Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1987 02 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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~.~1) ,00 BYPAPA WfilLfY 0") Multi-time National Champion motocrosser David Bailey, who remains paralyzed from the lower chest down as a result of injuries suffered in a practice session crash on january II, was scheduled to undergo a back stabilizing operation on Monday, February 2, but that operation was canceled. Doctors discovered a small blood c10l in Bailey's right calf the day before the scheduled operation and that prevented the operation. In addition, Bailey has now opted not to have the surgery performed and instead he'll undergo a five week period of bed rest that will allow his back to heal naturally. Following that period, Bailey will be fitted with an upper body brace which will enable him to sit up. Bailey remains optimistic: "You can give just 80 percent and pout, but that's not me. I'm giving this 100 percent pl~s. I know it'll take everything I have to get through this, but I'm going to beat it." Bailey has announced that his wife, Gina, is pregnant and the couple's first child is due in September. Cards and letters can be sent to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, 751 S. Bascomb Ave., San jose, CA 95128. Despite a perfect performance by six-time champ Garth Brow (Hon) in the final round of the 1987 AMA Invitational Professional Indoor Ice Race Seneset Troy, Ohio, on January 31, Indiana's Dave Hebb (Hon) was crowned the series champ. Hebb finished fourth in points at Troy but won the series with a total of 61 points, Brow's perfect 15 point performance moved him into second in the final point standings with a total of 58 points. Dan Ingram (Hon) finished third in points at Troy and third in the final standings, three down from Brow with a total of 55. The AMA Government Relations Department has provided $1000 to fund a one-year internship at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Land Between the Lakes recreation area in western Kentucky. The internship will be administered by the Land Between the Lakes Association, a non-profit organization which serves as a liaison between the private sector and the federally-run recreation area. The AMA has worked closely with the Land Between the Lakes Association in the past, most notably in the planning and development of the Turkey Bay On-Road Vehicle Area there, the first such area to be featured in a federal recreation area. The area hosts over 40,000 visitors annually. FORMED: Forsythe USA, an advertising and marketing communications firm in Asheville, North Carolina, by William F. (Bill) Burbank; Burbank was formerly a vice president with Kayo Corporation; prior to joining Kayo, Burbank was operations and seles manager for Parts Unlimited, and vice-president of Sure- FJr8 Distributing; Forsythe USA has offices at 2361 Hendersonville Rd. South, Arden, NC 28704,704/687-0477. . Team Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara has flown back to North Carolina to have his right knee examined by a knee specialist after injuring it Saturday night, january ~I at the Anaheim Supercross. According to Suzuki Press Relations manager, Rob Sanders, O'Mara simply landed off one of the big jumps and his knee just gave out. This is the opposite knee he injured last year. The examination results show that O'Mara damaged some ligaments, but he has regained full mobility. As it looks now, there's a good chance he will ride the Houston Supercross on February 7. Rick Johnson is recovering from his Anaheim Supercross crash and will be at the February 7 Houston Supercross. "I'm doing good," Johnson said from his EI Cajon, California, home on February 2. "1 just ceme up a little short on the triple jump, cesed it and it tossed me over the bars. It wasn't the track's fault, it was my fault. I hit my head pretty hard, but I'm doing good. " What about the rest of the season? "I'U give it aU I've got." HosPITal STOP: Pro motocrosser Tim Hanna crashed during the CMC Golden State Nationals at Glen Helen Raceway, San Bernardino, California, February I. Hannah broke two vertabrae and is now recouperating in intensive care at the San Bernardino Community Hospital. Cards and letters can be sent to his house, ~218 E SI, Palmdale, California, 9~550. Arai Helmets will set up • service center to 181'V8 r1deri' hilmet needs during Daytona Cycle Week, March 2-8. The center will be in the Checkered Flag building on pit row and will offer such services as replacement face shields, factory technicians and a personal helmet design computer. BORN: To KTM's Rod Bush and his wife Sherri, a baby girl, Stacey, on january 27. 'The Laverda Owners Club/USA will hold an Italian motorcycle rally on Saturday, March 7 in Daytona Beach, Florida; riders wishing to (Continued to page 4) Yamaha posts $65,000 in 600 RR Series CYPRESS, CA, JAN. 22 Yamaha will post a $65,000 contingency fund solely for the AFM 600cc Stock Production road race class. The Yamaha Western 600 Series will consist of 10 races plus an overall championship race. The AFM will host five events per APPOINTED: Robert (Woody) Woodward as northern California account executive by Nelson-Rigg USA, Inc., importers of motorcycle and personal wlltercraft clothing and accessories. The 1987 California Off-Road Vehicle Association Convention will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange, California, on March 6-7-8. A "Keep the Lands Open" rally, featuring a variety of speakers, will be held Saturday. Discussion is ex· pected to be centered around Senator Alan Cranston's Wilderness Bill, which proposes to close 9.1 million acres of desert land to motorized vehicles. For reservations or information, call 800/2~7-54~6. Motocrosser Eric Eaton suffered a broken jaw at an aranacross in Monroe, Washington, on January 18. Eaton was leading the 250cc Pro class when he crashed on a triple jump and was launched over the bars and landed face first. Eaton is expected to be out of action for at least four weeks. The factory Husqvarna team of Dan Smith and Larry Roeseler won the 14th Annual SCORE Parker (Arizona) 4000nJanuary 27; it was Smith's fourth Parker win in a row. Second went to the Kawasaki-mounted team of Ted Hunnicutt and Derrick Paiement while third was claimed by the Open class Honda of Dan Ashcraft and Randy Morales. The 125cc class went to john Brasch, who soloed the event on a Yamaha. Round one of the Florida February Series at Croom Raceway in Brooksville, Florida, on February 1 saw Jeff Frisz (Suz), John Reinholt (Yam) and John Collins (Yam) win the 125, 250 and 500Cc Semi Pro classes, respectively. Team Kayo's Dean Swims and Kevin Rentzell (Suz) won the overall and GTO class at the AMA/CCS endurance road race in Phoenix, Arizona, on February I. Team Taylor's Dave Schlosser and Doug Brauneck (Suz) finished second with GTU class winner Team Kayo's Tommy Sloan and Donny Rowe finishing third overall. VVhatdoesittakeforustoiearn7 I am too often at a complete loss to understand tragedies in our sport. We would learn, you would think, from one or even two identical tragedies, that change and improvement are necessary. David Bailey's injury has hit the industry and sport harder than any in recent memory. And the impact on David and his family is immeasurable. Let's. learn from this one once and for all. Now listen up AMA and CMC and RM and SCORE and all you other sanctioning bodies. And I can't forget you promoters either, Mike Goodwin and Mickey Thompson and Sal Fish and Stu Peters and everyone else. Don't think I'm forgetting the factories and every single one of your riders either. Tune in to this! Three major types of injuries haunt racing and riding - knee, head and spinal. A solution to eliminating knee injuries is somewhere down the pipe. Even the NFL, NBA and pro baseball gurus haven't got a handle on the knee thing. There's no Question whatsoever that head injuries are but a relative fraction of what they'd be if we were still wearing the old pressed cardboard and leather helmets of yesteryear. For the most part helmets keep getting better and more protective year in and year out. Back injuries to the spinal colurim are rather different ill thai seldom is chapter, AFM North and AFM South. The top 10 finalists from each five-race series will be invited to the Yamaha Western 600 Series Championship which will take place at southern California's Riverside Raceway on October 11. The AFM North events will take place at Sears Point in Sonoma, California, on April 18-19, May 9-10, june 27-28, july 18-19 and September 12-1~. AFM South events will be run at Rosamond, California's Willow Springs on April 18-19, May 16-17, july 4-5, August 15-16 and September 19-20. Yamaha FZ600 riders who finish in the top 12 slots in series events will earn points towards Qualifying for the Yamaha Western 600 Series Championship Final First place in each series event wiIJ earn a Yamaha rider 20 points, second 16, third U, fourth II, and fifth through 12th pay one point less per position in descending order, i.e. fifth pays 10, fourth nine, etc. Each round of the series wiIJ pay a Yamaha rider $2000 fora win, $1200 for second, $700 for third, $450 for fourth, $~OO for fifth, $200 for sixth, $100 for seventh and $50 for eighth. The October II Yamaha Western 600 Series Championship Final will pay the winner $5000, second $2750, third $1650, fourth $ 1200, with fifth paying $900, and sixth through 12th $ 100 less per position in descending order, i.e. sixth pays $800, seventh $700, eoc. • the damage correctable, let alone reversible. Conversely, orthoscopic knee surgery can bring damaged joints back to top service most of the time. Even head injuries are commonly treated through surgical procedures and therapy. Only in rare cases are spinal injuries reversed, which is the stuff movies are made of. We just don't accept the fragility of our back, the many vertebrae and the delicate spinal column. My rudimentary experience points to two methods of spinal damage - compression and impact. A direct blow to the head can create compression forces strong enough to fracture or dislodge vertebrae to impact the spinal column. It's doubtful that we currently have a correction for compression caused back injuries. The more common cause of back injuries to bikers is impact, with an object or by an object. Not uncommonly both compression and impact occur. I have personally witnessed many instances of a rider's bike chasing him down and striking the back. I've seen other bikes do it to another rider. It chills me to the bone to see these in person or on film. There are occasions where a rider falls into or onto an object ranging from an Armco barrier to a protruding rock. Sometimes you land on your downed or sliding bike. I've had all of the above occur, but through some miracle not sustained paralyzing injury. Each time I was juslSmart enough to be scared poopless and simultaneously relieved afterwards. In one instance particularly (during a fast paced race pre-run in Baja), I had a backpac1c. save certain back injury. A footpeg left a major punclUre in the middle of the pack after impact was blunted by a can of Vienna Sausage and Long john britches. In addition, there was a chunk of granite rock embedded just above' my ex.ploded sausage can. I hit the ground and was hit upon by the bike dead center in my back. Surely backpac1c.s laden with sausage cans and extra clothes aren't a reasonable or necessary design solution. But technology can design thin, near invisible vests that will stop a .44 (Continued to page 19)

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