised of every major distributor and manufacturer doing business in the U.S., sends out regular mailings to all members on federal rule making and a breakdown by states as they occur. Trying to recruit the dealers is not part of a profit oriented program. Indeed, the MIC has established guidelines for individual dealer associations within the states. From the state dealer associations it is hoped that at least a few articulate, concerned dealers will go to bat for the sport of motorcycling in their own locality, thus lessening the already overstressed hired staff of the association.

The MIC' currently is pouring large sums of money into a Land Use committee. Legal advice is available to state dealer associations. And at least a half dozen working committees are busy formulating standards and guidelines that we can live by in the future.

From this it would seem that any dealer who gives a damn about his business or his customer would be right in line to join the MIC' dealer program. But at this point in time, less than a quarter of all motorcycle dealers in this country have joined the MIC, despite pressure from the manufacturers and distributors. Just how much pressure has been exerted on the dealer depends on the individual manufacturer. HarleyDavidson, for instance, has been very active in encouraging dealer participation in MIC, while some of the others have done almost nothing.

Recently Mike Jackson, of Norton Villiers, sent out the following message to their dealers. This plea was made after the first appeal to over 90 dealers received only one favorable reply.

It is just four weeks since I wrote to you and all other Norton AJS dealers concerning the above. The response has been poor in the extreme, although the motorcyclists’ situation is, if anything. Jar worse!

In the interim period / have met with Doug 'Toms of the Federal Highway Safety Bureau at a meeting chaired by Pete Colman (of BSA Triumph) and Alan Masek (of Kawasaki). 'Together with Tom Heininger (of Webco) and Ivan 1 Vagar (CYCLE WORLD) these gentlemen are putting in untold hours of their own time to safeguard the interests of all of us.

Having listened to Doug Toms and heard of the legislation that is pending, I do not need to stress that motorcycling can be curtailed out of existence unless your support is forthcoming.

The $160 requested in my previous letter is not the complete answer after all, it would be fairly easy to raise $ ! ,000,000 by imposing a levy on each machine sold by every distributor.

A substantial amount of numerical Dealer Strength is needed right now. Please think about my remarks and take the appropriate action.

Mr. Jackson’s letter points out (he fact that annual dues are $160, $100 of which goes into an accredited state dealer association fund. So what is the problem? Obviously, the problem is that at least 75 percent of the people you buy motorcycles from are not even worried about what happens to the future of our sport; they are concerned only with short term profits of the coming month or season. And what you do with the machine, or where you ride it, seems to be of little concern, until you need parts or accessories.

You can help in the fight against indiscriminate legislation of motorcycling by buying your motorcycle and products from the dealer who belongs to MIC and supports the association’s programs. The same holds true for accessories and even motorcycle magazines. Membership in MIC is open to any company doing business in motorcycling in the U.S., and the association can only be effective when all trade level companies are pulling their load.

Your support of MIC member companies will be rewarded with the knowledge that you are spending your money where your business is appreciated. Also, you are spending your money with an establishment that cares enough about the future of motorcycling and is worthy of your business.