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/126621
A a ~ This, bel ieve it or not, is a motorcycle. A Yamaha 650 twin to be exact. It belongs to motorcyclist/musician /singer Ray Nelson, who has ridden it back and forth across the U.S . touring with his country/western band . : .The correct number is 602/9863060," said Ro n. Longtime motojoumalist Bob Bra~ erman passed away June 5 after a year-long battle with bone cancer. He was 52. Bra verma n is perhaps best remembered for his years with Cycle Guide magazine. although he started a number of other titles. He was recently involved in the automotive industry and ' SCCA Formu la -5000 racing. H e is survived by ex-wife Bar bara , who took care of him during h is ill ness. two chi ldren and two grandchildren. Godspeed, Bob... Hey, touring clubs! Here's a deal that you won't want to pass up: Ron Pierce, the promoter of the June 26 stadium road race at Bakersfield's Mesa Marin Speedway, is offering a long distance trophy to the group that logs the most miles en route to the event, an on top of that, there's a keg of beer to the winners on the premises. For more details on the event, which kicks off with heat reces . Saturday night at 6 p.m., call Pierce at 805/872-0861. Working with P ierce on the Bakersfield race is another road racer, Long Beach G P 250cc Invitationa l winner Dave Busby. Busby is recovering from injuries suffered when he crashed at Sears Po int Racewa y two days before the Bud weiser endurance race in May. Busby suffered a broken neck, broken wrist and ankle injuries. but says. " I think my fir st race will be Laguna Seca (July 10-11). I get the brace off my neck next Wednesday, hopefully, and I plan to be ready as soon as possibl e." The 1983 Harley-Davidson XLX61 , pictured in this column a few weeks ago when one was awarded to Jay Springsteen in commemoration of his record-setting 30th AMA Grand National win, features an int eresting technical advance. When we say advance, we're not messing around. The bike has a two-stage ignition advance system that allows a return to high compression by controlling the spark advance. A vacuum switch attached to the carburetor senses the throttle opening relative to engine speed. For example, at 2,000 rpm the timing I. set et appro~m8~ ..ly.,. 55° BTDC. If the throttle is suddenly turned full on, t he swit ch senses the low vacu um and slow engine speed, and the spark advance will immediately drop f rom 55° to about 20° BTDC to more efficiently bum the fuel. As the engine speed increases the spark advance returns to 55° . This allows the V-twin to run an 8.8:1 compression ratio on leaded regular. At-Least-They-Speiled-His-NameRigh t Dept. A press release concerning the Laconia Classic road race at Loudon, NH , offered the following gem: "There will be Dale Si ngleton , th e ' G eo rg ia Pig Farmer ' riding Honda.; " Seven winners in the small engine skill contest of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America Skill ~ !ympics will be receiving full tuition scholarships to the Motorcycle Mechanicslnstitue in Phoenix, AZ. The seven are : Steve lanson, John Drendel, Todd Stolarik, Scott Comfort, Mike Crutcher, Rick Lennen and Direl Tyler. Team H am mer announced that it has selected Vancouver, British Columbia 's R h ys Howard as a substitue for injured Bru ce Hammer on the team 's Chevron/Vance & Hines/ Derale endurance racer. " We' ve watched Rhys all year," said Hammer. " He uses practice and pre-race. testing to carefully and methodically set up and tune his machines, and goes fast when it's time to race . Rhys had shown h is understanding of off-track promotion and has a cheerful, outgomg personality. We're happy to have him." Hammer a lso said that Howard was strong ly recommended by Bob Work , th e tuner and team manager behind Steve Baker 's 1977 F750 World Championship. Ensenada, the popular tou rist attraction and starting point for many of the Baja off-road races, will be the site of the Factory Rider 5000 Motocross, to be held July 11 by the Continental Moto-sports Club. The race will be he ld on a private ranch 10 miles n orth of Ensenada, and Factory Rider of San Diego w ill offer $2,500 in Sportsman gift certificates, while CMC coughs up a $2,600 Pro pur_ 8!ld.double Pro points. The ~n e of the m ost un usual bi k es atthe USG P was this Husky 500 automatic ri dden by 8 0 Edberg. According t o Hu sky's M otorcycle Prod uc t M anager Ma r~ Bl ac~we l ~, Edberg has ridden the auto, in either three- or four- speed conflgurat !o n, m all t he 500cc GPs th is year and has qualified fo r eac h one. The. bl.ke sported t he. three-sp eed at Carlsbad with t he prototype fra~e SIm il ar to t hat w hich Bill Grossi has been riding in the 5 00cc Nation als. . - t rack is ab ou t an hour 'f rom the u.s. border, and f ree ca m p in g w ill be av ailable. For m ore inf ormation, contact CMC at 71 4/5 573323. Ron Lech ien , an u p and coming SoCaI motocross Pro a nd 1981 Mammoth Mountain 125cc Pro champ. sadly won't be able to defend his title at th e annual Mammoth classic, this year sch edu led for June 25-27. He broke hi s wrist while racing an AMA Amateur qual ifier in Arizona June 13, and will be out of action for a few weeks. Heal quick there, Ron ! Kawasaki Motor Corp. w ill be posting contingency pri ze m oney for . t he upcoming NMA (Ponca 'Cit y, Oklahoma) and A'MA (Hurricane Mills, Tennessee) Amateur MX National Championships. National Ch ampions who win aboard Kawasak i motorcycles will each receive a $500 savi ng s bond and their parent, legal guardian, or t uner w ill get $500 in cash . If you 're into trail riding but wish you had more info on how to go about it , th e AMA has th e answer in AMA 's Tra il Riding in Amnica, a new 128 page book conta ining over 200 maps and more th an 1,100 references to off-road riding a reas in 50 states. The book is available for $4.95 from Honda, Kaw asaki, Yamaha and Suzuki deal ers. Team Suzuki MXer Kent Howerton, who broke his left leg at t he June 6 Road Atlanta Nat ional MX, looks to be out of action for as long as six months. Howerton w ill undergo a cast change on June 22, at which t ime his bone special ist w ill give t he f inal diagnosis . Drop a card or letterto 41 07 Springv iew Driv e, San Anto n io, TX 7 822 2 . Former G rand National Ch a mpion Steve Eklund, wh o holds tenth place !n the "~ inston Pro Seri es point standm gs, faded to show for th e H arringto n Nationa l. Ekl u nd, wh ose luck a lways seems to be bad a t Harrington, op ted to ride a Ju ne 13 IMDA C ha lle nge series TT in Peoria, Illinois, which he won. " I've decided to reli nqui sh my spot on the ISDE team," said Jeff Andy Stacy and M ickey Kessler received new Maicosforthe USGP. One ofthe most obvious feat ures of the bikes was the cast-in reed block, not an accessory bolt-on it em. Fredette in a call to our office. Fredette, a f our-t im e IS D E gold medalist, sustained t om li gam ent s in his right knee on J une 6 w hile ri ding a MX. " I won 't get the cast off for about three weeks and t hen t he doctor w ill ma ke a determin at ion on whether or not to operate. The on ly f air thi ng to do, without knowing how lo ng it w ill be before "II be able to ge t back rid ing, is to let some other rider have a chance atgoing to the ISDE. lt's a bummer, bu t I guess that 's the breaks." Fredette's f ri ends and fans can drop him a line at 17841 67t h Ave.. Ti nley Park, IL 60477. " I' m pulling out of th e Six Days effort ," sa id '81 ISDE top Am erican Frank Sta cy. " T here's still so m uch to be done to mak e th e Maico compe ti tive, and we don 't have tim e to do it . I don 't go to the ISD E to be top Am eri can , I go to do reall y well overall. I guess I'll wait until next year a nd put something together the n." KTM has released a new 12 5 cc M Xer t hat has a single shock rear end , water-cooling, 40mm fork and a claimed weight of 209 pounds. The bike i s ava ilable with either a CR (close ratio) or WR (wide ratio) gearbox. • 3