Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Fred Andrews was ano ther rider injured a t the Sa n J ose Supercro ss. Andr ews cras hed wh ile compe ting in a pre-qualifying heat, and it was first th ought he had brok en h is collarbo ne. In stead, Andrews ended up havin g three sti tches in his sho u lder. He is ex p ec ted to ride the H angtown Na tio na l. The $ 15,000 Eas t/West Coast 125cc Shootout, whi ch pits th e top 10 riders from the Easte rn and Western R egi on al l25cc Supercross Series against each ot her, and was sched u led to be held at the fina l ro und of th e Ca me l Supercross Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Co liseu m, July II , has been canceled. With the Los Angeles ro u nd rescheduled in betw een the N ati on al C ha m pio ns hip 125/ 250cc MX in Buchan an , Michigan , Ju ly 5, and the Worl d Championship 250cc MX in New Berlin, New York , many of th e easte rn riders said they wo u ld not trave l to California to co m pete. Plus, Brian Swink, th e Eas tern Regi onal 125cc Supe rcross Series C ha mp io n , anno unced a while back that he would not com pe te in th e Shootout becau se he wants to com pe te in th e 250cc class at Los Angeles. The $ 15,000 purse will be sp li t amo ng th e to p 10 rid ers in the final po int sta ndings of both seri es. Speaking of th e Los Angeles Super cross, which will be held during daylight hours, openi ng ceremo n ies will tak e pl ace a t 3:30 p .rn. and th e firs t heat race at 4:00 p.rn, T he program is sched u led to be concluded by 7:00 p .rn. Patrick " Tony" Werner , wh o wre nc hed for KTM factory team rno tocro sse r Mik e Fi sh er in 1991, was in volved in a street bik e accident in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , o n May 28, a nd is cur rent ly in a coma . Cards and lett ers can be sent to Allegheny Gen eral H ospi tal , Trauma U ni t #320, East No rt h Ave., Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, 15212-9986. T eam Suzuki off-road rid ers D a v e B ertram, R a ndy H awkins , Steve Hatch , Jon H reh o r and R odne y S mith will be on hand at the off- road clinic being held by Cycle Count ry H ond a /Suzuki in Salem , Oregon, o n T h ursday, June 25. Off-road videos will be sho wn a nd refreshments will be served. The clini c will star t at 6:30 p .m. and contin ue until 9:30 p.m, For more information, call Jimmy Smi th a t 503/ 378-0532. Road racer Rich Oli v e r underwent surgery in San Fran cisco, California, on J lin e I, to repai r his bro ken left leg. Ol iver, wh o cras hed in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix fina l at T exas World Speedway on May 31, was operate d on by Dr. Ting, the San Francisco 49crs' doctor and the man wh o o perated on Wayn e Rai ney's bro ken leg. T in g inse rted seven screws and a plate in O liver's tibia and two screws in h is fibia . ' " Ir'Il be o kay in four weeks," O liver said. "The sad part is th e schedu le - I' ll miss three races." With Brainerd (J u ne 14), Lou do n (J une 21) and Road America (J un e 28) runni ng over three co nsecu tiv e week ends, O liver expects to make h is .return a tthe Mid-Ohio round o n Aug ust 2. The WERA Pro S e rie s will host a 125cc roa d race class at three of their even ts this year, accordi ng to a press release issued by WER A. Sponsored by Moto Li berty, the Formula III class will make its debut at Indian a pol is R acewa y Park o n Augus t 9. Th e foll ow in g two ro u nds will be he ld at Mo roso Mot orsports Park o n September 20 and at the Gra nd Nati ona l Fina l at Road Atlan ta o n October 3 1. Each race will feature a $1500 purse th at will be distributed to the top eig ht p laces. Top AMA road racers Scott Russell, T homa s S t e ven s , D o u g P o len, Mike S mith, B ritt Turk in gt o n , Larry S chwarzbach, P h il Kress and N anc y D e lgado recently visited a chi ld ren's hospital in H ouston, Texas. " I was really mo ved by it," AMA Superbike Nati ona l Cha m pion Stevens said. " I saw th e look in the kid s' faces wh en we showed up and sig ned posters for th em , and I was rea lly glad to bri ghten their day. I'd like to do more of thi s." In add itio n, Ca me l H on da 's Mik e Sm i th a lso pa rtici pa ted in the 9th Annual Atla nta Rid e For Kids whi ch raises money fo r the Brain T u mor Foundati on 's pediatric research . Foll owing up hi s win in the first ro und of th e series a t Sha nno nvill e, roa d racer Steve Crevier won the second ro und of th e Ca strol -Mot opl an Ca na dian Na tio na l Ch ampionshi p a t Race City - - - - - - Continued on page 4 _ On two wheels in Lethal WeaD.. :. . .-on3 ith th e blockbuster film Lethal Weapon' topping the $100 million mark in box office proceeds last weekend, it seems that those wh o haven 't seen it are or will soon be in the minority. . One of th e hi ghlights of th e film is its bi g chase scene. Approximately a month was spe nt shooting the necessary footage and a specially-equipped Honda Gold 'Wing, supplied by Peter Starr Entertainment (yes, th e Peter Starr who gave us th e motorcycle raci ng film of th e '70s, Take It To The Limit) was an im po rta nt part of the filming process. I T he ph oto above sho ws Starr, sitting o n the bike and wearing a T eam Marlboro Roberts cap, and Sparky Edmonston, longtime friend of Kenny Roberts, Edmonston served as a stunt rid er and as a double in the film. H e's seen in the 'gu ise of o ne of the film 's " bad guys," That's Mic Rodgers, Mel Gibson 's stu n t double, in the photo below. Sitting at th e rear of th e bike is the operator of a unique camera , the Steadicam. T he Gold Win g features cu stom-engineered front and rear suspens io n, and in addi tio n to th e rear-mounted Steadica rn, which revolves 270 degrees and can be adju sted vert ica lly fore an d aft, th e bike can also carry a variety of cameras o n th e " hard mount" over the front wheel. A bla ck and white video moni tor is mounted above the bike's ins trument pane l so the opera tor of th e motorcycle can moni tor th e sho t and adjust the driving acco rding ly. An 8mm video recorder is carri ed on th e ri ght side of the bike and is wired to the video o u tlet of the Steadicam for i mmed iate ana lysis of the shot through th e forward video monitor . The Stead icam ope ra tor uses the normall y mounted standard video moni tor . According to Starr , the bike is a very smooth and stable camera vehicle and it can be o pera ted at speeds up to 90 mph for filming. If your p la ns call for a trip to a movie th eater to see Lethal Weapon' - for th e first tim e o r again , pay close a ttentio n to th e chase scene and you'll no doubt apprecia te the work of not o nly the actors, bu t Starr 's camera-bearing Gold Win g, its dri vers, and the Steadicam s o perator as well. W Motorcyclists,make adifference in California AssemblY--,,-el.. :. . :. .e-ct--,-io_n_ _ o tor cyclist rig ht s groups are being credited for ending Ca lifornia Assembl yman Dick Floyd 's bid for re-electio n in the sta te's J une 2 p rimary electio n, reports the Ameri can Motorcycli st Association (AMA). . Floyd. wh o had held the Assembly scat for 12 years, was the leading proponent of a mandatory helmet law that was passed in th e sta te in 1991. The AMA reveal ed tha t Floyd had presented fal sified inf ormation in support of that measu re, and tha t issue becam e a target of a voter in form ation cam paign design ed to unseat the Democratic incumbent. T he cam pa ign , promo ted by ABAT E of Ca lifornia, al so included endo rseme nts of candidates sensitive to the views of motorcyclists. One suc h endorse me n t wen t to J uanita McDonald, wh o, th an ks largely to the ABATE gro up's efforts, was selected to repl ace Flo yd as the Democratic candidate in the state's 55th. Assembly Distr ict. McDonald, mayor pro tern of Carson, Californ ia, won the group's endorsement based o n her sta nd on a variety of motorcycle issues, including freedom of choice/in . the a rea of helmet use: Local J riders ~ Iso made donations and contrib uted , their tim e to McDonald's election M campaIgn. ..' ,I. r -, • . ABATE of Ca lifornia officer Pau l Lax said that Floyd 's defea t represents a major victory for motorcyclists, addi ng that it pays to get involved in the elec tion process. I "Thi s victo ry 'was the direct result of a united effort by Cal ifo rn ia 's motorcycl ist righ ts movemen t," said Lax. " No t o nl y did we make a differen ce, but we pic ked up a good friend for motor cycling in the process." 3

• Cover