Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
ROUNDUP
UP: To Phil and Jerry James, showing ingenuity and a sense of fun. The Seattle-area motorcyclists, Jerry, 43, and his father, 73, combined their two loves-motorcycling and soccer-13 years ago, and have been playing regularly ever since. Using a collection of old Honda TL125 trials bikes, the laidback moto-soccer games are more like big parties, but teams of four riders each don helmets and hit the field, roughly 100 yards square with goal on either end. Rules are loose, but collisions are discouraged, and there is no out of bounds. Ride safe, fellas!
DOWN: To death, for taking one of racing’s most colorful riders. Norick Abe, 32, was killed when a truck turned in front of his scooter while he was riding in the town of Kawasaki, Japan. Abe was one of Japan’s most successful riders. His first Grand Prix was as a wild-card at the 1994 Japanese GR where he made an impression on everybody including Mick Doohan, whom he passed repeatedly until the Australian finally shook his head in disbelief! Abe crashed three laps from the end, but the performance got him a full-time ride the next year. He won his first GP at Suzuka two years later, becoming only the third Japanese rider to take a win in the premier class.
UP: To Triumph, for bringing the Bonnevilles into the modern age. European-spec Bonnies are getting EFI in 2008 for cleaner emissions and improved running versus the old carbureted version. Unfortunately for the U.S., bikes delivered here will retain carbs probably until the 2009 models make it stateside.
