Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1990 04 18

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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~ INTHEWIND By Papa Wealey ~ In the opening round of the AMA Na tio nal Cham pi onship Rel iabil ity End uro Series at Morrison, Ill in oi s, April 8, K u rt Hough (Ka w) ca p tured the overall win a head o f Matt Stavis h (ATK) an d J eff Fredette (Ka w). Rounding out th e to p five were Dave Bertram (S uz) a n d Czechos lova k ia n ride r Bohurnel Posledni (Suz). Eig h t-ti me Natio na l E nd uro Ch ampi on D ick Bu rl eson (KTM) topped the Senior class, fin ishi ng ninth overa ll. Larry Roesele r (Kaw) was t he overall winner of th e fou rth ro u nd o f th e AMA Nati on al Championshi p H are & H ound Series in Delta , U ta h, Apri l 8. Roeseler, wh o al so topped th e 250cc class, edged defending H are & H ound National Cha m p io n and O pen class win ner Dan Smi th (KTM) by 20 seco nds. Ted Hunnicutt (Kaw) fin ish ed t h ir d, w h i le Dann y H amel (KTM) took fourth. Irishman Gary Cowan, th e roa d racer who su ffered paralyzin g injuries in th e March I I Daytona 250cc race, was rel eased fro m th e hospital in Da ytona Beach o n Frida y, April 6, an d flown to a h o spital in E ng la n d . David D ick e r son , wh o se so n " Sq uiggs" su ffered a broken neck in th e Daytona Am at eur Supercross, sa id, " I got to kn o w Gary a n d h is fia ncee H azel Young wh ile both Ga ry and my so n were in th e sa me hospital in Da ytona. Gary an d H azel are in extreme fin ancial trouble a nd I hope th e mo torcycl ing co m m u n ity will co me to th ei r a id . The hospital in Da ytona wro te o ff Gary's medi cal bill , which was enormous, a nd Kenny Rob erts took care o f H azel' s mot el bill a n d th e flight to En gl and , but beyond tha t th ey 're bro ke." Donations ca n be sent to Da vid Dicker son, 12425 Wh ite H orse Rd " Travelers Rest, So u th Ca rolina 296909414; chec ks shou ld be mad e p ayable to Ga ry Co wa n a nd th ey'll be forwa rded to Cowa n by Dickerso n . Cards a nd letters to Cowa n ca n be sent to him clo Sto ke Mandevill e H osp ita l, Aylesbu ry, Eng la nd HP2 18AL. Dick-erso n 's so n su ffered n o p ermanent paral ysis a nd is abou t to be put on o u tp a tient sta tus a t a Green vill e, So u th Caroli na , hosp ital. T he American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) h a s assem b led a full sch ed u le o f Eas tern a nd Western Reg ional vintage road racing events for 1990. Both seri es pay points to wa rd regi onal cha m p io n shi ps; in addition , AH R MA's National Cham pions h ip Historic Cu p Ser ies events wi ll award regi onal points. Two Eas tern events have a lrea dy tak en place (at Roebl in g Road , Georgia , March 3 a nd Da ytona , Flo rid a , Ma rch 5), wit h II events remai n ing to be run in co nj u nction with AMA, WERA a n d CRC-sa nctio ned events. One Western event has been held (at Sea rs Po int, Ca liforn ia, Ap ril I ) with six rem ainin g to be run in co nj u nc tion with AMA, AFM a nd MRA-sancti oned events. Fo r a co m p lete listing , see th e ca lendar section . Other AHRMA new s has th e p ro posed Sep tem ber 15-16 AHRMA Historic Cup Series Road Race National a t so u thern Ca lifornia's Will ow Springs International Raceway being scrapped in favor o f th e a n n ua l race th rough t he streets o f S team boa t Sp r ings, Col orado, th e sa me weekend. Negoti a tions a re presentl y underway for an addi tiona l Western Na tiona l. T he Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Club (MARRC) will be co nducti ng Road racersin spectM m ia istreetcircuit R 2 oad racing th rough th e streets o f Mia m i, Flo rida, mo ved a step closer toward reali ty foll owing a recent insp ection o f th e site by AM A Su perb ike C ha m p io n J am ie J ames an d Da ytona 200 win ne r David Sadowski . T he appro xi ma te ly 1.5-m il e tem p orary roa d cou rse, wh ich ru ns th rough Miami 's Ce ntenni al Park a nd do wn Bisca yn e Boulevard, is sla ted to h ost a n AMA National Championship Road Race Ser ies ro u nd o n July 21-22. Accom pa n ied by the AMA 's Ro n Zim merm ann a n d P at M u r ph y , th e tw o ra cer s inspected the track as p repared for a n IMS A car race, and both agreed tha t there was room for im p rov em ent . "The p romo ters, Ral ph Sa nc he z a n d Bob David Sadowski Wild , ass ured us tha t th e track won 't look a ny th ing lik e it d id a t tha t stage beca u se the co nc re te barrier s surroun d ing bo th sides o f th e track will be rem oved ," Sadowski sai d . "They mentioned using chainlin k fences with ca ble supports which fold down o n im pact a nd lining th e front o f th ose with as many hay bal es as are required to mak e safe impact areas. T hey a lso ass u red u s th at any structu re o r danger zone would be moved unless it was something lik e a co ncrete brid ge ab u tme nt , which th ere a ren' t a ny . T hey' re goin g ' to try to g ive us as much runoff room as possibl e. " The promoters have a lrea dy agreed to th e addi tio n o f a ch ica ne to slo w a fast, sweep ing turn o n Biscayn e Bou leva rd , an d to th e remov al by sa ndblasting o f a heavil y-p ainted crosswa lk. " It's going to ha ve to be seen in a lat er sta ge," Sadowski co ntin ues. " As th e track is bein g co nstructed it' s goin g to have to be view ed again. I don 't know i f I'm 'off icially' in ch a rge o f deciding whether it's sa fe to race motorcycles o r n ot '. . . but th at 's what I' m trying to line u p. " James' findings echo Sado wski 's: " We won't rea ll y know until we ge t th ere," James said . " I mean , it's racing in th e stree ts - you ca n on ly mak e it so sa fe. Bu t we've raced at more dangerous places." The quest ion th en is: Are th e anticipa ted live television exposu re an d incr ea sed specta tor a tte ndance worth th e additio na l risks? James is quick to respond: " I think it's wort h th e trade off." Sadow ski is more hesitant: " It gets you th ink ing abo u t th e whol e co nce p t, abou t wh eth er it's worthwhile o r not . . . I think it's worthwhile. "A ge n tleman down the re sa id something th at made a lot o f sense to me," Sad ow ski co nt in ues . "He sa id , 'If yo u want yo ur sport to grow, yo u're not go ing to be able to do it by bringing th e pe op le to th e ra ces; yo u 're go ing to h ave to br in g th e races to th e people.' " $3998 Honda 750 Four set for 1 91 9 E arlier this yea r, Honda held a press co n ferenc e at which th ey displayed a , mock-up of th e 1991 H ond a 750 Four that will hit dealership showrooms a t th e en d of this year. The "no cameras a llowed and nothing to be printed until m id -April " press co n fere nce found members of th e motorcycling press facing a la rge gathering o f H onda en g in eers a n d marketing exec u ti ves, several of whom had flown in fro m J apan to ga the r firsthand th e attending journalists' impressions o f th e " back to ba sics" bike . Ai mi ng th e H onda 750 Four a t th e mature rider who had left the sport and is co ns idering returning to it , Honda hope s to lure th at consumer with more tha n just a return to basics; target price for th e bike is $3998. Initial plans ca ll for th e bike to be so ld o n ly in th e U.S . Pow ered by th e in-line, a ir-coo led, four valv es p er cyli n der, four-cylinder CBX750 engine that was sh elved in th e mid-eighties before ever being offered in the U .S:, th e dual shock a bso rber-eq u ip pe d , 750 Four" features a sta nd ard riding position " in a more-or-less sta ndard -looki n gpackage, a ll th e result of a rider su rvey. Criticism from a tte n dees wa s lim ited with o n ly th e sparse sea t a nd th e passenger 's eleva ted perc h a nd Iootpeg location drawing severa l thumbs-down co m ments. Cost cutting measu res include th e use of a double-cr adle steel tube frame, a single-disc brak e in front a nd a rear drum brake, a n d, o f co u rse, th e o ff-the -she lf CBX750 powerplant. T he overall a ppearance o f th e bike makes o ne think o f what th e original H onda 750 Four would have looked lik e if Cr ai g Vetter had ap p lied his a head -of-i tstime Hurri cane bod ywork to the J apanese model rather th an th e Triumph Trident. four road racing schools this yea r a t Su m m it Point Ra cew ay in West Virginia . T he dates are May 5-6, June 1617, July 21-22 an d September 15-16. Pre-registra tion is recommended a s classes a re limited to 25 riders ; cos t is $110 , which includes a yea r's MARRC membership; ca ll 302/324-1297. Cycle S p ort Center in Cridersville, Ohio, will host a Sport Bike Ni ght on Sa turday , April 21. Three-time AMA Grand Na tional Champion B ubba Shobert is sch edu led to s ig n a u tograp h s. T h e Dut ch Inn (70 3/647-3721 ) in Collinsville/Martinsvill e, Vi rginia , will be th e r a c e headq uarters for th e May 6 Lake Suga r Tree MX Park AMA Nat ional Ch ampionship 125/ 250cc MX. R ider sig n- u p a nd tech i ns pectio n will b e co n d u c te d o n Sa turday , May 5, a t Martinsvill e's Libert y Fa ir Mall which is located two mi les from th e Du tch In n. In add itio n, a n a u togra p h sessio n featuring many facto ry riders will be held at th e mall on Frida y ni ght from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. West Virginia G o v e rno r Gaston Caperton has signed in to law Senat e Bill 550 which enacts both a statefunded m otorcycle rider education p r o g r a m and a m otorcycl e operator licen sing law. SB550 was signed o n Ma rch 26 a nd takes effect o n July I. T he law imposes a $4 motorcycle sa fety fee o n eac h a n n u a l moto rcycle regi stration, $2 o f which wi ll be cred ited to th e rider ed ucatio n program a nd $2 to the motorcycl e license program. In addition , a $10 mot orcycle-onl y licen se fee and a $5 o ne- time motorcycle en dorseme nt fee will be cred ited to th e ed uca tion program , a nd a $5 motorcycl e instruction permit fee will help fund th e licensing p rogram. The new mo torcycle safet y education program will be ad m in istered by th e stat e's Department o f Motor Vehicles an d will include both r ider and ins tructor training co u rses. A reasonable tuition fee ma y b~ cha rged fo r th e co urses . An MX a t Ro seburg , Oregon's Clark s Branch o n April 27 is a lat e-minute additio n to th e lis t of AMA Lor e t ta Lynn Area Q ualifi ers. Th e R egional MX will run as sch eduled on May 27 a t Clarks Branch. The lineup for th e Di ck Mann-hosted , Hap Jones-sponsored Past Masters Race which will be held in co nj u nc tio n with t he AHRMA N ati onal Vintage MX a t Brentwood, California's Sandhill Ranch on April 22, has cha n ged. Former National MX Champi on Jimmy Weinert had co n flict in g plans and will be unab le to attend, but Mann say s Barry Higgins will take hi s place in th e lineup that features former World Champion Brad Lackey. Higgins, who competed on the National MX level for many years when MX was in its infancy in the U.S. and also in the ISDE, is the type of racer who will co m p ete anywhere, a n ytime and in any type of com petition . Papa once over heard a trackside veteran say , "Higgins will be late for his own funeral because so me h ow he'll find ,o u t there's a race running that day ." Orient Express Ra cing of Freeport, New York, will build th e Suzuki engin e that Larry Coleman a n d Mike T a ylor hope will power th eir ' sideca r to over the 200 m ph mark a t th e Bonnevill e Salt Flats later this year. Other key players in th e Proj e c t 200 p rogram a re Kal -G ard Lubricants, Barnett Tool a nd En gineering, Mik e Corbin and P.e. Ra cing. The latter p ro vided the chassis for th e co m p letely enclosed sideca r th at features streamlined bodywork designed by Corbin. A steer i ng co m m ittee made up o f representatives from industry, government, public interest , communications a nd user groups met in U ta h a t th e end o f March to plan th e formation o f a non -profit corpo ra tio n ca lled T r ead L ightly !, I n c . Its purpose will be to support an d expa n d upon a .govern me n ta l program of th e sa me name, that for th e past two years has had th e U.S. Forest Servi ce and BLM produce and di stribute ed u ca tio nal mat eri al s under the Tread Lightl y! banner. The materials promote safe a n d e n v i ro n m e n ta ll y r esponsibl e motor vehicle u se on th e nation's public lan ds a nd pertain to all types o f OHVs. ~embers of th e steerin g co m m ittee plan to finalize formation of T re a d Lightly! , Inc. by mid su m mer. Interested parties may get in vo lved by co n tac tin g Cliff Blak e, national Tread Lightly! coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service, at 801/6255170. The Micky Thompson Entertainment Group (MT EG ) is seeking profe ss ional. mot ocrosser s to fill the 40rider field for the 250cc U ltracross class a t th e April 21 MTEG-promoted Micky Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix a t 'Sun Devil Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. Riders who wish to com pete for a chunk of

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