Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Snell releases 1985 helmet standards WAKEFIELD. RI. OCT. 26 , The Snell Memorial Foundation has released the 1985 Snel.1 Standard for motorcycle helmets. The new standard replaces the 1980 Snell Standard. which served as the benchmark of helmet performance and which was the toughest helmet standard in the world. According to the Snell Memorial Foundation. the 1985 standard differs from the 1980 standard in the following ways: - Tlte 1985 standard is designed around motorcycle use. and requirements for protection against roll bars and fire resistance have been removed; those requirements. which some manufacturers criticized as being not applicable to motorcycle use. will be included in a Special Applications Standard (for car racing) to be issued in early 1985. - The 1985 standard has reduced the allowable force transmitted to the head. - In testing procedures. the standard requires a more severe impact against a flat surface as well as against l!I rounded surface; ~nd the pointed projectile formerly used to test against shell penetration has been replaced with a steel I-beam shaped like those used ~o hold highway guard rails in position. making the penetration test more realistic. - Tests for resistance to gasoline and other solvents have been added. The 1985 Snell Standard continues the Snell practice of requiring that helmets pass performance tests without specifying or suggesting materials of construction or engineering designs. The standard considers the fact that in many accidents. particularly with motorcycles, the first impact of the head against any surface is by far the most severe; therefore the test requires higher impact protection against the first impact than the second. The standard has increased first impact velocity while still requiring the capability of handling a second impact at the same point. Basically the 1985 standard requires the helmets to pass a more rigid impact test than that required in the 1980 standard. approximately 15% more against the flat anvil and approximately 10% more against the hemispherical anvil. The 1985 standards require the highest performance characteristics of any standard available at the present time. There is no doubt that helmets produced to any standard greatly increase a rider's chance of survival and decreased injury.. By requiring a helmet to absorb more ener~y than previously. the level of protection afforded by helmets meeting the 1985 Snell standard is significantly better than those meeting the D.O.T.• Z90.1 1979 ANSI standard. the British standard, the European standard and the Intemational Standard Organization's requirements. According to Snell Memorial Foundation President Dr. C.O. Chichester. the foundation' informed representatives of various helmet manufacturers of the impending-standards in July 1984. Chichester said that companies with. helmet models now meeting Snell 1985 standards include Arai, Bell.. Marushin, Simpson and Shoei. riding Formula Two as well as defending his Number One plate for Honda. "I'd like to ride Formula Two and we've been talking about it," said Merkel at Daytona. "Nothing has been finalized yet." Team Ontario's Lynn Miller and John Ashmead took the 1984 AMAlCCS Endurance Championship by winning the final round of the series at Day·tona on November 2. The series included eight six-hour races with the best six finishes counting. The main topic of conversation throughout the pits at Daytona during the Nov. 2-4 Pro-Am was the change from Formula One to Superbikes for next year's Daytona 200. A short discussion took place among the top three finishers in the Superbike round - Fred Merkel, Sam McDonald and Roberto Pietri - after the winner's circle ceremony. Merkel said he feh the fans come to see the exotic equipment, their heroes and the race should stay as Formula One. McDonald was even more vocal. saying, "It's absurd to make Formula One a sideshow on Friday." Pietri countered: "I think it's a good move:' said Pietri. "I'm a better Superbike racer and this will be the biggest Superbike payday ever." Honda's Fred Merkel ran a "simulated" Daytona 200 on his InterceptorbasedSuperbikeon November J, pr,ior to the Pro-Am at Daytona International Speedway. "The basis of the test," said Honda's Udo Gietl; "was to check tire and brake wear. It appears there should be no problems with tires, but brake wear could become a problem." One interesting bit learned during' the test was that the front brake fluid reservoir ran dry at about the 180-mile mark. Brake pad wear by thilt time was such that the extra fluid needed in the caliper was enough to drain the master cy linder dry. Honda came out on top of the final Camel Pro Series Manufacturer Point Standings with a tally of 583 points to Harley-Davidson's 418. Yamaha, with 119 points, finished third over Can-Am (71), WoodRotax (48J: Kawasaki (37), Cagiva (33), Suzuki (32) and Ducati (6). Gary Scott will be riding a Honda. RS750 in Camel Pro Series Nationals next season. Scott, taking up an offer from Honda, bought the engine from the bike which Bubba Shobert rode to a second place finish in the October 28 Springfield Mile. Shoben's en~ine, teammate Ricky Graham's and their spare engines were for sale for $8,500 each at the end of the National. "There was speculation and doubt that·the engines we were offering for sale from Honda for dirt track use weren't the same ones we were racing," said Honda's Gene Romero. "We wanted to eliminate those feelings by selling our racing engines." .... Q,) ..c S Q,) ;> Here's a shot of Harley-Davidson's Nova V-4 during prototype testing. The machine. rumored to be about 885cc, is DOHC with two valves per cylinder. fuel injection and shaft drive. Harley-Davidson may build a factory in West Berlin to make the Nova. Look for more details in Cycle News next week. o Z FIM cuts Carlsbad, approves Superbike series MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, OCT. 21-28 The Federation Internationale Motocycliste (FIM) has said that the 1985 U.S. 500cc Motocross Grand Prix cannot be held at Carlsbad International Raceway unless extensive improvements are made at the site. Carlsbad was one of five Grand Prix sites de-certified by the motocross committee during the annual FIM congress. To be re-certified for the 1 986 Grand Prix. the Carlsbad track must be made wider. the pits enlarged, an area established where mechanics and riders can warm up racebikes and practice starts, and showers installed for the riders. The motocross committee also approved FI M stadium cr.oss rules, allowing the creation a series of five supercross events in 1985, the series to be called the Rodil Trophy. The AMA will ask that the final event in the series be held in the U.S. . In' other action, the congress abandoned rules that prohibited Grands Prix from carrying the name of a commercial sponsor; approved future use of the reduced-soil-damage tire design tried for the first time at the 1984 ISDE (The AMA also announced that such tires must be used by riders attempting to qualify for the 1986ISDE); approved AMA land speed record attempts without supervision of a steward from another country; approved rules and sanctioning for an international Superbike road racing series being promoted by MCC -and Associates, an organization affiliated with Steve Mclaughlin; and formed a special committee to meet with manufacturers in an effort to standardize worldwide rules for road racing classes based on production motorcycles. AMA delegate Bill Boyce was named to that committee. AMA President Ed Youngblood was re-elected as a vice president on the FIM Board of Directors. Gary Scott said, "I believe 1 can sell a sponsorship pJogram for next season on the .£act 1 have a factory engine to race. If 1 didn't think so then 1 wouldn't hav.e bought it. As it stands nmv, my plans of limiting my racing in 198510 selected events has changed and I'll be racing the entire Camel Pro Series schedule." Scott will keep his Harley-Davidson XR750s for backup equipment. The U. S Forest Service is developing an ORV use plan for the San Bernardino (California) Mountains; the study involves Cajon, Arrowhead and Big Bear districts and is slated for completion before summ.er of 1986. Input from motorcycle and A TV riders concerning trails, looped trails, open use areas, the type and amount of riding areas and facilities needed, etc. Concerned riders and clubs are asked to contact Paul Shaffer of the U.S. Forest Service at P.O. Box 7, Rim Forest. CA 92378 and Marion Borrell. Recreation Supervisor, P.O. Box 290, Big Bear Lake, CA 92316. More information on the plan is available from Jim Bol- lingmo, P.O. Box 1788, Big Bear Lake, CA 92316. Former Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Team Tamm, Bill Buttram is now the President of Pro-Se' Marketing. Buttram says he has clothing and products endorsement funds available for top-ranked motocross riders. Send resumes to Pro-Se' Marketing, 4055 S. Spencer, Suite 235, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89109. The performance of several 80cc riders in the 19841SDE in Holland, most notably the East Germans and Poles (two members of the second-place Polish team in the World Trophy competition were mounted on 80cc Simsons) has renewed interest in the possibility of sending an 80cc-mounted U.S. rider to the 1984 ISDE in Spain. While an 80cc class has been established in the U.S. ISDE Qualifier Series since 1982. there has been little participation in that division. If enough riders file a letter of intent to qualify on an 80cc. one of the riders may be given a slot on ((Tun~fn'ued to page-41) 5-

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