Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Monday, July 17, and was scheduled t o be released from the intensive care unit at the Stanford Medical Center on Saturday, July 22. "J im is doing very well and should be re leased from the hospital in another week or so." said Monean Sawywer. Executive Assistant for Doyle's company, R.M . Promotions. Inc. "He has been up and around and has enjoyed the cards and notes from friends and associates." Wellwishes can be sent to Doyle at R.M. Promotions. Inc .• P.O. Box 620539. Woodside, CA 94062 . for thi rd. Defend ing cha mp John van den Berk (Yam) rou nded out the top five over American Broc Glover (KT M). Bayle leads Pekka Veh konen (Yam) in the po int standings, 218172, with three rou nds remain ing. Van den Berk is thi rd with 164 po ints, Smith li es fifth behind Fanton arid Glover is sevent h. On Friday. Ju ly 21 . California Governor George Deukmejian vetoed AB8, the bill that called for mandatory helmet use by all motorcyclists. Deukmejian said he ' would continue to veto such bills ' but wou ld ' approve a bill requiring riders 1 8 years of age and under t o wear helmets. Freddie Ep h rern, an AMA referee for many, ma ny years in the Florida . area, suffered a fatal heart attack at hi s Jacksonvi lle, Flor ida, hom e on Wedn esday, J uly 19. Eph rern had retired from his job as head of the J a ck son vill e Pol ice Dep artment mot or cycle maintenance. div ision several years ago, but cont in ued to referee events . He was loved and respected by the man y thou sands of motorcyclists who came into contac t with him a t events .like the annual Da yton a Cycle Week races, th e Flor ida Winter AMA MX Series and the Florida Mini Ol ympics. He is survived by his wife Pat. Funeral services were conducted in Jackson ville on Saturday, J ul y 22. Godspeed, Freddie. Dave Thorpe (Hon) took over the 500cc World Championship MX Series points lead w ith a perfect score in his home GP July 23 at Farleigh Castle, England. Australia n Jeff Leisk (Hon) was second overall and Brit Kurt Nicoll took third. Thorpe now Jeads defending champ Eric Geboers (Hon), who was fifth overall behind Georges Jobe (Hon). by 10 po ints, 241 231 . Leisk is th ird w ith 218 points. Fr enchm an J ean-Mich el Ba yl e (Han ) took the overall victory with a I-I score in round eigh t of the 250cc World Championsh ip MX Series held Ju ly 23 in Reiserberg, West Germ any . Italy 's Michele Fanton (Suz) went 2-3 for second overall while Ismo Vehkonen (Suz) edged out American Rod ney Smith (Suz) Defending Nationa l Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins (Suz) was the overall winner at the Pole Pen National Enduro in Goodman, Mississippi, July 23 . Hawkins edged Jeff Russell (Yam) by 18 seconds, while the 1987 National champ Kevin Hines (KTM) took third overall . Rounding outthe top five were Allen Gravitt (KTM) and George Waller, Jr. (KTM). Former Husq varna rep Greg Davis gave Papa a call the ot her da y to reh ash th e "old days." Davi s is current ly a sales rep for several firm s, including Ocean Pacific. " I went woods riding withDick Burl eson last winter," said Davis, " but for the most part I've lost tou ch with a lot of my old friends in the mo torcycle industry." Davis can be reach ed by calling 614/ 890-7105or writi ng to 622 Valley Forge Ct., Westerville, OH 43081. Tyso n Vo h la nd ( Kaw) was th e winner at round seven of the Mickey T ho mpso n Off -Road Ch ampion shi p Gran Prix Series 250cc Ultracross at the Los Angeles Memori a l Coliseu m. Rounding out the top five were Larry Brook s (Hon), Lowell T ho mso n (Suz), T all on Vohland (Kaw) and Jeremy McGrath (Kaw), Papa was deluged w ith b irth announcements this week, all from southern California. JT Racing's Mark McPerry and his wife Kathleen are celebrating the birth of Garrett Riley McPerry who arrived on July 14; Ken Boyko, coowner of Cobra and F-1 , anti his wife Laurie belated!y told Papa about the birth of Dustin Wayne Boyko on June 21; and American Honda's Rick Mitchell and wife Theresa welcomed Kasey Leigh Mitchell into the world on July 8. Honda's Ric k Johnson and Jeff Stanton, along with Kawasaki's 'Ro n Lech ien and Jeff Ward, have been selected by the AMA as finalists to represent the U.S. in the September 10 Motocross des Nations to be held in Gaildorf, West Germany. Three will be chosen to compete in the 125, 250 and 500cc c lasses, while one rider will be named as a n a lternate. The final selection will be made just prior to the entry deadline of August 11. Multi-time 500cc World Champion Roger DeCoster will be the American team manager. A reader from Kansas called to tell us that he's seen a Surf Detergent TV commercial that displ ays a toll-free number and requests that viewers call in and comment on th e product. Papa joins the reader in suggesting you call 800/45 1-6679 and tell the Surf folks that you appreciate their sponsoring motocrossers like Jeff Glass. Of the four MX des Nat ion s team fina lists, Ward has the most expe rience in the competition having helped th e 1983-85, '87 a nd '88 American teams to victory. Johnson has been on four winning teams, Lechien two and, if selected, Stanton would be making his first appearan ce in the team com petiti on that Ameri can riders have do mina ted since 1981. Southern California's Track Ride rsAssoc iation (TRA) has announced that its Friday, September 29, open track day at Willow Springs International Raceway has been rescheduled to Monday, October 9, due to a schedul ing conflict with the Pol ice Olympics. For more information, contact Renard Fiscus at 818/365-8038. J im Doyle, manager of Grand Prix road racer Randy Mamola, underwent . emergency quadruple bypass open heart surgery on Bob Hannah (left) was presented w ith a John Wayne Limited Edition Winchester 94 rifle, a replica of the one the Duke used in the movie True Gr it. in honor of his retirement following the July 9 250cc U.S. MX Grand Prix at Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York. Wayne's son, Ethan (second from right), presented the award. lJl lJl o a:: u 5 -~-., a:: ~ w :L ::l lJl "- Z :E: ::l '" In ~ o :E: n. Su e Fiscus is offering to ma tch endurance road racers with teams for the September 9-10 WERA 24-Hour a t southern California 's Wi llow Springs International Racewa y. Int erested rider s shou ld send a resume to P.O . Box 9551, Canoga Park, CA 91309, and teams needing riders shou ld call 818/365-8038. George Egloff, who is perhaps best known for his involve me nt in the Iron Butt Rally , lost his father. Charles Egloff, on July 2. Charles Egloff, 75, an AMA member since 1933, passed away at his Phillipsburg, New Jersey, home. Godspeed, Charles. Ooops! In this section last week, Papa gave you an incorrect pho ne number to call for information on the August 6 Mid- Ohio Vintage Tourist Trophy. Dick Klamforth's number was right, but you sho uld call Chris Stein at 609/924-8997, no t at the number we printed. Suzuki 's Joh nny O'Mara w ill contest the remaining 125cc Nationals since Suzuki doesn't produce a 500cc MXer for him to ride in the upcoming 500cc Nationals. At a recent meeting of the AMA Pro Motocross Advisory Board 'it was reaffirmed that the rule book allows former champions to come into the 1 25cc c lass until they win a second 125cc t itle . Some confusion was created by an editoria l in a monthly magazine as to whether a fo rmer 250cc or Supercross champion could enter the 1 25cc class. O'Mara won the 125cc National title in 1 9 8 3 and the 250cc Supercross title in 1984. Ronnie Tichenor, who has yet to win a National title, will also contest the remaining 125cc Nationals fo r Suzuki. A proposal, introduc ed at the Ju ne AMA MX Advisory Board meeting, to allo w a minimum of 45 minutes - between the end of one rn oto and the start of next moto for the same class at a Nat iona l MX has been adop ted as a rul e. A separate numbering system for 1990 which would reflect a rider's 1989 overall Camel Supercross Series finish was a lso discussed at the MX Advisory Board meeting , but according to AMA Professional Motocross Manager Roy Janson, separate Supercross numbers would create confusion s ince there would have to be another system based on points earned in the outdoor Nationals, and with several different numbers for each form of com petit ion the fans would be confused . The Advisory Board will, however, examine ways to solve the problem so that Supercross numbers will reflect a rider's ' 8 9 finish. Look for new cardboard hay bale covers to replace the vin yl on es seen at the Came l Supercross Series this year. T he vinyl bags melted o n engines when hit, and itwas common to see pi eces of th e covers . wrapped in bike wheels. Jeff Hicks was the only rider to attend the Advisory Board meeting and indicated that he felt that Supercross tracks weren't producing good racing and needed more input from the riders. Hicks said that there were too many jumps, and that the riders were ra c ing the track and not each other. Computers continue to make inroads into the roa d race Grands Prix, inspired by the example of Kenny Roberts' Lucky Strike squad . Team Sonauto Gauloises announced their on-bike monitoring device in France, developed in conju nction wi th Zen ith computers; whi le Serge Rosset's Elf team had som ething even more im pressive - a real-time on-bike comp u ter that radios information back to the pits as it ha ppens. Some confusion surrounded Tosh ihiko Honma's factorybacked Yamaha YZR250 at the French GP. Although it looked otherwise identical to the works YZRs of J .P. Ruggia, Luca Cadalora and Juan Garriga, the Japanbased bike's Deltabox frame was jet black instead of the usual aluminum color. It looked like a coat of paint, and a Yamaha official was quick to point out: "It's just coated, that's a ll. I don't know why." But speculation was that the aluminum was a lig hte r gauge than standard. and the coating was actually some sort of carbon reinforcement. (Co n ti n ued to pa ge 46)

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