Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

the $5000 p urse should contact MTEG at 714/938-4100. The financial troubles of Malcolm Smith, Inc., have no effect on th e Malcolm Smitb Motorcycles dea lership in Riverside, California. According to Di ck Higa, th e dea lersh ip's vice president /general manager , many people beli eve that th e dealership is in fin ancial trouble a s well. "That's not true, we'r e a co m p letely different co m pany ," say s Higa. Dunlop wi ll be th e assoc ia te sponsor o f. th e AMA National Championship Road Ra ce at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in L exington , Ohio, August 35. The Camel Pro Super Cycle Weekend Pre s ented b y D unlop is the sixth sto p on th e n in e-race AMA pro ro ad ra ci ng tour. Tire t ests for th e upcoming p a v ed oval races in Virginia a n d So u th Carolina were conducted o n Friday , April 6, with Camel Pro Series co mpetitors Will Dav is a nd Rob Lewis hand ling th e riding. Ov erseeing th e tests were Art Barda of th e AMA and longtime sta rter Poochie Cox. They determined th at G oodyea r CD5 (fro nt) and CD8 (rea r) tires will be th e o n ly tires all ow ed to be used in th e races . The Ma y 16 $6000 Richmond Short Track and th e Ma y 18$ 15,000 M y rtle Bea ch H a lf Mile will both be co n ducted o n p aved o va ls. Pro racer s seeking more informat ion shou ld ca ll Cox a t 919/ 629-2415. Na sh vill e , T enn essee' s Opr yl and U.S.A. will be th e site of the Count ry Tour '9 0 Motor c ycle Rally which will tak e pl ace o n May 3-6 a nd will kick off Motorcycle Aw aren ess Month in Ten nessee. The ra lly willfeature a n o u tdoor motor cycle show, dem o ride s, cl in ics a nd sem ina rs, a to uring fash ion show, and a bik e judging co ntest. Yamaha will host the Bootleggers' Poker Run to historica l J ack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg , T ennessee, a 180-m ile ride. Ra ll y a tte ndees will a lso b e a b le to e n joy a Brid gest one spon so red barbecu e cook-ou t a nd a tour o f th e cen tu ry-o ld plantati on hom e o f Lorett a and Mooney Lynn at L or ett a Lynn 's Dude Ra n ch in n earby Hurricane Mill s. The registrati on a nd hospita lit y welcome center, host ed by Na shville a rea H onda deal er s, o pe ns T h ursday , Ma y 3, a t 10:00 a.m, For more rall y information, ca ll 304/5941157. Federal health o fficia ls a t th e Na tio na l Institute of Ne urolo g ica l Di sorder s and Stro ke h a ve ann oun ced th at trea ting patients wh o ha ve su ffered spinal in ju ries with th e drug methylp rednisolo ne within eig h t h ours a fter th e accide nt s ig n ifica n t ly redu ces subseq ue nt disa bili ty . T he dru g , wh ich cos ts a p p ro x imately $300 per treatment, is sa id to improv e blood ' flo w to the injured area a n d thus protects sp ina l co rd cells from di sin tegrat ion , th e normal occ u rrence when th e spi na l cord is crus hed or bruised . Officials say th e drug is no t effective u nl ess g iven less th an eigh t hours a fter th e in j ury. Officials say th e drug is ava ila ble a t most hospitals. Tea m Ka wa saki 's J ohnny O'M a r a was a spec ta tor a t th e April 8 Da lla s Superc ross , " I br oke two toes a t th e H angtown National la st week ," sa id O 'M ara, " I tri ed riding pract ice but the toes just hurt too bad. The toes I broke are o n m y left foo t, th e o nes yo u have to sh ift with. H opefu lly I'll be ab le to ride th e Pontiac Su percross (April 2122 )." The Na shville Ne twork (T N N ) will tele cas t th e March II Da ytona 200 th at Golden Girl attends U.S. GP B ea Arth ur, th e cu rre n t star o f the te levisio n show G o ld en Girls a nd Io rm e r s ta r of Maude, was o n hand to wa tch th e April S runn ing o f th e Uni ted Sta tes G ra nd Pr ix a t La gu na Seca Raceway. Art hur used th e opportuni ty to ta lk to h er favor ite rac er . Ra n dy Mamola. O th er b ig na me celeb ri ties on ha nd a t the GP were ba seb all gr" a t/ T V anno u nc er/ mo lOrcyci e fanat ic Regg ie J ackson , and motorcvcle co llecio r/co med ia n / T'V sho w h'ost Jay Len o . Art h ur ha s a p peared Bea Arthur (left) a nd Randy Mamol a (rig ht). on the T o ni g h t Show w it h Len a where she to ld Leno of her fascina tio n for motorcycle racing , a nd al so revea led that nothern Ca lifornia n Mamo la was her favori te racer. AMA critical of transportation.policy _ T he Am eri can Mot orcyclis t Associa tion (AMA) ha s expressed co ncern s ab out the U.S. Department of Transportation 's (DOT) recently released nationa l transportation policy for th e future. According to the AMA , the policy stateme nt , enti tled " Movin g Am erica, " reco gnizes the need for crea tive so lutions to reduce tra ffic g rid loc k a nd to decrease nationa l dependen cy o n fossil fuels, but fail s to acknowledge motorcycles as a viable transportat ion alternative. In a recent letter to T rans porta tio n Secretary Samual Sk inner, AMA Vice Presid ent o f Government Rela tio ns Robert Rasor sa id, " We wer e anxiously a ntici pating so me reco gnition in a nationa l transportation policy to encourage, ra ther th an ignor e, th e use o f motorcycl es. We believe mot or cycles sh ould be enco ur aged as a desira ble form o f transportation ." Last yea r, th e AMA participat ed in a series of forums designed to help formulat e th e DO T 's national transportation policy. At th ose forums. AMA representat ives showcase d mo to rcyclists a s a n important lin k in th e transportation systems of th e future. Bu t surprisi ngly, the o n ly ment ion of mot o rcycles in th e 125-p a ge ' docum ent is in referen ce to helmet laws. "T h is is unfortunate because a n excl us ive focu s on manda tor y helm et laws det racts from the n eeded em p hasis o n o ther eleme n ts n ecessary in a co m p rehe n sive mot orcycl e sa fety program ," sa id Ra so r. H e pointed o u t th a t a mong th ose ele me n ts are motorist a wa reness progr ams. licen sing a nd testing systems, a lco hol and substa nce a buse ca m paig ns a nd ride r-ed ucai io n co urses. H ow ever, th e AMA 's primary obj ective to th e policy stems from th e fai lu re o f th e DOT to ac knowledge th e exce p tio nal co m m u ter characte ristics of m o torcycling. In th e lett er , Ra sor not ed th at federal law recogn izes the ben efits of mo torcycle travel o n High O ccupancy Vehicle (H O V) lanes. but fou r sta tes - Ca liforn ia , Pennsylvania , T exa s and Vir g inia - have co n tin ued to bl ock th e use o f mot orcycles o n HOV lanes by taking advantage o f a loop hol e in th e law that a llows sta tes to ban mot orcycles from co m m u ter lanes by declaring ' motorcycle travel to be a sa fety hazard. " In view o f th e o bvio us ben efi ts in reduci ng traffi c grid lock , we beli eve it is unconscionabl e to ban motorcycl es from HOV lanes," sa id Rasor. " I naddir io n to ig noring th e space-effici ency o f mo torcycles , th e policy a lso ov erlooks th e ab ility o f mot o rcycl es to sa ve fu el a n d reduce wea r a nd tea r o n o u r nation 's hi ghwa ys." was won by Da vid Sadowski o n Su n day , Ap ri l 15, at noon Paci fic time with a repeat a iring a t 4:00 p.m., a lso Pacif ic time. Chec k you r local listin gs. Traction v ibration is th e term used to descr ibethe low-frequen cy rumbl e th a t G ra n d Prix road racin g sidecars occas io na l ly e m it whi le exi ti ng co rn ers u nd er power. Since th e sideca r wheel is typ icall y o n th e left , th e rea r (drive) wheel beco mes unweighted in righ t-ha nd turns, a nd th e tire's sidewa ll s and ca sin g flex vio lent ly as it struggles for traction. T h e p henomerion ca rn e ( 0 o u r a tte nt io n a t the U .S. G P , bu t the problem isn 't so apparent at Lagu na Sera because th e co ur se runs co u nterclockwise wi th few rig ht tur n s, m ain ly occu rr in g in in field tu rn s th ree a nd fou r. In a n effo n to co mb a t trac tion vibra tio n, Yoko hama ex pe rime nted with low-profi le, l4 -in ch tires a t Lag u na Ser a . ra ther than the traditiona l 13-in ch ers (wh ich arc still u sed o n th e front and sidecar wh eels ). The l -l-in ch ers were tri ed on the outfits of Rolf Biland , Frit z Eg loff. Bernd Scherer and Fritz Sto lzIe, wi th satisfactory resu lts, A spokesma n for th e J ap a n ese com pa ny said th at th e lo wer-p ro file tires aren 't necessari ly stiff er beca use o f th ei r shorter side- walls: ra th er th ey cha nge th e natu ral frequ en cy o f th e tir e's vibrati on. T he J a p anese co m pa n y is o ne o f just two sidecar ro ad race tir e manufacturers: the ot her is Avon of Engl and . T wo-ti me 250 cc World Champ ion S ito Pons was surp rised to lea rn o n April 7 th at he had been granted Spa in's most prest ig ious a wa rd, th e P rincipe de Asturias Prize. The aw ard , named for P rin ce Fel ipe de Borbon , heir to th e Spani sh cro wn , is eq ui valen t to being chosen " Ma n of th e Yea r." Po n s was selected no t just for hi s racing acco m p lish me nts but a lso fo r h is work as rid er rep resentati ve in th e FIM, a nd for the importa n t p art he has p layed in na t ional pro-hel met an d a m i-drug campa igns - a n d for his pos itiv e influen ce o n Span ish youth. "This is a n u nexpected honor a nd reall y th e high point o f m y ca reer," Pons sa id at the La guna Seca U.S. G P. "Th e decision o f th e j u ry ma kes me very proud since th ere wer e o the r leadin g sportsmen amo ng th e list of . fina lists . I believe th at we sportsmen sho u ld g ive a n exa m p le to yo u th a nd work to im p ro ve th e soci ety in whi ch we live." Pons wi ll receiv e a cash a wa rd o f $45,000. - -- - - - Cont inued o n page 66 .-------------------------------------------------------------------SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM /Wail Name _ Address _ City Order Date State Zip _ o This is a re newa l o Plea se bill m e , o Bill 3 payments of $11.67 o Enclosed is m y check or m oney order ~ ' Charge m y 0 Visa 0 Mas tercard ~I Signature _ _ M CiVisa # P lease start m y subscription to Cycle New s: o Every week for one year (50 iss ues) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly pay ments) o Every week fo r two years (100 issues) for $65.00 o Six months second class (25 is sues) for $1 8.00 • One year (50 issues). 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all other foreign coun tries $75.00 (U.S. funds ). First class and airma il rates availab le upo n requ est. . tOday! _ Expiration Date Send to: Cycle News, Inc., P .O . Box 498 , Long Bea ch , CA 90801 -0498 213/427-7433 I I I I I I I I ~ 3

• Cover