Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

U.S. T win Spor ts compeuuon until next year, due to what will at first be limited availability of the new fivespeed mach ine. The fin al ro und of the AMA/CCS Michigan Road Race Championship Series at Grattan Raceway, O ctober 6-7, will permit any licensed road racer to compete without having to purchase an AMAlCCS license. However, competitors must be AMA members and points will be awarded to AMA/CCS license hol ders only. Begin nil1 g August 15, the cost of an AMA/CCS road race license will be r e d u ce d for the remainder of the 1990 season from $40 to $25; call 704/ 684-4297. CBS Sports Su nday's next-day telecast of the M iami , Florida, AMA National Road Race drew a 3.2 rating, identical to the number drawn by the live broadcast of NASCAR's recent T alladega 500. What this means is that 3.2% of the over 92 million homes which receive CBS were tuned in to the race, equating to some eight Inillio n vie w e r s . 1j£ Additionally, New England Sports Network (NESN), the cable television company that aired the 1990 Loudon Classic road races, is currently negotiating to broadcast four AMA National Championship Road Race Series rounds in 1991. • hio's Scott P lessinger , the 1989 ational Hare Scrambles Champion who suffered a broken shoulder and an assortment of other injuries in a first- lap fall at the Sun Valley GP in Idaho, july I, had to go back under the knife on August 6 to have the shoulder rebroken and pin ned. "There was a bone that healed wrong that restricted the movement of my arm," said the factory KTM pilot, Pless inger. "The doc tors had to wire the rotor cuf£ ' back together and I'm going to have another operation in three months to remove the pins. The doctors say that I probably won't be able to ride again for at least six to eig ht months. " V-twin, inverted forks for '91 Yamaha TZ he 1991 Yamaha TZ250 road racer will more st rongly resemble a works YZR250 than previous TZs , with a V-twin engine and inverted forks being the primary improvements. Specifications and photos of the '91-spec TZ were circulated at the Mid-Ohio AMA Nationa l by Yamaha 's Tom Halverson. The single most significant change is th e adaptation of a V-twin engine configuration, which replaces the parallel twin used since the two-stroke's inception. -The cylinders, splayed at a 90° angle. have bore and stroke figures of 56 x 50.7mm, for 249.6cc displacement. More compact cylinder heads, slightly longer nat-top pistons, differently sized big- and smallend bearings, a gear-driven counter-balancing shaft, and an easier assembly method round out the powerplant's detail s. The crankcase reed induction system is fed by a pair of Mikuni TM38 natslide carburetors, while wider YPVS power valves manage exhaust now. Cooling has also been improved wit h addi tional radiator cores . The six-speed constant-mesh, cassette-type gearbox is now activated by a ratchettype shifter as used on the 1991 YZ250 MXer, working in conjunction with a dry clutch. Gear ratios have also been juggled, with the primary changed from 2.655:1 to 2.60:1 and the secondary changed from 2.313:1 to 2.4:1. Moving to the chassis and suspension, the most no ticeable dif£erence is the 41mm male-slider Kayaba fork , wi th travel now increased to 4.33 inches. The twin -spar aluminum chassis is still Yamaha 's proven Deltabox, with rake and trail figures altered from the 230 /3.36 inches of the '90 model to a mo re radical 22.3°/ 3.2 in . An arched aluminum swingarrn is employed, offering a claimed 15% increase in strength, with 5.31 inches of rear wheel travel, also an increase over the '90 model. Whee lbase has been lengthened sligh tly to 52.4 in. . The front three-spoke aluminum wheel still measures 3.25 x 17 in ., but the rear has been widened to 5.25 x 17 in . Twin four-piston Nissin calipers grasp 282mm discs at front, with a single 210mm disc at rear. Aluminum clip-on handlebars replace the heavy steel units used before , and the entire package is wrapped in new bodywork. Halverson said that as many as 40 exam p les will be sold in the U.S. at a cost of approximately $15,000. T Word of support for members of the U.S. ISDE team continues to now in. The Bent Wheels Competition Club of Michigan has announced it will present $200 to each of the four District 14 riders w ho have bee n selected to represent the U.S . in Sweden next mo nth. The riders are j eff Fredette, Alan Randy, Brian Mull and Brian Lohman. The Central J ersey Compet ition Riders, one of the clubs of the East Coast Enduro Association (ECEA), will present $150 each to ECEA members Drew Smith of the Ridge Riders M.e. and Steve Hatch of the Ithaca Dirt Riders to help defray their expenses. John Erdrich of E&H Racing of Aurora, Illinois, reports the theft of three Arai helmets at Mid-Ohio during the August 4-5 AMA National Championship Road Race Series meet. A reward of $100 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves. Erdrich says he 'll also accept the return of the helmets with no questions asked. He can be reached by calling 708/8971129. ~ fog lies over the future of the 500cc Grand Prix road race class , after confusing reports came from a meeting between the FIM technical commission and the japanese motorcycle manufacturers. FIM road race boss jo Zegwaard returned to Europe with optimistic stories bout $50,000 production machines from Honda. and a more numerous supply f 1990- and 1991-spec Yamahas. There has been no confirmation from japan, however, and by contrast Honda's cing boss Yoichi Oguma told Bri tain 's Motor Cycle News reporter: "T he FIM sked us strongly to produce more machines to help the 500cc class. We told em strongly that they must change the rules if we are to do that. There's no int producing production bikes for the current regulations. It would be mpossible to make a competitive bike at an affordable cost." : Opinion now seems to be swinging in favor of a twin-cylinder ru le. to be ntroduced post haste in 1993. Twin-cylinder machines are allowed in the class t the moment, wi th a lower minimum weight limit - the new proposals would eave them unchanged, bu t outlaw the 160-plus horsepower four-cylinder mo nsters hat now rule the roost. The hope is that simpler 500cc machines would not n ly red uce cost, but would also encourage ot her manufacturers to enter the sport. , The on ly one to appear on the horizon so far is Birno ta, and they disappeared f£ it again at Donington. Their V-twin, with hub-center steering and electronic el injection, ha d been scheduled to appear first at the French GP, and later n Britai n, but there was no sign of it. ~ Michael Sco tt Vin ce n t O'Keefe is the grand prize winner of the recently completed FN N Sports Newswheel TV series T ime Out For Trivia sports sweepstakes contest. O'Keefe of Conyers, Georgia, won the contest as a result of his knowledge of sports trivia and quick response in calling in his answers. He'll be presented a new BMW K75, courtesy of BMW of North America, through Wagoner Cycle Works of Tucker, Georgia, on August 14. As we reported last week, the September 14-16 AMA National Road Race at W illow Springs Internatio n al Raceway in Rosamond, California, will be held as sched uled. In an interview with Wi llow Spri ngs owner Bill Buth on Friday, August 10, Huth said, "Everything is okay it's always been alright. I was dealing , with Yamaha, but I just sent the (deposit) money to Bill Boyce at the AMA myself. Yamaha is still involved - in fact, they 're the sole sponsor. I just talked to Larry Griffis yesterday. The money will come from Yamaha, eventually. It'll be called 'So u thern California Yamaha dealers presen t . . .' " Apparently; the rumors of the Willow. Springs National not happening were just that, rumors, stemmingJrom the fact that John " J.W ." Winslett, owner of Del Amo Yamaha in Lawnda le, Ca lifornia, is no longer the promoter, per se, " It 's not my program," Winslett said on August 10. " I was the one tryi ng to spearhead it, true. I brought it to the forefront with the AMA an d with Yamaha, but the idea of having a Nationa l at Willow Springs is not an original one. Bill Huth is the one making it happen." - - -- - - Continued on page" ~---------------------------------------------------------------~--, SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM . I . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State Zip _ n This is a renewal o Please bill me o Bill 3 payments of $11. 67 0 Enclosed is my check or money order . ~ Charge my 0 Visa 0 Mastercard .t:"!i ~ Signature MC/Visa # P lease start my subscription to Cycle News: o Every week for one year (50 iss ues) for $35.00 (can be hilled3 monthly payments). Expiration Da te o Every week for tw o years (100 issues) for $65.00 o Six months seco nd class (25 issues) for $18.00 One year 150issues). 2nd class Canada or Mexioo and all other foreign countries $75.00 (U.S. funds). Fi", class and airmail rates available upon request . ---'---'---,,-- S.end to: . CycleNews, Inc., P .O. 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