Ups And Downs

UPS AND DOWNS

ROUNDUP

UP: To actor Gary Busey, for sufficiently recovering from his near-fatal motorcycle accident to rethink his active opposition to helmet use. Busey, who suffered a severe head injury in a low-speed, helmetless, get-off in December, 1988, continued to support helmetless riding for some time following his accident, but, during an appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show” a year later, said, “Next time you're going 45 miles an hour, look at the curb and think about slam-dancing with it. You’ll start thinking about helmets ... I have a whole new attitude about helmeting.”

UP: To the Pensacola Sunrunners Motorcycle Club, which will, for the 10th year running, offer a coffeeand-soft-drink stop to riders heading towards Motorcycle Week in Daytona Beach. The coffee stop, open March 3-7 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., will be located in the Florida Welcome Station off Interstate 10, just over the bridge that carries traffic into the state from Alabama. Billy Kersh, a club member who helps operate the stop, said the club offers the service to help break the monotony of travel for Daytona-bound riders. “It just gives ’em a break, and we enjoy it,” he said.

UP: To roadracer and tuner Scott Johnson, for coming up with one of the most creatively styled streetbikes anywhere. Johnson, of Tomcat Racing, in Chatsworth, California (818/ 700-1238), has painted his Yamaha FZ600 in the livery of the F-14 Tomcats based aboard the carrier USS Nimitz. So complete is the detail work that the bike even carries a mockup of the Tomcat’s six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon, a rendering of the squadron’s skull-and-crossbones insignia and its motto, “In Thrust We Trust.” Like it? Johnson will apply the design to your bike. Plan on spending about $2000.

UP: To Buzz Kantner, publisher of Hemmings Motor News, for cranking up publication of The Old Bike

Journal, a bimonthly, all-classified-ad publication catering to riders crazy for vintage and classic bikes.

The first issue, dated October,

1989, carried about 300 adverts, 60 percent of which were for American machinery. In the second edition, the ad count jumped to about 700, with those adds much more evenly divided between American,

British, German,

Italian and Japanese marques.

DOWN: To the Bureau of Land Management, for its announcement in December of its intent to disapprove any future applications for use of public lands for the Barstowto-Vegas off-road race, a Thanksgiving Weekend desert tradition among dirt racers in the western United States. The decision was based on what the BLM called “cumulative environmental impacts, the sponsors’ continuing problems in managing the events, and the listing of the desert tortoise (through whose habitat a portion of the race course runs) as an endangered species.” Said Ken Boyd, president of AMA’s District 37, which runs the B-to-V, “This is just a way to kill point-to-point events in California. We’re easier to control than anyone else, so they pulled the plug.” ta

If you come across a motorcycle-related item that you think should be singled out for an UP or DOWN, send the information to Cycle World Roundup, 853 W. 17th St. Costa Mesa, CA 92627.