Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1986 03 26

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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sou rces den ied tha t Spencer had been hospitalized for three weeks as reported in European magazines, and said that pencer flew to japan on March 12 fortestlngand would not beavailable for comment. Reports al a indicate that Spencer' three-year engagement to a Shreveport, Louisiana, beauty queen is off. Team Husqvarna's Dan mith won the AMA Hare & Hound in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 16, leading a Husky sweep of the top three places; Garth weetland was second with Scot Hard('n third,all on Open-clas Huskies. Charlie Morris, Jr. was fifth overall and first 250cc on a Husqvarna, and Duane. Summers rode to his third-straightl25cc win on a Cagiva. Watch fora full report next week. Terry Cunningham and his Husqvarna took the overall at the AMA Cherokee National Enduro in Athens. Georgia on March 16. finishing ahead of Can-Am's John Martin and KTM's Kevin Hines. Randy Hawkins was fourth on a Husqvama with Can-Am's Geoff Ballard fifth. look for complete coverage next week. Mickey Kessler used Kawasakis to win the afternoon 125 and 250cc events at an arenacross held in Philadelphia'sSpeClrum Arena on March 15; Dick Bellora (Kaw) won the evenlng I 25cc race while Mike Bias (Hon) won the evening 250cc race. Both hows in the 20.000-seat arena were sold out. Oklahoma's Mike Harth won the 750cc Suzuki GSXR-Series event sanctioned by WERA at Roebling Road Raceway in Faulkville. Georgia on March 16. beating Georgia's Ron Ewerth and Texan Doug Polen. California's Scott Gray. who announced before the race that he would win. finished fourth. Greg Tysor won the Honda Interceptor Series race. ahead of Ewerth and Donny Rowe. Polen won the Open GSXR-Series event. beating Bart Petersen and Doug Chancey. According to the AMA, Daytona 200 winner Eddie Lawson will not receive the 20 Camel Pro Superbike points normally awarded for winning a road race. Lawson, who is contracted to Marlboro and races under the Marlboro/Yamaha banner in Europe, did not wear a Camel Pro Series pat han his leathers and thus was declared not eligible for the points. Lawson instead had his usual Marlboro stickers on hls Yamaha FZ750 and matching patches on his leathers. Which leaves Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz leading the Camel Pro Series Superbike points, ~ith the 16 points earned with his second-place Daytona 200 finish. Fred Merkel is second with 13, Wayne Rainey thlrd with II, Jay Springsteen fourth with 10, Rueben McMurter fifth with nine, john Ashmead sixth with seven, Dan Walker seventh with five. jimmy Filice eighth with four, Ricky Orlando ninth with two and jeff Heino rounds out the top 10 with a single point. The crowd on hand at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 200 was estimated at 45.000 people. The estimate for the Daytona Supercross. held the day before the 200. was 40.000. 2 Sources close to Freddie Spencer have verified reports that Spencer had been hospitalized prior to the Daytona 200, which he did not attend. But the Four-time World Champion (25Occ and 350cc road racing) Kork Ballington has signed with Maclean Racing to contest Camel Pro Series Formula One events on RS500 Hondas this season. According to Maclean Racing's Bob Maclean. the team may contest Superbike events as well. A decision has not been reached on whether or not Stuart Toomey's Toomey Racing will continue to prepare Maclean Racing's machines. and Maclean has been holding discussions with other well-known tuners. Maclean approached. Kevin Schwantz for the ride. but no agreement could be reached due to Schwantz's contractual commitments to race Superbikes for U.S. Suzuki. Cagiva representatives approached Kevin Schwantz at Daytona and asked him to test 500cc GP machines in Italy. Schwaritz's Suzuki contract covers Superbike road racing only, and Schwantz is likely to By to Italy for the test following his ride on a Suzuki in the Anglo-American Match Races scheduled for Donington Park in England over Easter weekend. Chargers in the Daytona 200 included Dan Chivington. who moved from 61 st to about 12th before his Yamaha broke. and Swedish Superbike Champion Anders Andersson. who came from 62nd to finish ninth on his Crane Racing Suzuki. Daytona quote: After winning the Daytona 200, 1984 500cc Road Racing World Champion Eddie Lawson commented on the change in format from Formula One to Superbikes, telling the press, "They don't race enduro bikes at the motocross, so they shouldn't ride street bikes at the road races." The right priorities: In contrast to the lavish lifestyles and houses of some rich and famous racers. Daytona winner and former World Champion Eddie Lawson recently purchased an old. 800-square-foot stone house on a 3/4-acre lot in Upland. California for about $100.000. He then had a 3000square-foot garage built on the property to house his fleet of motorcycles. his boat and his car. He parks his van outside. Power length: Kevin Schwantz picked up two seconds a lap during practice for the Daytona 200 after Yoshimurd mechanics installed a new titanium exhaust sy tem with power chambers connecting the one-two and three[our head pipes. The pipe, which weighs far, far less than a steel system, had shorter head pipes than the steel system it replaced and produced a wider powerband. Schwantz said the lap-time improvement came [rom being able to drive harder 0[[ the corners. The March 16 NHRA Gator Nationals in Gainesville. Florida. which included a Pro Stock motorcycle event. were rained out. The rain date was set at March 23. Motorcyclists who know o[ any law discriminating against riders should contact the AMA at Box 6114, Westerville, OH 43081. Amazing Fact I: One disadvantage to belonging to a large medical group is a lack of scheduling flexibility. For example. one large group based in California typically has a four or five-month wait for physical examination appointments. and a three-week delay between lab tests and the physical itself. But one of the finest "good old boy" networks in the world consists of motorcycle racers and their families. as one Cycle News staffer recently reaffirmed when he went for his racing-license-required physical. It turned out that one of the ladies in his health plan's appointment scheduling department has a son who races short track; the staffer was in on oneday notice and had lab work and physical in one three-hour period. after being bumped to the head of the list and squeezed in on cancellations made by other patients. When in doubt. count on a racer (or his mom). Amazing Fact II: Members of the above-mentioned large health group include one Eddie Lawson, two-time Superbike Champion and former World Champion. Lawson, told the above story, said "Man,1 don't believe it. It always takes me forever to get in there." Must not have asked for the right scheduling clerk... For the first time ever. minibikes will compete at the Hangtown Motocross Classic at the Prairie City OHV Park near Sacramento. California. The top Mini Expert class riders will race on Saturday. April 5. For more information call 916/920-1121. Despite reports of ignition problems, Team Yamaha's Mike Baldwin's retirement [rom the March 9 Daytona 200 was caused by serious internal mechanical problems, probably a dropped valve. Following the Daytona 200. Eddie lawson commented on Kevin Schwantz's performance. saying "He definitely has the potential. I don't think that Suzuki was up to par with what we were riding. but he did a good job. I'd like to to see him do well. The other guys may be i!" trouble this year." DougTolancl's Vance &: Hines Suzuk. Superbike broke in quali[ying and broke in his heat race at Daytona, but Toland's best heat-race lap of 2:01 got him onto the grid in 63rd position by promoter's option; that lap time would have been good for 10th in regularquali[ying; achunked front tire and slow return to the pits left Toland finishing 26th. The lot of a privateer at Daytona: Ohio's Pat Hernon seriously undergeared his Interceptor in qualifying by bolting on the wrong countershaft sprocket; Hernon qualified 31 st but ruined his engine in the process; after a rebuild Saturday and after paying for tires. Hernon had spent $2000 on parts and slicks; during the race his bike's front brakes stopped retracting and ruined the discs. his bike's engine overheated and he had to come in for a long stop to add water. his bike's chain started jumping the sprockets and the tires wore out; Hernon finished 42nd and won $390. Kemp Archibald and Dave Brooker shot the photo seq uence (Cycle News, March 19) of jimmy Adamo and Paul Lewis colliding in the March 7 Daytona Baule o[ The Twins race. The sequence was incorrectly credited to Archibald alone. South African Kork Ballington tested Bob Maclean's Hondas at Willow Springs recently. Mclean (reer) and tuner Stuart Toomey confer with Ballington at Willow. The Harley-Davidson Roger Reiman rode in the Vintage races at Daytona is a 1968 chessis fitted with a 1957 engine updated to 1968 specifications. It's the same bike Reiman used to do a flying lap at over 150 mph in 1968. In his fir t ride since winning the 1985 500cc World Motocross Championship, Dave Thorpe easily won a ational race in Devon, England. Thorpe was aboard a 1985 Honda CR5OO. Kawasaki swept the over-500Cc sales charts in England in 1985. taking 43.5% of that market. according to recently released reports. The GPz600R was the bestselling motorcycle over 126cc. the shaft-drive GT750 (not sold in the U.S.) was the top-selling 651750cc machine. and the GPz900R Ninja was the best-selling machine over 751cc. But Yamaha's RD350lC was the best selling machine in the 251 -50Occ class. followed by the Kawasaki GPz305 and the Yamaha RD500. Honda retained 37% of the English motorcycle market on the...strength of Vision moped sales 17299 units sold). but Honda's best-selling motorcycle over 751 cc (the VF1OOOF) was purchased byjust 155 riders. Yamaha was second in overall sales with 22%. followed by Kawasaki with 15%. Suzuki with 13% and BMW with 3%. The FIM World Road Racing Championship will increase from the present 12 rounds to 16 events for 1987. The increase includes the return of the Argentine GP in Buenos Aires, the return o[ the japanese GP at Suzuka for the first time since 1967 and the return o[ the Czechoslovakian round on a new track in Brno. Two other new tracks will debut in 1987, including Jerez in Spain and Estoril in Portugal. All 16 GPs will run 250 and500ccclasses with 10 GPs for 80s, J I [or 125s and eight for sidecars. ,enny Roberts will hold his exclulive customer riding school a Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. California. on May 11. Anyon purchasing an Yamaha FZ600 0 FZ750 from Kenny Roberts Yamaha. Inc. in Modesto. California. i eligible for the day-long road racing school taught by the threetime World Champion himself. Fo more information call Kenn Roberts Yamaha at 209/527 5603.

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