Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _---I. Papa Wealey By~ Action taken a t la st week 's FIM Congress in New Zeal and in additio n to . the turnaround on the proposed Dorna /Ecclestone road race G P contract (see page 3), included designating the 250cc MX GP class as the " premier" series and host to .15 ro unds in 1992 (the 125 and 500cc GP Series will host 12 ro unds each ); all three MX G P series even ts will feature three rnotos of 25 mi nutes-plus two la ps each and qualifying races will be conducted in place of timed practice. The Rodil Trophee and the Masters of Mot ocross will be replaced in 1992 by the sixround FI M Supercros s World Championship. Also released at the FIM Congress was the 1992 championship racing schedule. Incl u ded is the World Championsh ip R oa d R ace Seri es round a t Laguna Seca Internationa l Raceway in Monterey, Ca lifornia, o n Ap ril 26; the Brainerd, Mi nnesota, round of the Worl d Cham pionship Superbike Series o n June 14; the World Championship Trial Series round in Watkins Glen, New York, on Septem ber 6 followed by the Trial des Nations in Watkins G len , on September 7; the World Cham pi onship 250cc MX Seri es round in Unadilla, New York, o n J ul y 19; and th e Worl d Championship 500cc MX Series in San Bernardin o, California, o n April 5. Three-time National Enduro Cha mp io n Randy Hawkins (Suz) scored the overall wi n in ro und eigh t of the Nat ion al Ch amp ionsh i p AMA Endu ro Series at Bea r, Del a wa re, ctober 27. Jeff Russell (KT M) Iinched the series tit le with a ru nnerrp fin ish, wh ile Scott Summers Hon), Czech Jan Hrehor (Suz) and Fre d Hoess (H us) rounded out the top five. Kevin Hines (Suz) was l l th, amel Supercross, 250 and 500cc ational Champion Jean-Michel a yle (Ho n) swept round two of the hesterfield Masters of Mo tocross eries in Mil an , Ita ly, October 26-27. Ward (Suz) finished second head of John Van den Berk (Suz) in Saturday ni gh t's final of the twoay even t, and on day two Guy per (Suz) was the runner-up and aIIon Vohland (Su z) fin ished th ird . ayle is at the top of the Masters ta ndi ngs wit h 20 points, wh ile Ward, tefan Everts (Suz) and Donny hmit (Suz) are tied for second wit h points a piece. otocrossers Jeremy McGrath and eromy B u e hl have re-signed with he Peak An tifr eeze/Pro Circuit o nda tea m for t he ' 92 season. cGrath will defend his l 25cc Western egio nal Supercross titl e wh ere he will e teamed . up with fell ow sout he rn lifo rnian Buddy Antunez, while hio's Buehl will contes t the 125cc ast ern Regi onal Supercross Seri es long wi th Mike Brown, who hails rom G ra y, T en nessee. ike Brown (Hon) won th e 125 and Occ Pro classes a t the Octobe r 26-27 onda Top G un Showdown at Mu dd y reek Raceway in Blountville, T enessee. Jim Neese (Kaw) an d Chad ugh (Suz) finished ' second and h ird, respectively, in each cla ss. on Emde of I n f'o sp o r t ha s n nounced tha t h is co m pany has eased pub lica tio n o f The Emde eport . .. O n Mot orcycle Retai li ng, newsletter for dealers. " I feel bad that e had to make this decision," Emde id. "The publication was very well ived by the dealers who subscribed, ut the support is just not there in large enoug h numbers to justify the amount of ti me it takes to put it together." According to Emde, all of the subscribers to The Emde Rep o rt will be contacted regarding refunds to th eir subscriptions. . Honda dea ler for enroll ment and more information. Harle y -D a v i d s on is offering a $ 15,000 contingency a ward to anyone setting a motorcycle land speed record (Class A fuel , 3000cc) using a HarleyDavidson Ev ol ution engine by December 31. To receive the award, the record must be cert ified by a recognized timing association. T he current recor d is 322 mph. Interested parties can contact An Gompper, Harle y's manager of racing promotions, a t 414/9354588. Mario Andretti, a former Formula I and Indy Car champion, too k a sixlap spin aboard a T eam Marlb oro Roberts Yamaha YZR500 at northern California's Laguna Seca Raceway on October 18. Andretti , wh o was at th e track for an Indy Car race, said, " lowe Kenny one . I was drooling a t th e bike wh en th ey brought it to Nazareth (Pennsylvania). I didn't ask , but when Ken ny said I could ride the bike when we came out here I was exci ted. I'v e been a fru stra ted Kenn y Roberts all m y life. I'v e a lways envied him." According to Team Mar lboro Rober ts team member Robbie Petersen , Andretti was " p rett y impressive. He went really slow for the first two laps, then he went quicker than I thought he would. He even looked good on it, like it was second nature. " And retti is an avid street rider. And speakin g of speed, the Kal Gard/Barnett Special s t r e a m liner sidecar will be spending th e next five months on the European show cir cuit. T he three-wheeler was driven to a 174.636 mph record by Larry Col eman at Bonneville last year. . _ Show appearances are scheduled in ' Austria, P ol a n d , Switzerla nd and Germany, and more locatio ns will be added. The Atlanta Chapter of Harley Owners ' Group will ho st th e 3rd Annual Atlanta Christm a s T o y Run on Sunday, Decem ber 8. Registra tion for the run, which ben efits the Christia n City H ome for Chi ldren, begi ns at 12:00 p .rn . at Harley-Davidson of Atlanta, and the ride to Christian City leaves th e dealership at 1:30 p.rn. Entrants are requested to bring new items - toys, clothing, etc. - Ior boys and/or girls from 10 to 18 years of age. Mot ocrosser Kevin Crine, who suffered a broken neck last year, suffered another setback in . his racing career when he bro ke his left foot at a local race in Maryland on October 13. Cri ne says he'll be in a cast for six to eight weeks. He'll miss the Florida Mini Na tional Ol ympics, but plans on competing in the Flo rida Winter-AMA Series and the seaso n -opening O rlando ro und of the Camel Supercross Series . Cards and letters can be sent to Kevin at his home: 4135 Curtis Rd., Mechanics ville, MD 20659. American H onda has an no unced th e formation of the Honda Rider's Clu b of America (H RCA) . The cl ub will be open to all Honda mo torcycle, scooter and ATV owners. The initial phase will include 1983 and la ter models, while Phase 2, which will include all H ondas regardless of model year, will be in place in the near future. Accordin g to H onda , memb ers are entitled to low-cost comprehensive in surance, free MSF training, a road service package that incl ud es towing, a cl ub newsletter, and a persona lized mem bersh ip card, pin and patch. The membership card is a member' s pass to the ma ny club events pl anned for 1992. HRCA will begin accep ting memberships on December 9. Honda own ers should co ntac t th eir local T he items shou ld be wrapped. For I more infor ma tio n, co nta ct ' G lenda . R id ley at (home ) 404/471-25 07 or (office) 471-9000. Jean-Michel Bayle has teamed up with mechanic J ean-Marie Hacking for the Masters of Motocross Series. The Belgian was with Bayle when he won both of hi s World Championships and was road racer Masahiro Shimizu's mech anic in the 250cc GPs. Bay le's Am eri can mechanic, Cliff White is tak ing a well -earned break before preparations begin for the '92 season. Belgium 's 125cc MX World Champion Stefan E verts is set to compete in six rounds of the 1992 Camel Supercross Series as a warm-up to his 250cc GP campaign. " I will not ride the opener in Or lando, Florida, but th en I will race the next six races," said Everts. e e "' <.0 ~ Q.) ..0 8 Q.) > o Z Trampas Parker, th e 125 and 250cc MX World Champion from Louisiana, has teamed up with 1986-'87 125cc Ch a m p io n M icky N a ti on al D ymond to contest the World Champ io nship 250cc MX Series. Leisure cloth ing firm Chambers and en ergy drink company Gatorade will finance the leasing of factory Hondas for the duo. According to Race Tech o wner P aul T h ed e , it's possib le th at M icky D ymo nd may com pete in AMA com- House Rasses highway- fund bill ing Southern Ca lifornia motocrosser Willie Surratt, who finished seventh in th e World Championship 125cc MX Seri es, will move up to the 500cc clas s in 1992 where he will jo in three-time 500 cc World Ch ampion David Thorpe on a team backed by Cinti, an Italian Honda dealership. Su rratt recen t ly co m p eted in the It alian National Championships where he lost a tie-breaker for the 500cc class titie to 250cc Worl d Champion Trampas Parker, who had better fini shes in the series. Motocrosser M ik e Fisher has resig ned with KTM to compete in the U .S. and Europe in 1992. " I will race the entire Camel Supercross Series a nd the first four' ro unds of the 250cc National s," said Fisher at the October 20 o pening round of the Masters of Mo tocr oss Series in Fra nce. "Then I will go to Eu rope 10 ride the remaining ro unds of th e 250cc GPs and majo r international events." Fish er ad ded that KTM pl an s to h ire an American rider to co n tes t the entire World Ch am p ionsh ip 250cc MX Series . INTHEWIND fter a long delay, the U.S. House of Representatives has a pp roved i ts version of a federal highway and mas s transit funding bill, reports the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The Interrnodal Surface Transportation Infrastructure Act (H. R.2950), which had been stalled sin ce August largely due to political infighting over a proposed ni ckel per ga llo n gas tax , esta blishes a six-year, $151 billion spending program fo r highway projects an d extends a 2.5 cents per ga llo n tax until 1999. Bu t two of the provisions that passed as part of the House bili ar e of special importance to motorcyclists. The first is an amendment that essentia lly allows the federal government to blackmail states into passing mandatory helmet laws for all motorcyclists. That amendment, attached 10 the bill at the request of Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Ten nessee), wo uld require states 10 pass helmet laws or lose con trol over a portion of their hi ghway safety spending. In add ition, the bill would crea te a speci al fund of hi ghway money that would go o nly to states that pass ma ndatory hel met law s. At o ne point, it a ppeared that the hel met law portion of th e bill might be modified, making it mor e acceptabl e to motorcyclists. One day prior to the vo te, Rep. Scott Klug (R -Wisco nsin) lobbied members of the H ouse Rules Com m ittee in an effort to get an amend ment in troduced that would only require sta tes to pass helmet laws for riders under age 21. . H owever, the committee voted 5 to 4 to reject th at pla n, thereby eli mi nati ng cons idera tio n of the Klu g amendment whe n the highway bill came up for a vote o n the H ouse floo r. T he vote th at blocked th e amendment was cast by Rul es Commi ttee Chair man Joe Moakl ey (D-Massac h use tts). On the issue of safety fun din g; however, mot orcyclists won a complete victory. Thanks largel y to the efforts of Rep. Sherwood Boeh lert (R-New York) and H o use Public Works an d T ransportation Committ ee Chairman Robert Roe (D-New J ersey), the bill incl udes lan guage that wo uld require states to make motorcycling issues part of th eir ann ua l hi ghway safety age nda . That represents a tr iu mph for mot or cyclists across the country, since it guarantees fu nd s for motorcycle safety progr ams na tio nwide. . Absent in the House bill, mea nw h ile, is a plan tha t wo uld have created a national fu ndin g program for off -highway trails. That pl an, which called for the redis tri bution of gasoline taxes paid by off-highway vehicle users to a trail development and maintenance program, ra n into obstacles that prevented its consideration within the context of the overa ll proposal. However, Rep. Thomas Petri (R-Wisconsin), who sponsored the trails bill in the H ouse and lobbied un successfully to hav e the meas ure a ttached 10 the highway bill, hasn't given up on the idea. In fact, Petri has in troduced a revised rendition of his bill, called the American Trails Im pro vemen t Act of 1991. Support for that measure by the House could ensure inclusion of the trails program in th e fina l version of th e highway funding package. The fina l version will emerge from a joint conference committee, where the differences between th e House and the Senate bill s will be ironed out. The Sen ate bill, pa ssed in June, also contains a he lmet blackmail plan but differs from the House bill in that it includes the national trails funding program. The Senate's bill als o does not co ntain th e motorcycle safety grant amendment. President Bush has threatened to veto the entire highway funding package if it contains any pl an to rais e gas tax es. However, a congressional override of a Bush veto is poss ible. A r 1

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