Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Raceway, Racing Enterprises will hold Saturday motocross races on 17 dates at Glen Helen OHV Park in San Bernardino, California, beginning january 4. According .to promoter Fran k T homason; there will be long motos on an expanded track, and a Carlsbad vs. G len Helen Series is being planned. For more information, contact Racing Enterprises at 619/4841441. In a stunning upset, the Sahara Club scored a major victory over the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in a Santa Ana Federal Court, by getting an exemption to the BLM land closure order that was put int o effect for the Than ksgiving weekend. judge Gary Taylor granted the exemp tion to the BLM desert lock -out rule, noting that it was clear that the BLM order was designed to suppress the right of free speech . The order a llowedJtl Sahara Club members to ride their motorcycles o n routes used in previ ous Barstow-to- Vegas cros s coun try . races. Of the 10 permitted riders, n in e turned out for the November 30 "protest " ride. According to Sahara Club President Rick Siema n, "The BLM watch ed us closely; but since they couldn 't stop us, they took it ou t on other people. T en rider s were arrested while rid ing in legal , o pe n areas. Becau se we did what we d id , the BLM ca me o u t with clen ched jaws. It was a sad situation. " According to Siernan, environmentalist gro up s such as the Sierra Cl ub and Earth Firs t did no t sho w up. High winds in the California desert area p u t a damper on the ride: " (It) turned into a survival rid e," Siem an said. "It was so dusty at times , you couldn 't even see your hands on the handlebars." Luis M cKe y , Sahara Club vice p resident, wh o was one of the nine riders allowed to ride the B=to-V course, suffered a possi ble fractured rib when he fell .during the ride . McKey, also know n as the Pha n tom Duck of th e Desert, was blown 'over in a sudden gus t of wind while riding through deep silt. McKey conti n ued but late r withdrew from the ride near th e half wa y point. Fox Rac e w ear has signe d l-l-yearold motocrosser Robb ie Reynard of Oklahoma City, Ok lah oma, to a sixyear cont rac t. According to Fox , the -con tract is th e longest in terms of years in motocross history, and Fox po ints out that in light of the success they have had in pick ing fu ture MX superstars like Mark Barnett, David Bailey, Rick johnson, jeff Mat iasevich a nd Damon Bradshaw , you migh t want to keep your eye on Reynard. Reports from Europe that Miguel DuHamel had in ked a contract with Sonauto to cont est the 1992 500cc World Championship on Ya mah a YZR500s were den ied by DuHam el's manager, Alan Labrosse, on Wednes- ' day , November 27. "He has n 't signed anything, yet," Labrosse said. Commo nwealth Honda team owner Martin Adams; meanwhile, said he has given the French Canadian until Wednesday, December 4, to make up his mind..2.n whether or not he will return to 'file AMA Superbi ke team in '92. Adams said he is currently talking with a possi ble replacement ' for DuHamel, but he wouldn 't give any clues as to the iden tity of the replacement rider. Adams did say, however, that he had been courting Jamie J ame s before the Louisiannan re-signed with Vance & Hines. . _ Reports from Europe in dicate that Frenchman Jean-Philippe Ruggia and Venezuelan Carlos Lavado have signed to ride fact ory Gileras in the 1992 250cc World Championship Road Race Series. Californian Rich Oliver was being tipped as the second rider on the team behind Lavado , but Ruggia has apparently filled 'that slot. he Steve Sym ms National Recreat ional T rails Fund Act of 1991 was .passed by both hou ses of Congress on November 27 as part of a federal transportation bill. . T he Trails Fund Act, part of the $151 billion Surface Transportation Act, will transfer federal gasoline tax funds from the H ighway T rust Fund into a special account. Mon ey from that account will then be distributed to states spe cifically for maintenance and developmen t for all types of trails. According to Mo torcycle Industry Council Sen ior Vice President Melvi n Stahl, most of the money is derived from fuel taxes paid by off-highway vehicle recreationists. Um il now , tha t tax money has been used almost exclusively for highway constr uctio n and maimenance projects. An l l-rn emb er National T rails Advisory Committee, made up of represen ta tives of all tra il user grou ps, will be established. It directs the Secretary of Transportation to administer the pr ogram in con sultation with the Secretary of the Imerior. In order to remain eligi ble for federal funding , within three years each state must create a trails advisory board and enact a similar trai ls fund program using sta te gasoline taxes derived from non-highway recreation. The state agencies admi n istering the trails program are au thorized to make grams to federal , state and loca l go vern ment agencies, organizations, clubs and individ ua ls for projects on public and pr iva te land. T he measure passed despite heavy opposition from preservationists during fina l negotia tions on the highway bil l. A con feren ce commi ttee ironed ou t diff eren ces betwee n H ouse a nd Senate versions of the bill. The tra ils provisions ar e primarily unchanged from la nguage that passed the Senate earl ier this year. Senator Steve Symms (R-Idaho) resisted pres sure to funnel the mo ney through the Land and Wat er Conservati on Fund. "T hat was nothing more than an attempt to bailou t a dwind ling federal land acquisition fund wit h OH V riders' mo ney, " said Sta h l. "Senator Symm s convinced the conferees to reject it. The Senator offered an amendment to put administrati on of the program in the Department of Transportat ion , and tha t's what turn ed the tide." Also incl uded in the bill are safety provisions tha t wo ul d encourage states to enact motorcycle helmet laws by threat en in g th e loss of control over hi ghway safety funding if he lmet laws aren 't passed by 1994. H owever, an amendment would require sta tes to include motorcycle safety programs in th eir ann ual hi ghway safety plans, thus boo sting federal assista nce grants. T he bi ll wo uld also require states that use federal funding for thei r H igh Occupa ncy Vehi cle (H OV) lanes to open th em to motorcyclists. Pres ident Bush must sign the highway bill to mak e the Symms Trails Act law, and he's expected to doso soon. Mote-Liberty. th e co m pa ny th a t impo rted the Honda RSI25R tha t Tommy H ayd e n rode to victo ry in the For m u la T h ree roa d race at the WE RA G rand Nati onal Finals in October, will soo n have 1992 Honda RS12Ss avai lable. In ad di tio n, MotoLiberty now has used 1989-1991 RSs for sale. For more info rmation contact Mote- Liberty at 214/242-6440. . Team which will ca mp aign 1992 Yama ha TZ250s in th e AMA .250cc Gra nd Prix Series. The Yamaha will be rid den by Greenwood's son, Bill , and will be tuned by Ch uc k Downs. In addition, Scott Green wood will ride a Greenwood Bros. 1992 H ond a CBR600 F-2 in the AMAlCCS 600cc Supersport Series. Road racer Rich Arnaiz may end up in the World Championship Superbike Series in 1992 aboard an Oscar Rurni-backed Honda RC30. Arn aiz, who won the ·Euro pean Superbike Ch ampionship for Rumi in 1990, may join Baldas sarre Monti on the Ital ian based team if F r e d Merkel makes the expected move to Ya ma ha . Arnaiz fin ish ed fifth in the 1991 AMA Su perbike Cha mp ionship on a Commonwealth H onda. .Knee-On Racing, the fou rth place finishers in the H eavyweight Superbik e cla ss of th e WERA National Endurance Series, have signed a oneyear su ppo rt con tract with Track and T rail, Inc. , a Kawasaki/BMW/ Ducati dealership in New Castle, Delaware. Knee-On Racing will field a Kawasaki ZX750R in the 1992 series. Dale Greenwood, Sr., wh o recently won $ 6.7 million in the Tri-Stat e Megabucks Lottery, will front an AMA road race team in 1992. Greenwood will support the New Hampshirebased Greenwood Bros. R a cin g House aggrovesCalifornia DesertB ill ongress moved one step closer to closing a major portion of the Cal ifornia desert when the House of Rep resentatives approved legisla tion on November 26 that wo uld expand federal protection for 7.1 million acres of California's desert. . T he meas ure , int roduced by Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), is simi lar to Sena tor Alan Crans ton 's (D-Californ ia ) Desert Protection Act and wou ld designate 73 tracts of land as wi lderness areas and place 4. 1 million acres off limits to offroad vehicl es, development and o ther uses. Responsibility for an additional three million acres wou ld be tra nsferred from the Bureau of Land Man agement to the Na tional Park Service. . The legislation must now be debated in the Senate; whe re Senator john Seymour . ( R- ~ I i forn i a ) .is seeki.ng a compromise with Cranston on the amount of acreage to be in clu ded m the btll. The two Senators must reach an agreement if the measure is to have a chance at passing through the Senate. T he Bush Administra tion has criticized Levine's measure, saying it is too expansive and a threat to military, develo pment -a n d mi ning interests. It favors a proposal by Rep. jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), which would designate fewer wilderness areas and acres for pro tection , tha t was defeated.in the House. C Trails Act.ga Congr...::....:...::....---_ sses ess T According to Ita lia n motorcycle magazi ne Moto Sp ri n t, th e H arley Davidson display a t the recen t mot orcycle show in Milan, Italy, was th e most popular at the show. A new SOOcc Grand Prix m otorcycle was introduced at Milan. Made in Italy by Verona Racing Parts, the bik e will be available for the 1992 'season . The 9O-degree V-four weighs in at 272 po u nds; has a wheel base of 55.6 inches; a bore an d stroke of 54x54; uses 39mm carburetors; six -petal case reed valves; twin co u nt er-ro ta ti n g cra n kshafts; Nippondenso ign itio n ; Ohlins suspension from an d rear; Brem bo brakes; and electronic power valves. T he two-stro ke po wer pl am prod uces a clai med 166 horsepower a t 13,100 rp m an d will sell for approximately $75,000. For more in form ation, contact VR P 's U.S:.agent Indigo Sports at 310/ 945-81'19. Husaberg America has inked a new cont rac t wi th Jimie Eriksson of Swe de n , the 1990 World E n d uro Champion. Eri ksson will compete in - -:--- - - Con tinued on page" H aincr sesoff-road contingency-_ ond ea merican H ond a has added more motocross and off-road series and events, more classes and mor e fin ishing pos itions in each series to its 1992 cont ingency . program. Seven new MX series and five new off-road series have been added to the $3.3 million program, whi ch goes into effect on january I. Riders aboard 1992 Honda CR or XR mo dels wh o finish in the top five can earn " H onda Bucks" gif t cert ifica tes which are valid toward the purchase of Honda motorcycles and merc ha ndise. Honda is offering $160,000 in certifica tes for the eigh t-race AMA Ama teur National Regi onal Qualifier Series, and another $31,250 for those riders who reach the Amateur National Final. Honda has posted $31,850 for the seven -round AMA National Reliability Trials Series, wh ere an overa ll win ner aboard a '92 Honda XR receives a $1000 gift cert ificate. Honda XR riders who q ualify and compe te on the U.S. team in the Internat ional Six Days Enduro an d earn a medal are eligible for additional bonuses up to $3000. Professional motocross riders competing in the Camel Supercross and AMA Na tional Championship MX Series are eligible for cash directly fro m American Honda. Over $400,000 is up for grabs in the Camel Supercross Series , where the top 10 finishers in the 125 and 250cc classes will receive contingency money. A privateer H onda rid er who wins a 250cc main event will receive $5000. H onda will also pay the top 10 overall finishers in each class at National Ch ampionsh ip MX events, where the winner of a 250 or 500cc Nationa l will receive $5000. A 125cc National win pays $3500. The comp lete payout breakdown is available at Honda dea lers. A 3

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