Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

BY1>411>41 Wf41LfY Wayne Rainey has signed a twoyear contract w ith Honda to compete in AMA /Camel Pro Series Superbike and Formula One road races. The deal also contains a th ird year option that will see Rainey remain in the U. S . after speculations that he would venture to Europe to ride in the proposed Kenny Roberts 500cc Grand Prix team. Americans Jeff Ward (Ka w) a nd Ro n Lechien (H o n) finished 1-2 in th e September 14 Dutch Stadium Motocro ss held in Nijmegen, H olland. G ert-Jan van Doorn (H a n) copped third a he ad of John van der Ber g (H a n) , while Am ericans Bill y Liles (Ka w) and Mark Murphy (Yam) took fifth a nd sixth , respectively. Ricky Graham's win in the San Jose Mile National marked his 21 st Camel Pro Series National victory. Graham now stands sixth in the AMA record books beh ind Jay Springsteen (40), Kenny Roberts (33) . Bart Markel (28), Joe Leonard (27), and Dick Mann (24). Over the past six weekends Graham has notched four National wins, one second, one third place finish and a DNF in seven rides. For the record, Graham's 21 National wins include 13 on the mile , s ix IT victories and two half mile wins in his eight Camel Pro Series seasons. Def ending Endurance Road Ra ce Seri es World Champion s G er ard Coudary a nd Patrick Igoa won th eir seco nd straight title by teaming up with Alex Vieira a nd riding a works H onda to vict orv in th e Bol d 'Or 24H ou r at Fra nce'; Paul Ri card Circu it on September 14-15. "Nothing has been signed, butthe negotiations are all but complete, " said a Kerker spokesman when asked on pressday (S e pt e m b e r 23) about rumors that Kerker had been sold to Fred Fox. According to the spokesman, Kerker President Dick Raczuk will continue t o manage the company on a consultant basis . "It will be business as usual, " said the spokesman, "but it w ill be , u nder Fred's umbrella:' Kerker manufactures and sells hi g h -p erformance exhaust systems and motorcycle accessories. 6 Terry Vance borrowed PizzJohn Mafaro 's 1260cc Vance & Hines-engined Suzu ki GS I I00 to win th e P ro Stock class in th e IDBA Nationals a t Atco, New J ersey September 22. In winning, Vance set a new IDBA record a t 8.26 seconds, breaking his old record o f 8.28 seconds; the win set Vance up to win th e IDBA Championship. T he 1986 Daytona 200 Motorcycle Classic for Superbikes will have a record $ 155,000 purse th a t includes $50,000 from a pair of 50-mile qua lifi ers , eac h carr yin g a $25.000 purse. The twin, 50-m ile qua lifi ers will be used to set the 80-rider g rid for th e 200mi ler a nd will repl ace th e 100-m ile Formula One ra ce th at was held on the Friday last yea r. The future of next year's South African Road Race Grand Prix seems to be in severe jeopardy. October's scheduled Formula One car grand prix, at the same Kyalami track that the motorcycles use, is running in t o problems because of the political situation in South Africa and the same is expected to happen to the motorcycle GP. The bike GP is scheduled to open the 1986 GP series in March. Von Thielmann T ours in San Diego, Ca lifornia is offering th e cha nce to tour New Zealand by motorcycle. The tour is set to begin on March 2 and run through March 2 1, 1986 and wi ll feature the ch a nce to witness Ha lley's Co met. For more information write to Von Thielmann at P .O . Box 87764, San Diego , CA 92 138. Former Speedway World Champion Bruce Penhall will face seventime National Champion Mike Bast in a two-out-of-three match race on Friday night, October 4 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. The match race will be part of a reunion featuring speedway stars from the late 1970s. Race promoter Harry Oxley will donate the cash equivalent of purse money over the average paid in the months of August and September to charity. Any old time speedway riders int e re st e d in competing can call International Speedway at 714/492-9933 . Brock Yat es' One Lap o f America. th e 8000-miledrive a round th e U n i ted Stat es, may include a mo torcycle class in the 1986 event. For more information ca ll 212/ 697-7500. Honda-mounted Aust ra lia n Ma rk Chapman beat Paris-Da kar winner Gaston Rahier in t he Wyn n 's Safa ri o utback ra c e in Australia. Chapm a n arrived in Darwin th ree m in utes ahead of Rah ie r after com p leting the Sydney-to-Darwin race in 21 hours and nine minutes. T he Sp ecialt y Veh icl e In stitute o f Am erica recentlv cert ified 23 mo re Ch ief Instructors. T he 23 men a nd women co m p leted an eig ht- day tra ining program in Big Bea r, California and n ow a re part of 46 cert ified ATV in stru cto rs. Presid ent Reagan has esta blish ed the Presid ent 's Co m m ission o n Ame ri ca n s O ut doors to rev iew o u tdoor recreatio n policies , progra ms and needs. Governor Lamar Alexander of T ennessee has been appoi nted Cha ir man , a nd co m miss ioners incl uded Derri ck Cra ndall (P resident of th e Ameri ca n R ecrea t ion Coa l i tio n ), Co ngressma n Morris Uda ll (D-AZ), Congresswo man Barbara Vucanovich (R -N V), Senator Benn ett J ohnston (D-L A), Se nator Ma lcolm Wall op (R -WY), Frank Bogert (Mayor o f Palm Spri ngs, Ca lifo rnia) , Sh eldon Coleman (P resident o f th e Coleman Co. ), G il bert Grosvenor (Na tio na l G eograp hic Soci ety), Rex Maughan (Co nfere nce of N ational Park Concessio ne rs ), Ch arles R. J ordan (Pa rks Adm in istrator, Austin , T exas), Wilbur F. LaPage (Ne w H ampshire State Parks Director), Patri ck F. Noonan (Co nserva tion Reso ur ces Group )and Stuart Northrop (Cha ir ma n o f H u ffy Corporation ). The' Commission is expected to ho ld pu blic hearings ac ro ss the co u n trv to co nsider fu nding for public recreation , dissem ina tion o f informatio n on recreation resources, th e role of organizations providing recreation on p ub lic lands, a n d an y appropriate cha n ges in fed : era l recreation programs and policies. More information is avai lable from th e American Recrea tio n Coalition a t 202/466-6870. The October 2 Eye o n L.A , televi. sion show o n southern California 's Channel 7 w ill feature speedway racing . The show w ill be seen later on t he nationwide show Eye o n Holl ywo od . AMA /District 37 and the Bureau of Land Management is sponsorin g a Lucerne Valley desert cleanup and fun day on September 28. 29 , Trash bags, trophies, refreshments and a free Barstow-to-Vegas entry are being given away by sponsors American Honda, Jack Froelick trophies and Coors; for more information call Red Austin at 714/982-0806 MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY The 4th Annual BMW R eunion and Ca m pou t hosted by Wagoner Cycle Works will tak e place on O ctober 11 13a t Two Wheels On ly Campground in,Su ches, Georgia. The event is th e on ly one in th e mid-sou th during the fall months. Call 404/963-9868 for more info. The Arizona Desert Racing Association (ADRA) has a job opportunity available that entails the coordination and staging of at least s ix enduro events. The ADRA would prefer a non-racer, but a good motorcycle rider; send resumes to Phil Auernheimer, President ADRA, 1408 E. Granada, Phoenix, Arizona 85006 . The Checkers M.e. an n ua l R iver Run to Parker , Ari zon a , orig inally sched u led for O ctober 12. has bee n ca ncelled due to problem s obta ini ng pe rm iss io n to cross some pr ivate lands. The Ch ecker s is working to get perm issio n to hold th e run i n Ma y o f 1986. In stead of th e Ri ver Run , th e Checkers will h old a three-loop hare a n d hound in Lu cerne Va llev o n October 13. . Southern California has another m oto cro s s track with th e o peni ng o f Los Angeles Co unt y Ra c e way n e ar Palmdale o n Pearb lossom Highw a y; CRC will hold the f irst ra c e a t t he fac ility o n ' September 29 . AFM road ra cer and Dai ley & Associates Advertising co py writer Paul Van Zuv le broke hi s ba ck in a cra sh a t Willo w' Sp rings Racewa y in Rosamond, Ca liforn ia, September 22. Van Zu yle did not su ffer p araly sis a nd was sche d u led to be m oved to UCL A Medical Center o n pressday, September 23 . More information is available from John Lassak at 714/867-7298 . The promoters of the La Ca rre ra coas t-to-coas t road race for si n glecvli nder fou r-stro kes have a n no unced th at the Ya maha SRX-6, th e H onda FT600R a nd th e Kawasaki ZS600R w.ill a ll be legal for th e Baj a Ca liforru a race. New Team Freddie Spencer/SuperTrapp member J immy Filice sat out the Ascot Half Mile w ith an ea r inf e cti o n . About 30 m otorcycles and 100 cars have en tered th e October 5 La Carrera San Felipe to En senada road ra ce in Baja Ca lifornia, Mexico. The event, open to singl e-cylinder motorcycles, wi ll be headquartered a t the Bahi a H o tel in Ensenada: Mr. Armando La bato is in charge of event coordinati ng at the Bahia. More information is available from Labate at 011526-678- 1818. The Iowa Motorcycle Dealers Association will meet at the Airport Hilton Inn in Des Moines, Iowa on January 18-19 for the 19861MDA Annual Convention. "ANGES Named As the exclusive distributor for Lectron Carburetors fo r Moto Guzzi motorcycles , Ren nsp ort Racin g and Manufacturing i n Santa Barbara. Wadded A Honda NS R400 triple being tested by Cycle Guide magazine, by contri b utor George Wegner, who n ew off a cliff wh ile ridi n g in a so u thern Ca liforn ia ca nyon; Wegner was unhurt, but the motorcycle suffered ex tensive damage. Changed PaceM~nagement's p hone n u m ber to 713/ 621-8600; the new address is 45 Sou th Post Oak Place Drive, Suite 200 , Houston , TX 77027. Wadded A 1985 Honda XLV750 test bike, by Motorcyclist magazine As sociate Editor Nick Ianatsch at EI Mirage Dry Lake in Californ ia during a photo sh oot. Changed T he na meof Micron ics Internati onal , In c., to Cobra Systems a t 2242 Ca m de n Ave., Su ite 9, Sa n J ose. Ca lifo rnia 95 124. Promoted Dennis " Fran k" Mu rr y to Sales a nd Produ ct ion Man- . ager o f Rifl e, the mak ers o f motorcycle fairin gs; Murry h as been invo lved in th e mo torycle industry for 17 years whil e working with Rifle for th e past tw o yea rs. Changed The Whittier Kawasaki GPz Club to the Southern California GPz C lub; th e club no longer 'has a ny ties with Whittier Kawasaki or an y othe r deal ership. Born A baby girl Kell y Shea to Rich an d Cathie Ker rigan , o f Kerrigan 3 Wheel ers, on September 8. •

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