Cycle World Roundup
CYCLE WORLD ROUNDUP
BIKE BANS, HELMET LAWS, FEDERAL TASK FORCES: A LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP
Summer finds us well into the legislative year, and as usual the folks who make the laws—federal, state and otherwise— are doing their damndest to justify their existences.
Some of the things they’re considering are: an outright ban of motorcycles from public streets at night, new mandatory helmet laws, the prohibition of helmet speakers, and an anti-crime resolution that makes no distinction between recreational motorcyclists and outlaw gang members.
According to Matt Benson, who watches over such matters for the American Motorcyclist Association, there are more than 200 proposed bills, ordinances and regulations, being considered by lawmakers in 44 states, that would affect motorcyclists in one way or another.
Here’s the lowdown on some of the more enlightened proposals.
—In New York, an ordinance would ban motorcycles from the city’s residential streets between the hours of 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.
The law also would prohibit motorcycle travel on some commercial thoroughfares through residential districts.
If it is approved by the City Council, the ban would become effective immediately. However, warning signs would not have to be posted until 60 days after the ordinance is adopted.
This is the second attempt to banish motorcycles from New York’s streets. A similar proposal was defeated in 1978 after a massive protest by the city’s motorcyclists.
The AMA has described the proposed law as “blatantly discriminatory.”
—State legislators in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Maine are studying bills that would outlaw the use of helmet-mounted speakers by motorcyclists.
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The restrictions are written into bills that would prohibit the wearing of headphones by operators of motor vehicles. Proponents of the bills cited an increase in the number of traffic accidents involving joggers, pedestrians, bicyclists and roller-skaters wearing stereo-headphone sets.
Eight states already prohibit helmet speakers; three others allow only limited use.
Lobbying against the legislation, the AMA said it had no records of traffic accidents involving motorcyclists distracted by helmet-mounted speakers.
The AMA pointed out that a study by the Department of Transportation indicated that the use of helmet speakers was not unsafe.
The DOT study reported in 1974 that a motorcyclist wearing a helmet was able to hear traffic noise as well as a motorist riding with the windows up. “It is apparent then,” said the AMA, “that a motorcyclist listening to a radio through helmet speakers is at no disadvantage to a car driver with his radio on.”
On the helmet-law front, legislators in eight states are studying measures to reinstate or strengthen mandatory helmetuse regulations.
Those states are Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Texas. In Rhode Island, four separate helmet bills are up before the legislature.
Currently, 43 states have some type of mandatory helmet-use law. In 16, all riders are required to wear helmets. The other 27 require only that minors wear them. Eight states have no helmet laws.
All is not bleak, however. Wyoming legislators recently adopted a law making helmet-use optional for adult riders. Similar “pro-choice” bills are before state legislatures in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York and Tennessee.
—You might remember Congressman Robert S. Walker. In 1979, the Pennsylvania Republican introduced a House resolution calling for the creation of a federal strike force to investigate and prosecute members of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Only problem was that Walker’s resolution neglected to make a distinction between members of outlaw gangs and members of recreational motorcycle clubs.
Well, Walker’s at it again. This time, his proposal is known as House Concurrent Resolution 82. It’s the same thing as before.
Back in 1979, U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat, allowed that “the overwhelming majority of motorcycle clubs in the United States are comprised of men and women who view motorcycling as a legitimate sport and recreational activity.”
Apparently, Walker wasn’t listening. Apparently, he still isn’t.
VETTER RUN TRIES FOR 300 MPG
Word is that the serious competitors in this year’s Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Run, July 16-17 in Carmel, California, will be shooting for 300 mpg.
The run begins at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, when contestants in the run’s 17 classes complete a 90-mi. highway qualifier loop through Big Sur. Class winners will be those who complete the loop on the least amount of fuel (tabulated by cost) in the allotted time.
Last year’s overall winner was Charlie Perethian, who achieved 282 mpg aboard a specially streamlined 185 Exciter.
The top 15 finishers then will take part in the Nickel Race, which will be held Sunday, in conjunction with the Laglma Seca Road Race. The winner, who will receive $3000 and the run’s perpetual trophy, will be the contestant who covers the most distance on the track on a nickel’s worth of gas.
Classes are arranged by make and displacement: Honda, 0 499cc, 500 750cc, 751cc and up; Yamaha, 0-499cc, 500750cc, 751cc and up; Kawasaki, 0499cc, 500-750cc, 751cc and up; Suzuki, 0 499cc, 500-750cc, 751cc and up; BMW, 0-750cc, 751cc and up; HarleyDavidson, any displacement; any other brands, any displacement; and threeand four-wheelers.
Class winners will receive prizes of $50, except in the catch-all any other brand/displacement category. The top contestant in that class will receive $25.
Motorcycles entered in the run must be street-legal and must display valid license plates; they will be inspected at registration.
Registration will be at the Arco station in Carmel before Saturday’s highway loop. Entrants must be at least 18, and sign a waiver of liability. The entry fee is $10.
Further information and official rule books are available from Vetter Design Works, #1 Alta Mira Lane, San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401. (805) 541-3330.
SUGGESTIVE DUCKS, AROUSED PUBLIC
The police department in Bologna, Italy, recently purchased 40 new Ducati Pantah 600s for use by motorcycle patrol officers.
The police model, the Polizia Urbana, is built around the basic Pantah, onto which is hung a radio, fiberglass saddlebags and a loudspeaker where the tach should be.
The fleet was unveiled during a ceremony in Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore, or town square.
According to a Ducati press release: “The ceremony has been very suggestive and the parade of the new Pantahs through the town streets aroused great interest among the large public present ”
CAMEL PUBLISHES PRO SERIES RACING GUIDE
o race fan should be without a copy of this year’s Camel Pro Racing Guide, a colorful, 128-page pocket-sized book loaded with all sorts of nifty information.
There’s a history of the series. Descriptions of the different race events. A section on rules. A technical profile of the bikes. Pictures and biographical sketches of the top riders. Even maps of the race courses, information on how to find them, and a handful of Camel Pro stickers.
It’s a valuable reference guide to the races, the riders and the bikes. And, with lots of color action pictures, it’s fun to look at.
You can get a copy by mailing one end flap from a carton of Camel cigarettes to: Camel Pro ’83 Racing Guide, PO. Box 1614, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102.
FREE THE SPEED LIMIT
Everybody talks about the 55mph speed limit, but nobody does anything about it. Nobody but Jim Baxter, that is.
His Citizens’ Coalition for Rational Traffic Laws (CCRTL) has been organized to oppose the speed limit. Baxter has experience as a lobbyist in Wisconsin, and his approach to ending the nationwide speed limit is realistic. Before trying to move any of the bills through Congress that would end the speed limit, he knows it’s important to build support for the measure. That’s why the group.
Like all causes, the CCRTL wants members and money. The address is 6678 Pertzborn Rd., Dane, Wise. 53529. Phone (608) 849-4054. Individual memberships are $15.
ALL ABOUT OIL
Several points in the story All About Oil (Cycle World October, 1982) need clarification or correction. The SUS system of viscosity measurement has been replaced in research labs by the more complicated Centistokes (Cs) system. The SUS system was used in the story because it is easier to understand and clearly illustrates basic principles of
viscosity number assignments.
Burning Teflon in an engine’s combustion chamber creates a corrosive gas, but that gas is not ammonia. Molybdenum disulphide as used in lubricants does not leave behind silica deposits in the ab-'* sence of oil, and in fact is often used as a dry film lubricant.
NEW RULES ADOPTED FOR STURGIS RALLY
Things are going to be a little different at this year’s Black Hills Motorcycle Rally and Races Aug. 8 14 in Sturgis, South Dakota.
After a few of what you’d have to call disturbances of the peace at the ’82 rally, the town’s city council passed a few new rules designed to maintain a degree of tranquility.
The changes were adopted after a referendum last November, in which 40 percent of the 2240 voters indicated they favored cancelling the annual rally. The council hopes the new restrictions will appease rally opponents and make the event more appealling to touring motorcyclists.
For one thing, there no longer will be camping in the city park. That’s been the site of most of the disturbances in past years, said a mayor’s committee formed to study the rally.
From now on, rally-goers will have to stay in motels, or in public and private campgrounds outside the town.
Another change is an outright ban on street vendors. Hawkers will have to find spots inside some of Main Street’s retail stores; no longer will they be allowed to set up shop on the sidewalk. That, says the committee, should help ease pedestrian congestion.
Finally, the council and committee is looking at ways to increase the purses for the 1983 races. Larger purses equal better racers equal more racing spectators, they figure.
KAMIKAZE REPORTERS ATTACK CYCLIST
Not long ago, a South African newpaper informed its readers of the rising motorcycle accident rate in that country. “Kamikaze Bikers Crash All the Accident Records,” the headline said.
The only problem was, the newspaper didn’t read the statistics quite right. Seems there was a rise in accidents, but not a great one.
That so incensed the editor of a South African motorcycle magazine that he decided to challenge the newspaper’s story before the national press council.
One problem there, too. The editor showed up at the council’s hearing in a wheelchair, attired in a full-leg plaster cast. Seems that he had been injured a couple of days earlier in what was reported to have been his 42nd accident. The editor cited the correct accident figures and criticized the newspaper’s figures. Then, he argued that the South African press routinely skewed articles against motorcyclists.
As he spoke, the editor grew more and more indignant. Finally, he became so animated that he toppled from his wheelchair.
Representatives of the newspaper rushed to lend assistance, but only entangled the editor in his wheelchair. They then tried to lift him by what turned out to be a dislocated shoulder. The editor shrieked in pain.
Finally, a member of the council suggested a recess. The editor agreed, saying “Once I come ’round, I’ll be fine.”
The council, by the way, ordered the newspaper to print a retraction. 0
