Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

worked with Mick Andrews on Ossa R&D back in the sixties," said Carr, who finished a- very close third behind former Grand National Champions Mark Brelsford and Gary Nixon in the 250cc Ninja class in the recent La Carrera. Brelsford and Nixon will also take part in the rally. How do you get a factory sponsored ride? Who was the mo t interesting rider you've ever dealt with? The most likeable? Answers to those questions will be broadcast in a special pre-recorded edition of Larry Huffman's Motorcycle World on Sunday, October 19. HuHman's guests will be racing managers Pat Alexander of Suzuki, Dave Arnold of Honda. Kenny Clark of Yamaha. and Roy Turner of Kawasaki. Motorcycle World is he-,nd every Sunday night from 10 to II p.m. via satellite on XTRA-GOLD 690 AM covering San Diego to San Luis Obispo, California; on KOLA 99.9 FM. in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties; on KTIM 100.9 FM in the San Francisco and Oakland area, and on KYLO 105.5 FM in Sacramento. Georgia's Elmer Trett (Kaw) won the Top Fuel portion of the Carl's Speed Shop-sponsored Thunder Nationals on October 5 at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale. California. Trett turned in a 7.24-second, 199.11 mph run on the quarter-mile drag strip to beat the 7.36/189.50 turned in by larry McBride (Suz). Funnybike competition saw Shannon Hughes (Kaw) beat Craig Burns (Kaw). Phil Tannery (Suzl topped Mark Sauro (Suz) in the Pro Stock final, and Jesse Gatlin (Kaw) beat Dale Walker (Suz) in the Pro Street final. In Pro Fuel. Jim McClure (HD) topped Mike Malone (Kaw). Dave Campos suffered a broken hand wben he lostl'ontrol at the end of the strip at the Thunder Nationals. Campos hit the timing lights and crashed. Keith Rl)xton, a member of Clyde Rawlings' crew. was also injured at thee~ent when Rawlings ran over him while he was pushing Rawlll1gs after a burnout. Ruxton suffered a hairline fracture of the skull and gashes on his head and neck. SuperTeam, the Florida-based racing team, will start the October 19 Paul Revere 250, the final round of the AMAIMotoWorid U.S. Endurance Road Race Series. from the front row at Daytona Interna- . tionaLSpeedway. lance Jones and Glenn Barry will handle the riding chores. "We've never run an endurance race in this series before," said SuperTeam ownetTom Tucker, "but we have run Daytona Speedway. We've done well in the Daytona 200 because we approach it as an endurance race. We're using the same approach to the Paul Revere." The $20,000 Paul Revere 250, rescheduled from the July 4 holiday weekend, starts at 2:30 p.m. Fourteen CCS National Championship sprint races will also. be run over the October 18-19 weekend at Daytona. Englishtown, New Jersey's Raceway Park wiHhostthe 10th Annual Kawasaki Motocross Race of Champions on OClober 18-19. Former National Champion Mark Barnell will return to aClion in the two-day event to take on the likes of Ron Lechien, Eddie Warren, Mickey Kessler. Donnie Schmidt, Ron Tichenor, Keith Bo\\"en. Jo-Jo Kl'lIer, Andy StaCy and the winner of lasl year's even I, 'Billy Liles. Yamaha-mounted Eric Eaton, Doug Dubach and Scott Manning represented America in an international team MX in France on October 5 and won the event. A team from England, led by Kurt Nicoll. finished second. Eaton was the top scorer with 1-1-2 moto finishes. Nicoll was second, and Dubach third with an 8-2-1 performance. Manning had a 9-DNF-8 day. How did two-time Grand National Champion Dick'Mann get the nickname Bugsy? "I don't know. I grew up being called LillIe Bugs, my brother was Big Bugs, and my mother was Mrs. Bugs," said a straight-faced Mann in answering Larry Huffman's question juSt before the October 5 edition of Motorcycle World, Huffman's weekly radio show, went on the air. . COMPLETED: Post-production on Supercross: The Movie, a featurelength film being funded and distributed by Apollo Pictures with Tom Tatum and Chris Knight producing, and Fritz Kiersch directing from a script by Ed Turner. The film is expected to be released next spring. With all entries for the Barstow-toVegas Desen Race filled, you can still get in 260 miles of mostly desen riding by l·ntering the November 29 AMA-sanClioned Barstow-to-Vegas Dual-Sport Poker Ride. Jim Pilon, coordi natorCor the event, says, "w ithin 15 miles, you wilLkiss pavement goodbye..... For entry info, send a SA E to Barstow-to-Vegas DualSport Run, 3550 Foothill Blvd .. Glendale, CA 91214. • CPSC report urges ATV safety By Farren Williams LONG BEACH, CA, OCT. 6 An IS-month federal study of all-terrain vehicles conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that ATV manufacturers cease selling scaled-down ATVs for use by children, or face a ban of the child-sized machines. Nowhere in the 17,O()()' page report, however, does the CPSC call for a general ATV ban or recall. The long-awaited report, released October I by the CPSC ATV Task Force, encourages manufaCturers to work with both the CPSC and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America to olve alleged safety problems currently associated with the threeand four-wheeled recreational vehicIe. The report recommends that the ATV industry and the federal government - working in tandem - improve ATV engineering performance standards, expand existing training programs for new operators, and create a public awareness campaign stressing ATV safe.ty. "We don't think ATVs should be banned," said CPSC ATV Task Force Chairman Nick Marchica, who headed up the investigation. "One of the big scares was that the federal govenment was going to ban ATVs. We can't make that recommendation. We believe ATVs can be made to operate . safely." The task force report on ATVs contains II major findings, and makes I I recommendations to the commis- sion. The report includes a 20-page briefing paper which refers to 500 pages of Staff reports. In addition, there is a technical/engineering package that numbers 12.000 pages. The full repon will be presented to commis ioner in Washington D.C., later . this month. "We will have a briefing before the commission on October 15," Marchied said. "At that time we will present our finding and our recommendations. We expect a fuJJ day of briefings and a dialogue between the commission and staff. No date has been set for action (a vote by the commission to accept, reject or modify the report), but that typically occurs two weeks aIter the briefing. The commission may take action in late October, but (a date for action) hasn't been scheduled." If approved as written, the report will mean an end to the manufaaure and sale of ATVs designed for use by childern. "Children under the age of 12 are unable to operate an ATV safely," the study said. "They lack the strength, motor skills and perception to safely operate an ATV." The report then recommends, "That the ATV industry voluntarily cease the production and marketing of ATVs designed for use by children under the age of 12. If the industry fails to follow the request, staff recommends that the CPSC move to ban ATVs designed for use by young children." Other findings in the repon sub.stantiate industry claims that most ATV accidents are the result of operator error, nOt inherent instability. The study found that risk of injury declines significantly with ATV riding experience; 30% of all fatal ATV accidents and 14% of all reponed accidents are associated with alcohol use; 31% of all ATVs involved in accidents were carrying passengers (a practice warned against by ATV manufacturers); and well-constructed, well-fitting helmets could substantially reduce the numherof fatal head injuries to ATV operators. New labeling requirements are foremost among the recommendations made by the ATV Task Force. If approved, the report would mandate ,labels stating thatATVs are not to be used by children under 12 years of age, and are 11l0t recommended for use by children under 16. "The whole concept is to get young kids off ATVsandputthe 13-through 16-year-olds on the BOcc and smaller models," Marchica said. "According to the data, kids under 16 are at the highest risk. It's extremely important to get them off adult-sized machines." The report also recommends labels which warn that ATVs have unique handling characteristics. These labels would stress that hands-on training is necessary for aJJ inexperienced riders before operating an ATV in an unsupervised environment. The Task Force recommended that commissioners give the CPSC staH the authority to continue tudying the performance characteristic of adult-sized ATVs, aod also suggested that the commission intervene in the development of the ATV industry'S voluntary safety standards, allowing CPSC comments to be included in the SVIA-drafted document. The final recommendation of the task force asks the commission to allow the CPSC staff -to work with state governments and other federal agencies to develop uniform state and federal regulations for the operation of ATVs ol1'public lands. These uniform regulations would include: A minimum age requirement for operators; the development of a licensing or certification system for operators (which would include a minimum age requirement); mandatory helmet use; the prohibition of pa sengers on ATVs; limiting ATV operation on paved surfaces; and the prohibition of the use of alcohol or other controlled substances while operating an ATV. • Goodwin files Chapter J. J., reorganizes By Farren Williams LO G BEACH, CA, OCT. 6 Mike Goodwin's Stadium Motorsports Corporation (SMC), promoter of the AMA Insport Tour Supercross Series, recently filed Chapter II under bankruptcy law, and immediately reorganized as Supercross Incorporated (SXI). The move will allow SXI to promote the 1987 Supercross Series without hindrance from SMC financialobligations The action was taken by Goodwin to ward off collection attempts [rom the Mickey Thomp on Entertainment Group, which was awarded a sizeable judgment againSt SMC following a lengthy coun battle. When SMC entered into several joint race-promotion ventures with MTEG several years ago, the promotions re ulted in passi nate disputes between Goodwin and MTEG's Mickey Thomp on. Following a long series of lawsuits and countersuits, a judgement was made in Thompson's favor. Goodwin, advised by his attorneys that the trial judge entering the judgment made serious legal errors, filed all appeal. SMC's financial diHiculties began when Thompson immediately demanded collection on the judgment, prior to the courts hearing Goodwin's appeal. Goodwin claims Thompson's collection allempts disruptedSMC's business, including the company's relations wiih sponsors, facilities and vendors. To halt that disruption, Goodwin filed a "Petition for Protection" under "Chapter I I Reorganization." SMC will pursue its appeal, and Goodwin is confident his company will be vindicated through the appellate process. "The filing of Chapter II to prevent further enforcement effort by' Mickey Thompson and MTEG against SMC, together with the agreement with SXI, will assure the successful, on-going production of Supercross events in Anaheim, San Diego, Las Vegas, Sacramento, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and other locations," said a recent SXl press release. The decision to file Chapter II under SMC, coupled with the reorganization under SXI, reportedly leaves Goodwin with enough operating capital to promote next year's Supercross series without concerning himself with the judgment awarded Thompson. Goodwin could have avoided filing Chapter II by po ting a I ,000,000 cash bond, but claims he filed Chapter J I instead, "to allow SMC to devote all of it funds to maximizing the 1987 racing season, increasing purses, arranging additional television (coverage of SXI-promoted events), and paying trade creditors." The SMC "alignment" with Supercross Inc., came after a lengthy negotiatingsession that included key promoters and AMA Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Pat Murphy. According to Goodwin, theAMA agreed to continue the existing AMAsanctioned Insport Tour under a modified and extended long-term agreement. (Continued to page 10) l-o Q.) ..c o ... u o 3

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