Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Highway Motorcyclist. The 56page booklet is offered to help r ide rs prepare fo r r iding in a variety of off-h ighway environ ments. It includes tips and inf ormation on protective gear, laws and reg ulations, and special situations such as hill cl imbing and descending . whoops and riding in mud and water. The booklets are available for $1 each by writing t o the Motorcycle Safety Founda t ion, 2 J enner Street, Su ite 1 50, Irv ine. CA 92718, Attn : Order Department. BYPftPft WfftLfY Holland 'sjohn Van den Ber k (Yam) and Davey Strijbos (Cag) were th e big winners at the two-day Maastr icht S uper cr o ss in H o ll a n d, November 11-12. Van den Ber k won Friday's race, while Strijbos took top honors in Sa turday's even t. Ame rica n Bro c Gl o ver (Ya m) fi nished fo urth on F riday. Texan Kevin Schwantz (Suz) won both leg s of the Macau Grand Prix in southeast China on November 27. Schwantz topped Germany's Peter Rubatto (Y am) and Robert Dunlop (Hon) in both legs to take the overall win . Other Americans incl uded John Ashmead (12th and 11 th ), Rick Shaw (16 t h and 1 2th). Larry Shorts (DNF) and Wes Cooley (2 2 nd and 1 8t h). Australian road race r Mich ael D60han (Yam) took th e overall win in th e November 27 ro und of the Swann Insura nce Seri es in Lakesid e, Australia. Doohan won th e first leg a nd fin ish ed seco nd behind teammat e M ich a el Da ws on ( Ya m) in t he seco nd leg. Seco nd place in the first leg we nt to Malcolm Campbell (Han ) with Can ada-based New Zealan der Ga ry Goo dfellow fin ishing th ird. First ro u nd wi nner Rob Phillis , (Kaw) cras hed in bo th legs a nd will likely not com pe te in rou nd th ree on December 4 at Ph ill ip Island. Doo han no w lead s the series over Da wson, 59-53. Good fellow is thi rd wi th 43 po ints. There is a good cha nce that threet ime Grand N ational Champion Bu bba S hobert w ill ri de f or a Roberto Ga llina -run 500cc Grand Prix te am in the 1 9 8 9 Wo r ld Cha m pionship Road Race Series . The team will be co -sponsored by HB To bacco a nd Ame r ican Honda, and Gall ina will be con tracted by A merican Honda t o ru n the t eam . "That's a good possi bility rig ht now," S ho bert said on N ovem ber 24. " Th ere are lot s of bits and pieces to be w orked out." One of those " bit s and p ieces" is the f act that Gall ina has sig ned a contract to run Pirelli ti res in 1989. " W e're g oing t o Europe, " Shobert added. " It ' s j ust a matter of setting a team up." 2 According 10 Honda 's Gary Mathers, America n H onda will no t be fieldi ng a learn in ei ther the AMA Su per bike Serie s or th e AMA Grand Nat ional Ch ampionsh ip. " We ar e spe nding our budget in Europe wi th Bu bba (Shobert)," Ma thers sai d o n Monda y, Nov emb er 28. "T here will be no additional bud get in the U.S., so basically there will be no Superbike or dirt track program. We're really sad about th a t. It' s du e to the-AMA and Ca mel sched uling all dirt trac ks. Our ma in ' invo lvem en t wit h th e Camel Pro Series was with Superb ike rac ing. Bubba 's not in terested in doing only dirt tracks and we're not either. " Team Suzuki mechanic Alan Barker was killed in a dirt riding accident on November 13. Barker. 24, was MXer Ronnie Tichenor 's mechanic in 1988 and also accompan ied ISDE gold meda list Charles H al co m b to France last Septem ber. Funeral services w ill be held December 3 at 1 p.m. at t he Vic tor Va lley Mortuary, 17150 C St ., in Vi ct orville, California. Barker ' s family has requested that in lieu of cards and f lowers dona t ions can be made .in Alan Barke r 's name to t he AMA Heritage Found at ion . P.O . Box 6114 , Weste r v i ll e. OH 43081 . ' Beginning on J anuary' 29, 1989, a t • Will ow Springs Int ern a tio na l Racewav in Rosa mo nd, Ca lifornia, street riders ca n run again st th e clock on the new Stree ts of Will ow Sp rings 10-turn, o ne -m ile course located beh ind th e regul a r race track. Devised by Ca lifornia Superbike Sch ool's Keith Code and Will o w Sp r i ngs ow ner Bill Huth, "CRacing" wi ll a llow riders to participate 1I\ two timed sessions, about five laps each, to get a taste for what ' roa d racing is all abo ut. Lap time shee ts will be provided for eac h ride r to veri fy his or her performance. The cost is 25 a nd in cl udes a free ticket to the da y's mo to rcycle races a t the regular Willow Springs race track. Riders must be ·1 8 years or o lde r a nd wear p rot ecti ve rid in g a pparel. Fo r mo re information ca ll 2 13/484-9323. M A R RIE D : Yos hi m u ra S uzuk i Superb ik e race r D oug Pole n and D ianne Stephenson in Dent on. Texas. N ovem ber 1 2 . Accordin g to t h e L o s P ad res Nat ional Forest S u perv isor, Art Carroll . some maintained veh icle ro u tes that were closed to o ff-roa d veh icle traffi c du e to stage two fire hazard conditions are now ope n. "While we cannot consider th e fire 'season' o fficia lly ended , so me restr ictions on off-road vehicle use in the forest were lifted, effective at midnigh t, Novem ber 22," said Carro ll. For more informa tio n contact Lon nie ' Briggs a t the Los Padres Na tio na l Forest , U ni ted States Department o f Agr iculture a t 805/ 683-671 I. The Motorcycle Safety Founda t ion has a new booklet ca lled Tips and Practice Gu ide for the Off- Scott Bo yer has been n a m ed as corpora te vice president of Answer Products, Inc., in Va lencia, Ca lifo rnia, whi le Do ug Geller has joined th e co m pany as director o f research a nd deve lo pment. Ge ller wi ll manage Answers ' n ew design / mode l shop. A reward is being offered for the whereabouts of a stolen 1987 Kawasaki KX500, which was taken from the back of a pick-up truck parked in the Red Lion Inn parking lot in Rohnert Park, California, November 22. ,The frame and engine numbers are (frame) JKAKXVC112HA000281 and (engine) KX500BE004727. For more information, contact Randy Rattaro at 707 /584-1526. or 576 -5105 . J a ke Thompson 's Su spen sion By J ak e is now accep ting sponso rsh ip resumes for th e 1989 MX seaso n. Spo n sors h ip is open to Novice, Intermedia te a n d Expert-ra nked riders o n a ll brands of motorcycles. Thom pson was a Ho nda sus pe nsio n tun er for th e factory MX team befor e resigning following th e 1988 season to sta rt h is o wn bu siness. Se nd resumes to Areosuppl y Co rp / Suspen sion By Jake, 2909 Oregon Court /I C-3, Torrarice, CA 90503. Holeshot Raceway, a new motocross track and t rain ing f acility, desig ned by former Superc ross and Na t ional MX Champion D onnie " Holesho t" Hansen, is near completion and is scheduled to open in Janua ry 1989 . The new MX track is located in Palestine. Texas, approximately 100 m iles east of D allas. The ow ner an d promoter will be local businessman Bennie M iddleton. Hansen and his f am ily are rel ocating to Palestine w here Holeshot Raceway w ill becom e t he official train ing center of the Donn ie Han sen Motocross Academy. For more inf o rm at ion call 512/494 -6019. MOV ED : Bra tt on Spo rts Ra cing, formerl y Bra tton Cycles, to 6560 Skyview Lane, Pl acervill e, CA 95667. T he p hone n um ber remains the sa me at 9 16/626-8329. Bra tt o n Sports Racing spec ializes in Formula /GP road racing ro ller cran ks fo r th e Yam aha TZ, H onda RS a nd Ro tax tw in s. Three-tim e AMA Na t ional Hare & Hou nd Champion Dan Smith was refused special exemption by the U.S. State Department to travel t hro ug h Libya to compete in the 21 -day, 9000-mile Paris to Dakar Rally. Since part of the course goes through Libya no Americans will be allowed to ride. Smith had , lined up a factory 750cc liquidcooled Yamaha built solely for the event and would have been the on ly American representative in the race. "It was looking like a good deal." said Smith, "and I was trying to set everyth ing straight with the government. but they said no . I could go, but I wouldn't be allowed to come back. and I kind of like it here." Ron Nay lor (Suz) was the overa ll wi n ne r at the AMA/ D-36/ Po lka Do t M.C.'s 4ger Cross Cou ntry at the Prairie Ci ty OH V Park in Sacramento , Ca li fornia, o n November 27. Seco nd p lace went to Ken McKenzie (Suz), while third went 10 Mike H a rper. It was th e final . D-'36 cross cou ntry even t of th e yea r and Dean Joiner (Ya m) clinch ed the Sportsman Expert Division ti tle. Forme r motocrosser Danny "Magoo " Chandler. who was paralyzed at the Paris (France) Supercross in 1985, returned to rac ing for the first t ime since the accident at the Polka Dots M .C.·s 4ger Cross Country event. Chandler competed in the ATV Odyssey class, but was unable to finish due to a sticking throttle on his Odyssey. Austra lian Geoff Ba llard was o n ha nd a t the Bar stow-to-Vegas Hare & H ou nd , but th e former 'U.S. ISDE T ro ph y Team rider did not com pe te. In stead , Ballar d worked as a sweep rider. Suzuki's 1989 motocross team is complete and has Ty Davis and J immy Gaddis riding the 125cc National and West Coast Reg ional Supercross Series . Davis will also ride occasional 250cc Supercross races . Bob Hannah will continue to do development work wh ile racing in selected events of his choice. Erik Kehoe will attack the 125cc Nationa ls and 250cc Supercross Series w hile J ohnny O'Mara returns for another year of 250cc National and Supercross competition . Ronnie Tichenor moves up from the 125cc class and w i ll contest the 250cc National and Supercross Series. A lthoug h Steve Childress and Todd De Hoop aren 't officially on t he factory t eam, they will also receiv e support from Suzuki. MARRIED : Matt Whiting to Li sa Cole o n November 12 in Lan cast er, 'californ ia. Whi tin g is MXer A.j. .Whiting 's brother, a nd hi s former mecha nic for seven years. MOV ED : Vanson Leather s t o 434 Ha ncoc k, Quincy. MA 02 171 , 617 /328-9291 , or 328-9292, MOV ED: Kayo Corporatio n to 50 Di vi si on S tree t, o mervi lle, NJ 08876, 800/678-YOKO , or 20115269206. Jack Merce r, 71 , d ied o n November 20 in Connecticut . Mercer w orked as a field representative for Ric h Ch ild Cycle in the lat e 40s. prior to work ing for Tr iumph in t he 50s and 60s. He is survived by his w ife Eddy, and daughters Bo nn ie and Laurie. Ed Arnet, ed ito r o f Dirt Bike magazine, reportedly suffered a br uise on the righ t side of his bra in a fter a crash in th e Ba rsto w- to-V egas H are & H ound race on November 26. Arnet is listed in cri tica l bu t sta ble condition a t L orn a Linda U ni versi ty Medi ca l Center in Lorn a L inda , Ca li fornia. Sources a t Daisy/ HiT orque P u b l ica t io n s, Arn er ' s em ployer, have sai d th at he is sem iconscious a nd is co he re nt when awake. Cards and letters can be sen t to 11234 Anderson Street, Lorna Lin da, CA 92354, Uni t 7200.

• Cover