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/127375
eIN THE WIND· By Papa Wealey ~ r,....., ...... . .... 0.. .-..c ~ flag pat ch o n his leathers wh ile on his way to th e win in th e J apanese Gra nd Pr ix a few wee ks ago . Sc hwa ntz received the patch from a U.S. Army cap ta in statio ned in the Persian Gu lf. Accompanying th e patch was a letter in wh ich the officer wished Schw antz lu ck and good fortune. Suzuki launches DualSRort Riders Club A mer ica n Suzuki is taking the curren t trend of dual sport riding seriously. Suz uki Ma rketing Directo r Mark Blackwell has made it clear that Suzuki is trying to promote the growth of motorcycli ng at th e grass-roots level with the new Suzuki DualSport Riders Club (SDSRC). Membership in the club is free of charge to owners 'o f a 1990 or '9 1 Suzuki Dual Sport model (DR250S, DR3 50S or DR650S). While membership is limited to Suzuki owners; riders who ow n o the r brands can also take advan tage of so me o f th e benefits offered by Suzuki's new cl ub. SDSRC members will receive a free subscri pt ion to Rou te Sheet, th e club's quarterly newsletter, which will co ntain Suzuki DualSport Riders Clu b event sch edules, technica l in formatio n, ride repo rts, and personali ty profil es; a free SDSRC patch a nd sti cker ; plus invitations to participat e in special SDSRC events to be held acr oss th e co u nt ry, sometime s in conjunction with local ' orga ni zed trail rid es. Club shirts, caps and jerseys will be available for purch ase. American Suzuki will host club event s. At th ese gatherings, both members and non-members can tak e demonstration rides on any of Suzuk i's dual sport models, go on a three-to-four- hour organized trail rid e, enjoy free refr eshments, etc. Anyone on any bra nddual sport motorcycle at any skill level ma y participate a t th ese events. Suzuki is also urging its dealer ne twork to host sim ilar events , perhaps in conj u nc tion wit h a nother local motorcycling event, such as amateur or professiona l racing m eets or trade shows. " Nearl y two decad es ago, a very popu lar typ e of motorcycle was the on /offroa d (d ua l p urpose, or d ual sport) bik e," said Blackwel l. "A rid er could open hi s or her ga rage door, rid e on th e street to a favorite off-road a rea, sp end a da y p laying in th e dirt, th en ride home ag ain, perhaps stoppi ng for groceries on the way . We a t Suzuki ar e tryi ng to bring back those 'good 01 ' days' of grass root motorcycli ng with the Suzuki DualSport Riders Club. . " Not onl y do we want to promote Suzuki mot orcycles, but we want to attract people to th e sport, including first -time buy ers and riders wanting to get back int o the sport," said Blackwell. " We feel th at the club will give owne rs something to do wi th th eir DR afte r they bu y it." Suzuki is a lso a major sponsor of the AMA National Dual Sp o rt T rail Ride Series, as well as the California Dual Sport Trail Ride Seri es. For more inform a tion regarding the Suzuki Dual Spo rt Riders Club, co ntact your Suzuki dealer. who will pil ot a Krauser/LCR with Simo n Birchall serving as passenger : The sole Am eri can entry consists o f P eter Bre ede and Gary Twen s t r u p , both of Bellfl ow er, Ca lifornia. They'll be abo ard a Yamaha/TDBLWB out of the Breede Sid ecar Racing sta ble, ' . If you 're heading north on Highway I or 101 for the U.S. G P at La guna Seca, you ca n help th e Save t h e Children char ity a nd fill your stomach at the same ti me b y stoppi ng a t EI Chorro Reg io nal Park in San L uis O bispo, Ca lifornia, on April 19-20. T he Centra l Coast Mo torcycle Association will host a ben efit barb ecu e from 10 a.m. io 6 p.m . o n both days (Friday a nd Sa tu rday ) a nd a brea kfas t o n Sa turday from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. Both are a vai la ble for $10 (ha lf of which is a tax deductible donation). T he park is located five miles west of San Luis Obisp o, o ff H ighway I, 145 miles sou th of Laguna Seca. In addition to cho wing down, you ca n ge t rep orts on road condi tio ns , tak e a back road tour a t I p .m, both Friday a nd Sa tu rday, a dual sport tour on Sa tur day No t mentioned in our last issue's report o n the J apanese G ra nd Pr ix was the come from behind rid e turned in by Brazi lian Alex Barros , Eddie Law son's Cagiva team mate , Barros, after quali fyin g eig h th, cras he d in th e ha irp in at Suzuk a on la p three, rerno u n redin 22nd p lace , and cha rged thro ugh th e fi eld to fi ni sh l Oth , passi ng the likes o f Doug Chandl er , wh o was ma king his G P debu t, in the process. Two bills now being cons idered by th e M innesota legislature wo uld have d r a s t ic consequences for m o t o rc yclists in tha t sta te. Both wo uld req u ire mot orcycl ists to carry in su ra nce to protect thems elves from the co st of injuries whi ch th ey might susta in in an accide nt, regardl ess o f wh o was a t fau lt. T he req u ired in su ran ce wou ld be either a healt h policy with coverage o f a t least $100,000 and no more than $1000 deductible, or a sta ndard , no -fault mo tor vehicle policy. States with no-fa ult insura nce requ irem ents gen erally exem p t motorcycles because of the ex traordinary hi g h COSt of coverage. No state requires mot orcyclists to ca rr y hea lth insu ran ce. H o use Fil e 1205 requires proof of the in surance coverage in order to o bta in a motor cycle license a nd would require th e o wne r to ha ve su ch a license as a conditi on o f registeri ng a motorcycle in Minnesota. H o use File 1213 is th e sa me , bu t a lso wo u ld req uire all rid ers to wear a helmet in stead o f on ly those under ag e 18. The Mot orcycle Indu stry Co un ci l is workin g in coo pe ra tio n wi th a coa litio n o f Min neso ta mo tor cycle user grou ps and th e Minneso ta Mo tor cycle Industry Associa tion (dealers) to oppose this ex trem ely ad verse legi slati on . a t 10 a.m ., wat ch race vid eos, a nd chec k ou t U.S. G P reports tha t will be FAXed to the park. A limited a mo u nt of ca m p ing is ava ilab le for Friday night; ca ll 805/541 -1741 to reserve a spot. " N o o n S21" bumper stickers a re now available at the price of two for $ 1 fro m AMA District 37. Senate Bill 21 is, of co u rse, th e infa mous California Desert P ro tecti on Act (formerl y S7 a nd S I I), a u thored by th e eq uall y in famo us Cali fornia Senat or Ala n Crans ton. All 'fu nds ra ised wi ll go toward th e purchase of more bumper st ickers or to the AMA District 37 Legal Defense Fund. Mail donati on s to : No o n S21, 5764 Ca mpo Wal k, Long Beach , CA 90803. Mak e che cks payable to AMA Distri ct 37. Motorcyclists are brea thing a sigh o f relief in th e Suns hine Sta te now that bo th houses of th e Florida legislat u re have .passed b ud get bills which incl ude fu ll fundin g for th e sta te's m o t o r cycle s afety p rogram. Ear lier in th e year, this p rogram was threat en ed by administrative p roposals to seize th e program 's funds in order to hel p ba lance th e st ate budget. Florida motorcyclists pay an annua l fee of $2.50 on eac h motorcycle reg istra tio n to su p port , the safety progra m. T he initial budget proposal would hav e el im inated th e program Like fath er, like so n. Or shou ld that be, l ik e so n , lik e fath er ? J im Schwantz, father of GP road race com petitor Kevin S chwantz, will ride a Norton Manx in th e Classic race at th e Dutch GP in Assen this June. K evin Schwantz wore an Am eri can while contin uing to co llec t the fee and use it for o ther purposes. The Mo tor cycle Safety Foundation, ABATE of Florida, a nd th e Florida Mot orcycle. . Deal ers Associa tio n coo perated close ly in persu adin g th e governor and th elegisla ture th a t th e p ro gram shou ld be retai ned. The budget bi lls must still ' go th ro ugh the conference com mi ttee p rocess, a nd the final bill must be approved by th e gov ernor. Although it's never over ti ll it's over, fo r now it appears tha t fu ll fu nding for the motorcycl e safety program w ill be ap proved. T eam Kawasaki 's Jeff W ard, Jeff Matiasevich a nd M ike Ki edr owski a nd T ea m Green 's R y an Hughes wi ll be at Kawasaki of Charl otte to sign a u tographs a n d ben ch ra ce with fans on Frida y, April 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. Door prizes will be g iven o ut a nd refreshments will be served a t th e o pe n house th at is being held in conj u nc tio n with th e following n ight's Ch ar lotte Su percross, a round of th e Ca mel Su percro ss Series. More informa tion on th e reo r ganization of Y a mah a Motor Corp. U .S.A. th a t we mention ed in part last week in a n item regarding the di sm issa l o f press rela tions director Willie Amaradio came to us fro m th e com pany 's senior vice-presi de nt , Jim Ge nt z. " We 've separated th e motorcycle a nd snowmobi le divi sions. In th e past, for example, a di str ict man ager handl ed both p roduct lines . It was too m uch to have them handling both li nes an d th e separa tio n o f th e divisio ns wi ll allow us to concentrate more on motorcycles wh ere needed." As we m ention ed last week, J ohn Ga le, who is new to Ya maha, has been named d irector o f the mot orcycl el ATVI scoo ter division. Gentz added, " We've also estab lished cen tra lized order processing. Deal ers wou ld previo usly ca ll their regiona l o ffices to order p rod uc t. Now ordering i s totally handled by our Cali fornia office a nd deal ers, through a toll-free number, ca n orde r a ll prod ucts fr om o ne so urce." We were a ble to co n tac t Ama rad io after last week 's newspaper went to press. "S ure , I'm sorry to have left th e co mpa ny aft er II year s with th em. Bu t I do feel th e reorganization is a positive move on their part." Am ar adio sai d he intends to pursue a position within th e industry. What has m ult i-time National Motocross a nd Supercross Champion Rick Johnson been doing since his retirement? For one th ing, J o hnson has been coac hing Women 's Na tio nal Motocro ss Cha mpio n Mercedes Gonzalez, who now co m pe tes in the ~-------------------------------------------------------------------------, I I I f SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name ---, _ Address _ C i ty Order Date State Zip _ _ Please start my subscription to C ycle News: Every week for o ne year (50 iss ues) for $35. 00 (can be billed 3 monthly paymen ts) o Every week for two years (100 issues) fo r $65.00 D. Six months seco nd class (25 issues) for $18.00 ° O ne year (50 issues). 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all ot her foreign countries $75.00 (U.S. fund s). 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