Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1992 06 24

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Twin Miles, two- time Gra nd National Champion Ricky Graham became the ' on ly Ca me l Pro Seri es rider this season to win o ther than T eam HarleyDavidson riders. Prior to the event, Chris Carr and Scott Parker ha d been the o nly two riders to sta nd atop the box , " Well, I'd rather win all the ti me , but a t least I'm usually the to p non -factory gu y," said Graham . Graha m's win also marked th e first Natio na l vic tory. for h is majo r sponso rs, Johnny Goad and Sarah Irby . Goad raced as an Expert in the m id- seventies and has tuned for riders suc h as Rodney Farris and Rusty Rogers , but befor e th is season had never come close to enjoying the thrill of victory. " Well it' s abo u t time," said Goad. "It's take n me abo u t 28 years. I can' t wai t for the second one.!" Irby, pa rt owner of the H onda RS750 a lo ng with Goad, former Na tional wi nner Ed Fisher an d Johnny DuPont, was eq ua lly thrilled. " I can' t beleive it , I do n't think it ha s fully sunk in yet," said Irb y. "It'll probabl y h it me a few days later and I'll go crazy." While o n the winner's box , Ricky Graham celebrated wit h a little dance and threw hi s hat to th e cro wd befor e th e trophy presentation began. The hat bore the logo of Arai helm ets, o ne of G rah am 's spo nsors. Ar a i re prese n ta tive Brian Wes ton scra m b led to retrieve it, so that Graham could continue to wea r it d uring th e ceremo ny. Finding the ha t was the easy part. Weston had to give the fan wh o caug h t it a sweatsh irt to get it back. T wo- time Grand Na tio na l Cha m pion Gary Nixon was a spectator at the Syracuse T win Mil es, and wa s seen hunting thro ugh the pi ts, loo king for a tub e of linament . " I' ve been tra ining for a race at Loudon next weekend, " said Ni xon , referr ing to a vintage road race he ' ll tak e p a rt in a t N ew Hampshire In ternational Speedway. " I did so me push-ups last n igh t and my sho ulder is lock ing up toda y." After weari ng a pair of glasses for the firs t ti me a t the May 9 Pomo na Half Mi le , fou r- ti m e Gran d N ati ona l Champion Scott Parker showed up a t the Syracuse Mile with a new, morestylish, wire-fram ed pair. " T he o ther ones worked great, but wh en I would tuc k in on the straights I would look o ver them ," said Parker. " T h is new pair sits real hi gh on my face, and besides, they don 't look as nerd y." Follo wi n g Park er 's lead , Ronnie Jones a lso wo re g lass es whil e competi ng in the Saturda y n igh t leg of the Syracuse Twin Mil es. " I figured if Scott Park er wore them too, it would be o kay," jok ed J on es. " I d id a tel evision com mercia l fo r a loca l optometr ist in Oklaho ma City, and in return he ga ve me a free check-up and pair of glasses. I didn 't thi n k I needed th em befor e tha t." Gran d Na tio na l T h ree-ti me Champi on Jay Springsteen stru gg led in Saturday night's Syracuse Mi le, finishi ng 16th , but then was a n o- show at th e fo ll o w i n g da y' s National. Apparently, th e ill ness tha t ha s so often struc k h im dow n in the pas t struc k aga in before Su n day 's even t. WERA wi ll no w perm it the slo tti ng of ca m sprocke ts i n A, B and C Superstock roa d race classes at WERA event s and in 1100, 750 and 600cc Su perstock classes at WER A Pro Series events for the rest of the 1992 season . T he cha nge was promp ted by requests from both riders and man ufacturers to mak e their AMA/CCS lega l mo torcycles also lega l for WERA competition. For more informatio n con tact WE RA headquarters at 803/681 -9372. T exan Kevin Schwantz fo und himself in a little trouble at the Ital ian GP wh en he was arrested by loca l po lice for sett ing off fireworks in the paddock . Schwan tz, Randy M amola and ot hers were setti ng off the fireworks when loca l pol ice arrived on the scene. An argu ment began an d later ended with some impromptu kick-boxing; Schwa ntz got kicked in the leg and retaliated by kicking th e rear -vision mirror off a po lice car . Some fast ta lking and the payment of a $20 fine saw Schwantz, wh o had earlier won the Italian GP ,' released and he kept th e mirror as a souven ir. IRT A, the tea m ' s a ssoci a ti o n , responded b y ban ning th e use of firewor ks in th e paddock, under the th reat of a $1000 fine, T he AMA/CCS Pro-Am Series events scheduled for Putnam Park in Indianapo lis, In diana, on August 8-9 a nd th e July 4-5 event at Texas World Speedway in College Station, T exas , ha ve been canceled. The CCS event schedu led for Texas World Speedway o n September 19-20 and the T exas ro und of the AMA Nationa l Championship Road Race Series on Octob er 10-11 wi ll sti ll be held as schedu led, according to the AM AI CCS. Several th ousand dollars have. been raised to aid inj ured road racer Mike Harth thro ugh raffl es held a t AMA/ CCS Pro-Am Series races, Each weekend a rider wins hi s entry fees back and hi s name goes into a pot for a dr awi ng to be held at Roebling Road o n J une 27-28. The winner in June will get his racing free for the rest of th e yea r (e xc ept for th e R ace o f Cha m pions) or $300 in cash . T he Bad Pit Stop Blues Band will pl ay o n Sunday evening, J une 28, at Siebkens in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, foll owing the AMA National Ch amp ionship Road Race Series round at nearby Road America, The ba nd is mad e up of members of the roa d raci ng com mun ity. . The June 26 short track at northern Ca liforn ia 's Lodi Cycle Bowl has been canceled. The Lod i M.C. , th e orga ni zers of th e weekl y short trac k races , wi ll be busy tha t weekend helping th e pro moter of th e J une 27 Pioneer Arena Short Track with h is first-tim e nigh t event . The Pioneer Arena track is a 1/5th-mile cushio n ova l. For mor e information, call 209/ 544-1027. Doug Polen's Fast By Ferracci Ducati superbike now feat ures a unit mounte d to the triple cla mp that gives the Texan a cons tant reading o n the tem pera ture of his rear tire. "If we bl ister a tire, I can see what the temperature was wh en the tire bli stered," Polen said. " T hen wh en the race comes aro und I. can keep the tire belo w that tempera ture." Polen used the infra-red device fo r the first time at Ch arlo tte in May. Muzzy Kawasaki's Rob Muzzy wasn 't in attenda nce at th e Brai nerd Int ernational Raceway ro u nd of the AMA Su perbike Series on J u ne 14. The rnu stachi oed tuner stayed in Orego n, runn in g the Ka was ak i th at Sco tt Russell and Thomas Ste v ens will campaign in the upco m ing Suzuka 8Hour endurance race in Japan o n th e dyno . its 1993 KX motocrossers, starting J une 25 in the Team Green p it area at the race track. Colin Edwards, the father of 18-year o ld road raci n g se nsa tio n Colin Edwa rd s II , denied ru mo rs th at Edwards had been offered a ride on th e 250cc Lucky Stri ke Suzuki whi le team regular Wilco Zee le n ber g reco vers from h is broken leg. The RGV250 was ridden to seventh place in the Ger man G P on J une 14 by Nobuyuki Wakai. The Ventura Vintage Short Track, to be held in co nj unc tio n wit h th e 5th Annual San Buena Vent ura Antique & Classic Motor cycle Show, will take place at 7 p.rn, on Sat urday, June 20 in Ventura, California. Classes will be held fo r si ng le and twin cyli nde r mo torcycles, according to styles and sizes. " H o t La p s" have a lso been arranged for th ose wh o would like to ta ke a tu rn o n th e track without actually competi ng. In addi tio n, th e Victo r McLaglen Mo tor cycle Stunt and . Drill Team will perform at th e event , whi ch will be held a t Vent ura Racewa y o n th e Ven tu ra Co u nty Fairgr ounds. Defendin g AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champio n J imm y Filice is havin g a toug h time of lat e. The friendly Cal ifornian is su ffering from a lack of spare parts for his H onda RS250 and the re's no relief in sig h t. Filice says that if the team doesn 't obtain a new cra nkshaf t befor e th e Road Amer ica ro und of the series at the end o f J une, he may no t be able to race. S tan Vohland, the gra ndfat her o f motocr os sers Tyson a n d Tallon Vohland , di ed o n June 10. Stan Voh land used to race motor cycles u nti l hi s gr andsons started racing many years ago. T yson is curre nt ly fourth place in the Western Regio nal 125cc Supercros s Series point sta ndings, wh ile Tallon is touring Europe on the World Ch ampio nship I25cc MX Series circuit. Mo tocrosser Gene Naumec, who crashed and was knoc ked out for a few mo me nts at th e June 6 Sa n J ose Su percross , has o ne less pa ir of racin g p ants to clea n. Wh ile la yin g un conscio u s o n th e tr ack , the paramedics saw what looked to be a compound fracture of his leg. T he med ic quickl y cu t o pe n Na u rnec's pants o nly to find h is kn ee brace causing the scare. Welcome home: T eam Su zuki's Guy Cooper is happy to report that both hi s parents have been released fro m the hosp ital just in time to celebra te the co up le's 40th wedding anniversary, in their ho metown of Stillw at er, Ok la homa. Charles and Mary Ellen Cooper were seriou sly injured in an a u tomo bi le acc ide nt last February. Both Coopers, however, sti ll have a lo ng period of rehab ilitation ahea d of th em before th ey are "fu lly recovered." Get well cards are welcomed an d sho u ld be .ma iled to, 2600 S. Sangre Rd., Still water, OK 74074. Race Tech will be offeri ng techn ica l assista nce at the June 26-28 Mammoth Mountain Motocross. Race Tech will be availabl e as of June 22 to hel p jet and dial in bikes for th e weekend races. Race Tech ow ne r Paul Thede will also be availa ble to discuss h is new video, Men tal Edge. Speaking of th e Mammoth Mountain MX, Kawasaki Team Green will be in full for ce. Team Green will be attendi ng both the Ol d Timers MX at Mammoth, June 20ยท2 1, and the an nua l MX the foll owin g week. Team Gr een will have parts, technica l assista nce, . and provide jetting and suspe nsio n set u p to all Kaw a sak i rider s in attenda nce. Kawasaki Team Green will also ' have a vintage bike displ ay starti ng o n Ju ne 19 at the Mam mo th Mou nta in Inn. The bikes o n disp lay will cons ist of past Kawasaki works MXers, ranging fro m 1974 to the '90s, incl ud in g the bik es J eff Ward rode to 125,250 and 500cc MX National Ch ampio n ships and the Camel Supercross Cha mpionsh ip . Also, Ka wasaki wi ll debut T he Mansfield M.e. of Ma nsfield , Ohio, has been forced to cance l all of its sho rt track races for th e 1992 season du e to ongo ing track resurf acing and facility improvements. For mor e information, call 419/ 524-1347, Bill Bartels will be hosting a grand opening a t h is n ew Bartels' Harle y-Davidson deal ersh ip in Mari na Del Rey, Ca lifornia , Saturday, June 20, fro m 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. J oining Bill and his famil y for th e ceremo nies will be former Los Angeles Raiders fo o t ball a nd Chi cago Wh it e So x baseba ll star Bo Jackson. J ackson will be o n ha nd to displ ay hi s custom Harl ey-Davidson and sig n au togra p hs. O th er activit ies i ncl ud e a ride-i n custom bike show and a fashion sho w featur in g the Harley-Davidson line of cloth ing and the Los Angeles area debut of the all-new Harl ey-Davidson swimwear. Fo r mor e in forma tio n, ca ll Paige at 310/ 437-6776. ISDE gold medal ists Fred Hoess, Kevin Hines and Dan N eilson will be th e featured gue sts at the Husqvarna of Gresham Open House , in G resham , Oregon, Thursday June 25, fro m 5:30 to 10:00 p.rn. T he event is being held in conj uc tio n wi th th e Ju n e 27-28 T rask T wo -Day ISDE Q ua lifi er in Mclvl in nvill e, Oregon . For mor e information, ca ll 503/ 6673970. The da te for th e Sep tember 19 CMA Canadian Supercross Series ro u nd in Montreal has been cha nge d. It has been rescheduled a day earlier and wi ll take p lace on Friday , September 18. A 199 1 Suzuki GSXRllOOM was stolen fro m a resta urant parking lot in Ana heim, Cal ifornia, J une II. The fram e number is JS16V73A4M2100054 and engi ne nu m ber V710-111432. The red, black and silver-co lored bike had a Ca lifornia distributor plate, #4920IOC. If you have any in forma tion that ma y help recover it, ca ll Craig Willia ms at America n Suzu ki, 714/ 9967040, ext. 523. Multi-ti me Na tional MX and Supercross Ch am pion Jeff Ward is well o n his way to full recovery from arthroscopi c surgery wh ich was perform ed to remo ve calciu m depo sits from hi s left shou lder on J une 4. Ward took advantag e of the resch edul ing of the Camel Los Ang eles Supercross da te fro m J une 20 to July II to hav e the procedure perfor med to relieve the pain that has p lagu ed th e factor y Kawasaki rid er all seaso n. Ward plans to com pe te at the Lo s Angeles Super cross a n d will contest the fu ll AMA Na tional Champio ns hip 500cc MX Seri es wh ich - - -- -- Continued on page ., 3

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