Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

is currently contesting the Japanese 500cc championship aboard a factory Pentax Honda. Beattie qualified seven th for th e Japanese GP, but pulled in on th e warm-up lap with a mi sfire. His next race is April 12 at T sukuba, the same date as the Australian GP. Another po ssibility was tha t 250cc World Champion Luca Cadalora would take over th e ride, though that' s less likely. And the nam e, of Two Brothers Racing's Freddie Spencer was brought up by more th an one forecaster. A decision is expected by Wednesday , April I. The best rumor of the J apanese GP weekend was that th e Augus t 23 running of the Brazilian GP at In terlagos was go ing to be replaced by a race at Laguna Seca International Raceway. The dat e was th e one or iginall y offered for th e U.S. GP. The rumor, whi ch won 't easily go away eve n though it's gro u n dless , was sta rted when it was discovered that GP boss Bernie Ecclestone was in th e U.S., th ou gh, as it tu rns ou t, o n vacati on. Gilera, wh ich was making its raci ng comeback after 35 years, didn 't fare so well in th e 250ccJapan ese GP. Frenchman Jean-Philippe Ruggia compl eted one lap before pitting with water in the carbureto rs, and Venezuelan Carlos Lavado came in just pas t the halfway po int wh en the spa rk lead came loose. Papa received a copy of " the first Soviet special magazine for motorcyclists" th e other da y. Moto is being published in Moscow. In an accompanying letter, Editor-In Chief B. Demtchenko said, " You are holding the very first number of a new edi tion - the first Russian motorcycle magazine Moto. In our pages we are going to publish the informat ion about new motorcycles, moto jorneys (sic) acro ss ou r count y and about various subjects in which motorcyclis ts are interested." Demtchenko sa id th er e ar e 20 m illion motorcyclists in Russia. The magazine is crudely produced and has no advertisements. Papa found it strange that the inaugural issue 's cover featured two scooters. Color photos, including the cover shot, look similar to copy machine reproductions. Richard KeIrn, 61, su ffered a fatal heart attack at his Gardena, California, home on February 18. Kelm fielded BSAs for the likes of Sammy Tanner and Shorty Seabourne in th e sixties and later Yamahas for th e likes of Yvon DuHamel. In response to the increasing n umber of states with legislation mandating lead battery recycling, a new broch ure has been made available that exp lain s how motorcycle, tru ck and car batteri es can be easily recycled. For a copy of The Consumer's Guide to Lead Battery Recycling, publi shed by , Battery Council Internation al, call . their toll-free hotl in e at 800/658- 1200. American Suzuki is inte rested in h ea r in g fro m vintage Suzuki owners as part of a potential promotional campa ign . If you have a vintage Suzuki of any model or year that you th ink is worthy of note, Suzuki would like to hear from you. Write to: J oe Col ombero , P.R. Man ager, American Suzuki Motor Corp., 3251 East Im peria l Hwy., Brea, CA 92621, or call 714/ 996-7040, extension 263. Mike Parker, th e 1985-86 District 29 125 and 250cc Pro MX class champ, suffered what are feared to be pa ralyz- ing injuries when he received gunshot wounds to the neck and shou lder region in a reported alterca tion wi th a disgruntled customer at h is fath er' s business in Long View, North Car olin a, on March 19. H is fath er, Col en Parker, was kill ed in the in cident , and a cu stom er in the store was wou nded. A suspect was arrested sh ortly after being seen by police as he was fleeing th e scene, and ha s been cha rged wit h one coun t of murder and two coun ts of assa ult wit h a deadl y weapon with inten t to in flict serious injury. Mike Parker is listed in cri tica l condi tion. Cards and lette rs may be sent to him clo Frye Regi on al Medical Center, 420 North Center St., H ickory, NC 28601. T eam Yam ah a 's Damon Bradshaw, Jeff Emig .and Doug Dubach will be on hand to sign autographs at K&W Cycle in Utica, Michigan, on April 9. The signing is held in conjunction with th e April I I AMA Su percross at the Pon tiac Silverdo me. For more , inform ation call 313/7310290. J ust a rem inder that the field hearing a t th e Palm Desert High Schoo l Gy mnasium, in Palm Desert , California, April 3, regard ing Senator Alan Cranston 's Desert Protection Act (S. 21) and U.S. House of Represen ta tives Bill 2929 (H R 2929) is rapidly ap proachi ng . T his may very well be your last oppo rt u nity to express your oppo sition to Senat or Cranston 's socalled Desert Protection Act. Sena tor J ohn Seymour is expected to chair th is hearing, as well as Senat or Cranston. T o allow as many speakers as possibl e, one-mi n ute in crements will be provided. Call Senator Seymou r's Sacramento office to request 10 speak at 916/ 557-2733. Be sure to wear bright orange clothing to the hearing to show that you oppose these bills, as the Sierra Club and o th er " clo se- the- de sert" groups will be wear ing yellow . Speaking of Senator John Seymour, he was the guest spea ker at the recent California Off-Road Veh icle Association (CO RVA) con ven tion in Sacramento, California. According to a CORVA new s release, he expressed hi s disgust at Senator Alan Cranston's lack of concern for individu als who use the desert for recreation , employment and ranching. He then en couraged the CORVA membersh ip to keep active in the political arena. In conjunction wi th the thi rd rou nd of th e AHRMA Vin tage Iron Na tional MX Ser ies at Sa n d h ill Ranch in Brentwood, California, April 12, there will be a Past Masters Race. Those scheduled to compete include two-time 500cc MX World Cham p io n Jeff Smith, 1982 500cc MX World Champion Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, Barry Higgins, Donnie Cantiloupi, Chris Carter, John Hately, a nd a few more not- yet -confirmed riders. For more in forma tion call 715/ 842-9699. Nationa l En duro Ch a m p io n Jeff Russell spe nt th ree da ys i n the hos pita l after th e foo t he injured a t the Ma rch 14 Tecate En d u ro became infected. "T he foo t is coming alo ng slo wly but surely," said Russell on Marc h 30. " It turns out that I have cell u litis, whi ch is a bad infectio n of th e blood that's centered in my foo t. I;ve been lying flat on my back with my foot in the air th e last week. It 's been very pain ful. I'm still hoping to ride th e Illi n ois National Enduro (April 5), bu t I don ' t want to lose my foot over a race. So I'm basically just waiting aro und to see what happen s." Motocrosser Mike Fisher will mi ss the April 25 Las Vegas Supercross. ''I' m competing in th e Austrian 250cc GP to support KTM, and I'm goin g over a week earl y to race an internation al MX in Swi tzerl a n d," sa id Fisher, wh o is backed by the Austrian fir m . When th e Camel Supercross Series ends on June 20 in.Los An geles, Cal iforn'ia , Fis h er wi ll return to Europe to com pete in the rema ini ng 250cc GPs. Mike Fisher also p lans to ride a 600cc KTM LC4 in the White Bros. FourStroke World Classic, the support class for the April 4-5 500cc U.S. MX GP at Glen Helen OHV Park in San Bern ardino, California. Other notab le entrants in clu de defending race champ Brian Manley, Ty Davis, Greg Zitterkopf, Brian Myerscough and Rex Staten. Round two of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AH RMA) West Regional MX Series was rai ned ou t on March 22, bu t has been rescheduled for May 31 at LA Cou nty R acewa y i n Palmdal e, California. Twenty-four abused teenagers from Passageway grou p home were given tickets by WERA to attend th e Del Amo Suzuki Cycle Jam to be held at Will ow Sp rings Interna tion al Ra ceway in Rosamond, Ca lifornia, on April 3-5. Pa ssageway is a non- prof it residen tial trea ting facil ity loca ted in th e Woodlan d H ill s area of southern Cal ifornia. The teenagers will also be in attenda nce at the AMA/Camel Pro H alf Mile dirt trac k race at the Pomono Fairgrounds on May 9, thanks to a don at ion by Chris Agaj anian Presents, In c. . M a r t h a Shobert, 52, mother of three-time AM A G rand National Ch ampion Bubba Shober t, p ass ed away on Friday, March 20, in her hometown of Lubbock, T exas , after a battle with lung cancer. Martha Shobert is survived by her husband Don , daughters Deborah and Donna, and son Bubba. For the secon d strai gh t year, th e American Suzuki Mot or Corporation has sign ed on as th e titl e sponsor of th e AMA National Dual Sport Trail Ride Series. Anyon e who rides in any of the non-competitive, multiday AMA/ Suzu ki rides will be eli gibl e 10 wi n a Suzuki DR350S that will be given away as a gra n d prize through a drawing held at the end of th e series. In addition , Acerbi s, Answ er, H ein Gericke, MOIO-Wear, Metzeler, Scott and Shoei wi ll al so be giving away prizes in the dra wing. In additi on , Suzu ki represen tati ves will be on hand at each event to provide technical in for m ati on a n d to p ro m ote th e Suzu ki Dua lSpo rt Riders Club. Ma ny of the top roa d racers in the cou n try ha ve pre-e nte red for the Del Amo Suzu ki California Cycle J am on Apri l 4-5 at Willow Springs Int ern ational Raceway in Rosam on d, Californi a. Amo ng the ent rees for the ope n ing round of the WERA Formula USA Ser ies ar e cu rr ent AMA Superbike Nationa l Ch ampion Thomas Stevens, defending WERA F-USA Ch am p ion Rich Olive r , T ea m Suzuki End urance' s Chuck Grave s and Donald Jacks, and form er F-USA Ch ampion Scott Gray. T he Air Tech Formula II class a lso boasts an impressive entry, incl uding Dayton a 250cc class winner Colin Edwards and his teammate Chris D ' Aluisio, Nick Ienatasch, Kenny Roberts, Jr. and defending F-Il Champion Donnie Greene. American Roadracing magazine has been sold to J im Hansen, the presid en t of H ansen Com mu nica tions Inc. The monthly tabloid was sold by Terry Vance of Vance and H ines Publishing, Inc., to Hansen on March 24. ''I'm excited abo ut the sale of Ame rica n R oadracin g to Ji m H an sen ," Van ce sai d in a release issued by H ansen Com municatio ns. " H e brin gs vast motorcycl e publish in g ex perience to th e publication. I'm con fident th at under hi s leadersh ip American Roadracin g will con tinue to grow as a q ua lity motorcycle publication." Hansen , who most recently served as vice presiden t an d publisher of Cycle World Magazine for H achette Mag azin es, Inc., plans to continue operation of the p ub lica tio n fro m its current offices in Santa Fe Sp rings, Cal ifornia, pe nding a site study of new office loca tions. Dunlop has announced that it will be sponsoring the Toyota Grand Prix of Laguna Seca on April 24-26, and the AMA Nationa l Ch ampionship Road Race at Mid-Ohio, in Au gust. In addition, Dun lop will also air commercial s du ring AMA ro ad raci ng television coverage in 1992. From the Just A Reminder Departme nt: The 51st running of the Daytona 200 will be televised on Apr il 5 at 7:00 p. rn, on T he Na shv ille Network (T N N). CORRECTION: Th e California Trail ,R ides-pro mo ted 2nd Annual U.S. GP Dual Sport Ride will ta ke place as sch edu led on Saturday, April 4. The Friday, April 3, version of the ride was scheduled to allow participants to attend the April 4 California desert bills hearing in Palm Desert and is an addi tional ride , not th e only one . For more informat ion, call 714/8461241. ENGAGED: Paul Kellen , motorsports division marketing coordinator at Yamaha Motor Corporation, to Juliana Baughman. MOVED: House of H andlebars, the motorcycle accessory store, to 8531 E. Artesia Blvd., Bellflower, CA 90706 (Pho ne: 310/ 423-7936). A grand opening will be held April 10-12. STOLEN: Two 1992 H onda CR250 motocrossers from a ga ra ge in Westminster, California , March 25th . The fra me s' se ria l numb ers are a s follows: JH2ME0305NM401193, and JM2ME0303NM402214. If you have any informa tion, ca ll Bob Bell , .714/ 894-5035 , or 1-800/ 899-2378. BORN: Cordis Daniel Bro oks, to form er desert racer Cordis Broo ks and his wife Michele, on Mar ch 15, in Lo s Alami tos, California. CORRECTION: Motocro sser Jef£ Ward is scheduled to undergo surgery the week of March 30 to h ave a pa tch of ski n cancer removed from his rig h t arm, and not arthroscopic sho ul der su rgery as earlier repo rted. Ward will mi ss the April 4-5 500cc U.S. MX G P, bu t sh o u ld be h ea led in time to compete in the April 11-12 Pontiac Supercross do ubleheader. BORN: Charles Ryan J oh nson to former Cycle N ews associate p ubli sher Skip J ohnson and his wife Den ise on March 26 in Min neapo lis, Minnesota. Johnson is no w the associate publisher/advertising director for Wat er Scoot er magazine. 3

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