Ups And Downs
UPS AND DOWNS
ROUNDUP
UP: To actor Patrick Swayze of Dirty Dancing fame, for taking a rational stand on the helmet issue. During a recent guest appearance on the Johnny Carson show, Swayze—a longtime motorcyclist—was asked by Carson if he had given up motorcycles. “No, not my Harley,” Swayze replied. “That’s my love." He then turned to the camera, pointed a finger out at all the motorcyclists who might be watching and, emotionally and emphatically, said, “Wear a helmet.”
Swayze was reacting to the barrage of negative press that rained down on motorcycling after the much-publicized riding accidents of actors Gary Busey and James Caan, neither of whom was wearing a helmet. Ironically, Busey had campaigned against a proposed mandatory helmet law in California just months before his crash. And after it. many other bike-riding celebrities came to his defense by proclaiming that they, too, didn't believe in helmet usage. But Swayze couldn't disagree more. “I know that wearing a helmet isn't ‘cool,' ” he told Carson and the national viewing audience, “but I'd rather be alive than cool.”
DOWN: T b Sierra magazine, which published an article in its January/ February issue that dealt with the growing political sophistication of off-road groups, and noted the recent successes of those groups in lobbying for more riding areas and against certain wilderness propositions.
Written by Sierra Club activist Dan Dagget, the article, titled “An Old Foe With NewTricks,” takes several swipes at off-roaders, but the most blatant example of the article’s bias comes in a photo caption: “Leaving no habitat untouched,” reads the blurb, “a motorcyclist roars through a cattail marsh.” The accompanying photograph shows the rider of a trials bike plonking along at no more than 5 mph.
UP: To singer La Toya Jackson, who was featured in the March issue of Playboy magazine. Two of the photographs in the 12-page layout feature Miss Jackson—sister of Michael—posing on a Suzuki Katana 600. But her involvement with bikes goes beyond just using them a prop. In the text run with the photos. Miss Jackson says, “I've always loved motorcycles. I’ve always felt that women on motorcycles look powerful, strong. No matter what qualities you associate with a woman, you always change your idea when you see her on a motorcycle.”
DOWN: To members of the motorcycle press, mostly European, for reporting last year the existence of a new' motorcycle, supposedly to be made by the Swedish car company Saab. Bob Sinclair, president of Saab-Scania of North America and an avid motorcyclist says, “There’s absolutely no truth to the rumor. Building a (Saab) bike never even entered anybody's head. It just isn't our thing.”
Sinclair believes the rumor was started when someone sawhis custom. Kawasaki-powered Harris, a motorcycle bereft of any model identification, save fora small Saab emblem glued to instrument panel. 0
If you come across a motorcycle-re lated item that iou think should be singled out for an UP or DOWN, send the information to CW Roundup. 853 W. 171/i St., Costa Mesa, (`A 92627.
