Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSFI will be sponsoring a motorcycle awareness program in eight midwestern states during the month of May. Entitled " M ot orcycle Awareness and You," the promotion is geared to make auto drivers aware of the two-wheeled world. A calendar of spec ific events is available from MSF, Box 5044, Costa Mesa, CA 92628. ~y 1>411>41 Wf41LfY The C ycle N ews correspo nden t payment department will gladl y forward chec ks to AI Lyons. Srou Taggart a nd Beverl y Carrizal es upon receipt o f th eir cu rre n t add resses. The Sidewinder Challenge Contingency Program has been established by Krause Racing for the 1985 AMA Amateur National MX Series. The program totals $21,000; awards will be presented beg inning w ith qualifying rounds in June with the largest awards given at the AMA Amateur National MX Finals at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in August. Class winners from 80cc to Open are elig ible for the program. For more information, call Krause Racing , Sidewinder Challenge Contingency Program, 312 /543-6696 . Corona Raceway wi ll cease opera tions sometime during May, 1985 closing permane nt ly to m ak e way fo r resident ial housing. Pl a n s are to co n tinue even ts for rnotorcvcles , threewheelers an d Odysseys up unti l th e time o f closure. This marks th e end of 15 years of co m pe titio n a t Corona -a track th at has seen th e beginnings of man y racing careers . T rack own er Thomas Lapair is cu rre nt ly looking for a new track location. What is it? Good question, that. Th is recent spy photo shows a strangelooking machine parked in the company of two Harley-Davidsons. We'll pay a modest reward for technical specifications, identification and an explanation of how it works. Charleen Ho was recently honored at an AMA District 37 awards banquet he ld in Studio City, California. Presented with the secondplace trophy in Women's motocross, Ho was also cited for her efforts in organizing the banquet. The general AMA 0-37 membersh ip also gave her a Number One award for her dedication in promoting the sport. T he rad io progra m " Motorcycle Wo rld with Larry Huffm an ," bro adca st Su nday eve ni ngs o n O ran ge Cou nty. Ca li forn ia sta tion . KWV E (FM 107.9 ) will expand to a fu ll twohour broadcast beginning 8:30 p .m. on February 17. First guest for the exp an ded -form a t program wi ll be 500cc road ra cing Wo rl d Cha mpion Eddie Lawson. This 490cc, 1910 Singer motorcycle with a w ickerwork sidecar recently sold for $8,400 in a Phillips of London auction held in London, England. The combination was sold with a spare engine and a 1902 copy of the Auto Cycle Journal w ith details of a similar machine. The machine was included in a collection of 37 veteran motorcycles and hundreds of rare spare parts owned by the late Bill Fruin, w ho died last year; the machines and parts were ordered sold by his estate. MacLea n R acin g was schedu led 10 test a pair of RS250R H o ndas at W illo w Springs R acew ay on Fe bruary 12, w it h Wayn e R a in ey a nd J oey Somme rs riding. Pl a nned for th e test sessions were tryouts o f 18, 17 a nd 16-in ch front wheels and ti res. T he standard, for -sa le 1985 RS250R co mes w ith a n 18-inch fro nt whee l. 6 Public relations representatives from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and BMW recently met with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) to discuss ways to further exposure of MSF safety programs, Interested dea lers, be ginners and experienced riders are invited to participate, and information can be had from the MSF at: 800 /447-4700. Starti ng April 5, CMC n ight rn or o cross returns to Ascot Park, G arden a , Californ ia a nd will beracing Fridays ins tead o f Wednesdays. The six-round Hi-Point/Golden State Enduro Se ries will run in Cal ifornia from February 17 through November 3. Classes are for Overall (AA+AI , 250cc A, 200cc A, Vet A (3 0 -3 91, and Senior A (40+I. Awa rds will be presented to the top three in each class. Check the ca lendar section for dates and locations. T he Specially Vehicle Ins ti tu te o f Ameri ca (SVIA ) sti ll has openi ngs in th ei r free rider skills co urse, set for March 2. 1985. Beginning riders ca n learn 10 ride in th e six- hou r co u rse , on AT Vs prov ided by th e SVIA. Co n tact th e SVIA a t 714/ 24 1-9256. The Motor Sports Video News Service has announced plans to uplink satellite transmissions of the four High Desert Racing Association events, and the four SCORE International events that will determine the 1985 champion for each class of competition. For those equipped for satellite reception, the transmissions can be received from Telstar 302 at 1 :30 p.m. (EST) on the Monday following each race weekend. Tune to transponder 11 V, Channel 21, and Downlink frequency 4120 MHZ. T he BLM 's Ba kersfield Distri ct Adv isory Cou nc il recen tly to ured th e Cl ear Creek O R V recreat ion area near King City, Ca li fornia . The co u nci l w ill soon help schedule a n activity plan for Clear Creek . and the excursion gave co u nci l members a " first-ha n d look a t th e ocr-hi ghwa y vehicles th a t frequent th e area ." Scott Gray of northern California 's Healdsburg Cycles set a new Open Stock Production lap record at Willow Springs Raceway on Feb ruary 3 , during an ARRA road race. Gray turned a lap at 1 minute, 35.72 seconds on his Yamaha FJ1100. Kawasaki 's fac tory in L in coln , Nebr aska bu il t 37,000 th ree-w heelers in 1984. co mpared to 25,000 motorcy cles an d 18,000 .Jet Skis. Worldwide sales of the Kawasaki Ninja GPZ900R have topped 14,000 since i t s introduction , making it the fastest-selling Kawasaki ever. Suzu ki a nd Ya mah a both increased production in 1984, while H o nda a nd Kawasa ki red uc ed product io n compared to 1983 figures . S uzuki's produ ction in crea sed 82%a nd Ya m a ha 's p roduction increased 67%. Honda reduced production 4%and Kawa sa ki reduced production 8%. Comparing figures from May 1984 and May 1983, Japanese motorcycle exports were up 21 %; 273,513 machines were exported from Japan in May 1984. Cars accou nted for 62% of H onda 's worldw ide sa les in 1984, in ter m s o f cas h va lue. Mo torcycl es acc o u nted for 25% o f domesti c (J apan ) sa les a nd 20% o f ex port sales for the com pa n y. Englishman Dave Watson, who will be riding with support from Kawasaki in 1985, has been moved to the 500cc MX GPs instead of the previously announced 250cc class. He joins Georges Jobe, laurence Spence and Jeremy Whatley in the Kawasaki 500cc GP effort. - Dick Mann was vo ted G rand Marsha ll for the H o u ston Astrodome T'T and S hort Track races held Februa ry 8-9. Mann ea rned the m ost vo tes from Cycl e N ews readers of the 17 for mer ( a n d pres e nt ) Gra nd N a t i on al Champions: all 17 were in a tte nda nce a t o ne ti me or a nother over the co u rse of the weekend . A computerized reg istration and 'scoring system will be used at all AAMRR road races this season. The system was designed and developed by Donna Rotman under the auspices of the AAMRR. H o w thin gs cha nge: The foll o wi ng are h igh li g h ts o f th e " specia l ru les " for th e 1968 Da yto na ro ad races. R ul e 2 - " Lea the rs must be zi p ped o r botto ne d a nd sh irt ta ils tucked in pa nts . R iders with open sh irts or jackets a nd £l oppin g sh irt tails will be £l agged i nto p its." R u le 5 - " All riders MU ST wear a racing vest (o the r than b lack) o ver hi s lea th er s ... Black leathers . .. will not be pe r m it ted ." R ul e 6 - " Bea rded riders wiII not be perm itted to co m pe te." Rule 17 -

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