Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126844
.... Q.) ..0 o u -o Two-time U .S . Superbike Champion Fred Merkel has not signed a 19 8 6 contract with American Honda Motor Co . and rumors abound that Merkel won 't ride for Honda next year. Merkel and his agent have contacted U .S. Suzuki Motor Corp.; his agent at one point ad vised Suzuki that Merkel won't be riding for Honda in 1986. But when asked about t he rumors on October 21, Honda Racing Manager Gary Mathers said "We w ill be negotiating with Fred as soon as he returns from Daytona this week. At one point last week we thought there wasn 't a deal. We weren't sure we had the money. The last time I talked to Fred and his acco untant we were a long ways apart on the money. But after this race we'll probably get c loser this week. I don't think it's over yet. " It has been revea led that L uckv Stri ke Ciga re ttes is th e sponsor of the 1986 Ken n y Ro ber ts G P road raci ng tea m . Alread y co n [i n ned as a m em ber o f th e ream is per en nia l G P co ntender Ra n d y Ma rno la. Altho ugh Ro ber ts has said that Lu cky Strike wants Am er ican ' r iders o n ly. th e Br itish m o to rcycl ing pr ess is reponi ng that Au str al ia n Wa yn e Gardner is being considered [or th e team . al o ng wi th Am er ican Mike Bal d win . ' The ABC-TV I S u per b ik er s race coming up on October 27 at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad , Californ ia will have one of the most co mpetitive f ields in the event's history. Former World Champion an d 1983 Su p er biker s winne r . Eddie Law so n leads a li st of road racers, inc lud ing Wayne Rainey a nd Kev in Schwantz, who w ill com p ete aga inst motocrossers in cluding Rick Johnson , Eric Gebo ers, Supercross and 250cc N at io nal C hampion Jeff Ward and defen d ing Superbike champion Kent Howerton. An im p ressi v e entry of dirt trackers incl udes 1985 Grand Nat ional Champion Bubba Shobert, 1 9 8 4 Grand National Champio n Ricky Graham and 1 9 8 5 Rookie of the Year Chris Carr. A ll the riders w ill be 'using identical com pound Carlisle dirt track t ires and product io n engine ru les w ill be in effect . Th e bikes, how ev er, w ill be q u ite different, w it h some opting for 500cc two-strokes and others choosing the b ig-bore f ourstrokes. The Anaheim (Ca lifornia) Motorcycle and ATV Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center is set to begin o n November 8 and run t hrough November 10; the show w ill feat ure over 350 booths w ith the m aj o r m anuf acturers displa y ing t he ir 1986 models . Sc he d uled to appear at the Expo are 1985 AMA Gra nd Natio na l C ha mpio n Bu bba Shobert and hi s Honda teammat e Ricky G ra ham. Fo r m o re inform atio n call 7 14/25 0 -8 060 . Ital ia n tire giant Pirelli is in th e process of buying West G ermany's Metzeler, acco rd i ng to presst im e reports. Pi rell i is big in ca r ti res a nd ru bber products and rel at ively sm a ll in m otorcycl e ti res: Me tzel er specia lizes in m oto rcycl e tir es. Asked a bout the reports , a Met zeler Mo to rcycl e Tire spokesma n sa id " We 've been told th a t, but I ca n' t co n fir m th e rumor. P ir elli is in neg otiations to bu y Metzeler, bu t it isn 't finalized ye t." A spo kesm a n for Amper sand Interna ti onal, P ir ell i's U .S. marketin g co n su lta l1l, said " It's not sewn up. Th ey're working o u t det ai ls." The dates for the first ever Rally De Los Incas in Lima, Peru have been set for March 2 -10, 1986; the Paris-Dakar-type event will be 2500 m iles of terrain ranging f ro m the desert along the Pacific coast to the he ights of the Andes mounta ins. For more inf o rm atio n. ca ll Casey at 702 /457-0343 . App licat ions a re n ow bein g accepted fo r a n ed iioria l posi tion a t C ycl e New s. Inc. Direct ' a ll inq ui ries in wr iting ( 0 J ohn U lr ich. Ed ito r, Cycl e New s, P .O . Box -198 . Lon g Beach , CA 908 0 1. BMW North A m erica has lowe red t he retai l price of three 1985 K 1 0 0 models an av erage of $820 , in anticipation of the release of 198 6 m od el s in Novem ber . The BM W K 1 00 has been red uced to $4999 from $5990; the K1 OORS has bee n reduced from $7200 to $ 6 4 80; and the K1 OORThas bee n red uc ed t o $6750. from $7500. Rep o rt s fro m Engla nd ind icat e th at two-time World Speed way Champion Bru ce Pcnh all will return to racing in a fa rewell to a re tir ing Iva n Mauger a t Bell e Vu e, Engla nd o n Nov ember 3. The AMA Professional Motocross Awards Reception will be he ld at the Un iversity Hilton in Los Angeles on Friday evening, N ovem ber 8 . in c o nj unction w it h the Nove m ber 9 Rodi l Trophy Superc ro ss Series round in the L.A . Co liseum . In addition t o an awards ce remony f or t he AMA Su pe rcross Series and N ati o nal C ha m pio nship MX Series , the occasion w ill also serve as a reception for N icholas Rod il del Valle, a fo rmer FIM president afte r whom the Rod i l T rophy Supercross Se ries is named . Cont act Pat McCoyat 614 /891 -2425 for more information . Superbike C ha mpion Fred Merkel w ill lead a n over-the- mou n ta ins ro ad ride to the No vember 10 Kerker West Coas t S u perbike Series a nd H o nda "F500 F In tercep to r Series fin a l a t sout he rn Cal ifornia 's Willow Springs Ra ceway. T he rid e sta r ts a t 10:00 a .m . a t Ll ovd's Restau rant in La Ca na da, Ca l ifo rnia . a t th e in te rsect ion of Angeles C res t Hi ghwa y a n d Footh ill Boulevard . no r th o f th e Angeles Crest exi t from the 2 10 Freewa y. 2 T he ' promot er s o f the Su pe rbi kers race o n O ctober 27 in Carlsbad, Ca l ifornia a re o ffer ing a d ea l for those wh o ventu re 10 Ca rls bad Racewa y o n a m o to rcy cle. T here will be a speci a l i n fiel d pa rking sec ti o n for th ose o n bik es. a nd passen gers wi ll be ad m itted free. Euro pean gasoline giant Elf has stepped in to back t he BMW team of Gaston Rah ier for t he January running of the Paris-Dakar Ra ll y . Warren Reid and Tom Kelly w ill ride factory BMWs in th is year's Baj a 1 0 0 0 ; the two Americans w ill join Gaston Rah ie r and team mate Eddy Hau on 1 OOOcc BMWs. Littl e kn o wn [act : p olice vehi cles used in th e Sta te o f ,Ca l ifo rn ia a re exe m p t Irom Ca li forn ia Air Reso u rces Bo a rd (CAR B) regul uuo ns: the Ilee: o f nearl y 300 H a rl ey-Da vidson m o torcycles used by t he Cal ifornia Hi g h wa y P at rol are -t9-sta tt' models tha t do no t meet C ARB sta ndards. Am eri can speedway racer Bobb't Schwartz pulled some li gam ent s in one leg and broke a foo t bone on the othe r leg in Britis h League racing October 14 at Wolverhampton. Schwartz w ill m iss the remain ing th ree weeks o f the Bri t ish League season, but is scheduled t o race in the Ivan Mauger World Series of Speedway in New Zea land; the f irst event in the 18-race series is scheduled for November 30 at Napier, w ith the last event scheduled for Aukland on February 1 . Sou ther n Ca lifo rnia sp eed wa y racer G e ne Wo ods bo ught an IHRA-Ieg al to p fuel funn y ca r a t a rece nt IR S a uction and is planning o n ru n n ing it a t m aj or events in '86; he will a lso co nt in ue to race speed way . Honda support rider Larry Brooks won the October 13 Under-21Yea rs-of-Age Motocross Trophy des Nations in Malon, Italy. There were two 30-minute-p lus-two-laps motos with overall t imes deter- ' m ining t he overall w inner. An Ital ian rider finished second, w hile A mericans M ike Fisher, Bobby Moore and Billy Liles rounded out the top fiv e. Ca lifo rn ia O ff-H ig hwa y Motor Veh'icl e Recr ea tio n Commission Cha ir man i\li ke Bish o p and o ff-roa d lobbyist Bo b H a m each recent ly received th e Commissio n's Go lde n H el me t Award , given bi -mom h ly to grou ps o r individual s for o utsta ndi ng effor ts benefiting off-road recrea tio n . The October 19 supercross round of CMC 's Trans-Cal series held at Garde na. Ca lifornia 's Ascot Park, will be televised October 28 on southern California's KDOC channel 56 at 10:00 p.m . Asked a bou t you ng r isin g sta r J ohn Ko cinski 's ride on a works H onda a t th e O ctober 20 Da ytona P ro-Am , H onda Ra ci ng Manag er Gary Mathers sa id," We had a n ex tra bike beca use we buil t o ne [o r Spencer for Da ytona a t th e beg inning o f the yea r, a nd we de cided to see ho w he'd do. Basicall y we p ut h im o n it because we lik e h im . 1£ I h ad the bud get, I' d like to hel p him , but it lo o ks li ke with some bu d get cuts we 've had th a t we won 't be a ble to hire him or hel p h im . A t th is poin t I'm not sure we'll h a ve the m oney to hel p h im ." The Ca lifornia State Departrnem of Parks and Recreation's OffHighway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission has approved green sticker 10 RV registration) funds for use by the Bureau of Land Management IBLM) to establish and run a voluntary Dune Patrol at Glamis, California . The Commis sion also designated November ATV Safety Awareness Month; free vo luntary A TV safety programs and courses w ill be offered throughout the month at Cal ifornia State Vehicular Recreation Areas. ~. An item pri n ted in last week 's Mo torcycle Industry Chan ges co lu m n was wrong. Desp i te a tel ep ho ne ca ll [rom Ca l-Wes t o w ne r P aul Dyla n i nd ica ting o therw ise , Ca l-Wes t o n ly p urchased so me in vent ory from W heelsmi th o w ne r Gary Ri ch ter a nd n o t th e ent ire busi ness. "Things are really moving along with the KK Racing Team. " said Gary Scott about his new job as team manager . ' 'I'v e got ve rba l agreeme nts f rom Steve Morehead , Hank Scott and Doug Davis to form th e t hree-rider team wh ich w ill ride under t he KK Motorcycle Supply ba nner . The riders have no restrict io n on w hat m ach in ery t hey ride o r w ho they use as mechanic s. My ma in j o b w ill be promoting th e team and KK at t he races . W hile I'm not planning on rid ing any races. I w ill renew my license. " concluded f orm er Grand National Champion Scott. Prese nt plans ca ll f or t he t eam t o pass up the season opening Nationals at Houston and debut d uring the March Daytona Dirt Track Series. Th e P ra ir ie C ity Mo torcycle P ark in Sacra mento, Ca liforn ia is in da nger o f hav ing its doors closed ( 0 th e p u blic. A 52.4 m illion la wsu it was recent ly won from th e co u nty by a n in jured rider a n d th e hi gh cos t o f insurance m a y force' the co u n ty to cl os e ' th e p ark . American Danny " M agoo " Chandler has left KTM and will ride a Kawasaki during the 1986 500cc World Championship motocross season. Chandler's teammate last year, Kurt Nichol. is rumored to have left KTM also; however, twotime 250cc World Champion Heinz Kinigadner has signed another cont ract w ith KTM but w ill ride in the 500cc class. Bo b H a nnah has sig ned a two-year co ntract with Tea m Suzu ki . H e will beSuzu ki's o n ly rid er in th e 250/5 00cc co m bine d Nationa l series next sea so n . in ce Suzu ki does n o t produce a p roduct ion 500cc rnotocrosser, H an na h wi ll spectat e all the 500cc Nat ion als. G eorge H o lland . Er i k Kehoe and Mike H eal ey will ride 125s. wh il e Bo b by Mo ore wi ll be Suzu ki 's o n ly su p port r ide r, competi ng on a J 25. Motocrosser Scott Bu rnworth was dropped from Suzuki's motocross team and is currently negotiating with Yamaha to ride the 125cc Nationals. T h ree-time 500cc Wo rl d MX Champion Graham No yce su ffe red a fractured sk u ll w hen h e fell o ff a balcon y in Engla nd , H e is a lm ost [u ll y recovered fro m th e accident bu t has been h ospi ta lized fo r several wee ks Mike Kidd Promotions will be making a major contribution to the Ch ildren 's Cancer Fund w ith proceeds from t he Bud Light Texas A renacross Se ries. Kidd is donating $5000 cash. pl us $2 from each motorcycle and A TV entry from the entire series. For more in f orm atio n, call 817 /284-1766 . J o h nn y O ' Mara recentl y entered the Bud Lig ht Seri es T ri a thl on in Ba rstow, California , a n d fi nished fir st in h is cl as s a nd seco nd ove ra ll. Norton is rumored to be considering the production of new 850cc vertical twins Commandos. One of the questions that has to be answered before production begins is whether the bike )/Vould stand up to the noise and exhaust regula tions in both England and abroad, according to Norton's manufacturing director Tony Dennis . A n add i tiona l 3500 sea ts a nd a th ird covered garage a rea a re a mong the impro veme nts sched u led [or Da yto na Int erna tiona l Spe ed wa y. T he seats