Nuggets of Mainstream-ism

I'd like to chalk this up to motorcycles finally becoming more of a mainstream vehicle and enthusiasts of such a machine viewed with respect and interest by the mainstream press, but I'm a little skeptical.

The (Oct 19) current Time magazine features on page 126 a photo and some edit copy of Suzuki's new GSX1300R Hayabusa. The text states that the 1999 machine might go 186mph and all that, and really doesn't take the looming cheapshot about donorcycles or sui-cycles that you hope isn't coming anytime you see a sportbike in mainstream media.

This follows a well-written back page column in Newsweek a few weeks ago regarding the Art of the Motorcycle exhibit, a follow-up letter from some saftey-nazi saying bikes are too dangerous for humans, followed by a rebuttal letter from some guy who said the SN's idea of a good time was cleaning the screens on his house, or something like that and to ignore him.

That's about a page and a half of bike edit in two of the biggest and most widely respected news weeklies in America. Not bad. -- Dean Adams