Talk about the wrong kind of publicty

[TheMidniteRider]

A friend of mine from Ga. sent me a note about a story he saw on TV out of Atlanta. Unfortunataly it's sensationalism at it's best. Basically it's about how sport bikes are ruining the "peaceful outdoor exprience" in northern Ga. here's a couple of links to the video clips.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=1362188&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=1375282&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Hopefully people will see this for the trash it is.

[Inten_Z]

The general public will see it just as the News reports it. I have to agree on many parts. In no way should anyone be running those kind of speeds on a public road. Now the 200mph bit was a stretch but I still understand. I also understand that there are businesses along the route that are being disturbed. At least at the gap the speeds are slower and no bisness' that hate us. Well at least as far as I know

[TheMidniteRider]

From what I've been able to find online thats prob. a clip of a turbo Hayabusa on a track. I doubt there's too many places on the Dragon that you could hit those speeds but it's been known to happen on the skyway. Unfortunatly you're right everybody will believe it cause"I saw it on the news". Been following a thread from Killboy also, from some Lotus drivers last weekend.

[GSing]

Um,

"Sensationalism at it's best?" I've done the loop more times than I can remember. I found the video clips to be quite accurate. I found it reassuring that they repeatedly noted "most" mc's were riding safely. The few idiots noted make it bad for everyone. When I need my mountain fix, I now travel north. That's not fair to the wonderful folks who call the north Georgia area home and are deprived of my "tourist" dollars. I agree that Deals Gap is now my favorite area to ride...for now. If the crazies keep showing up...my bike(s) and money will go else ware. It's time we stop blaming the LEO’s for doing their job and the press for reporting a growing problem and put the blame where it belongs, the criminals who endanger our families for their quick thrills. It is OUR problem and a problem WE can fix. The alternative is to have the government intervene…:eek:

[Inten_Z]

The Busa doing the "so called" 200+ mph run was filmed in FL. From what I have gathered it was a turbo busa and it also had an inacurate gauge. But who knows, there are tons of people posting videos of their illegal activites in public places.

[jnor]

Um,

"Sensationalism at it's best?" I've done the loop more times than I can remember. I found the video clips to be quite accurate. I found it reassuring that they repeatedly noted "most" mc's were riding safely. The few idiots noted make it bad for everyone. When I need my mountain fix, I now travel north. That's not fair to the wonderful folks who call the north Georgia area home and are deprived of my "tourist" dollars. I agree that Deals Gap is now my favorite area to ride...for now. If the crazies keep showing up...my bike(s) and money will go else ware. It's time we stop blaming the LEO’s for doing their job and the press for reporting a growing problem and put the blame where it belongs, the criminals who endanger our families for their quick thrills. It is OUR problem and a problem WE can fix. The alternative is to have the government intervene…:eek:+1 I couldn't agree more

[TheMidniteRider]

Not that i'm defending the riding, far from it, I would just like to see stats. for auto accident and how many of the bike accidents were also auto related. I've been passed by all kinds of morons both places, two and four wheeled. I'd also like to know just how many of the bikes were waved around to add to the story. I guess I'm just kinda skeptical of this kind of reporting, and I was also glad they stressed "just a few" riders.

[brad@dealsgap]

Ok my turn....here is how I see it, in ANY contex I can make the same arguments about ANY motorized vehical.....for example.....semi trucks on I-75 or I-40......how about all the accidents on Alcoa HWY........wave riders in key west. You can always find a few tools in every group, on any road or waterway. They do stress that it is a few, we have them here as well. I did not see anything to awful with this show. They do point out the good as well as the bad. I have done a similar interveiw with Fox out of NC last year. They do a good job trying to see it from both sides, I think this one was slanted alittle on the "Bad" side. All in all we know those folks are out their and they do tend to shed a bad light on the entire community. But again I can find bad drivers, no matter what they drive just about anywhere.

[jaxbb3]

I saw some familiar roads it that piece. I also recognized some of the behavior. I do appreciate the reporter, GT from TWO and the head Leo saying it is only a few of the riders. But it was slanted. One example of many - the report stated that the "emergency Responders and getting thin" but they did not say anything about the couple thousand dollars raised and donated to the local VFD just a couple weekends ago by the 50cc rally at TWO.

[brad@dealsgap]

A very excellent point, they should give BOTH sides of this story, like I said when we did our fox interview we had one day of good stuff and one day of not so good. The GA fox affiliate should have done that for this as well. This industry is fast becoming the number one tourist industry in our area. Yep we may have on average a few and I mean a few incidents but this week we had far more car accidents than bike accidents. The tourist dollars it brings western NC has saved our little neck of the woods. We employee 14 locals alone, Fontana Village is well over 100, no telling how many in town have jobs because of Motorcycles. I am sure it is the same in North GA, but you never hear anything about that. How about storys on toy runs, cancer, locals who are sick........how about a few stories about that????

[jaxbb3]

How about this - let's all contact the reporter, dale.russel@foxtv.com and ask him to report on the good done by motorcyclists and the tourist dollars being spent. BE SURE TO START YOUR EMAILS WITH A "THANK YOU" FOR HIS OPENING STATEMENT ABOUT THE VISITORS ON MOTORCYCLES - "MOST DRIVE SLOWLY AND SAFELY". Don't rant, just ask that his 'I-Team' report the other side of the story. We can mention the money donated local VFD by the recent 50cc rally. Maybe we want to talk about the KPH vs. MPH and the fact that the video they used was not shot in NGA and that should have been made clear. Wadda ya think?

[brad@dealsgap]

I am on it, good idea

[jaxbb3]

Here is a copy of the email I sent to Mr. Russell.

Mr. Russell,

I am a repeat motorcycle visitor to the N GA mountain area you used as a subject for your recent I-Team report. I am from out of town and your story is circulating to a large number of Internet forums which is how I became aware of it.

I would like to thank you for your opening remarks stating that most motorcycle visitors to the area ride slowly and safely. I also appreciate your including the statements from the Sheriff and others that it is just a few bikers that are riding 'crazy'.

I would ask however for a little more balance in your story.

I agree 100% that some of my fellow motorcyclists are acting irresponsibly and am just as upset with their actions as the people in your report as they reflect badly on all of us who ride.

I have visited this area and each time I have seen cars, single and in club groups, enjoying the roads, a small number of them irresponsibly. I am very confident that your electronics expert and your cameras could have captured a like percentage of cars exceeding the speed limit, and crossing/passing over a double yellow line. No mention of cars behaving badly was included in your report. People with only your report as reference may come away thinking the bikes are the only problem visitors.

During my visits to this area I have seen large amounts of tourist dollars coming into this area. Restaurants, gas stations, hotels/motels, cabin rentals, souvenirs. All these dollars have a positive impact on the N GA area but again, no mention of this positive in your report. These dollars come from the motorcyclist and the car visitors so if you had reported on the irresponsible cars AND bikes, you could have used this positive for both groups as well. Could you have talked to business owners to show this positive impact?

You interviewed people with stories of bad encounters with the bikers. Did you attempt to find a like number of people with good biker encounters? If you did, I'm sure you found some positive stories so why did we not see them in the report?

In your report you stated that the local emergency services are being stretched thin. You did not report on the money raised and donated to the Union County Volunteer Fire Department during the 24Th Annual 50cc True Grits Rally on October 29Th. This is an annual event that is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Assoc. Was this information unavailable to you? I'm sure GT Turner of Two Wheels Only who appeared in the report, could have provided this positive motorcycle information since the rally was hosted at his place of business. The 2005 run raised $3100.00.

Once again, thank you for noting in the report that the problems are caused by a minority of the motorcyclists. I do believe that a better, more balanced report would have had Part 1 covering the problems (including the irresponsible car drivers) and a Part 2 showing all the positives I have noted.

Thank you for your time. I would be interested in your thoughts in this matter.

[joema]

A big deficiency with the story was the failure to mention the MANY track day alternatives that exist: http://www.sportrider.com/ride/146_0308_track_day_organizations/

As a public service it would have been good to mention this. Anybody who writes the station, please mention this.

It may be hard to believe, but a lot of those riders doing 150 mph on public streets are just not aware of how easy and available track time is. Some of them probably spend more on gas and travel expenses getting to those roads than track time would cost.

If they crash or get a reckless driving ticket on a public road, they just spent enough to pay for plenty of track time, leathers, etc.

Public officials talk about "getting them off the road", but lament there's nothing they can do. Yet there is -- get them on the track.

If each group would promote this, it's doable. News stories like this should mention the easy track availability, and say "for more info, see our web site". Law enforcement should be aware of and promote the track alternative, not shrug their shoulders and say "there's nothing we can do", as the Sheriff in the story did.

When they pull over a "reckless" sport rider, the LEO could give the option of paying a ticket or going to a mandatory track day. The existing enforcement machinery used for mandatory "driving schools" could be harnessed for this.

This gets them off the street, plus makes them a better, safer rider. Would they return from the track feeling empowered to ride even more dangerously on public roads? Some would, but I maintain most would not. Once exposed to this, many riders would say: "why risk doing 150 mph here, I can flog the heck out of it next week at the track, with no LEO worries and no minivans to pass".

It's not a perfect solution but it's better than saying "there's nothing we can do", "ban all sport bikes", etc, etc.

Deal's Gap is a great place and you can push it pretty hard there with relative safety. I hope it stays that way. Maybe getting some of these riders on the track will help maintain that.

[aldaniel]

I live just north of Atlanta and I visit that loop frequently. Most of the accidents I see involve urban squid. We all know the type. In that loop there is only a five mile stretch on Hwy 180 that is populated and I always go slow through there. The rest is park land. The cops are cool about you taken curves as long as your not accelerating hard between them. I don't know about the one upset store owner but there are two other stores, one near the T.W.O. stop and the other right off the loop, that love bikers. That act as hang outs and shelter from the rain and the owners appreciate the revenue we bring to the community.

[joema]

...Most of the accidents I see involve urban squid. We all know the type...only a five mile stretch on Hwy 180 that is populated and I always go slow through there. The rest is park land. The cops are cool about you taken curves as long as your not accelerating hard between them...
Yes, very sad. Much better to ride "the pace": http://www.ridehsta.com/html/safety.htm

You can do that in a very sporting fashion without upsetting the locals.

The sad thing is Road Atlanta is not far from there, and various organizations often sponsor motorcycle track days. The urban squids can do 150 mph all day long there, without any fear of LEOs, no RVs to pass, etc.

It's ironic that in places like Deal's Gap the LEOs are generally very cooperative and understanding, yet a few "bad apple" squids can ruin it for everybody.

[aldaniel]

I agree. The love for my family and my responsibility to them keeps me in check from being stupid on the road but boy is my ZX14 tempting.