Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

ROUNDUP

UP: To Eddie Lawson, for not tossing his cookies. This past February, the two-time Daytona 200 winner and four-time 500cc World Champion accepted an invitation to fly with the world-renowned Blue Angels. “Wow, talk about shock and awe,” Lawson exclaimed after the Mach 1 flight. “What I experienced is simply indescribable. I have always had the greatest respect for our military and especially for these pilots. They’re engineers, tacticians and athletes all rolled into one.” Coming from Lawson, that’s high praise.

UP: To Greg White, host of Speed Channel’s “2 Wheel Tuesday,” for giving new meaning to the term, “Iron Butt.” In what began as a joke, the exAMA Superbike privateer agreed to ride cross-country on a 49cc Yamaha Zuma. Dubbed “Scootin’ USA,” the three-week journey began at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, and finished at California Speedway in Fontana, California. White’s from-the-road reports were scheduled to begin airing on April 6th.

DOWN: To Progressive Insurance, for singling-out the Suzuki SV650, CW’s Best Standard of 2003. Earlier this year, the Ohio-based insurer recategorized the popular middleweight V-Twin. In some cases, annual rates nearly doubled, even for riders with no claims and clean driving records. In its defense, Progressive claims that it had previously “underpriced” the SV.