Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I I - ment Act of 1970 when it issued pur· c1ulle orden and contracu in 1977 and 1978 to a Mr. David Sheridan for the ORV study. That study. AMA con· tends. should have been implemented through a bidding procedure with other environmental and ORV experts having an opportunity to apply for the contract. CEQ's contract. amounting to more than S16,ooo in public funds. went to Sheridan through a private and exclusive arrangement in spite of his admission of limited experience and credentials toward the subject matter. In its suit, AMA asks that CEQ. be required to recall and fq)udiate the report. be restrained against further distribution, and pay costs of bringing the suit on behalf of AMA memben and othen similarly interested in use of public lands. 00 C') Southern Calfomia's OntarIo Motor SpeedwII'f cIoead for good on Wed- AMA sues BlM, hearing January 12 WESTERVILlE, OH. JAN. 6 The AmerIcan Motorcyclist Asaoc:letion and District 37 hav. flied suit egainat the Buruu of land Menegement. the f.d....1 bureeuerecy re.ponsible for the edmlnlstretlon of 4&0 million acres of public land In America. Th••uit. flied In Federal District Court for the C8ntre1 District of C81ifom1a. sought a temporary restnllnlng order against the .Ignlng and Immecllste impl.m.ntation of the BLM·. manag.ment plan for 25 ~ IICNS of CeIfoI.1iB desert. In eddItIon. the suit seeks a permanent injunction that would prevent the BLM from implem.ntlng that controversial plan In the futwe. The AMA suit charg.. that In dev.loplng its plan for the C8lifomia desert, the BLM W88 guilty of major violation. of the National Environm.ntal Policy Act and the Federel Lend Policy and Management Act of 1976. Those vioIetIons Includ. failure to dlecu.. reasonable planning alternatives. refusel to specify a "preferredalternativ.:· and failur. to provide a meaningful 9O-day period for public comm.nt on the plan. as required by law. In additIol.. the suit charges that the BLM vioIstecI President e.ter.• executive Ord.r 12044, which required an .conomlc impact stat.m.nt to reflect the financial implication. of such a major fed.ral action. The decision to to. legal actiOn against the B1.M and Its Des.rt Plan came after a long series of .fforts by motorcyclists to work within the BLM planning system. Rob Rasor. auoclate dlr.ctor of the AMA·. Governm.nt R.latlons Departm.nt. says, "RUng suit I. an .xpensiv. and burd.n.om. procau imposad upon our m.mbers by a stubbon federal bureauc:rec:y. W. find it unfortunate and ironic that our members must fund the work of that bureaucracy with th.lr tax dollars. th.n pay for a lawsuit to undo the havoc which that ~ ~.. Th. AMAlDI.trict 37 suit wes one of five saparata legal action. brought egalnst the C8llfomla Desert Plan In a rapid-fir. sari.. of legal maneuvers aimed at preventing the plan from being signed. In eddition to the AMAlDIatrict 37 legal ectIon••ults were also flied by the Callfomla State Lends Commission. the County of Inyo the C8lifomla Mining Association and the National Outdoor Coalition: All five suits originally sought a temporary re.tralnlng order against the plan'••Ignlng. However. the State Lend. Commission sattled Its complaint with the BLM prior to that signing. end the r.malnlng four suits were consolidated In a Dec. 18 hearing before Judge A. Wallace Tashlma. The Judge acknowledged strong evidence of planning deficiencies on the part of the BLM. but ruled that the temporary restraining order wes not necessary In order to prev.nt Imtperabl. harm to the p!aintlHs in the case. On those grounds, the judge refused to Issue the t8n1pOl'8l Y restreJnng order and sc:heclliled a '-Ing on the permanent Injunction for Jan. 12. 1981. In respoNe to the judge'. ruling, Rasor said. "W. are encouraged by the judge'. recogIlIition of our arguments on the procedwaI cIeficIellCies In the Plan'. development. Naturally. w.'ra disappointed that h. chose not to issue the restraining order. but w. feel a number of I.sues unrelated to the Plen itself probably affected that decision. For .xampl•• had he granted the order. he would have been required to hold the injunction hearing within 10 days. which would have pieced it squarely In the midst of the Chrlstm.. hoIdays. The delay doe. no real harm to our casa. and In fact will glv. us the opportunity to pre•• nt our arguments In a more delibet'llte and .ffectiv. fa.hion." • 2 TIte American Motorcyclist Association has filed in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., a suit against the United States Council on Environ· mental Quality and the Office of En· vironmental Quality, an agency within the Executive Office of the President. The action claims that the agencies ~ seven named officen and employees VIolated Federal laws in 1977 and 1978 in t.he issua~ce of contracts for a study entitled. Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands." AMA's suit charges that CEQ violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Environmental Quality Improve' nesday. Dec. 17. when it w.. sold to a firm that plan. to tum the acreag. Into a hou.lng d.v.1opm.nt. Th. rac. facility wes built In 1970 at a cost of $26 million and over the y.a,. ho.ted championship and club road races and NHRAI NMRA Championship drag rece•• In addition to USAC end NASCAR autoreces. Richard Bender, 45. took his own life on Wednesday. Dec. 17, at his home in Stone Mountain. GA. Bender received the P.A. Sturtevant Company's Master of Mechanics Trophy in 1968. That award honorded Bender for his tuning of the Triumphs that Gary Nixon rode on his way to the AMA Grand National Championship that year.. Bender also prepared the Triumph that Buddy Elmore rode to vic· tory in the 1966 Daytona 200. Other notable riden who rode Bender· prepared bikes over the yean include Gene Romero. Gary Fisher and Chuck Palmgren. In addition to many yean spent with Triumph. Bender also w?rk~ f~r Yamaha and Rose Cycle DlItnbutmg. A memorial service was conducted on Friday. Dec. 19. in Lilibum. GA. U.S. Suzuki has moved. The eorpo. ate Headquarters and Weetern Part Distribution Center now reside. happily at 3211 East Imperial Highway. Brea. CA 12821 In an .. million. 180.000 .quar.foot complex. Their new phone number Is 7141811-7040. Here's an important date: Jan. 51. That's when ABC Wide World of Sports will show their 1980 500cc USGP of MotOCt'Oll program. Better mark it on the calendar! In the opening round of the 11th an.-I FlorIda WIrar-AMA Motoero.. Serle.. held Jan. 3-4 at Orlendo. Team Vamaha·. Bob Hannah showed his winning WIIYS once again with a perfect 1-1 ~ in the 2IiOcc Pro cIess. Following Hannah ~ KrIs BIgelow (Yam) with a ~ and DavId BaIley (!(aw) with a 4-3. Also competing In that class are Johnny O·Ma.... Danny LePorte and Chuck Sun. In the 126cc Pro rac•• floridian Todd Hempstead 11-3) won over Stev. Martin (3-2) and Donnie Cent8loupl (5-11. All thr.. w.r. Vame"" mounted. In the Open Pro .vent. Vamaha rid... K.nny K.yIon 11-1) topped Mick.y Keesler who ren 3-3 on hi. Malco and Hu.qvarnamounted Gary Pustelak 18-2). AMA Pro MXen...talr.e note: Some Pro riden showed up in florida with incorrect 250cc clasa number plates. This year. all 250cc plates are white with blaclr. numben. not green with white nuinben. Colon in the other two c l _ remain tbe same - black with white numben for the 125s and yellow with blaclr. numben for the 500a - but all front platel must measure ll!" X 12" with a maximum 2" radiUll cut on the four comen. Trial. n.w.: Th. annuel North Amerlc:en Trials Council meeting In Denver on Dec. 8-7 produced a best-five-of eight schedule of the 1981 NATCIAMA Oburved T...... SerIes. Included In the schecIuIe Is a first.."... triple header. Rated for Lebor Day Weekend In the PacIfIc Northw••t. Th. 1180 ....1 ••• d••~" a gaa-crunch aIesh to • events. pulled IIIghtIy more toteI ...bles than the nIne-rouncI 1m ....... The U.S. World Champion.hlp round. scheduled for Sulllley. June 14. will be held at WatIdna Glen. NV. A round of the NetIoneI Champlonehlp SIcIecer Trials ..... has been slotted for 8eturday. The Council created thr.. new champlon.hlp. which will b. d.t.rmln.d out.ld. the .Ightround national ........ Nine high quality Iocel trIaIa. three In 8IICh region. wiI be ••I.ewct to c:erry the NATCIAMA sanction. These three r.glonal ••rle. will produce Ea.t.rn. C.ntral. and W.atem Champions among NatIonal cilia riders. RegIonal Champlonehlps for the support d ..... - Sportsmen. senior. Super Senior. and High School - will continue to be determined by the NatIonal ..... itself. Scott H..... who finlshec:l second In the 1 . Netional ...... wes continued .. recipient of the proceed. of the flrst annual United Stete. Trial. Team raffle. This program WII. orgenlzed to raise fund. to h.lp quallfl.d rid.,. compete overs.... Coamo~n 1.., Motors provided a MontMa Cote for the lucky tlckat holder. In the winning tlckat holder wi. have a choIc:e from flve mechlnes - Mom-&. hIIl)et. SWM. 0-. or BuItaco. The only rule chang. WM a clarlflcedon of foI wwd rnotion to r.cognlz. the .top-end-balenc. technlqu. permitted In FIM competition, Riders may stop or .ven roll backwarcla without a stop penalty. provided th.y keep both f.et on the p.g.. The 11.1 .chedul.: Jun. 14. New Vork (World Round): June 20. PennayIvenia; June 21. Pennsylvania; sept. 6. Waahlngton: Sept. 8. Oregon: Sept. 7. 0Ng0n: Oct. 3. 1-..018; Oct. 4. Incllena. AMA's Supercrosa Series kicks off at Anaheim Stadium with the Schliusponsored. Stadium Moto~rts-pro moted race on Jan. 51. Tlclr.eu are available through Ticlr.etron. Charge Line (714/555·5151) or by mail at the Anaheim Convention Center. Prices are $6. S9. Sll!. SI5 or S18. Schliu is a Supercrosa sponsor this year. too. at the Stadium Motorsport and Pace Management races. A .hwt chat with Bred lack.y prior to the hoIkIaya had him juat about ready to sign a contract with Suzuki due In pert to Kaweaeld cutting back on th.lr racing progrem In the liOOcc motoe:rou Grends PrIx. WIth Stlg Peteruon wr.nchlng. Lack.y .ald. "I'm going to race the liOOcc Grand PrIx for '81 and '82." Bred faeIs some of his .tIffest competition wli come from r.lgnlng 600cc champion Andre Malherbe and form.r 260cc champ Haken Carlqvlst. Go Bredl The California State Park and Recreation Commisaion will hold a hearing on Thun. Jan. 8. to review. d.iacusa

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