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/126627
Current p lans at Maico are for Bill y Grossi to go to Europe to ride Maicos in the 250cc MX G Ps, a nd for Gary Sem ics to be on Maicos in th e 500cc GPs. All Maico development riding and testing will be done in th e U.S. since Hans Mais ch is no longer ridin g for Mai co. Grossi ha s been clearly th e fast est Euro-bike competitor a t recent races a nd Semics was thi rd a t the last Golden State Series round. Alan King's new Suzuki Supercross machine is very ccnventlonal, just longer and ta ller. "I don't even know what kind of bike it is , I just know it's bigger so I asked if I could ride it. It ' s working out rea l well." Teammates Mark Barnett and Scott Burnworth rode the gastank-under-the-..at models. Speaking of King, he was involved in th e massive Seattle Su per cross first turn cra sh . He ended up with Danny " Mag oo" Ch and ler 's works Honda di rectl y on to p of him , runn in g wid e o pen. Kin g tried reach ing for th e kill butt on, but could not find it. Every time th ey tried to lift the bik e o ff of him , the ti re bu rn ed his leg. " It had me a little psyched o u t, I thoug h t it was tearing up m y leg !" Finally the bik e bogged out and King got u p to fini sh 12th . The Yamaha chains at Seattle took a liking for rocks. They would jam between the chain and the sprocket and derail the chain. Broc Glover, Ron Lechien, M ike Bell and Donnie Cantaloupi were all dropped from key positions because of it. Glover ~hanged rear sprockets every heat to help eredicate the problem. Two of the hottest privateers around this year were Do n nie Cantaloupi, riding Kenny Ro bert s' p ractice bikes. and Goat Breker on a part s-a nd-bike deal from Honda. After the first five rounds of the CMC/ Petty Products Golden State Series, Breker is lead ing th e seri es and Cantaloupi was keep ing him ho nest. No w Ca ntaloupi is on a Yamaha -Iettled production bike a nd Ch ri s Haines, Darrell Shultz's tu ner, is wrenching on Breker 's bik e. Ken n y Rob ert s is negotia tin g Ca nta loupi 's Ya mah a contract: " I really do n' t even know what they are offering me. I'v e really changed my attitude a bo u t racing. Eit her Yam aha or Kenn y will be behind me," said Ca ntaloupi, Breker is simi la rly impressed with his Honda. 2 HosPITal STOP: Injured road racer Bruce Hammer underwent surgery in southern California. on Feb. 14 to improve the use of his right thumb. The procedure involves taking a muscle from Hammer's right forearm, and grafting it in place to control the thumb. Hammer should be out of the hospital by the time you read this, and following six weeks in a cast, will begin therapy and bio-feedback sessions. Cards and letters can be sent to him at Team Hammer headquarters, 3044 St. Andrews Dr., Ontario, CA 91761 . : We've been to ld that cu rrent 500cc World Motocr oss Champio n Brad Lackey had decid ed to reti re. La ckey showed up at the Cincinna ti Mo torcycle Expo following a week of ski ing, a nd when asked to co nfirm that. he wo uld on ly say. " Well , I g uess yo u could say it's a rumor." To co mpo u nd th e confusion, it was a nnounced lat er d uring the trade show th at Lackey had signed wit h Leader Goggles, a New York optical ma nufacturer now enter ing th e mot or cycle goggle business. Pace Management seys that the total attendance figure for the Budweiser Wild West Motorcycle Championships, the Feb. 5-6 opening rounds of the AMA/ Camel Pro Series in the Houston Astrodome, was 49,270. Do ug Domokos, th e H onda Wheeli e Kin g , set a record for th e world 's tallest whee lie. H ow tall? Domokos performed his wh eelstanding a ntics on th e top of the Empire State Bu ilding in New York. Wh a t' s next? First wh eelie on th e moon? A half hour TV show w ith the action of last year's Miller High Ufe Supercross Finals at San Diego will air in the following cities and stations: Spokane, WA (KHQ-2 / 26); Grand Junction, CO (KREX 2 /20 ); .C o lo rad o Springs, CO (KOAA-2/26); Santa Barbara, CA (KEYT-3/5); Butte, MT(KTVM-2/ 19 ); Missoula, MT (KECI-2/19); Las Vegas, NV (KlAS -2/26); Fresno, CA (KAll-2/27) ; San Diego, CA (KCST-2/26); Bakersfield, CA(KTWR-3/6): EI Paso, TX (KVIA-3/5); Phoenix, AZ(KPNX3/12); Waco/Temple, TX (KCEN3/26): San Francisco, CA (KRON 2/26); and los Angeles, CA (KABC-2/19) . Chris Steward, wh o rod e for Yamaha last year a nd cap tured th e Stock title in the Battle of th e Twins, is looking for a ny sponso rship he ca n find in 1983. Steward says not only for AMA even ts. but west coast Af'M a nd ARRA Celebrity riding gear and aftermarket products galore were on the block when the Motorcycle De_Iernews Pro Rider Benefit Fund held its first fund-raising auction at the Houston Motorcycle Expo. Over $9200 was raised in this auction alone, and there will be another one at the Hartford show, which runs March 4-6. races as well. Interested parties can conta ct him a t 213/ 582-51 1I. Steve Eklund, whose w in at the Houston TT and f ifth place showing the night before left him in the lead of the Camel Pro Series, is riding for Red Une Oil this year, as far as a lubricant sponsor goes. T he Sacrame n to County Department o f Parks a nd Recreation is esta blishing a five-member advisory committee for Pra irie Ci ty OHV Park. Mernbersh ip will be vol unta ry, with meetings held once a month. Ap p lications are avai lable a t the pa rk or from th e departmen t at 370 1 Branch Center Rd ., Room 106, Sacramento, 9 16/ 3662061. John Duncan has been appointed manager of distributor sales for D iamond Chain Company in Indianapolis , IN. Duncan will be replacing Richard E. Kessler, who retires on March 1 after 32 years of service. Duncan hes been w ith Diamond since 1964, and his most recent job was as district sales manager for industrial products. IN MEMO R IUM : Juni or-ran ked Ar izon a fia t tra cker Marlow Parks passed away o n Feb. 9 as a result of head injuries suffered in a freak acc ident on a trai l bi ke. Parks was th e driving force behind th e revival of flat tra ck raci ng in Arizona , a nd will be deeply m issed by his fam ily a nd friends. Servi ces were held Feb. 13, but cards and lett ers can be sent to th e fam ily a t 7732 W. Wagoner Rd., Peoria , AZ 85345. The Monterey Rams Motorcycle Club held a play day on Feb . 13, . and defending AMA Grend Nation-al Champion Ricky Graham was able to w in but one of eight races. (Jay Springsteen take note.) GrahaITi's victory came in the bl ind race, where he was directed by girlfriend Usa. Buddy Robinson was the passenger pickup winner, with the passenger being none other than Greham. Scott Pearson won the timed loop event. T R Motorcycle Specialists in Buena Park has moved a couple of bloc ks a way into a new facility located at 8201 Orangethorpe, Unit C, Buena Park, CA 90621. Their phone number is th e same. 714/ 523-7900. Defending World Speedway Champion Bruce Penhall, now do ing most of his ri ding in TV-land, has been bumped up to co -star in the TV series CHIPs. Penhall will get the full tan un iform treatment and ride w ith the star of the show. Erik Estrada. The Am erican Motorcyclist Association met in Houston over the Camel Pro Seri es week end for its annual Class B meeting. Among the items on th e agenda was an election for Class B (ind ustry) members on the AMA 's Board of Trustees to join the previousl y-elected Class A members, and th e electio n of offi cers among th e Board. Johny Hasty is the new president of th e Board, th e first Class A member to hold that position in the hi story o f th e AMA. Bill Baird continues as vice-p resid en t•. and Da l Sm ilie was elected secretary. Gene Trobaugh, representing Motorcycle magazine, was elected to th e board a nd to the trea su rer' s posit io n, a nd Pa ul Schlega l is th e new assistant treasurer. New Cl ass B members include Jim H a nsen (Cycle World). Bo b Moffitt (Kawasaki) and Dic k Raczuk (Kerker). Ch uck Larsen will be the 13th member of the Board under p ro visions o f the AMA code that allow the continuing participa tion of th e immediate past president for one year. In other action, the AMA elected to take no stand on the ITC tariff recommendation. AMA Executive Director Ed Youngblood announced that 1983 senction meetings had been completed and the entire schedule was up about 3%. Youngblood also said that the AMA's calendar of classic touring events will be sponsored by Dunlop and called the AMA/Dunlop Tour!ng Elite Series. Harley-Davidson has posted $53,000 in contingencies for the 1983 Ba ttl e of the Twins road raci ng series. T he contingency consists of $1000 for any Harley -Davidson who wi ns his class at an event. and $5000 for a H arleyDa vidso n rider who takes the overall series championship. , HosPITal STOP: Enduro rider Bill Herndon only made it seven miles in the Feb . 6 Gold Rush enduro before he fell and suffered broken ribs and several bruises. Herndon remounted and rode an additional 20 miles before losing consciousness. He's now at home recuperating, and cards and letters may be sent to him at 1633 Hill Dr., los Angeles, CA 90041 . .