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/126673
- Russ Sanford named DPR deputy director LONG BEACH , CA, DEC . 19 Russ Sanford, the founder of the Motorcycle Owners, Riders and Enthusiasts lobbying group, was named to a top Ca lifornia position by Governor George Deukemj ian last week. Sanford is now a deputy director of the California Parks and Recreation Department, and he will head the Off-H ighway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division. A leading spokesman for motocyclists for more than a decade, Sanford was sworn in for his new job on December 13. A fellow lobbyist, Bob Ham, called Sanford's appointment "a great victory. Now riders can buy Green Stickies and know full well that the money will be used properly." Freddie Spencer, the 500cc World Road Racing' Champion, had his first test ride on the all-new Honda 500 V-4 GP bike on December 13. at a track i n Queensland, Australia . Spencer rode two bikes, one with a squaresection alloy frame, and one with a large box-section frame (as can be seen in the photo above) . The V -4 's pipes exit just behind the seat, two on each side. According to Australian photographer Lou Martin, who shot these exclusive photos, the fuel tank now resides below the engine . The exhaust pipes from the forward bank of cylinders come over the top of the engine and are hidden by the fake fuel tank. Martin also speculated that the Pro-Link .shoc k is mounted horizontally between the engine and the fuel tank, since the four pipes take up a lot of room and generate a lot of heat. The fairing has both i nt akes for the carburetors and ducts to vent hot air from the radiators. During the test session armed security guards patrolled much of the circuit, but left the very back part of the track open. Yamaha ha s sched u led a press co n fere nce for December 22. a nd there Kennv Roberts will o llic ia llv ann oun~~ his plans for 1984. \"hil e Yam ah a . R ob ert s (c u r rern l y in Eu ro pe ) a nd h is agent Ga ry H oward a re a ll keeping mum. rumors a bo und as to wh at Roberts will do next vea r. It 's likel y rhat Kin g Kenn y wili a n no un ce a lim ited sched u le o f races in E urope . ' p lu s hi s o wn team here i n th e Uni ted Sta tes. Wavn e Rai nev is expected to spearhead iha t a ttac k o n the A:\IA G ra nd Nat ional Championship /Camel P ro Series number o ne plate . rid in g both Harl eys a n d Yam ahas , with Roberts making selected sta teside a p pea ranc es. Tuner Mert Lawwi ll (see his co m me nt s in " Goi n' for th e Plat e" els ewhere in this issue ) is also likel y to be involved . We'll he a t King Kenn y's press co nference. and we' ll have a ll th e de tai ls for you i n our issue II I next year. due out on th e stands in th e seco nd we ek of January. Slay ru ned l Former Kawasaki racing team manager Gary Mathers was named competition manager of Insport, the new Supercross-sanctioning body . InSport head Gene Tro baugh, who made the announcement, said that Mathers' appointment was effective on December 16, and that his duties would i nclude "being in charge of licensing, processing of entries, qualifying and everything that relates to competition. He will also be in charge of the officials. " Trobaugh also a n no u nce d tha t InSport h as i IS own offices. They are locat ed at I i981 Sk y Pa rk Circle. Irvine. CA 92i 14. and th e tel ephone number is il4 /250- 3244. R iders interested in co m p eting in Supercross should drop a not e to th at address . ac co rdi ng to Trobaugh. l _~~~~t~~;IG~~i~ When you've had the world's fastest Pro Stock Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki, what's left? How about Yamaha 'snewFJ11007Whiledrag racing star Terry Vance would neither confirm or deny the rumors, we've heard that there are discus- \--:"':"':~~_.::;;:~--:-:.:...........'":-"'!""~~_~ sions going on about a Vance & ', ~~~;~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~i,~.g•.effort . GO:" E Fl S HlN ' (o r. more likely ) GO:"E R IDIN' : Th e coll ective sigh o f relief heard through out so u the rn Ca lifornia on Monday even ing . December 19. was th at o f th e Cycle N ews advertising . production and edito ria l folks a fter o ur 50th issue of t he year went 10 press. We ' ll be away from th e o ffice for a coup le o f weeks taki ng o u r a n n ua l vacati on. so don 't snap at th e m ailman if h e do esn 't have Cycl e N ew s for a sh ort spell. The circ u lation a n d bo okkeeping departments will keep th e CN o ffices c pe n, handlin g subs. gift ca lenda rs. finan cial mailers and those so rts o f things. The whol e ga ng will be back in th e bui lding o n J anua ry 3. 1984 (:"01 J anuary 4 as we mi stakin gl y reported a co u p le o f iss ue s ago). ready 10 pump o u t a nother exci ti ng 50 issu es. In th e meantime. th e happi est o f holidays to . you from all o f us here a t Cycle lV e lL1 . S Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has announced it will cease production of tires for motorcycle road racing and d irt track racing . The move comes after last year's withdrawal by Goodyear from the street and dirt bike markets. Goodyear's Dave Hederich, PR manager for the racing division, stated that the reason for the withdrawal: is that Goodyearwants to concentrate its energies on the construction and further development of radial automobile racing tires. Hederich did say, however, that Goodyear will continue to build and supply tires for motorcycle drag racing. With T eam Honda's David Ba iley , making th e trans ition from hi s usual ..25.0a: mount to a 500. th ings shou ld