Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey e The opening ro u n d o f the Wo rld Ch a mpionsh ip Superbike Series a t En g la nd 's Do n in gt on Park o n Easter Monda y. April I, saw Bri t Terry Rymer (Ya m) eme rge as th e top-point earner. Rymer fin ish ed a close seco nd to T exan Doug Polen (Duc), th e fastest qua lifier. in the firs t leg and th en finish ed fourth in th e seco nd leg, behind winner Stephane Mertens (Duc) o f Belgi um, defen din g World Ch ampion Raymond Roche (Duc) of France, a nd Austra lian Rob Phillis (Ka w). P o len d ropped o u t o f ' th e seco nd leg with a bl own engine wh ile runnin g a close second just two laps before th e fin ish , af ter posting a record 91.93 m ph lap. Roc he was co m pe ting with a broken thumb on h is right hand, the result of a qualif ying sessio n crash. Former World Superbike Ch am p ion Fred Merkel (Hon) failed to fini sh either leg, retirin g fro m the first 25-lap ra ce on lap 12, a n d from th e secon d o n lap 8, both DN Fs th e result o f cra n kshaft problem s. Team Suzuki Endurance (Su z) won th e seco nd round of the WERA SBS/ P M Nationa l Endurance Road Race Seri es a t TaIladega Gran Prix R a cewa y in T all adeg a . Al abam a , March 30. H all N ' Still Ra cing (Suz) fin is hed second , eig h t la p s down , whi le DAK Racing (Suz) was third, o ne lap beh ind the runner-up team. The tea m of Paul Ostbo and Greg Zitterkopf (Ka w) sco red th e overall win a t the Las Vegas 300, ro u nd two of the Casey Fol k 's Best in the Deser t Series at Tonopah , Nevada, March 30. Finis h ing eight minutes behind th e wi n ni ng duo was the runner-up tea m of Da nny H a mel a nd Jimmy Lewis (Kaw) , whi le th ird overa ll went to Scott Morris a nd h is teamma te Garth Sweetland (Kaw) . Ameri can Ho nda has a n no u nced a $1000 customer rebate wiIl be ap p lied to th e .p u rch ase of any new 1989 Honda Pacific Coast until June 30. The bu yer ca n use th e rebate as part o f th e down payment, or ge t a c heck d ir ec tl y fr om America n H onda . Current suggested-retail price o fthe 1989 Pa cifi c Coast is 5998 before th e reba te. H on da is al so o fferi ng factory-to -deal er incentives o n many models, including th e 1990 G B5oo, XR2ooR, CR I25R and XR80 R , and th e 1989 Transa lp , H awk GT. NX650, NX250 and CR80R . Whi le factory-t odea ler in centives lea ve deal ers free to set thei r o wn retail seIling prices, th ese p rices may be lower fo r customers. A ra lly wil l be held for mot orcycli st Pete Ireland, a ca nd ida te for th e Los An geles Community Co lleges Board o f T rustees, on Su n day, Ap ril 7, a t Vall ey College in Van Nuys, Ca lifornia, fro m noon to 3 p.m, Irela nd goes into th e T uesday , April 9. electio n with the backing of board member Pa t Owens , a lso a moto rcycli st. A histori ca l .n u se u m o n th e Va ll e y C ollege gro u n ds wi ll a lso be o pe n during the ra ll y h ou rs a nd motorcycle par k ing CosDonsors needed for Trail Bill '91 S 2 u p po rt for the recently rei ntrod uced Natio na l Recrea tio n T rai ls Fund Act (N RT FA) is needed im media tely, acco rd ing to Cla rk Coll ins , executive di rector of th e BlueRi bb on Coalitio n. Sen a tor Steve Sym ms (R-Ida ho) reintroduced the bi Il in th e U.S. Senate in earl y February an d a co mpa nion biIl was introduced in th e .S. H ouse o f Rep resent a tives in lat e Feb ru a ry by Rep resen ta tive Thom as Petri (R- Wisconsin ). The bi Il, design a ted as Sena te Bill 400 a nd H o use Bill 11 55. wo uld ena ble states to u pgrade a nd expa nd m ultiple-use trai ls. acquire ease me nts for p ub lic recreat ion , co nstruct trai l-side facilit ies a nd even fund tra il mainten an ce programs to p rotect the en viro n me nt. T he fu nds to co mp lete th e necessa ry wo rk wo u ld co me fro m fuel taxe s a lrea dy pa id by a variety of trail users. As it stands, th ese tax es a re a lloca ted to fund th e co nt ru ctio n o f highw ays a nd o the r p rojects, not recrea tio n trails. T he p lan th at Sen. Sym ms an d Rep . Petr i have sugges ted co uld p rovide a n esti ma ted $80 m iIli on each year for trai l development a nd ma inten an ce p lans . La st year, Sym ms introduced a sim ila r bill. wh ich was ru mored to be " killed," ins tea d, co ngress simp ly di d no t ac t o n it. " It 's going to ta ke a n a ll-ha n ds effort to get th is bill passed ," sa id Co Ilins. " T he 'antis' a re goi ng to figh t us a nd th ey can do some serious 'beh in d th e scenes' arm twis ti ng . A Februa ry letter from th e Wi lderness Society, Sierra C lu b a n d th e Nati onal Wild life Federation to Senator Syrn rns mak es p u blic th eir opposi tion to th e N RTFA. They say , ' Ne ither th e Wild ern ess Soc iety, Sierra Club nor th e Na tion al Wild life Federat ion ca n su p port leg isla tion wh ich would encou rage and fin a nce th e in creased use o f o ff-road vehicles on p ub li c lan d.··.. In order for the N RTFA to pa ss, bo th Senator Sym ms a nd Rep resent a tive Petri need cos ponsors, especia lly fro m members of the Sena te Env iro nm ent. Publ ic Works Co mm ittee, a nd H ouse Su rface T ra ns po rta tio n Subco m mittee . You can help by urging you r senators and congress men to co ntact Syrnn ns 's or Petri's o ffice abo ut cosponsor sh ip. If you don 't kn o w your rep resentat ives' p hone number (or even their nam es) ca ll the ca p ito l swi tch boar d 202/224-3121 a nd ask them for th e nam es a n d n umbers o f yo ur delega tio n. If yo u ha ve th e nam es you ca n j ust have th em direct your ca lls. ..It 's cr itica l tha t we get more cospo nsors lined u p for S400 a nd HR I155," says Co ll ins. " S400 was introd uced with o n ly six sena tor s cos po nsori ng. a nd HRI 155 has ab ou t 1'4 cospo nso rs so far. H o use bi lls usuall y need arou nd 50 cospo nsors to be ta ken serio usly. Co nta ct yo u r co ngressperso n a nd u rge them to su p port th is importa nt legislat ion." . Following are th e na mes and p ho ne numbers o f som e key memb ers o f th e Senat e Environ ment . P u bl ic Works Co m m ittee a nd H ouse Sur face T ra nspo rta tio n Subcomm itt ee - Sena te: J ohn Cha fee 202/224 -292 1; H oward Metzen ba um (DO H ) -2315; Ma x Bau cus (D-MT) -2651; Dave Durenburger (R- MN) -3244; J am es J effords (R ·VT) -5141; Robert Sm it h (R- N H) ·284 1. Representa ti ves: Norman Mineta (D-CA) 202/ 225-2631; Bud Sch uster (R- PA) -243 1; John H a m merschmid t (R-AR) -4301; Ni ck Rah all (0 - WV) -3452; G len n An derson (D-CA) -6676. New Yo rk mo to rcycli sts a re a lso urged to contact Senator Da n iel Pa trick Moyni han (D-Ne w York ), who heads the Senat e Subco mm ittee on Wat er Reso u rces. Transportatio n a nd In fra stru cture. Mo ynihan , o ne o f six cosponsors of S400, is bei ng ur ged by th e 'a nt is' to withdraw hi s support o f th e bil l. Mo yni h an does not hav e a h istory of supporting O HV recrea tion so in cont ac t with h im, stress the env iro n me nta l impo rtance o f this fund to p rotect trai ls. Sen. Moyni han ca n be reach ed by ca ll ing 2021224-445 I. a nd admission to the museum is free. Valley Co Ilege is located a t 5800 Fulton Ave.. near the intersectio n o f th e 170 Freewa y and Burbank Boulevard. Sa nd h ill Ranch in Brentwood, Ca li fornia . will be th e site of the Hap J o nes-sponsored AHRMA Vintage Iron National Championship MX o n Sunda y, April 14. Venerable Dick Mann wiIl host th e event. " We' re look in g forward to a great event, " sa id Mann. " We'll have a specia l internatio nal race a nd we'Il have ex-Wo rld Champion J eff Sm ith, th e execu tive director o f AH RMA , co m pe ti ng agains t th e likes of British Grass Track Ch ampion Adrian Moss, five Au stralia n riders a nd . hopefully, some Canadian riders. We're a lso h ol d ing a Past Masters rac e agai n. In th at event we' ll have former World Champ ion Brad Lackey, Jim Po meroy, Barry H iggins, Tom R app , C hr is Ca rter , Buck Mu rphy a nd other past mas ters ." For more information, ca ll Sa ndh ill a t 415/ 634-3328 or AH R MA at 715/8429699. Lewis Communications, Inc. has a n nou nc ed .tha t it will p roduce th e Action Motorsports Trade Show in Louisvill e, Kentucky's Common wealth Co n vention Center, Octo ber 68. According to sho w producer Jim Lewi s, formerl y the hea d of Ma lco lm Smith Racin g, " For the firs t time ever , mo to rcycle a n d pe rso nal wa tercraft manufacturers an d distributor s will ha ve the o pport u n ity to presen t their new p roducts a nd p ro grams in the fall - a t a professio nal trade event strategica lly scheduled to p ut their products in dea lers h ips in time for the 1992 sp rin g sellin g season." Seminar s a nd in dustry socia l events are a lso p la nn ed for th e trade-o n ly show. J oining Jim Lewis in producing th e show are h is wife, Debb ie, a nd brother, Steve. Fo r more information , ca ll 714/ 680-4486. Oops I Apologies to Devin Battley on o ur failure to li st him as th e 10th p lace finish er in th e Daytona Circl e Bell Pro T wins G P I ra ce. Our results fai led to list a ninth pl ace fin ish er, which shoul d h a ve been An dreas Geiger who we listed in 10th . Ba ttley rode a Ducati sponsored by his deal ersh ips , Rockvill e (Ma ryla n d) H arleyDavidson/ BMW a nd Battley Cycl es Duca tilYama ha. Ba ttl ey also fi ni shed 46t h in th e Da ytona 200 desp ite bein g badl y battered from a crash. Eastern Vintage Motocross Racing (EVMR) wi ll provide vintage bike enth usiasts an opport u n ity to co m pe te aboa rd their ma chines o f yesteryear in the Classico de Motos a t Raceway Park in Engl ishtown. New J ersey, Ap ril 21. EVMR offers three classes: Vin ta g e, for b ik es m an u fa c t u r ed betw een 1975 and 1978; Vintage Classic, for bikes ma n ufact ured before 1975; an d Vintage T h umper, for fourstrokes m anu fa ctured befo re 1978. Mo toFixx Corp. is providing both p romotio nal su p port a nd trophies for th e vintage racing. For more in form ation, ca ll J ohn. H art a t 201/385-5595 (day s) or 201/784-985.4 (even ings) . Pro mot ocr osser Jeff Grafton. 18, of EI Caj on. Ca lifornia, su ffered fa ta l inj uries in a n a u to mobile accident near Ma rt in ez Lake, Arizona, March 29. G rafton, who was a passen ger, was th ro wn from th e veh icle a nd died o f intern a l a nd head injuries en ro u te to a local hosp ital. The driver an d a second passenger bo th su rvived. Int ern a tio nal Cycle Events, promo ters of the J u ly 4th Mo torcycle Week at North Ca rolina 's Charlotte Motor Speedway h osted two days of tra ck testing on March 18-19. H ighlighting the road race test sessions was the Q u i n cy' s Fa mi ly S teakhousessponsored Quincy's Quick Lap th a t pi tted nine riders in a race agains t the clock for $500. Ni ne ri ders were each gi ven o ne warm -up lap a nd two timed la ps. Jamie James wo n with a I minute, 22.12 secon d/ 98.636 mph lap on the 2.25 mile cou rse aboard h is Va n ce & Hi nes R a ci n g Ya m a h a FZR750R . Teammate Thomas Stevens was secon d with a 1:22.32 lap, wit h T eam Mad Dog 's Mike Harth third a t I:24. 1I. James do nated h is winnings to Charlo tte's 600 Ch ildren 's Charities. The Sequoia National Forest 0 1 northern Cal ifo rni a is as ki ng fo r p u bli c . com m ents o n th e proposed Siretta Loop Off-Highway Vehicle Trail p roject located ab out 15 m iles northeast o f Kernvill e on the Kern Plateau in the forest. The public is invi ted to send writte n com men ts through April 15 to: Mike Mendoza, Recreation Officer, Cannell Meadow Ranger Distr ict. Sequoia National Forest, P.O. Box 6, Kernville, CA 93238. In addition, a p ublic meeting wil l be held at 7 p .m . on April 16 in the Kernville Ran ger Station to discu ss the en viro n men ta l assessment of th e project. T he Ap ril 14 AMA National Champions h ip Enduro Seri es ro u n d wiIl start at th e Jackson County Fairgrounds in Wellston, Ohio, not a t McArthur as has been listed in several p u b lications. T he eve n t is being promoted by the Ap palach ian Dirt Riders. Fo r more informati on, caIl 614/286-1042. Yuasa is sponsorin g a na tional contest to find th e oldest in-use Yuasa battery. Motorcycle, persona l wa tercraft. ATV, scooter, riding mower an d snowmo bi le owners who have a Yuasa battery in one of th ese veh icles are eligible to enter and th e winner of th e contest will recei ve $1000 and a free Yuasa battery. An yone who thinks they have the o ldest in-use Yuasa battery sh o u ld sen d their n am e, address, p hone n umber, veh icle info. battery type an d an y code numbers printed or stamped o n th e battery to: Oldest Yuasa Ba ttery, FP.O. Box 23950, Nash ville , TN 37202-9763. En try cuto ff is June 30. The California T rail Rid es-p romoted California 500, a two-day Banning to Gorman dual sport ride, has been resceduled from April 6-7 to April 27· 28. Snow has cu rrently made some sections of the co u rse impassable. The Super 8 Mo te l (7 14/ 849-688 7) i n Banning a nd th e Econo lodge Motel (6 19/ 249-6777) i n Sa n Bernardino (Cajon Pass) have been n otified th a t the event da tes ha ve been changed , but you will have to call th em to ch ange your reserva tio ns. American Suzuki will still be on hand Saturday Ap ri l 6-7 a t Cajon Pass (Eco nolod ge) for a promotional dual sport event. They will have Su zuki DRSs availab le for tes t rides, free fo od , a n d provide inform ation regardin g Suzu ki's Dual Sport Club. For more infor ma tio n , call 714/ 970-8666. Governor Pete Wilson has p rocla imed April 20-21 to be the 6th Annual California Trail Days. In conjunctio n wi th th egovernor's proclamation, th e 2nd Annual Earth Day Desert Clean Up will be held in th e EI Mi rage/ Shadow Mounta ins Area on Sa tu rday, April 20 . The event i s

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