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/126788
--~ 00 0") Kawasaki GPz600R and GPz750R launched Yamaha introduced the five-valves-per-cylinder FZ760 at the Cologne, Gennany motorcycle show. The liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder FZ750 displaces 749cc with a bore and stroke of 68 x 51. 6mm with three intake valves and two exhaust valves per combustion chamber, as shown in this diagram. A complete report with photos and technical drawings and specifications will be published in next week's issue of Cycle News. • By John Ulrich COLOGNE, WEST GERMANY, SEPT. 10 Kawasaki introduced GPz600R and GPz750R mini-Ninjas at the Cologne, West Germa~y motorcycle show and Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S. spokesman have.confinnec:l that the GPz600R will be in U.S. dealerships by December. The new model, to be called the 600 Ninja in the United States, is water-cooled but shares some design features with the GPz550 which will remain in production. Both camshafts are driven off the canter of the crankshaft and Ninja has a link-plate-chain primary drive to an intennecf18te shaft. But despite those shared features with the air-cooled GPz550, the 600 Ninja's engine is 1.6-inches narrower. The new engine has a six-speed transmission and 32mm CV carburetors. The naw model has a full fairing and l6-inch front and rear wheels. The front forks are equipped with Kawasaki's AVOS anti-dive and the steel frame tubes are square in cross section. Those frame tubes wrap wide around the cylinder head in a close-to-straight shot from the steering heed to the swingann pivot section. Dual downtubes run close undemeath the engine and bolt in place at the steering head and swingann pivot mount plate; removing the downtubes makes it possible to take the engine out of the frame. The GPz750R is a de-bored, de-stroked GPz900R and is built for the domestic Japanese market. Bore and stroke are 70 x 48.6mm with a claimed horsepower of 92 bhp at 9600 rpm. Capacity is 748cc. No engine specifications ware available for the 600 Ninja. AMA District 37 o££icials tell us that the Checkers M.C. Johnson Valleyto-Parker Check Chase (iesert race, ~heduled for October 20, will not TUn this year. The problem, we're told, centersaround the club falling behind in paperwork, and not with traditional environmentalist opposition. The race will run in 1985, according to the reports. IRON CITY IRON MAN: Champion motocrosser David Bailey's pic appears in the September issue of All About Beer magazine. Drinking7 No, receiving a check from Iron City Beer's R. Gary Privett for winning the brewery-sponsored double jump contest at the Mt. Morris (Pennsylvania) National MX last May. The Donnie "Holeshot" Hansen School of Motocross prices have been changed. The private, one day lessons went up to $210 from $150, while the one day group lessons went down to $55 from $75. Four day camps remain at $499. The next one day group class will happen October 3atlndian Dunes, in Valencia, California. For information contact Donnie Hansen at 805/252-2445. Wrangler Supercross Series point leader Johnny O'Mara was plenty busy over the August 25-26 week- end. After winning four Pro class motos at a local California MX track on Saturday, O'Mara headed to the Santa Monica Marathon, a 26.2-mile foot race, the following day. After the first of two loops, O'Mara was in 14th place in the field of 1,600 runners, but he then ran out of energy and "hit the wall." O'Mara regained his composure, walked for the next mile, and got back up to speed to finish 23rd. Road racer Dave Roper's recent trip to Europe to ompete in the Formula One TT Series rounds in Ireland and Czechoslovakia paid o££ with eventh and sixth place finisbes aboard the Team Obsolete Ducali 600 entry. Roper al 0 competed in all four rounds of the Formula Two portion of the series, carding DNFs at the Isle of Mann, due to a bent shift lever, and in Portugal where be was run off the track early in the race. AMA/Camel Pro Series points leader Ricky Graham can tie Joe Leonard's all-time record of eight AMA Grand National Championship wins in a single season at the Ascot doubleheader in Gardena, California, on September 21-22. Going into the Friday-night TT and the Saturday-night half mile, Graham has six wins, and he has won the Ascot half mile before. Fonned BMW Credit Corporation and BMW Leasing Corporation, joint ventures of BMW orth America and General Electric Credit Corpora· tion, to handle retail financing and leasing for BMW dealers; prior to this arrangement General Electric Credit Corp. provided leasing and inventory financing to BMW dealers, and that company's floorplanning service will continue. Splitting SCORE News, going back as an in-house publication of SCORE International; and On-Dirt Motorsports, new monthly magazine published by Lou Peralta's United Publishers Group, which published SCORE ews for the past 14 months; both e((ective with October 1984 issues. Moved Stadium Motorsports Corp., to 22941 Mill Creek Dr., Laguna Hills, CA 92653, phone 714/9518848. Expecting Their second child in April 1985, road racer Wes Cooley and wife Nancy. Moved B.P. Racing, from 5510 Ivanhoe Way, Sacramento, CA 9560 to 9328 Ridgeside Lane, Orangevale, CA 95662, phone 916/989-2908. . 'Moving Back to Europe, Frenchman and freelance photographer Patrick Behar, after eight years in the United States. Moved Dick Cepek, Inc., to 17000 Kingsview, Carson, CA 90746, phone 714/217-1805. Moved Roost Factory, by owner/operator Pati Clark, to 5082 Bolsa Ave., Unit 108, Huntington Beach, CA 92649,714/895-2778. Bom Sean William Light, to Cycle News correspondents Clay and Suanne Light, September 6. Sold Pro-Trac Trailers, by Jim Moore to orm Sperling, 8381 KatelJa, Stanton, CA 90680, 714/220-1133. 3