Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Riverbottom Park? Flooding of th~ postponement of Products NorCal Regional Motocross when Marysvill~'s Riverfront Park disappeared under th~ rapidly·sw~lIing river. Th~ lowlying ar~a was ~vacuated by authoritie; wh~n th~ drainag~ syst~ms simply couldn't keep abreast of th~ torr~nt. Th~ incid~nt marked the second rain-out in th~ three· race NorCal AMA Regional MX S~rie; th~ first one was to hav~ been at Sears Point on Jan. 5·6. No rain dat~ has yet been e;tablished for the Marysvill~ race, and continued flooding at the Sears Point facility has "left th~ running of round two (Jan. 19·20) in jeopardy,.. according to a NorCal AMA spokesman. Th~ pouibi1ity has arisen that th~ entire sem may be ptlStf.lOned until April, although no official announcement has been madr to that effect. F~ather Riv~r forced th~ Hi·Point Racing The largest-evw Moapa to Vegaa Here and Hound. Iponsored by'the Groundlhakers M.C. and unetloned by MRAN. was won by Team Husqvarna rider Scot Herd.n. Second w.s Maicomounted Anthony Pasqualotto of lei V...... Full coverage next week. Trans-California trail in the works SACRAMENTO. CA. JAN. 14 An AI•• mbIy poley committee ha given unenlmoua approwl to AII..mblyn.n Bob H8ye8' bII IIPPI'Upilatinu t2IiO.OOO to study r.twcwk off-hlghway vehicle tnIh running the length of C811fom", from MexIco to Oregon. ..I very ph thet the Committee on Water. P.-ka end WlIcIIfe p d AS 1128." the . . . Fem8l1do Veley RepubIIcen. "Now go to work on Ways encI M_.... ThlIt committee _ be the next to w. heer Heyes' bIL d by the Legl.llture encI8IgnecI by the Governor. AS 1120 would epproprIete from the Off·Hlghway Vehicle Fund far • feeslbllty study by the Det* b'.... of Perks lind RecreetIon. The Fund rec.1ves moni•• from OAY rwgiIbation ..... fineI end a portion of the Callfanlla .... tu. During the h••" .... on the bIlL atIiff ,.••• rchers the study .houId be reqund to consider the problema of paa and enforcement whic:tt might ...... in connection with a trans-CeIIfomla trail. The CeIIfomIa Recreational Trails Committee hal endorIec:I the concept of such a tnIII. but the DeI*tment of Parks lind Recreetlon hal lIIways pleeded lack of 8VlIIIabI. staff to lIttempt the project. AS 1120 would provId. the staff. "p.... Update: Team Yamaha By Charles Morey 2 LONG 8EACH. CA. JAN. 14 In a Jan. 11 ..... conf.rence. Team Yamaha RacIng Manager Ken Clark IntroducecI 10 members of his new off-nNMI racing aquad including new Assistant RacIng M.nager Bill Bel, formerly of Ameriain Honda - and updatM motoreyde ..... members on the st8tUS of Bob Hal....'. Injwy and the - . .•• WkIlllDn Pro SerielI plana. Larry Ro ••• I.r. top Americ8n lit the 79ll1ta,.tlonaI Six Days Trial, and hie Baja-winning teammate Jack JohnIon heve left Team Huaqvama to join the new -professional V.maha off-nNMI tum. AIIo switching brenda far 1980 are National Enduro series notaIIln MIke Hannon from Kawasaki and Rick Munyon from Honda. CompletIng the tum are Yamaha regulars John Fero, Jim FIshback. Bruce OgIlvIe, Chuck Miler and Ron Ribolzi. "W. hope to select a Manufacturer'. Team:' Clark responded to a question regarding their Two-DayflSDT plans, " ... or something a UtIle bigger:' Support far the tum "will not be a wives and girlfriend. thing:' Clark added. "Theyll aI haw mechanics and trucks." Bell uid. When uked if the mechanics had been.....cted. Bel r..ponded, "V.., but they·r. with other fir.... right now:' On the Winston Pro Sen.. vail, V.maha has contracted M.rt Law· will to build shOrt track and TT blk.. for Kenny Roberts, Rick Hocking and Junior·ranked Jim Filice. Roberts is slated to contest the Feb. 8-9 Houston AIItrodom. ev.nts only, but Hocking and Filice will ride .11 National short track and TT .venta on their Vamahas. 80b Hannah, recov.ring from a pre-Christmas operation, was en rout. to C8nade to take part in a C8nadlan Motorcycle Association trade show lit the time of the press conference. His broken leg had dewloped an infection. and as a result. Ie healing slower than antici· pated. To accommodllt. the healing process, Hannah has switched to the 500cc National MX Serias. Mike Bel has agreed to take Bot,»'s place with teammate Marty Tripes in the 250cc class. SCORE Int~rnational h~ld its '79 season awards banquet in Los Ang~les. Jan. 12. and named Offroadsm~n of the Y~ar in the motorcycl~ classes w~re: Jack Johnson (Class 22), Jeff Kaplan (Class 21). Tom Kdly (Class 20), Ron Bishop (Class 30) and Dick Vick (Class 58). Also honored were the high point riders in ~ach class: Scot Harden (Class 22). Brian Wright (Class 21). Soon Coutts (Class 20), D.A. Davidson (Class 50) and Cecil Holl~nbeck (Class S8). W. were saddened to learn of the cIeIIth of Robert "Bob" Steffen. a long tim. competitor .ndleacler of AMA District 'n. Steffan IUCCUmbecI to iIInea Jan. 11. and following servleea' on Jan. 14, hie uhas ware apreacI over the desert. In lieu of flowers. donations Ihould be mad. in Bob's name to the JewIes Stain Ey. lnatltute, 800 Westwood Plaza.. Loa Angel••• CA 90024. Godspeed Bob ••• The California Racing Club has dropped its desen racing IChedul~ for. 1980. "Actually. w~'re changing th~ desert racing program to a GP program with 11 or 12 race;," said CRe's Jerry McNeal. In addition. th~ CRC mcluro IChedule had been espanded from 10 to 12. and two on~· day trials are planned. Lack of entrie; was gi~ as tbe reason for dropping the desert racing program. ~ki hal IIgned EddIe LawIon to ride their machIneIln Super· bIk. Production raeee this ~. "He's going to be the only Kawauki tum rider this ~:. aaId . KawaakI's Randy HaIL adding that. "He might aIIo ride our 2IiO lit some of the races." Lawson wII be riding Shel Thuet'. machines lit the HOUlton TTIahort treck double header, though. Countdown Engineering'sJ~rryCounts is trying to arganiz~ pouibly th~ first recall in motorcycl~ accessory business history. Last year, about 200 of his enduro clock/route chan hold~rs w~re sold with a def~ctive liquid·crystal display unit. Th~ d~fect causes th~ clock face to go black in bright sunshine. Since discovering tbe problem. Jerry has replaced many of the clocks. but th~re's stiD a few out there_ If you have ~n~. ~qnt!~t.1~rry Counts, 22102 Covello St., Canoga Park. CA 9130S, 21S/S48-8581. and h~'11 will fix it free of charge. Papa was talking to Mert Lawwlll the other day. and he reportI thet pro Cruller bicycle we tested In last we.k·s iuue Is . .IBng briskly. 'The flm 86 were gona before ChristmaI:' AId Mert. "It's realy taking off. W. can't begin to keep Upa" After many charges and counter· charges in recent weeks. we have some good news. Carnegie Cycle Park. near Livermore, CA. has been opened for public use by the California Depanment of Parks and Recreation. The park is open every day from 8 a.m. until sunset, and fees are $2 per vehicle per day. plus $1.50 for ~ach motorcycle used in th~ park. TelDJI:Orary restroom facilities are pl'OVlded, as well as a limited Dumber of picnic table;. Ther~ are no camping facilities provided at this time. If you milled the .peelel AMA D'n cel.nderlllcenl8 appUcetion lnaert in last year". lsIue 148 of c,de N.... not to worry. You can gilt one mailed to you by caIIng the Rac:er'. Hotline, 213I&98-0Il1&. and leaving your name and acldre•• (don't forget the ZIP cod.). Reader Gary Richter sent Papa a clipping from tbe magazin~ RIC Model Buildn. which ran an anicle about a radio-controlled mod~llDotOr cycl~. Yell. you heard right. a radiocontrolled model motorcycl~. designed after a Honda endurance racer. Inst~ad of tbe usual leaning method of turning. tbe radio controls tilt th~ front forks to initiat~ directional changes. Called the Kraft Systems "E1eck Ridrr," it retails for about $230 complete. Speed Week lit Deytone this ~ wi! Include an AMA . .lCtIoned amateur motoe:roa. which wII hit the dirt ImiIde Daytone International Sp••dway on Wedneeday, March &. Fourteen cia.... will be offered, with an 8OO-rIder Umlt. Preentry d••dine Is Feb. 28. Entries are BVIIliabIe by writing Amateur Motoc:roa, Daytone Intarnational Sp••dwey, P.O. DrBw. S, Day· tona Beach. FL 3201&. CoDtrary to popular belief. Dave Emdr does DOC haw a Superbik~ ride for the 1980 road racing season. Emde says h~'s all set with Z58 and 750cc bikes from Tony Smith and Buzz Bendli of Don Vesco Yamaha. but no ODe'S mad~ him a deal on ODe of the big four-strolters. Looking for a rider? Dial 714/726-5179 and ask for Dave. laurenI Offner hal announc:ecI his 1910 LOP RacIng Team. DevicI Taylor encI MBrk Gregson will contIist the 12&cc AMA National MX series while Merk Lawrence and Greg TheiIs race the 250cc _ _ and MIirty Moates and Gary Sernlcs do their thing In the &OOcc cIasa. All riders win be Vamahamounted and win be let up complete with mech.nlc. truck and .xpen.... Not too lhabby. Going to S~attl~? Tickets for tbe Feb. 9-10 Yamaha Gold Cup Supercross races in th~ Kingdom~ ar~ availabl~ from Fidelity Tick~t Office, 1622 Founh Ave.. Suit~ .2, Seattl~, WA 98101 (add a 25~ service charge). from panicipating Yamaha dralers and at the KlDgdom~ Box Office. Gen~ral admission is 16, reserved seats go for 18. $10 and $14. and kids under 12 can get in for only $1.

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