Ups & Downs
UPs & DOWNs
∨ DOWN To Harley-Davidson, for not sending a supermodel our way. A new double-page ad for the V-Rod Muscle features lovely Marisa Miller draped all over the bike-wearing highly non-MSF-approved gear, we might add. Yes, that Mansa Miller, the one who graced last year's recordsetting Sports illustrated swimsuit issue, the one from Victoria's Secret, the one who just topped Maxim's "Hot 100" list. So-called "non-endemic" publications like Playboy, GQ, Esquire, etc. get the spread; sadly, enthusiast magazines like CW do not. Hey, Harley, where was Hugh Hefner during the AMF years, huh?!
∧ UP: To Mati Olsen, for trying to make old new again. Olsen, 23, is youth coordinator for the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, and he's devised a plan to get younger riders excited about clas sic motorcycles. Using parts donated by Using parts by AMCA members, he has come up with a 1942 Harley-Davidson WLA bob-job that needs assembly. The bike will be given away to the winner of an essay contest. Rules? Entrants must be
American citizens, aged 1 8-25, and submit a 750to 1000-word essay describing why they want the bike and what they plan to do with it. Deadline is August 15, 2009; all entries must be submitted via e-mail to amcayouthprogram@hotmall.com. The winner will travel to South Dakota where, under expert supervision, he/she has two months to complete the build. Travel expenses, room and board will be covered by the AMCA Foundation, and once the bike is finished, the title will be turned over. One question: What are ya waitin' for, kids?
To the Bush Administration, for dragging motorcycles into a war on beef. Listed in conjunction with proposed tariffs on more than 100 European goods-in retaliation against the
European Union’s restrictions on imported growthhormone-injected American beef-are all European-made motorcycles and scooters between 51 and 500cc in displacement. The 100percent tariff would be crippling to the industry. “In this tough recessionary climate, it’s ludicrous for the U.S. Trade Representative to even consider imposing a 100-percent motorcycle and scooter tariff, because the move will cost countless Americans their jobs,” said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. “Collectively, these dealerships contribute to the employment of a substantial number of Americans working in sales, service, parts and general operations.”
#VUP: To the Graham Tool Company, purveyors of “tools, supplies and oddities,” for creating a catalog worth keeping. Product categories are broken into various professions-electrician, foundryman, gunsmith, machinist, painter, welder, etc.-all of which are accompanied by wonderful, 1930s mechanical-era illustrations. “I call it ‘art-deco future-past,”’ says Brian Graham, founder and president of the California-based business. To request a copy of the catalog, log on to www.grahamtool.com.
To Milan Show-goers, for getting it so wrong. Some 20,000 of them voted Ducati’s new 1098 Streetfighter as “Most Beautiful Bike of the Show.” For a naked, nasty hooligan of a bike that’s supposed to look like it was cobbled together in someone’s garage? Or maybe back alley?! Nice goin’, guys, way to ruin any street cred the new stripped superbike had going for it. Why don’t ya just call it cute while yer at it?
