Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126991
The Burea u of Land Management will reconsider issuing AM A/District 37 a five-year permit for the annual Barstow-to-Vegas desert race, beginning with the 1988 competition, according to BL M Needles Reso urce Area Manager Everell G. Hayes. A five-year permit beginning this year had been under consideration, but was dropped by the BL M after a District 37 official ordered unauthorized grading on a portion of the co urse which passes through the East Mojave Scenic Area. "We will look at a five-year permit again in 1988, but will move this section of the course o u tside of the East Mojave Scenic Area," H ayes said. Since .th e 4.9-mile section of the co urse that was graded has been part of the Bvto - V course since 1983, BLM California Desert Distri ct Manager Gera ld Hillier admitted, "The ,trespass was in an already-impacted area and no areas of critical environmental concern or wilderness study areas were involved." H e added, however, " It did happen without authoriza, tio n and. ..we are very concerned that similar actions not happen in the future." The BLM ordered District 37 to pay $1800 in damages to a reclamation fund for the California desert, and will require the District to "rehabilitate" the course immediately after the race. The rehabilitation probably will involve reseeding the area with native plant species. David S. Marshall. a political expert for the National Rifle Association. recently lauded motorcycle/ATV groups for allying themselves with other organizations to oppose S7. U.S. Senator Alan Cranston's (D-California) 1987 California Desert Protection Act. "S7's dead and has been for a month." Marshall said October 29 in Los Angeles. California. while speaking to the American • Coaliation of Outdoor Recreation Publishers (ACORP). an associa- tion of motorcycle/ATV journalists. "There's no way it can move. We (NRA officials) know where everybody stands on that issue and they don't have the votes. You 've put together a hell of an alliance. They (Cranston and the Sierra Club) were overwhelmed by the opposition. Your coalition has stepped on a lot of toes. Cranston's in it up to his neck and he can't figure out how to get out." The proposed Desert Protection Act. which was written by the Sierra Club. wou ld close most of the Cal ifornia desert to off-road riding. Despite Marshall's assurances. S7 is sitting in committee and could be considered aga in next year. Larry Roeseler (Kaw) captured the overall victory at the Bad Mou ntain AMA Natio na l Championship Enduro in Lucerne Valley, Ca liforni a, November I, although resu lts are unofficial. Roeseler dropped 12 points, beating series points leader Kevin H ines (KTM) by two. Third place went to Randy Hawkins (H us) , followed by , Ed Arne t (Hon) and Dave Bertra m (Hus). If these resu lts stand, then H ines wi ll unofficially wrap u p the AMA National Championship Enduro Series. Frederick Wilson Lagerquist III . president of the Triumph International Owners Club and British International Owners Club. died of a heart attack on October 25 in Atlanta. Georgia. The AMA has finalized plans for a 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series in 1988. The new class will ,be open to junior and Expert riders, and races will be held either in conjunction with Grand National Championship events or run separately. When the two classes are offered on the same program, Experts will be allowed to enter both divisions, while j u niors may ride in the 600cc class only; at the end of the 1988 season a junior National Champion will be crowned based on results from the 600cc series. All 600cc Nationa ls will be held o n mile, half mile, TT or short track courses. T he structure for no n-National races in 1988 willremain th e same as in 1987. • An In The Wind item in last week's issue erred in stating that Kevin The 1988 Beta 'TR3 4 Replica trials bike is. according to importer Cosmopolitan Motors, an exact rep lica of the bike used by Spaniard Jordi Tarres to win the 1987 Observed Trials World Championship. Improvements include a new clutch. new Dellorto carburetor. lighter front hubs. new disc protectors. new aluminum silencer. better airbox protection. improved seat/tank mounting. and an adjustable rear brake pe~al. The '88 260cc TR34 is five pounds lighter than the ' 8 7 model. Schwantz won both the Superbike and 500cc classes during the Fuji Sprint road races in Fuji. Japan. on October 25 . Schwantz did win the Superbike class. but the 500cc class was canceled due to poor weather conditions. track owner Bill Huth, Gray set a new motorcycle track record on Friday. November 30 when he turned a 1:2 6 .3 3 on his Yoshimura Suzuki. Randy Mamola held the old record on a RG500 Suzuki GP bike. The Fuji Sprint road race in japan was marred by the death of Canadian road 'racer Tom Walther; Walther was involved in a mu ltiple-rider crash during practice on Friday, October 23. The AMA Pro Twins Grand Prix and Modified Production road race classes will be run as separate races whenever possible during 1988. Du ri n g a ' typical weekend of National road racing, plans call for the Modified P rod uction class to run on Saturday (with a payback of 35 percent of the total Pro Twins purse), and the Grand Prix division to ru n on Sunday (with a 65 percent payback of the Pro Twins purse). AMA Experts and foreign riders will no t be allowed to enter Modified Production class races in 1988. Only twin-cylinder motorcycles will be legal for mile and half mile racing during the 1988 AMA Grand National Championship Dirt Track Series. according to revised AMA dirt track rules. As in the past. both twins and 600cc singles will be allowed in Grand National TT races and 600cc singles only will be permitted in Grand National short track events. The AMA has esta b lished new minimum-weight rules for all dirt trac k machines to be used in 1988 Na tional and Grand Na tio nal races. Four-valve twins (read that H onda RS750s) m ust weig h 320 pou nds or more while two-va lve twins (read that H arley-Davidson XR750s) must weigh at least 300 pounds. All 600cc singles must weig h 230 pounds or more. All weights will be measured with gas tanks removed. A new engine claiming rule will go int o effect January 1. for all AMA professional dirt track races. The rule will allow competitiors in any Pro class to claim the engine assembly - inc luding carburet ion, ignition and exhaust systems - from the motorcycle that wins the event. Claiming prices will be: Expert twins. $15.000; Expert singles. $6000; all Junior twins and singles. $6000; Pro/Am singles. $4000. Additional details of the new claiming rule are still under consideration. The AMA will continue to require ma nifo ld restr icto r plates at Nat ional arid non-National events durin g the 1988 professiona l dirt trac k season; restrictor pl at e specificatio ns have not been ,changed. The minimum weight for superbikes competing in AMA Superbike Road Race Series/Camel Pro Series events next season will be reduced by 10 pounds. to 380 pounds. according to new rules established for 1988 by the AMA. Minimum weight for motorcycles competing in the Pro Twins division will remain at 320 pounds. Allowable overbore for superbike engines will be .0 4 0 of an inch per , cylinder and maximum wheel rim w idth will remain 5 .5 inches. The Enduro Riders Association is holding its 40th Anniversary Banquet, Saturday, November 14, at the Scioto Downs Pentho use in Columbus, Ohio. For more information contact Debbie Cox at 619/272-2672. 2 Northern California's Scott Gray (Suz) won the Willow Springs Motorcycle Association's (WSMA) Formula USA Championship' with his win on November 1 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond. California . Gray topped defending champion Earl Roloff (Yam ) in the championship when Roloff finished third in the race . Second place in the race and third in the championship went to James Domay (Suz). According to_ The Illinois legislature recently approved HB0612. an off-road vehicle registration act which requires owners to register all motorcycles and ATVs (including competition-only models) and pay a mandatory $15 per year fee. The new law also includes several ATV/off-road riding safety provisions: Riders must wear helmets and eye protection when riding on public lands; all off-road motorcycles and ATVs must be equipped with U .S . Forest Service-approved spark arrestors; children under 10 years of age will not be allowed to ride on public lands; children between 10 and 12 may ride. but only 'u nder direct parental control; and riders between 12 and 1 6 may ride under parental supervision. According to the , AMA, the higest attendance for an AMA National Champio nship MX in 1987 was a rounded off figure of 12,000 specta tors in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvam a; the lowest was 2,000 spectators in Den ver , Colorado. Supercross 's highest attendance was 70,315 in Anaheim, California; the lowest was 18,246 in Seattle, Washington (the second day of a doubleheader; combined Seattle total was 46,753). The average Supercross attendance was 35,094; outdoor National mo tocross was 6,750. Average Supercross p urse was $31,171; Nat ional motocross was $22,000. AMA statistics show that the highest attendance for an AMA Grand National Championship Dirt Track Series race in 1987 came at the May 3 San Jose M ile where approximately 18.000 fans paid to watch the action. The lowest paid attendance for a Grand National dirt track race came at the 'A scot Half M ile on April 11 when 5.180 fans showed up to v iew the Saturday afternoon program . Average attendance for the 18 races on the schedule was 10.902. while attendance for the year was 196.230. The average purse at National dirt track events in 1987 was $41,417; $745.500 in purse money was paid out during the year. More race fans viewed the Daytona 200 than any other motorcycle race in the nation during 1987, according to the AMA. Year-end figures show , that 88,000 fans caught the act ion o n Daytona Int ern ational Speedway's tri-oval, which was in sharp contrast to the 2000 fans who watched die least-a ttended Na tional road race of 1987, the inaugural running of the Memphis National at Memph is International Motorsports Park in Tennessee. Average attendance for (Continued to page4)