Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Kawasaki team of Doug Ch andler, Sco tt Russell and J ohn Ashmead . According to Sado wski, the Monday tire test sessio n wreaked havoc o n hi s plan s to have a post-Na tio na l water ski party. Bu t filling in was D o u g B r a une c k , wh o was scheduled to hold hi s an nua l ga la bash o n th e same da y. Also schedu led to test tires during th e week foll owing th e Road Atl anta National was Yokohama, who ren ted Daytona to test tir es with Fast By Ferracci's Jamie James. Yok oham a experienced problems with th eir tir es during practice [or the March II Da ytona 200, so this opportunity would be used to test tir es for next yea r's even t as well as to further develop their medium-compound slicks. Asked if he was worried about testing tires which had already proven troubl esome on the Daytona high banks, James said, " No, it's my job. I don't feel real good ab ou t it, but I trust the folk s at Yokohama. They've been real responsive to our needs." Eavesdropping o n the abov e conversatio n , J ames' tuner E r a ldo F erracci said, "T he kid , he's crazy. When we had the tire problems at Daytona , he'd just come in the pits and th ey'd change the tire a nd he'd go right back o u t. If that happened with me on the bike, I wouldn 't get back o n it for a co up le of weeks !" Race Tech owner and founder Paul T hede suffered a broken right wrist in a n o ff- road motorcycl e riding accident in Ph elan, Cal ifornia, on April 28. According 10 Thede, he broke his navi cular bone in three places and fractured his wrist in as many as 3040 places. Thede is scheduled to have surgery on May 10 to repair the breaks. Due 10 lobbying efforts of the AMA, the Highway Users Federation (HUF), a national highway transportation coa lition that includes the AMA, has taken the first step towards eliminating motorcycles from its proposed endorsemen t of no-fault insurance policies. As the proposal wa s being formu lated, AMA Vice President of Governm ent R elations Rob ert Rasor, a member of HUF's policy co m mi ttee, urged the coa li tio n to rem ov e any language th at would en do rse the n o-fault con cept for motorcycles o n the gr ounds that it is proh ibitively expensive for motorcyclists. No-fault ins ura nce would g ua rantee su fficie nt reimbursem ent to cover all med ical expenses , and po ssib ly lost wages, incurred in an accident, without regard to fault. Under th ese term s, accident victims are barred [rom su ing [or da mages, unless th e injuries are serio us or perman ent. Rasor wrote to th e H U F's pol icy co m mittee chair ma n th at , " Si nc e motorcyclists aren 't at fault in th e major ity of the accidents invo lving o ther mo tor vehicles, it 's unreasonable io incl ude motor cycles in no-fault in suran ce progra ms. Un less exclusions for motor cycles is incorpora ted into no-fault law s, motorcyclists can expect ins urance costs to soar. " T he P eop le ' s Ch o ic e Motorcycle Show, held Friday, May 4, d ur ing Cycle Neui s Nig ht at Speedway ' a t Co sta Mesa , Californ ia , drew 31 en tr ies . Th e to p vo te -ge tter was Michael Flu egernan 's customized 1967 Harl ey-Davidson; o ther top vote getter s included St eve Labbitt 's H-D FXSTS, Ken Dickens' '65 H-D Panhead , Scott Ri chardson's '48 Whizzer, and Denn y Berg's cu sto m ized ' 70 Triumph Bonnevill e. Motocrosser Damon Brad shaw had a rather interesting experience during th e 125/250cc National MX in Axton, Virginia. While fishing the da y before the May 6 race with Yamaha teammate Doug Dubach and team manager Keith McCarty, Bradshaw fell off a dock and into th e wat er at th e Lake Su gar Tree track, The foll owing day Bradshaw said he wanted 10 prove that he can stay on two wheels, an act that requires far mor e balan ce. T he. in cident o n th e dock mu st have been a good o men , thou gh , since Brad shaw stayed o n h is bike th e entire da y and even won a mota in th e 250cc National. Now if he can just master standing. The Holl ywood Yamaha FZR750RR OWOI o n whi ch Donald Jacks fini shed fourth in th is year's Daytona 200 wa s wadd ed up big time during the WERA Formu la USA National a t Will ow Springs Int ern ational Raceway, April 29. Gusting wind blew the front end ou t [rom under th e bik e in 140 mph turn eight, where it then slid 0[[ the track and cartwheeled across th e desert floor. Amazingly, rider Kent Kunit sugu was uninjured. The bike was fitted with an FZRIOOO motor for the unlimited displacement race aft er the stocker threw a rod two weeks previously. Dut chman Racin g 's Dale Qua r terley and T e am S u zuki End uranc e 's Mike Smith were each fin ed $100 for jumping the sta rt of th e F-US A final at Will ow Springs. Sm ith had ju st returned 10 h is gr id positi on after restarting his machine whe n he saw Quarterlev sudde n ly take of f. Not rea lizing Quarterley was j umpi ng the sta rt, Smit h foll o wed him righ t th rough . AMA road racers to start association ccording to a press release issued by the AMA at th e May 6 Road Atla nta National , a professio na l riders associati on will now be esta blished. The AMA has agreed 10 meet with a delega tio n of riders selected by the new or ganization o nce the group has been estab lished, the news release sta tes. Discussions wi ll cover a slate of topics 10 be prepared by the riders. . In a separate an no uncement , AMA ha s agreed 10 recognize the proposed association and to seek its inpu t o n major pol icy issues and ru le cha nges affecting AMA professiona l road racing . T he release goes o n to state that AMA wi ll be cooperat ing wi th riders 10 help establish th e associa tion so that com munica tion can begi n as soo n as possi ble. At the mom ent, the rider rep resenta tives are Dave Sado wski, J am ie J am es, Randy Renfrow and Doug Cha ndler. According to Sado wski, there will event ua lly be rider reps from each class. T he idea 10 form wh at Sado wski is call ing the Internati on al Motorcycle Racers Associa tio n , came abo u t after rider upheaval over a $12,000 cut in purse money a t Road Atlanta. A potential boycott of the winner's cir cle at Road Atlanta was prevented by the AMA issuing the abo ve release, and agree in g to work with th e assoc iatio n. Sadowski, wh o was slated to be the cent erpiec e of Ro ad Atlanta's .p lan ned promotional efforts prior to the National, refused to help promote the event in an y way a fter learn ing of th e purse cutback. " We can help the AMA," Sad owski said. " Th is whole purse thing was just the AMA [a iding with a full ,house wh en Road Atlanta was sitting on a pair of twos." ' A Association (WERA) and Protac, In c., a spo rts marketin g firm; WERA will license, officia te an d sanc tio n th e events and Protac will secure venues, promote th e events and manage overall market ing; th e ag ree me nt extends through the year 2000. Motorcycle journal ist B ill Sterme r was in volved in a car accident on Friday, May 4, in whic h his five-week-old dau ghter Hanna Lora was killed and wire Marjori e suffered three broken ribs and multiple contusions. Expressions of sympathy Com be sent to P.O . Box 2087. Thousan d Oaks, CA 9 1358. NAME D: Sharon Gray as adm ini strative assista nt at WERA headquarters in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Gray has worked for WERA for seven years, mo st recerul y as chief reg istra r in th e Mid-Atlantic and , North Central regions; she will continue to assist in th e running of even ts, but now in the Southeast region. H IRED: J ohn Green street, by S RO I Pace P romotions as director of o perations [or the compa ny's Los Ang eles office; Gr eenstreet previou sly was the marketing and scheduling manager of the Sea ttle Kingdome; Gr een street will report to SROIPace's C.E. Altman; SRO/P ace prom ot es eig h t AM A Camel Supercross Series even ts. APPOINTED: Ga ry McDonald, as North American sal es manager by Kushitani-USA, In c. of R edo n do Beach, California; McDonald will be working directl y with dealers and distributors to develop a dealer network [or Kushitani mo torcycl e safety wear and a ll-season s por~s clothing. NAMED: Paul Golde to the newl ycrea ted po sition of national marketing man ager of Intersport Fash ions West, Inc.; Golde, who was mo st recently with Malcolm Smith Products, will be responsible for new product development, marketing and dealer sup po rt services [or all H ein Gericke motorcycle products. RESIGNED: Allen Baco~, from position of nationa l parts coo rdinator of Cagiva North America; Bacon says he will remain in the mot orcycle industry exercising hi s skills in develo pi n g a nd ren ov atin g pa rts departments. HIRED: Th ea L o ckw ood as mech anic [or the Yoshimura Suzuki road race team ; Loc kwood was previously emp loyed by Paul Vogel' s Grizzly Performance sho p in Sacra mento, California , and worked as a mecha n ic [o r T eam Mo tor Sport Yamah a 's roa d race effort in 1989. NAME D: Mike Webster, to position of vice-president o f Edge ll Expo sitions; Webster will oversee the Edge llp roduced Internat ional Motorcycle Sho ws, the annual SCO RE Off -Road Eq uipment Show, Dealernews Motorcycle Expo , and Intern at ional Mo torcycle Afterm ark et Expo . F O RMED: A jo int ventur e to promo te WERA Pro Series road races between Western Eastern Road racers' ... I ' I -------------------------------------------------------------------I SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM . 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