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/126624
THE LATEST Houston tidbits: Scott Pearson will be riding Ro n Wood's personallyprepped Can-Am 500 in the TT portion of the Bud weiser-sp o n sored doubleheader. Steve Wise will have two H onda'CR480R-based machines to choose from, while teammates Terry Poo vey and Mickey Fay (Mike Kidd is questionable, see related item elsewhere on this page) will run '82 XR500 motors in the TT and '83 CR250R powerplants in the short track. Team manager Gene Romero says that the XR600s won't be ready until the Ascot TT in April. For more on who'll be riding what in the Feb. 5-6 shindig in the Astrodome, tune in next week for a special Houston preview. The Florida Winter-AMA MX Ser: ies wrapped up in Gainesville on Jan. 22 with Karl Jordan (Yam), Doug Jackson (Yam) andl>an Conway (Hon) taking wins in the 125, 250Cc and Open Pro classes, respectively. Jordan, who won every round, naturally took overall 125cc honors over Aaron Pitts (Hon). Mark Murphy (Yam) was the over- all winner in the 250cc corps over Jackson. And in the Open class, John Reinholt (Hon), John Finkeldey (KTM) and Mickey Kessler (Mai) wound up t ied in points and moto wins. They had to go to second place finishes to break the tie and Rei nholt won the title . Complete coverage of the Gainesville round next week. Well, next weekend marks the beginning of the National season with the Miller High Life Supercross Kickoff, the first round of the Wrangler Super Series. People at Stadium Motorsports, promoters of the event, tell us that advance ticket sales are running well ahead of las t year's pace. The '82 event, as you will remember, set an all-time attendance mark at Anaheim Stadium of 70,205. Be sure to check out next week's issue for instant coverage of the race. . Jim Holley was fourth at the Lake Madera round of the CMC/Petty Products Golden State Series, not Kent Howerton as listed last week. Howerton was fifth and t he result s ITC rules in favor of Harley-Davidson complaint WASHINGTON, DC, JAN. 20 By a 2 -1 vote, the International Trade Commission agreed w ith the primary complaint of Harley-Davidson Motor Company - that the large number of imported Japanese motorcycles threaten to inj ure their market. However, in rejecting another Harley-Davidson complaint, the ITC rules that engines and power trains imported to the U.S . for assembly here in plants owned by Honda and Kawasaki fall int o the U .S .-manufactured category, and Harley-Davidson is not entitled to protection from them. The ITC will make a recommendation on Jan. 25 as to any tariffs and/or quotas to be imposed o n the Japanese imports. By law, such tariffs and quotas may remain in effect up to five years. Once the ITC makes its recommendatio ns, President Reagan has 60 days in which to enact them or reject them. Should Regan reject or modify the lTC ' s recommendation, Congress has another 60 days to overrule the President and rest ore the lTC's recommendation. "We're very encouraged," said Harley-Davidson Director of Public Relations Bob Klein, adding, "We got most of what we were seeking. We would have hoped that they would have included engines and power tra ins, but the motorcycles themselves are 80% of our problem, so we're 80% happy. Our dealers are equally encouraged." Kawasaki's .head of public relat ions, Rom Lovil, said, " We're disappointed with the finding of the commission that im po rted motorcycles threaten Harley-Davidson.·We disagree with this conclusion. As we have not seen the full decision and rationale behind it , we can't comment further, except to say that the commission confirmed that Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing (Kawasaki's Lincoln, N E, plant) is a U.S . manufacturer:' RussJura of the Yamaha Legal Affairs Department said, " We need t ime to fully rev iew the decision. We are of course disappointed with the finding." Suzuki PR Director Ch ip Hennen responded with a " no comment." Honda spokesman Cliff Schmillen said, " Of course we're disappo in ted as a result of the ruling . We 're anxious to see what will be recommended and hope it's not all bad news." jump back one place from there. Congratulations on a fine ride Jim, sorry about missing you. The number one sidecar motocross team in this country will be in other countries in April. Tom and Pete Whitney will be going to Europe to ride Int ern a tional and GP sidecarmotocrosses. T hey want to be known as the American team o n the Ameri can bi ke. T hey will continue to earn- Whoombahl Don't laugh because we 're told t hese pipes reall y work. Wh ile they're no threat to aftermarket exhaust system manufacturers, our on-the -scene photographer reports the iron pipes with Briggs S. Stratton muffl~s allow this Triumph to purrl - '-2 paign the Harley 1000 engine th ey run currently, but will leave the one off Ame rican frame here. T hey will use a Wasp frame since they wou ld have to fabrica te parts for the U.S. made frame. They already have Arai, O'Neal. Sudco and Was p commi tted to sponsorship in varying degrees, but need more sponsors, especially American companies. They will be . the only American team and the only Harley. Bo th are getti ng in shape to p repare for the lo nger, rougher tracks and mo tos. Both have raced in Europe before. If you can help, call Tom at 805/684-6267. Dick Hamer has announced the members of the advisory board for the l/IIotorc,cIe Dealerne.. Pro Rider Benefit Fund. The five are racer Gary Scott, Bell Helmets' Don Emde, Bel-Ray's Dave Rodgers, C,de World's John Ulrich and c,de He.s' Dale Brown. The benefit fund will hold its f irst fund raiser, a special auct ion, at the I/IIDH Motorcyc le Expo in the Astrohall next door to the Houston Astrodome. The auction, which will feature everything from celebrity gear to aftermarket products, will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6 . ATK Leitner Corp. is now offering a dirt bike suspension tun ing service. Four separate tuni ng stages are ava ilable, beginning with custom front and rear springs. The ATK Leitner folks say they 'll custom tune your suspension to your weight, style and riding ability. Appointments are also available for a personal fine tuning session at Saddleback Park . For more info call 714/731 -51 14. Ken Maely's famous Corona goose ranch will be the site of another two-day Mike Bast speedway school on Jan . 29-30. For info, reservations or whatever, ca1l714/ 735-0540. A lso , Ken Maely will beat the HOlllit on'TT/ ST doul)le -