Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

AMAlD-37 file suit against California Desert Plan LOS ANGELES, CA. DEC. 15 In whet Amertcen Motorcyclist Associlltlon's Rob Rasor C8IIecL ..AMA's legal issue in Celifomill:' the Assoc:iatIon end DIstrict:f1 fled suit Friday, Dec. 12 against the BLM's CalIfornia o - t 111M. In • phone conversation. Rasor told Crde News thlIt AMA had originlllly planned to file the suit during the week of Dec. 15-11, but the pIens hed chenged when the SUIte of CeIIfomie flied a simllllr suit on Friday seeking a temporary r.b _ling order epInst the signing of the - first"'*" 00 C') pIen. The Celifomill case WM eaigned to Judge Wetera In Los AI'II.I••, and. hearing WlIS scheduled for today, Mondlly, Dec. 15 where Judge Wetera would consider the SUIte'S motion for en Injunction against the Plen. Appeal board upholds Cooley's Superbike title WESTERVILLE, OH, DEC. 15 An American Motorcyclist Asaociation appeal bo8rd hIlS upheld a Nov. 28 decillion by Mike DiPrete, AMA's commissioner of pofeuloi.. rlICing, meklng Wn Cooley of Sentll AM. CA. the chempion of the 1980 Superbike Serin. DIPrete lICted on two protests filed 8S a result of the series flMIe held Oct. 5,IIt DeytoMlntemlltionel Speedwey. Cooley, riding a Yoshl· mura Suzuki, edged Teem Hol'ldll's Freddie Spencer lit the finish line to win thlIt rece end to epperMtIy cIIIim the c:twnplonshlp. But Cooley's win _ protested by Teem K_kl's Eddie Lewson, who came into the rece with a13-point Ieed then creshed In the main event and felled to score the points he needed to clinch the crown. Following the rllC8, llIwson proteSted thlIt the frame, on Cooley's mec:hlne hed been lilegelly modified. ThlIt protest _ upheld by r8Ce officlels and Cooley _ disqualified, epperently giving the title to Lewson. However, Cooley appealed thlIt decislon. In his Nov. 26 decision, Commissioner DlPrllte ruled thet Lewson hed switched motorcycles prior to the Daytone meln event. He wn therefore disqualified from the event and ineligible to file his protest ageinst Cooley. On. Dec. 9, the appeal boerd upheld thet decision with the following stetement: 1. At his own admission, Lewson was illegally entered In the event. IHe did not ride the seme machine he qualified.1 2. Therefore, Lewson's protest is disellowed. 3. Cooley _ a legel entrant In the rece beC8uS8 he pessed teehnlcel Inspection prior to the race and no offlciel protest was filed. 4. Therefore, the Appeal Boerd upholds the Wes Cooley appeel, and the results as first posted will be the offlciel results of the race meeting run on OCt. 5, 1980, at Daytone Beach, florida. 5. This Boerd further finds thet modifications to the competitors' mechines are at the present time unclear in the rules and Inter· pretetlons of seme. The Boerd feels thet it is the responsibility. of the AMA to make rules regerdlng frame modifications thlIt ere more clearly defined and to provide technical inspections prior to the race thet either approve or disepprove the vehicles entered. 6. Besed upon evidence and testimony at this hearing. our findings II ldicete thlIt there hes been laxity in the enforcement of the frame modification rule for some time, and the Boerd recommends thet the AMA take corrective actions to insure thlIt the apparent laxity in officiating and technicel inspections be improved and strengthened to elimillllte rule infrections in the future. 7. This Boerd recommends thet the AMA fine the participant. Eddie Lewson, under Chapter XI. B, Paragraph 3, $1,000 for violating rule Chapter IX, Paragraph 1B; but suspend said fine pending completion of competition for a one-year period from this dlIte without a violation of the AMA competition rule permining to changing of motorcycles. B. This Boerd further believes, from the evidence, that the lack of clarity in the rule pert8ining to Superbike frames was teken advantege of in the construction of Cooley's mechine, and recom· mends that the AMA teke a firm position against "stretching" of rules. Based on the appeal board finding, the following are the official final stending's in the 1980 AMA Superbike Championship Series: 1. Wes Cooley, Sente Ana, CA.(128); 2. Eddie Lawson, Onterio, CA, 11211; 3. Freddie Spencer, Shreveport. LA (111); 4. Dave Aldana, Garden Grove, CA, 1991; 5. Chuck Parme, La Jolla, CA. (62); 6. Roberto Pletri. Los Angeles, CA. 1611; 7. Ron Pierce, Bakersfield. CA (531: B. James Adamo, Glen Cove, NY, 149); 9. Mike Beldwin, Darien, CT. (371: 10. Harry Klinzmann, Gardan Grove. CA,I34I. 4 AMA. represented by Robert HlnerfMI of Murphy, Thom_.. HlnerfeJd end CBhHI, hIlS .eeI for a continuence untl Dec:. 17 so that AMA mey prepare their case. AMA's plan of ett8Ck wII be to prove thlIt the PIen's Environmental ImpllCt StIltement _ InecIequlrW end thlIt there w.... "procedureI deflclenc." In the process such 8S lnedequete opportU~for public Input. Reeor lidded thlIt AMA fIIIt the SUIte'. case _ "1WrOW In scope" comperecI with AMA's. NlItIonel Outdoor CoalitIon Is also filing on the Desert Plen 8S an Intervener to the stlIt8'S case. Inyo County .Iso hIlS plenned to file suit. according to our Information lit pnIssdme. It Is rumored that the Sierre Club will file 8S .n Intervener to the BLM case. In the "rumor stages" but sounding better day by day is the story that AMA will file suit agaiDit the Council on Environmental Quality for having comtnislioned David Sheridan to prepare his now-infamous report about ORV use on public lands. AMA contends that the CEQ:s failure to take bids on the project denied the scientific community a chance to do an accurate job. They're expected to me the suit before President Caner leaves office. "I'm very much against it lmotorcycle rider training) lit the high school level ..... And finely, "lilt the motorcycle Industry foot the blIlfor moton:ycIe rider educ8tIonJ,." Maybe someone should teH them .bout ell the efforts thlIt . . being made towerd motorcycle safety; couIcI be a good LoA. show IntM'ViewIng some of the Motorcycle Safety FowIdlItion people, for example •.. TIme out! That's right. with the exception of the wonderful people who handle your subscriptions and our bookkeeping. we're on WlClltioI.. In a word: Gone. So, If you need to talk to an editor, an ed seJesperson, one of our production people or one of our gorgeous secretaries, pi.... try agein on Dec. 31. Then we all gilt a d.y of recovery on Jan. 1, after which we'll be beck In harness on J.n. 2. reedy to shoot .nother 50 Issues your way, Although reliable IOUrcea withiD the iDClUltry' say we will be ReiDg a 750cc V -twin from Honda for dirt track raciDg, Honda'. DenniI McKay laY' DO. '"To my knowledge right DOW, there iID't a Honda 750cc din trader in the future. If we worked the CX500 to a 750 we'd have to have 25 (for AMA approval), and it would take awfully big bucD from my program for that. AI far alJapan helping out, I doubt aerioualy - knowing what their product is - that they will be able to do that for me. The new bike at HoUlton, which is what Yl?u might have been hearing about, is a watercooled Ihon tracker bued on our MX bike. However, I'm DOt even lUre of that becaUle production is running late, and I don't know if I'll have enough AMA approval." Industry inaiders dilpute McKay'. claim and say although everybody i. suppoaedly 1W0m to secrecy about a CX 750, everybody lIeeDlS to know about it. . The sixth annual tour from nonhero California to the AMA/Winston Pro Series opener in HOUlton in February is being organized now. Interested panies Ihould contact Bill Spencer at 415/969-1682 ASAP. Talk .bout nightmeres ... Papa stumbled out of bed on Monday morning .nd tottered up to the TV set. first cup of coffee In hand, just in time to tune in the countellllnce of Ms. PIItricIe Zonker who _ playing guest on L.A., KABC's eerty morning talk show. Just in case you were hoping otherwise, no, she hesn't slacked up in her outspoken criticism of motorcycles. While we certainly wish she hedn't received the .ir time to expound on her views, we must .dmit thlIt the 0.",. .... L.A. host and the other guest. California Highway P.trol motorcycle officer Bruce Wiedmer provided more then ample opposition to Zonker's opinions. If you sew it lor even if you didn't! and would like to register a comment with the program's staff, ple.se send your letters to the following address: Daybreak L.A" Re: Motorcycle Safety, 4151 Prospect Ave.• Hollywood. CA 90028. Or call 21315575332. Want to hear a few of her finest remarks? "Motorcyclists are eating it up." she responded to a who's-buying-your-book question. 0.""•• 0.,.,.... Would you believe • sern!-support effort from Suzuki for TT end short a.eu.r. trlICIt7 You RonnIe Jones will do the riding with St-rkY Edmonston. fonn.ty of LKtron, 8S -.n rneneger and coordlnlltOr. "It's a eupport effort:' seld Jones. .." we do well In the coming ...son then maybe Suzuki wli be fully behind it In 1182." Jones will be using • PE2IIO for the basis of his short trlICker while the 8S yilt to be r.I..... DR&OOX four-stroke forms the beaJs for the TT bike. "The b1k. should look really nice. The Viper frame will be dark blue with • yellow tenk with three blue strIpn on It. Everything that can be enodIzed gold will be:' seld Jones. Always a believer in giving credit where credit's due. Malcolm McCassy gave us a call to keep the record straight in regard to a couple of items about the Horsepower Factory thumper featured in the "Monster (Continued to page JO)

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