flashback 25 years ago
THE POSSIBILITY OF INSURANCE companies refusing or cancelling pol- icies of motorists using radar detec- tors was a topic being discussed in the California courts that summer. Among those involved in the argu- ments was RADAR, the Radio Asso- ciation Defending Airwave Rights. RADAR spokesperson Janice Lee said, “The issue in this case is not whether detectors are good or bad and therefore, should be legal or ille- gal. The issue is whether insurers can deprive an entire class of consumers from obtaining liability insurance which is required by California law.” The case was the result of the insur-
ance provider GEICO denying insur- ance to radar detector owners. The State of California and RADAR argued that radar detector owners fall into low-risk insurance groups, that the majority of radar detector owners do not use the device to avoid lawful speed enforcement, and
that radar detector owners are the object of unlawful discrimination. As a sidebar to the article, a “How-to”
guide for beating police radar was adver- tised. Beating the Radar Rap, was promoted as a 160-page book in its second edition with updated information regarding new radar technology and defense techniques. Authored by Dale T. Smith, inventor of the original Fuzzbuster radar detector, and John Tomerlin, a Road & Track magazine contributing editor, the book was for motorists who believed themselves to be victims of “unlawful discrimination.” The book could be ordered by contacting the RADAR office directly. The rider mentioned a few pages later
who was ticketed for reckless driving after being clocked at 139 mph by a Connecticut state police airplane on I-84 bought the manual. Another article in the issue included
Gary Wilson’s “Zen” experience while rid- ing down a road in Minnesota. Wilson described a humming noise that quickly turned into a cough. Thinking he was run- ning out of gas, Wilson switched on the reserve tank as as he began to pull over and suddenly the coughing noise became a “whump, whump.” Once stopped, Wilson, who described himself as “one of the world’s most igno- rant humans when it comes to things mechanical” began to philosophize. Only after suffering the anxiety of the unknown and the passing of a significant amount of time did Wilson realize he was sitting on p of t e p
em all alo umming a d coughing n e was c
. The initial es wer ,
fact, sy gr und in o t e s
s of low fue , b t t e w um d by t e s eed bumps lder of t e road
le a id f r h 10 years ago
THE BIG NEWS IN SEPTEMBER OF 2005 was the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the BMW GS series. An image featuring both an R 80 GS and an R 100 GS graced the cover of Owners News that month, and seven pages of images and text gave readers a beautifully illus- trated and informative history of the GS series. Inside, Editor Sandy Cohen wrote, “The GS
was an inspired concept 25 years ago and BMW is still reaping the rewards of it to this day. In September of 1980, the launch of the lat- est BMW motorcycle revealed a classic flat- twin Boxer engine, yet very different from any BMW that had gone before. The new model stood tall and was distinguished by a lighter tail end and larger front wheel than road-going machines. And there was one bit that was miss- ing entirely: instead of the conventional dou- ble-arm suspension, the rear wheel featured a compact and innovative single swingarm going by the name of ‘Monolever.’ The R 80 G/S had created a new breed of endurance tourers, with the ‘G’ in its name standing for Gelånde (ter- rain) and the ‘S’ for Strasse (road).” “The decision to market the G/S was as bold
time did W n r alize he was si ting o top of the probllem all along. The initial humming and coughing noises were, in in fact, symptoms of low fuel, but the whump noise was caused by the speed bumps ground into the shoulder of the road. “So there it is. End of mystery,” Wilson said. “I got back on the motorcycle and rode off feeling kind of stupid for havingin spent all that time figuring out that there were speed bumps on the shoulder of this road…Still, in my heart I did feel a little pride along with stupidity. I had solved a problem.”
o t ere it is. End of mys er ” W id. “I g t back on t e m de o f f ent all t
ling kind of s t time figuring o t t t t er
as it was far-sighted,” Cohen wrote. “It had been made in 1978 during a period of decline in sales following almost a decade of growth. Here in America, endurance motorcycles– which were also popular among road bikers due to their easy handling–were riding on a wave of success. “Historically, BMW could easily see them-
selves in this market. Back in the 1930s, the Munich brand had made a name for itself in sporting competitions on gravel and in mud. During the 1950s and ‘60s, BMW riders raked in one title after another. The last three cham- pionship titles in the cross-country sport had been taken by Herbert Schek on a modified BMW R 75/5 between 1970 and 1972. “However, direct competition to the
118 BMW OWNERS NEWS September 2015
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