Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

and wasn 't on hand to protest his posted fin ish. Scott learned he had been scored as 19th. inste a d of t he 13th place he a nd his score rs had figured. after he arrived on Grand Cayman Island in the Carib be an for a week of skin d iving . Scott would have finishe d a lot farther back if h is drive c ha in had broken on t he la st lap inste a d of w hen it did-on t he cool-off lap . ...... ..... ~ 0.. < World C hampion Eddie Lawson of Team Marlboro/Yamaha opened the 1985 Grand Prix road racing season w ith a v ictory in t he 500cc race at the Kylami c ircuit in South Africa on Saturday. March 23 . Former World Champion Freddie Spencer (Ho n ) finished five seconds behind Lawson to take second ahead of Wayne Gardner (Hon ). Ron Haslam (Hon) and Randy Mamola (Hon). U.S. Road Race Champion Mike Baldwin (Hon) was ninth . Spencer (Hon) won the 250cc GP. finis hing seven seconds in front of r unner- up Anton Mang (Ho n ). T he U.S. Envi ro n me ntal Prot ect ion Agency (EPA ) has finalized its plans for dras tically red ucing th e a mo u nt of lead pe rmi tted in gasoline . H o wever, in reac hi ng that decision the agency has failed to study whe ther th e reduced lea d levels will harm up to two million motorcycles th at must operate o n leaded fuel. Beg in n in g in J uly, 1985, lead levels will drop from th e cu rrent maximum o f 1.1 gr am s per gallon to 0.5 gram . By J anuary, 1986, th e maximum will again be lowered to 0.1 gram per ga llon. The AMA had urged th e EPA to set th e final level a t bet ween 0.3 an d 0.5 gram s, estima tin g that th e dam a ge caused by too little lead could cost th e o wne rs of o lder mot or cycles u p to 500 mill ion in repa ir cos ts. Accor d in g to spokesme n from th e major oil co m pa n ies, foll owing th e first-level Jul y, 1985 phase-ou t o f lead as a gasoline add itive, a lcoho l will be used to in cr ease octa ne ra tin gs. Currently under review by the major motorcycle ma n ufacturers is potentia l da mage to fuel system co m ponents resulting from this ad dition of alcohol. Harley-Davidson is continuing its SuperRide customer demo ride program fo r 1985. The company has kicked off a direct -mail campaign inviting Harley owners and those who took part in the 1984 SuperRide to visit participating dealerships for a test ride. T he n inth a n n ua l La s Vegas 400 tea m desert race will be April 12-14. Winners of the Pro class get $2000; sportsmen will be a wa rded troph ies. Entry is $300 for th e Pros, $ 150 for sports me n . If you use a radar detector. lis t e n up: RADAR - Radio Association De fending Airwave Rights - he lped defeat anti-detector law s la s t yea r in Delaware. Kansas. Maine. Michigan. Oklahoma. Rhode Island. Vermont. West Virginia. a nd Wisconsin. T he WERA has a n no u nced th at Bill Parkinson, who just last year in formed us he had purch ased the road raci ng o rga niza tio n from fo unders Peter a nd Patti Fran k, is no lon ger th e o wner. We're n ow told th a t Bonnie Burick is the owner and she says she was Parkin son 's partner in th e purchase o f WERA from th e Franks early last year. 2· California AB412 will ra ise money for motorcycle rider edu cation and car driver awaren ess programs by in creasin g motorcycle vehicle regi stration fees 2. Th is bill ha s j us t passed o n to th e Assembl y Wa ys and Means Committee for deba te; sim ila r legi slation has been vetoed befor e. T o support AB412, writ e your loca l Ca lifornia St al e Assemblym an o r Governor Ge orge Deu kmej ia n , State Capitol, Sacram ento , CA 95814. In a related measure. California AB2235 will allow non -profit groups to conduct safety p rograms using state ORV funds . Organiza t ions such as the AMA. AA TVA or SVIA. fo r example. would be able to receive funds to conduct offroad rider classes. Aga in . write your local California state.assamblyman to support AB2235 . The 100-l\IiI er Series o f hare scra m bles races is sch edu led for th e following da tes an d pl aces in th e eastern U .S.: The Fireball 100 is Apri l 21, in T arentum , PA; April2i is th e AMA National H are Scra mb les Ch ampionsh ip a t Lor ett a Lynn 's Dude Ra nch in Tenn essee; May 19 is th e AMA National Har e Scrambles a t Bru ceton Mill s. WV; J un e 15 is the Bla ckwa ter 100 a t Dav is, WV; Sep tem ber 15 is th e Big Bear 100 a t Bru ceton Mills, WV; November 3 is the Lo retta Lvnn 100, aga in at Loretta Ly n n 's. For detail s writ e Ra cer Productio ns. R t. T, Box 459. Mor gantow n , WV 26505. The Trailblazers' a n nua l banquet is scheduled for Satu rday. April 13. at the Brookside Country Club in Pasadena. California . This year the group of pioneer motorcycle enthusiasts will honor off-road riders of the past. Tickets are $15 per person; there is a 300 reservation lim it. For information. write Trailblazers. c/o Ed Kretz Jr.• P.O . Box 795. Monterey Park. CA 91754. Loo k for S u zu k i to in trodu ce a GSXRI OOO with in two yea rs. T he new model shou ld mak e 'mo re th an 140 bhp and wil l be sim ilar in con figura tion to the recent ly-introduced GSXRi 50. A bulletin warning all KTM owners against using gasoline containing methanol or other additives in their machines ' engines has been mailed o ut by KTM America . The bulletin states that additives. including a lcohol. ethanol and octane boosters. can affect the rel iability of a bike's eng ine. Besid es hi s success o n the track, Fredd ie Spencer is do in g p re tty well o ff th e trac k. Accordi ng to a survey don e by Honda 's newest sponso r Rothmans cigarettes, Spen cer's na me is fam il iar to over 140 m ill ion people ' world wide an d because of h is nam e recog n itio n Fredd ie Spen cer Racin g sells 20,000 " Fast Freddi e" T-shirts a mo nth in J apan a lo ne. The California Off-H ighway Motor Ve h icle Commission w ill hold a Gary Scott left Daytona before the public meeting 8 :00 a .m.• Friday. posting of the Daytona 200 offiMarch 29. in EI Centro. California ci a l results o n Monday, March 1 1 . • . a t the Imperia l Irri ga ti o n District Auditorium at 1284 Main Street. Officers will be elected for 198586. and Indian Dunes is a lso on the agenda. The public is inv it e d . T he California Stat e Department o f Pa rks and Recrea tion Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreat ion Commission ha s recommended th e acq uis itio n o f Martin Ra n c h in Fr esn o Co u nty as a stat e vehicular recreation a rea. The ranch co vers 46,000 acres , a nd is pl a nned for acquisition in fiscal 1985-86. Wis e c o Pistons has joined Dun lop as a sponsor of the WERA National Championship Endu rance Road Race Series. Off-road ridi ng a reas co uld be affected by the proposed SMUD/ SPPCo Intertie, a massive electric u tili ty project p la nned for construc tion near Auburn, Nevada City, Truckee and So uth Lak e Tahoe in northern Ca li forn ia, a n d the Reno a nd Mind en areas in Nevada. Corridor Study Workshops a re bein g co nd ucted in the a ffected areas by the Sacramen to Mun ici pality District (SMU D) a nd Sierra Pacific Power Co. (SP PCo) . To provide inpu t o r req uest de tai ls, co nt ac t Mr. Tom Sc hmi d t, Env iro n me nta l Im p a ct Offi cer , U.S. Forest Servi ce, 100 Forni Rd ., P la cerville, CA 9566i, 9 16/ 622-5061. The U.S . F.orest Service is is s ui n g a s upplement to the Draft Environ mental Im pact Statement (D EIS) on the proposed Peppermint Mount ai n resort in northern Californ ia . Ac co rd ing t o a Forest Service spo kesman. t he p roposed yea rround fa ci lit y w ill have little effect o n lo c al mot orcycle trai ls ; the supplement a nd DE IS re late to nearb y condor h a bita t s . T he AMA recentl y a wa rded four grants from its Rider Legislative Contingen cy Fund to ass ist with local effo rts ranging from off-road access 10 rider ed uca tion. Grants o f 500 ap iece we n t to th e Freedom Road Riders of Misso uri and the Nevada Associat ion of Concerned Mo to rcyclis ts for th eir wor k to support volu nta ry helmet use legisla tion in th eir states. AMA Distri ct 15 of Indiana received $500 to help defray its expe nses in backing legisla tion to crea te a self-fu nd in g sta tewide rider ed uca tio n p ro gram. A fou rt h .$500 grant was awarded to the Magic Valley Trai l Machi ne Association of Twin Fa lls . Idaho , to assis t tha t gro up in battli ng a legislati ve proposal th at co uld seriously restrict off -road vehicle access. The AMA. in response to overwhelm ing member opin ion regard in g inc re a si n g the 55 mph speed lim it . supports return ing all speed limi t authority to state governments. but the AMA is a lso backing federal le g isla t io n t hat g ives states at le a st a lim ited choice in establishing highway lim its. Leg is lation now before Congress includes House Bill 693 . which would allow states to apply to the federa l Department of Transportation for speed lim it s of up to 65 mph on rural Interstates; House Bill 1163. permitting speeds of up to 70 mph on any h ighway outside " t ra ff ic congested " areas; and Senate Bill 329 . wh ich would perm it a maximum speed lim it of 65 mph outside urban areas with populations of 50.000 or more. letters u rging consideration of the t w o House bills should be d irected t o Rep . James Howard . Chairman . , .of the Public W o rks.a nd Transpor- tation Committee. 2245 Rayburn House Office Bu ild ing. Washing ton . DC 20515. The fate of the Senate measure rests w ith Sen. John Danforth . Chairman of the Commerce. Science and Transportat ion Comm ittee. 497 Russe ll Senate Office Build ing . Wash ing ton . DC 20510 . In recent month s th e fla t-twi n BMW Bo xer motorcycles have been ou tselling th e new four- cylinder KI00; BMW is underst andab lv co ncerned, and has init ia ted a program where the salesm an who successfull y closes th e deal o n a K-bike receives a 5100 bonus directly from BMW of North Am eri ca . Mike Krauser. the German designer best known in this country for h is touring saddlebags. has designed a road-going sidecar outfit based on BMW's K1 00 engine. The new h igh-performance machine uses a one-piece tubular chassis and radical hub-center steering. The vehicle will be marketed in Europe later this year. and will cost in the neighborhood of $15.000. Krauser's earlier MKM1000. a sports motorcyc le using an advanced "birdcage" chassis mated to a 1 OOOcc BMW boxer engine. saw a tota l production run of just over 100 un its - of which only 14 were sold in the Un ited States. U.S . im po rtati o n of the new sidecar-rig is unlikely. Laguna Sera is com ing, Saturda y a nd Sunda y, Jul y 13-14. Th e 14th Annual C ha mpion Spark Plug 200 Formula One and Formula Two road races are Su ndav: the Second Annual Bell Su perbike Classic is Saturda y. Add ed a ttractions include th e finals o f th e Vetter Hi gh Mil eage Co ntest , to be held betw een Formula One hea ts. Cam pi ng will be a llowed a t Laguna Seca Ra ceway Frida y a nd Saturda y n ights. For ca m pi ng a nd ticket information a nd phone o rders, call 408/3i3- l8 11. The July 7 ro u nd of the AMA National Championship MX Series at Buchanan. Michigan 's Red Bud Track-N-Trail will be billed as the Malco lm Smith National Champ ionsh ip MX . Malcolm Smith Racing Products will sponsor the p ro racing . while Scott Goggles will sponsor the Saturday. July 6 . amateur raci ng . FRE E: Whi le su p p lies last a t participating Ho nda dea lers , a T eam H on da key fo b to licen sed drivers over 16 during the Mar ch 29 th ro ug h Apri l 6 open house. . The Rod il Cup, an international Supercross championship series. w ill consist of five events. with the final round set fo r the U.S . The series kicks off on August 30 in Goteburg . Sweden. fo llowed by September 14 in Nijmegen. Ho iland. September 22 in London. Eng la nd. October 5 in Barcelona. Spain. and ending in the U.S . on the tentative date of November 2. The location is expected to be either the Los Angeles Coliseum or Oakland -Alameda County Sta dium . Wash in gt on sta te Senat e Bill 3035 redu ces the ti me for mo torcycle instruction permits to o ne year with a 90-day renewal; rid ers 18 years-o f-age and un d er must ta ke a rider ed ucation course. Support for Sen a te Bill 3035 sho uld be di rected to loca l Wash ington state leg islat or s.

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