Ups And Downs
UPS AND DOWNS
ROUNDUP
UP: To everyone who recognized John Kocinski and his father Jerry as the subject of Team CW's Father/ Son contest in the September issue. The picture was shot in 1981 at Oakville Raceway in Henderson, Texas, and judging from our mail, this whole deal was way too easy, as apparently about a billion of you saw the kid racing, and saw correspondent Alan Cathcart take the picture. We’ll get even. The next photo contest will be so hard we’ll have to award the prize to ourselves (not a bad idea). Anyway, all you hopefuls who mailed your answers in? Sorry. Ed Cones, of Little Rock, Arkansas, faxed his answer to us. So did Bob Colgan, of Huntsville, Alabama. Cones’s fax got here first, in as close to a dead-heat as you can get on a fax machine. But unlike Cones, Colgan remembered to include his T-shirt size. So he’s the winner. We're going to send both of them shirts, 'cause we’re nice guys, and fair. too. Next contest, though, U.S. Postal Service only.
UP: To The Freedonia Group, a research organization in Cleveland, Ohio, for bringing some muchneeded good news to the world of motorcycle sales. According to a Freedonia study, the decline in the sales of new motorcycles, which began in 1982. has ended, and a recovery of the market is under way. The study predicts motorcycle sales will increase by 5.4 percent per year through 1993, the increase based on sales to women, older riders and high-end riders with a taste for exclusive machinery. The study says, though, that sales of off-road and dual-purpose bikes will continue to slide.
DOWN: To horseback riders everywhere for participating in such a crazy-dangerous activity. Where have we heard that phrase before? According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, horseback riders are more likely to suffer serious injury than motorcycle riders or race drivers. According to the study, nearly 93,000 Americans made emergencyroom visits in 1987 and 1988 as a result of horseback-riding accidents. Of those hospitalized, 42 percent had head or neck injuries. The CDC, not surprisingly, has recommended that all horseback riders wear helmets. And just wait ’til the Insurance Institute and Senator Danforth get ahold of the statistics.
UP: To Steve Blackwell, of Seneca, South Carolina, for not getting mad, getting even. According to The Radar Reporter. a radar-issue newsletter, Blackwell filed a citizens’ arrest warrant against officer Greg O'Kelley, of the local police department, for exceeding the posted 35mph limit in a patrol car. Police Chief T.N. Davis labeled the action “harassment and political bickering." Blackwell told The Radar Reporter that his wife had previously received a speeding ticket in the same location.
DOWN: To Highland Trauma Center in Oakland. California, fora ghoulish attempt to use motorcycling to enhance its visibility. The hospital is advertising its services via a billboard that shows a motorcycle and rider—who, interestingly, is wearing full safety gear. Copy on the billboard says, “Good thing you’re only 8 minutes from Highland Trauma Center." Thanks for nothing. Highland.
If you come across a motorcycle-related item that you think should be singled out for an UP or DOWN, send the information to CW Roundup, 853 W. 17th St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.
