Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127369
BmTffiwmD~~_aw_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ eArizona Senator's bill: Acrime against legitimate m0torcY-.. : . - cl.i-:. --st"s'---------'--_ now spo rts a 30-inch wais t. " It went rea lly good," Erion sai d of th e test day. Spencer reportedl y did I:29s at Willow wh ile breaking in hi s RC30, while Farmer concentrated mainl y o n fam iliariz ing himself wit h .the CBR600. " O ur focu s wit h Freddie is to keep it lo w pressure," Erion said. " When he wants to race, ' we'll have a mo torcycle for h im." _ en . Dennis DeCo ncini (D-Arizona) has in troduced legislat io n in the V .S. Senate to eli m inate crimes commi tted by "out law motorcycle ga ngs ." But according to the America n Motor cyclist Associat ion (AMA), the bill wou ld do nothi ng to curb crimi nal activities and wo u ld o n ly gi ve the federal government unnecessary aut hority that wou ld resu lt in the harassment of legitimate motorcycle ent husiast organizatio ns. . As AMA Vice President of Governmen t Relations Robert Rasor notes, the socalled " O u tlaw Street and Motor cycle Gan g Co ntro l Act of 1991" fails to recognize 'the hundr eds of upstanding mo torcycli st gro ups and threatens the individual rights of everyone who owns a motor cycle. . , "This bill would have the same effect as labeling every mo torcyclist involved in an organized group as a crimina l, furthe r a lienating mo tor cyclists already stigmatized by th e press and H oll ywood stereo types," he said. The measure, design ated as Senate Bill 339 (S,339), seeks to improve the go vern ment's ability to comba t ga ng acti vity by enacting stiffer pena lties and en ha ncing o ther provi sions of the curre nt law that con tro ls the illega l use of firearms and exp losives. And it states that " mo torcycle gangs" pose an . everin creasing threat tha t can o n ly be contained through in creased law enfo rcement efforts at the federa l level. T he AMA, how ever, maintains that law en forcement age ncies have amp le au tho ri ty to combat unlawful threats and that it 's unnecessary for Co ngress to enact special powers for dealing with criminals wh o just happen to ride motorcycles. The bi ll a lso calls for the esta blishment of a Nat io nal Cen ter for Outlaw Street and Mo tor cycle Gan g Anal ysis. To be administered by the Bureau of Alcoho l, T obacco and Firearms , the center wo uld be used to ga ther intelli gen ce on illegal ga ng ac tivi ties, increase publ ic awareness of the threat tha t such ga ngs rep resent and even create a nation al hotline for the general p ublic to report activi ties deemed un law fu l. '. Rasor su mmed up the AMA's oppositio n to th e bi ll this way: "This legislation ha s the potential to mak e every motor cyclist in Ameri ca a victim of po lice susp icio n and un war ranted scru tiny. . " Mo torcycle usage and ow nership has declined over th e past decade as the produc t line has moved toward more mature, affluent and upscale customers. It 's preposterous to suggest th at ou tlaw motor cycle ga ngs are a real and present dan ger deserving the attention of the V .S. Congress. We suggest th at Sen. DeConcin i focus h is energy elsewhere, rather than crea ting a crisis wh ere non e exists." S Ameri can G P cont ender Billy Liles, wh o broke his leg whi le leading the . World Cha mp io nsh ip 500cc MX Seri es last year, says he's wit hin 30% of being physicall y fit . Bad weather at his base in Belgium has cu rta iled his trai n ing, but desp ite being sidel ined for six months, Lil es says he feels he has a good cha nce to be in this year's titl e . hunt. Road racer AI Salaverria , th e runnerup in last year's AMA 250cc G rand Prix Seri es, has signed a contract to ride Ap ril ias in the 1991 250cc European Champions hi p Ser ies. Sa la verria's team will be sponsored by M. Robert , a n Italia n motorcycle accessories and clothing manufact urer. The northern Cal ifornian 's cam paig n kicks off at Don in gton Park in En gland on March 3 1 and concl udes o n October 6 in Monza, Italy. For mer 125cc Wor ld Ch am pi onsh ip Road Race Series competi tor Allan Bridgestone is repo rted ly working o n prod uci ng racing slicks for J eff Farmer. Alt ho ug h the tires won't be read y for Dayton a, they are expected to be ready lat er in the season. Farmer wi ll use Bridgesto ne DOT tires in his attem pt to win the 600cc Supersport race at Dayton a. It is un kno wn wh at tires Spe ncer will use at Daytona. 'Acco rd ing to a press release from Michelin, the French tire company will cont in ue to sell motorcycle roa d racing slicks and DOT ti res for use in 1991. In addi tio n, Michelin will have an " A" gra de Grand P rix slick for sale throug ho ut th e world for the World Champ io ns hip Road Race Series and the World Superbike Series. Michelin has a lso anno unced th eir 1991 road race cont inge ncy program , ca lled BIB Bucks. T he BIB Bucks wi ll be redeema ble towards the purchase price of Michel in tires a t any Mich elin motorcycle tire distributor or dea ler. Over $51,000 in cont inge ncy has been posted in the 64 AMA/CCS club roa d race events and over $42,000 for the WERA Pro Seri es, club races and Suzuki Cu p Finals. Over $20,000 has been posted for the AMA Nati onal Champions hip Road Race Series. Starsport Marketing, a no rthern Ca lifo rnia -based sp o rt s marketing firm, has been nam ed as a d istributor for M ichelin off-roa d tir es in the V .S, Directing the di stribution is T im Smith , a lon gt ime Michelin representat ive. Sta rsport personnel will a lso be on hand at selected off-roa d events to service riders with produ ct. Scott will be the second ' rider on Wayne Rainey's WER A 250cc team . Scott will jo in Kenn y Roberts, J r. on the team 's Yamaha TZ250s. Scott will also atte mp t to qual ify for the V.S . G P o n Ap ril 21 a t Laguna Seca Internationa l Raceway. Althou gh he will be sta teside in '91, Scott may field a rider o n h is new Honda RS I25 in the GPs. Qualifi ed riders can contact Scott at 415/827-1 643 o r via FAX at 115/8275583. Road racer Scott Gray will see actio n agai n in 1991. According to Gray, he will contest selected ro u nds .of the WERA F-VSA Series o n a Yosh imura Suzuki and may also race in Eng land and Spai n. . T hree -time Wor ld Cham pion Freddie Spencer a n d Florida 's J eff Farmer tested Two Bro th ers Racing's H onda RC30s and CBR 600 at Wi llow Sp rin gs International Raceway o n T uesday, February 19. Both Spe ncer and Farmer will con test the Daytona 200 on RC30s with Farm er also taking part in the AMA/CCS 600cc Su persport race, whi ch he won a season ago o n a Yam ah a. T eam o wner Craig Erio n reports th at Spen cer has been training during the off-season " and T he p rice has been slashed on the Spanish Grand Prix group trip bein g offered by TravelCraft, the Napl es, Flor ida-based travel age ncy. If yo u ma ke reservations by March I you can take advantage of an intense airfa re wa r that has lowered the tour pri ce to $ 1275 (depart ing from th e East Coas t) and $1375 (West Coast). T he eig h tday/ seven -ni ght p ack age in clud es airfare to Seville, car ren ta l, hotel accommodatio ns, reserved grandsta nd ' seats for the May 12 roa d race GP at J erez, and all taxes. For more informat ion , call 800/54 1-1223. Lo ng Beach , California's Vete ra ns Sta diu m will host its last-ever motorcycle race o n Satu rday night, March 2. T he 1991 N is san A m e ric a n S peedway Final wi ll get the green flag at 8 p.m . T he event , feat uri ng the top 15 American riders and Cana dian cham p J ohn Kehoe, will see the top five riders adva nce to compe te in the Overs eas Fin al in Eng land where they w ill co m p ete aga i ns t riders fro m Aus tra lia, New Zealand and England. Fro m there, the top 10 will go on to the Inter-Continental Final in England . Fro m that meeting, represe ntatives will obtain the ultima te goa l, the Wor ld In d ividu a l Ch am p ionship whic h will be held in Sweden this year. Fo llowi ng th e spee dway meet, the track a t Vetera ns Stadium will be converted from di rt to a synt hetic base. National Cha mpion M ike Faria, Sam Ermolenko, Ronnie Correy, K elly Moran , Bob Ott, Rick Miller , Billy Hamill, Greg Hanc ock, Gary Hicks , Bobby S chwartz, S teve Lucero, Brad Oxle y , Andy Northrup, Lance King and Louis Kossuth are the 15 Am eri can entra n ts a t th e Nissan American Spe edway Final. Josh Lar s en and Pat Hawle y are listed as reserve ri ders. An art icle on antique motorcycle collecting can be found in the March 4 issue of Forbes magazin e. Christie Brown, the au thor of "Then and the art of motorcycle maint enance," intervi ewed Ca lif ornian s Jay Le n o, Richard Morris and J im Lattin for the pi ece. Brown relates ho w the introd uction of the Ford Model T in 1913 " devasta ted the (mo torcycle) ind usty." She also po ints o ut the current state of the industry : " In 1973 (mo torcycle) sales in the V .S. peaked at 1.5 million. L ast year V .S . sales tota led o n ly 260,000 . . . " Form er 500cc Wo rld Champ ion Wayne Gardner has taken up bicycling as a form of off-season tra ining. According to Velo News, th e Journal of Com petitive Cyclin g, Gardner ha s even vowed to shave his legs on ce the abrasions on his legs and backside; su ffered in a recent bicycle training cras h , heal. Gardner' s cra sh occurred in Syd ney's Roya l Nation al Park. " I was so em barrassed," the 31-year -old Gardner told Velo News. " T he surfie guy wh o p icked me up cou ldn' t believe it was me - m e falling off a bike. 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