Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Moved Manufa cturers' representa tive Ken Ku ster rnan 's Cvclecore, Inc. to 346 1 Ma id en Voyage Ci rcle Sou th, J ackson vill e. FL 322 17; phone number to 904 /268-6306, effect i ve June 1. Hired As Assistant Nati on al Manager of Am eri can H onda 's sa fety and recreat ion department. Neil T olhurst. formerl y d ir ector of Northern Illino is Universi ty's Mo to rcycl e Safet y Proj ect. Searching Northern Illino is U n iversi ty for a person to fill T olhurst 's p osition; sea rc h co m m ittee chaired by NIU Associate Dean . Dr. R o bert Mason. College of Continuing Education. NIU . DeKalb. IL 60 1152854. Started Rodent Producti on s, by G .K. Scot t, a. k.a . Bermie th e MX Bunny. a. k.a. Rex th e Ra cing Rabbit . to perform a t m otorcycle a n d AT V even ts; inqu iri es ca n be sent to 996 L awren ce Drive. Ste. 102, Newburv . Park. CA 9 1320. . Promoted B. F. Monto ya . Captain , U .S. Na vy. 10 Com modore; Monto ya was in charge of Na vy land withdra wal in Cal ifornia 's Im per ial Va lley; promotion was repo rtedly dela yed because of public u p roar crea ted by o ff-readers a n d o ther co ncerned users in th e a rea . Screuiups Cycle News. June 5 incl ude d th e m ost- feared typog raph ical error in mot o-journal isrn. th e mis-spelling o f " motocross." o n th e front page, n o less; o the r scre wu ps in that issu e, wh ich will live in infamy. include th e id entification o f Vir g inia Cit y Sh eriff Bob d el C arl o a s "Goober ," a ni ckname that actuall y bel ongs to his so n. the mi sspellin g o f Virginia Cit y as " Virg i na Cit y." a n d th e failure to include Sunda y's Virginia Ci ty results. Fired R ex R eese. 32. after 10 months as Feature Editor of Cycle News. on May 3 1. Hired Paul Carruth ers. 23. as Associate Editor of Cycl e N ews; gradua ted from California St ate University a t San Diego with a B.A. in jo urnali sm in Ma y 1984; worked a t North Co ast Publisher s as a sports wri ter for four twice-w eekl y co m m u n i ty newspa pers Ma y 1984 th rough Ma y 1985; joined Cycle News, In c. o n June 3. Reassigned Ral ph Cisco. Fores t Superviso r o f the Clevel an d N a tional Forest. 10 Forest Supervisor o f th e La ke Ta hoe Basin Mana gement I n it. A nnounced Su p port a nd s po nso rs h ip for th e n e w M e n Lawwill -Harl e y-D avid son ra cin g team, by PJ -I Corporation. manufa cturer of PJ -I m o tor cycle lubr icant products. Moved G roup On e Prod ucti on s, operat ed by Roxy Rockwood a nd so n Tim Rock wood. to 2389 1 Fabricante, Ste. 609 , Mi ssion Vi ejo . CA 92691 ; new phone number is 714/ 855-9200; cha nge is effec tive June 1. Seen G ra ce J on es. in H onda 's latest telev ision co m mercia l for th eir m o torscoot er s: th e act ress-modelsinger return s a fter appeari ng last vea r in a H onda scooter co m mercia l ~ith g la m- roc ker Adam Ant. lJ9..tiill~t GOVERNMENT B.S. By Matt Benson If yo u do n othing. th ey'll do nothing, and we'Il be stuck with what we've got - a un iversa lly-d iso beyed n ational spee d limit. To clar ify. th er e ex is ts a g row ing mov em ent o pposin g a bsolu te fed eral co n tro l o f h ighwa y speed limits. desp it e what G allup polls say. Wh y? Because th e nati on is just 10 0 big fo r o ne speed lim it, a nd 55 mph is just 100 slo w for m an y o f o u r hi ghwa ys in wide-open spaces. P roviding a spa r k 10 ign it e th e flames o f cha nge wa s a report iss ued last No vem ber by the Nati onal Research Co u ncil. Ca lled "55: A Decade of Experience." the congressiona lly ordered report pra ised th e nati onal speed lim it but suggested tha t a higher limit wou ld be appropriate on roads designed for faster tra vel , na mel y 3 1.500 mi les o f rura l Interstat es. T ha t report did two thi ngs. First. it invited an airi ng of th e speed-lim it issue - which happened Februa ry 21, whe n a U.S . H ouse o f Represen ta tives s ubcornrni uee co nd uc ted a Iorma l h ea r in g . p erha ps th e firs t in a decade. An d second . it ca used lawma kers in Congress a nd in sla te kgislarures to see th ere is a n alt ernat ive to repeal in g 55; modifying th e national speed limit to g ive sta tes a choice o f hi gher limits on se lec ted roa ds. T he result is a n unpreced ent ed amount o f sta te and federa l speed-Iirni t legi slaIion now under co ns ide rat io n . N ew J ersey Congressm an J ames H oward is chai rm a n of th e House Public Works and Transportation Committee, the panel to which th ree House speed-m od ifica tio n bills have been assigned. Howard has been respons ib le in th e past for ignoring sp eed- lim it repeal bills unti l th ey di ed , a nd hi s di sposition doesn 't seem to have improv ed . " I ca n' t see it m oving a t a ll. " H owa rd to ld a congressiona l journal th at as ked him a bout th e c ha nces o f the bills. " I ha ven 't h eard from th e h ead o f a single sta te police department, or - in p r ivate - from a ny governor who wa n ts to do much. " Apparently. H oward is ig noring or h asn 't h eard abo u t the resolu tions in fi ve sta te leg is latures urg in g C on gr ess to c ha nge the speed law. H oward does kn ow a bo ut H ouse bills 693. 1163 a nd 1086, because those a re the three m ea sures before h is co m m ittee. Th e fir st . HR-691 , is spons o red primarily by Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-O K) a n d would perm it governors to a p p ly to th e U.S . Depa rt m erit o f T ran sportati on for p ermissio n to increa se limits up to 65 mph o n rural Inter states. HR-11 63 was in trodu ced by Rep. H ames H ansen (RUT) a nd would a llow sta tes a 70mph limit o n ro ads outside " tra fficco nges ted" a rea s. which would be defin ed by th e DOT. H R-1086, a uth ored by R ep. Barba ra' Bu can o vich (R- NV) would repeal th e 55-mph limit co m p le tely. revertin g speed law s to th e ind ividual sta tes. Wh il e i n W a sh i n g lon for t h e speed-Iim it h ea r in g, we spo ke wi th H an sen abo u t h is It-g islal ion . T he co ngress man pra ised 55 fo r i IS past ron tr i bu rio ns 10 sa fety a nd fu el co nserva rio n. But, he sa id. vehicles a nd roads ha ve cha nged for the better. " In my opinion. any law tha t the p ublic u n iform ly thumbs its col k-ctive nose at shou ld be re-exami ned. It 's absurd to have a mandatory, uniform speed l im it." he said. Misso uri Sen.Joh n Danfo rth chairs th e Se na te's Com merce. Science a nd T ra nsporta tion Commit tee, a nd he reported ly is not in terested in cha nging t he na tion 's speed la w . T his is un fort unat e. beca use h is com mit tee has been assigned Se nate Bill 329. a measure simi lar to H ansen 's bill with a max imu m ru ra l speed of 65 mph . On e br ig h t spot is rha: S-329 ha s as o ne o f its co-s po nsors Se n. S teve Symms (R -ID), who is chairman o f the Transportat ion S u brom m iuee o f Dan forth 's full rom m iuee. Sym ms will e ns u re th ere is a driv in g for ce beh ind lh e measu re, a t least through the su bco mmi t tee a nd com m iuee deliberations. T he primary sponsor o f S-329 is Se n . C h ic H echt o f Nevada. We a lso pa id a vi si t 10 H echt in Wa shin gton . a nd he 100 spoke o f th e a bsu rd i ty o f th e federal stra ngle ho ld o n speed lim its. " T his is rea lly a states' righ ts issu e." he decla red. In sp ire of Da n forth 's posi tio n , H echt ex pressed oprim ism abou t th e cha nces of hi s bill - a t lea st in th e Sena te. T he pa ne l th a t cond ucted th e Fe bruary 2 1 heari ng was the H o u se Transportation. Aviat io n a nd Ma teria ls S ubrom mi uee, wh ich ha s no jurisdictio n over speed- limi t legi sla lion but d id provide a forum for discussion of the issue. MOH' than one observer said this was the first hea ring o n the s peed law in it s II -year existence. Testi fying were a dozen co ngressmer •• a smaneri ngof sta te a nd federal o fficia ls a nd fo ur " use rs" th at in elu ded Jim Baxter o f th e Cit izen s Coa li tion for Ra tio n a l T raffic Law s a nd Joan Cla ybrook o f Ralph N ader's Public Cit izen , R epresenting motorcyclists , th ough not a sked to testify due 10 time co ns tra ints. wer e AMA Legis lati ve Affa irs Manager Gary Winn and my self. I won 'I say th e he aring agenda was nOI arranged to refle ct a cert a in position, but th e on ly pica 10 leave 55 untouch ed carne from C la vb rook.the notorious head o f th e Nat iona l High way T ra ffic Safel y Adm ini stration under Jimmy Carter. If Congress does a ny th ing. she sa id. it o ug h t to im p rove com p lia nce wi th th e speed limit a nd m ak e it clea r to sta res th at th e Ied s w ill come down hard o n a ny leg islatu re th at tr ied 10 increase its lim it. R ight no w. there are three states -Arizona. Marvl and an d Vermont - in jeopardy or losin g u p to 10% o f their federa l h ig h way fun ds because too ma ny vehicles arc speedi ng o n th eir h ighwa ys. T here are a lso sta te bill s in Io wa . Mi ssou r i, Nebra ska . New York . Oklahoma and W yo ming to in crea se lim its o n some or a ll of their h igh wa ys. If o ne o f these p roposals is enacted, or.Congress hol ds hea rin gs 10 co nsi der w ithh oldin g h ighwa y money fro m th e th ree sta tes n ow o u t o f co m p lia nce. fed eral lawmaker s ma y su dden ly ge t th e it ch to ac t o n HR -693. HR-11 63. HR -I086 o r S-3 29. In t h e mea ntim e. mo torcvcl ists shou ld concen tra te o n sh o w in g' key m embers of Con g res s th at there is con sidera ble su p port " OUI ihcn-" fo r a speed- Iimi t cha nge. L eit ers urg in g ronsirh-nu io n of th ese bills shou ld be sen t to Rep . H ow ard a t 2245 Ra yburn H ouse Offi ce Build in g , Washin g ton , DC 20515 . a nd Se n . Dan forth. ·197 R u ssell Se na te Office Bu il d in g . Wa sh in gt on . DC 20510 . R emember , if yo u don 't d o a nythi ng. ne it he r will th ey. THE NATIONAL PAPERS By Roxy Rockwood All good things come to an en d some tim e an d another good win streak passed by th e boards on May 19 when Frenchman Chris tia n Sa rron turned back Amer ica ns Freddie Spencer, Ed die L awson an d Randy Mamola in th e 500cc World R oad Racing Grand Prix in West G ermany. Prior to th at time. the , Americans had nOI been defeated si nce Au gu st o f 1982 - we had won 24 strai ght before Sa rron , who is not reco gnized as a race-to-race th rea t raced hi s Yamaha in for th e win, slig h tly o ver 10 secon ds ah ead o f Spe ncer's H onda . Spencer's second -p lace fin ish p u t h im in the poin ts lead a head o f La wso n this is th e firs t ti me Spencer has led in o ver a year. H e has 15 GP wins to h is credi t. On the same day Spencer gai ned the poi III lead with a runner-up fin ish on his fac tory H onda , a nother first ha ppen ed , Thousands of m il es away at Sears Poi nt Racewa y. Wa yne Ra in ey rode to h is first N atio nal road ra ce win o n a p rivateer H o nda.He had never before raced in th e Formula On e clas s. but much like his fi rst effo rt in F-2 a few yea rs ago. R a in ey ca me up a w inner th e firs t tim e o u t. N o rider had ever bef ore won a N ational ro ad race on a privateer H onda . H onda 's factory boys had done it a ll in th e seasons before: mainly Mike Baldwin. sometimes Fr eddie Spencer . a nd one time Bubba Shobert. Bob MacLean is a well-entrenched easterner who has been fielding road racers for years and putting east coast riders in the sadd le. He h as had some good programs from time to time. Somehow MacLean a n d Rainey decided to tea m up this year. a nd R a iney is riding both the F-I a nd F-2 clas ses for a m an whose machines a re built a nd maintained severa l thousa n d miles a way by T oomey R acing. Rainey showed up a t Loudon . New H ampsh ir e severa l yea rs ago a nd a t th e la st m inu te was g ive n a backu p Ka wasaki 250 to race in th e th enNovice class. H e bea t all th e pa vem entpou n di n g specia l is ts th at a bou n d back eas t n ot o nce, but tw ice in th e sa me wee ke nd. H e we nt o n to later become Superbike c ham pion a nd gave up racing in th e 250cc class for severa l rea sons. the mai n one being that Ka wasa ki no longer had 250s . In two seasons h e won a to ta l o f seve n Su perbik e fin al s a nd th en quit Su perbikes to go to Europe a nd ride 250s. H e retu rn ed to th e states o n ly twice la st yea r to ride in th e 250cc F-2 cl ass; h e won both events - o ne a t Da ytona a n d the o the r a t Laguna Sera . T h is is th e sa me rider who showed u p a t Sa n J ose in May. Rain ey en tered a n d qua lifi ed a H arl ey for th e mi le Nati on al but failed to mak e the fin al. A bo u t th e o n ly loss h e ha s had in Am er ica for a long tim e. II bears mentioning th at dur in g h is last full season as a din track racer h e was th e only r ider 10 qua l ify for th e fina l a t ever)" m ile dirt track N ati onal. N ow h e ha s g ive n H onda th eir first privat eer road race win. 3

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