Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GIN THE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ Defending two -time National Cross Country Champion Scott Summers (H on) was the overa ll winner a t th e open ing round of the AMA Wiseco/ Yamaha/Yokohama Grand National Cross Co untry Seri es a t th e Da llas Ri cker Racing Complex in Greenevill e, T ennessee, March 15. T erry Cunn ingham (Kaw) fini sh ed second overa ll, S co tt Ple s s inger (KT M) was th ird , Kurt Hough (Ka w) fourth, and three- lime Nat ional Enduro Champio n Rand y Hawk ins (Suz) was fifth. Team S uzuki E n d ura nce (Suz) won th e ope n ing round of th e 1992 Vanso n/ P M National Endurance Series a t Ro ebling Road Ra cewa y ' Ill Faul kville, Georgi a, Mar ch 14. Kurt Hall a nd Mich ael Martin establis hed a n earl y lead and went o n to win th e six-hou r race b y six laps. T e am Ame r ica (Suz) was second a nd third went to Force Racing (Yam ). Larry R o e s e le r (Kaw) scored th e overa ll and 250cc class .wins at th e Teca te 250 Enduro in T ecat e, Baja Californ ia, Mexico. Mar ch 14. Seco nd o verall was Kelby P eppe r (KT M), followed by J immy Lewis (KT M), Open cla ss winner T y Davis (ATK) a nd D a v e B e r t r a m (Suz). Georgia 's Billy Lile s (H on) was th e runner-up to overall winner Ron n y ' Weu stenraed (Kaw) of Belgium a t an internationa l' MX even t in Wuust- ' wezel, Belgium , Mar ch 15. Li les won th e first mot o but crashed in the second and third races. The Ma rch 21 California Off-Road Vehicle Association convent ion at Sacramento's Canterb ury Inn will feature dis cussi ons on two key issu es facing Ca lifornia off-roaders. Ca liforni a Parks and Recreat ion Dire ctor Don Murphy will discuss a proposal to merge OHV "green sticker" funds and the OHV division of the parks Department with o ther Parks divisio ns, and CO RVA lobbyist Bob Hamm says it's "90% likely" thar U.S. Senator John Seymour will speak on Sena te Bill 2 1, which would clos e mo re than seven million acres of th e Cal ifornia desert to mo tor vehicles, and o the r pen ding desert leg isl a tio n . T he convention begins a t 8:30 a.m. :and 'costs $10 to attend. Those who wish to pre-register should co nt ac t CO RVA a t 800/2375436. There has been yet a n o ther date change for th e Texas World Speedway ro unds o f t h e AMA National Cha mpionsh ip Road Race Series . T he round schedu led for May 16-17 wi ll now tak e p lace on May 3031,' and the co nclud ing round of th e series th at was sch eduled for Octob er , 3-4 is now sch eduled for th e foll owing weekend, October 10-11. According to th e AMA, the previously annou nced dates for th e Texas World Sp eedw a y races wou ld have co nflicted with T exas A&M gr aduation in the sp ring and wi th a home football co n test in th e fall. Offi cia ls were co nce rned t ha t th e nearby Coll ege Sta tion a nd Bryan com m u n ities would not be ab le to acco mmod at e th e h eav y in fl u x o f visitors expec ted for the vari ou s events. Motocro sser J eff M a tia s e vich su ffered a badl y-bruised left thi gh whe n he cras hed while leading the March 14 Ch ar lotte Supercro ss. " It swe lled u p rea l bad and th e para med ics th ou ght it was b rok en , so I we n t to th e hosp ita l," sa id Mati asevich , who bro ke hi s right thi gh in a cras h last Au gu st. ''' I do n 't thi n k I've ever sai d so man y pr a yers as I did wh ile wai tin g for th e X-ra ys to come back. But I wa lked , ac tuall y gimped, o u t of th e hospital wi th a smi le." Mar iasevi ch immedi at ely underwent th erapy to reduce th e swelling a nd expects to co m pe te in th e Mar ch 21 Indianapol is Su pe rcross in th e H oo sier Dom e. The Daytona 200 will be telecast on The Nas hvi lle Network (T N N) on Apri l 5 a nd the Day t ona S u per cross wi ll be shown o n TNN on May 10. Ch eck your loca l listings for the times of the telecasts. The upcoming Camel P ro S eries rounds at Sacramento (Ap ril 18) and San Jose (May 17) will not have J un ior Nationals as part o f th eir programs, but Junior Invitational races will be held at both events. Rod Lake Racing wi ll sponsor th e San J ose Junior ra ce and sponsorship for th e Sacramento race is being sought. Jun ior class riders interested in participating in those events and potential sponsors of the Sacramento J un ior race shou ld call Bill Spencer at 408/436-8228. , American Honda and participa ting Honda dea lers wi ll ho st th e 6th . Annual Honda Fun Day /Big Bucks MX Shootout a t Racewa y Par k in Englishtown, New J ersey, Ap ril 12. T h is year's event wi ll include o n-road and off-road dem o ' rid es, as well as a charity cook out, self-guided tours, dual sports ride, and a tr ia ls demonstra tio n by th ree-time National Champion Ryan Young. Honda Rid- Harley- contributes ~lOO,OOO to the AMA a rley-Da vid so n In c. made a $100,000 co ntr ib u tio n 10 th e Am er ican Motorcycl ist Association a t a ceremo n y held duri ng Cycle Week activi ties in Dayto na Beach, Florida. Harley-Davidson ha s ask ed that th e money be used by th e Association 's Government Relations Depart ment to support a vari ety of activities, incl udi ng freedom of choice in th e issu e of helm et laws, opposition to di scriminator y ins urance pr acti ces, protection of gov ernment fund ing for motorcycle safety programs, a nd eq ual access for motorcycles on a ll public roadways. "The en viro n me nt for m otorcyclists in th e U ni ted Sta tes is becoming increasin g ly restri ctiv e," said Jerry Wilke , Harley-Davidson vice p resid ent of marketin g, wh o mad e th e pre sentation. " Beca use we su p port o ur cu sto mers and -the freedom o f our sp ort, we ar e making th is do nation . Harley-Da vidson recognizes th at th e AMA is the mos t effective voi ce o f th e rid er and is best eq u ip ped to handle these cha llenges. We hope motor cycli sts throug hout the co u ntry will follow Har ley-David son's lead in th is important ac tivity by joining a nd su p po rt ing th e AMA." Accepting th e chec k befor e a lar ge cro wd of H a rley-Da vidson - ow ne rs a nd memb er s o f H arl ey Owners Group (H O G ) c ha p ters, AM A Pr esident Ed Youngb lood said, " O n beh alf of the AMA's Government Relati on s Dep artment, we a re very gra tefu l for thi s genero us co ntr ibution. We will co nt in ue to work closel y wi th the Mot or cycle Riders Foundati on , sta te ABAT E chapters. a nd ot her righ ts orga n izations to confron t th e cha lle ng es faci ng mo rorcyclists. becau se it will ta ke a ll o f us working together to be successfu l." H 2 Harley--Davidson or Wood-Rotaxf A t th e Ma rch 7 Day to na Short Track, many competi tors who listed the ir Rota xpowered 600cc dirt trac kers on entry forms as "Harley-Davidson" found the AMA cha nged th e brands to Ro ta x in th e offi cial resu lts. Du e 10 pending legal acti on by Ron Wood, owner o f Ron Wood Ra cing Products a nd manufacturer of Ro tax-powered Wood -Rot a x dirt tra ck machines, the AMA has a n no unce d th at th e on ly Rotax d irt track bikes tha t may be ca lled HarleyDavidson s ar e th ose in clud ed in th e origina l batch homologated as su ch in 1984. " I do n 't want anythi ng th a t ] do n't deserve," said Wood. "B ut it was getting o u t o f hand. ] wasn 't getting the nam e recogni tion that I deserved . ] was selli ng co m p lete bik es to rid ers - fram es and a ll, a nd th ey wo u ld pa int 'Harl ey-Davidson ' on th e gas tan k befor e th ey even raced th em. " Befor e the start o f the AMA 600cc Na tiona l a nd Junior National Dirt Track Series, the AMA plans to co mpile a list o f motor numbers hom o logated in the past. T he Da ytona ShortTrack and Peoria TT are th e o nly ro unds of the Grand Natio na l Cha mp io nsh ip Ser ies that Experts ar e allowed to com pe te in aboa rd ' 600cc four -stro ke sing les. They a re required to use 750cc twin-cylinder four-strok es , in ha lf mile a nd m ile races. " By ' tha t point, w'e will have ca ta loged most of, if not a ll of th e bikes," said AMA Director o f Profession al Racing Ro y J anson. " If we ca n no t subs ta nt ia te wha t the mo tor was homo logated as, we will list it sim pl y as a Rotax. We want to g ive credi t wh ere credit is d ue." In the past, th e Rot ax mot ors have been hom ol ogat ed by the AMA under suc h names as Har ley-Davidson , Wood -R o ta x, Ca n-Am , Bombardi er , KTM a nd ATK, but as o f la te th e maj ori ty of mac hines ente red a t AMA Nation al s have been listed as Ha rleys.: " In th e past, there has been a n in centive ,for rid ers to list the ir machines as H arl ey-Da vidsons." expla ined J anson . "T he H arl ey factory posted con tinge ncy a t th e 600cc Nat io na ls. Now that has go ne awa y beca use of th e co nfus ion , a nd it' s un fortuna te." "The Harley dealer netwo rk is largely resp onsible for the si tua tio n, " said Wood. " Th ~ y .spo nso r riders . a nd force th em to cha nge th e nam es o f- th eir bikes, a nd th a t IS Illegal. I have person ally assembled a nd so ld dirt trackers to (Tea m H arleyDa vidson rid ers) Chris Ca rr a nd Kevin Atherton - I ca n go o n and on with a Iist o f na mes. "What] wa nt is for the AMA to follow th eir own ru les. Wh at they've done is been too lax in their pa tro ll ing. I requested tha t they do som ething about th e situa tion .and they didn't, so I was forced to start som e legal action. " Thou gh he admits to owning severa l Woo d-Rotax dirt trackers, four-time 600cc. Nati on a l Champio n Chris Carr states that wha t he races ar e " Ken n y Tolbert, pr epared, Ro tax-powered d irt trackers for the H a rley-Dav idso n factory." " I have ra ced Ro n 's bik es in th e past, but th e bik es] rac e now a re to tall y d ifferent. Kenny does a ll the modifications to the motors," said Carr. " I received two brand new motors fro m th e Harley factory before th e start of the season; they ha ve nothing to do with Ro n Wood. " ] do use one of Ron 's chassis, tha t's no secret," added Carr. "Bu t the mo tors th at ] run are totally diff erent. " ers Club of America a nd AMA rep resentatives will be on hand. Admission to the Fu n Day is free and specia l dis counts will be ava ilable a t the gate for admissio n to the MX a nd d rag ra ces. More infor ma tion is available a t most New J ersey and New Yor k Ci tyarea dealers. Be an early bird and be the first person " to arrive a t Bert's Motorcycles in Azusa, Ca li fornia , on a ny Satur day morning a nd yo u 'Il receive a free run o n the deal ership's new comput erized Dynoj et dyno . You 'll receive a co m p lete print-ou t of the running resu lts a nd a n exha ust an a lysis a t. no charge. The shop opens a t 9 a.m .: everyo ne wh o arr ives before 9:30 a.m . wi ll get to p lace th eir bik e o n the dyno a t halfprice ($12.50 ra th er than the regular $25). T he dyno 's cornpu ter store s all of your bike sta rs and by participating you' ll be eligible to co m pe te in a free " co m p u ter race" o n Saturday , Octob er 3 1. For mor e information, ca ll Bill Kell y a t 818/334-1288. Cinnaburst Che wing Gum, a subsid ia ry of Den tyn e, wi ll s p onso r o ne rider in the four remai ning ro u nds o f th e AMA 125cc Wes tern Regi ona l Su pe rcross Serie s in a deal p ut tog ether by Pau l T hed e, ow ner o f th e so uthern Ca lifo rn ia after ma rket per formance sho p Race T ech. Although Thede has reached ' an agreement with Cin nabu rst, he has n 't been a ble to secur e machinery backing from a ny of the J apan ese manufacturers. " T he manu facturers see th e fut ur e o f motocro ss 1Il o u tside -o f-the -in d ustry sponsorsh ip, but th ey don 't want to cha nge th e co lor of th eir bikes (to reflect the sponsor's produ ct)," said T he de. " ] wa n ted to get someone tha t a factory was a lready supporting." Thede will choose a rider and mo torcycl e bra nd a t a la ter date. Although defe ndi ng Camel Supercross . C h a m p io n J ean-Michel Bayle hadn 't wo n a n event prior to th e March 14 Charlotte Supercross and often appeared to be relatively unconcerned about that, Honda MX Team Man ager Dave Arnold says tha t Bayle sti ll wa nts to win and th at neither he nor Honda is d isa p po inted III Ba yle 's perform an ce. "He doesn ' t li ke to lo se, esp ecial ly wi th the Fren ch press sti ll followi ng him closely," said Arnold. " H onda is very gratefu l for what he accomplished last year." Arnold attrib u tes Bay le's slow sta rt this year in part to inj uries he suffered la te las t year tha t pr evented h im fro m ad eq uately testi ng the a ll-new CR250s befor e the seaso n bega n . The new CRs have given both Ba yle a nd team ma te J eff Stanton some tro ub le in the earl y supercross rounds. "Bayle is very goa l ori ented, a nd it's obvious that he's looking forward to next year," Arnold said regardi ng the Frenchman's p lan ned switch to road racing in 1993. Paul Leimbach, 69, fell victim to .;stroke on T uesday, Ma rch 10; III Verm ill io n, O hio. Leim bach was the fath er o f form er Six Days rid ers Dane Leimbach a nd th e lat e Ted Leimbach . "He was very su p port ive of o u r Six, Days efforts," said Dane, a long time emp loyee o f hi s u ncl e, Joh n Pent on. Servi ces were a tte nded by nearly 500 people. H e is su rived by his wife Pa t, a nd sons Dane a nd Orrin.

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