Bike Week

* Bravo to Mike Clary for his informative piece on Daytona Bike Week! I longed for the day The Times would print a truthful, balanced article about motorcyclists, instead of the usual media stereotyping. Clary noted that 99% of motorcyclists are fun-loving, upstanding citizens. That Bike Week is Daytona’s “biggest, best-behaved” and richest event should send a message to Southern California governments.

Bike week will gross Daytona merchants $211 million in one week. That ain’t chump change, folks! With our local economies, and particularly tourism, in the dumps, perhaps we should reconsider our attitudes toward motorcyclists and motor racing in general. After all, we have weather year-round that Daytona gets only in winter.

Southern California is also home to the largest group of off-road riders in the nation. Every weekend, thousands of us take our families to the Mojave Desert to enjoy our sport in a lawful, responsible and economically stimulating manner. If local government leaders continue to stand by idly while the Sierra Club’s desert closure bill sails through an uninformed Congress, they can kiss our money goodby.

DAVID W. KAY

Mar Vista