Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Series. It is still not known whether or not the team win field an o£ficial second rider, but Texan Kevin Schwantz will' ride one of the new Suzukis in Grand Prix events that do not conflict with Camel Pro races. Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. has posted a total of 913,775 in contingencies for the '87 MX season. Incorporated into the contingency program is the awarding of Team Green Bucks lor amateur riders, which are not cash awards, but vouchers good for specified dollar amounts of Kawasaki merchandise redeemable at Kawasaki dealerships. Awards in pro rider classes will be in cash. Events covered in the '87 program include the Dodge Trucks/CMC Golden, State Series, Florida Winter AMA Series, GNC Finals, NMA World Mini, NMA.Grand National, AMA Amateur Nationals, Mini Olympics, Silverdome Springs Series, and the NESCand NEMA Series. Total posted amounts for those events/series are $290,375 in a combination of Team Green Bucks and cash. For the AMA pro series of t25/25Occ Supercro s and the 125, 250 and 500cc outdoor ationals, Kawasaki is posting a total of 623,400. Three-time World Champion Freddie Spencer. who was sidelined nearly all season long with a wrist problem that required surgery. recendy turned in 50 laps aboard a Honda superbike at California's Willow Springs road race course. Spencer. who is testing at Day- ' tona this week, reports that his wrist "feels good." Phil McDonald, tuner for Team Honda's Wayne Rainey this season, is no longer with Honda, according to Honda's Gary Mathers. McDonald, a former professional din track and road racer, was unavailable for comment. The District 37 Legal Defense Fund Raffle. held at the awards presentation for the recent Barstowto-Vegas race, saw Daniel Fetterly of Santa Monica, California, win a', 1987 Husqvarna 490. and Kurt Seamen of Ridgecrest. California. a 1987 Cagiva WMX125_ Both motorcycles were donated by Cagiva North America. The sponsor prize. consisting of a Simpson Helmet. USA Racing leathers and jersey. NO gear bag and hat. Smith goggles. Grand Sport tire. Tsubaki chain, Duralube oil and Octamax octane booster, went to Harry Koepp of La Verne. California. OPE ED: Entertainment Specialties, Inc. (formerly Stadium Motorspons Corp.) oHice at 180 Newpon Center Dr., Suite 270. Newpon Beach, CA 92660, 714/760-1606. Harry "J.R." Kelley. chairman of the board of KK Motorcycle Supply of Dayton. Ohio, was honored at a Big Brothers/Big Sisters banquet on November 25 in Dayton. The annual $150 a plate dinner is held to honor national business leaders who have performed outstanding civic and charitable services. 2 Repons from Europe indicate that the Skoal Bandit Suzuki Team has signed Frenchman Raymond Roche to ride the new V-4 Suzuki in the '87 World Championship Road Race Due to a printer's error. copy was left off of our centerspread photo of Malcolm Forbes' Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail hot-air balloon which appeared in last week' s paper. The balloon is 187-feet long. weighs approximately 1000 pounds. and holds approximately 200.000 cubic feet of hot air. It was made by Don Cameron of Bristol. England. The photo was taken by Henny Ray Abrams at the Forbes estate in New Jersey. ning of the Daytona 200 have Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz turning low 2 minute. 57 second lap times on the combined oval/infield course. Honda's Wayne Rainey reportedly also turned in 2:57 laps while teammate Bubba Shobert was slightly off that pace. . Three diHerem winners emerged from three nights of racing at the Paris Supercross in Paris, France, on December 3-4-5. jeHWard(Kaw) beat Rick johnson (Hon) and David Bailey (Hon) on the first night, but Bailey bounced back to win the second night over Micky Dymond (Hon) and Ward. On the third and final night, Dymond .took the win over teammates Bailey and johnson. Jeff Darling (Hon) won the December 6 Sonorita to Rocky Point desert race which was held in Mexico. The win clinched the Arizona Desert Racing Association's number one plate for Darling. Gwin Baughn (Hus) finished secpnd in the race with Garth Sweetland (Hus) taking third. Marlboro Yamaha's Rob McElnea won the Australian Swann Series road race tide with a win and a second place firiish in the final round at Calder Park on December 7. McElnea beat teammate Kevin Magee in the first race. after crashing on the rain-sodden track and remounting. McElnea then finished ,behind winner Magee in the second ·Ieg. The Swann Series in Australia saw the world production racing debut of the new Yamaha FZRIOOOR stre,et bike. With Australian Michael Dowson at the controls, the FZRloooR c1e,lned up at the opening production round in Surfer's Paradise and also finished. fourth. in the feature race against GP-style machine. "It's not a gimmick 1000," said Dowson. '1t's a powerful bike, but I think it brakes, handles, steers, and doe everything else right too. It's not the on of 1000 we've seen before; they were never a full package.. I think this is the first of a generation of packaged motorcycles. " One of the spectators at the opening round of the Swann Series was former World Champion Barry Sheene of England. Sheene owns land in Carrara. Australia. and is planning to build a home there. :'I'm doing a lot of business in Hong Kong and I'll probably be involved in a few things in Australia." Sheene said. "I plan to live out here six months of the yearthe sunny ones-although they're all sunny down here." The 250cc Novice class at the November 29 Barstow-to-Vegas race was won by Manuel Castillo on a Honda CR250. Castillo's name fajled to appear in the results we ran with our coverage of the race. Early reports from factory test sessions conducted at Florida's Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the March run- Recognizing the importance of pit crews, DuralubeOil will putsuppon personnel in the limelight with the Duralube Pit Stop $1000 Challenge which will be held on january 9 along with tech inspection and registration for the Whisky Pete's World Championship III Hare & Hound World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. Everyone entered in the Whiskey Pete's race will be eli~ible to enter and compete in the Duralube Pit Stop Challenge. For more info, contact Casey Folks at 702/457-5775. Entries are still open in all classes. Ohio's motorcycle rider education bill. HB-291, passed the ~nate November 20 with a unanimous vote. moving Ohio closer to becoming the 25th state offering se"-funded rider education. Gov. Richard Celeste is expected to sign the legislation into law sometime in December. If Celeste approves the legislation. as expected, the program will begin operation early in 1988. Included will be mandatory rider education for novice riders under 18, and voluntary training for all other Ohio riders. The program will be administered by the Department of Highway Safety. and is funded by a $4 increase in motorcycle registration fees. The courses will be available at community colleges and adult education centers throughout the state. "American Motorcycling and Motorcyclists, 1900-1940," an exhibit currently showing at the mith onian In titution's National Museum of American History in Wa hington, DC, has been extended to run a full year, through Augu l I, 1987. The original closing date had been set to coincide with the end of the centennial celebration of motorcycling, lovember 27,1986, but was extended due to the popularity of the exhibit. Additional information on the exhibit, including viewing times, is available by calling 202/357-2700. The exhibit hall is located at the corner of 14th St. and Constitution Ave. in Washington. Monarch Helmets is now marketing the former Simpson line of helmets. including the Bandit. Voyager and Horizon models. Marketed under the Monarch Helmet brand name. they will be known as the Model 34. the Venture and the XR-2000. respectively. For more info. call 800/854-2096 (in California. 800/833·5566). APPOINTED: Tasuku (Ted) Kakuma, president of Bridgestone (Canada) Inc.; a 23-year veteran of Bridgestone, Kakuma served as vice-president for marketing for Bridgestone Tire Company of America, Inc. from 1977 to 1981 before becomjng manager of onh America tire sales in the international division of Bridgestone Corporation in japan; he returned to America in 1984 as senior vice pre ident, marketing, and also assumed responsibility for sales in 1985. MOVED: Bridgestone (Canada) head office operations to Toronto from Vancouver. While Ken Price of Ontario, Cal ifornia, didn't come up the winner of California's 17 million-plus 101lery over the December 5-7 weekend, he did win a Suzuki GSXR 750 Limited Edition in a drawing conducted by Vance & Hines Motorcycle Centers. "Ken entered the drawing at the . Anaheim Motorcycle & ATV Expo," . said Terry Vance, "and he's our winner. '1 NAMED: Darwin Doll as president of Sonoma. California's Sears Point International Raceway; formedy .vice president and general manager of Penske Speedway, Inc. at Michigan International Speedway. a position he held since 1981 ; prior to that he was with the National Hot Rod Association and while serving NHRA as a region director he organized a motorcycle drag racing division of NHRA. the National Motorcycle Racing Association. Three-time World Champion Andre Malherbe of Belgium is expected to announce his retirement from motocross on Thursday, December II. Malherbe, 30, was not able to acquire a factory ride for 1987 and instead will reportedly race Formula 3 cars in Europe. Malherbe's retirement will mean that three of the top five riders in the '86 World Championship 500cc MX Series will not race the class in 1987. Honda's Eric Geboers will switch to the 250cc class as will KTM's Kees van der Ven.. The AMA reports that the Motorcycle Federation of India has just obtained membership in the FIM and isactively developing a national MX and supen:ross program. Indian organizers are soliciting American motocross riders to appear in supercross events and conduct riding schools. For more information. write Surjit Singh, President. Poona Automotive Racing Assoc.. Block 16, Jawaharial Nehru Sta· dium. Pune 411 002. India. William H. King, promoter of the annual Camel Pro Series-Half Mile at Kentucky's Louisville Downs, has purchased the race track which is primarily used for harness horse racing. King, his daughter, son-in-law and a Louisville allorney purchased the 21-year-old track for $5.1 million. MARRIED: John laDouceur. promoter of speedway racing at San Bernardino's Inland Motor Speedway. and Donna King. an IMS employee, on November 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada. BMW demonstrated its Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) to the press in Anaheim, California, on December 5. All pre ent were impressed, and that's an understatement. We'll have more details on the system in next week's big end-of-the-year issue. ,

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