Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1993 07 14

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

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127584

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 2 of 59

w ro ngfu l d eath s uit fil ed b y th e wi dow of for mer G ra nd N ational Champio n Steve Eklund, who su ffered fata l injuries in the Albuque rq ue Mile, a Grand Na tiona l Championship Series race held in Jul y, 1990. Plain tiff h ad a rg ued , but no negligence was found aga inst the New Mex ico Sta te Fairgro unds , pro moter Chr is Agaja ni an, the AMA, referee Duke .Olliges, et aI. Honda of Troy's Johnny O'Mara was on hand at the Red Bud National, but opted not to compete because of p ain in the h eel he injured earlier in the season. "I p ra ct ic e d at Jeff St anton ' s house all week and it was no problem, bu t all the big jumps her e are hard on it," said th e 1983 125 cc N at io na l Champion. O'Mara will deci de during th e week whether or not to compete next weekend at Unadilla. Ano ther round has been added to the AMA 600cc Na tional Cham pionship Series, upping the dirt track series to six rounds. The event will serve as the fourth round and is scheduled for July 24 on the asphalt short track at Oxford Plains Sp eedway in Oxford, Maine. Five-time series champion and current seri es po int leader Chris Ca rr is among the pre-entered riders. So far, Carr has won the first three events and hopes to keep his perfect record intact. Tick ets for th e Mike Kid d Promotion s /Mot o It ali a Prom otions / Oxford Plains Speed w ay-eo-promoted event are availabl e from participating New England Stat e Harley-D avidson deal ers. For more information call 207/ 539-8865. When in terviewing 250cc class runnerup Mike LaRocco after the race at Red Bud, race announce r Larry Ma iers asked th e loc al h ero why h is b ike wasn't as fast off the line as th e bike ridden by teamm ate Mike Kiedrows ki. "It's got a different number," laughed LaRocco, wh o is frequently plagued by po or star ts. With a rare weekend off prior to the July 4 Red Bud National MX at Buchanan, Michigan, few motocrossers seized the opportuni ty to grab some R&R at Lake Hav asu, Arizona, a popular water playg ro un d o n the Colorado River . "When ever we ha ve a week off, I get ti red a t th e next race," sa id Camel Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, after fadin g from first to fourth in the first 125cc moto. "Maybe I sh ould n ' t ha v e go ne to Havasu." A fter a few momen ts, McGrath reconsidered: "No, that can' t be th e problem; Em ig wa s there too." Jeff Emi g won both motos by large margins. a Former fact ory Yamaha rid er Keith Bo wen competed 'a t Red Bud, and the Michigan rider finished 13th overa ll desp ite not ha ving ridden d u ring the three weeks prior to race da y. Bowen also raced at th e Pontiac Sup ercross earlier in the yea r, bu t failed to make the main event. Newly crowned 125c c We stern Regional Supercross Ch amp ion Jimmy Gaddis sat out the Red Bud Na tion al due to a bruised knuck le an d pull ed tend ons in hi s le ft h an d . G a ddis i ~jured th e h and i n a cras h at th e Ha ngtown National two weeks earlier. He expects to be back in action for the Troy, Ohio, round on July 25. The R usty Br a d l e y Memorial Fou ndati on, originally es tablished to provide college scholarships to young professiona l m o torcycle ra cers, h as been dissolved. Th e assets o f the Foundation, to talling over $5000, have , been signed over to the University of F einsteinmakes few c esto desert bill han he long and tenuous negotiations between motorcyclists and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinste in hav e resu lted in seve ral mod ifications to .her controversial California , Desert Protection Act, but fall short of an acceptabl e compromise, says the AMA. On June 30, Feinstein (D-California) refused to fully accept the terms of a counter proposal mad e by the AMA to modify her bill, S21, which wou ld lock up man y traditional travel routes in vast areas of the California ·desert. The senator's long-awaited response to the AMA 's proposed ame ndments followed a meeting with AMA Washingto n Representative Jim Bensberg. The AMA's plan consisted of a list of specific changes to keep open a limited num ber of motori zed corridors and a popular open dune in the desert. As proposed, the Feinstein bill wou ld designate millions of desert acres as wilderness or national park land , closed to all motorized travel. The requested changes in the bill involved shifting a minuscule amoun t of land from wilderness designation to a category that would allow limited motorized travel on approval routes. Those areas amounted to less than 78 miles of trails and corridors, and 62,000 acres in the heavily used South Algodones Dunes . Close to 9 million acres of wilderness are proposed in Feinstein's S21. However, Feinstein has decided that man y of the AMA's suggested changes are not acceptable. Instead , she has offered a significantly scaled down version of the AMA's origina l plan that would address less than half the issues of importance to motorcyclists and others. "While we are glad to see tha t Sen. Feinstein has responded to our concerns," said Bensberg, "her amendments simp ly do not go far enough in meeting the needs of those who have traditionally relied on the dese rt for recreation. Therefore, we must continue to oppos e this bill un til further changes are made." Meanwhile, the unmodified dese rt bill con tinu es to move forward . It's expected that the Feins tein measure will receive a "mark-up" in the Senate Ener gy and Natu ral Resources Committee sometime in mid-July. That could send the bill, for the first time, to the Senate floor for final action . Howeve r, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Cam pbell (D-Colorad o) has been working with the AMA to make the bill more accep table to motorcyclists. As a powerful member of the Energy commi ttee, his involvement is significan t. "I'm not sure what the final outcome will be," said Campbell, "b ut if Sen. Feinstein do esn't move a little bit on it, I' m no t going to support the bill. If a coup le of Democratic sena tors go the other way, it's a dead bill." Motorcyclists are urged to express their op position to the Feinstein measure. Letters can be sen t to the sena tors at the United States Senate , Wash ington, D.e. 20510. To have a pre-w ritten, personal Mailgram sent to senators exp ressing you r views, call the AMA's Legislative Hotline at 900/454-RIDE. The cost of this service is $4.95 per call, billed to your monthly telephone statement. You mu st be 18 or older to participate. T Te xa s a t A rlington's engineer in g school, where Brad ley once wa s a s tudent. Bradley w as killed in an accide n t in the 1971 D ayt o na 200. Following his death, the Fo un dation was e sta blis h ed and s chola rsh ip s w ere issued to a n u mber of youn g professiona l riders in h is m emory . AMA Presi de nt Ed You ngblood, who 'served as a trustee for the Foundation, said, " Fo r a number of reasons , th e Brad ley Fou ndat ion had become inac- . tive over the last 10 years, an d it was deci ded that the funds should be used to honor Rusty 's history as an engineering stud ent at Arlington . The trus tees, including Rusty 's parents, are pleased with the way this p roject has concluded." Several seminars will be conducted a t the Ju ly 25 M ikuni Calendar Bike Show at the Museum of Flying at the Santa Monica Airport in San ta Monica, California. XRV Performance's Roger KaIIins w ill p res ent a Harley- Davidson tuning seminar at 1 p .m ., Tw o Brothers Racin g's Tommy Lynch w ill host a spor tbike riding semi nar at 2 p .m ., and a superbike tuning seminar will be co n d u c te d by Team Yosh imu ra /Sp ort Rider's Ca r r y Andrew at 3 p .m. It lo o ks as th ou gh Belgi an Stefan Everts will be stayi ng in Eu ro pe next ye a r to co mpe te in th e 1994 World C hampionsh ip 25 0c c MX Serie s ins tea d of coming to the U.S. to comp ete in the Cam el Superc ro ss a n d National Championship MX Series. In 1992, the 20-year-old Everts competed in the firs t few rounds of the Camel Su percross Series be fore heading back home to follow the 250cc GP circuit. At that tim e, Eve rts talked about returning to the U.S. full time in '93, b u t an injury. p revented him from placing well in th e '9 2 Wo rl d Champions hip seri es, so the Belgian decided to stay in Europe for 1993. He is curren tly seco nd to Greg Albertyn in the 250cc GP po int standings. "I don' t have any defin ite pl an s y e t, b ut I expect to race o ne mo re year in Europe ," sai d Ever ts after winni ng th e June 27 Ir ish GP. " There 's s till a sma ll chance th at I would go to Am erica nex t year, but if I'm seco nd in the championship, then I will defin itely race one more year of GPs." Wayne County M 'C, of Newark, New York, will host an AMA / AHRMAs a nc tio n ed Vintage En du ro on Oct ober 3. The event will start at the Fairvi lle Fire Department's fire station off Rt. 88 No rth in Fairvillc, New York. For more in for matio n, call 315 /3316649. Kyle Ellefsen of Spear 's Cycle Shop in Washingtonville, New York, says they plan to field a team in the 1994 AMA Eas te rn Regi onal 125cc Supercross Seri es and th e AMA National , Championship 250 an d 500cc MX Series. The team will consist o f approximately three riders, who will compete on Sp ear's Cycle Shop-prepared Kawa saki KX125 an d 250 'motorcycles. If you ' re in terested, call 914/496-9104. The Florid a M ot orcycle D ealers Ass oci a tio n (FM DA) h as written a comprehensive ma n ual covering a ll the laws that affect Florida mo torcycle dea le rs h ips. The extensive m a n u al informs owners, ma nage rs and emp loyees abou t Florida laws th at they m ust comply with o r q uestio ns they will encoun te r fro m th eir custom ers. Topics covered in the 50-page plus book include licensin g, education, safet y, insurance, franchise laws, repairs and more. The manual is ava ilabl e to FMDA members for $25 plus $2 shipping and 7% sales tax; the cost to non-members is $65 pl us ship ping and tax . To or der the man ual, send a check payable to FMDA to 335 Beard sr, Tallahassee, FL 32303, or fax your MasterCard or Visa or de r to 904/ 6812890. ' CORRECTION: Th e point sta ndings we ran w ith o ur coverage o f the AMA/ CCS 750cc Supersp o r t Se ries race at Lou don were incor rect. The correct po in t standings after six of 10 ro u n ds are as follo w: 1. Britt Turki ngton (197/3 wins); 2. Ge ra ld Ro thman Jr. (145/1); 3. Taka hiro Sohwa (144/1); 4. Fritz Kling (137); 5. (TIE) Jason Pridmore/James Randolph (118); 7. Ma rk McDaniel «114); 8. Dean Mizdal (113); 9. Dav id Sad ows ki (90/1); 10. Aaron Yates (72); 11. Robert Meister (65); 12 . (TI E) Ch arles Graves/Robe rt Wright (60); 14. Robin H oliday (57); 15. Kurt Hall (56); 16. (TIE) Chuck ' Downie/Ke n Greene/Dave Rosno (55) ; 19 . Mark Smith (50); 20 . (TIE) Ti m BIasquez/Lorne Banks (47). NAMED: Yoshinori Fu jii, by Am erican Suzuki Motor Corporation as president. Fujii will replace Kenjii Sh imi zu wh o w ill be r eturn in g to Jap an to assume new responsibilities and challenges. Fujii was promoted to president from h is position as executive vice president. He joined Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan . in 1962. Fujii will oversee the o verall o peration of all American Suzuki b us iness in the U .S. , incl udi ng m o torcycle/ ATV, ma rifl.e and automotive. Care M O V ED : Personalized Mo to rcycle Tours, a company th at o rganizes motorcycle tours of New Z eal and , t o P .O . Box 874, Leb e c, California 93243-0874; 805/ 248-8687. AUT OG RAPH SI G NI N G: At Roswell Fun Machin es in Roswell, Geo rg ia, Camel Honda's Mike Smith a nd Hoo ters Ra cing ' s Jack Dupree, o n Tuesd ay, July 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p .m. Info: 404/442-8460. AUTOG RAPH SIG N ING: At Hooters Gwinne tt Place in Dulu th , Georgia, Camel Honda 's Mike Smith, Marietta Motorsports' Paul Wright, Max Au try, Ron Ew erth, Mike Reed , Ma rk Reed and Bill Quinn, and Hooters Racing's Ja ck Dupree, on T ues d ay, July 13, from 8 p.m. to 10 p .m. Info: 404/ 4970880. A UT O GRA PH SIG N ING : At Kawasaki of Gainesville in Ga in esville, Georgia, Team Mirage's Dale QuarterIey, on Wednesday, July 14, from 5 p .m. to 7 p .m. Info: 404/532-7083. MA R RIE D : Cycle N ews Associate Ed it o r Donn Maeda a nd Eileen Paredes in Altadena, California, July 3. EN GAGED: Todd Hin ders an d Sherrin Blankenbaker, both employees of The Brothers - a multi-line dealer ship in Bre me rton, Wash ingto n . They'll tie th e knot on A ugust 7 a t Wash ougal Mo tocross Park the nigh t b e fo r e the tra ck ' s A MA N a tio na l Cham p io n sh ip 500/125cc Series round. CELEBRATING : Brad Lac key, Ame r ica's o n ly Wor ld 500cc M X Cham p ion, will blow out 40 candl es on his birthday cake on July 11. Oi 3

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1993 07 14