Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

OHV Meeting lap times were achieved on a 1990 Yamaha YZR500 f itted w ith standard Michelin GP tires; the special developmental Michelin, used by the top four M ichelin· sponsored riders, will be used for the f irst t ime at the next Marlboro Roberts test session at Phillip Island in Austral ia on February 2225 . (Continued from page 30) 50 tal Assessment was under way. The decision was made without looking at th e alternatives, and based o n incomplete and erroneous information. Dart also informed th e Commission that a Deer Study of the Ro ck Creek ar ea of the Eldorado National Forest funded by the OHV Commissi o n was being dela yed by th e Department of Fish and Game. Fish and Game had selected a con trac tor to do th e study last August, and th e study was to start in November of 1989, but Fish and Game had not issued a contract by the Commission meeting, and the contractor had said the y would probably not start th e study until the next winter. The final study that Fish and Game approved is also incomplete and ca n not provide the best information poss ible. The study will only monitor deer in the area that has been closed for the past three years, and reintroduc. ing OHV use will probably have more impact than in an area where the deer are acclimated to OHV use. Dart asked that the study include deer in the area open to OHV use, and in an area where no OHV use is occurring. This would give a more accurate picture of the real impacts. It was pointed out that State hunting regulations prohibit huntin~ from a vehicle, because it is recognized that animals do not fear a vehicle as much as man, allowing a closer approach by vehicle than on foot. Jerry Counts, land use officer for District 37 AMA, pointed out that there have been many complaints about general BLM operations. Dual Sport event applications have been quickly processed in some BLM district offices, while others had not been receiving prompt attention, and that inconsistent standards were being applied by different offices of BLM . Counts also mentioned that the Rock Creek Deer Study was flawed. The Study will not monitor ' heart rates, which would be a good indicator for stress levels. Determining the level of stress induced by OHV use is the whole point of the study. Steve Kuehl pointed out that an earlier comment by Commissioner McGuigan to the effect previous Bto-V protest trail rides were "ou tlaw" events was incorrect. The trail rides had occurred on roads and trails open to OHV use, and that no laws were violated. This opinion was co n firm ed by the feder al district judge who ruled that the ride was legal, and that the riders had a right and moral obligation to protest an ac tion th ey disagreed with. Kuehl also 'sta ted that the BLM was not en forcing existing regulations very well, such as noise, helm et use by ATV riders , and ridin g doubl e. Additionall y, ci ta tions were not being written under sectio n 3800 of th e vehicle code , which mandat es that half of any penalties goes back to th e OHV fund. Lee Chauvet , deputy director ofthe OHV Division , stated that although th e citatio ns were not being written under section 3800, half of the money was coming back to th e OHV Fund. Jack Horndock stated that th e LaJolla Indian Reservation wa s interested in having OHV recreation on their lands. He had contacted five Indian Reservations, and four of them had expressed interest in having OHV activities on their lands. The staff was directed to look into this possibility. . The next meeti ng of the California OHV Commission will be h eld March 15-16 at Borrego Springs. • (Con tin ued from page 3) of-the New York Yankees. he blasted thre home runs in consecutive a t bat s to tie Babe Ruth for th e most hom e runs ina World Series ga me. Jackson has been a motorcyclist since his baseball career started in the midI960s, and ha s devoted more attention to riding since retiring from th e pi ying field at the end of th e 1987 season. He will co-anno unce California Angels baseball games this seaso n. "We are especially pleased to have such a well -known public figure as Regg ie Jackson lend his support to the museum project," noted AMHF Vice President Ed Youngblood. "With his support at the-.Daytona breakfast and Malcolm Forbes already scheduled as t he guest of honor for the museum's grand opening on August 16, we're confident th at the Motorcycle Heritage Museum w ill get off to a flying start." The AMHF annual breakfast will be held at 9 a.m: Saturday, March -IO, at the Indigo Lakes Resort conference facilities, about one mile west of Daytona International Speedway. Tickets for the breakfast are limited and must be reserved in advance. You can reserve space by sending yo ur check for $10 for each ticket requested to: AMHF Breakfast, P.O. Box 6114, Westerville, OH 430816114. An y individualwho contributes $500 or more to the museum at the breakfast will be invited (along with one guest) to watch the March II Daytona 200 road race from a special VIP suite at th e speedway. Cagiva factory GP road racer Randy Mamola will host the 2nd Annual Save the Ch ildren Benefit at the Comedy & Magic Cl ub in Hermosa Beach, California , on Sunday, February 18 at 6 :30 p.m. Earl Campbell of Pro It al ia in Gle ndale, Cal ifornia, w ill aga in co-sponsor the event, which last year collected $7100 for the international charity. Th is year's show w ill again feature comedian Tom McTigue, plus Mac & Jamie, Jeff Stillson, Dan Rosen, and a surprise "mystery guest." (Last year it was Jay Leno.) There w ill also be an auct ion o f highlydesi rable co llector's item s f rom sponsors too numerou s to li st . Adm ission i s a t ax - ded u cti bl e $15, and advanced reservations are required . For t icketing inf ormation call t he club at 2 13/3721 1 93 . Randy Mam ola will be the featured g ues t o n so ut h ern Californi a ' s Centerstand radio program (KP FK, 90.7 FM), Saturday, February 17. at 1:30 p.m. Team Marlboro Roberts' Wayne Rainey circulated under the motorcycle lap r ec o rd during IR TA's (Internationa l Racing Teams Association) th ree -day test session on February 2 -4 in Jerez, Spain. Rainey's 1 :4 7 .6 1 1 lap was 1.2 seconds under .the record set by Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz during the '89 Spanish GP . Rainey's T hough th e 1990 Yamaha YZR500 doesn 't look mu ch different th an th e o ne Rainey rode to second pla ce in the 1989 500cc World Ch ampionsh ip , th e bike features a chass is mod ified to th e speci fication used by Marlboro T eam Agostini in th e latter half of last season. En gine modifications include new cylinders and head s. " We needed to fix two things _ ' on th e YZR last year - getting up with th e Honda on top speed and getting it to hold as tight a lin e as th e Suzuki in th e turns," Rainey said. " Already it feels that 's right where we're at." Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson was also on hand in Jerez. Lawson, whose best t ime was almost a second slower than Ra iney's, went ha lf a second faster on the ' 9 0 Yamaha than his best time on a .Honda last year. Lawson's test didn't end well as he crashed his YZR following the fitting of a new ~ rea'r tire in t he closing moments of the session, hurting his often - in jured right shoulder. " Th e bike's prettyfamiliar," Lawson said of the new Yamaha. '~It's real easy to ride and I already feel comfortable . I'm not having trouble adapting to it - it ' s easy to go back this way." Spaniards Sito Pons and Juan Garriga and Frenchmen Christian Sarron and Jean-Philippe Ruggi a also tested in Jerez. Honda NS R5OOmounted Pons' best time was a I:50.465, some three seconds slower than Rainey's best, but faster than that of 1990 YZR-mounted Garriga; Sarron 's best lap was a 1:51.129, 500cc newcomer R uggi a clocked a 1:50.767. Garriga, Sarron and Ru ggia were aboard Dunlop-equipped Yamahas; th e trio will be trying 16inch rear Dunlops for the first time at th eir upcoming . Phillip Island tests. '. p. '. . The 1990 Honda NSR500 ridden by double 250cc World Ch ampion Pons at the Jerez test uses a new eng ine with a larger V-angle than last year's 112-degree V-four. The bike also features a new chassis wh ich places weight more on the front end . The rear geometry is also revised and the massive swingarm has been li g ht en ed. Pons' fastest laps were turned on t he 1 9 8 9 model and he said that the 1990 NSR still needed setting up. . J o h n Kocinski tested th e 1990 Yam aha YZR250 a t J erez and had a toug h ti m e. T h e n ew Yam ah a a ppea rs to still be a lilli e slower than th e H onda NSR250, and reliability problems are not yet behind it - while bein g warmed up in pit lane, Kocinski's bik e dropped into' gear. and nearl y went out to pr acti ce alone . Kocin ski ended up turning a 1:51.173 in hi s first visit to J erez. "We need to work on everything," Kocinski said. "The bik e needs to ' be tuned to my style. But we're clos er to th e NSR than we've ever been ." The fastest of the 250cc men pr esent at th e three-day IRTA test was Apriliam ounted Martin Wimmer who clocked a 1:50.644. Prior to the Jerez test, Rainey, Lawson and Kocinski had tested Michelin tires in Goiania, Brazil, w ith both Lawson and Rainey circulating under the lap record . Rainey clocked a 1 :2 5. 6 with Lawson just a fraction slower at 1 :2 5. 8 ; Lawson setthe lap record in last year's Brazilian GP, clock· ing a 1 :2 6 .9 8. Kocinski, meanwhile, lapped in the one-minute, 3D-second range while suffering teething problems w ith the new Yamaha YZR250 . " T h ey (Michelin) don 't make a bad tire," Rainey said. " W e tested a lot of tires and I couldn't find one I didn't like." In regards to reader Jason Morse's letter in the Voices section of issue #4, we've been informed that there is a Yamaha RVRD500 Owners' Group in th e U.S. Contact Club President Tom Fortune at 920 Whaley st., Oceanside, CA 92054, 619/ 757-2805. Michael Pettiford of Go 4 It Ser· v ices is offering two different schools for Colorado sport riders and aspiring road racers: The MRA new ri ders school, which prepares rookies for road race competition; and Go 4 It Services Riding Schools open track days. Schools run from April through October at Mountain View and Second Creek Raceways . For more inf ormat ion contact Go 4 It at 713 Grant Ave., Louisville, CO 80027, 303 /666-4113, 665 2141 . Renard Fiscus' Track Riders Association has released a schedule 0 open track days at southern California 's Willow Springs International Raceway with dates from Feb through November; two additiona dates may be announced at Lagun Seca. For more information co nta TRAat P.O. Box9551, Canoga Park CA 91309, 818/365-8038, 213/3 8749. Approximately 150 openings ar still ava ilable for round two of th AMA National Amateur Super cross Championship Series at Sa Diego, California's Jack Murph Stadium on February 11. Ride must contact GFI Racing at 714 788-5853 in order to reserve a entrY. Russ Darnell will conduct three-cia MX schools at his Knob Hill facilit near H emet, California, on Februar 23-25 and March 9-11. A two da school will be conducted at Gle Helen March 15-16. For more infor mation , call 714/658-RMDX or f 714/767-9609. Accord ing to AMA's D irector 0 Member Act ivities Hugh Fleming the U.S . w ill hostthe Internationa Six Days Enduro in 1994 " . . . . plans go accordingly." However the exact location has not bee determ ined . There are five pr posed areas, though , whic in cl u de Pocono, Pennsylvania San D iego, Ca lifornia ; Tulsa Ok lahoma; Rose City, Michigan and Idaho City, Idaho. The deci sion should be made later thi month. Keith R. McCall, the State Rep resen tative, 122nd Legislative Distric mailed Pa pa a letter that was sen to AMA president Ed Youngbl from the Governor of Pennsylvani Robert P. Casey. In the letter, it sai that th e Commonwealth of Pen sylvani a will be happy to host th 1994 U.S. ISDE in the P oco n Mountains (which wo uld be bas at Pocono International Speedway

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