Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

presstime. Jones, who was runn ing a slightly high temperature, w as expected to be released on Thu rsday . Marc h 17. Stat e Series . It sho uld have read Steve Stewart, who posted wins in both motos for the victory. O ur apologies to Steve. T exan Bub ba Sh ob ert p ushed his Kaw asa ki out front to win the Saturday nigh t short tra ck a t Dayto na 's Memorial Stadium and captured first in the Da yton a Dirt Track Series. T ed Boody, who had th e points lea d coming into th e final rou nd, cou ld only m uster a fo urt h and finished three points behind Sh obert. H onda 's Terry P oovey set a Dayto na record ea rlier in the week by win n ing three stra ig h t nights at Mem or ial Stadi u m . Complete coverage next week. For all you nitro-burn ing, paddlewheel f reak s out there. the 20 t h annual W idowmaker Hillcli m b is scheduled for Sunday, April 2 4 in Sa lt Lake City, UT . After some initial problems getting perm issio n to use the land, Jack Carlton of the sponsoring Bees M.C. reports things are A-OK. The Widowmaker is America's richest hillclimb wit h a $15.000 purse and t his year there will be some added attractions. A l ocal paper has put up $1,000 for the first rider over t he top and there will be a special . $1,000 one-attempt, winner-takeall Miller Beer Shootout for all past Exhibition class winners after the regular competition is over. According to Jack, NBC w ill be there to film the event as well. Entries should be sent to Bees M .C., PO Box 130, West Jordan, UT 84084. Deadline is April 11 .. The Motorcycle De.lernews Pro Rider Benefit Fund raised about $4000 in a charity auction at the Hartford. CT, motorcycle show, p lus an unspecified amount from fund-raising activities during Dayton Cycle Week. One of the biggest single it em s came Saturday night at Roxy Rockwood's radio show at the Hawaiian Inn, where a chance to be in a picture with 11 former Grand National Champions was auctioned off. A bidding war ensued between former Dale Singlet on sponsor Taylor White, promoter Don Brymer and northern California Yamaha dealer Dick Brandt, and all three were in the picture after chipping in a combined $4200. Entrants in the March 20 CRC Magic Mountain Gra n Prix a t Indian Du nes, near Valencia, CA, will receive a free admission to the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, which is n ear the racetrack. In ad d it ion, the Southern Ca liforn ia Yamaha Dea lers Association is pi tching in with addi tional Magic Mountain tickets th at will save $4 over th e regular $11.95 Gen eral Adm issio n. CRC GP riders will a lso receive $ 12 Ya ma ha al lo wance certificates, G P ha ts, finisher p in s a nd a shot a t 20 percent trop h ies a nd a .$ 1,000 Pro purse. Superman Department: When 17year-old Edward Hickey endoed his Maico Sand Spider seven miles Into last month 's Parker 400, he knew he'd done some damage. He picked hismelf up . though, climbed back on the bike and gritted out his 200-mile portion of the race. At t he halfway point he handed the bike to co-rider John Yeats (w ho went on to place the team in 11 th overall) and went t o get X-rays, which revealed that Hickey had broken bones in both feet. As if t hat display of moxie was not enough, last week the RG Cycle West-sponsored rider had both casts taken off and went out to take the overall victory at the Salome 100 desert race in Arizona. Back to sch oo l time. P apa is goi ng to send our editors to geography class . In last week 's Camel Pro Series preview by Rickey Graham, we mo ved th e organi zers o f th e Springfield Mil e National fro m Ill ino is to Indiana. The Ill in o is Motorcycle Dealers Association sho ul d have been the group singled ou t for praise from G raha m 's tu ner T ex Peel. In our coverage of t he San Bernardino Spring Classic Speedway, we m is~identified one of the photos. The rider in the wild, totally lockedup. helmet-under-handlebars slide is John Cook. not Bobby Schwartz. Sorry John. Whi le we're on the su bject of misiden tifi cation; we listed the wrong r ider as wi n ni ng th e 125cc In termedia te class a t th e H ollister Golden Good news for Camel Pro Seri es fans. J . C. and Chris Agajanian have announced tha t ticket prices for the sixth a n n ua l Carmichael Honda Sacramento Mile on April 16 wi ll be th e same as they ha ve been since 1980. T ickets can be or dered fro m the H owe Avenue Bo x O ffice, 925 Howe Ave., Sacra mento , CA 95825, p hone 916/ 920-1121. Reserved grandstand seats are $15, box seats are $ 17.50, and a limited number of Turf Club sea ts ar e available a t $25. General ad mis sion tickets will be sold the night of the race on ly at $10. Fans going to the Carmichael Honda Sacramento Mile can win a new Honda Ascot motorcycle if they stop by one of the 20 northern . California Honda dealers in the Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto area end enter the drawing for the new bike. They have to be present at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds on Saturday night, April 16 to win. A special price on mot el rooms for the Sacramento Mile on April 16 has been worked o u t wit h th e Ambassador In n a t 2030 Arden Way, Sacra mento, CA 95825, phone 916/9295600 a nd tell them you' re wit h the AMA Sacrame nto Mile for the disco unt ra te. The ho tel is loca ted jus t across th e street from the Ca l Expo Fai rgr ounds and ab ou t a mile off Interstat e 80. J. C . Agajanian has brought his youngest son, Chris, in as his partner this year on the Sacramento M ile. Chris promoted speedway and motocross on his own at Ascot several years ago. Chuck McA vo y, thi s year 's AFM number four and 600 Superstreet and Form ula Singles cham p, was in jured in a March 6 cr as h a t Sears Po int Racewa y during a regular AFM club race. At this writing, McAvoy is paraIyzed from th e waist down, bu t is undergoing operations to put plates in h is back so he can get into p hysica l th erapy sooner. H e co uld certai nly us e some enco uragem ent from his friends at th is difficult tim e. Ca rds a nd letters ca n be sent to him in care o f the Santa Clar a Valley Medi cal Center, room 176, 751 S. Bascom, San J ose, CA 95128. Husqvarna's Larry Roeseler grabbed the win in the Invader's March 13 Saucer Run by a mere 10 seconds over Montclair Yamaha 's Chuck Stearns. • M.O.R.E. from the Capitol A call to arms Part II By Russ Sanford The battle has begun ! So far, the score is State of California I , Motorcyclists 0, If you don 't know what we are talking about, dig out the March 9 copy of Cycle News, turn to Page 3, and read a bout how 'yo ur elected representa tives in S " do i b" acramen to ar~ Ol? g .a )o . on you. If you still can t figure It out, we 're ta lking about the Legislature ripping off $21.5 millio n from the O ff-H igh way Vehicle Fu nd and the California Air Reso urces Board req uiri ng ca tal ytic co n ven ers o n motorcycles. Several weeks a go. the members o f M.O .R.E . began a letter-writing a nd telephone campaign to their own assem blymen an d state senators (also the go vernor) requesting that they suppon Sen ate Bill 156 (by Senator Alan Ro bbins) which would treat the funds " bo rro wed" fro m the O ffH ighway Vehicle Fund as a loan with repaym ent to be ma de wh en the State gets out o f it s cu rren t fiscal bind. These elected rep resen ta tives are also being requested to su p port Senate Bill 158 (a lso by Senator Robbins ) tha t will cancel the requirernent for cata ly tic converters on motorcycles, The letters and telep ho ne calls ar e co ming in a nd they are working, but,' we need a whole lot more of th em . ' Here is th e current situa tio n: On Monday. Feb , 28, Sena te Bill 156 was heard by the Sen at e Finance Commi ttee wh ich is co m p rised of Sen ators Boatw right, Campbell , Dill s, Foran, G a ram endi , Bill G reene, ' Ma ddy, Marks; Petris, Pr esley, Ro bbins, Seymour, Stiern, Beverly, a nd Alq uist. Senators Alqu ist, Srier n , Robbins, Presley, and Maddy vo ted in favor o f the bill. Sena tors Boatwr igh t, Foran , Gara me ndi , Perr is, a nd Seymour vo ted aga ins t th e bill. The ot her five sena tors were a bsent. It wo uld onl y have tak en a committee majority to have passed the bi ll. In other words, three mor e aye votes would have done it. Think a bo u t th a t! Possibly, one more leu er or telephone call would have made the difIerence between failure an d passage o f the bill- a bill that pays motorcyclists back th e $21.5 million do llars th at have been stol en from us ! H ow ever , there is hope. The bill was presented for reconsidera tion to the commi ttee on Monday, March 7. Reconsidera tio n was approved by an 11-0 vote. What th is means is that the com m itt ee will a ga in vo te on the bill , deciding whet he r or no t to send it 10 the floor of the Sena te for co nsid eratio n by all 40 sena to rs. Bob H a yes, com mi ttee consu ltant to Sen ator Ro bbins, feels tha t because o f the number of letters sent in and p hone calls mad e by concern ed motorcycl ists, the Fina nce Com mittee will reco m mend the bi ll to the whole Sen ate whe re it has a good chance of passing. T he bill will face a m uc h to ugher tim e wh en it goes to the Assembly, however. Assembl ym an John Vasconeell us, chairman o f the infl uen tia l Wa ys and Means Com.1 J I'.' .... .. rnittee, has alread y stated his opposin on to the ~111. . H ayes said th ey are now workmg on a mendments to the bilJ that will mak e it more appe aling to the Legis. lature and O H V people. H e stressed, though , th e importance of wri ting letters an d making p hone calls to you r elected .representatives. " T he only way to win ," he said , "ISto generate enough p ub lic su p port that the committee dare not vote against the bill," If you ar e one of the few co nsci entious mo torcyclists who have already joined in th is lener-writing/telephone ca mpai gn, then the follow ing rnessage is not for yo u. Bu t, if you are o ne of the ma n y who have done nothing more tha n sit around an d snivel about the rip-off a nd ca ta lytic converters, I ha ve a message for you: If somebody broke into your garage and ripped off yo ur helmet and tools, not to mention yo ur bike, you wo uld probabl y take the next da y off fro m work a nd spend it at pol ice headquarters bitchin' up a storm and filing complaints. Wh y is it then , wh en th e Legislature stea ls $21.5 million of yo ur OHV Fu nd, that you won 't take five or IOm inutes to write a letter or mak e a telep ho ne call to get itjlack? Don ' t give me the excu se th at you don ' t kn ow ho w to write a letter, or don 't know wh ere to send it or that yo u d on 't kn ow w h o m to ca l l. M.O.R.E . has j ust p u blished its ann ual Legislative Guide that tells the reader exactly wha t to do, an d we printed several th ousand extra copies so th at you ca n have one for fr ee! All yo u need to do is send 71¢ (cos t of en velo pe a nd postag e) to M.O .R.E . of Cal ifornia, In c., 9100 Bill y Mitche ll Blvd., Rosevill e, CA 95678, a nd we will send yo u a copy by return ma il. The ti mi ng is go ing to be close, but we have reason to beli eve that we ca n win the next ro u nd if each of you will pi tch in a nd help. There is a good chance tha t Governor Deukmejia n will su p port the bill if we ca n get it a p p roved by the Senate a nd Assembly. Keep th is in m ind: If we sit back and let th e Legislature do th is to us, then we might as well sell our bikes and take up need lepoin t or poseysn iffing. If they find ou t tha t they can do it to us on thi s issu e, then it is j ust a matter o f tim e until 'we ar e o ut law ed everyw here. O n th e other ha nd, if we all p itch in and work together on thi s one, they will see j us t how strong we are and leave us a lo ne, wh ich is exa ctly what we all want, isn 't it ? T he ball is in your court! Are yo u go ing to be . pa rt o f the problem or pan of th e solu tion? Do n ' t wai t! Sen d for you r Legisla tive Gu ide todayl • (Editor's Note: M. O.R. E. (Motorcycle Owners, R iders, i:r En th us iasts) is a m otorcyclist's lobbying organization com m itted to protecti ng our motorcycl ing righ ts.) . f l' ,'" • , ~ . I 0' t. ~ f I ,' ; 0' I I I 3

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