Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind . (Continued 170m page 2) The Blain, Pennsylvania, round of the National Championship Enduro Series, that was originally sch eduled to run o n July 24, has been tentatively rescheduled to August 7, due to overl y dry co nditions in th e area . According to the AMA, if rain doesn 't fa ll in Lansing , Michigan, by July 23, the Jack Pine National Championsh ip Enduro wil l be canceled. Dave Bert ram, who will represent th e U.S. o n th e ISDE T ro p hy T eam in France th is fall , twice underw ent surgery (May 27 a nd June 21) after di scoverin g he had testicular ca ncer. Foll ow-up tests proved to be negative. "The second sur gery was the big one, " said Bert ram. " T hey made an incisio n fro m below my belt up to my ches t - it was a ma jor abdo m ina l operation , which took four-an d-ahalf hours. I was in th e hospi tal fo r five days. I feel fin e no w, but it was quite a scare . I haven't ridden since the Michigan Qual ifier (May 22), but I ha ve th e o kay fro m m y docto r to start riding again o n Jul y 21. I have six weeks to ge t read y for the SixDays; it sho u ld be no problem ." Blackwater 1 00 winner Tim Coombs is out of action after breaking a small bone in h is back during the f irst moto at the Broome-Tioga National MX in Binghampton, New York, July 1 O. " I've broken it before, but not this bad, " said Coombs at home. " I just have to lay here on my side for about a month until it heals," The U.S. Supercross Team, a nonprofit organi zation designed to promote the sport of motocross, is being formed to compete in the 1989 AMA 125cc Supereross Seri es. The 10-rid er team will co nsist of factorysupported rid ers, accord ing to Team Manager Da le Bohm, and is seeki ng spo nsors to help finance its assa ult on the Western a nd Eas tern Regional Supercross titles . Each memberof the team w i ll re ceive pa id e n tr ies, expense mo ney, training conducted • by Gary Bai ley and Donnie Hansen, media exposure and career guidance. For more information co ntact th e U.S. Supercross T eam, P.O. Box 1667, Sandy, UT 84091·1667, 8011 572-5532. Bowman-Kincaid Racing announced that they have been picked for sponsorship by Lewis Leathers of London, England . Riders Jeff Hagan and Mike Braxton (w ho owns the team) will contest the AMA /CCS Road Race Endurance Championship Series and selected events in 1989. Braxton will also be the U.S. representative for the Lewis line of leather safety apparel. For more info rm at io n, call 916 /725 -6980 . Previous Lewis Leathers-sponsored riders include World Champions Mike Hai lwood and Ph il Read. Former Suzuki factory rider Alan ICing mad e th e trip to the Steel City National MX , Jul y 24, but onl y to specta te. " I' ve been bangin ' nails for a year and a half now, selling homes as fast as I ca n build 'em, " sai d King while eating a hotdog trackside. " I' ve had people call me a nd offer me bik es, but I'm not into it a nymo re." Mike Taylor, president of Barnett Tool '& Engineering, and Kal- Gard's Larry Coleman are putting together a Suzuki-powered sidecar with which they'll go after some land speed record s at the upcoming Bonneville Speed Week. "My arms ge t so pumped up that I don't kn ow if I'm hangin ' on to the bik e or not ," said T eam Suzuki 's Bob Hannah. The Hurrican e flew his pri vat e pl an e from Idah o to Steel City and was spo rting very tender and scabbed for earms. " I guess yo u can tell by my ar ms that I was trying to ride a bike agai n. I flew righ t off and sm ashed my face into the di rt." National MXers Jeff Stanton a nd Ronnie Tichenor have developed a new train ing techn iq ue, a n d used it extensively the week prio r to Steel C ity . "It's called baling hay, a nd I' m sore a ll overfrom it, " said Tichenor, who is c urrently living on Stanton 's farm in Mic h igan . "It was 120 degrees in the hay mow, a nd we were stacking the bales sky high ." : T eam H onda 's J eff Leisk is mo vin g lull speed ahea d with hi s p lans for a 500cc G P MX ride in Europe next seaso n. " It' s been ~rea t riding wi th the fast guys here m the States, but back hom e (Aus tra l ia) everyo ne wants to be World Champion," said Leisk . ''I'm working on a deal right now , and I'd lik e to base o ut of H o ll a n d o r Belgium if i t goes th rough ." National MXer Shaun Kalos w ill be off the c irc uit for a number of weeks wh ile he recovers fro m othoscopic knee surgery. BORN : Kaitl yn Lianne Ivers on , dau ghter of Elliott a n d Joann e Iver son, on July 12 in so u thern California. Ellio tt Iverson is a longtim e product manager a t Ron Woo d Ra cing. The 2nd Annual Miller Mid "Am e rica Motorcycle Championship will feature special fund raisers to help the family of the late Ted Boody. Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert has autographed two framed posters to help raise money. The July 3031 events at Creek County Speed way in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, will include a IT on Saturday and a short track on Sunday. Organizers say that a $10,000 purse is expected to attract many of the top Camel Pro riders. The September 17-18WERA24-hour endurance race at Willow Springs International Racewa y in Rosamond, California, will be officially kn own as th e Coors 24-Hour WERA West. An y team that betters th e ma rk of 2155 mil es set by T eam Van ce & Hines during last year's race will earn $2400, while the overall winners will receive $2000. Willow Springs owner Bill Huth reports t hat he recently spent $50,000 to move a berm outside of turns eight and nine an additional 400 feet from the track's edge; runoff there is now as much as 1 14 m ile. Huth a lso paved an additional half-mile o n his second track, leaving a similar amount to be paved in order to reach completion. He has decided not to jo in the two cou rses , as originally planned , because, " Will o w Springs has some character, " and he doesn 't want to risk ruining it. Huth also reported that he only has two weekends left open in h is 1989 schedule. The Human Race T ea m 's Kurt H all , Andy Fenwick and Tim Morrissey (Yam ) won th e seven th ro und of th e WERA National Endurance Road Race Series , an eigh t-ho ur race in East St. Louis. Illinois, July 16. Hard Core Racing (Suz) finished second, and T eam Suzu ki (Suz) took third. Seri es points leade rs Sol max Racing USA (Suz) fini sh ed seventh after cra shing during the first hour. The race was held in nearl y l lfl-degree heat , and started three hours lat e due to di ff icul ti es findin g eno ug h corner wor kers. Jo hn Ta uz in o f Baton Rouge , Louisiana, died as a result o f injuries received in a WERA sprint road race crash at East St. Louis, July 17. Wh en Dr. J ohn Wittner visited th e Maserat i factory in Ital y, he noted that th e last ti me anyo ne had used the "tita nium bar stock was in 1954 for a certain Formula One car racer by the name of Juan Manuel Fangio. Wittner needed so me of the titan iu m to make new val ves for hi s P ro T win s Mot o-Cuzz i, Tyson Vohla nd (Kaw) c la imed the Ultracross main event win at the sixth round of the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gra n Pr ix Series held July 16 at the Los " Angeles Coliseum . Tallon Voh la n d (Kaw), Tyson 's younger brother, took second and A.J . Whiting (Ho n ) rounded out the top three. AHRMA folder recall the late 1930s, and Dixon Design Consultants of Dayton, Ohio, working with AHRMA, researched original German language magazines of 50 years ago to create the artdeco graphics. AHRMA's fiv ecolor logo was .de s ig ne d by Ed Lyons of Middlefield, Ohio. The 4th Annu al O ver-The-Hill Gang Reunion will take pl ace at Dick Klarnfoth's H onda Hills in Thornville, Ohio , August 27-28. According to Butch Baer , president of th e infor mal group of motorcycle racers who were active in th e 1940s and 1950s, a nyo ne who was part of th e racing scene d uri ng tha t era is co rdia lly invited to show up at H onda Hills with th eir memories, scra p books, and even their o ld race bik es. Attendees at last year 's reun ion in cluded Bobby Hill , Chet Cykg raaf, Art H eck, Bill Walterm ier, Paul Myer and Dick Klam foth. Memb er' sh ip in th e Over-The-Hill Gan g is o pen to th ose who were active racers 25 or mo re years ago, while younger ent h usiasts are in vited to participat e as associ ate memb ers. Fu rther informa tio n ca n be ob tai ned fro m Dick Bra se, 219/456-2349, or T om Baer, 603/668-4769. The Ca nadian representative is Bud Koehler , 519/6962975. 00 00 0") The Central Roadracing Association will host a n AMAlCCS Regional Challenge Cup four-hour endurance event on July 30. Entry fees are $125 per team and each bike regi stered must have a CCS sticker afixed to it. The event will be run accordi ng to th e 1988 CRA ru leboo k, which req u ires each team to provide a scorer, and will tak e place at Brai nerd International Ra cewa y located in cen tra l Minnesota. For more details, call th e CRA hotline at 612/ 332-4070. Michigan's Kevin Atherton (W-R) became the first Junior class rider to win an AMA 600 National Championship Dirt Track Series race when he won the July 15 Parkersburg Half Mile at West Virginia Motor Speedway. Series points leader Chris Carr (H-D) finished second and Don Estep (W-R ) was third. A Pro-Am race, run in conjunction with the 600 National, was won by Pat Behrel (Hon). Dave Sadowski (Suz) scored wins in both the Middleweight Supersport and Heavyweight Supersport classes at th e J uly 16-17 Suzuki National Cup Seri es road race meet at Grattan Rac ewa y Park in Michigan. John Eid enberger (Suz) fini shed second in both those races, with Randy Gaddy (Hon) third in th e Middleweight ra ce and Cam Roo s taking third in th e H eavyweight race. Scott Zampach (Suz) won th e Unlimited Supersport race over Eric Laeruse (Suz) and Jed Kemlaw (Suz). The International Association of Business Comm unicators (IABC) has presented an Award of Merit t o the American Historic Motorcycle Racing Associat ion (AHRMA) for "best design" of public relations kits in the illustrat ion and Graphics category. The four -color AHRMA folder and contents were sent to race track promoters and potential spon sors. The visual effects of the Team Kawasaki tried a new approach to publicity at the Steel City National: Jeff Ward and Ron Lech ien signed autographs and gave away posters before the day's motos began -, "We want to help the promoters with down t ime, and get Jeff and Ronnie up close to the fans," said Kawasaki's race team manager Roy Turner. "We'll be doing more of these pre-race autograph sessions during the rest of the 500cc Nationals." What's th e proper weight for a motocross cham p? " I weigh in at 185 pounds, and it 's all in my legs, " said Ri ck Johnson, one of the heaviest riders on the Nation al circu it. "If I get up to 188 I feel fat, so then it's tim e to cu t back." The 2nd Annual Land Between The Lakes National Trail Ride will take place in Kentucky , September 1 0 -11 . Meals are furnished a long the route and the trails loop back to the start/finish area each day. For more info, write: K-T Riders, P.O . Box 558, Cadiz, KY 42211. 41

• Cover