Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

opted for sta nda rd street rub ber, which no d oubt pa rtly accounted for the high attriti on ra te . A cas h rewa rd was offer ed to anyone who rod e the event naked, bu t for tunately it went u ncl aim ed. "The grea test thing about this year's even t was tha t no one was hurt an d everyone had a grea t time, " said Elephant Ride veteran Dr. Gregory W. Fr azier . "We were d isap p oi n ted , however, when Elvis failed to ap pear as was rumored. He an d his Harley may have stayed away because of the great number of sn ow snakes presen t." Honda ' s Rider Education Centers in Co lto n , Ca li fornia, a nd Alpharetta , Geo rg ia, are now offering off-hi gh way m otorcycle cou rses for rid er s over 16 yea r s o f a g e. The curr ic u lum was d esigned by the Specialty Vehicl e Insti tu te of America, a nd p rovid es handson training w ith an emp hasis on sa fety and sk i lls d e v el op m en t. Les sons include starting, stopp ing, qu ick turns, hills an d obstacles. Cla sses are $70 an d include th e use of a moto rcycle. For more in for ma tio n, call 909 /825-7080 for the Californi a school, and 404/ 6679682 for the Georgia classes. Cha m p ionship Cu p Serie s (CCS ) has ann ounced that it has reached an agreement w ith Harley-David son to host an inv ita tional Tw in Sports race that will fea tu re riders from around the wo rld. The Ha rl ey-D a vi d s o n Tw in S po r ts World Final will be con tes ted a t Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Octobe r 23 as par t of the CCS Race of Champ ions weekend . "Since we first developed the id ea of running a Harleyonly class, we ha ve worked hand-inhand with Harley-Davidsonboth as the title sp onsor for the series and as our source of technic al information about the motorcycles, " said CCS founde r Roger Edmon d son. "Ov er th e las t cou ple of years we had been hearing more a nd mo re abou t the internationa l expansion of the format, so when we negotiated the renewal of the title sponsorship for the American series, we presented a second p r op osal to cr eate this in ternational eve nt. " CCS and Harley-Dav idson w ill be working together over the next several months to determine the process that will be used to select riders for the event. North American riders will be qu alified thro u gh the Ha rl e y-David so n Tw in Sports Series at AMA National Championship events and through CCS U.S. Twin Sports races. Th e Moto rcycl e Safe t y Foun dation (MSF) teamed up with sev eral mot orcyclist organizations to stop a pro posed bill that would ha ve serious ly undermined Washington's rider-e ducation p rogram. The bill, Washington HB 2634, was introduced in January. It would have d ee p ly cut s ubs idies to motorcycle-traini ng-course p rovid ers, repealed the $50 ma ximum cou rse fee, perm it ted t h e State ' s D i r ec tor of Licensi ng to se t the maximu m fee, and re quired course provider s to comply with ex tensive lic en sing provi sions. Last year the fee for motorcycle-operator license e ndo rsements was raised fro m $7 .50 to $14, ad d in g $400,000 ann ually to Washington's rider-education progra m. Ha d the bill passed, the p rogram wo uld ha ve suffered cutbacks ins tead of inc re as ed funding. Additionally, dealers, train ing providers, or ins tru ctors woul d have been prohibited fro m pa ying for all or a portion of co u rse tu iti on fo r tr ai nees u nd er 18 ye ars of age. The bill also wo uld have repealed the requiremen t for a biennial program repo rt to the legisl ative transportation com mittee . tifying as chairman of the Coalition for Recr ea tional Tr ails (CRT), Roy Muth presen ted the Ho use Subcommittee on Surface Transporta tio n with a list of recom mend a tions to im p rove the Act. Key am ong th em is a cor recti on that w ould p rovid e "co n t r a ct s p e n d in g authority," the process that applies to m os t o ther p rogra ms funded by the Fed eral Highway Tru st Fund. Contract authori ty, originally in tend ed for the Tra ils Act, would greatly ease the difficult annual appropriation p rocess. At the Mar ch 3 hearing, Mu th sai d inadequate fund in g and confusion over the three-year-old ac t is th r ea te ning its futu re. "Promising improvements to sta te tr ails programs have been p ut on indefinite ho ld, " Muth sai d . "Legis lation th at must be passed by the states allowing them to qualify for (Federal) fund ing is being delayed." Muth urged the panel to adopt the CRT's seven recommendations as amend men ts to the Trails Act and attach th em to t he National Highway System legisl a tion currently under consideration. The CRT recommendations include exte nding the time for sta te compliance from three years to four. They also include definition changes as well as provisions relating to the Na tio nal Recreational Trails Advisory Co m mi ttee. MIC is a foundin g m ember o f the Coalition for Recreational Trails, a 27member organization representing both motorized and non-moto rized trail users. Colorad o ' s Office of Traffic Sa fe ty rece ived a $100,000 special appropriation to expand its Motorcycle Oper ator Safety Tra in in g (MOST) Program in 1994. The approp riation was granted b y th e Join t Bud get Committee, made u p of se nators a nd representatives. Afte r an unexp ec ted 48% increase in de ma nd for rid er training in 1993, the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) reali zed they had misca lcu la ted their budget needs for 1994. Colorad o's state bud get cycle runs from July 1 to June 30, and th e OTS ' s initi a l r eq u es t fo r mo re fund s w as rejected beca use it wasn't co nsi d ere d a n e m ergency. " Waiting until July 1 to pump u p the p ro gra m wo uld have meant missing the opportunit y to expa nd it in time for th e h ea v ies t t rai ning m o n th s - April th ro ugh Jun e," said Pe n ny Lo chner, Senior Le gisl a tive Anna lys t for the MSF . The MS F a nd many Colorado motorcyclists combined their efforts to u rg e legislat ors to reconsider. On second review, the Committee ag reed tha t ther e was sufficien t reason to grant the sp ecial a p p rop ria tio n, which m ere ly relea sed exis ting funds already designated for the progra m. Former National Spee dway Ch am pion Ch ris Manchester signed a contract to ride for the Belle Vue Aces of t he British League , and h a s a lready sh ipped off to join the team as it prepares for the 1994 season. Manchester was originally slated to join Wo rld Speedway Champion Sam Ermolenko on th e Wolverhampton Wolves team, but that deal apparently fell through because it would have force d Wolverhampton to release one of their current team members to make room for Manchester. The young American star also reportedly spoke to the Crad ely He ath Heathens - which alre ady has American s Bill y Hamill an d Greg H anco ck before landing the deal wi th Belle Vue . Manchester may be the sole American on the team, as bo th Sh a wn Moran and Bobby O tt have d ep arted to rid e for Sheffie ld and King's Lynn, respectively. But current stateside scu ttlebut centers around Kelly Moran making a return to the British League, an d Belle Vue already owns his contrac t. A broad-based coa lition of trail organiza tions appealed to a Con gressional Subcommittee to ad d ress shortcomings of th e N ational Rec r ea tio n al Tr ail s Fu nd Act, accord ing to the (MIC). Tes- Accord ing to newspape r report s, 500,000 motorcyclists visi ted D aytona In ternational Speedway for Cam el Mo torc ycle Cycle We ek 1994. Th e record-breaking crowd spent a reported $2 milli on during the week, making the Chamber of Commerce very happy ind eed . Don't forget that the Ride f o r Kids D ual Sport Rid e is set to happen Su nday, March 20 at the Rid er Education Cen ter by HOIld a in Colton, Californ ia. Last year, the event raised $17,000 toward s the fight against the d ead liest of all childhood cancers - pediatric brain tumors. One-hundred pe rcent of the fu nds raised by the riders goes to the nation's leading research cen ters and to the Cen tral Brairi T umo r Registry of the United States. The ride is schedu led to commence at 9:30 a.rn . and will head out for a 90-mile loop in the San Bernardino Natio na l Fores t. Sign-up is between 7-8 a.m. with opening ceremonies set to begi n at 8:4 5 a .m.. For m o r e information contact An n Marie Ott at 916/441 -7606, or Paul Slavik at 310/783-3786. N AMED : Suzuki, as the official motorcycle of the Na tional Hot Rod Association. Under the terms of the ag reement, Suz uki motorcycles and four-wheel vehicles will b e used exclusive ly a t NHRA national events by NHRA staff and officials. NAMED: Wisec o, as an official spo nsor of Yamaha's Nationa l MX a nd Supercross factory team . Based in Men tor, Ohio, Wiseco has been manufacturing pis tons for over 53 years. ACQ UI RED: Kawasaki Loaders, Inc., b y Kawasaki Motors Corp ., U.S.A , effective January 1, 1994. Based in Ken- '? " nesaw, Georgia, Kawasaki Loaders, Inc. ha d been owned b y Sumitomo Tra ding Comp any and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Kawasaki Loaders, Inc. sells and d is trib u tes mid-range and larger wheel loaders for the mining, cons truction, forestry, waste man agement and related industries. MARRIED: American Road racing ed itor Brian Catterson to long-time girlfriend [oanie Ma drid, in Cave Creek, Arizona , on Febru ary 27. PROM OTED: Herve Amelot, to presiden t of Motullubricants. Amelot takes over fro m Phili ppe Bera u d, who is - - - - - - - - Continued on page79 .----------------------------------- - ----------------------------, ~ ~ SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ o This is a 0 New Subscription o o o Address City _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Order Date State _ _ Zip _ _ Signa tur e L _ MC / Visa# _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ Expiration Date Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 Six months second class (25 issues) for $18.00 One year (SO issues), 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all other foreign countries $75.00 (U.S. fun ds). 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