Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

h alfwa y p o int before an injuryprod ucing crash and a subsequent tim e pena lt y took th em ou t of contention. J ean Pa u l Min gels (Yam) took th e lead before h e cras he d a lso a n d tu rned the lead over to Neveu . HosPITal STOP: Hurley W ilvert, who now works at Kawasaki and was on their factory road racing team in the mid- ' 7 0 s, has been hospitalized since New Years Day following a serious snowmobile accident. Wilvert was apparently pinned between a steel gate and the snowmobile in the high speed impact, breaking both legs, his jaw, cheekbones and eye sockets. Hurley is still in the hospital, but should be released at the end of this week. We 're sure he would appreciate hearing from the motorcycle community. Address that note to his attention at Kawasaki, 3630 Garry se., Santa Ana, CA 92704. CN 00 en .-4 Hos PITal STOP: Bel-Ra y's Dave Rod gers broke his shoulder in two places as th e result of a Jan. 19 fourwhee l drive acci de n t down in Baj a. Rodgers, a lo ng with Bryar Hol comb a nd Robi n Christen sen , was in a su p port veh icle for th e Motorcyclist / Baja Ch ase trail ride th at sta rte d after the recent An aheim Trade Show. T he vehicle was reporte dly tota lled, but both Holcomb a nd Christen sen esca ped inju ry. Rod gers was hospitalized briefly, but as of pressda v Jan . 26, was back a t work. Send those get well ca rds to him a t Bel -Ra y, 10015 Muirlands Blvd ., U n it G, Irvin e, CA 927 14. Word reaches us from Japan via England that in a recent dea ler show in Japan, Honda displayed a mock-up of what very well m ight be a 1 983 production machine. Ca lled the VT250 , it 's a fo ur-stroke, water-cooled V-twin with a 90-degree cylinder layout ala Ducati. The headwork is said to contain four valves per cylinder and the target for engine output is in the neighborhood of 35. The Pro-Link chassis sits on 16-inch wheels. A 350cc version might be produced as well. Steve Goodspring will be jo in in g th e instruction sta ff o f th e L. A. TradeTechnical Co llege mo torcycle co urse. Go odsprin g is a Trade-T ech grad ua te wh o h ad been em p loyed by Ya maha for th e pas t fo ur years. Wh en he jo in ed the sta ff on Feb . 3, chief in structor Pa t Owen s said Goodsprin g will be work in g will be worki ng wit h seco nd semester students. The Hungry Valley Citizen's Advi sory Committee u nderwent reorganization recently and w ill now be known as the Hungry 7 -2. Lowell Gomes is the chairman, Dwight Bickmore i s t he v icechairman and Ed Waldheim is the secretary. Also ho lding spots on the committee are Melissa Fulton, Robert Eller, Joseph Puckett and Phil Marsik. Ridin g a factory Honda 550 single, Fren chman C yril Neve u led a 1-2 sweep of the J an. 1-20 Paris to Dak ar 7,400 m ile enduran ce race. Three o ther H o n da s had been leading a t th e We got a sneak preview of the new Honda works Supercross machines, and you're seeing the first-ever pictures right here. The most radical innovation we could see was the gas tank, which berely covers the frame tube but then runs down below the level of the seat to the top of the engine cases. Cosmetic changes include a switch to a bright blue seat. A note o f ex p la n a tion on th e Eddie La wson Rep lica tha t Kawasak i is int ro du ci ng . O ri gina ll y labled th e GPz IOOO, it's been ren a med and wi ll be offered in two versions . The first is th e KZIOOOR , whi ch will co me with the sa me p ain twork as the Lawson m achine, along with Kerk er p ip e and external reserv oir shocks. There ' ll be 700 o f those for sale. Th e seco nd version is th e KZIOOOS, a full -on readyto -race Superb ik e com p lete KHI racing m oto r. Onl y 30 o f th ese machines wi ll be avai la ble, and they will be so ld through th e racing de pa rt me nt, so ge t you r resume ready. Graham Noyce (Hon) has captured hi s fifth British Championship follow ed by 250cc World Champion Neil Hudson. Dave Watson took t hi rd . Way ne Ra in ey found a box waiting for h im to ride at Dayto na. T he box di dn' t h a ve much in th e way of speed so th ey ope ned it a n d found o ne of th e new Eddi e Lawson Repl ica producti o n Superb ik es. Ra iney broke it in a nd ra n a 2: 14 1ap. Ra in ey sa id, "It on ly has about 125 horsepower." Papa had heard that the bi kes were just lik e Edd ie's except for Rob Muzzy headwor k an d the carbs. T h e old g uy h ad heard th a t even th e ma ssive front breaks wou ld be p rod uction. Ra in ey would n 't say for su re, b u t he said it stops good l Girl racer Christine Baur will be at Daytona on a TZ250J. Speaking IItthe KPFK Centerstand Day, during her interview Baur .id, "I don 'tthink that women can physically compete with men in Pro motocross , but road rac ing depends more on thinking than strength. That's not to say that motocross does not requ ire thought, j ust that road racing doesn't require the same strength. I think that a woman could become a good road racer." Baur also said that she started racing to help her do better stunts, but now she does stunts to pay for racing . Her goal is to make her racing pay it s own way. ,. ~ Debbie Evan s mad e a n appeara nce a t Centersta n d Day a nd jumped o n a tria ls bike after a two year la yo ff and proceeded to do so me nea t tri cks. in cluding her fam ou s h ead stand. She wore desi gn er jean s, tennis shoes, a pa rka and a borrowed helmet. She rode a bike she had neve r ri dde n before. She tried about four helmets till she fo u nd o ne near small eno ugh. In last week 's Golden State race at Sand Hill Ranch, 125cc Pro winner Johnny O 'Mara was on a production CR125, not a factory Honda as originally reported. Also, in the second 500cc Pro moto, it was not a shock problem that caused Phil Larson to fade but a transmission that was reluctant to shift out of second. T he Distr ict 37 awards presen ta tion will be held J an. 29 at the Gatch resta u ran t o n Sta te Coll ege Blvd ., across fro m Anahei m St ad ium . T hi ngs get u nderway at 7:30 p.m. The Speedway on Ice Folks have four open positions for qualified riders in the Feb . 27 Bob Hetrick Memorial Speedway on Ice Championships in Tucson, AZ. Total prize money for the event is $3700, w ith the win good for $1000. Call 602/296-1346. Twoda ys a fter an art icle ap peared in th e L os A ngeles Times about him a nd th e upcomin g race, Dal e's Modern C ycl e/H a llm an /Whit e Bros. Ya maha rid er Bruce Ogi lvi e took h is tru sty white IT 465 to th e overa ll wi n at th e PRO /Dirt Explosi on Adelanto G ra nd Prix. J eff Ka p lan passed Mike Ba ker on th e last la p for secon d overa ll a n d first 250cc whi le Mo rgan Malacco g ra bbed fourth overa ll, seco nd O pen. Yamaha -mounted Bill Ma llOX bea t a II o the r 125s to the fi n ish in th e two-a n d-a- h alf hour race, a nd Dave Ald ana took his Honda to th e Class 30 win. Co vera ge next week . Smith Goggles has announced a $17,200 contingency posting for privateers only in Supercross and National MXcompetition. The first overall privateer, if he's wearing Smith goggles, will collect $250. A second ove ra ll privateer placing and a pa ir of Smiths over your eyes would net you $150. An aheim Husq varna a nd Pro Circuit Pro du cts ha ve moved, and o wne r Mit ch Payton wa nts to in vite everyone to th e gra nd o pe n ing J a n . 29 at 7:30 p.m., th e ni ght before the Anaheim Supercross. Besides chec kin g ou t th e new expan ded facil ities an d devouri ng munchies, H usky tea m mem bers Kris Bigelo w a nd Mik e Guerra , Ma rk Blackwell , Pro Circuit rider Dave Gerig a nd ot hers in cluding Da rrell Sh ultz and Go at Breker will be th ere to ben ch race and sign a ut ographs. T h e new address is 4212 E. La Pa lm a , Anaheim, CA 92807, between Tust in and Lake View on La Pa lm a. If yo u need to ca ll , 714/9935400 is th e number. EDAW, an environmental planning company, has begun work on an OHV Tra ils Plan for California Department of Parks and Recreation. EDAW will be interviewing OHV trail users by phone, mail and in person at OHV trail areas. In addit ion they w ill inventory OHV trails for the Plan, which is to be completed early next year. For more inf o on the survey and the development of the plan, contact Henry Ortman, Development Division, Dept. of Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 2390, Sacramento, CA 96811 , 916 /322-9572. We at Cycle N ew s would like to th ank th e frien dl y Iolks a t Ed Kretz &: Son Mo torcycl es in Monterey Pa rk, CA, [or th e use of one of th eir RM2 50Z Suzu kis in o ur booth at th e Ana he im Mot orcycl e &: Accessory trad e show. The GSM Motocycle Accessories of North Ho llywood, CA. has just purchased the fo rmer Import Cycle, located in Ponca City, OK. The purchase of the 11,000 square foot bu ild ing was necessary

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