Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Filming recently concluded for a p ub lic television show high ligh ting ATV safety. T he 30-m inuteshow , prod uced for natio na l syndication in a ffiliation withLo uisian a Publ ic Broadcasting. is part of a 13-segment o ut door recrea tio n series called " O utdoor Ma gazin e." P rodu cer Di ck Davis hopes th e ser ies: wh ich will air in 1986, will premier o n at least I00 o f th e' 300 pub lic broadcasting stati on s acro ss th e cou n try. The California All-Terra in Vehicle Association ICA TVA) is asking for letters commenting o n the ATV safety issue from those who can't attend the October 17 CPSC meeting in Los Angeles, California. Send letters to Sharon Bishop, CATVA, 401 Santa Barbara St, Santa Barbara, CA 9310 1 . This is inventor James Parker's conception of a R .A .D.D. Yamaha FZ750 street bike using his si ng le -sidedswingarm, center-hub-steering f ront suspension system. Parker is trying to interest manufacturers in the system . The American Federation of Motorcyclists IAFM) has scheduled its annual six-hour endurance road race for November 24 at Willow Springs. More information is available from 213/864-0704. Honda has modified its CBX750FE for the German ma rket; the modification incl udes as different dipstick with the oil level markings rais ed by the equival ent of 90cc. T echnicians found that overhea ting co u ld result if th e bik e was run a t a m in imum o il level. With the add it ion of this ye a r' s 500 and 125cc World Motocross Championships, Pirelli Tires claims to have won 1 4 of 1 8 World Championships in t he la st s ix years; 1 3 of t he first 20 rid ers in the final 500cc MX GP in Switzerla nd were usi ng Pirellis . BMW loo ks set to become th e world's first co m pa ny to o ffer a n a n ti -loc k brak e optio n o n the ir new mach in es. The system will be a vai lable as an o p tio n o n KIOO a nd K75 mod els in ea rly 1987. A 30-minute video tape of the . August 5 Donner Ski Ranch Trails National is now available through Duncan White Productions fo r $29.95 plus $4 shipping. For more information write to Duncan White Productions at 3 16 California Ave. #505, Reno, Nevada 89509 . Mike Bosni ck of Monsoon Mo tocross Promotions in Tacoma, Washington is now making his services availa ble to th e public and motorcycle dea lers in the northwest for heIp wi th 1986 race plans. For more information ca ll Bosnick at 206/475 -8695. The new JT Racing goggle and face guard prototypes have been seen at their design studio; production is underway and the new goggle and deta chable face m ask will be ava ila ble in Novem ber. J T Racing will a lso soon be coming out wi th a ne w f ull- fa c e DO T app roved o ffroad helmet made by Be ll Helmets; the full -face model should be available in about two weeks. Austral ian motocrosser j eff Leisk is expected to be hospitalized for up to seven weeks in a German hospital , foll owing a cras h in practice during the September 8 Motocr o ss des Nations in Gaildorf, German . Leisk suffered a compressed fra cture o f th e seventh vert ebrae and witho u t him th e Austral ian team floundered to seco nd- to-last fini sh with 45-points; Leisk had set th e fifth fas test tim e in qu a lify ing and cras hed o n th e very last lap o f pract ice. A ne w 820-mile rout e has be en laid o ut for the November 8-10 SCORE Baja 1 0 0 0 ; the race will still begin and end in Ensenada, Baja California , but for t he first t ime the main thoroughfa re of Lopez Mateos Blvd . w ill be blocked off fro m t ra ffi c in order to acco m modate a manufacture r's midway. Two main differences in the 1985 course incl ud e an al ternate ro ute around the silt beds near Punta Pr ieta and a detour around Hurricane Alley that is impassable d ue to recent heavy ra ins. It i s rumored th at Pirelli h a s la u nched a rad ial street tir e designed to with st an d speeds o ver 180 mph with th e p ro file bei ng 60 percent of its widt h . The 60 series will be fitted to th e OBI Bim ota whil e o the r ma nufa cturers a re s ti ll access ing th e tire. Rumor has it that Danny " Ma g o o " C ha nd ler w ill sp lit f ro m KTM a nd c o ntestthe500cc MX GPs in 1 9 8 6 with s u p port from Kawasaki o f Italy. Englishman Kurt Nic o ll, who a lso rod e with s u p po rt from KTM in 1985, appea rs headed fo r a n assa ult on the 500cc GPs w it h backing from Kawasaki. Ove r 1.5 mi ll ion acr es of p u blic lan d has been put into wildern ess class ifica tio n in Arizon a over the past year. accord ing to th e Arizona O ut door Coaliti on . No off -roa d veh icles are a llowed in wild erness a reas a t a nv tim e and there is over two million more acres in wilderness st udy and nearl y five m ill ion be ing man aged as wildern ess, accordi ng to the AOC. That amounts to nearlv one-third o f the public land in tlie w ilde rness sta tus. Beg inn ing in February, Willow Springs Raceway will host an 11race Un limited Formula One series on the first Sunday of each month in conjunction with the ARRA. The fie ld will be limited to 30 entries which will be decided by the rider's time qualifications or point s tandings. The w inner of t he series will get a Toyota truck along with a minimum of $1000 in cash or merchandise; each race will pay $400 for f irst place, $200 for second, $ 100 for third and $50 for fourt h th rough ninth . Fo r more information call Willow Springs at 805 /256 -2471. Mo torcyclist Services o f Sa nta Rosa, Ca liforn ia has recentl y tak en o n an M-Star dea lers hi p ; they p la n to sell new bik es as well as M-Star and Mai co parts. Continental Tires ha s an nou nced a 12.5% in cre a s e in sales for t he first half of 1985 versus 1984. Germany's largest t ire manufact u re r expects year-end sales of o ver $1 .5 billion for 1985. Kaw asaki will soon be assembling 250cc bik es in Red China; under a new deal, Ch ina will be gett ing a Z250 sing le-cylinder mach ine a nd. while initially the bike s will be assembled from kits ex po rte d from j apan, th ey will even tua lly be manufactured in Chi na. Yamaha is expected t o s how it s new 135 bh p, 1 6 5 m p h FJ 1 2 00 stre e t bike at the Paris show in Octobe r. The b ike is reported ly a bored-out versio n of the FJ11 00. General Bicycle and Moped Company. In c.. o f Eas t Ru th erford , New j ersey has been chosen by Pi aggio as th e exclus ive Vespa d istributor in th e United Sta tes. Ca ble Te levision 's US A Network w ill expand the MotoWorld program to one hour beginn ing with the Octobe r 29t h sho w . The show, whi ch airs a t 1 0 p.m, Eastern t ime on the la s t Tuesday of each month, features a n a ll-motorcycle ne w s format . ~ C'I l-t V ..0 o .... u o Mot o rcyclin g histor ian Russ Whi ttingh ill of Louisvill e. Kentucky, provided us with some interesting information regar din g G ra nd Pri x roa d ra cin g World Ch ampion s wh o have won two ti rles in the same yea r. Unl ess yo u ' ve been li ving in a vacuum. you know that Fredd ie Sp encer won both th e 250 a nd 500cc titles this year, and th at was a first. Seven o th er riders ha ve wo n two ti tIes in the same year, and they are: Geoff Duke (195 1, 350 and 500cc ); Werner Haas (1953, 125 and 250cc); Carlo Ubbial l (1966/1959/1960. 125 and 250cc); john Surtees (1958 /1959/ 1960, 350 a nd 500cc); Gary Hocking (196 1. 350 and 500cc); Phil Read (1968, 125 a nd 250cc ); Giacomo Agostini (1968/ 1969/1970/197 111972.350 an d 50Occ). • THE NATIONAL PAPERS By Roxy Rockwood The last dirt tra ck National of th e yea r will be held at Sacram en to. Some of th e suspense is g on e with Bubba Sh obert' s clinching of the AMA Gran d Nat ion al Cha m p io ns hi p at th e San j ose Mi le, but the racing will nevertheless be typically exciti ng. For th e fir st tim e a t th e p resent locat ion. th e Sacramento Mi le will be run on o n Su nda y aft ernoon in stead o f Saturday nigh t. It is a lso the final Nationa l o f th e year. Sho bert is th e on ly rider to ever win a t eithe r th e cu rre n t or th e o ld fairgrounds' mile on th ree occasions, but Rick y Graham can be tou gh at th is o ne. H e was lead in g a year ago whe n his tire wore ou t. a nd a lt ho ug h he m issed th e open ing mi le last spri ng. he won th e race in 1984. Sacramento will wind up the Stroh 's Beer mi le seri es as well as the Cam el Pro sch ed ul e. a nd racing in the da y sh ould provide th e favorites with a tota ll y different trac k from th e night slide r. Since th e return o f Sacram ento Mil e rac ing in 1978, six riders have co me a way winners a nd five o f th em are ente red for this one. T h is will be the race that will tell th e stor y for the $175.000 Camel Pro money. th e $50,000 Stroh's purse a nd th e $40,000 AMA/Promoters po int fu nd. With all things cons idere d , Shobert sho u ld p ull into th e pits for th e fina l tim e this year abou t half a mill ion dollars rich er. This will make him the top wage earner in beautiful downtown Lubbock , T exas for 1985. 7

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