The GUNNY'S SACK

October 2000

You might have seen the biker EMT, ''Slider'' Gilmore. He's given many biker first-aid lectures at NCOM conferences and other biker gatherings. Well, here's another lifesaver I ran across: Let's say it's 6:15 PM and you're riding home, after a really tough day at work. Suddenly you get this itch of a pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You're about five miles from the hospital, and you doubt you can make it that far.

What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course didn't say anything about self-CPR. Without help, once your heart stops beating properly and you begin to feel faint, you have only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

You CAN help yourself by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. Take a deep breath before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, like when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.

A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Seems the deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing squeezes the heart and keeps the blood circulating. The squeezing on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. Heart attack victims can get to a phone and, between breaths, and call for help.

This is from a reprint from Health Cares, from Rochester General Hospital, from Mended Hearts, Inc. publications.

If you value life, please SHARE THIS ARTICLE with as many friends as possible. IT COULD SAVE THEIR LIVES. Hey, we're gettin' old and have to think of these things! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:

NEWS BITS 'N PIECES:

LIAM NEESON BACK ON HIS FEET: Irish actor LIAM NEESON is back on his feet after his serious motorcycle accident, and he's vowed to stay off bikes for good. I wonder if he took any rider training during his riding career. Wuss.

HOLLYWOOD: A movie adaptation of ''Hell's Angel,'' the authorized history of the fabled motorcycle club based on the recently published memoirs of Hells Angels leader Ralph ''Sonny'' Barger is in the works. The book has been out a few months now. Sonny Barger is on a biker book signing tour all over the US and Britain. The film ''Hell's Angel'' is significant because it's the first film with the blessing of the Angels and the permission to use the club's logo. That means the film will run true to life and not some fool's imagination like the bunch of biker films over the years with generic ''gangs'' supposedly modeled after the Angels.

The director is scooter people himself, and owns five bikes. So he should understand the lifestyle. This should be a movie that's worth the money to go see. I'll be watching the theater schedules real close so I won't miss this one.

JAKARTA: Indonesia's motorbike industry is beginning to recover from the Asian financial crisis. Chinese imports take a huge bite out of its domestic market.

Chinese motorbikes have become hot property among cash-strapped Indonesians. They are cheaper to buy than the very popular Hondas that are assembled under license by a local automotive firm, Astra International, and the Chinese are making them readily available. They took 21% of the market there this year.

Chinese bikes were some 30 percent cheaper than market leader. Total motorcycle output this coming year is expected to run 750,000 to 800,000 units including all brands sold there.

I guess if you want to get into the scooter sales business this is where the market is, especially if you sell Chinese rides. It's interesting to me that you can also buy a Chinese ''Jai Ling'' motor bike here in Oregon. Saw a brand new one at our annual swap meet the other day.

ROME: Road accidents in Italy killed eighteen people and injured 868 more every day on average in 1999. This reported by Italy's national statistics agency ISTAT.

The report showed nearly 300 more deaths on Italian roads in 1999 compared to 1998, making last year's death toll the highest since 1993. Police reported 219,032 road accidents last year, with a total of 6,633 deaths and 316,698 injuries. The major cause of road accidents was driving without due care and attention, or just, plain too fast. Autos were blamed for nearly 80% of the scooter accidents.

Sounds like they need to take some safety courses FAST if they expect to live very long riding in that country.

UNITED KINGDOM: Another Brit gets his car stolen after a bike wreck! We just reported in the Sack a month or so back that a biker in Britain up and stole the car that hit him, right AFTER it hit him -- now here's another story with a different twist: Seems a bike crashed into another bike, and when a car driver pulled over to help, one of the bikers up and drove off in his car! The cage driver happened to be head of a British charity. It wasn't a setup: One of the bikers was badly injured. He WASN'T the one stealing the car!

The car owners' wallet was in the car also so the biker got his money and credit cards too. The motorcyclist injured in the collision said he hoped the police would catch the thief. These Brits are goofy, man!

FROM MINSK WITH LOVE: We forget, bikes are made EVERYWHERE around the world, not just Japan, Great Britain, and the USA. Just saw a story that says the Prime Minister of Vietnam was in Minsk (that's Belarus, used to be Byelorussia, used to be ''White Russia,'' used to be Soviet Union. I can't keep up!) to talk about trade. Seems they sell bikes made in Minsk to the Vietnamese, and they're gonna set up a bike plant in Viet Nam somewhere, too. The story didn't tell us what brand of bike they make over there. I'd like an encyclopedia just on bikes, y'know.

LAS VEGAS: Honda Motorcycles unveiled 10 new and updated models for 2001. Leading the way is the all-new Gold Wing. This thing blows traditional touring standards out the door.

The new 1832cc six-cylinder engine produces 118 bhp with 125 lbs/ft of torque. The new, lighter weight ride reportedly handles like a sport bike in the twistys, thanks to an aluminum dual-spar frame, a single sided swing arm, a linked braking system, and optional Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS). It has a load of high-tech features including electronic cruise control, adjustable hydraulic rear suspension, and optional 6-CD disc changer! This new Gold Wing personifies what long distance riding is all about. I've seen pictures of this new scoot and it's awesome.

GUNNY AGAIN: Winter's comin' on folks so remember to dress warmly when riding. Drink lots of fluids, NON ALCOHOLIC of course. And stop more often for breaks. When you get cold our old nemesis hypothermia can set in and we are in serious doo-doo. If you find yourself in an accident GET HELP from AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) at 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, or 1-800-531-2424. Sam Hochberg (Oregon AIM attorney) is in Portland at 503-224-1106, or online at SamBikeLaw@aol.com. You can reach me at: AIMGunny@aol.com. AIM is online, too, at www.aimncom.com.

Keep the round side on the bottom.
Gunny, Oregon A.I.M. Chief of Staff