Ups And Downs
UPS AND DOWNS
ROUNDUP
UP: To the Super Bowl halftime show, which included lOl HarleyDavidsons as part of its tribute to rock and roll music. The 12-minute extravaganza, the first-ever live 3-D broadcast, was watched by an estimated 120 million football fans nationwide. The bikes, ridden by Miami-area police officers, Shriners and Harley Owners Group members, were limited-edition Softail Springers, which featured the Super Bowl XXII logo on their fuel tanks.
DOWN: To TV journalist Roy Firestone, who interviewed sports columnists Doug Krikorian and Scott Ostler during a Los Angeles Lakers pre-game show last January. The three discussed Kareem AbdulJabbar’s impending retirement, and showed a film clip of an obviously elated Jabbar receiving a HarleyDavidson as a retirement gift. Aside from none of the three journalists recalling what city the presentation was in (“some mid-western city”), they seemed to think that the Lakers had purchased the bike for their Captain, a noted motorcycle enthusiast. The machine was actually a gift from the Milwaukee Bucks and was purchased at a local dealership. The three agreed that the gift-giving (Jabbar has received a farewell present in each NBA city) was an example of “sport’s tacky way of doing things,” and decided that a donation to charity in Jabbar's name would have been money better spent. “Let’s not buy our heroes VCRs,” was one of the concluding statements.
Firestone was recently voted as outstanding cable-television sports host. It may be time for a recall election.
DOWN: To the state of Massachusetts, which seems to want to make motorcycling as costly as possible for its residents. As reported in an AMA newsletter, Massachusetts riders will now have to pay $35 for a four-year drivers’ license renewal, up from $25, plus an additional $ 12 fora motorcycle endorsement. In addition, the cost for a vehicle title has jumped from $ 15 to $50, and a two-year motorcycle registration now costs $60 as opposed to $40 for a car registration.
Perhaps most disturbing, says the AMA, is that none of the monies from these increases will make their way to the state’s motorcycle safety fund. As of presstime, officials for Massachusetts’ Administration and Finance Executive Office were unavailable for comment.
UP: To Modern Maturity magazine, which, as part of a self-promotion campaign, is running a series of ads that center on today’s energetic senior citizens. One of the ads shows a smiling oldster astride a Yamaha Virago, with the blurb “Take off l 5 years. At least.” Just goes to show there are no age limits on having fun.
UP: To Cycle World reader and aspiring artist Susan Stapleton, who lives in central Montana and is obviously suffering from advanced stages of cabin fever. Stapleton sent in an illustration of a winterized motorcycle, which bristles with such features as tire chains, a high-visibil-
ity snow-drift flag, a front-fendermounted snowbreaker and a velcro-attached snow shovel. So outfitted, the bike, says Stapleton, is ready for anything,
“except sun.”
