Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1985 07 31

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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ATV investigation : L.A. safety hearing rescheduled By John Ulrich WASHINGTON , DC . J ULY 15 T he U .S. Con sumer Product Safety Commission has sch edu led a public h earing on ATV sa fety in Milwaukee and has KTM unvei led t he production version oftheir f irst 80cc motocrosser, the 1986 80MX, at t he Unadilla 250cc GP. The bike, wh ic h is expected to be ava ilable in October, has a 78cc w ater-cooled e ng ine, a s ix-speed tra nsmissio n and a front d isc brake. The front fo rk is a 35mm Marzocc h i w ith 9 .4 inch e s of travel, while the suspension at the rear is a KTM Pro Lever system with 9 .8 inches of travel. The c la im ed dry weig h t is 131 pounds; t he engine a lone (including carburetor) weighs 29 pounds. and an additional f ive percent racer's discount for racers displaying an Iron Pony Racing deca l. For more information write to Iron Pony at 9402 N . 107th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53224. The AFM No rth is o ffering free ra ce entries to o u t-o f-sta te club racer s wh o a t te n d t h eir Jul y 28 G old en G at e Cha llen ge ro ad ra ce a t Sears Point. Trophi es will be awarded th rou gh th ird p lace with plaques g iven back to sixth place. For more in formatio n ca ll J oe Montoya a t 4 15/ 482-3526. The U.S . team for the September 8 Motocross des Nations in Gaildorf, West Germany has been chosen . The three -rider contingent will cons is t o f Honda 's Ro n Lech ien, Ka wasaki's Jeff Wa rd and Yama ha ' s B rae G lov e r, whil e Roge r DeCoster w ill be team m anager . T he eve n t w ill be run in a three-mot a format and each t e a m w ill cons ist o f o ne ride r on a 125cc bike, o ne on a 250cc b ike and one on a 500cc mou nt - a ll on the track at the same t ime. A total of 60 riders will start each mota. J ames Step he ns . wh o fini shed th ird i n th e Formula T wo race a t Lagu na Seca o n a Spondon-Rot ax , is not self spon sored a s report ed la st w eek . Ste ph en s' bike i s tun ed b y T err y Yarger a nd sponsored by Speedl ine Fa irin g s . Phil Schill ing . Ton y Murph y Rotax a nd Dunl op. Privateer motocrosser Mike Beier has s igned a contract with O'Neal for the 1985-86 season. Beier will ride a Yamaha through Yamaha U.S . in the Nationals and in the stadiums. Beier also plans to con tend at least two 125cc Grands Prix and some of the new European World Championship Supercross Series events. Correction: due to a sco rin g error by track officials. we reported last week th a t Ed Thompson to o k first p lace a t Lagu na Sera in the Stock class of rh e Ba ili e of th e T w in s; Thompson actua lly took six th p lace. w ith th e win goi ng to M ike J ohnson o f Alamed a . Cali fornia . J ohnson is sponsored by Berk eley Ya m a ha . Freddie Spencer (Hon) scored h is fourth double of the 1985 season by winning both the 250. and 500cc GPs at the French round of the World Championsh ip Road Race Series that took place at LeMans on Sunday, July 21 . In the 500cc race, Spencer fin ished 1 5 .7 seconds ahead of r u n n e r-u p Raymond Roche (Y am], who was fo llowed h o m e by Randy Mamo la (H on) a nd defend ing World C ha m pio n Edd ie Lawson (Yaml in thi rd a n d f o u rth , re s pe c t ively . Lawson was last off the line a n d after one lap trail ed S pen c e r by 22 seconds; S p e nce r le ads Law s on in the 500 c c point s ta n d ings 1 11 t o 9 4 . S pence r's vic tory in the 250cc GP w idened hi s po in ts le a d in t h a t class t o 37 p oi nt s, 119 to 82, over Anton Mang (H e n), who f in is h e d second at LeMans. Spaniard Angel Nieto won the 80cc GP in France. Tea m Green 's Bad er Manneh and H onda rider Brian Manlev wer e th e top P ro riders a t th e C1\I C/ Skoa l Bandit's Western Sta tes Mot oc ross Champion ships a t th e Fly -N LD Ran ch in Mt. Carmel Juncti on. Uta h , Mann eh won th e 125cc a nd 500cc classes. whil e Manley lopped th e 250s. Complete covera ge in nex t week 's Cycle N ews, ABC Wide World of Sports will b roadcast the Stroh Duquoin Mile, a round of the AMA/Camel Pro Series, live on July 27. If all goes well with pre-race testing, a m ini ature TV camera will be mounted on Ricky Graham 's bike during the race . MQ'f.0RCYCLE INDUSTRYS CNANGE Scheduled Fall semes ter o f Los Angeles Trad e-T echn ica l Co llege 's m ot orcycl e repair p rog ram , sta r ring Augu st 19; reg istrat ion is now ope n ; more in forma tion is avai la ble by ca ll in g 2 13/7-16-0800. ext. 20 1 or 202. Moved Emgo lnt erna tio na l LId .. im porter of m ot o rc ycl e a nd ATV accessories, to a new wareh ouse a t 550 1 Collins Blvd.. Austell. GA 3000 1. ยท1041 9H -3532; mail ing a ddress rem ums P .O , Box 664. Ma ble to n . GA 30059. Fired Steve Paul os, ATV ra cing lea rn m ech an ic for Kawa saki. a fter 13 months; before jo in in g Kaw a saki , Paul os spe nt four yea rs as a raci ng mechan ic for Suzuki. Hired Ri ck Si ernan , a s Edi tor of Argus Publ ishing's Off- Road magazin e , whi ch covers off-road ca rs , trucks a n d ATVs, effective July 10; Sieman left Hi-Torque Publish ing's Din Bike magazine J ul y 4. Named Tom Webb, Editorial Director of Hi-Torque P u bl ish in g 's Din Bike magazine; Webb is a lso Edito r o f Di n Wh eels, an ATV publication. Named Exclusive di stributor for Nuova Forcelle It a l ia (Ce ria n i) forks in th e Un ited States. Storz Performance. 1362 Tower Square, Ventura , CA 9300 3. 805 /654 -8816 . cha nged th e.date o f a hearing a lready sla ted for Los Angeles. A relea se from th e CPSC Office o f Medi a Relations says that th e Commission will hold a hearing in Milwaukee o n September 3 and that the Los Angeles h earing has been m oved from its tentative dat e of O ctober 15 to O ctober 17. ATV enth usiasts, deal ers a nd manufa ctu rers hav e testified at CPSC h earings a l ready h eld i n Ja ckson, Mi ssissippi an d Dallas, Texas; ATV cras h ers, la wyers su ing manufacturers on behalf of ATV crashe rs. and do cto rs in favor o f bannin g ATV s have also testifi ed a t th e hearings. CPSC Commissioner St ua rt " Ba n 'ern" Statl er has repeat edl y ad voca ted a ban an d reca ll o f a ll th ree -whe eled ATVs to stern risi ng num bers of inj u r ies ac ross th e cou ntry. a nd has blasted th e vehicles a s be ing in heren tlv u nstable. Pro-ATV witnesses at th e 'p u b lic h ea rin g s ha ve resrifi ed th at rider mis-use of ATVs a nd non use of basi c safety equipme nt such as h elm ets a n d boots h a ve caused th e jump in injuries th at attracted C PSC a tte nt ion last vear, Acc o rd i n gr o C PSC ATV Task Force Chairma n N ick Marchica, th e agency ha s fi nished co mpi li ng o ver 325 s ta tis ti ca lly-va lid repo rts of ATV -r el a ted i nj uries treated a t 65 hospit al em ergency rooms across the co u n try durin g a th ree-mo n th peri od ; figures from th ose hosp i tal s a re used to ex tra pola te n a tion wide i n . jury num bers, cu rrent ly estimated to be 52, 000 in th e fir st si x months of 1985 a nd 128,000 si nce 1982. Accidents in th e sta tistica lly -valid r~ports will be inv estigat ed to d et ermin e ca use as pan o f a n o n g o in g CPSC investi gation 'in to ATV accidents. Man y ATV deal ers across th e co u ntry ha ve re ported d ro ps o f 25 to 80% i n AT V sa les si nce intensive general m ed ia cove rage o f t h e AT'; sa fe r y con troversy began ea rl ier th is year. Sta tler has been poi ntedly criticized fo r appearing in severa l television shows a nd for bei ng quoted in man y newspaper sto ri es. sayi ng ATVs a re th e m os t dan gerous p rodu ct s h e ' s ever seen , tha t ATVs are inher ernl v unstable with basi c desi gn flaw s a nd must be ridden o n tw o wheel s to be turn ed , a n d t h a t ATVs sho u ld be banned and reca lled. Statl er 's co m ments were mad e prior to the co m p let ion o f th e o ngoing C PSC investi ga tio n a n d d e spite p re li mi nar y CPSC e ng i nee r i ng s ta ff op i n io ns th at th e basic ATV design does no t have definable defects. Sources have a tt ri bu ted Statler ' s co m m ents a nd hi s willingness to blast ATV s prior to th e CPSC completing its invesr igarion as triggering a g eneral m edia witch hunt and as den ying ATV ma nufacturers, dea lers and en th usiasts du e process guaranteed und er th e Consumer Product Safet y Act , whi ch esta blished the C PSC. ATV enthusiasts, dealers or afterma r ket accessorv m anufacturers interested in testifying a t th e CPSC Milwa u kee o r Los An ge les hea rings shou ld contact Sh eldon Butts of the CPSC at I I 1I 18th St. NW. Wa shing. ton . DC 20207 ,30 1/492-6800 o r 8001 638-2772 or J a n ice Mi tch ell at th e CPSC's Los Angeles office, 3660 Wilsh ire Blvd . Suite liDO, Los Angeles, CA 90010 ,213/894-7272 . B tJ ~ ~ l.!":l 00 O"l ...... 3

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