Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTHE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ Scott Summers ( H o n) was th e winn er of th e co m b i ne d AMA Nati on al Championship H ar e Scra mbles/Grand Nat ional Ch ampionship Cross Country Seri es race a t th e Loretta Lynn 's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mill s, T ennessee, April I. Greg Zinerkopf (ATK) was th e runner-up, a nd Duane Co n ner (Kaw), j eff Russell (Ya m) a nd Ed Lojak (Yam) ro u nded ou t th e to p five. ........ ........ Team Suzuki Endurance's Mike Smith and Kurt Hall (Suz) won ro u nd two o f th e WERA Kerker/ SBS Endu ra nce Series , a six-ho u r road race held a t Alabama 's T alladega Gran Prix Racewa y, Mar ch 3 1. The Human Race Tea m 's And y Fen wick a nd Paul Bra y (Yam) fini shed seco nd, five laps behind th e w in ne rs. Wright Lin e Racing' s Rob ert Wri ght a nd Ri ck Kirk (S Ill) finish ed third overa ll , a nd first in th e H eavyw eight Producti on class. Del..nding National Ch ampion Ryan Young (Bet) won rounds o ne a nd two of th e AMA Nati onal Ch ampionship Observed T r ia ls Series in Pam pa , Texas. Ma rch 31-Ap ril I. Mark Man nik o (Fan ) fin ish ed seco nd in both ro u nds, 20 poin ts down th e first da y a nd three behind Young o n the second day . Ron Commo (Bet) was th ird in rou nd o ne a nd fourth in rou nd two, behind Ca nadia n Mark Ca hi ll (Bet). Jim Holley (Ya m) wo n the fourth round o f the MTEG Ultracross Series a t the Astrodome in H ou ston , Texas, March 3 1. Seco nd p lace we n t to Mich ael C ra ig ( Ka w ) a nd Lo well T hom pson (Su z) was th ird. Defendin g World Ch ampi on Jordi Tarres (Bet) wo n th e first two ro u nds o f th e Worl d Cha m pionshi p Observed T ria ls Series. On Ma rch 18 in G lenda lo ugh, Irel and, Diego Bosi s (Ap r) fin ish ed seco nd a nd T omm i Ah val a (Apr ) ' was th ird. Span iard Tarres th en won ro u nd two o n Mar ch 25 in Merthyr Tyd fil, Engl and. Th e April 2 California Assembl y Transportation Committee hearing on Assemhl y Bill 3007, wh ich ca lls for th e baunin g of lane splitting by motor (·yd ists. was ca nceled at th e request o f th.. bill 's a u thor. Marian La Foll ett e (R- No rt h ridg e). La st month, a co mmille,' hear in g o n a sim i la r bill, AB2560 authored by Gw en Moore (DLos Ang..les), was a lso pulled a t th e last m inute. Accord ing to lobbyist Bob Ha m m. ..It 's up to the au thor (o f a bi ll ) to get nine vot es in com mi ttee . I bel ieve Mar ian (La Fo llette) wo uld hav .. be..n lu ck y to get th ree votes. She's now co n tem p la ti ng as ki ng for a study o n th e issue. I'd su p po rt th at beca use I he li..ve s uc h a s tu dy wou ld be ben eficial to us (mo torcycl ists) as far as o pe n ing up more HOV (h ig h occu pa ncy vehicle) lan es, etc." H amm sai d in p u t received by assem blyperso ns from th e California Hi gh wa y Pat rol di m in ished a ny ho pes that La Fo llette and Moore had 'o f th eir bill s passing th rough comm ittee. The Ap ri l 8 Laguna Seca U.S. Grand Prix w ill rece ive de layed telecast coverage o n severa l netwo rks. The 250cc GP will air o n cable T V's ESP N o n Tuesda y, Ap ri l 24. at 10:00 p.m , (Paci fic time). NBC will beam th e 500cc GP across th e co u ntry on Su nday, April 29, a t 12 noon (Pac ific tim e). Ca ble TV's Spo rt Ch annel Amer ica will telecast th e Sideca r G P on Saturday , May 5, a t 10:00 a.m. (Pacific tim e). Chec k your local list in gs. Multi-time Su pe rcross a nd ' Nation al Ch ampion Rick Johnson sa t o u t th e April I Hangt own round o f th e 125/ 250cc National Cha m p io ns h ip MX Ser ies du e 10 th e broken hand he sullered a t th e Dayton a Supercro ss. "The han d is st ill very sore," sai d H ond a MX team m an a g er Da ve Arnold . " He 'll mi ss th e Dall as Supercross bu t sho u ld return a t Pont iac (o n April 2 1-22)." T he AMA has refin ed its superbike homologation proced ures. T he fol low in g ad dit io ns , accord ing to a n AMA p ress release dated Ma rch 21, to AMA homol oga tion policy are impleme nted for a ny new ho mol ogat ions: " I. Equi p ment a p prova l (ca ms. forks , ca rb ure tors) requires a minimum of 30 days fro m ho mol ogat ion / a p p rova l of a part u nti l it will be eli g ibl e for use in AMA Nati on al Ch am p ion sh ip Su pe rbike races: 2. Mot orcycle el ig ib ility - a minimum o f 60 da ys is requ ired from hom ol ogati on / appro val o f a mot orcycle until it wi ll be eligible for use in AMA Na tion al Ch ampion sh ip Su pe rbike meets; 3. Avail ability - in accorda nce with th e ex p ressed inte nt of hom ol ogation poli cy, a homol o gated part mu st be avai la ble for del iver y to legitim at e co m pe tito rs within 14days of receipt o f a confirmed order ; 4. Maximum retail prices ar e esta blished as follows - front forks (se t) $4500; ca ms ha fts (se t) $2500 ; ca rb u re to rs (set) $3500; 5. The sam p le su bm itted to th e AMA for ap prova l will be ava ilable for su pe rvised in sp ection s a t th e AMA o ffice and/ or selected Nat ion al even ts; 6. T he officia l AMA homol ogation forms will be ava ila ble for su pe rvised in spection a t th e AMA o ffice a nd /or a t selected Nat ional events; 7. In ventorv - a m in imum o f o ne u nit (set) o f ~ach ite m must be ma inta in ed in th e U.S. in orde r to facil itat e the su p p ly process. H arl ey-Da vidson 's Bob Co nway says th e Mil waukee firm has "s hi pped more Schwantz to awearat C New ycle sbooth G ra nd Prix sta r Kevin Schwa ntz is sche d uled sign a u tog rap hs o n Sa tu rday , April 7 a t th e Cycle N ews booth 10....ned o n Man ufaciu rers Row d ur ing th e third running of th e U nited Sta tes G P at Laguna Sera. T he Tea m Lu cky Strike Suzuki ri d er wi ll begin sig n ing a u togra p hs between 3:30-4:00 p .rn. o n Sa turday afternoon. foll owing hi s final 500ccqualifying sessio n which concl udes at 2:40 p.m , Sch wa n rz, wh o won six Grands Prix en ro u te 10 finishing fou rt h in th e 1989 500CL World Cha m p io nshi p, opened th e 1990 G P seaso n with a th ird-place fin ish a t th e j apan ese GP in Suzuka o n Mar ch 25. T he 25-year-old T exan fin ish ed second beh in d Wa yne Rainey in last year's U.S. GP. to 2 ------'---- Liles wins Dutch 500cc MX GP opener G eorgia n Bill y Lil es rod e hi s Kawa saki 10 th e overa ll victory by winning both rnot os in th e o peni ng ro u nd o f th e World Ch ampionship 500cc MX Series a t Valkens waard , H olland. Apri l I. Liles led fro m sta rt to finish to w in th e first moto by eight seco nds ove r H onda-moun ted Belg ian Dirk G euk en s. Third in the first mo to went 10 for mer 250 a nd 500cc World Ch ampio n Georges j ob e (Ya m ). wi t h Bel g ium ' s j ack y Martens (KT M) a nd 1988 500cc World Cha m p io n Eric G eboers (Ho n) ro u ndi ng o u t th e to p five. In the seco nd mot o , Liles ra n seco nd for most o f th e race until he passed Denmark's j o Marten s (Kaw) for th e lead 35 minutes into the 40-m in u teplus-tw o-l ap moto. G euken s ended up finishing second again a head o f H oll and 's Kees Van del' Ven (KT M). j o Marten s and Geboers. Reigning 500cc MX World Ch ampion Dave Thorpe (H on), wh o was fast est in tim ed practi ce, fini sh ed sevent h in th e first mot o but did not fini sh th e seco nd. T horpe 's teammat e J eff Liesk (Hon) , wh o was robbed of a win in H olland last ' year wh en hi s Honda ran o u t o f gas , did not score a n y points a fter su ffering a slig h t co ncu ssion wh en he co ll ided with j acky Martens and cras hed in th e first mot o, The Au strali an sa t out th e second rnot o. Lil es lead s th e poin ts sta ndings with 40 points. foll ow ed by Geuken s with 34, a nd j acky Marten s a nd Van del' Ven with 23. Co m p lete coverage next week. th an 25 o f th e new HarleyDavidson XR750 dirt track engines, a nd we 've produced more th an 30 o f th e units. not co unti ng team engi nes." The new XR7 50 engine sells for $5995 wi th deal ers bei ng enco uraged 10 add no more th an 100 o n to that price for engi nes so ld through th e ir dea lers h ips... It' s n o sec ret , Harley-Davi dson has su bsidized the new engine," sa id Con wa y. " O ur origi na l p la n was to p roduce just 25 of a n esti ma ted I00 engines, tak e a br ea k, a nd th en lat er in th e yea r produce a no the r bat ch. The dem and hasn 't allowed us to do th at , a nd f'1I ad mit th at su p p ly is not keeping u p with dem and." The new XR 750 engine will ge t its baptism o f fir e in th e April 1-1 Sacra me nto Mil e ro u nd o f th e Ca mel Pro Series. Staab Racing of Bak ersfield, Californi a , will field a H arl ey-Davidson XR750 for Junior cla ss dirt track racer Steve Rassmussen. " It's th e XR750 th at Brian Villella raced so success fu lly in 1988," sa ys Rob ert Staab . " We' ve al so got a H onda ready for Alex J o r g e n s e n to race, but Alex isn't su re if he's going to race again this year o r han g up hi s steel shoe for good." Staab's so n , Dave, will handle th e tuning chores for Ra ssmussen , who has elected to remain a junior in 1990, and will a lso be ca m pa igning a 600 prepared by Dave Bird. Harley -Davidson of Sacramento (Ca lifo rn ia ) will be ho sting a n open house o n Friday, Ap ril 13, from 5:00 p.m , to 7:00 p.m., in co nj u nction wi th t he foll o w in g n ight ' s Sacra me nto Mile. T eam H arl ey-Davidson 's G rand Nat io na l Ch amp ion Scott Parker, 600 Nati on al Cha m p ion Chris Carr. th ree-time G rand Na tio na l Champion Jay Springsteen a n d Kevin ' Atherton will be o n ha nd for a utographs a nd bench raci ng . Sa tu rday morni ng th e dealership will host a pok er run co nd uc ted by th e Sacramento Ch am p ter o f th e H arl ey Owners Grou p (H .O.G .) with sign- u p bein g co nd ucte d fro m 9:00 a. m. to II a.m. All brands o f bik es a rc we lcome. More news on th e H arl ey front has th e firm succeed ing in th e blo cking of th e Cal ifornia motorcycle-suppl y co nt rac t to Kaw asaki . th e low b idd er a nd H arl ey-Davidson' s o nly co m pe tilOr for th e hi ghly-prized California Highway Patrol police bike bu sin ess. The Dep artment o f Gen eral Services, which handles contrac t a wa rds for th e ' sta te o f Cal ifornia . o pe ned th e bids two months ago but o n Ma rch 20 decided ' 10 scra p th e ex ist ing bids. H arley had bid for th e co nt rac t by offering to sell the sta te 218 mot orcycles for $4269, $70 mor e pe r unit th an Kaw asa ki, ,with ' H arl ey a rgui ng th a t th eir mot orcycles had a m uch higher resa le va lue , which the state co nfirmed. T he resa le va lue a long with ma inten an ce cos ts, referred . to as " the li fe-cycle conce pt." will be • pan o f th e cons ideratio ns in new bids which will be inv ited in ap proxima tely two weeks. One sta te senator ca lled for I G o vern or G eorg e Deukm ej ian to withold th e co ntrac t from Kawasaki I becau se j apan h a sn't open ed it s ' market 10 U.S . products, particularl y . rice grown in California. A Gen eral Se rvices Departm ent s po kes person i refused io address th e political issu es, I sa ying th e bids were refu sed because ~ neither co m pan y's bikes met all th e state's spe cifi cations. Kawasaki's fail ed to meet spe cifications for the radio, horn, eng ine guards a nd sea t adjustability, a nd Harley' s fail ed an accelera tio n requirepl'elll; Expert and Junior cla ss d in trackers are invited to tak e pan in a on e-h our pr acti ce session o n th e Sacramento Mile ova l o n Thursday, April 12. The p ra cti ce sessio n will run from 12 noon to I p .m. , foll ow ed b y th e R .j . Reyn olds-ho st ed press co n fere nce." , lunch. Agaj an ian Enterp rises' Gen e Rom ero sai d . " We' re inviti ng t he race rs to bl ow the cobwebs o u t of th ei r race bik es pr ior to th e Ap ril 14 Ca me l Pro Na tional a nd th en sit down to a free lunch. Yes, Papa," Burri to said " free lunch. " Accord ing 10 AMA's Roger Ansel , th e two protests that were filed by KTM 's Kevin Hines a nd Yama ha's Jeff Russell after th e Ch erok ee Nationa l End uro in Max eys, Geo rgia, Ma rch 18• • a re o n hol d. "I don 't a ntici pa te that a decision will be mad e o n either prot est until so me time thi s month." Fou r-time Nation al H are So Hound . C ha m p io n D a n Smith has been ! bothered by a n injured wri st sin ce ' Mar ch I I, foll owing a fall a t a local har e and hound race. " It (the wris t) . is hanging in th ere," sa id Sm ith , th ree . days foll owin g hi s seco nd pl ace fini sh a t Ch eck Ch ase Nati onal in Lu cerne Vall ey, Ca liforn ia, Mar ch 25. " I a lmost went o ver th e ba rs a t th e Ch eck Chase ' Nat ional a nd it felt lik e I disl ocated

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