Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

whi ch favor the dollar, those 200 hundred lu cky fell ow s (and ladies?) ha ve th e pri vilege of co ughi n g up a lmos t $10,000. Most Fren chmen ,like most of us, ca n' t j usti fy or j ust pl a in don ' t ha ve that sort of coin to si nk into a bike. So theyread th e magazin es a nd dro ol , j ust as we do. O ccasionally th ey ma y ge t to see o ne on th e street. Wh en I firs t wen t to France I was stu n ned to learn th at young Fren chmen thought tha t America n girls were the great look in g ones . After a ll I'd heard about Fren ch girls . . . It works the sa me way with motor cycling. Wh en they look a t th e differences bet ween wh at we have a n d wh a t th ey have, th ey see, na tura lly , the other side. . They see a ll th e after ma rket parts we ca n bu y, for exa m p le. We have a t our fingert ips an array of pipes, cams, co ils, shock s, swi ngar ms (ca lled swinging arms in Britain , oscillating arms in Fra nce), a nd o ther performan ce goodies tha t are often either un ava ila ble ' or of inferio r quality in Europe. Or so they've heard. They see the £la sh y n ames our bik es gel. Wh ile they have a VF750 F, a GPz900R, a nd a n XV920j , we ge t a n Interceptor , a Ninja, a nd a Virago. (Virago in Fre nch mea ns a rough , masculine worna n.) T hey also see the ex pa nse of terrai n . th at we have to ride in . T he y've heard a bout the twi sting ca nyons o f Californ ia, th e desert roads that run due straig ht fo r miles. They've seen pi ctures o f th e Grand Ca n yon , the Co lo rado Ro ckies, the New En g la n d co un trysi de. Perhaps most o f a ll, th oug h, they have th eir ow n set of m yth s. Do you kn ow why Mar lboro is the best-selling cigare tte in Europe ? It 's because o f th e Marlboro Man. We may not view th e Great Pl a ins as an advantage as we start back across Ne braska, but to th e Fren ch it sme lls of co wboys an d buffalo. They don' t realiz e h ow far it reall y is fro m the Mississippi River to Den ver , or that yo u ca n co u nt a ll th e trees and turns and buffalo along the way o n the fingers of one hand. At Tours, the bikes thi n o u t, eac h taking his particular di rection. On the road to Amboi se, a lo ng the Loire R iver vall ey, I am entertai ned by a lo ne lea th er-clad ri der on a Ducati wi th British p lat es. H e stands u p, si ts down , steers with his feet, swi ngs a leg over to be side sadd le. I a m not sure whether th ese a ntics are fo r m y benefi t or just to stretch . . T he Loire is wid e a nd peacefu l, pock ed with sandbars. T he valley is a handsome o ne, the river bo rd ered o n one side by h igh bluffs . O ccasionally there is a chateau, a n a ncien t sto ne cas tle, like th e one I'm goin g to Amboise to see. France is a p leasant, interest in g pl ace to rid e. But th e grass is n o t so very green. • Latest Poop (Con tinued from page 2) MQTORCYCLE INDUSTRY "ANGES Survived After fin ishing h is fir st roa d race, March 31, a t Road At lan ta , Georgi a , Dave Despa in , h ost of MotorWeek Ill ustrat ed ; Despain pl a ced sixth on a Kawasak i Ninja. . Planned A documentary film on th e Contin enta l Motosport Club's seco n d a n n ua l Aloha Supercross, scheduled for H onol ulu H awaii ,J u ne 29; prod uction is bein g hand led by Shoemaker Pro d uctio n s o f Irvine, California; th e com p leted film is expected to be release d for na tional televis io n syn dica tio n. Missing From the Sout h Africa GP road race, H on da factory 500cc rid er Ta kazumi Ka ta yama , due to the j apanese go vernment's policy agai nst sports co ntacts with Sou th Africa because of its apartheid racial pol icies. Cancelled Due to fears of terrorist attacks, this year 's Ci rcuit des Pyren ees roa d trial; the event has .bee n run the la st 35 years along the Fren ch -Spani sh borde r, near Spain's Ba sque province; policedepanments across Eu rope have tradit ionall y sent most o f th e tea m en tries w h ich mak e u p th e event. Profiled On " Contem porary Marketing," an educational television series about corpora te ma nagement, Yamaha Motor Corp.; intervie wed are Merle Ka rst , Sen ior Vice Presiden t/Director; Den n is Stefa ni, Manager , Product Pl an n ing a nd Research Division; and Ron Crawford, Ma n. ager , P u blic Rela tions and Advertising Division; series will appear on KO CE-TV, chan nel Hl.'in the Orange , County ar ea of southern Ca lifornia; th e Yam aha ep isode is Apri l II and 13, a n d May 2 an d 4; " Co ntem porary Marketing" will be seen in th e rest of the co u n try la ter this year. Appearing In a one-ac t play, " j us t Like Sisters," former Miss Winston/Miss Camel Pro, Lynn G riHis; p la y runs Saturda ys a nd Su nday a t the Beverl y H ill s Pl ayhouse in Beverl y Hills, California ; ca ll 213/6502338 for further in for ma tion. Delayed The opening of a new race tra ck at Ba ylands Ra cewa y, due to rain ; o rigina lly sche d u led open in g date of April 3 is n ow set for Ap ri l 17; call 415/65 1-2545 for in for ma tion. ' Dismissed Dr. Bill Park inson, as President a nd Chief o f O pera tions o f th e Western Eastern Roadracer s Associa tion (WERA). No rep lace ment has been named. Created A new corporate logo for Boyesen Engineeri ng, a manufactu rer of h igh performance motorcycle parts, name ly reed va lves for offro ad motorcycles; logo was designe d by Li eberma n-Ap pa lucci , a n advert is i n g a ge ncy i n All entow n, Pen nsylvania. 15

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