Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, "Houston has a way, like no other place, of being able to make you feel very humble, very qu ickl y," said Jay Springsteen 's tuner Bill Werner after Springsteen failed to make the Nationa l in th e short track . " No matter wha t we did, things didn't work." Spr ingsteen 's bad lu ck continued into the TT, where he agai n failed to make th e National. " I' d ra ther forget this weekend than ta lk a bo ut it," said Springsteen . "It's like losing a buddy;" said Camel Pro Series veteran Gary Scott of the loss of his pit bike from a guarded area during the TT National at Houston. "I parked the bike in the area where we had to store the gas cans and it should have been safe." Scott doesn't hold much hope of ever seeing his 1982 Honda Z60R again. but would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have information. "The bike had my number five number plates on it so it was easily recognizable. "You can reach Scott at 613/322-6861 . Our calculators went up in smoke when we tried to figure the odds on two riders having to win a semi to advance to the final and then go from a third row start to win the Nationals as did Terry Poovey and Steve Eklund in Houston. How did Susan Callicutt. the lovely Miss Camel Pro. spend the winter? "The neatest thing I did all winter was a modeling assignment where all the photos were taken in the Biltmore Housa in Asheville. North Carolina." said Susan. "The photographer rented the former Vanderbilt home and we had the entire place to oursalves. It's a fantastic structure and I posed for photos in just about every part of the housa. Other than that. I was mostly bored. I really missed the travel and sure am glad the '83 racing saason has started." BMW, according to news reports, has asked President Reagan for special consideration on proposed import tariffs of foreign-made motorcycles over 700cc. The tariff proposal was made Jan. 25 by th e U.S. International Trade Commission. Pres ident Reagan has 60 days fro m February in which to accept, modify or reject the proposal. BMW contends that signing the proposal in to law would price BMW out of th e American market. • Other European motorcycle manufacturers also feel they would be priced out of the market and are appealing for consideration. Public 'responsa still has time to -be heard. You may write to: Office of U.S. Trade Representative. David Morissy. Room 407,600 17th St. NW, Washington. DC 20506. Morissy is slated to make a recommendation to President Reagan on the tariff proposal. H as Steve Wise spent too much time arou nd th e Cl ass C g uys an d become corru p ted? Or co nverted to the rig ht path ? At th e H ouston TT Nat ion al , Wise sported a steel skid shoe stra pped firmly to his left an k le. It was also the an kle he injured in February while ridi ng mot ocross. In th e meantime, many o f th e regular Class Criders were following Wise 's exa m p le and opting for n ylon motocross gear. T he ' riders (on e or both nights) incl uded Kenn y Roberts, Steve Eklund, T erry Poovey and Mickey Fay. California State Senator Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) has introduced , a bill that would reverse the 1982 decision of the California Air Resources Board satting such extreme emissions limits that catalytic converters would be required on many big street bikes beginning in 1984. The measure. SB158. would repeal the .C .A .R.B. standards through January. 1988. According to Robbins. _the bill is safety-oriented. because of the risks involved with the high-temperature catalytic converters. "In light of figures which show that motorcycles contribute only 1/100th of one percent of total emissions." said Robbins. "it seems only reasonable that we delay imposition of these regulations until adequate study of hazard-free alternatives for emission control can be completed." Phil Mathews and other principal shareholders of Bell Helmets have taken over control of the Vette r Corporation. Mathews and the others have formed a ' new corporation Vetter Products , Inc. ' - which was appointed by - an Illinois court to manage the affairs of Vetter pending a Chapter II bankruptcy reorganiza- /' tion. Former owner and president of Vetter Richard Binet said, " Exceptional declines in the sale of larger motorcycles, whose owners are the prime market for fair ings, combined with heavy foreign com pe tition, made it impossible to continue in business on a profitab le basis." Mathews, the, ch ief executive officer of both Bell and the new company, said, "This will be a challe nge, especially in light of the economic co ndit ions tha t Vett er has faced , but with the support of th e Bell organization and Vetter's current customers, I have every reason to believe we can make the Vetter business a success." King Kenny Roberts flew high enough at the Houston TT to win his heat. Unfortunately, he fell at the start of the main. suffering apparently minor inj uri es. Still. it was good seeing KR on the dirt. ' Derbi. known primarily for mopeds in past years. recently introduced · two new motocrossers. Both feature Marzocchi forks and a Brembo front disc. along with a White Power single rear shock. The 126cc motor is water-cooled. while the 250cc is an air-cooled reed valve type. POST ENTRY: P hotogr apher and Cycle News contribu tor Patri ck Behar a nd wi fe Susa n are th e proud parents of a brand new baby girl, Megh an Kath leen , born Saturday, Feb. 5. Poor Pat ri ck missed it, bein g o n du ty takin g p ictures of the Parker 400 that day. Beh ar recen tly returned from th e grueling Paris to Dakar Rally, and his coverage of th at event begin s on p . 16. The Vance lit Hines racing effort suffered a setback when their water-brake dynomometer exploded on Feb. 4 . The explosion broke three tempered glass windows. and tuner Byron Hines was hospitalized briefly for glass cuts. He wesworking on a Honde CB1100F enginefortheteam's '83 Pro Stock bike. - Reports out of the Houston Trade Show indicate that Cagiva has signed American Mike Brown to contest the 125cc World Motocross Championship. Marty Smith has been riding the machines here in the U.S. The Feb. 20 episode of CHIP. will include a segment of stunts done on the 30cc Pocket Bikes that race on Malibu GP-type coursas around the country. Debbie Evans Leavitt and Mark Infanti were the riders doing the stunt work. By the time this is printed, the deadline for mail entry . for th e Feb . 20 Quicksilver National end u ro in California will have passed . There is a 500 rider limit and over 400 mail entries have been received, so call before driving if you haven't already entered. Contact Yamaha of Salinas at 408/422-3232 up until 5 p .m ., Sat., Feb. 19. Speedway racer turned promoter Steve Gresham called Papa from Saddleback Park in Orange, CA. to announce the Spring Opener Pro-Shoot Out Speedway race at Saddleback. Feb. 20. The $1000 "winner takes all" program will be a round robin championship format combining races on the quarter-mile European style oval and the eighth-mile "California Track" now under construction in the Saddleback Oval Bowl area. For more information call Steve at Saddleback at 714/558-1584. H onda has upped its 1983 Na tional Motorcycle Racing Associat ion dr ag ra cing co nti nge ncy prog ram to $167,925 for na tional a nd regional even ts. On a per- Nat ional-event breakdo wn , it co mes o u t to $20,175. Sio City Cycles in San Louis Obispo. CA will have the entire Husky enduro team on hand on the evening of Feb. 18. between 6 and 9 p.rn, The address of the shop is 162 Higuera. and the telephone number is 806/643-1440. T here will be a 100% payback in th e Pro classes of th e Lightweights M.C . Feb . 12 short track and speedway race at Perris Raceway, not 80%as shown in a recent ad . Following the FIM changes in spacifications for tires used in international speedway competition. Carlisle (the only U.S. tire manufacturer making speedway tires) tells us they have met the new specs. have certified it to the FIM. and are currently awaiting their homologation number. When they receive it. it will be molded into the side of the tire. District 37 referee Ron Glasgow called Papa to say that D-37 Pro racing needs a starter. T he job req ui res someone with good track sense who can a tte nd every race . If you desire to see the races close up, be in front of a roa ring cro wd, love long ho urs and low pay; send a resume to Ron G lasgow, 2266 Carrage Dr., Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. Be sure to tell him . wh y you think yo u should be a starter. • ·3

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