Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

ROUNDUP

DOWN: To our magazine, for giving an old up-pipe Triumph a fate it didn’t deserve. Initially employed as a sit-on prop for a cover shoot with actor Ben Affleck, the time-worn machine was later chucked on its gearcase with the leather-trousered star chest-down-faux crash-on the tarmac. Does that make the Triumph eligible for Best Supporting honors?

UP: To Harley-Davidson, for topping U.S. sales charts. According to industry analyst Don Brown, The Motor Company accounted for a whopping 26.6 percent of all two-wheeled purchases in 1999. “It’s pretty exciting,” Harley’s Steve Piehl told the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve invested hundreds of millions to increase our capacity over the last decade, and we still have waiting lists on some of our models.” Second place went to Honda, which has embarked on a three-year campaign to reclaim its number-one status.

UP: To Neale Bayly and Kristen Dec, for using motorcycles—India Enfields, no less-to raise money for the Global Cancer Concern, a non-profit agency based in the U.K. Last October, the pair joined 21 other bike riders for the India Enfield Challenge, a seven-day excursion through northern India and the Himalayas. “We had numerous breakdowns, crashes and delays, but it was just part of the challenge,” Bayly reported. “We raised more than $50,000, and couldn’t have enjoyed it more.”