Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Petri (R-Wisconsin) offered an amendment eliminating the penalties, saying that the decision to adopt or not adopt helmet laws should be left to the states. Without the amendment, Petri sa id states could lose over $100 million in highway construction funds in fisca l 1996. He also noted that the five states w it h the lowest motorcycle accident rates do not have helmet laws . The bill will move next to the full Public Works and Transportation Committee, which is expected to markup the next legislation May 17. Rigorous debate is expected over the Petri Amendment since committee chairman Nonn Mineta (D-California) is opposed to eliminating the federal helmet law penalties. New Hampshire In tern a tional Speedway will host t h e Second An n ua l Jimmy Adamo Pro Twins Race on Sunday, June 19 in conjunctio n with the AMA U.s. Superbike National Championship round. Any Expert-ranked road racer may enter, with the race open to all four-strok e tw in-eylinder motorcycles wi th the fo llowing res t rictio ns: Ducati 8-val ve, wa ter-coo led motorcycles are limited to thos e sold as U.S. street-legal machines and can be mod ified onl y to Supersport rules. Pre-entries and post en tries will be accepted ; th e entry fee is $100, with 50 percent of that going towards the purse. For m o re information call the Penguin Racing School at 207/548-2100. Two of Southern California's oldest and largest desert racing clubs are teaming up to give beginning riders a hand. So Cal M.e. has vo lunteered to provide pit assistance and guidance for first-time desert racers at the May 22 Checkers M .e. Check Chase Hare & Hound, which will be held in Lucerne, California. For more information call 310/5984638 or 619/245-5480. Three-time World Champion Wayne .Rainey has confirmed that he will help Nicky and Tommy Hayden as they get set to compete in the Spanish Ducados Open road race series, beginning with the Ju ne 5 round in Jerez, Spain. "We haven't really buttoned that down yet," Rainey said. "We' re trying to get some sponsorship. We're go ing to ru n both kids in the 125 class. With the two races (Ierez and Jarama), there's 12 hours of total practice before the races on Su nday. It gives me a chance to see the talent in America. The Ha yden thing cam e up early in my rehab. I wanted to work with Kenn y's son Kurtis (Roberts) in the States, then Kenny decided to take him to Spa in because that's wh e r e he (Kenny) lives during th e season. I still ha ven't seen them (the Haydens) race yet. The Ha yden kids were put in line before eve rything else (his 250cc team ) came up . I got so me Spanish sponsorship for Jimmy (Filice) for the Ducad os reaces. Jimbo is going to help the Hayden bo ys out. That's pa rt of my deal with [imbo. The Ha yden boys flew ou t to see me in Monterey. We wanted to hear if they reall y wanted to race - obviously I could tell that they d o. I didn' t want Tommy to do Da ytona w it h no time on a GP bike; I wanted to brin g them over to Spain and watch th em race two races and see what talent level they're at. The race tracks are good and they get two hours of practice eve ry day. It's a low-pressure situation for the k id s to comp ete in , even t hough 80 guys are competing for 36 slo ts in the 125cc cl ass . We don 't wan t to pu s h t hem a t all. We want to bring the m alo ng at th eir own pace. I want to do so me races in Am er ica, b u t we d on 't know which ones yet. It's an expensive ou tlay , but these two races are like six AMA races." Team Suzuki Off-Road members Randy Hawkins, Steve Hatch and Rodney Smith will hold an off-road clinic -at Aurora Suzuki in Seattle, Washington, Thursday, May 19 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. For more information call 206/783-2323 . Galfer Brakes will be spons o ring the services of Dr. Robert Aeaschner at the AMA U.s. Superbike National Championship round at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Ca lifornia, on May 20-22. Aeaschner will be on hand to help racers deal with the neuro-muscular problems associated with motorcycle racing; hi s se rvices will be free at the Galfer support booth in the pit area. According to Moto Lib erty, the th ird round of the AMA 12Scc Grand Prix Exhibition Series will be held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on June 12. Beach Sportcyc1es Yamaha of Cocoa Beach, Florida, will be the Yamaha trackside support dealer at the upcoming AMA MX Nationals at Budds Creek, Maryl and (May 22) and Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania (May 29). Beach Sportcycles will be supportin g Doug Dubach as well as othe r Yamaha racers wh o need parts and technical assistance. Mike Kidd Promo tions, Inc., has announced th at an 883 Harley-Davidson Dash For Cash race w ill be held during the AMA Grand Na tiona l Championship round at Devil's Bowl Speedwa y in Da lla s, Texas, on June 18. The six-rider, six-lap event will be spo nso red by partici pating Texas a rea H a rl e yDavidson de alers and will pos t a purse of $5000, with the winner getting $2000. For more info rmatio n call 817/ 626-7297. Am erican Suzuk i Motor Corp. has announced two changes to the Suzuki Cup Series scheduled for the 1994 road racing season. The WERA even t schedu led fo r June 24-26 at Shannonville Motorsports Park has been cancelled , and a Superstock Challenge event ha s been ad ded to the WERA National Endurance round scheduled for September 23-25. Contingency funds formerly allocated for the now-cancelled WERA event at Pocono International Speedway w ill be paid instead at the WERA Pro Series race scheduled for July 23-25 at Ind ianapolis Raceway Park. For more information call 803/681-9372. A ne w co mpany called the Excelsi o r Group has been formed for the exclusive importation and distribution of Folan Engine Products from Sweden. Folan has been developing what the company calls , "a very powerful lightweight V-twin engine and Mono Engine fo r use in road and off-road racing. " Folan is best known for its role in developing the en gine for Husaberg mo torcycles, and in fact, former Hu sab erg and ATK employee Bjorn Elvin is one of the partners in Excelsior. Other employees include former ATK and Bell.He lmets e m p loy ee Bill Kniegge, and fo rmer ATK employee Bill Thomas, fo rmer Saab R&D guru ave Hasselberg and Colorado financial analyst Greg Allen. A variety of cha ssis are expected to be developed by Excelsior for the engines, and the company plans to target Sound of Singles road racing. For information, call 714/850-0829 or 714/850-0317. Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, is offering motorcycle tunin g and Appeal b ardsays all o oka with Ducatis n AMA Appeal Board unanimously determined on Wednesday, May 11, that the Ducati 955 motorcycle mee ts all cu rre nt homologation requirements for AMA Superbike competition. The board - which was made up of Cary Agajanian, Joe Bilotta and Jim Hutzler - also de termi ned tha t the bore, stroke, crankcases and frame numbers for the machines used by Troy Corser and Pascal Picotte at the Phoenix and Pomona rounds of the U.s . SuperbikeSeries maintained the required dimensions from the approved model Based on th e action of th is Appeal Board, the fina l results for the Phoenix and Pomona Superbike Nationals have become official, thwarting the protests and appeals filed by Muzzy Kawasaki riders Takahiro Sohwa and Fred Merkel wh ich challenged the legality of the Ducatis, The Appeal Board did, ho weve r, recommend that the AMA review its homologation procedures prior to··1995 to further clarify the procedure for approving motorcycles for superbike competition; and also that the AMA verify at the completion of each season, from appropriate production documents, the compliance of manufacturers in satisfying the requirements for minimum production numbers for approved motorcycles. "The Appeal Board denied the appeal based on the information that the AMA provided in the Appeal Board meeting, which was basically supplied by Ducati, that supported the AMA's position that Ducati said they would make up to 50 units if people requested them," said Rob Muzzy, the man behind the protests and appeal. "They had shipping docum ents which, in my opinion, were not legitimate documents. The bottom line is (Eraldo) Ferra cci takes the kit and makes a bike and so the bike is available. There was a lette r from Ducati that said Ferracci is an agent, of racing stuff, by the way. Basically, they were given enough paperwork that, in their minds, met the requirements. To me, the biggest problem is that the requirement is such a small number for twins, which lends itself to special modifications. The (manufacturers of) twins have to make 50 cop ies. The four-eylinder manufacturers, i.e. the Japanese, have to build 1000. They (Duca ti) only ha ve documentation for seven bikes . They (the AMA) has to take their word for it that 50 bikes will be bu ilt. If the y don't make 50 bikes, there's no penalty." Muzzy also questioned the legitima cy of the documents that were p resented to the Appeal Board: " 1 kn ow for a fact what customs accepts," he said. "It has to have a. price, a country of origin, and a weigh t. I sai d, 'No wa y it's a shipp ing inv oice: I absolutely don't believe they have 50 kits invoiced. I guarantee you tha t if you show any customs guy (the documen ts) there's no wa y they'd (be released) from customs with those d ocum ents. The fax they ha ve is dated after the p rotest. If I had been shown the paperwork in the first place, it might not have gone to protest. If the AMA had offe red me the evidence the y showed in the Appeal Board meeting, I would hav e understood how and why it was app roved. It's not a production motorcycle and it's still not a production motorcycle, but I know now how it was approved . It's the sa me ru les everybod y pl ays by. I understand the paperwork and I understand the AMA accepts the paperw ork - but I have the same opportunity as Ferracci to do the sa me thing." A testing sess ions on its road circuit. The da tes are as follo ws : Ju ne 28, July 19, July 26, Augus t 9, Se p te m be r 13 a nd October 11. For more informa tio n call 203/435-2571. Registration for the Mickey Th ompson Enterta inmen t Group-promoted Las Ve gas Amateu r SX will be he ld at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas , Nevada, on June 12 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. No post entries will be accep ted. For more information call 800/795-7708. Loris Reggian i debuted th e Aprilia RSV-500 in th e Spanish Grand Prix a t Jerez on May 8, racing the 400cc discvalved, V-twin to a creditable n inthp lace finish in its very first race. "We started the project last year in September and started using the b ike in Mar ch," Jan Witteeven, the engineer in charge of the projec t sa id in Je rez. " Th a t' s a very sh or t deve lop ment time." The ne w engine is based on the 9D-d egree V-tw in , disc-valved Aprilia 25 0, though Witteeven said it was "completely new and a little different in every part of the engine o r frame. From the engine point of view, th ere' s not so muc h in common - some parts of the gearbox are the same, 70 to 80% are different. The clutch, th e front w heel and brakes, the fairing, and the airbox a re the sa me . The rear frame and rear brake are the same. The rear wh eel, the crankcase, pistons, and cases are different." The 400cc V-twin weighs 105 kilos (231 po u n d s) , five kil o s a b ove th e weight lim it ; while the four-cylinders have a minimum weight limit o f 130 kilos (286 pounds). Witteeven said that they chose 400 cc as a d isplacem ent because it has many of the same cha racte ristics as a 250, and that it w ou ld lose tha t si milarity if they m ad e it mu ch larger. "When you ride it, it feels like a strong 250," Reggia ni sai d . "That's what we tried to do . It's a faster 250." OPEN HOUSE: At Don & Roy's Motorsp orts in Broo kfield, Wisconsin, on June 9 from 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Sport Bike Night will feature appearances by tea m members o f Muzzy Kawasaki, Sm okin ' Joe ' s Racing and Vance & Hines Yamaha. For more information call 414/786-3220. HIRED: Rob Hassay's RacePro Market- ~ ing by Allred y Canopies. RacePro will assist wi th sales, ma rketi ng and promotion of Allredy's Lightweight and new ~ h ea v y-d u t y Instant Sh elt e r s in the m otorcycle a nd other powerspo r ts industries. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Seasid e ~ Yamaha/Suzuki Sports Center in Mon- 0' terey, California, on May 20 from 6:00- ~ 8:30 p.m. Team Suzuki's Britt Turkington, Thomas Stevens, Dona ld Jacks and Tom Kipp, an d Van ce & H ines Yamaha 's Jamie James and Colin Edwards II are scheduled to appear. For more information call 408/899-2401. . - -- - - - -- Continued on page 71

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