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/126594
Reservations are still being accapted for tha Motor Sport Press Association's annual banquet set for Satur· day night Jan. 23 in San Francisco. Northern california's Don Greene, winner of the AMAIWinston Pro Series Novice Road Race number one, will be among the award winners. For info and reservations, call Steve Perry, 415/495-1222. or Bill Spencer, 969·1682. Word has it that possibly four of CanAm 's 500cc thumpers are being prepped for the Houston TT National , with potential riders being Steve Eklund , Alex Jorgensen and Scott Pearson. Don't be surprised to see Pearson on a KX250 in the short track , either. Speaking of Houston and the AMAI Winston Pro Series '82 opener, there are still a few spots available on the tour that leaves from San Francisco, Feb. 5-8. Cost will be about $500 per person. Call Bill Spencer at Mt. View Distributing for the whole scoop, 415/969-1682. The Scott USA Florida Winter-AM A Series is underway near the balmy Atlantic. The first round ran Jan . 3 at Orlando, where Honda 's Chuck Sun snatched an Open Pro victory, Honda support rider JoJo Keller won the 250cc Pro class and California Kawasaki support rider Rick Maki topped the 125cc Pros. The following week in St. Petersberg, Jan. 10, Sun repeated his Open class win with a I-I performance. The other two classes saw different winners as privateer Yamaha pilot Keith Oelerich took a 2-3 250cc victory and Honda support rider Kenny Keylon blitzed both 125cc motes. Yamaha's "Three endearing reasons to buy a Seca" ad in the last issue contained an error. Regarding the AFM four-hour endurance race at Sears Point runners-up Joe Montoya, Wayne Montoya and Kurt Brickel were only 10 seconds behind the winners, Rhys Howard and Mike Kenyon. The ad was incorrect in claiming the winners had a ene-lap lead. The Sears Point Knobby Bowl, slated to run Jan. 3 but then washed away by the rainstorm that left much of northern California a disaster area, has been rescheduled. Jan . 31 is the new date and everything else will remain as it was . For more info, call Sears Point at 707 /938-8448. In news from the drag racing front. Mike Gray, the man behind the Bo O'BrochtalTerminal Van Lines effort has gotten rid of his two Top Fuelers. Gray reportedly converted one - the one O'Brochta ran a 7.08 quarter mile on in 1980into a coffee table. The other, newer machine has been sold to Virgil Knapp and Frog Thacker will ride it in 1982. Gray, it has been said, will be working with Elmer Trett next season. There apparently was some confusion over Stadium Mororsports' offer of a free Supercross admission ticket to those riders entering the following day's amateur event. If you were afraid you wouldn't be able to sit by your friends , don't be . The offer is actually a voucher for a $15 VIP ticket, and you can exchange it for the actual ticket when you and your group buy tickets together. Entries are now open for the 10th annual Tecate 500 enduro, a twoday event south of the border on Apr. 3-4, Due to the fact that Mexican gas prices have doubled, the entry fee has gone up to $120, For more info contact the Los Ancianos M .C., P.O. Box 808, Santee, CA 92071, 714/433-6830. Paul Bostrom, former racing great and Vet Expert winner in the Cow Puncher cross country race last month , broke an ankle recently while cow trailing and is now hobbling around the shows and at his Honda dealership in San Francisco. "I'll be at Anaheim, aliI have to do is convince my boss," said Kent Howerton when contacted at home in Texas. "I've been riding for three weeks with the cast but now I've got a hard rubber splint. I can ride pretty well with it . The jumps don't bother me, I just can't get the clutch as fast. My doctor says I can race but I will have to ride the first couple of races with the splint. My injury was unfortunate but the break from racing helped . I enjoy riding 10 times as much as I did before. Now all I want to do is win races." The Rhinestone Cowboy also had his knee operated on while he was out. The injury was not as bad as originally suspected. Two small pieces of cartilage were trimmed about four weeks ago. Kent was riding less than a week later and has started running and training again. Many at Bell Helmets lost their jobs as the firm 's new management recently trimmed the work force by 100 employees. "We've consolidated the night and day shifts," said Bell Marketing Director Dick Wallingford. "We'll have the same capacity, just fewer people. In fact , our sales are up over last year and we plan to be more aggressive in our sales and racing support programs." Asked why so many people were laid off, Wallingford replied , "Our spending has been way out of industry norms in regards to the number of people working for us." "We're going to run both Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey in the (Houston) short treck and IT races," said Kawasaki Racing Team Manager Gary Mathers. The Kawasaki effort will utilize the familiar 250 two·stroke for the short treck. and a two-stroke engine in the 490cc range for the IT. Rainey will also use Kawasaki equipment for the remaining Winston Pro Series short tracks and ITs. As you read this Kawasaki is expected to have both Lawson and Rainey testing road racers at Daytona, although Mathers would not specify which machines would be tested. It is known, however, that the KR500 that Lawson will ride in U.S. Formula One events is in the country, Speaking of Lawson and the KR500, Kawasaki has made a commitment to back Lawson in European events that do not conflict with his U.S. schedule. U.S. Grand National Champion Mike Kidd, Wheelie King Doug Domokos, Motocross Mom Gale Webb and Larry Huffman, the Voice of Super· cross, will be the headliners at The Great American Motorcycle Shows when the six-show series opens at Cow Palace in San Francisco Jan. 22-24. World Speedway Champion Bruce Penhall and hillclimb champion John Williams have signed to appear later in the series. Great American has also purchased the rights to screen the film classic On Any Sunday at the film festival held at each show. The shows open on a Friday with Fox Night when each adult male peying the $5 edmission can bring in one female free, More info can be had at 714/675-0132. Appetizers will be served on Los Angeles area television prior to the Jan. 30 Supercross Kickoff '82 entree as KHJTV Channel 9 presents two half-hour Supercross broadcasts. The first, covering the Coca-Cola Supercross Finals run at San Diego last November, will air Jan. 15 at 11 p.m. The second, showing last year's Anaheim contest , runs Jan. 29 at midnight. KPFK, a listener-sponsored southern california radio station located at 90.7 on the FM dial, will present Centerstand Day in honor of its weekly program for motorcyclists. The day is Jan. 23, the action bagins at 10 a.m, and there will be live radio coverage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be displays from the major manufacturers and organizations, and guests slated to Here are two first-ever peeks at Honda road racing exotica for 1982. (Below left) The NS500 is Honda's two-stroke V-3 (two cylinders up, one forward) that Freddie Spencer and Marco Lucchinelli will ride in the GPs. One source said, "It's fast very light and Freddie likes it." (Below right! Honda's new F·1 bike, the SWS, is a 1000cc V-4 based on the V-45 Sabre and will debut at Daytona under Spencer and Mike Baldwin. The SWS features Pro-Link suspension and water-cooling. Both bikes will most likely undergo several changes before they're raced. 2