Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
ROUNDUP
DOWN: To Michigan Governor Jen nifer Granholm, for asking her state's legislature to ax its motorcycle and off road safety education programs. Ac cording to the AMA, the proposed cuts would eliminate fees collected to sup port the programs, so the state would not save any money. Other states are reportedly considering similar moves to help balance their budgets.
DOWN: To J. James Marzilli Jr., for endeavoring to run nng-dings out of his state. This past April, the Massachu setts state representative proposed a ban on the sale of all new two-strokes, including dirtbikes and ATVs. The planned cut-off date is June 1, 2004.
UP: To Team Suzuki's John Hopkins, for doing his part to boost Grand Prix rac ing's popularity in America. Describing the public-relations campaign on which he and manager Doug Gonda have em barked, the 19-year-old Californian said, "I'm willing to invest my time and money to help publicize motorcycle racing in America. I've seen how big this sport is in other parts of the worid. I don't think NASCAR has anything on MotoGP" Along w~h Nicky Hayden, Cohn Edwards and 2000 500cc Wo~d Champion Kenny Roberts Jr., "Hoppers is one of four Americans competing in the largely European-oriented series.
UP: To you, the bike-buyer, for keep ing new-model sales on the boil for 10 years running. Last year, the number of units sold topped 937,000, up 9.4 per cent over 2001. In dollars, that trans lates to $7.5 billion, an increase of 13 percent. Including parts and acces so~es, services, taxes and licensing, the U.S. motorcycle market is a $19 billion-per-year business.
