Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Continued from pag e 3) recovery of the above it em s, give AI a call at 612 /869-5191 . A record weekend purse of $100,000 has been posted for the June 15-17 Loudon Class ic at th e totally refurbi sh ed New Hampshire Interna tional Speedway. The AMA recently concluded negotiations to conduc t the th ird race of its 1990 National Championship Road Race Series on an all-new I. 75-mile road co urse being constructed to replace the 1.6mile circui t used for AMA Na tionals and other races since 1965. Along with th e . finalization of th e 1990 Loudon C lassi c, th e AMA has a nno unced that the concluding even t of its National Road Race Series, at Willow Springs International Raceway 'in Rosamond, California, ha s been mov ed on e week and will take p lace September 14-16. A new road race organization is in the works for the Midwest area. According to G~rdon Lunde, the Blackhawk Motosports Association (BMA) w ill run races at Blackhaw k Farms Raceway in South Belo it, Illinois, "if and w hen fina ncial b acking can be obtained." Lunde, BMA director of competition, says the series will be open to all cu rrently-licensed road race rs and more in f orm ation w ill be available in February. The proposed program will be set up as an unlimited series with rules established for safety but open to most all machine modifications. Classes will be divided by engine size and configuration. Lunde is seeking sponsors and requests that any interested companies contact him at 3212 N. 92 se. Milwaukee, WI 53222, or by phone at 414/871-5682 after 6 p.m. Central time. The So-Cal Off-Road R iding Club is seeking rid ers for its Imperial Dunes and Dumont Dunes Volunteer Patrols. For further information, call or wri te: Imperial Dunes Volunteer Patrol, 31866 Arnable, Mission Viejo , CA 92692, 714/830-9197 or Dumont Dunes Volunteer Patro l, 6433 Topanga Canyon, #181, Canoga Park, CA 91303,818/992-4731. Promoter Bob Bagwell will host the 10th Annual Pre-Daytona Season Opener Half Mile at Devils Bowl Speedway in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, February 18. Th e AMA-sanctioned race w ill offer Pro, Amateur and V intage class racing. For more i.nf orm at ion, call 817/488-9133 . Beleagured Senator ·Ala n Cranston, author of" th e infamous California Desert P ro tection Act (SII),.canceled plans to get married - for the thi rd time - on Christmas Eve. Cranston, who is receiving heat for his controversial involvement in the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal, said he canceled the wedding because he didn't want to his wife-to-be to be caught up in the swirl of criticism being thrown his way. 38 Several days after Cranston announced he was canceling his wedding, on December 22 the Senate Ethics Comm ittee an nounced that it w ill begin investigation of alleged inf luence peddling by Cranston and four other senators who are acc used of int erfering w ith government reg ulators on beha lf of Lincoln S&L. The Ethics Committee will determ ine whether the senators v io lat ed ethics rules by in terven ing for Lincoln after its owner, Charles H. Keating Jr. , donated $1 .3 m illion to election cam p aig n s and other causes sup ported by the senators. Cranston received $47,000 in campaign contributions from Keating, who also contributed $850,000 to voter- reg istration groups supported by Cranston. On th e sam e day th e Sena te Ethics Committee' inquiry of Cranston and th e four o th er se na to rs was · annou nced, Californian Republican Senator Pete Wil son 's office anno unced that Wil son had retu rned appro xima tely $16,000 in ca mpaign co n tribut io ns that were given to him in 1985 by Keat ing. A spokesmen from Wilson 's office said, " We did not do an ything fo r Mr. Keating and if h e thought hi s co ntr ibu tio ns would acquire suc h influen ce, he was badly mistaken. " and NHTSA's motorcycle safety agenda in an in t er v iew in an upcoming issue of ' American Motorcyclist, the AMA's monthly magazine. What do Bill Spen cer of San Jose, Californi a , and Gary Crider of Athen s, Georgia, have in co m mon? Their bylines have appeared regularly in Cycl e N ews since the I960s. Papa says, "Bill and Gary, for all yo u do, thi s issue is for you '''' NAMIFD: Joe Degano as rider representative for O'Neal USA; Degano will be competing in the CMC Go lden State Nationals and will be looking for potential team riders for the 1990 season; he replaces Kevin Sirois who is now working full time in O'Neal's R&D department. The Yam aha 650 Society will hold it s fi rs t-ever week -long Nationa l Rall y in Kentucky's Land-Between The-Lak es a rea Jun e 4- 10. The Belai r Motel in Gi lbertsville, Ken tucky, will serve as the ra lly 's headquarters. For motel reservations, call Oga a t 502/3 62-4254;, for rally informa tion , cont act Sherry L ucas, 7710 Burnelle Dr., Little Ro ck, AR , 72209, 501/562-8659. AMR /lndividual Sports Instit ut e have announced that the August . 8 -9 -10 Vintage Half Mile race programs at the Sturgis (South Dakota) Fairgrounds w ill be expanded to include "outlaw" big bikes." The term " out law" was a nickname given to dirt track races that in the past were run without AMA sanction, oftimes allowing for "run what you brung" large displacement bikes to be used. . Early pre -entries for the Sturgis races inc lude a 55 c ubic inc h Harley-Davidson KR , an 850cc Norton, 1200cc Harley and a 80 cubic inch Indian. For more information on the vintage dirt track races, contact Tom Robertson at 612 /866 -8280 . Harley-Davidson is offering a 'new , limited li ne of motorcycles excl usively to current or retired po lice officers. The Peace Officer Special Edition Series consists of four models: an FLTC Tour Glide Clasic, an FLTC Tour Glide Ultra Classic, an FLHTC Electra Gl ide Classic and an FLHTC Electra Gl ide Ultra Classic. All come in . two-tone blue; N ight Watch Blue is the primary color and the side panels are Cadet Blue with con t rasting pinstripes. The Peace Officer Harleys are ava ilable, by special order, through Ha rley dealers. Purchasers must provide badge numbers and other forms of verification that t hey are or have been po lice officers. The Ohio Vall ey BSA Owners Club of T oronto, Ohio, will be th e host club for th e 1990 BSA Owners Clubs' International Rally. Initially sche duled to be held in western Massach usetts wit h the BSA Owners Club of New England serving as th e host club, th e ra lly site has been changed to a more central location . A fu ll schedule of activ iti es is pl anned for the rally whi ch will be held August 12-16 at Cables Campground near T oronto. The host club's rallymaster for th e event is Pau l Atkinson, and all inquires should be addressed to him at 207 Wilsh ire, Steub enville, OH 43952, 614/264-1016. BORN: Michael Daniel T agonski, son of AMA/CCS road racer Dan T ar gonski and his wife Anna , on Decemb er 13 in Elk Grove, Illinois. Representatives of the AMA recent ly conducted an in-depth interview with Gen . Jerry R. Curry, the newly confirmed administrator of t he National Highway Traffic Safety Administ ration (NHTSA) at the Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C. During the interview, Curry said rider education was an integral part of motorcycle safety and will be a priority under his administration. Curry also said he is planning to take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider education course in the coming months. "I am going t o take the course beca use I do not believe that it is possible to be in a position of regulat ing an industry or segment of a motor vehicle industry that you really do not underst and ." Curry said he has never been on a motorcycle. Look for more on Administrator Curry Acco rding to Kenny Roberts, there will be a Roberts-owned AMA 250cc Grand Prix team this yea r. Roberts has signed Rich Oliver and Ire land's Gary Cowan for the two-man t eam that will ride Marlboro-sponsored Yamaha TZ250s. Bud Aksland will be the team's crew ch ief. With T eam Marlboro Robert s swi tch ing to 'Michelin tires after a long associa tion with Dunlop, the top 500cc GP Dunlop rubber will go to th e Gau lo ises Yamaha team of Christian Sarron and Jean-Phi lippe Ruggia at th e '90 GPs. Du cadosspo nsored Juan Garriga will also use Dunlops on h is Yamaha YZR500. In AMA Superbike road racing, Dunlop's J im Allen reports th at Rob Muzzy's Kawasaki squad of Doug Ch andler, Scott R ussell and John Ashmead will be using Dunlop tires . as will Van ce & Hines ' David Sadowski and T homas Stevens, and Commonwealth H o n da ' s Ra n d y Renfrow. Former MX factory Suzuki r ider Erik Kehoe will ride a Pro Circuit RacinglAXO-backed Honda for 1990. "I've worked out a good deal with Pro Circuit and AXO for the 125cc MX Nationals. I don't know about Supercross yet; I have some more sponsors to work out but I'm going to hit as many race as I can. I had good offers to g to Europe, but I don't want to wal away from the Nationals righ now. I know I can still beat the guys here and still w in Nationals.' Kehoe rode on the Suzuki tea f or four years. CORRECTION: Round three of the southern portion of th e GFI Winter Series will take p lace on two tracks at Perris Ra ceway in Perris, California, on J an uary 14, not February 4 as printed in th is section last week. The event will also qualify rid ers fo th e February II GFI Amateur Supercross at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego , California, and acco rding to GFI Racing riders from all four factory MX teams are co nfirmed t co mpe te. As mentioned above, road racer Scott Russell and John Ashmea will join Doug Chandler aboar Rob Muzzy-prepared Kawasaki in AMA National Superbike an Supersport road racing. Accord ing to Muzzy, Russell will com pete in the Superbike and bot (600 and 750cc) Superspor classes, while Ashmead will con centrate on the Superbike an 600cc Supersport categories .Chandler will compete in all thre classes at Daytona, and will mak a decision then on which (if either Supersport Series he'll contes . thereafter . Merlyn Plumlee ha been hired as crew chief. It's official. Fast By Ferracci ha inked a deal with Cagiva Non Ameri ca to fi eld reignin g AM Superbike. a nd 750cc Superspor Champion Jamie James on a trio 0 Du cati 851s in AMA Superbike an Pro Twins GP I Competition. Th effort, to be known as Team Fast B Ferracci/Ducati USA, will receiv full factory suppor t, and has bee designated th e official U.S. racin consu lta n t and factory race par supplier. The departure of Scott Russell t Kawasaki ' and Jamie James t Ducati lef t Yoshimura Suzuk w ithout a rider, and Yoshimura' Suehiro Watanabe says the tea has signed Canadian Superbik and 250cc National Champio Steve Crevier for the 1990 sea son. Texan D'oug Polen will b j o i nin g Crevier on Yoshimur Suzukis for the Daytona 20 before moving on to defend hi Formula One and Formula Thre Championships in Japan. Afte Daytona, Tommy Lynch, who wil ride in the Supersport classe during Cycle Week, may be j oini ng Crevier as the number two Superbike rider beginning with the Roa A tlanta National in May. "If he' (Lynch) ready we'll put him on (superbikes), " Watanabe . said. " We don 't want to put too muc pressure on him. ' We want t spend time to make sure he ' capable ," P revi o u sly Michelin-sponsore Yoshimura Suzuki was one of th teams directly effected by the recen announcement that Michelin will not be involved ·in U.S. road raci n in '9 0. " We 're sti ll ta lking t Michelin, but if they are not avail able may be I' ll have to buy tires ," Watanabe said on J an uary 8. " It's too late to make a commitmen t with an oth er company beca use everyon has alrea dy spent their budget, so w may have to p urchase tires ."

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