Etc.
ETC.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Careful readers probably noticed a few changes on the Cycle World masthead this month. They are the names of our new staff members: Brenda Buttner, Feature Editor, and Robert Hough, News Editor.
Brenda, 32, may be the first Rhodes Scholar to consider motorcycling a vocation and avocation. The award-winning journalist spent nearly a decade as a television reporter in Washington D.C., before she tired of squeezing a passion for sportbikes into weekends. Her current ride is a Honda VFR750, but Brenda’s been known to hop aboard anything from a Harley to a Ducati.
Robert, too, has a lot of experience both riding and writing. The 31-yearold University of Texas grad joins us from a daily paper in Galveston where he also contributed to American Roadracing. Robert likes sport and sport-touring bikes, especially his ’83 Suzuki GS1000ES. He served five years in the U.S. Air Force.
ON THE GRAND PRIX TOUR
If you’re planning on making one of the European rounds of motorcycling’s 500cc world roadracing championship, now’s the time to start forming your plans and dropping hints to your significant companion. It’s also the time to contact Travel Craft (47 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA 94925; 800/241-1223), which is planning a pair of GP tours. The first, scheduled for May 1 -9, will feature the Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez. The second, scheduled for July 5-19, will treat participants to the Grand Prix of Italy at Mugello and to the Austrian round of the World Superbike series at the Osterreichring near Zeltweg. Before you chisel your plans in quick-set concrete, keep in mind that these dates are tentative. The F.I.M., which sanctions GP racing, frequently reshuffles its schedules before finding one it sticks to.
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
Nope, that’s not a reference to the travels of that estimable hobbit,
Bilbo Baggins. Instead, it’s a reference to the travels of Eric and Gail Haws, of Eugene, Oregon, who rode a BMW R100GS 7998 miles across the former Soviet Union. The trip took the pair 50 days and was not without considerable adventure, including thefts and encounters with Russian bureaucracy. The trip was the Haws’s third visit to the Soviet Union, and earned them a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, which recognized their trip as “the first known motorcycle excursion across Russia.”
HELMET LAW UPDATE
California’s helmet law saved 92 lives in 1992, its first year of effectiveness, according to results of a study recently released by the California Highway Patrol and University of California at San Francisco, who jointly studied the law’s effectiveness. According to the CHR 327 California motorcyclists died in 1992, while 512 were killed in 1991. That’s a decrease of 36 percent. The helmet law is responsible for about half that reduction, according to UCSF medical economist Dr. Wendy Max. Commented Dave Thom, director of the head protection research lab at the University of Southern California, “There’s been a steady decline in motorcycle deaths in California and the whole country for years. So it’s also a question of how many motorcycles are being ridden.”
FOR THE RECORD
In December’s Leanings, Peter Egan listed Lindsay Brooke as author of the excellent book Triumph Motorcycles in America (Classic Motorbooks; 800/826-6600). That was only half right. The book was co-authored by Brooke and David Gaylin. Our apologies to Mr. Gaylin.
