Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

question covers the Glamis Dunes, P laster City open area. and Ocotillo Wells. It is recommended th a i th e best wav to let the Navv know vour protest is to -co nt an YO{H 10c;1I ·U .5 . Congressm an . Copies of leiters can a lso be sent to the Sail Diego OffRoad Coalitio n , P.O . Box 1687, Chula Vist a , CA 92010. · Bubba Shobert has sig ned an exclusive management and promotions contract with Doug Gonda of Protac Inc. Gonda will handle all of Shobert's sponsorship and promot ional negotiations in 1985 and can be reached at 216 /6966790. In 1984 Gonda handled press relations for the AMA/Camel Pro Series. Harley-Davidson pulls out of Racing On a day described as "Black Monday" by Harley-Davidson rac ing team manager Clyde D enzer, Harley-Davidson Motor Company announced they would not f ield a racing team in 1985. According to Denzer, the cutback invo lves Camel Pro Series riders Randy Goss, Scott Parker and Jay Springsteen as well as Battle ofthe Twins Road Race Se ries support and the Harley Owners Group (HOG) support · program in dirt track. Goss, Parker and Springsteen were given the option of taking their equipment from last year and striking out on their own. Parker and Springsteen, with no irons in the fire, will take their bikes and parts, find mechanics and sponsors and race independently or as a team; the two have talked and are trying to put together a team effort to save money. Goss, who has been talking with tuner Jerry Griffith since the end of the '84 season, will team up with Griffith to campaign Hondas along with Doug Chandler in an effort dubbed Team Goss /Chand ler. An ambitious proposal for the team laid out a $200,000 p rogram and they have already obtained SuperTrapp, Megacycle and Kosman Specialties as sponsors. . The demise of the rac ing program and, in effect, the racing department also affects a number of outside teams - Tex Peel Racing for one - which received a good dea l of support in the f orm of parts, etc. from the factory. The Harley Owners Group, which derives most of its funds from members, will switch it s sponsorship from the dirt track effort .of Edd ie Adkins/ J immy Filice to road racer Gene Church, who holds the number one plate in the Battle of the Twins GP class. Nevada Governor Richard Bryan will be the official starter for the January 13 Whiskey Pete's World Championship Hare and Hound. The 150-mile desert event has a $20,000 purse and starts in Las Vegas. More information.is avail able f rom 702 /457-0343 . The Jan uary 5-6 second round of th e Florida Winter AMA MX Series saw R od ney Barr (Kaw) bu rn up the West Pa lm Beach Wheelsport MX Park track wi th a 1-2 moto tally for the 125cc P ro class win. Scooter Stafford (Suz) topped the 250cc ra nks wi th a 3-1 score over Billy Li les ' (Kaw) 2-3 tally, whi le Steve Martin (Ka w) edged Keith Oelerich (Hon) i n the 500cc class. Martin and Oelerich split wins and fourt h p lace finishes with Martin's second moto win the decider. Chris Carr will continue working with Ron Wood for his short t rack and TT bikes for his rookie Expert . year in 1985. His half mile and mile machinery will be backed by R&B Harley-Davidson, in Racine, Wisconsin. Carr hasn't yet taken a ride on a Harley V-twin, but will do his initial testing during Daytona's Speed Week, in March . Carr was talking to Mert Lawwill, but "felt . the dea l we had with R&B would suit me better as a rider," 2 The Texas Motorcycle Dealers Asso ciation recently elected Darryl Hurst of Hurst Yamaha and Marine President for 1985-1986. Other newIy-elected officers include Vice-P resident Jimmy Hi ll of Austin Suzuki, Secretary Mark Woods of Woods Honda Fun Center, and Treasurer Michael T u rner of Southwest Honda-Suzuki . . ) I ) I. The grab is still on : Accord ing to several sources. the Navy 's plan to acquire over 300.000 acres of desert in Ca lifornia 's Im perial Valley is still on (see Cycle News, December 5). ORV legislative coalition lobbyist Bob Ham said, "It seems as if the Navy pu lled out to let the situation die dow n .then moved back in ." But according to Burea u of Land Management Area Ma nager for EI Centro Roger Zortman, " We have not heard that the Navv has backed off." Zortman savs that 'the Navy's acquisition program calls for a tota l of 315 ,000 acres to be removed from use to "safeguard air space, a llow tactics, and pi lot training." He adds th a t once the acqu isi tion has been made. "certain areas may be off- limits to land use (which would not only include O R V activity, but min ing and other industrial uses). and other areas may be open at the discretion of the Navy." Zortman adds that the withdrawal "does not ha ve to occur. The BLM ca n issue a 'memora ndum of understand ing' to the Navy to allow multiple uses of the lan d in ot her' wavs .t'The area in , .: • • • • • • I .,.~ •.•.•.•• ' T h e Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA) needs 24 beginning and 24 experienced ATV riders for a free ATV safety training program at Indian Dunes Park in Valencia. Californi a. The 24 beginners wi ll be guinea pigs for new instructors learning to tea ch the SVIA rider skills co urse and wi ll take th e course on March 2; the 24 exp erienced riders selected wi ll be vol unteers interested in becoming certified SVIA instructors and will attend a four -day instructor course from February 27 through March 2. More information is available bycalling the SVIA at 714/241-9256. . Look for Mike Baldwin to ride a Honda with Fred Merkel In the ' 1 9 8 5 Suzuka Eight Hours World Championship Endurance road race. Baldwin, who bought two RS500 Hondas and a spare engine from American Honda in preparation for his 1985 season, accepted the offer to race in Japan from Team Honda's Udo Gietl. C RC is offering $20 cas h to anybody who will work a check during the Jan uary 13 CRC enduro near R ed Mountain. Ca lifornia. In fo rma tio n from 714/689-6 114. • Keith Code is working on a sequel to his $14.95 book "A Twist Of The Wrist," which sold 50,000 copies worldwide in several languages. The new book is aimed at road racers who want to improve; in the last th ree years Code has worked w ith five factory-sponsored riders and over 4 ,000 students at his $150 California Superbi ke School sessions. Watch Cycle News next week for your vo ti ng ballot to help select a Gra nd Marsha ll for the 1985 Camel P ro Series . season-opening TT and shor t track races at th e Astrodome in Hous ton. Texas on Friday, February 8 and Saturday, February 9. Candidates include 17 form er Grand Na tional Champions, a ll of whom will be flow n to the even t by Pace Managemen t, the promoters. Lakeside Motosport Raceway in Bastrop, Texas will celebrate its · one-year anniversary in the motocross racing business with a $2400 Expert purse and four-foot-high trophies on January 20. For more information call 512/327-5259 . Look for Team MacLean to field two 500cc riders a nd a 250cc rider in AMA Camel P ro Ser ies roa d ra ces in 1985. R ich a rd Sc hlachter will be joined on the tea m by an as-yetunnamed co -rider; Mike Baldwin and Wayne Rainey have both had discussions with the team, with R a in ey the more likely candidate since Ba ldw in seems headed for Europe. The rider wit h the inside line on the team's 250 is Joey Sommers. Backin g for the • J I effort will come from Bob MacLean and an as-yet-unamed ma jor sponsor. Eddie Lawson will be Larry Huffman's in-studio guest on Huffman's Motorcycle Wor ld radi o show January 13, aired in southern California from 9 :00 p.m. to 10 :3 0 p.m . on KWVE FM 10 8 . The reigning 500cc Road Raci ng World Champion will answer questions from callers; the show is Huffman's f irst since moving to 50,OOO-watt KWVE from KEZV . Mrs. Me rle Tokarsk y is off ering a reward for information leading to th e whereabouts of h er husband, motorcycle enthus iast Howard Tokarsky, who disappeared near Mojave. Ca lifornia on December 14. Tokarsky, 45, weighs 200 pounds and stands 5'9" ta ll with brown hair ba lding on top and brown eves. His Ford Bronco was found abandoned in Mojave. Direct any information to LAPD Missing Persons at 213/485 -538 1. . ... We're receiving dozens of letters per week and on ly a few can reach print. To better the chances that your letter will be published, make it short and concise and type it, double-spaced. The volume of mail received makes it impossible for us to print letters f rom local and club racers thanking sponsors, pit crews, mechanics, etc. Due to a printing error on AMA D-37 1985 applications. the Lightweight Division II 0- 175 class steward's address is incorrect. The correct address for steward Bo b Freeman is 10628 Hawthorne Ave., Hesperia. CA 92345; h is phone number is 619/244 -1696. MQTORCYCLE INDUSTRYS C"ANGE Moved Do ug Gonda's P rotac Inc. , a marketing and promotional consu lting firm. to R oo m 114. Terminal Tower Concourse. Cleveland, OH 44113. 216/696-6790 . Offered 2 1-day European and Afnca n tours on BMWs, from Beach 's Motorcycle Adventures, Ltd.; the compa ny a lso rents motorcycles in London and Munich and writes European insura nce on U .S.-registered motorcycles. In forma tion is avai lable from 2763 West R iver Pkwy.. Grand Isla nd . N Y 14072.71 6/ 773-4960. Quit After II years as an AMA referee. Butch Lee, sayi ng " the sport of motocross is going down hi ll;" his plans are undecided. Introduced Gaines Easylease lea se-financing service for motorcycle a nd ATV dea lerships, by Gaines Motorcycle Leasing Corpora tion of Englewood Cliffs. New Jersey . The company will offer lea ses of motorcycles and ATVs to consume rs through selected dea lerships; information fro m 201/894-8800. Burned As in 10 the ground, Su refire Dist ribu ting Inc. of Ashevi lle. North Carol ina. on Decem ber 26; the company has vowed to rebuild,

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