Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Honda has put th is new water-cooled 500cc works motocross bike under forme r World Champion Andre Malherbe. Malherbe qualified the bike fastest at the Ma rch 20 Trophy of Makes race in Be lgium, but a get-off in the first moto forced him to charge to f inish sixth. and a get-off in moto two fo rced him to the s idelines. Photo by Henny Ray Abrams. Reagan upholds ITCrecommended tariffs WASHI NGTO N. DC. APR il 1 President Ronald Reagan u p he ld t he International Trede Commiss ion's reco m m e nded tariffs fo r im ported motorcycles over 700cc. but the final version of t he plan which goes int o effect April 1 5. 1983. contains provisions t ha t should exempt most s m all volume manufacturers from the higher tariffs. As recommended by t he ITC. tariffs will rise f rom the present 4 .4% to 49.4% the first year. The percentage is based on the im ported value of the motorcycle . The exemptions, or tariff quotas, a llow the first 5000 motorcycles imported from West Germany to pass through under the current tariff, and the first 4000 from any other country except Japan. also are e xempt from the added tariff . The fi rst 6000 units fro m Japan w ill be taxed at the 4.4% ra te. These quotas apply only t o motorcycles over 700cc, and each quota rises atthe rate of 1 000 per year over the next five yea rs . . Under the five -ye a r t a riff plan, the 49.4% figure would be low e re d t o 39.4% t he second year. 24.4% the t hird year, 19.4% t he fourth year. and low ering to 14.4% in 1987. If there is no f urther action, the tariff would revert to 4 .4% in 1988. " We 're pretty happy. " said Bob Klein . di rector of public rel ations for Harley-Davidson. " We achieved what we wanted to achieve. " A report in the April 4 edition of the Wall Street Journal re po rte d that priorto the Presidenttaking action. Japan had offered to guarantee $20 million in commercia l bank loans for Harley-Davidson. And according to the Journal. Harley turned that offer down . refusing to ' a c ce pt anything less than $40 million. "I can 't comment o n t he specifics of thet;" said Klein. " u nt il I talk to Vaughn Beals (c ha irm a n of Ha rley-Davidson ). As fa r as I know. the $40 m illio n figure is ina c cu ra t e." Harley-Davidson has scheduled a press conference for Friday. April 8 . in los Angeles. Team Honda 's Freddie Spencer led teammates Marco Lucchinelli and Ron Haslam to a 1-2-3 Honda sweep of the 500cc class race in the Sunday, April 3. French rou nd of the World Championship Road Race Series at LeMans. Spencer took over the lead from Yamaha's Kenny Ro bert s at the mi dway point when Roberts' works bike suffered a holed silencer. Roberts finished fourth. Americans Eddie Lawso n (Ya m) and Ra ndy Mamola (Suz) were victims of a starting line shunt that sidelined Lawson immediately while Mamola made one lap before retiring from the race . Lawson was uninjured but Mamola suffered a broken heel and his foot was put into a cast after the race : Word from the Suzuki camp says Mamola will cornpete in the next G P.the Italian round o n April 24. Spencer, who has wo n bo th '83 GPs to date. leads the point standings with 30 po ints. followed b.y Ro berts and Haslam who are tied with 20. and Frenchman Marc Fontan in fourth with 13. 6 Briton Alan C.rter (Y.m ) became the youngest road r.cer t o win a GP when he won the 250cc r.ce in France. a~ the age of 18. Ricardo Torme (M BA) won t he 1 2 5 c c GP . The 50cc race went to Stephan Dorflinger (Kre). while Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg (l C R) copped the Sidecar GP. ; Tragedy struck twice at LeMans as Japan's Iwao Ishikawa was killed in a n open practice session on Tuesday. March 29, and Switzerland's Michel Frutschi, who finished 14th in th e 500cc point standings last year , was killed during the 500cc GP on Sunday . Frutschi crashed in a very fast turn while competing aboard an NS500 Honda. Ishikawa, a former Suzuki test rider, was a boar d a Suzuki RG500 when he crashed. The policy of running open practice sessions (open, that is, to all displacement bikes) has received criticism in the past and Ish ika wa 's death prompted heated disc ussion of the practice duro ing the LeMans race weekend. The Wrangler Super Series will be returning to southern California on S unday, April 10, w it h a f ullon. three-class o utdoor Nationa l at Saddleback P.rk. All three c lasses - 125.250 and 500cc - w ill .run 30-minute metes. w ith racing beginning at 1 p .m. Tickets to the event. which is aponsored by Coors. are av.ilable .t Ticketron or at the gate. Two-dollar d iscounts • re av.ilable at participating Wrang le r .nd Coors retailers. For more inform a t io n on the event. check out the eN C.lendar. In the AMA's Regional Dirt Track Series, there are several events of note to westerners. Mike Kidd will ' be promoting a pair of indoor short tracks at the Tarrant County Covention Center in Fort Worth , Texas. The two events, May 20-21, will each feature a .$4000 purse. Up in th e Pa cifi c Northwest, a long season of racing kicks off with the annual TT a t Boise , Idaho , on April 24. The Sid ewinders M.e. will host four TT regionals at th eir Clackamas, Ore., facility, with dates of May 27, June 24, July 22 and Aug. 26. The Ml. St. Helens M.e. will hold two regionals on their resurrected Castle Rock track, June 25 and Ju ly 23. with th e la tter event carrying a big .$8000 purse. And midwest fans should ink in Aug. 14 on their calendars as the date of th e a n n ua l Black Hills Class ic in Sturg is, S.D. Except for th e one TT in Castl e Rock mentioned abo ve, all th ese regionals carry .$4000 purses. Fo rm e r three-time N.tion.1 Motoc ross Champio n Tony DiStef. no w ill be in los Angeles on April 9 . where he 'lI be tying the knot w ith his g irlfriend of t hree ye.rs. D.na Levy. Recently. Den. h.s been beck east with Tony D. , helping him promote his motocross school. and semin.rs. Trials expert Brian Bonny. an Englishman with a long background in observed trials , will conduct two seminars for event officials in th e U.S. The first will be in Watkins Glen, N.Y., on April 13. The second will be in conjunction with the Wag· ner Cup Trial in Ga inesville, Texas. Bonn y is expected to discuss the organization a nd layout of events, as well as the working of the FIM in international tria ls and ISDE events. For more information on the seminars, contact Carl Peters of th e Schuyler County M.C. at 607/535-9321. Southern C.liforni. dirt tracker Rob H.ssay h.d his van b roken int o . nd his rid ing gear ripped off recently. Included were. set of red .nd white B.te. f ull d irt tr.ck le.ther.with "Shoei" emblazoned on the front .• nd .H....y·. name .. and number (2 9 E) on the back. Also t.ken were two white Shoei helmet•• one cpen-face .nd one fu ll-face• • nd a set of Gaerne boou. Hassay say. he's offering a rew.rd. anyone that has .ny inform.tion .s to the whereabouts of his miss ing gear is urged to call him .t 714/968-9905 . AMA Gover nment Rela tions Director Rob Rasor met wi th federal officials an d env ironmentalists in Washi ng· • ton , D.C., on March 28 to review possible changes in the two Executive Orders that govern ORV use on Iederal land. The proposals, developed by the AMA, would am mend the existing orders, rather than try 1 0 repeal them, as was attempted in 1980. According to the AMA, the proposals would give land managers greater flexibility in overseeing ORV use. Among those present at the meeting were officials of the Council on Environmental Quality, and with a favorab le review, the'proposals would pass on to the Office of Management a nd Budget within the White House for review and circulation among publ ic land agenci es. Spe.king o f la nd use .nd the AMA. the AMA h.s been .1I0wed to intervene as • co-defendant in ••uit filed by t he Sierra Club against t he Bureau of Land Management for its ORV-use design.tion in t he Dove Springs . re. of t he California Desert. The Sierra Club is asking federal judge A. W.llace Tash ima to close the 3000-.cre .ite, but in • hearing, the judge admonis he d the club for seeking to close specific BlM areas open to unrestricted ORV use .s a means of attacking the BlM 's m.nagement of the Californi. Desert Conservat ion Area . The case. which was also joi ne d by District 37 of the AM A, has been going on since 1 9 8 0. t For those of us with itchy feet, the Motorcycl e Adventure Company is working on several travel opportunities. They're making making arrangements and holding accomodations for the J une 4-10 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, as Well as conducting tours for the International Six Days Enduro and th e Trophee/Motocross des Na tions events. Those wishing more information ca n write to Gigi Penton , the Motorcycle Adventure Cornpan y, P.O. Box 67, Amherst, OH 44ooILl? F~~I I .~ 1 6(~~~-}P?q·, .. . . . " . ,

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