Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

ROUNDUP

DOWN:

To aging action-flick hero Bruce Willis, for hogging the limelight on the June cover of Vanity Fair.

Star shooter Annie Leibovitz obviously was going for a Steve McQueen vibe when she posed Willis on a suitably battle-scarred mid-’60s Triumph TR6 desert sled and turned on the wind machine. Fine, but between the mugging actor and VF's usual barrage of headlines, we don’t get to see nearly enough of the bike. We’ll gladly publish any outtakes, Annie...at our rates, of course.

UP: To Federico Minoli, for giving back. The former president and CEO of Ducati recently sold all of the industry gifts and racing memorabilia he collected during his decade-long tenure at the Italian bike-maker. He then gave all of the money raised to U.K.-based Riders for Health (www. riders.org) to purchase vehicles, spare parts and maintenance equipment for the motorcycles used in health operations in Zimbabwe. RfH was founded by former journalist Barry Coleman, his wife Andrea and ex-Grand Prix racer Randy Mamola.

DOWN: To the city of Denver, for thumbing its nose at bikers. This past June, officials approved changes to the city’s vehicle noise ordinance that would allow police to issue tickets to riders if their bikes don’t have federal EPA sound-certification labels on the mufflers. Violators would have two weeks to prove that their bikes are legal or would be subject to a $500 fine. Previously, the ordinance required all motor vehicles to pass a sound test that set a limit of 80 decibels at 25 feet. Only motorcycles would be subject to the new labeling requirement, which was slated to go into effect on July 1.