Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Australian G len Bell won th e ope n ing ro und of th e Au strali an Supercross Seri es in Perth, Australia o n November 9. Bell beat fell ow Au ssie Steven Gall wh ile top American Brian Manley fou ght back from a first rno to cras h to fini sh fou rt h overall. Phantom Duck of the Desert Lou is McKey reports that the fina l sect ion of t he November 30 Barstowt o -Veg a s Hare and Hound rac e course covers 69.5 mi les between Stateline a nd the finish line. That section was originally planned to be 55 m iles with an optional gas stop; McKey says there w ill now be a full -blown gas stop in the sect ion, making a total of four gas stops in the race. More information is available by calling 2131 438-4435. Congressman Larry Craig (R-ID) ha s as ked U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese to order a J ustice Depa rt men t investi gation of Commissioner Stuart M. " Ba n 'e m " Sta tler of th e Consumer Product Safet y Commission. In a letter to Meese dated November 6. Crai g said. " I believe Mr. Statler's ac tions and public com ments , such as hi s ca ll for a ban and recall of ATV s...lea ve no dou bt that he ha s pre-judged the issue and conseq uently is unable to make a fair decis ion ," Craig co nt ends that Statler brok e federa l law in relea sing misleading statistics a nd information about injuries relat ed to ATV use. The North American Trials Council met on November 2-3 and tentatively scheduled future World Championship rounds for Pennsylvania in 1987 and Tennessee, northern California, Arizona or Oklahoma fo r a 1988 round . Honda's Gary laPlante was present at the meeting and it marked the first appearance of a Japanese manufacturer representative at a council meeting in eight years. The 1985 Suzuki North American Ice Spe edway Championship will tak e pl ace o n November 22-23 at th e Salt Palace Cente r Arena in Salt Lake City, U tah .with a three-wh eeler and quad class being added to th e mot o rcycle pr og ra m. For more information call 602/ 296-1345. The California Enduro Riders Association 's (C ERA) Training Wheels Enduro set fo r November 1 0 was cancelled due to snow in the higher elevations. The s now 1 ra in date fo r t he event is December 8 ; for more info rm a ti o n call Robert Taylor at 707 /446 -8980. Racers Under The Son will present a free rock concert on Frida y, November 29 pr ior to the running of th e November 30 Barstow -to-Vegas off-road race. The concert will take p lace in th e pit a rea; for more information ca ll 714/ 540-4286. 6 Cagiva North America has dropped sponsorship of Reno Leoni's Team Leoni road racing effort for 1986. Leoni, who was informed of the budget-cutting move on October 28, says he doesn't have other sponsorship arranged fo rthe team, which fie lds Cagivas ridden by Jimmy Adamo in Battle of the Twins, Superbike and Formula One events. Th e Californ ia Air Resources Board will hold a public heari ng o n J a n uary 16 to consider amendments t o regulations rega rd ing the hyd ro carbon exha ust emis sio n standard fo r small volume C lass III Cal ifornia motorcycles. Fo r more information call the CARBat916 /3225694. T he Califo rn ia O ff-H ig hway Motor . Vehicle Recreation Com miss io n has procl aimed No vember as ATV Safety Awareness Month ; th e co mm ission a nd th e OHMVR division wish to focu s speci al attention o n th e need for more user involvement and understanding of safety issues. The MDRA World Finals drag rac e event originally scheduled for las Vegas, Nevada on November 1 516-17 has been moved to Phoenix, Arizona on November 22-23-24. More information is available from 209/226-8723 . A gro up in Oran ge County, Californi a is trying to ge t a p proval of a motocross faci lity a t th e proposed Lion Country Safari Fun Zone. The lease with Li on Co unt ry has been signed, but th e proj ect is still awaiting approval from the city of Irvine, California; all th ose wh o would like to see a racetrack in Orange County shou ld wr ite to Mayor David Baker, 'City of Irvine. 17200 J amboree Rd. , Irvin e, California 92731. The 1986 International Six Days Enduro will take place September 16-20 near Bergamo in no rthe rn Italy. San Pellegrino, site of the event in 1968, is the most likely location . With the recent cancella tio n of the South Africa n Road Race Grand Prix. the 1986 500 and 250cc World Championships will co nsist of II rounds rather than the standard 12 rounds. Here 's the 1986 schedule; May 4 J ara ma, Spain; May 18 - Monza , Italy; May 25 - Nurburgring, West Germa ny; J une 7-8 - Salzburgring, Austria; June 15 - Rijeka, Yugoslavia; June 28 - Assen , Holland; July 6 Spa. Belgium; Ju ly 20 - Paul Ricard, France; August 3 - Sil verstone, Gr eat Brita in ; August 9-10 - Anderstorp, Sweden; August 24 - Misano, Ital y (Sa n Marino G P), There will be a 12th round in Hockenheim , Germany for 80, 125cc a nd Sidecar classes. The 1986 World Endurance Champ ionship will consist of eight rounds, beginning with the La Mans (Fra nce) 24-Hour on April 12-13, fo llowed by the May 1 1 6-hour in Estoril, Portugal; the June 8 6hour in Imola, Italy; the June 22 Oesterreichring 6 -hour in Austria; the June 27 Suzuka (J a pa n ) 8 Hour; the August 16-17 24-hour in Spa, Belgium; the August 31 1 OOOkm race in Hockenheim, Germany; and winding up with the September 28 8-hour in Jerez, Spain. T he Cit y of Adelan to , Ca lifornia has ap proved th e Febru a ry 1-2 ru nn in g of th e Adelant o Grand Prix, acco rding to the Desert Vip ers Motor cycle Club's Ro bert T a m er. T he race will start a nd end in th e streets of Adela nt o and will in clude cross-co un try desert a nd motocross sectio ns. The Nashville Cable TV Network will run one-hour Stroh Mile Series shows every Sunday from No vember 17 to December 29 . The shows, fea t uring footage of Stroh Mile d irt t rack races, are produced by Peter Starr and w ill run three t imes each Sunday, at 8 :00 a .m ., 1 :0 0 p .m. and 6 :30 p .m . Pacific Standard Time. Ka wasa ki spokesma n Mel Moo re has confi rmed that Bill y Lil es a nd Mark Ba rn ett have been cu t from the company's motocro ss team fo r 1986. Li les had a two-year co nt rac t wit h Kawasa ki, extending int o 1986, a nd his cont rac t has been bo ught o u t by the co m pa ny; Lil es may ride for a pri vat e tea m wit h eq u ip ment support from Kaw a sa ki in 1986. According to Moore, Barnett will retire fro m racing . Kawasak i's 1986 team will co nsist of J eff Ward a nd Ron Lech ien in 250cc a nd 500cc o u tdoor Na tio na ls a nd Supercross es, and form er T eam G reen rider Eddie Warren in 125cc Na tionals and Supercrosses, In addi tion , Tea m Gr een pi lot s T yson Vohland , Rodney Barr a nd Ronn ie Tichenor will be un graded to Pro Sup po rt sta tus, receiving bikes, parts, tru cks a nd mecha ni cs for th e 1986 seaso n. " I don't want our fans to think we're ignoring them. It 's just that we t ried something new that didn't work," said Stadium Motorsports' Mike Goodwin after the controversial Rodil Cup Supercross at the Los Angeles Coliseum on November 9. "We had no inkling that the riders in the heats would be so unprofessional in their conduct," said Goodwin, referring to riders sandbagging to avoid being put on the second row in the planned, then ·a ba nd o ned, then re instated staggered start planned for. the race. "We re a lize that parking was a lso a problem and the event didn 't run like the us ua l Stadium Motorsports event. We're considering alternatives for the fans, something special for our Anaheim event." Goodwin also said that the company won't put on four supercross events in the Los Angeles area in 1986, instead holding two or three. Husqvarna's Charlie Halcomb won th e November 10 AMA D-36 Wilseyville Hare Scrambles nea r Wilsey vill e, California in freezing rain and sno w. Du e to weath er conditions, the co urse was shortened from 10 to eigh t miles and the race ra n two hours instead two-and-a-h alf hours. Second overall went to Edd ie'Edgyed , Jr. on a Honda. Ed itor John Ulrich and Associate Publisher Skip J o hnso n recently accepted p laques presented to Cyde News durinQ ha lftime at a speedway race at Ascot South Bay Stadium in Gardena, California; the plaques, presented by promoter Chris Agajanian and speedway great Jack Milne o n behalf of the track and speedway rid e rs, were for " Pa rt ic ipa ti o n and Dedication to the Sport of Professional Motorcycle Racing. " Steve Reynosa finished first in the Honda 500 Interceptor Series concluded at th e November 10 AFM road race at Willow Springs Raceway in Ro sam ond , Ca liforn ia. Reyno sa tota lled 122points to Richard Moore's 117, J oe Solis' 103, N igel Gal e's 55. Mark Ingells' 42, Don Bia va's 41a nd Bill y DeBere's 40. The series, run o nly in Cal ifornia thi s year. goes na tion al in 1986. Maico's complete line-up of 1986 250 and 500cc motocrossers (kno w n as M-Stars in the U.S .. dubbed GM Star 250 and 500 in Europe) and enduro bikes (GM Star E) feat ure front and rear floating disc brakes, a nd a power valve called the Sl ide Engaged Exhaust S ystem (S EES). The s ystem usesa exhaust diaphragm mounted above t he exha ust port wh ich opens and closes w it h incre a s e s and decreases in ex haust gas pressure as . engine revs change. Nikasil cylinder liners are us ed and cla imed ho rsepower fig ures a re 48 bhp at 8000 rpm fo r the GM250 and 61 bhp at 7000 rp m for t he GM500. The Ma icos have a new rear hub that utilizes straight-pull spokes. Other changes incl ude a new alloy brake pedal and radiators, new clutch plates (on the 250s) and redesigned forks. Acco rd in g to Hu sq va rn a 's Mar k Blackwell . the Husky mo tocross team for 1986 has not been final ized. " We' re looking at either a o ne- or two -rider team to co mpe te in Nationa ls and supercross in th e United State s." said Blackwell. " We ar e also negotia ting with Danny LaPorte a nd hopefull y will have him back with us for another year - th is tim e ridin g either the 250 or 500cc GPs in Europe. In th at case. he would be in close contact with the factory to aid in development work. " Blackwell also said Husky plans to streng then th eir regional rider support netw ork during 1986. Husqvarna's factory enduro team for 1986 will be led by newlycrowned National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham with Mike Melton, Dave Bertram, Jeff Russell, Jeff Irwin and Randy Hawkins filling out the squad. Melton, the 1985 series champ, has left his job as a service representative for Husky to take a position as coordinator for the Carolina Tool Off-Road Racing Team. The team is backed by Randy Hawkins' father. Multi-time Minibike National Champion and Yamaha factory rider Damon Bra dshaw has signed a clothing contract with Fox Racing for 1986; the 13-year-old's next race will be in the Golden State Seri es in California in the 80cc Expert cla ss. South Africa's most successful road racer, Kork Ba llington, who won 260 and 350cc World Championships for Kawasaki, was appalled by the FIM's decision to ban all South African license holders from competing in FIM races. " It's pathetic. The whole world is going mad," he said . "It ' s a t ragedy for South African sportsmen who may not even agree with the government's polic ies but cannot continue in the sport." The decision, however, may not be as severe to South African riders as int e nded . Most of the riders already compete w ith different national licenses and will be able to ride in Grand Prix events. Dick Mann is promo ting a vintage motocross to be held in conjunction with th e regu lar program a t Sand H ill Ran ch in Brentwood, Ca lifornia on Nov ember 24. All bikes must be 1974 and older wi th th e original suspe nsion travel (seven in ch es front a nd four inches rear); for more informati on call 415/ 243-6556. The race and the WERA/Wiseco National Championship Endurance Road Race Series t itle fell to Cycle Tech (S uz) in the November 9 final round of the series at Bra.elton"

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