Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-- ~ PtiOP ! ~y 1>411>41 WfQLfY 0") ....... Three-time 500cc World Road Racing Champion Kenny Roberts broke hi left femur, bruised his spleen and dislocated his shoulder Augu t 18 when he rashed a YZ250 Yamaha while play-riding in the California desert. Roberts spent two days in intensive are; he's scheduled for surgery to pin the leg and will be hospitalized for 10 to 14 days. Cards and leller should be selll to St. Joeph's Hospital, 1100 Stewart Dr., Orange, CA 92665. Formula Two pilot Joey Sommers is home in Shelton, Connecticut after the femur he broke at Pocono was pinned. Cards and letters should go to 50 Fairlane Dr.• Shelton, CT 06484. For the first time in recent memory, the Formula One event at Sears Point featured the winners of all three regular support events. Superbike winner Wes Cooley rode and finished fourth. while Don Greene (Formula Two), John Williams (Ballie of the Twins) and Bruce Lind (Sidecar) alsocompeted. The August 15-18 AMA Amateur, Youth, Senior and Women's National Championship MX Finals at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, saw 25 class champions crowned. Eddie Hicks (Yam) led four riders with double title wins, taking crowns in the 85cc (14-15) Stock and Modified classes. Shawn Kalos (Hon) was the 85cc (12-13) Stock and 125cc B Youth winner with Marty Vaughn (Kaw) topping the 65cc (7-11) Stock and Modified ranks. Eddie Warren (Kaw) won the ProAm and 125cc A Modified Amateur titles. This year's Daytona 200 wa the last motorcycle race run on the 3.87-mile combined oval/infield cour eat Daytona International Speedway. The recently completed revamping of the infield portion of the track CUlS the length to 3.56 miles. Riders in the November 2 combined AMA ProAm/Championship Cup/Endurance Road Race Championship eries finals will be the firston two wheels to sample the new course. Bell Helmets, Castrol and GS Performance will be supporting the September 15 Steamboat Springs Historic Motorcycle race to be held on the streets of the scenic Colorado resort community. The Mountain Roadracing Association and the Historic Motorcycle Racing Association are the co-sponsors of the event, which will feature Dick Mann as the race steward. There will be the standard AMA vintage classes as run in the Daytona Vintage race, plus 250cc, pre-WWII and both street and GP 750 classes added. A $1500 cash purse is also up for grabs, and for racers with modem motorcycles in their garages, the MRA is hosting an event for regular racing machinery on the following day. For more information, call Joe Day at 303/449-9357. HosPITal STOP: AMA/CMC Expert motocrosser Vernon Forsyth is recuperating at home following shoulder support surgery to repair a rotator cufe. Forsyth hopes to be racing again by the end of the year; in the meantime cards and letters can be sent to him at 3600 Viader Dr., Modesto, CA 95356. As reported elsewhere in this issue, Honda's Fred Merkel fractured his wrist at Sears Point. He was scheduled to fly to Denver, Colorado, on August 20, where he will undergo surgery to have a screw put in to hold the wrist together. Dr. Dave Kiefer, the doctor who worked on Mike Baldwin's wrist last year and a road racer himself, is to perform the surgery and Merkel hopes to compete at the September 1 Superbike round at Brainerd, Minnesota. 2 Husqvarna's Mike MelLOn edged teammate Terry Cunningham by a single point for the overall win at the August 19 Jack Pine ational Championship Enduro in Moorestown, Michigan. Melton lost nine points LO Cunningham's 10 in the 200-mile run. Gary Johnston (Hus) with I I points, Alan Randt (Hus) at 15 and Kevin Hines (Hus) with 16 points rounded out the top five overall. Ken Johnson (Hus) topped the B ranks. Cunningham still lead the series point chase over Melton, 207 to 204, with Hines third at 167 with three rounds remaining. Kawasaki's Jeff Ward denied the rumor about him competing in the 500cc World Championship GPs next year. Last week we reported that a weekly European motorcycle newspapar said that Honda is talking to Kawasaki's 500cc World MX GP contender Geoges Jobe about a factory ride for '85. If Jobe decided to leave Kawasaki, it was said Ward might replace Jobe, but Ward said "I'll be racing in the U. S. for at least three more years. " Making his second appearan e after breaking his collarbone near his shoulder four months ago, Honda's Danny "Magoo" Chandler returned to action for the last round of the AMAIBeI-Ray National MX Championship at Washougal. He easily won his qualifier and took fourth in. the first 500cc ational moto. But while running third in the second moto, Chandler crashed and re-injured his shoulder. Chandler said, "It hurts pretty good and left a big knot and scrapes on my shoulder, otherwise I'm okay." Mike Larson, while leading the 500cc qualifier that Chandler won at Washougal, also crashed - on the first lap - and dislocated his shoulder. Larson will be out of action at least a few weeks. More rider comment on Daytona's decision to run a Superbike 200 in 1985: "1 like the idea," said Rueben McMurter. "I think it'll make it better. I think you can get more upport from the aftermarket for a Superbike than a Formula One bike." RandY Renfrow di agreed. "I ouldn't pu't together the program I have now with a Superbike. A privateer can mount a much beller Formula One program than a Superbike program. And Bill France's argument is that the uperbike race will be a more interesting race, but I don't think it is a more interesting race - it's the same guys always running away." Doug Brauneck said "I don 'dike it. I guess we can make our TZ750s into coCCee tables, cut the wheels in half so they'll sit at the right height and not roll." Greg Smrz said "I've been real depressed. I'm not aboutLO dump all my money I've got in F-I and build a Superbike. There's not enough time to do that anyway." But Ricky Orlando said "Personally [ think it's great, owning a Superbike and being able· LO make some money. If I owned a Formula One bike I'm sure I'd have an opposite opinion." Which, of course, is how it's oming down Superbike riders pro, F-I riders against. Honda's opinion of the Daytona Superbike 2007 "The consensus of opinion is that we don't really have any strong feelings," says Bill Pulskamp of American Honda Motor Company's Motorcycle Public Relations Department. "It's Bill France's business. If he decides to run Superbikes we'll decide if we want to run them or not. " IN MEMORIAM: Buck Geils, National Sales Manager for U.S. Suzuki MOLOr Corp.. died Tuesday, August 7, at UCl Medical Center in Orange, California. Geils was admilled LO UCIMC July 22 alter suCCering an aneurysm. Services were held August 10 at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, and according to Suzuki PR spokesman Rob Saunders,_ were allended by many members of the mOLOrcycle industry. Geils began work for uzuki in 1975 on the sale order desk and later moved up LO the positions of district and then regional sales manager for the company. Further promotions elevated him LO the posts of Sales Administration Manager and Assistant ational Sales Manager before reaching hi current position in 1982. Geils is survived by his wife Bonnie. Cards and lellers can be sent LO the Geils family, 0 Public Relations, U.S. Suzuki MOLOr Corporation, 3251 East Imperial Highway, Brea, CA 92621. HosPITal STOP: AFM Road racer Todd Brubaker is currently in the Sherman Oaks Bum Center, undergoing skin grafts for severe abrasions he suffered in a crash at Willow Springs. Brubaker is expected to be there another one and one half to two weeks; cards and letters may ba sent to him at Room 113A, Sherman Oaks Burn Center, 4929 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. A third place in the first moLO was all KTM's Heinz Kinigadner needed LO clinch the 250cc World Motocross Championship in the final round August 19 in Finland. Kinigadner didn't place in the final moLO, but his 247 points bested Jacky Vimond (217) and Jeremy Whatley (195). Gilera's Marc Velkeneers won the day's event with a 1-3 moLO tally. " . .- BMW'is known to be developing a 750cc incline three, and the new machine may have four valves per cylinder. Positioned as a sports bike with racy styling and high performance, the new BMW may form the basis for a World Championship endurance racebike. The September 2 work day of the Sequoia Summer Series trail maintenance program will begin at 10 a.m. at the Troy Meadows Campground in northern California. Along with work to do there will be prizes for some of the lucky volunteers from Banzai Brothers, Chase Harper, ND Spark Plugs, 0' eal A, Richter Industries and Kal-Gard. For more on the project, call Bill or Kathy Herndon at 213/255-5815. Motorcycle jumper Gary Wells says he is promoting a short track doubleheader to run with the Nevada State Fair in Reno on September 8-9. Wells says he'll alternate 500cc motorcycles with threequarter midgets on a dirt oval at the Fairgrounds, and that there will be around $2000 in prize money for the racers. At the end of each night, Wells is slated to do a big bike stunt - a five-story freefall on a motorcycle, hitting a dirt mound and then bouncing over a "pit of fire." Gates open at 10 a.m. each day and the show is at noon. Tickets to it are at the Fairgrounds and the MGM Grand. The equOla ational Forest (northern California) management reportedlv wants toclo e motorcycle tails in the'lower half of the forest- all trails below the Big Meadows Area - for reasons unrelated to Wilderness designation. Since motorcyclists already stand to lose miles and miles of trails if pending Wildernes legislation passes, this may not fall under the heading of good news. Those with opinions on the subject might wish to contact Bob Addison, the Recreation Forest Ranger, at P.O. Box 6, Kernville, CA 93238, or call 619/3763781. The specific, designated motorcycle trails affected are 34ED16, 17,19and20. Semi-retired road racer Graeme Crosby is running a motorcycle tour business in New Zealand. A five-day tour costs $550 (in New Zealand dollars) for rental of a motorcycle, helmet, gloves and admissions to several tourist attractions. Crosby's company is called Graeme Crosby Motorsports Ltd. at P.O. Box 2769, Auckland, New Zealand. A 24-hour phone number is 578-895. Not fast enough, eh? A Honda spokesman in England told the press recently that developing 180 mph street bikes is a definite possibility. "It is not so hard for us to develop such a high-performance motorcyc1e," the spoke man said, "but it would be dif[icult to launch because of social pressures." Paced by the 12-point perfect scores of Eric Gundersen and Bo Petersen, Denmark ran away with the World Team Cup Speedway Championship held August 18 at Lezno, Poland. Denmark scored 44 points to the 24 of England and the 20 of the USA. American riders won only one heat, and as a result Shawn Moran was the top American scorer with just six points. Kelly Moran and Lance King each had five, while Bobby Schwartz had two points in two rides and reserve John Cook had

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