Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
UP: To Sjaak Lucassen, for grabbing the R1 by the horns. The crazy 43-year-old Dutchman has been circling the globe on his 2001 Yamaha, from the sands of the Sahara to the jungles of the Amazon. He’s even been to Timbuktu. All on a repli-racer with 17-inch wheels. Or is that a Down for the pitiful and ridiculous use of one of the finest sportbikes of the modern era?
UP: To MasterCard, for its cool television ad featuring a cute puppy riding in a motorcycle sidecar. In the spot, a leather-clad biker riding away from Las Vegas rescues a stray dog, then pampers the pup with meatloaf for dinner and doggie goggles. Contented looks abound as the announcer says, “It’s great to feel so at home when you are only halfway there.” Kind bikers who love animals? Wow!
DOWN: To Death, for this past May shutting the Great Lights off on Robert E. Fulton Jr., aged 95. The noted inventor of the Airphibian flying car that first flew in 1947, as well as other more practical items (like helicopter-mounted spy-rescue devices...), was well-known in motorcycle circles for his book, One Man Caravan. The volume chronicled his around-the-world motorcycle trip on a Douglas Twin in the early 1930s.
UP: To Japan’s GARRR magazine, for revealing the real Jimmy Lewis. As part of a story titled “We Love Motorcycles,” Cycle World’s OffRoad Editor was featured along with other dirtbike icons such as Jeremy McGrath and Rick Johnson, all photographed with the bikes in their garages. And the bike Lewis was sat on? His beater 1989 Yamaha XT600, replete with homemade surfboard rack.
