Ups & Down

Ups&Down

PHOTO BY BOB SCHNIEDERJAN

DOWN: To the Oklahoma State Police, for not playing fair. Okie motor officers will soon be able run down and ticket anything this side of a Ferrari Enzo, thanks to their new “Police Interceptor” Suzuki Flayabusas. Apparently, the U.S.’s fastest bike cops will get special training at the California Superbike School. Just ain’t right...

UP: To Jesse James, for telling it like it was. The man who sparked the modern chopper revival paid homage to the original builders in “History of the Chopper” a nicely done, well-researched two-hour documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel. The first of several planned projects by James’ new company, Pay Up Sucker Productions, “HoC” is available on DVD from www.discovery.com, which beats waiting for the reruns.

UP: To the Department of Homeland Security, for making right an old wrong. This past April, customs and borderprotection officers in Los Angeles discovered in a shipping container bound for Lahiti, Finland, a Yamaha RT360 that had been stolen more than three decades earlier. The rightful owner, an American Airlines pilot who frequently flew Flight 11, which was commandeered by terrorists and crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11,2001, received the keys to his bike from the Long Beach police officer, now retired, who took the original stolen-vehicle report.

DOWN: To the Cathedral City, California, city council, for making it illegal to operate an off-highway vehicle within city limits, even on private property. Driving the proposition, which passed 4-1, were claims of criminal activity, including the use of illegal drugs and weapons. Environmental destruction and trash dumping was also cited. Fines range from $250 to $1000.