| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=3 2013 An excerpt: When Henny Ray Abrams is at AMA motorcycle road races, he is not only “reporting” the news for Cycle News, he is also spinning it for Honda Racing. Henny Ray Abrams, the moral beacon of the motorcycle industry, is paid by Honda Racing to research and write press releases--a form of commercial propaganda--on the same races he covers for Cycle News. It is a brilliant strategy on the part of Honda Racing, having the company’s own Stealth Public Relations Operative (SPRO) producing stories published under the guise of objective news reports by Cycle News, Inc. This is no new revelation; it has been going on for years. WHOA! I've often suspected this kind of influence peddling by at least some of the Japanese factory racing teams. I sure hope that this puts an end to that kind of shady practice by what is supposed to be an unbiased motorcycle publication. This might lead one to wonder what if any kickbacks other American moto-journalists, their editors, and publication owners, especially at Cycle News, are receiving from Honda Racing. Way to go John Ulrich for exposing the scheme. What was apparently common knowledge to Mr. Ulrich, was unknown to me and I reckon also the vast majority of American motorcycle racing fans. It seems like nothing less than payola for moto-journalists. | ||
| Elvis |
I used to always wonder - back in the '80's - if Honda was paying off moto-journalists. I remember reading article after article in which the competition would beat the Hondas on key points but at the end, the reviewer would invariably pick the Honda because it: "Just feels better." Without any real evidence, I've always assumed it was my imagination combined with maybe an irrational prejudice for Honda, but this series is certainly interesting. I wonder how much thought Mr. Ulrich has put into this and if he has himself covered enough for a potential deluge of Honda legal weight. I certainly hope so, because this is what journalism should be about. | ||
| Blake |
Links to following parts in Mr. Ulrich's series on the above corruption issue and concerning the Daytona 200 disqualification of Erion Honda Racing's rider Josh Hayes. Part Two Part Three Part Four | ||
| Blake |
As long as John Ulrich doesn't lie maliciously and then only if he fails to provide correction, he is a journalist and as such pretty much is immune to any kind of legal action by the subjects of his reporting. Pulling advertising from Road Racing World would be the only significant recourse I can imagine. | ||
| Jscott |
Wow, he's hits particularly hard in Part Four... "They turned me down, and Vanderslice went on to make several decisions based on bizarre interpretations of the rules--evidently he couldn’t always remember the original intent of language he wrote or approved. In the most infamous decision of that type Vanderslice told Erik Buell that melting down and recasting a V-Twin’s crankcases (as if that would actually happen, as opposed to simply casting up new cases!) was legal, because a rule said that engine modifications were unlimited for air-cooled Twins. So Buell built and sold an XBRR racebike that featured completely different crankcases than the cases used for the Buell streetbike on which the racebike was theoretically based, and never mind that the intent of the Formula Xtreme class was that machines be based on production motorcycles. Vanderslice decided that the word “modified” allowed casting up a new part with different bore centers and overall construction." | ||
| Blake |
Why am I not surprised that out of the entire article that is what you would choose to focus upon? It is in fact extremely old news, years old now. John Ulrich's reporting on the issue does however warrant a bit of clarifying. Buell was absolutely willing to have the existing XB engine cases machined and welded to achieve the same exact configuration but asked for and was granted a waiver to allow the recasting. There are plenty of old threads dealing with that issue on BadWeB. If you are interested in continuing that debate, please do so there rather than pre-emptively turn this thread into yet another of the same. Thanks, Blake | ||
| Jaimec |
I still remember years ago, when Honda first released the new GL1800 GoldWing, the review that "supposedly unbiased" Motorcycle Consumer News wrote in their comparison article. The K1200LT beat the GoldWing in nearly every measurable performance test EXCEPT straight line acceleration. It was rated more comfortable for the rider and passenger and got nearly 20mpg better fuel economy giving it a much greater range. It also had as standard equipment things that were either extra cost, or completely unavailable for the GoldWing. And at the end of the article, they chose the GoldWing. WTF??? Now ask me if I was surprised that in the very next issue, Fred Rau was gushing over the brand new GoldWing he just "bought..." That's when I canceled my subscription. | ||
| Court |
Erik Buell is as honest as the day is long. Period. Each and every time he's ever been offered a short cut or an easier way . . . he politely declined and worked harder. I'm proud as hell to know him and that every single thing Buell did at the Daytona 200 with the XBRR was perfectly legal. I don't know about the others. . . . . but it sounds like those who do know have a diminished opinion of some of them. | ||
| M1combat |
Honda cheat at pretty well everything else they do... Why not marketing? Doesn't surprise me in the least. |
