Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
IIP: To Patrik Furstenhoff, for knowing how to get it up-and keep it there. Furstenhoff recently wheelied his turbocharged, 330-horsepower Honda CBR110OXX to a record speed of 201.3 mph. Furstenhoff also established a new record for the fastest wheelie with a passenger (184.0 mph). The event took place at the Malmby military airfield in Stragnas, Sweden. Furstenhoff also holds the two(154.7 mph) and three-passenger (137.7 mph) wheelie records.
DOWN: To the state of Tennessee, for showing exceedingly poor taste. Governor Don Sundquist recently signed into law a bill naming a section of Interstate 140 near Knoxville after the late Senator Carl Koella, who died following emergency heart surgery in January, 1998. Koella’s successor, Senator Bill Clabough, sponsored the measure, citing Koella’s “exemplary public service.” But motorcyclists will remember Koella for a different reason: He was the driver of the van that struck and killed motorcyclist Terry Barnard in October, 1996, and then left the scene. Koella pleaded “no contest” in a plea bargain in May, 1997, and was subsequently fined $2500 and ordered to perform 30 days’ community service. In response, the AMA has rented space on two billboards designating U.S. Route 321, where the accident took place, the “Terry Barnard Memorial Highway.”
UP: To the Chicago Tribune, for its recent coverage of motorcycling. Published last June, the paper’s 35-page special transportation section broached a multitude of two-wheeled subjects, from Alabama’s Barber Museum and Excelsior-Henderson’s rebirth to Harley clones, helmets, restoration, safety courses and the burgeoning women’s market.
