Ups And Downs
UPS AND DOWNS
ROUNDUP
UP: To Bubba Shobert, three-time grand national champion, for burying the hatchet. Shobert has returned to racing as a team owner/ manager and has hired Terry Poovey as his rider. Historians will remember that Shobert and Poovey came to fisticuffs several years ago in an incident that resulted in a fine, suspension and eventual loss of the national championship for Shobert. Poovey and mechanic Ray Plumb debuted Shobert’s RS750 at the San Jose Mile, finishing seventh. The team is sponsored by All-American Honda of Santa Cruz, Rainey Racing and Otsuka Electronics.
UP: To the Texas Department of Public Safety, for offering motorcycle training classes. The three-day courses are offered at local community colleges and are taught by DPScertified instructors. For $55, students receive four hours of classroom instruction and two days of parking-lot riding experience. DPS supplies helmets and motorcycles for six students, the maximum number allowed in each class. According to instructor Paul Schermerhorn, the classes cover everything from basic skills to emergency maneuvers.
UP: To busin esses worldwide, for employing motorcycles to sell their goods. Lately, motorcycles have played a major role in the advertising campaigns of Bohemia Beer. Brut, Calvin Klein, Duck Head. J. Crew and McDonalds. Recent magazine and television spots have mixed motorcycles with everything from designer jeans to french fries. Harley-Davidson appears to be the marque of choice, as many of the
ads feature the American-made VTwins in rugged settings. Curiously, traditional motorcycle enthusiasts are not the focus of' these advertisements. Instead, trendy, upscale suburbanites have been targeted.
UP: To Miss Georgia Nixon, for being named the new Miss Camel. Nixon, 25. replaces Paige Thomas, who recently completed her master's degree in clinical social work at Florida State University. Nixon received her undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University and was graduated from Campbell Law School in 1990. In addition to her duties as Miss Camel, Nixon is a practicing attorney.
DOWN: To the Brockton, Massachusetts, Park Commission, for banning motorcycles in the city's parks. The ban. first adopted in 1 987. was recently upheld by a state appeals court on the grounds that the commission has the power to make its own rules and regulations, and could discriminate between motorcycles and other types of passenger vehicles. The decision to ban motorcycles was enacted after complaints of noise and speeding.
UP: To Steven L. Thompson. Cycle World s Editor-at-Large. for six years of his monthly At Large column, which made its final appearance last issue. Thompson, a bestselling author, will devote more of his time to writing novels and to the restoration of his Yamaha TD1 roadracer, though he'll remain on the CW masthead and will continue to contribute feature stories. K2
If you come across a motorcycle-related item that you think should he singled out for an UP or DOWN. send the information to CW Roundup. 1499 Monrovia Ave.. Newport Beach. CA 92663.
