Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
UP: To Seattlebased punk-rock band Zeke, for getting its inspiration from motorcycles. Eight songs from its first album, Flat Tracker, and three from its latest effort, Kicked in the Teeth, pay homage to the group's favorite pastime. "Lawson," for example, celebrates the achievements of four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson. "I've seen footage of Lawson in the early '80s," says lead-singer Blind Marky Felchtone. "He was riding a Kawasaki KZ1000, and he was just amazing. I decided to write a song about him."
DOWN: To the California Air Re sources Board, for yet another attack on motorcycles. CARB proposes that all streetbikes should be fitted with catalysts, closed-loop controls, fuel injection and secondary-air systems. It contends that these devices are currently available from one or more manufacturers, and packaging them together would allow bikes to meet new, lower emission standards. Cur rently, motorcycles account for fewer than 2 percent of the state's regis tered on-road vehicles, and emit only .00625 percent of total hydrocarbons.
UP: To Car and Driver magazine, for including motorcycles in its editorial package. Staffers recently copped a de on a BMW Ki 200RS, and Senior Editor Steven Cole Smith, for one, came away impressed. "The sixspeed transmission is properly spaced and shifts effortlessly," he wrote. "The suspension...is a good compromise between comfort and the stiffness needed for cornering. Our biggest complaint about the Ki 200RS is its weight-a hefty 646 pounds, 27 more than the similarly plump Ki 1 OORS it replaces. BMW does this sports bike thing well, but touring remains the company's long suit." Seen the new R1100S, Steve?
