Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind r (Continu ed from page 4 and Road Ra cer classes. The swap meet, to be held both Saturday and Sunday, w ill a llo w Br itish a n d Contin en tal bikes in addition to tho se from Ital y. For more information contact T erry Bel isle, 1400 B Richmond Rd., R idgecrest, .CA 93555, or call 619/446-6287 after 5:00 p .rn. The Shasta Dam Grand Prix in northern California is scheduled to run on April 16 with a mountain bike race taking place on Saturday. April 1 5, Entry forms are now available from V&R Promotions. 2315 N. Bechelli Lane. Redding. CA 96002. 916/223-1813. At the close of 1988, Governor j am es j . Blanchard of Michi gan signed legislation wh ich rai ses motorcycle ope ra tor licen sing fees to increase support for th e sta te's rider ed uca tio n program. SB99 I , which takes effect on April I , assesses a $15 fee for a motorcycle operator dri vin g test and increaases th e motorcycle endorsem ent renewa l fee by $2. T h ese additional fees will be p laced in the state's mo torcycle safety fund which is used to fin ance mo torcycle safety cour ses throughout Mich igan. Mich iga n 's sta te-funded ri der ed ucation program originally took effect on j anuary I, 1984; 11,300 riders have been tra ined since its incep tion . Etchings and drawings by David DeLong. all with a common theme which is motorcycles generally and racing specifically. are on exhibit from January 31 to February 25 at the Washington Printmakers Gallery. 2106 R St. N .W .• in Washington. D .C . DeLong has been involved with racing since 1950. holding AMA and WERA Expert licenses. The tracks represented in the works on exhibit are Bridgehampton. Pocono. Summit Point and Rockingham. Supercross Inc. litigation dismissed, AMA counterclaim ' upheld LOS ANGELES, CA., J AN . 20 The United States District Court for the Central District : of California has dismissed all claims filed against the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) by Supercross Inc. (SXI) and has ruled in favor of AMA on its countersuit against SXI. The ruling was handed down by judge james M. Ideman and ended a 13-month legal battle between AMA and SXI , a company run by race promoter Mike Goodwin. SXI's unsuccessful lawsuit centered around the controversial 1984 Insport Agreement among AMA and producers of various supercross events . .Signatories to th e Insport Agreement were AMA, SRO/Pace Management and Goodwin's Stadium Motorsports Corporation , which was succeeded by SXI . SXI had accused AMA of breaching the Insport Agreement and also filed a libel claim against AMA and its president, Ed Youngblood. In its countersuit, AMA sough t to establish that SXI had defaulted on its o bli ga tio ns and forfeited any rights under the In sport Agreement, and that AMA was inno cen t of any wrongdoing. judge Ideman's order affirmed AMA's position, finding that "AMA and Youngblood are entitled to judgment (in their favor) as a matter of law ." . . T he co urt ci ted SXI 's "unreasona bl e dela y in the prosecu tion " of the actio n as ano ther reason for dismissing SXI' s lawsuit, a law sui t whic h an AMA spokesman characterized as " u tterly wit hout meri t," T he AMA ex p res sed satisfacti on with th e co ur t's decision. which it said was " fu lly expected and lo ng overdue." T he court order awarded costs and legal . fees to bo th AMA a nd Youngblood. In a separate but related action, the court also di sm issed a sui t filed by SXI agains t SRO/Pace and fou nd in favor of SRO /Pace in its countersuit against SXI . sam e prime tim e slot on the same night of th e week ) for th e Prime Ticket cable television network, with co-prod ucer Keith Code servi ng as an nou ncer. Alt ho ugh a number of com pa nies have expressed an interest in p ro viding su p po rt, Winters says more mo ney is needed : "There's currently not eno ug h budget to ge t th is thing rolling," Winters sa id. " If the ball stops now, we'll be watching rer u ns of'I Love Lucy '... O ther co ntingency spo nsors of the 1989 AMA/CCS Supersport Series incl ude AGV . Ara i, Bel-Ray, D.I.D ., Kawasaki, Kerke r, Klo tz, Kosman , R K. Suzuki, Van ce & H in es a nd Yamaha. California OHV use threatened by turtles By Mike Bishop FRESN O, CA, JAN. 20 T he California Off H ighway Mo to r Veh icle Recrea tio n C omm iss ion h eld its firs t mee ting of th e year a t the (Left to right) AMA 's Ed Youngblood. Ron Zimmerman. AMA/CCS' Roger Edmondson and Kayo'~ Casey Wada. Yokohama to sponsor Supersport road racing LONG BEACH . CA. J AN. 27 Alt hou g h th ere will be n o "spec tir e" rule in 1989 American Motorcyclist Associa tion Cha mpi onship C up Seri es Supersports road racing. Yokoha ma has been nam ed the officia l title sponsor of the lO-event series. The j apanese tire manufacturer will post over $ 120,000 in rider awards to be distribut ed in two categories - a total of $ 12,500 to the top five finishers in bo th th e 600 and 750cc cla ss who display series indentification on bo th leathers and mot orcycle, and $27,500 to th e top five finis hers in bo th classes who co mpete on Yokohama tires. Plus, a bon us of $4000 per series ro u nd ' will be paid for a win o n Yokohama rubber. Yokoham a is also offeri ng a bonus of a fu ll-spo nsors hip' progr am to co mpete in the 1990 Suzuka Eig ht H o ur Endurance race in j apan if either Su persport cla ss cha mp io nsh ip is won using Yo kohama tires . The sponsorsh ip will cover travel expe nses and a " top-line" motorcycle with full race team sup po rt. "It's quite an honor for Yokohama and the Kayo Corporation (the exclusive U.S. importer of Yoko hama motorcycle tires) to be part of thi s excitin g series for 1989," Kayo 's Casey Wada said. " T h is is our com m itme n t to co n tinue to work with the AMA for th e best interest of roa d racing." -"Toda y's a n no u nce me n t w ill make the return on investm ent (for th e rid er ) have th e po ssibility for a quantum leap," AMA/CCS director Roger Edmonsdon said . " I want to thank my new good friend Casey Wada for ha vin g the ability to step up and put some ac tio n beh ind all the words we hear in o ur industry." Spec u la t io n th a t Yok oham a would be given " spec tire" sta tus for the series (in acco rda nce with th e origi na l proposal sent o ut in Au gu st '88 ) ended with this anno uncement , a n d o pe n ed th e d oor fo r o th er inter est ed co m p a n ies to beco me involved in th e proposed televison financing. As it stands now , Paul Winters of Wintertree Production s willproduce a 13-show seri es (to be aired in th e Fresno Hilton . The meetin g was well a ttended d ue in part to severa l notices in this publication. Beca u se th e Dep uty Director m istakenly used the March age nda, the session turned into a four and a half ho ur public com ment peri od. Chairman Chapp ie is to be com mended for ru nning an excelle n t open forum without a pro per agen da . The hi gh point of th e meeting was the swea ring in of the newest com mi ssion er, Paul Golde, 34, of Mis- . sio n Viejo. Golde, who has worked • the last decade or so to promote new OHV opportunities, wi ll be a welcome addition . In th e Directo r's Report , He nry Agonia reported progress o n hi s p lan to allow strictly reg u lated OHVs back into An za Bor rego Deser t State Park. Ago n ia also warned that there will be several budget cuts in 1989 State Govern ment. No w that Governor George Deukmejian wo n 't seek ano ther term, Ago nia anticipates a much more cooperative climate in the State Legislatu re. In th e Deputy Director 's Report, . a plan by th e Department of Fish an d . Gam e sur faced ' th at co uld have a grea ter impact on O HV recreation tha n the Desert Pro tection Act (S7). It seems that Fish and Game needs funds to study th e Desert T ortoise and the o nly way th e funds can be allocated is for th e tortoise to be listed as " threatened". What ma y sound lik e an innocent attemp t to raise funds has th e potential to affect OHV use in th e ent ire 23 million acres of California desert. At the very least the Rand Mountains and High Desert would become a "critical " habitat and all OHV use could be banned. Thus far th e only conclusive study done on the tortoise was performed by someone with an antiOHV bias. Even this study reveal ed o n ly a 5% difference in tortoise population o u tside of the fenced To rto ise Pres erve.' Commission members want a new study done, by so meone wh o will be fair to all users of the desert. Chairman Chappie a p pointed Ed Waldheirn to a ttend th e next Fish and Game Commission meeting in Long Beach on February 3. The tortoise discus sion was very co nt ro versial and lasted o ne and a half hours. Dick Barbar fro m th e BLM re ported that .th ey h ave a managem ent pla n th at would reso lve th e tortois e p roblem witho ut the threat ened listing. The February 3 Lon g Beach Fish and Gam e meeting will tak e place at th e Ci ty Council Ch ambers, 333 W. Ocean Boulevar d. Testimo ny will begin at 8 a.m. j erry Counts. representing the AMA. alerted th e Commission to still ano ther tortoise problem in Ridgecrest. T he peop le of Ridgecrest hav e been tryin g to get a motorcycle park built for over 10 years. The BLM had agreed to gi ve the city one sq ua re mil e of land for the park. No w it seems th ere are some tortoises residin g o n tha t 640 acres. Fish and Ga me wan ts the ci ty to buy up the same size area and relocat e th e tortoi ses. T he free land isn 't free an y more. Counts said, "The city sho uld buy up an area in town , wh ere a mo torcycle pa rk should be!" Co unt also alerted th e Commissio n to a "Mem orandum of Un dersta nding" Chau vet ha d cu t wit h Fish and Game. In 1986, Assem blyma n Costa had proposed a Bill that wo uld allow Fish and Ga me to raid th e O HV Fund for u nlimited amounts to mitigate problems they perceived were caused by OHVs. The "deal" only limi ted th em to $250,000 a year. T he trouble is the y can com e bac k any time and axe an OHV gra nt to a Federa l Agency. Bet ween the tortoise and the "deal," Fish 'a nd Gam e could cause serio us tro uble. C O R VA V ice President St eve Kuehl exp lai ned that the real enem y of the tortoise is th e raven ! T hese birds ea t the tortoise's eggs and attack young soft-shelled tu rtl es. Nothi ng can be done 'abou t th e raven because they are " pro tected" by Federal law! . In other busin ess; ATV sa fety expe rt Mik e Bis hop wa rned th e Commission that the new Sta te ATV Cert ificatio n P rogram will probabl y cause accidents, not pr event th em . The wh ol e co urse is classro om on ly, no hands on training. When the newl y cert ified student is exposed to a rea l ATV , th e dr am atic difference betw een ridi ng a chair and a mo tor vehi cle will become evident. Bisho p advoca ted hands o n train in g because learning st udies have fo und th a t humans retai n 10%of wh at they hear, 25%of wh at th ey see and 90%of wha t they do . The deadline for under- 18 certifica tio n is less tha n a year away and th ere is still no program developed. The Commission voted to fund $25,000 to estab lish a Safety T r ain in g Organ iza ti on to tra in potent ia l State Program In structors. Bishop also inform ed th e Co m mi ssion that th e rangers at P ismo Dunes were cou nting the Coas tal Commission imposed 500 li m i t improperly. Park staff members are co un ting each veh icle that is dr iven th rough th e ga te. The perm it allows 500 ca m per ve h icles. Sta ff ca n increase th e cam p ing limit legally just by changing th e wa y th e count is done. . Assistant Regional Forester David jay updated th e Commission o n Forest projects. jay was quickly put on the hot seat due to general forestwide anti-OHV policies. A major problem is th e a ttractio n to the Forest Service of employees with a strong environmental bias. Another problem is th e trend of th e Forest Service to a ppro ve extensive logging operations and then deny a motorcycle enduro in the same ar ea. j erry Counts asked jay wh en th e Forest Service was going to implement th e new noise law. " Every tim e I go to a public meeting to approve new OHV o p port un ities, I get this excessive noise issue thrown in my face," cha r ged Counts. C ommissioner Golde told everyo ne that th e Motorcycle Industry Council is planning a series of special no ise workshops to train land managers in nois e testing. Counts warned th e Regi on al Forester that mo st of th e For est Plans th a t sign ifica ntly reduce O H V use will be appealed by th e AMA. Counts (Conti n ued to page 59) 45

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