Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

II Helmets co ntin ues to lean o ut its anageme nt staff, a nd mar keting ' rector Eldon R. " Dick"Wa ll ingford as let go last week. Don Emde, ho no w is in charge o f marketin g r the mo tor sports division, ex pla inth e si tua tion at-Bell as follows: in ce Ph il Ma th ews (the p res ide nt) . s co me on boa rd , he' s done some ne -t u ni ng in the co mpany and that 5 one of th e steps, leaning down e managem ent side of th e co mpany r better response." II you MXers, pay attention! The try form for the annua l Mam~oth Mountain Motocross w ill ,e printed in Cycle News issue 1 9. This is issue #13 you're read19 now, and issue # 19 should h it he stands on May 19.-Entries for he popular event open on May 5. as t week we mentioned th at OCIR rou ld be firing up its weekl y ni ght IX program on T h ursda y eveni ngs. h is week we'll go a step fun her a nd ive you th eir co rrect p hone number: 14/552 -5511. .B2 3 9 7 , the Bruce Young-sponored measure that would take the :a lif o rnia Off-Highway Vehicle und away from the Department f Parks and Recreation and give it ) an independent OHV commision, passed its first committee ote with a 5-0 vote in favor. THe ill now goes to the Assembly 'lays and Means Committee, he re it could face a stiff chalmge. Assemblyman John Vasoncellos, who helped engineer ~e $8.5 million rip-off of the OHV u n d last month, chairs the Ways nd Means Committee. Papa's eople in Sacramento tell h im that 'w letters have been w ritten in upport of the measure, so puuheze send one to you r state semblyman today, urging his pport of AB2397. hile yo u 're at it, as k your sta te presenta rives to su p port Alan Rob ns' SB2056. This bill wou ld require e sta te to repa y the 8.5 million ken from the OHV Fund wi thi n 90 ys after it became law . So if yo u a n t to ride , write! evin Case, whose broken le g we ported on last vwek, is expected be released from the hospita l is week. Case was injured in an RA ra c e at Perris , not in Ba ja as e ha d re po rted . ust ralian Mot orcycle News carried item recently specu la ting tha t R ich hl ach ter wou ld be riding for the g lis h CCM ma rque in th is year's O World Road Racing Cha m cc o nship. Sch achter 'lia s rep oned to ve had talks with CCM boss Ala n ews a fter winning the Day tona rmula T wo race. Iso reported in the Australian ess was the return of Avon tires the GP road racing scene. It wil done through one of Avon's mpanies, International Race Tire rvices, and tires for 250, 500cc d endurance racers are expected be aveilable. MA/Dragbi ke! ac tio n gets under ay on Apr. 17 -18 with the Desert ationals event at Antelope Valley ace way near Pa lmdale, CA. T he re ill be a full card of a ma teu r a n d ofessiona l racing, includ in g n ew outh Eliminator classes, and quali ing begins on Saturda y wit h th e a in event a t 2 p .m . Sunday. Antepe Valle y R acewa y is loca ted o n e. T in L itt le Rock. Call 714/ 292 44 after 7 p .m . for event in fo. Pabst Brewing Company made official their involvement with Harley-Davidson's racing effort at a press conference on Wednesday, Ma rch 3, during Cycle Week. The amount of involvement7 A rumored $250,000. T he Seq uo ia Na tio na l Forest is seeking mot orcycle clubs to "adopt" offroad veh icle tra il s. In excha nge for the club provid ing one weekend a year for ro u tine trail mainten ance suc h as cu tti ng logs, brushing the trail cleaning the pa th and ins ta ll ing wa ter diversions. the Forest Service will put a sign o n th e trail in d icat ing that it' s been adopted by yo ur cl ub. T hey wi ll a lso provide tech n ica l ass ista nce a nd a ny specia l tools tha t mig ht be necessary. For more on the Adopt-A-Trail prog ram , write to the U.S. Forest Service. P .O. Box 6, Kernville. CA 93238 , Atte n tio n: Tom Crimmins. Honda CBX owners might be glad to hear that there is an association out there jus t for owners of the six-cylinder beast. The International CBX Owners Association says that it's dedicated to the preservation of the Honda CBX, and director Stan Carpenter says he'd be g lad to send out membership applications and data on association benefits to anyone sending anSASEtohimatP.O. Box 4824, Mesa , AZ 85201. Marlboro ha s made their sponsorsh ip o f G iacomo Agostini 's ro ad racing team officia l. The cigarette manufacturer revealed at a recent p ress conferen ce in Italy tha t they are putting over $300,000 int o the team. Dayto na win ne r Graem e Crosby a nd Ital ian Graziano Rossi will contest the Wo rld Championship Road Race Seri es aboard 500cc Yamahas. Crosby h as a works bike, but Rossi will compete a board a production 500 until la ter in th e season. Triumph, the British motorcycle manufacturer, is out of debt. The Meriden, Eng land, based firm has pa id off nearly $20 m illion in government loans and it s once clouded future has brightened . "We are now completely out of debt to the government. The Sword of Damoeles that has been hangi n g over Triu mph fo r ove r s ix ye a rs has be en re moved . " said J o hn Rosa m u nd, c hairman of Triu m ph Moto r Cycles (Me rid e n) Ltd . at a dealers ' meeting in Eng land a w e e k ago. Company o"icials say t he sale of Triumph Bo nnevilles in America made the pay-back possib le . Triumph d isplayed the new e ightva lve 750cc Triu m p h TSS at the meeting . T he No rth Am erican Tria ls Co u nci l as ked us to co nvey their tha n ks to H i-P oint Raci ng P rod uc ts for dona tin g the co m p lete co urse a n d sectio n ma rk in g system for th e eigh t-race Nationa l Observed Trial s Series. Washington state's Traffic Safety Commission has approved a network of 1410cal organizations that are offering rider tra ining programs. All of the 14 offer the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Motorcycle Rider Course for beginners, and some offer the Better Biking Program for experienced riders. The Traffic Safety Commission has established a 24-hour toll-free telephone number to call for the course nearest you. The number is 800/562-5505. Wrangler , the sponsor of th is year's AMA Supercross Series, is very saris- To celebrate the 25th ann iversary of the Sportster, Harley-Davidson has come up w ith a special version XL. named appropriately enough. the 25th Anniversary Sportster. Introduced during Daytona Cycle Week, the lim it e d- e d it io n Sportster features a small peanut gas tank and fenders w ith a dark maroon metallic paint w ith inset panels of pewter metallic, h ighl ighted by a s ingle orange stripe. Set against the pewter tank panel is a c irca-1970 "Sportster" script logo. 25th Anniversary logos are found on the t imer cover, battery cover and on the triple clamp. The 25th Anniversary styling treatment is a lso available in an XLS Roadster version . Both models are available in limited numbers through H-D dealers. fied with th ei r pa rt in th e first seven ro u nds of th e ser ies. In fact, Wrangl er is already sh o wing interes t in th e '83 series, an d Wra ngl er reps are hoping for mor e rounds to be added to th e series next season. " W e've canceled the Sunday, . August 29 In di a n a po lis Mile National , " said Tom Hays of the Ind iana State Fa ir Motor Racing Department. " The problem over the past three years or so has been that weather a nd economic condit io ns have not helped make the event a financial success. We felt the best thing to do was to cancel . We still have two mile Winston Pro Series Nationals on tap, the Saturday night. July 3 race and the Saturday n ight, August 28 race d uring the fair ." Fo rmer 125cc MX World Cha mpio n Gaston Rahier has in ked a co nt ract to ride semi-works H ondas in the 250cc MX G Ps. Ra h ier, who co nsidered riding Yamahas after leavin g the Ital ian Gilera tea m , will get his Hondas from the Belgian importer. 1 9 8 0 250cc MX World C ha mpion Georges Jobe is d etermined to ta ke his t it le back f rom current champ Neil Hudson, and to do so he re c e ntly had 6 ,000 cubic meters of sand dumped near hi s home in Be lgi um in order t o build a new p ra ctic e course. " I guess I'll be o u t of ac tion for a cou ple of weeks until m y Ioo t heal s eno ug h so that I can go racing agai n," . said Husq varna 's Dick Burleson . " I fractured a meta tarsa l bone in m y ri ght foot a t th e (Ma rch 4) All igator End u ro in Daytona when I smacked a palmetto root. It hun th en, bu t I went on a nd a tte m p ted to ri de the One-Da y Q ua lifier in T exa s th e nex t . weekend. By the time I got aro u nd to seeing m y doctor, he wasn 't too happy with me." Bo O 'Brochta, the dominantforce in Top Fuel drag racing the last two years, will compete in the Funny Bike class in 1982. riding the JBC Industries Kawasaki that M ike Bruso last rode in 1980. "We call it the Bo Show, Act Two," said JBC 's Bob Livingston. Rumor has it that the bike has run a 7.58 second quarter mile at 181 mph in testing. Winston Pro Series co m pe titors will enjoy th eir o wn awa rds ba nq ue t at th e en d of the '82 season. In it ial wo rd ha s the banque t ta kin g place in Ca li forn ia following the season's fin a l event, the ASCOI H alf Mile on September 25. Yamaha's Kenny Roberts and Suzuki's Randy Mamola will not ride for the American squad in the upcoming TransAtlantic Trophy Match Races in England over Easter Weekend. Both Roberts and Mamola are sched uled for testing sessions during the April 9-12 period. Ho w'd you like to wi n a luxu ry VIP tour o f Fra nce, a 1983 Ford Ran ger truck , a n a ll-e xpense paid trip for two to La Paz, goodies from America n Ho nda or a ny n umber o f o ther prizes? Sound li ke o ne of those corny junk mail fliers? Well, those are the p rizes listed in the Baja Bo na nza, and only Baja racers are eligible. All yo u need to do is enter a nd start anyon e or all three of the Pernod/SCORE Intern at ional Baja off-road races. th us o btai ni ng Baja Bo nan za Credits and bo n us credi ts for combina tions of races. For mor e in fo , co ntac t SCO RE headqua rters a t 31356 Via Co linas, Suite III , Westlake Village, CA 91362, or call 213/889-9216. Different strokes for different fo lks l And d ifferent b ikes and brakes for Europeans, too l Honda is offering " new dual-piston caliper concealed d isc b rakes" on at least one AngloEuropean bike, the CBX550F. No, neither the CBX550F nor the " concealed" brakes are available in the U.S. Maybe next year? And how abo u t a Yamaha RD500LC? That's right, a liquid -cool ed , fourcylin der, two -st rok e 500! A p roj ect o f Yamaha engi neers, the 387 pound bike pumps o u t 88 hor sepower a t 9,500 rpm ! The R D500LC is n ot an official Yama ha project, but o ne reportedl y undertaken by Yam aha employees, opera ting in secret. The en gi ne is la rgely based on the powerplant that carried King Kenny Robert s to h is World Championshi p road racing titl es. Stay tu ned! • 3

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