Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1984 07 25

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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HosPITal STOP;'Clar,k Jones, Yiama-l ha's Competition Support Communication Coordinator, seriously broke his leg while racing at Carlsbad. Cards and letters can be sent c/o Yamaha Motor Corporation, 6500 W. KatelLa, Cypress, CA 90630. Michele Rinaldi (Suz) turned in a perfect I-I day in the July 15 Spanish I25cc MX GP. Second went to Alain Lejeune (Suz) with 2-3 moto performance, while Corrado Maddii (Cag) was third overall. Maddii now leads Kees Van der Ven (KTM) in the point standings, 244 to 218, with only three rounds remaining. Jim Malloy (Kaw) downed Johnny Sands (Hon) in the Funny Bike final during the NM RA series round .held on July 15 in conjunction with the NHRA's Summer Nationals at New Jersey's Englishtown Raceway Park. Ma.llow turned in an 8.04-second final run at 167.42 mph to defeat Sands' 8.19/166.35 losing eft'ort. Look for an all-new on/off road machine from Suzuki for 1985. Suzuki will be offering a DR6oo, which features the Full Floater rear s\1spension, an air-cooled single cylinder motor with a chain driven single overhead camshaft. It also has an oil cooler, twin spark plugs and a single square slide carburetor. Dry weight is 313 Ibs. Yamaha Support rider Rodney Smith and Kawasaki Team Green rider Todd Campbell will be journeying to Martinique for an international 125cc outdoor motocross that will be held July 25. They'll be CQmpeting against riders from Argentina, Cuba, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and England. Also headed for the Carribbean island is CMC honcho Stu, Peters, to help organize the event. Dry weather has forced a Stage I fire restriction in the Sequoia, California National Forest (no campfires except in fire rings, etc.) and while motorcycle and ORV trails in the area are still open, they may close in the near future due to th fire danger. Check with the Forest Service (2091784-1500) before journeying to the area. A pre-production 1985 CR500 Honda was ridden by Australian motocross champ Jeff Leisk for the Victorian 500cc title chase in Australia. The new Honda featuras water-cooling and a beefed up rear damper unit.. Not Gay: Returning from a party honoring mainland riders before the recent Hawaiian Supercross, Jimmy Ellis was wagered by the four other mainland riders that he could not pick up a girl in 10 minutes or less in a particular bar. Not able to resist the bet, Ellis said "This will bean easy 10 bucks." But, unknown to Ellis, this particular bar happened to be for gays. Ellis proceeded to walk in; three minutes later, he returned, alone. 2 HosPITal STOP: Tycoon/publisher /motorcyclist/baloonist Malcolm Forbes, 64, fell after hitting sand and gravel on the Montana road he was negotiating. He reportedly suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, a concussion and road rash. "He's doing much better today:' said a member of Forbes' staff when we called for an update. Motocrossers Warren Reid and Randy Skinner are expected to mll!ke their Third Division speedway debuts at San Bernardino's Inland Motorcycle Speedway on July 18. Pro MXer Jo Jo Keller (Hon) won the July 15 round of the AMA/Hi-Point National Championship Hare S<:rambles Series in Windsor, Massachusetts. Geoff Ballard (C-A) finished second, nearly two minutes behind Keller with Kevin Hines (Hus) third overall. Keller was the 250cc class winner while the Open win went to Hines. James Maltba (Yam) 'won the 200cc class with Randy Hawkins (Hus) topping the l25cc ranks.. American Motocross Enterprises will not be running motocross races. at Indian Dunes after the 30-day notice of cancellation expires on their lease agreement with the Valencia, California, facility. "You don't do business with someone who sues you,' said Walt James of the Dunes staff when we contacted him to confirm a rumor. "Jerry Shore is suing us after he fell off a piece of equipment we loaned him." Shore, who was sariously injured in a bulldozer accident two years ago, was unavailable for comment when we went to press on July 16. It is likely that Stu Peters' Continental Motosports Club will pick up AME's alternating Friday night and Sunday race slots. Lance King scored a perfect 15 poin ts to lead all riders at the July 15 Overseas Speedway Final in Belle Vue, England. Three of the four American riders in the event finished in the top 10 and transferred to the next step in the chase for the World Invitational Speedway title, the Intercontinental Final in August. Runner-up to King in the Overseas Final was Australian Phil Crump (12), while American Shawn Moran scored II for third. Kelly Moran wound up tied with England's Les Collins for 10th place; he won a run-off for the final transfer. The other American competing, Bobby Schwartz, apparently had his problems and only scored three points. Team Hammer won the sixth round of the WERA/Dunlop National Endurance Series, a six-hour at Bryar Motorsports Park in Loudon; New Hampshire. Team Po Folks finished second on a 1200cc Kawasaki KZ1 OOOR Superbike, 11 laps behind Team Hammer's 1136cc GS1100 Formula One Suzuki. Quester/Sullivan Racing was third on a GS1100. Reports on how bad the California wilderness "compromise" are differing, but none of the versions we've heard sound good. We are told thaL the author, Senator Pete Wilson and his chief aide on the wilderness issue, Jim Burroughs, will be in their San Francisco office, through July 20. The telephone number there is 415/ 556-4307. Kawasaki's Jeff Ward recently visited his orthopedic doctor about a knee injury he suffered while practicing. Ward said he tore some ligaments in his knee, which requires surgery. He also said that 'In 'm'emOflam':'" , Bill Be'll, 1936-1984 Motorcycling lost one of its best when BiII8ell, 47, passed away July 10 after a two-year battle with cancer. The father of 1980 AMA Supercross Champion Mike Bell, Bill was very much an industry figure in his own right. His early career included a stint in carpentry and scrambles racing at southern California's Prado Park, but he rose to prominence as a four-stroke tuner of note during the early '70s at Long Beach Honda. An XL250-engined machine prepared by Bell and ridden by Bob Hosford enjoyed considerable success against two-stroke motocrossers during that time. In 1980 Bell went to Yamaha, where he managed their very successful off-road team, dominating off-road desert competition for two years and doing well in National Enduro and ISDE Qualifier rounds. When Yamaha dropped its off-road team at the end of the 1981 season, Bell moved to the position of directing Yamaha's Competition Support program. More recently, however, he retumed to Yamaha's racing department where he was working on machinery with Keith McCarty and Bob Oliver, until his illness forced him to quit work. Bell is survived by his wife Elaine, and children Mike, Christy, Scott and Brett. He will be remembered as a kind and decent man, a big fellow with a ready smile. He will be remembered and missed. Godspeed, Bill ... there isn'~ a break long enough in the Nationals and Supercross Series to allow for the operation, so he will be taking shots for the injury. Ward finished seventh at the Buffalo Supercross. Kawasaki will offer up to $5500 in contingency money for the July 21 Superbike race at Laguna Seca. The first Kawasaki rider to place in the top three will get 3000. If two Kawasaki riders are in the top three, the second one gets $1500. If it's a Kawasaki sweep, the third-place rider get $1000. The Los Angeles TImes raports that the personal effects of the late Steve McQueen, including over 100 motorcycles and valued in excess of $1 million, will be auctioned off at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas November 23-25. American desert star Chuck Stearns and Frenchman Serge Bacou teamed on a Sonauto Yamaha IT490 with a six-gallon gas tank to win the Baja: Espanol, a 630-mile off-road race run July 14 in Spain. Stearns and Bacou were the only team to break 12 hours in the event; they finished 15 minutes ahead of the 270-pound factory BMW ridden by Gaston Rahier and an unnamed partner. "The course was a lot smoother than what we have to deal with in the real Baja," said Stearns in a phone call from Paris, "but the roads were a lot tighter. Also, they don't allow any pre-running." Great American Motocycle Shows have seven motorcycle consumer shows on their 1984-85 schedule. They are: Los Angeles, California (December7-9); Fort Worth, Texas (January 4-6); New York, New York (January 10-13); Atlanta, Georgia (January 18-20); San Francisco, California (January 2527); Chicago, 1!linois (February 14-17); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (March 29-31). The Fort Worth and San Francisco shows will feature Mike Kidd-promoted indoor short track events. The Continental MotosportS Club's Skoal Bandit Western States Motocross Championship will be held July 22 at L.D. Fly-in Ranch near St. George, Utah. The ranch is located on rolling hills near Zion National Park. Skoal will put up $4500 in purse money for the three Professional classes, and O'Neal USA" is donating a lotof apparel towards the $3000 worth of amateur trophies and contingencies. For more details, call CMC at 714/261-61 16. • Suspended From AMA/Camel Pro Series competition for 45 days, Team Honda's Bubba Shobert, 23, following a fight at the Sl. Louis National Short Track in which Terry . Poovey received an injury that will keep him out of action from four to six weeks. Shobert currently riding under protest while an appeal is made; he won the Hagersville, Maryland, National Half Mile. Chosen By the AMA to represent the U.S. in the upcoming MotocrosslTrophes des Nations events in Europe, the following four-man squad: Johnny O'Mara (Hon), David Bailey (Hon), Jeff Ward (Kaw) and Rick Johnson (Yam). The Motocross des Nations runs September 9 in Ruskeasanta, Finland, with the Trophee des Nations the following week-· end on September 16 in Varberg, Sweden. Hired Former Road Rider editor/publisher Roger Hull, 59, as a public relations representative for Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Bom Ashley Loren Smith to super motorcyclist Malcolm Smith and wife Joyce, July II. Fonned AXO Sport-America, Inc., to importAXO moto<:ross boots, by Jim Hale, 29, former general manager of O'Neal USA. Company is located at 25702 Rye Canyon Rd., Unit E, Valencia, CA 91355; phone number is 805/257-0474. A ppointed Robert Marston and Associates, Inc. of Houston, Texas, as the public relations agency for Supercross promoters Pace Management, also of Houston.

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