Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In vitati onal Indoor Pro Ice Race Series a t Peo ria, Ill ino is, on J -'nuary 6 was won by Chuck Sprin gsteen (Hon). Eddie Morri s (Ho n) fini sh ed second wit h Bryan Villell a (Hon) tak ing thi rd . At the ope n ing round of the CMC Gold en Sta te MX N at iona ls in Cas ta ic, Ca lifo rn ia , J anu ary 5-7, l25cc Na tio nal MX Ch ampi on Mike Kiedrowski (H on) was the overa ll wi nner in the l25cc Pro class. Dean Mat son (Suz) won th e 250cc Pro class, wh ile Mike H ea ley (KT M) took the 500cc Pro class win a nd was the runner-up to Kiedrow ski in the l25cc Pro cla ss. Round two of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series at Hyman Myers Speedway in Tallahassee on January 7 saw Chris Coleman (Kaw) repeat his opening round victory in the 125cc Pro class, this time winning both motos while Jay Mann (Kaw) was second both times out. John Dowd (Suz) topped the 250cc Pro division with a 1 -1 performance and Fred Andrews (Suz) f inished second overall w ith a 2-2 day. . Damon Brad sh aw (Yam ) o utdueled 500cc Nat ion a l Cha mpio n J eff Ward (Kaw) to win th e 250cc Pro class a t th e second rou nd of the south ern porti on o f" G FI Racing's Ca lifornia Winter MX Series a t Barona Oak s in Ra mona, Ca liforni a, January 7. Ryan Hugh es (Kaw) was the overa ll win ner in th e l25cc Pro class, a nd Gordon Ward (Hon) was the 500cc Pro cla ss winner.. Tyson Voh land (Suz) won both 125cc Pro class motos at the opening round of the northern hal f of GFl's Racing Cal ifornia Winter MX Series at Sandhill Ranch in Brentwood, California, January 7. Tyson's brother Tallon Vohland (Kaw) scored the overall victory in both the 250 and 500cc Pro classes. . The ope n ing round of the AMA The 49th runn ing of the Daytona 200 on March 11 is shaping up as an "us versus them " battle not seen on the 3.56-mile road race course since the early 1980s. The "them" include the British and their invasion is headed by the Loctite Yamaha team of Rob McElnea, who took the inj ured Bubba Shobert's place 0 0 the Cab in Honda GP team last year, and Terry Rymer, w inner of the final '89 World Championship Superbike Series round . O th er Bri ts h eaded for Flo rida include a three-rider sq ua d from Honda Britain led by Formula One World Champi o n Carl Foga rty. Vetera n Roger Burnett and up-andcomer J amie Witha m ro un d o ut th e sq ua d. West Germany's Martin W immer, " who finished f ifth in last year's Daytona 200, will return and will compete on a Yamaha OW01. The long-time 250cc GP star will also enter the International Light weight race aboard a Team Hein Gericke Aprilia. Austra lia n Pau l Lewis, who many will remember for his co mpetit ive rides in G ra nd Prix Twins co rnpetit ion at Daytona, will have a works Du cat i for t h e 200. T h e e n tr y, formerly th e mount of Raymond Roch e in the '89 World Cha m pion shi p Su perb ike Series, has the bac kin g of Britain 's Spo rts Mot or Cycles. Longtime Cycle News contributor Alan " Cathcart has become the f irst motorcycle writer to be awarded the prestig ious Pierre Dreyfus Award," w hic h was presented to him by the London-based Guild of Motoring Writers, an int ern ational body with members from Japan to the U.S ., A ustralia to Italy. Cathcart received a silver trophy' and a check for 1000 pounds (approximately $1600) from Lord Stratcarron , president of t he Guild, at the organ ization's annual dinner at the Roya l A utomobile Club in Pall Mall , Eng land, on December 6 . The Pierre D rey fus A wa rd is given annually to the j ou rn alis t or author' who in t he op inion of a jury composed of Gui ld m em bers has acheived the hi g h e st level of professional excellence in motorsports writing during the year in question. In its citation, the jury specifically listed "the unique contribut ion to motorcycle journalism represented over the yea rs by Alan Cathcart's track tests of current and historic Grand Prix racing motorcycles." the Laguna Seca GP. Guthrie will " tak e the T Z250 to th e Bonnevill e Salt Flats in Augus t where it'll jo in hi s " stable of T Z750-based bikes as he a ttemp ts to add.. more wor ld land speed reco rds to hi s ever-gro wing list. Wh en Guthrie's not trac kside a t a road race or strea king down th e Salt Flat s, he co mpe tes in sen iorclass swim meets. Competing in th e 45-49 ag e bracket, Guthrie set four world reco rds last year and says most of the tim es were faster th an those he logged in swi m m ing com pe titio n while in co llege. "There is hope for all of us over 45," said Guthrie. . Representatives of four f irms recently presented technical seminars to students at the Phoenix. Arizona. campus of Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. Lee Chapin and Vince Howard of Mikun i American Corp. presented a carburetion and fuel system seminar. Les Hedges of BRM Brush Co. " presented a tool seminar. Tony McAndrews of Bridgestone Tire Co. presented a tire seminar, and Bill Oleson of NGK Spark Plugs (USA), Inc. presented a spark plug seminar. In addition, the four firms donated products or t raini ng materials to MMI. O n receiving th e awa rd, Cathcart sai d, "Winning awards is a lways ni ce, but wh en th e people doing the a wa rd ing are o ne 's professional peers, th e winni ng is twice as ni ce. Such recognition by my co lleagues o nly enco urages me to redo uble my effor ts to con tin ue to test and write abo u t th e most exo tic a nd advance d designs o n two wh eels, of toda y and "yesteryear." Motocross legend Bob Hannah will temporarily switch f rom twow hee l racing to fou r-wheel rac ing seeing as how he has been invited to compete in the Toyota Pro f Celebrity Race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Cal ifornia, Apri l 20-22 . Hannah jo ins Ke n ny Roberts. who drove in the 1985 event (and whose name is still emblazoned on the car, which is used in a drivers school at southern California's Willow Springs Int ernati onal Raceway), as the only other motorcycle raci ng star to be invited to compete in the annual event. Hannah will compete as a pro rather than as a celebrity, meaning he'll have to start at the back of the pack with auto racing . greats like Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones. Show 'em the way, Hurricane! Dal Smilie, an a ttorney from H elena, Montana, was recently elected as th e chairma n of th e Montana Motorcycle Safety Advisory Committee, accord ing to Nan cy Keen an, Montana Sta te Superintendent of Public Instruction. Montana Gov ern or Stan Stephe ns appointed Smilie, along with five other m embers, to th e co m m ittee which will advise the Superint endent of P u bl ic In stru ction and th e Department of Justice "o n motorcycle safety issues. Smilie wi ll co nt in ue to serve as vice chairman of th e AMA Board of Trustees and chai r m a n o f th e Am eri can Motorcycle Safety Foundati on. Scott Guthrie of Tallahas see, .florida, wi II pu t veteran road 'racer J ohn Long in th e saddle of a Yam aha T Z250A on th e AMA 25Qcc GP circu it this season. Ra cing under th e Sco tt Guthrie Ra cing banner, Long will " p robably" also be on hand at Team Marlboro Roberts had it s first race outing in Hickman, California, on December 31. No, they didn't compete in a GP, but (left to right) John Kocinski, Wayne Rainey and World Champion Eddie Lawson did compete in a Yamaha YSR50 race on a newly-constructed mini-road race course on Kenny Roberts' ranch : Lawson was the hands-down (knees-dow n?) winner of the inf orm al race. although it must be reported that he brought what appeared to be a highly -modified YSR50. complete w ith mechanic . to King Kenny's 38th Birthday/New Year's Eve happen ing . " (I) a:: w :I: .... ::> Excise taxes, ranging from 1 % to 2.5%, on off-road veh icles, recreational vehicles. pleasure boats and camping equipment are being proposed by the Bush Administration. Although some Adm inistration officials are concerned that the excise taxes might break Bush's "no new taxes" campaign pledge, the taxes are described as " user fees " in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) draft. The taxes, which would help pay for a variety of environmental and recreational programs, will be included in the President's f iscal 1991 budget which will be submitted to Congress this month. a:: - The Sharper Image, a retail store/ ~ mail order firm, is offering $2 1,900 ~ ::> ~ ~ o 5 it 2 customized Harley-Davidsons in its January catalog. The bikes are the work of Tom Perkins, th e thirdgeneration o wne r of th e Dudley P erkins Company, a Har leyDavi dson dea lership in San Francisco . It 's mentioned in th e sales p it ch for the bikes th at Sh arper Image founder /owner Rich ard Thalh eimer owns eight Harleys, Let's Ride Video Magazine folded after one issue, closing it s doors on December 8, just two weeks after the f irst issue was mailed to subscribers . Acco rding to the video magazine's ed itor, Joe Parkhurst. " The effort w as 'undercapita lized . It's a shame . " A shame in li ght of t he fact that the first issue made for very enjoyable v iewing. in t hat it was profession ally done and covered a w ide . range of subjects - f rom t he Peoria TT to a v isit w ith Malcolm

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