Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ fiY ~P41 Wf4lLfY O"l ....... ..... iJ.) ..0 8 iJ.) > o Z Rep orts from th e m eet ing of th e FIM Congress in Estoril, Por tu gal say th at th e open ing ro un d of th e FIM World RoadRacing Championship orig inall y sch eduled for Mar ch 23 in So u th Afr ica h as been ca nce lled. T he IIro u nd cha m p io ns h ip wi ll now ope n with th e Sp anish GP o n Ma y .4 a n d wi nd u p wi th th e San Marin o G P o n Augus t 24. T h e co ngress a lso vo ted 44~43 tha t So u th Afr ican li cen se hol ders will be p ro hi bi ted fro m n ex t yea r's FIM World Championship even ts. Kenny Roberts Yamaha in Modesto. California is offering a one-ofa-kind deal on 1986 Yamaha FZ600s and FZ750s. If you buy your new FZ at Roberts'.shop. you will have the opportunity to le arn how to ride it f rom Roberts h imself: the three-time Wo rld Champion will meet with all buyers and their bikes at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. California, for a oneday riding school. For more information, call Kenny Roberts Yamaha. Inc. at 209 /527-5603. Acco rding to Yamaha Ra cin g Man ager Ken Cl ar k, J imm y Fili ce a nd Joh n Kocinsk i wi ll ride works Su perbikes in 1986. Koci nsk i will also rid ein Formula 2 road raci n g even ts. The first Cycle News TV commercial was successfully filmed on November 2-3 in Palmdale, California. and Cycle News would like to thank the over 200 readers that ventured to the site to be extras in t he commercial. Cycle News would also like to add a special thanks to Kenny Roberts. Eddie Lawson, Malcolm Smith and Broc Glover for their help in the project. Insport will pay a tot a l of $6000 to riders wea rin g J eep a nd Cherry Co ke logos on their jerseys for the Novernber 9 Cherry Co ke World Supercross Ch ampionship a t the Los An geles Co liseum ; the money will be di vid ed up a mon gst th ose participat ing with $1000 goin g to th e ride r wi th th e lo n g est j um p off th e Co ca -Col a Ca tapu lt. Four-time AMA Formula One Road Race Champion Mike Baldwin will join Randy Mamola on the 500cc GP team being put together by Kenny Roberts. " I' m excited about heading back to the GPs with top equipment," said Baldwin. ''I've raced for 1 0 years w ithout works b ikes and now I' m finally getting a chance. We 're supposed to have the same mach inery from Yamaha that Eddie Lawson gets. I just received the contract from Kenny and I haven't signed it or ma iled it back yet." When asked about reported sponsorship ofthe Roberts team by Lucky Strike. Baldwin said he hadn't questioned Roberts on who the sponsor would be. 2 ATK 's desert ace and last year's Bar stow-to -Vegas winner Ch ris Cranda ll suff ered two fractured a nd o ne brok en vert ebrae in a 100-p lus-mp h cras h a t th e No vember 3 Barstow (Ca liforn ia) G P . H e wa s released from th e h ospital th e followin g da y, but hi s p lan s fo r th e November 30 B-to-V race a re uncertain . The AMA has yet· to release the 1986 Camel Pro Series schedule. but while the majority 'of t h e expected 24 dirt track and 10 ro a d race Nationals will be a repeat of the 1 985 schedule. we may be seeing dirt track events in Middletown , New York: New Orlea ns, Louisiana: Pompa no Beach. Florida. and other locations. Braselton, Georgia (Road Atlanta); Fairmount. Illinois (St. Lou is International Raceway) : and Sebring, Florida, are possible s ites for road race Nationals. Co ngressman ' J ohn Conyers (D-MI) has introduced a bill with ho ld ing fed eral hi ghway im pro vem ent fund s from sta tes th at do n ot mak e it ill egal fo r persons und er age 16 to rid e ATVs. Th e bill , H .R. 3325 , sa ys " . . . th at States sha ll establish certain requi rem ents res pec ti ng a ll terrain veh icles as a co nditio n to th e recei pt of fun ds for high way co nstruct io n . . . tha t no ind ivid ua l in th e Sta te ma y o pera te an a ll- terrai n veh icl e wh o is under the age o f 16 or under th e m in imu m ag e req u ired Ior, th e opera tion of a motorcycle , wh ich ever is o lde r." T he bill goes on to say th at no in dividu al may opera te an ATV un less tha t in div id u al has been issu ed a licen se to ope ra te an ATV. Th e bill defin es an ATV as a " . . . m ot oriz ed vehi cle whi ch do es not weigh more th an 500 pounds, is not wider th an ' 50 in ch es, has three or m ore wh eel s, and is designed to be stra dd led by th e opera tor." To exp ress a n o p in io n on th e bill, wri te to Co n yer s or yo ur own co ngress man at H ouse o f Repr esenta tives, Washing ton , DC 20515. Krause Racing has announced a $50,000 contingency program for the 1986 Amateur Motocross Nationals in regard to their line of Sidewinder sprockets and chains. The program will beg in with the June qualifiers and will run through to the final event at Loretta Lynn 's Dude Ranch; for registration information call 312/543-6696. L ittl e kn own fact : Ex -desert an d si xday rid er Scott Atchison o f Bak er sfield , Ca liforn ia recently won th e Sports Ca r C lub o f Am eri ca 's (SCCA) Form ula.Ford Ch ampionship a t Road Atla.nta m. Atlanta, Georgia; Atchison IS h oping to so me day land a ride in a n Indy car. Vaughn Beals, Harley-Davids~n's Chief Executive Officer, handed . over a check for $250,000 to a representative of the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation at the conclusion of Harley-Davidson's Ride for Liberty on September22. The money that was ra ised by the cross-country ride will go to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. West German road racer Martin Wim. mer h as sig ned a contract to co m pe te in th e 250cc World Road Racin g Champi onships for th e Marlboro Yamaha race team; Wimmer finished fourth in th e 1985250cc World Champi onship. There will ' be an AMA National Championship Hare and Hound series in 1986. according to Jim Peterson of AMA District 37. The six race series will begin on January 26 in Lucerne Va lley, California and w ind up on November 2 in Caldwell, Idaho; the series is seeking a sponsor. For more info rm at io n contact Peterson at 714/9851567. Factory Su zu ki mot ocro sser George H olland has sig ned with Fo x Racing I I ' This aerial shot confirms rumors of the construction of a road ra c e course in Alabama . Located approximately five m iles southeast of Alabama International Raceway, the Frances' super speedway often referred to as Ta lla d e g a , the new track is being called Ta lladega Gran Prix Raceway in letters being sent to prospective members. Plans call for a 1 .5-mile. 11 . t u rn race tra c k with the longest straightaway being 1175 feet. Dirt Track Advisory-Board rule proposals modified By Gary Van Voorhis TUCKER, GA. NOV. 1 The ru les proposals AMA Director of Professional Competit io n Bill Amick hands to the AMA Board of Trustees on November 1 1 at their meeting in~~ah,:im, California, will contain several major changes and /or modifications of the controversial orig inal proposals passed at a September 16 meeting of the AMA Dirt Track Board. .A m.it:k. in an October 30 memo to advisory board members, noted a decislon on the changes was reached , " w it h the short-and long-· term health of our sport in mind and are based both on our estimation of t~e sport:s needs and on in p ut from many interested parties." Amick C?ontlnued, " Afte r lengthy deliberations. we arrived at the conclusion that man.y of the p ro~osals.devel?ped at our meetings were sound fo r National Championship racing. but did not adequately address the grassroots level of the sport." . Fo!emost,~mo,:,~ the ch.~nge.s was the deletion of a proposed revis.'on of the stability ru le which would have a llowed implementation of proposed new engine displacement ru le s on January 1. 1986, and for any adopted rules to remain in effect for five years. The proposal was dropped upon the advice of the AMA's lega l department. The current "stability rule" states that any new ru le adopted which changes engine d isplacement shall not take effect before January 1 . one full calendar year following the yea r in which the ru le is . adopted . A proposal to set a maximum cylinder bore for all fou r-stroke equipment was also dropped . . ~rC?posals.which called for IT, half m ile and mile Expert and Junior division equipment to be 0-504cc. single cylinder. air-cooled fourstroke eng ines with a maximum of four valves (two intak~/two e~haust) or,o-750cc, ~in:cylinder. a ir-cooled, four-stroke engines With a .maximum engine d isplacement for singles. Larger displacemen! Singles. (660cc) wou ld be allowed to race using engine int a ke restnctors With the exact restrictor size still to be determined . The intake restrictor rule for 750cctwin-cylinder. four-strok~ Jun ior class mach inery. o riginally proposed to change from 27mm t o 30mm for 1986. was modified to call for 28 .5mm restrictors. Am ick will also introduce rules proposals totake effect on January 1 , 1987.Among the proposals is one to bring in line Expert and Junior cla;5s e9uipm,:nt at ~OOcc four:stroke singles and 750cc four-stroke twins: In configurations as earlier noted, thus lim iting the number of machines needed for competition. If approved. short track machinery (currently set at 500cc four-stroke singles /250cc two-stroke ~ins) would be exclusively four-stroke in 1987 with a maximum displacement of 600cc. Additionally, the restrictor ru le for 750cc twins in the Junior class would be eliminated in 1987. A rules proposal to make professional dirt track a two-class structure beginning January 1, 1986. will also be presented by Amick. The change calls for the Novice d ivision to merge with Pro-Am to allow new riders a chance t o compete in professional events at the Regional Championship level without losing their Amateur ranking , Ron Wood. w~o wa;5 the on ly member of the Dirt Track Advisory Board to ~ast dlsse~t~ng votes on the 504cc sing le-cylinder, fou rstroke engine downsizinq proposals and the "stability rule " revis ion fe lt the changes in t he proposals were moves fo r the good . • "The changes appear to be a move in the rig ht d irection. " sa id Wood. owner of Ron Wood Racing. the im p o rte r of Rotax four-stroke single-cylinder (500/560/66~cc) engines for dirt track racing. "I want to look closely at everything, because there are still things t hat need to be changed ."

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