Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I'~LU - - ...... -- ---- --- .. ..., - t l ~~_ IfJ f ---- -. -- -- -- -• ... - -- ~ -~- like as king for my a u tograp h an d they as ked me if I wo uld ride with Sito Pons. Well, su re, I wo u ld team wi th most peo p le, bu t th e n ext thi ng I kn ow it appears in p rint as th ough everythi ng is go ing to happen, whi ch is B.S. I have no id ea wh at I will be doin g next season . Wh ite Power for McElnea Rob Mcfiln ea 's Skoa l Bandit Suzuki needs m o re p ow er but a t Spa th ey did get so me exci tin g new front sus pe nsio n . The Dutch shock a bsorber co mpany White Power hav e prod uced so me upsid edown front forks with th e larger diameter tubes o n to p and th e n arr ow er chrome pl at ed in ne rs o n th e bottom. T he style of fork has a lrea dy found favor in m otocross a nd the idea is th at th e large di am eter tubes a t th e top mak e the m very sti ff and th e tu bes have much longer o ver-lappi ng bearin g a rea so that forks can slide better with less suctio n, McElnea raced with th e forks, even though the y were o n ly protot ype s, fitt ed a t Spa for the first ti me say ing that th e bik e wa s much more sta ble under h ea vy braking. As protot ypes they were n ot bu ilt with th e exotic mat eri al s used in th e Kayab as th ey repl aced but still th ey onl y weigh 70 gra ms per leg more. The Ka yab a s ha ve cas t magnesium sliders a nd carbon -fiber-lined steel tubes. The White Pow er wei ght will co me down as better m at eri al s are used now th at th e principle has been proved . On e ex tra advantage McE ln ea found was tha t th e brak es worked much bett er once he wa s forced to ge t rid o f th e h ydraul ic a nt i-d ive system using th e n ew fork s. " T here is just more braking pressure applied to th e ca li pe r instead of some lost to operat e th e val ves in th e fork s. With th at and th e stiffer forks th e braking is much better ," said McElnea. 20 Spa surface The Spa resurfacing worked up to a point at least . After th e tra ck broke up ca usin g the Formula One car GP to be abandoned the track was co m pl etel y resurfaced at the Belgian go vern me nt's expense just in time for th e motorcycle G P. The in itia l reaction to th e surface wa s not good , as Ron Haslam sai d a fter th e first session. "It is terrible, th ey h ave put bumps in wh ere th ere didn 't used to be any and the back end is ch o p p in g all over th e place. It is so bad th at yo u ca n n ot tell if th e back en d is slid ing or bouncing o ff th e road ." At first the tra ck seemed to be breaking up as well a nd th ere wre a lo t o f loose sto nes about. This did n ot get worse th ough a nd as time wen t o n less sto nes a ppeared and th e track wa s swep t every da y. T he heat o f th e su n was br inging oil patches to th e su rface but cooler weather stop ped th at and tho ugh th e trac k was slippery a nd unpred ictabl e in th e wet no one suggested th at th e races should not be ~- ~ ~- ~ h eld a fter a ll the wo rk th at h ad gone into the track. Kawasaki comeback R um ors have sta rted about a Ka wa saki ret u rn to the 250cc class and the ir ex- wo rks star Kork Ball ingt o n has been linked with th e re turn. It seems th at they have certai n ly look ed a t severa l design p roposal s pu t forwa rd by th eir en gineers though no proto types have been tested. Ball in g ton wa s full y race fi t a nd keen a t th e beg in n ing of the seaso n wh en he was due to joi n th e Robert s 250cc team wh ich never transpi red but findin g a rider will be o n ly a sma ll part o f th e problem as a good number o f th e Ka wa saki race design ers, bu ilder s a nd mecha nics were signed u p by H o nda wh en the gree n team wa s disba nded . The O akl ey Pro Kit is a co m p lete system designed wit h th e co m pe tito n ride r in mi nd. Th e kit co nsis ts o f th e O akley O -Fram e Pro G oggles, which h ave so ft foa m p ad d in g aga inst th e face a nd dens er foa m a ttac hed to th e frame for ex tra comfort; the O akley Fac to ry Pil ot T ear- o ff System; a nd a ca rry ing bag to protect the wor ks. Fra mes co me in white, yellow, blue, gray, red or black colo rs, w h ile the lens is made from Lexan pl asti c with a n anti-glare coa ting. The kits sell for 29.95 from yo ur dea ler or have him co ntact O ak ley, Dep t. CN, 3 Wrigl ey Dr., Irvin e, CA 92714. Nieto out of luck Angel Ni eto ret u rned to racin g in Holland on th e 80cc Derbi bu t stop ped o n th e second lap o f the race wh en th e ca rbu re tio n was so far o u t th at th e engine would not run . The 13-times World Ch ampion has been co m p letely ou t of lu ck thi s seaso n. After winn in g th e I25cc cha mp ionship yet again for G ar elli last year h e agreed to ride th eir new 250 disc-valve tw in in 1985. H e sta rte d the seaso n still su ffering from a broken wri st he sus ta ined a t th e en d of '84 a nd co u ld not do justi ce to th e C arelli. H e sto p pe d riding it a nd it ra the r look ed as th ough h e would slip into re tire me nt but then h e ap pea red again a t Assen . There he sta ted tha t h e is still after th e record 16 World Ch ampionships even though h e reali zes th at h e can not add one this sea son . He will ride th e 80cc ma chine for th e rest of th e sea son and cannot ride in th e 125cc class because hi s contract with Garelli precludes it. That contract ends at the end of the sea son a n d th ere are strong rumors that Derbi will build a 125 for '86 so that he can a tta ck both th e 80cc and 125ccchampionship s. He showed that h e has lost none of h is riding skills by qualifying fourth but the bike stop ped early in th e rac e. Pernod out but Belde continues The 250cc Pern od will be seen no more as the French drinks company has decided to cut their losses and pour no more money into the project that onl y won them one Grand Prix. Jean Fra ncois Balde, their number one rider, wi ll continue to ra ce under Pernod co lors but using one of the TZ250 Yamahas th at Christi an Sar ron used to win th e cha m p ionsh ip last season, Th e bike ha s been bought from Serge Rosser, last year th e boss o f th e So nauto Gauloises team, and Balde will rac e it at Sp a. The French ace will a lso have th e use of a Yarnaha-engined Chevallier as a development machine a nd wh ile specta ting a t Assen he sa id th at he a lso wanted to co m pe te in 1986. " I have five ra ces left to co n vince Pernod th at is worth backing m e in a team next season." • Lookin g for a pipe for your 1985 H onda CR250R ? T he FMF p ip e might ni ce! fill the bill a nd is bu ilt by usin g hand- rolled co nes , whi le th e head er pipe i ro u ted to pro vide bett er gro u nd clear ance. Su ggested re tail pri ce is $139.50. Loa for it at your dealer or co ntact Don Em ler's FMF, Dept. CN , 1430 W. 259th St. Ha rbo r City, CA 90710. 7

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