Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

owering fat alities to a proj ected 41,350 eaths, or 1.9 fatal ities per hundred m ill ion vehi cle miles traveled. "This arks the lo west n u mber of lives lost in one year si nce 1962," Curry said. " Mo torcyclists have done a good job f help ing red uce fatalities. Du ri ng the iscussion , which was attended by AMA Washingto n Rep resent a tive Jim Bensb erg, Curry pledged to continue N HTSA's efforts to improve motorcy cle safety by b riefing his even tual successor o n th e subject. The Federal Avia tion Administration (FAA) is the nex t stop for Curry, who co u ld be confirmed as head of th e FAA by th e Senate as early as this mo nth. Ben sberg received assurances from Curry that mo torcycle safety programs and th e operative Pro-Rider p ublic awareness ca mpaig n , run by the AMA under a g rant from NHTSA, will contin ue. Belgian Jacky Martens has inked a dea l with Husqvarna to campaign the 1992 World Championship 500cc MX' Series. Marten s, who finished ru n ner -up to Georges Jobe in the 1991 series, will ride a Husqvarna WMX610 fou r-stroke. The last time a rider won a 500cc MX GP on a fo ur-stroke motorcycle was in 1969, when English: man Da ve Nicoll scored the overall victory in Luxembourg on a BSA. If you 'r e planning to attend the Gold S t r i ke World Championship H a r e & Hound and/or th e Mesquite G ran Prix, be ad vised th at th e dates of th e races have been changed. The Gold Strike is now set for January 17-19, and the Mesquite GP Februar y 28-Mar ch I. For more information ca ll Best of th e West 702/457-5775. Malcolm Smith Racing has officia lly announced its 1992 MX and off-road race team riders. They a re three-time National Enduro Champio n R a n d y H a w k i n s, fo u r -ti m e Nationa l Enduro ' Champion Terry C u n n ingham , 1987 end u ro champ Kevin Hines, J im m y Le wis, Du ane Co n nor, Kelby Pepper, Steve H a tch , Dave Bertram, J an H reh or, Kurt and Aaron H ou gh, a nd motocrosse rs G uy Coope r, Mi ke LaRocco and Ezra Lusk. The AHRMA-West /NorCal Awards Banquet will be held a t th e Picadill y Inn in Fresn o, Ca li forn ia, o n Sa tu rday n ight, J anua ry 18. Two-time 500cc MX W o rld C h am pion J eff S m i t h, th e execu tive direct o r ' o f AH R MA, will be the guest sp ea ker. Tickets are $25 per ad ult ($12 for children under 12) and th ey're avai lable from: AHRMA, P.O. Box 882, Wausau, WI 54402. For m ore in formatio n, ca ll 209/252-9053. Texarkana Honda in T exarka na, Texas, is ho st ing a n open house on J anuar y 25 in conj u nc tion with the open ing ro u nd o f the AMA Nat ional Championsh ip H ar e Scrambles Series th at takes pl ace o n J a n ua ry 26 in At la n ta , Texas. Def en d i n g H a re Scram bles a nd Cross Country Champion Scott Summers and 1989 H are Scra mbles Champion Scott Plessinger will be on hand to sign a utographs a nd answer questio ns. Also , Su m mers' mec ha ni c Fred Bramblett wi ll host a H on da XR setup seminar, as wi ll Jack P enton with KT M mo torcycles. For more information, ca ll 903/831: 5500. According to the Sydney (Australia ) Daily Herald, Wayne Gardner has signed a one-year co ntra ct with Honda that will pay him $3.2 million. The cont ra ct will make G ar d nerAustralia 's hi ghest paid sportsman, only weeks after i t appeared th e 1987 Wo rl d Champio n would no t ha ve a ride in 1992. According to the new sp aper , Gardner received a letter from Honda at the end o f November termina ting nego tia tio ns a nd wishing h im luck for the future. A week la ter, Gar d ner sent a letter to the president of H onda thanking him fo r the year s of backin g a nd explaining why he would not be ba ck in '92. Almost immedia tel y Gardner was called to J apan where, after three-and-a-half hours of negotiations with th e head o f HRC, he walked away with all hi s req uests granted. " I got everyth ing I wanted , th at's wh y I'm ex tremely happy," Gardner said. " I' ve done th e best I' ve ever done and fin ancially it's the best by a long shot." Three-time Nelson Led,ges ' 24-Hour winner Heschimura R a cin g will ca m pai g n a Honda CBR900 in the WE RA National Endurance Series and selected AMAlCCS enduran ce even ts in 1992. The Bob Hesch-owned team will consist o f Steve Pi n kley, Fritz T ho mas, Bill Wi lke and Ron McGill and will receive backing fro m No rt hgate Honda . The team is lookin g for addi tional support a nd can be reached at 412/935-5543. Two-time World Champion 'W a y n e Raine y . has been riding a 100cc minibike in so u thern Cal ifornia and will begin riding a 250cc motocrosser short ly. Ra in ey, wh o is recuperating from a broken. leg, is hoping to m ak e th e Marlboro Rob erts Yamaha test session in Malaysia on J an ua ry 26. " It' s com ing a lo ng," Rai ney said. " I don ' t have full range yet , but it's to the point wh ere if I fall it won't break again. T he scar tissue is the on ly th ing preventing me from having full ra nge o f 'm o tio n. It seems like forever since I rode a motorcycle. I was tenta tive in putting my foot down at first , but it 's nothing. It rea lly hurts more working o u t than it , does riding. I'm rea lly happy with my progress." Harrison Reno, 81, a former dirt track racer a nd owner of Harrison R en o Ho n da i n Sa n Bernardino, California, passed away o n December 16 fro m complica tions of pneumonia. Ren o is survived by his wi fe, Buffy. Five-tim e 500cc MX Wor ld Champion Roger DeCoster will rid e a Manx Norton in th e AHRMA PaceRace a t Dayto na Intern ational Speedway on March 2. The PaceRace is an event that a llows riders wi th p riceless and signi ficant machines to lap at co nt ro lled speeds a nd passin g is not all owed. Although he went o n to earn his fame in th e dirt, DeCoster says he had a poster o f a Ma nx No rton on h is wa ll as a youth and always dreamed of ridi ng o ne. T wo- time G ra nd Na tional Champion Gary Nixon will also take part in the AH RMA vintage road race meet at Dayto na on Mo nday, Mar ch 2. Nixon will co m pe te aboard a Mat chless G50 as a member of T eam Obsolete. Other . members of th e team include multitime AHRMA cha mp D a vid R oper (G50 a nd Duca ti 750 sh ort -stroke), Don Vesco (Ma n x Norton ), Yvon DuHamel (ex-Dick Mann BSA 750 triple), and John Cron shaw (G50), the three-time winner of England' s Classic Bike Championsh ip. A co urse cha nge will see AHRMA competitors riding much o f th e fa med Dayto na high-banked tri- oval th is year. B MW o f N orth ' America ha s announced tha t its 1992 riding safety- DeAnz aclosed fOf imnfovements eAnza Cycle Park in Moren o Valley, Cal ifornia, has been closed for an indefinite period of time while impro vem ents a re made to the popular riding ar ea. The closure went into effect on Jan uary 2. .Acco rding to Bud Ge rman, deputy dir ector o f Riversid e County Parks, th e closure 'will only be temporary a nd will a llow for th e Riv ersid e County Parks Department to mak e ap p ro xim a tely $4 million in improvem ents. T hat money co mes from t he state's " G reen St icker" fund a nd was issued several years ago. Lee Ch auvet , deputy d irector of the off-high way vehicle division o f th e California Department o f Parks a nd Recrea tion, says th at th e sta tewill work with th e co unty to reopen th e park. . A stat ement released by th e Riv ersid e County Parks Department said, " The co u nty is completing p la ns and specifi cations for many improvem ents to the park's ridi ng tra cks, u til it ies, day use, entra nce a nd landscaping/drainage. Upon ap p ro val by the state granting age ncy , th e county will ob ta in a co ntract to begin co nstruc tio n, hopefu ll y in March. All im p rove me nts are expected to be co mpleted by Octob er 30, 1992. and th e park will reopen sh ortly thereafter. " . Accordin g to German, th e early closurewill allow Doug Hall , th e con cessionaire wh o ran DeAn za, time to d ism antle a nd remove his property. H all conten ds that th e closure was due to a m ulti-million dollar law su it filed by a rider wh o was injured at DeAnza . " It was closed do wn because the (Riverside) cou n ty su pervisor is afra id of more lawsuits," claims H a ll , whose co n tract expired with th e co unty on J anuary 2 an d wasn 't renewed. Roy Hord, admin istrative assistant to supervisor Norton Younglove wh ose d istrict includes DeAn za, denied th at th e closure was mad e because o f th e lawsui t a nd said the decision to clos e DeAnza for im p rove me nts was m ad e by th e Riversid e Co u nty Parks Department and th at H a ll 's opera ti ng licen se agreeme nt with the county had expired. " Whe n the improvemen ts ar e comp lete, th ere will be a new request for proposals by operators, a nd Ha ll ca n ap p ly," sai d H ord. H a ll p lans to submit a p roposal , bu t is doubtful that th e park will reo pen for some time. " The co u n ty hired p lan ners abo ut three years ago, but th en told the state th ey had no manpower to deve lop DeAn za,' says H all. "The only thing we got was fenci ng. T hey were suppo sed to hav e every th ing do ne in Decemb er , 1990. " T hey do n 't like me because I com plai n a bo ut the slow pr ocess o f gett ing th ings done. It 's up to th e parks d irector s to pick who will opera te DeAnza." T he closure ca ugh t park users o ff-guard, but accordin g to H or d, it shoul dn 't ha ve been a surprise since H all 's con trac t was due to expire. H all , who thought he had an o th er year on hi s permits, sai d , " I knew the per m it renewal wo u ld be co m ing u p , bu t I ha d no idea it (the closu re) was coming." D related promotional programs will co ncentrate on the Mot or cycle Safety Founda tion's nationwide network of rid er trai ni ng co urses. A free MSF RiderCourse wi ll co n tin ue to be o ffered with th e purch ase o f a new BMW motorcycle to encou ra ge riders to improve thei r skills th rough trainin g. H o wever, BMW will no longer offer th e cho ice of a free CLASS course with th e purch ase of a new bike. BMW said that limit ed access to ra ce tra cks acro ss th e co u ntry that host CLASS, th e mo torcycle riding safety school owned and run by form er AMA Superbike Ch ampion Reg P rid more, made it im possible for the majority o f BMW purchasers to tak e adva n tage of the offer. BMW will co n tin ue its major support o f CLASS. The five-round Canadian Motorc ycle Ass o c iati o n Ice Racing Serie s gets underway o n J anuary 26 in Bra ceb ridge, Ontario. The followin g rounds will all take place in Quebec (February I, Aylmer; February 9, Val D'Or; February 16, Repe ntign y; and February 23, St. Narcisse. Series prize money totals $22,000 a nd $250 will be awarded to any American who ca n win the 600cc Expert class at one o f the last two rounds. For .m o re in fo rmat ion , ca ll Budd y Ford at 514/ 654-8193. BieHe USA , the No r th Ame r ica n rep resen tati ves of Bieffe Helm e ts w ill post m o re th a n $2 30 ,000 in co ntingency mo ney for th e '92 ra ce season. Bieffe's contingency p rogram covers the Camel Supercross Seri es, Ca m el Pro Seri es, AMA Na tio na l Champi onship MX Ser ies , A MA Nat ional Championship Road Race Seri es, a nd th e WERA Pro Seri es. For more information, contact Mark Hand leman at 408/436-8098. Dirt track racers will have an opportunity to blow th e cob webs o u t of th eir machines a t the 12th Annu al Pre Daytona Half M il e which will tak e place at Devils Bowl Speedway in Dallas, T exas, on Sunda y, February 23. Pro mot er Bob Bagwell will be o ffering Amateur and Vintage class races along with a full Pro-Am program. For more information, ca ll 214/216-5520. T he 21st Annual NMA World Mini Grand Prix will take place at Las Vegas Motocross Park in Nevada on April 24-26, The '92 NM A G ra nd Nationals at Ponca Ci ty, O klahoma , will be run August 5-9. MARRIED: Former yc e wsna magazine ed i to r Alan Gird ler, to Nancy Tucker, November 23, in San J ua n Capistrano, Ca liforn ia. BORN: Kyle Scott Carruthers, son of Cycle New s associate edi tor Pau l Carru t hers and his w ife Joni , in Orange, California, December 26. BORN: J a mes Edward Forbes, son of Clyde and J ennifer Forbes, owners o f Class Act Cycl e, i n Elizabethton, Tennessee, December 18. CORRECTiON: Contrary to wh at was print ed in th e ad pl aced by th e Desert Vipers M.e. in issu e #50, a $4000 - no t $100 - purse will be up for grabs in the Pro class a t th e Februar y 1-2 Adelanto Grand Prix in Ade la nto, Ca lifo rnia. The Pro class race wi ll be hel d on Saturda y. BORN: James Anthony H o lley, son o f fo rmer fac tory Yam aha rnotocros ser Jim Holley and Mel issa Edwards , in Glendale, Ca lifornia, January 4. 3

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