Thursday, April 29, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 15
Performance stressed in new motorcycle line-up
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Top: Suzuki's GS 1000 Katana stands in the doorway
of the service department at Dormer's Suzuki Center as
snow falls outside.
Middle: About 250 motorcyclists rode in last year's
ABATE Motorcycle Awareness Day parade, the forerun
ner of Lincoln Motorcycle Safety Awareness Day, set for
Saturday.
Bottom: Students' motorcycles stand parked in the
motorcycle parking area in front of Love Library.
Stories and photos
by Mark Hansen
The wind in your face, the sun on your
back; the eventual return of spring to Ne
braska will signal the return of another
seasonal phenomenon: motorcycling.
But the sport of motorcycling is chang
ing rapidly - more rapidly, perhaps, than
ever before.
For one thing, the emphasis on reliabil
ity and economy that brought motor
cycling out of the greasy shops and biker
bars is being replaced by the new emphasis
on performance.
Gary Biscup, manager of Jerryco Mo
tors, 2400 N St., said the decline of the
high-performance automobile since the end
of the 1960s has caused many people to
turn to motoicycling for performance
oriented vehicles.
Doug Nelscn, manager of Dormer's
Suzuki Center, 1750 West 0 St., said 75
percent of motorcycles are now being
used for recreation, and that usually means
performance.
"It seems like the manufacturers are
finally catching on to that fact," he said.
Evidence of this is found in the new,
sleek styling that is showing up on many of
the new bikes, and in high performance op
tions like turbochargers, available on some
models. Manufacturers also are bringing
out more models with large (more than
900 cc.) engine sizes.
The motorcycling public also has chan
ged. The "tough" image of motorcyclists
is gradually dying out.
"Motorcycling is more accepted now,"
Nelson said. "It's more common now to
sec guys riding around in suits."
Nelson said the average age of people
buying motorcycles now also is increasing,
probably because the high price of the
motorcycles prohibits younger riders from
buying.
Lincoln dealers say that the largest- and
smallest- sized bikes are selling the best,
while sales of mid-sized bikes are doing
worse than in previous years.
Motorcycles also are becoming more
sophisticated, with more electronics and
more advanced suspensions and engine
designs.
While the poor weather this spring,
coupled with high interest rates, have hurt
early sales, Lincoln dealers said they expect
sales to improve soon and remain strong
throughout the summer.
Motorcycle safety awareness
becomes focus of special day
"I didn't see him officer . . ."
That statement is probably familiar to
most people who have been involved in car
motorcycle accidents.
The Nebraska Department of Roads said
that 278 motorcycle accidents were report
ed in 1981 in Lincoln. Of these, 35 result
ed in fatalities. Of the 155 citations issued
in those accident cases, 96 went to the
auto operator while 59 went to the motor
cyclist. Most of the accidents, 165 of them,
happened at intersections and most involv
ed a failure to yield the right of way or
negligent driving.
With these figures in mind, the Lincoln
City Council Tuesday voted to proclaim
May 1 Motorcycle Safety Awareness Day.
The proclamation was brought about
mostly by what some might consider an
unlikely source, the ABATE motorcycle
group of Nebraska.
ABATE, which stands for A Brother
hood Against Totalitarian Enactments, is
probably best known for its efforts to
block passage of mandatory helmet-use
laws in the Nebraska Legislature, an effort
that has so far been successful.
John Bonebright, public relations
officer for ABATE, said his group is con
cerned with motorcycle safety.
"We are not against the wearing of hel
mets," he said. "We are against the
mandatory wearing of helmets."
Part of the problem with helmet laws,
Bonebright said, is that if helmet use were
made mandatory, many people would just
buy the cheapest helmet possible to
comply with the law, rather than invest in
a quality helmet that offers better protect
ion. "If you've got a ten dollar head then
you can wear a ten dollar helmet," Bone
bright said.
"The other problem is that the rider
may be wearing his helmet, but still be rid
ing around in a swimming suit and shower
sandals," he said.
"We believe that you must educate for
motorcycle safety, not legislate," he said.
Of 24 motorcycle fatalities involving
head injuries last year, 22 of the victims
were not wearing helmets.
Last May, ABATE sponsored a motor
cycle awareness day ride in which more
than 250 motorcyclists, both ABATE
members and non-members, paraded in
pairs on O Street from the parking lot of
Dormer's SuzukiYamaha to. the Gateway
Shopping Mall. That was the forerunner of
the newly proclaimed Motorcycle Safety
Awareness Day.
This year's event will feature a similar
ride, but will include members of the
Sesostris Shrine, and Lincoln Mayor Helen
Boosalis, who plans to ride in the sidecar of
one ABATE member.
"He has promised to keep all three
wheels on the ground," Bonebright said.
In addition to the parade, this year's
event will feature booths and displays that
will be set up in the shopping mall parking
lot. One display by the Nebraska Depart
ment of Transportation illustrates body
reactions in a colision, and another answers
questions about the motorcycle safety
course offered by both ABATE and South
east Community College.
The course was designed by the Motor
cycle Safety Foundation, a study group
put together by Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha
and Suzuki.
Bonebright said the course is designed
to show riders, particularly young riders,
how they can improve communication
with other motorists and how to avoid
dangerous situations. A study in Wyoming
showed that chances of survival for the
motorcyclist improved by 30 percent after
completion of the1 course, Bonebright said.
"Drivers pull up to an intersection and
look, and their head is programmed 'car,
truck, bus' " Bonebright said. "They look
right through a motorcycle."
- The cost of the three-day course is $20,
which includes instruction expenses, a
motorcycle on which to practice and a hel
met if the student doesn't own one.
Another major problem the course aims
to correct is a lack of motorcycling experi
ence. Nationwide, more than half of the
motorcyclists involved in accidents have
less than five months experience with the
motorcycle they are riding. About 92 per
cent of those involved in accidents are self
taught, and the 20 and 24 year age group
accounts for nearly a third of all accidents.
One report, released by the U.S. Depart
ment of Transportation, found that rider
error was a factor in nearly two-thirds of
all motorcycle accidents. One of the most
common errors is failure to use the front
brake sufficiently. This causes the rear
wheel to lock during hard braking and
throws the motorcycle into a skid.
Nebraska also has taken steps toward
improving the skill of the average motor
cyclist by introducing new, stricter stand
ards for licensing tests.