Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1985 12 11

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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ter banquet planned for January or Feb ruary. More information is avai labl e f rom the AFM at 213 / 865-1523. .-. .-. Three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts will j oin Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola in Bologna, Italy on December 7-8 forthe Ital ian version of the Superbikers event that Lawson recently won in Carlsbad, California. Roberts will most likely be aboard a Yamaha XT600 while Lawson will opt f or a YZ490; Lawson tuned up for the event by finishing 21 st overall in the November 30 runni ng of the Barstowto-Vegas off-road race wh i le Roberts has been practicing at his ranch in northern California . Yama ha 's FZ750-based desert racer m ad e its de but recentl y in the Rall ye D'Algeri e in Algeria with Jea n Cla ude Olivier. the h ead of th e Fre n ch Yam a ha importers So na uto, a t the co n tro ls. T h e bi ke. however, suffered a broken swi ngarm that forced an ea rly retirement . Edd ie Lawson 's Ma rlboro /Ya mah a 1 98 5 tea mmate Ray mond Roche is rumored t o be on t he verge of sig ning w ith t he French Honda t eam after being replaced on the Yamaha squad by Eng land 's Rob McElnea. An item appearing in th e poop section of our December 4 issu e incorrectly labeled Yama ha's Ma rk Porter as Mark Potter. Porter , the assistant manager of Yamaha U.S. 's en gineerin g departme nt, was recently honored by th e Los Angeles Trade Tech Co mm u n ity Co llege as the ir outstanding a u to m ot ive dep artm ent a lumnus. A Honda VF500F belonging to America n Honda Road Racing Manager Udo Geitl was stolen the morning of November 21 while it was parked at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, Cal ifornia . The bike, carrying license plate number 342174B and frame number JH2PC1216FM1 01148, was nea r new. Anyone w ith inf orm ation concerning the t heft should contact American Honda at 2 13/ 604-2455. D uring recent tests at Daytona Inter-. nationa l Speedway. American H on da 's road raci ng team fou nd that th e 1986 VFR750 -based Superbikes have more top speed than the team 's 1985 VF750F-based machi nes. Dur ing the test session. 250cc a nd 500cc World Champion Freddie Spe ncer lap ped the Speedwa y in o ne minu te, 55 seco nds. fast for a practice sessio n. Spencer tested tires in a foll ow- up session with his NSR 500 H onda V-Iour a t Ro sam o nd . California 's Will o w Springs Raceway o n Novem ber 20 and 21. 2 The Kerker West Coast Superbike Series and Honda 500 Interceptor Series awards banquet scheduled for December 12 in southern Cal ifornia has been cancelled . The awards for those two series, whic h were run in co njunction w ith AFM road races at Willow Springs Int ernationa l Raceway, w ill be given out atthe AFM , Los Angeles Chap- T he Honda fou r-stroke ridden to second overa ll a t Bar stow-to-Vega s by T eam Honda ATC race mechanic Chuck Miller was the same bike ridden by Ricky Graham at th e Ca me l P ro Seri es Peo ria TT an d a t th e ABC Superbikers race. The m achine. origina lly bui lt for Ron Lechien to ride in a four-stroke mot ocross, was co n verted back to motocross form after the Superbiker 's race; it feat ures a works 660cc engine p repared by T ea m Honda 's Rob Muzzy. The American Federation of Mo-, torcyclists (A FM) and Willow Springs International Raceway owner Bill Huth have reached agreement and w ill run a $75,000cash-and-prizes-purse Formu la One series in 1 986. The series will be run in conjunction w ith regularly-scheduled AFM road races; 1986 AFM race weekends include Saturday practice; the dates are February 22-23, March 22-23, Apri l 26-27, May 24-25, June 2829, July 19-20, August 23-24, September 20-21 , October 25-26 and November 22-23 . More information is ava ilable from Willow Springs at 805 /256-2471 . Stadi um Mo torsports is co nd ucting a .ta len t search for a n u p-and-coming su percro ss a n n o u ncer to jo in Larry Huffman 's announcing team for the Anaheim Supercro ss on January 18; send voice tapes a nd information to SMC at 22941 Mill Creek Driv e. Laguna Hills, California 92653. The Oakland (Californ ia) Motorcycle Club is mount ing a drive f o r new members, according to Publicity Chairman Bruce Ki ng . Membership in t he AM A -affiliated organ ization is open t o all motorcycle enthusiasts. Meetings are held each Wednesday at 8 :30 p.m. at 742 45th Ave., Oakland, Cal ifornia. For more information, phone Mark Norris at 415/537-5392 or contact King at 415/835-8521 . T eam H onda en gine bu ilder Rob Mu zzy will become an indepen de nt contractor in ch arge o f p rep arin g a nd tu ni ng Wa yne Rainey's Superbikes starting J anuary I. Mu zzy is leav ing full -tim e, in -house em p loyment with th e firm a fter two seasons devel oping a nd prep aring dirt track and ro ad ra cing engi nes. Th e 19 8 6 Continental Motosports Club (CMC) Skoal 8andits Golden State Nationals motocross series w ill get underway January 4-5 at Qua il Canyon in Gorman, California . The eight-race series, sponsored in part by U.S . Tobacco, U.S . Suzuki Motor Corp., and Lancer Sportswear, will travel through California during t he months of January, February an d the first weekend of Marc h. According to CMC officials, $500,000 in purse" products and prizes will be posted for sportsmen and professional racers in the ser ies. Information on the series is ava ilable throug h the "GSN Hot Line," a recorded phone message service that is updated every 24 hours. The hot line number is 714 /261-6116. T he Decem ber 2 issue of Sports IIIus tra ted included a fo ur-page story on Camel Pro Series Ch ampion Bu bba Shobert. T h e coverage. wri tte n by Sam Moses, was arranged by Shobert's ma na ger . Doug G onda. The Checkers Motorcycle Club w ill hold a trophy presentation for the 1985 Check Chase on December 18 at noon in Simi Valley, California. For more information call 805 / 584-6975. " Factory Fitness." a semi nar on mo tocro ss training. feat uri ng tra iner/a u thor Jeff Spencer. wi ll be prese nted Saturday, Decem ber 14 at th e Co untry Co u rt house in Rivert on. Utah . The three-hour semi nar will feat ure a slide show na rrated by Spencer tha t illustrat es th e p ro per procedures in training for m otocross co mpeti tio n . Interested rid er s must p re-reg is ter by December I I. The sem inar is limited to 40 st ude nts a nd th e cos t is $7 per stude nt. Spencer is the a u thor o f "To ta l Tra ining for Motocross" a nd " T ra in er." The Country Co u rt house is located a t 10300 So uth Redwood Road . Fo r m ore in formation. contact Dal e Bohm a t 8011359-87 11 (work) , or a t 80 11572ยท5532 (home). Haruhisa Mochizuka, who works in the parts department of U. S. Suzuki in Los Angeles, California, . recently missed the $2 million slot when he spu n the state's lottery wheel. but he did win $50,000. The 36-year-old La Mirada, Californ ia resident said he bought $50 worth of lottery tickets before hitting the $100 w inner that landed him on California's " Big Spin" television program. Mochizuka w ill use part of his w innings to bring h i s p ar ents fro m Hamamatsu , Japan, t o La M irada for a visit. The luck y w inne r has no im m edi at e spending plans for th e rest of th e money . A story p rinted in th e Novem ber I San Francisco Chronicle says th at a U n iversity of California stu dy fou nd th a t motorcyclists' inj uri es cos t th e State o f California $65 billion a year in hospital bi lls. T he story begi ns, " Serio usly inj ur ed motorcycl ists ru n u p an average hospital bill o f $17,704: more tha n h a lf of them were d ru n k a t th e tim e o f th e acci dent. a nd tax payers pay most of th e cos t, a U niversi ty of Ca l iforn ia stud y co ncl u des ." Th e sto ry lat er quot es the UC Davis Medica l Center chie f o f th e o rt hopedic tra uma uni t. Dr. T imothy Bra y, as . say ing, " T h ere a re two groups o f m o to rcycl e riders . T he re are th e m ot orcycle co mmuters, who go to work every da y j us t lik e the rest of us, except they ride a bike, a nd th ose g uys are pretty safe. They are not th e problem. T he n the re are the ni ghttime bikers. T hey go o u t at n igh t, drin k a nd part y, a nd th en get o ut on the freewa y and go like hell so they can wind up in th e hospital, or dead ." " I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a position as a de velopment rider and technical rep resentative w ith KTM America, " said Kevin Hines, a former member of Husqvarna's enduro team. "I w ill be riding selected National Enduro and Hare Scrambles rounds as well as special events." According to KTM's Paul Clipper, Hines w ill also assist KTM 500cc GP MX t eam member Kees van der Ven in the upcoming Florida Winter AMA MX Series. The Roya l Soc iety o f Canada Co mm ission o n Lead in th e En vironment disagrees wi th th e U.S. En vironmenta l Protect ion Agen cy's cla im s o f ad verse h ealth effects wh en lo w level s of lead a re fou n d in th e blood str eam. An int eri m report by th e co m mission released in Sept ember co ncl udes tha t p lanned reduct,ions in gas o li ne lead levels in th e U.S. by th e EPA are u n neccessary in lig h t of m edical evidence whi ch suggests th a t low lead levels in blo od do no h arm to in dividuals. The scientific investigation revealed no health co ncerns for reducing lead levels in gasoline below 1.I grams/gallon. Even though EPA staff and consultants testified before th e Roya l Society Co mm ission, the co mm issio n concl uded th at the in formatio n presente d by EPA officia ls did not j ustify the types of ac tio ns taken in the Un ited States. In the U.S., th e EPA reduced gasoline lead levels fro m 1.I gra ms /ga llon to 0.5 grams / ga llon. effective la st July. a nd a reduction to 0. 1 grams /gallon will go into effect Jan uary I. T he EPA also has issu ed a not ice of p roposed rulernak ing ca ll ing for co m me nts on a ban on lead in gasoline as ea rly as 1988. The ninth annual Score Off-Road Equipment Show, which will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center June 20-22, will almost double i n size over last-year's event, according to show director A lex Xydias. Billed as the world 's largest off-road equipment Exposition, the 1986 show boasts 200,000 square feet of exhibit space filled w ith the latest parts and accessories f or ATVs, minitrucks, pickups, four-wheel-drives, vans and buggies, plus t he latest vehicles f rom major manufacturer s. For m ore inform at ion on the Sco re Off-Road Equipment Show, writ e Xyd ias at P.O . Box 6819, Burban k , California, 91510, or ph on e Xydias at 818 /768 -2914. The Rada r Association Defendi ng Air wave Righ ts, In c. (R ADAR) has ' crea ted a vid eo cassette entitled Rada r o n Trial. Th e video documents the hi story of radar and th e problems th at ca use fa ulty radar readi ngs . In ad dition . the ta pe shows a typical radar speed in g tri a l in traffic court a nd explains how to esta blish a spe cif ic defense; the tape will be ava ila ble on Novem ber I by sendi ng $34.95 p lus $2 handlin g to RADAR. 4949 S. 25A, T ipp City. O h io 45371 or by ca lli ng 1-800/ 448-517(1. A review of the T. Kida of Santa Monica's Grand Prix v ideo tapes that appeared in our December 4 issue incorrectly listed the selling price of the v ideos at $29.95 when the actual price is $39 .95; for more information ca ll T. Kida at 213/452-5410. KTM 's 500cc wat er-cool ed, four stro ke LC4 is still undergoin g development a n d engineers at th e Au strian fac tory say it will p robabl y be a year or so before it becomes a pr oduction model. Tha t wo n't stop KTM fro m fielding a p rototype fo r Dutchman Kees van de r Ven for th e Le Touq ue t Enduro, th e Dutch beach race wh ich va n der Ven ha s won fo ur tim es. this com ing February. KTM's works 250cc MXers will feature power va lves this year and engineers at the factory say the 1987 production 260s will get the power valve treatment. KTM wants to kno w if th ere is a ny interest in big-wheel (21-inc h front. 18-in ch rea r wheel ) minibike racing in th e th is co u ntry. T he firm is no t a lo ne in p roducing big -wh eel min ibikes wh ich are raced in virtua lly every co u nt ry exce p t America, and help yo u ng riders cha nge from m ini bikes to 125cc mach ines. If you' re interes ted . ei ther as a ra cer or race p romot er, drop a lin e to J a ck Lehto, KTM Ame rica , 1906 Bro adway. Lor-

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