Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126285
single·shift basis at their new Merysvllle. Ohio plant. and will employ about 500 people. Production wiN begin in the spring of 1979 and some of the bikes will be exported to Canada and Europe. Honda of America Mfg.. Inc. will begin with 20 million dollars capital. Gary Nixon is recovering from a 160 mph spill while testing Michelin tires at Daytona International Speedway. Fortunately his abrasions were slight and he will be back racing in a matter of weeks. CN 1-0 QJ ..c e AMA's recent riders congress voted to change the name back to American Motorcycle Association. And so it go...... ~ o Z We hear that Idi Amin has the atomic bomb, and as soon as he figu res out how to get it into a blow-gun, he's going to use itl In the '78 National MX schedule, a rider will have to state at the beginning of the season which of the three classes he wishes to compete in, and then ride no other. The system , with equal purses in both Nationals run on the same date, favors the privateers because the factory riders will not be allowed to ride in more than one class as th ey have in previous yea rs. Jim Culver of Kansas City, MO, won his choice of a brand new Maico AWS. 400 or 450 during a drawing at Cycle News Oct. 22. Culver signed up for the drawing at his local Maico dealer. Letko Competition Cycles in Kansas City. NBC Sports will film the Coca Cola MX Finals in Anaheim Stadium, . Anaheim : CA, November 12. A new show to be aired on Sunday afternoons, called "Spo rts Talk" , will carry the Finals right into your own home so watch your local TV listings for upcoming info. 2 Asphalt aces Gary Nixon and Ron Pierce. among others. took part in a recent tire test conducted by Michelin at Daytona Raceway. It seems Michelin is in the process of developing a tire thet will hold up . under speeds of 200 m.p.h. and still produce good traction; Word has it the tests went very well. Max Switzer and Mark Knudsen who were scheduled to be number one starters in the 250 d ivision of the Baja 1000 will have to pass up this yea r's Mex ican melodrama . Bo th were inj ured in separate incidents during the recent Beatty to Vegas Hare and Hound. Seems they both think they'll be healed up in time for the Parker 400 . Some pretty heavy competition is gearing up for the annual Long· Track Speedway Championships at Ascot this Friday night. October 28. Former World Champion Barry Briggs. current U,S, Speedway Champion Mike Bast. Bruce Penhall, Steve Bast. Alan Christian and veteran Sonny Nutter will face off for some heavy duty long track jamming on the half·mile. Should prove very exciting considering every rider entered, with the exception of Briggs. has very little experience on ovals the length of Ascot, The Dirt Digg ers M.C. announced that the sidehacks will be part of the Sa turd a y p r ogram at t he Pi on eer T own GP a t Racing World Nov . 5-6. The hacks were origi nally part of Sund ay's sche dule: but the change was ma de to elim ina te a conflict with a prior race at Bakersfield on Sunday, say Dirt Diggers spokesmen. The revived bettie of the big-bore streat bikes is underway. All four of the big Japanese companies will make bikes displacing at least 1.000cc's. Two of them - the Yamaha XS1100 and the Kawasaki Z1-R turned 11.98 at 110 m.ph. in the quarter-mile drags. Perris Raceway has new owners, Len Shirley and Jak Kinch . They are running every Saturday night with TT and Short Track races . with an occasional Rough Scrambles on Sunday. There is' open practice on non-race Sundays (Speedway practice .. too l) For more info call (714) 960 2501 .657 -8917. Brltisher Dave Masters tells us of a Velocette Owners Club in Great Britain that manufactures spares, stages camping weekends and road racing days where only Velocettes are seen and heard (a true eccentric's paradise) and publishes a magazine centered around - yep, Velocettes. For more info write Dave Masters, 174 Casewick Rd., West Norwood, London. England. Pace Man agement Corpora tion of Houston, Texas (promoters of the Ast rodo me Su pe rcross an d Cam el Pro Series . races, etc .) will prom ot e a Su percross event in Sea ttl e, Was hi ngton's Kingd om e on February 18 , 1978 . Bet that'll m ake t he prom oters of the an nu al Florid a W inter-AMA a bit m~oody . In a surprise move the publishers of Easyriders magazine have turned over complete control of the new national ABATE organization to the people who worked so hard to build it, the state organizers. Fuzzy Davy of Virginia was appointed by those present to put together a plan and present it to the rest of the ABATE chapters. Street bikers owe much thanks to Easyriders for founding and supporting the political activist organization. BLM is planning to add another 12,257 acres of our desert to the Tortoise Sanctuary, meaning no humans allowed, Convey your comments to them by Nov . 2. Address: Bu reau of Land Managem ent , Dep t. of Interior, Room E-2841 Fed . Offi ce Bld g . , 28 00 Co tt age Way, Sacr amento , CA 95825 , Honda says they will manufacture 60.000 motorcycles a year on a California's new Director of Parks and Recreation Russ Cahill said that the way for him to attend a public hearing and not seem partial to anyone side would be to "arrive on a chopper. wearing hiking boots and a bush jacket with a bird book sticking prominently out of the pocket. and whip out binoculars alJd identify loudly and correctly all the native plant species in sight:' Said Gene Romero after crashing in the Ascot National TT. "The only part of my body that doesn't hurt is my right foot . and that won 't do me much good in the half-rnilel' . After four years and one national title, Kent Howerton. "The Rhinestone Cowboy." will part company with Husqvarna at the end of the Trans-AMA series. Kent and Husky team manager Nils Arne Nilsson were unable to come to terms on a contract for 1978. No replacement has been named, so here's your chance for a sponsored ride, Motocross Catl Goggle-grinder and antique freak Ellie Taylor has entered the same moldy 650cc AJS that he rode to second place in the Dirt Diggers Grand Prix of 1963 in th e "Old Timey Lim ey" class at the upcoming DDGP at . Racing World . Honda won the 1977 Manufacturer's Award for motocross competition. beating out last year's winner. Suzuki, by a scant six points. Full House Distributing Co. of Columbus. Ohio sponsors the award. Rangers in Ang eles Nat ion a l Forest. CA are studying a proposal to close Big Tujunga Canyon to off-road vehicles . The canyon was burned in 1975 and has been a popular trail site since. Comments will be ta ken until No v. 4 at 12328 Gladstone Ave. . San Fernando. The top twenty National MX Numbers for 1978. while not official yet. have been released. Derived from total points earned in all three National MX classes in 19n, numbers 2 through 20 are as follows: 2. Bob Hannah (Yam); 3. Marty Smith (Hon); 4. Danny laPorte (Suz); 5. Tony DiStefano (Suz); 6. Kent Howerton (Hus); 7. Tommy Croft (Hon); 8. Chuck Sun (Hus); 9. Steve Stackable (Mai); 10. Jim Pomeroy (Hon); 11. Gary Semics (Kaw); 12. Gaylon Mosier (Mail; 13. Broc Glover (Yam); 14. Rick Burgett (Yam ); 15. Warren Reid [Hen); 16. Rex Staten (H·D); 17. Jim Weinert (Kaw); 18. Frank Stacy (Sael; 19. Mickey Boone (Suz); 20. Rich Eier· stedt (H-D). Naturally , th e three National Champions .. Broc Glover, Tony DiStefano and Marty Smith .. will ride under Number I when ra cin g in their respec tive classes. Mechanic Jim Felt was observed experimenting with a large Fox AirShox unit on Broc Glover's factory Yamaha. More davelopment is necessary. but it could mean that a Fox monoshock unit will be available before long. A total of ten AMA Supercross Series . events are planned for 1978 . The dates are not yet firm , but th e locations will probably be as follows (in chronological order): Seattle. Washington's Kingdome; Atlanta. Georgia's Fulton County Stadium ; Da ytona , Florida's Daytona International Speedway; Houston. Texas' Astrodome; Pontiac, Michigan's Silverdorne: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania's Three Rivers Stadium ; New Orleans. Louisiana's Superdome; Los Angeles, California's L.A. Coliseum; Kansas City . Kansas' Arrowhead Stadium and Anaheim. California's Anaheim Stadium. Jim Pomeroy's favorite tuner Arne Beaman has made the switch from Bultaco to Honda and is presently learning about the RC works machines under the guidance of Honda's Merla Anderson. Marty Moates, informed just before th e Unadilla T rans·AMA that Ossa could no lo nge r sponsor him . has been searching for new sponsorship . At Red Bud he showed up with a 390 Automatic loaned by Husqvarna's eastern office and a YZ400 Yamaha to try in p ractice. Neither ride, however. involves full sponsorshi p , and Marty's still ready to deal. PentonlKTM's Andre Malherbe has proven that he's not only capable of taking third in the 250cc World Championship. he can make a 500cc class machine to magic tricks as well. As a result. Malher· be plans to contest the 500cc World Championship in 1978 riding for KTM. He will continue to follow the entire Trans·AMA circuit before returning home. a decision based on his ability to ride competitively in the International series . Gary Nixon bounced right back int o action following a crash at Daytona during tire testing October 11. Nixon took a high spe ed spill in the chicane.Luckily he suffered onl y contusions of the left hand and a few b ru ises. The$75,OOO second leg payoff of the Camel Pro Series point fund will fatten the wallets of the top 15 riders in the final AMA Grand National Championship standings. The checks will be distributed to the riders at the AMA's November 22 professional awards banquet in Anaheim. California. 1. Jay Springsteen $18,000 2. Ted Boody 11,000 3. Gary Scott 9.000 4. Kenny Roberts 7,000 5. Steve Eklund 5.000 6. Corky Keener 4.500 7. Mike Kidd 4,000 8. Hank Scott 3,500 9. Skip Aksland 3.000 2,500 10. Garth Brow 2,000 11. Steve Morehead 1,600 12. Alex Jorgennen 12. Gene Romero 1,600 14. Billy Eves . 1.300 15. Rick Hocking 1.000