Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. .' . .IN THE WIND I w ins. The Virginian was killed while racing in Riverside, California on January 18, 1964. Tiny Lund, who also started his racing career on motorcycles, was a no ther form e r motor cycl is t to be inducted on December 11; Lund we n t on to win the Daytona 500. The International Motorsp orts Hall of Fam e is located in Ta lled ega , Alabama and is ope n seven da ys a week with the excep tion of Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day and Easter. to end w ith a concert. The riders were required to hold up their drivers licens es while on e officer video taped the m and another read information from the license aloud to record it on the tape . In ad d itio n, police opened and searched sad dlebags on the machines; and some riders were questio ned about their club affiliations . Am on g those stopped and searched were executives from a local BMW manufacturing plant, a bank vice preside nt and a local judge. According to a press release from Team Valv o line, Chuck Graves bec ame the first ride r to commit to the new No rth Am eri can Superb ik e (N ASB) Series when he handed a signed season-entry form to series founder Roger Edmondson on December 19 at Daytona Internati on al Speedwa y in Da yton a Beach , Florida . . Eight seni or members of the U.s. Senate a re calling fo r full fund ing o f the National Recreation Trails Fund Act in the 104th Congres s, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIe) reports. In a lette r da te d December 8, th e bipartisan grou p ask ed Transp ort a tion Secreta ry Federico Pena to include $30 millio n in his 1996 de partme n tal bu dget to fun d sta te gra n ts for trails. The sena tors also as ked Pena to wo rk with Congress to correct fu ndi ng p rocedures that also hav e worked against the program . The Trail Act returns Federal gaso line excise tax monies, thro ug h the Federal Highway Ad mi nis tration, to th e s ta tes to build and maintain trails. Although the fund ing is derived from taxe s paid by off- hig hway motorized recreationists, the p rogra m benefit s all trail users , motorized and non-motorized alike. Road racer Scott Gray has returned to his hom e in North ern California following his three-week stay at a hospital in Geo rgia . Gray, w ho s uffered serious injuries in a p ractice crash at the WERA Grand Nationa l Final at Road Atlanta in October, says he is now up and moving aro u nd . In addition , Gr a y ha s announced that he will contest the 1995 500cc World Championship Road Race Series after being accepted by the International Roadracing Teams Association (IRTA). H going," Gray said from his I'm home. " Right now there's a 95 percent chance I'll have a Roc Yamaha. Kevin (Schwan tz) was a big help in getting me accep ted and Dou g (Chandler) als o helped." Seals Communications Corporation (Sealsco) has announced what it terms as a groundbreaking" advertising sales and program production agreement with ESPN. Sealsco, through Seals Network Sales, Inc., will represent national advertising sa les for all Sealsco produced motorcycle programming on ESPN and ESPN2. Hit's a natural progression built upon our long-term relationship with ESPN,H Sealsco president Lou Seals said. "This arrangment will offer our advertisers tremendous value and in creased cpportunities." The adv ertising sales agreement will include Sealsco's lo-year series MotoWorld, its sis ter series MotoWorld 2, the AMA Supercross Ser ies, the AMA National MX Series, World Championship Road Racing, and a variety of motorcycling specials. H L!) ~ 'l""-i 4 Approximately 60 motorcyclists met with representatives of the AMA and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) outsjde Spartanburg, South Carolina, in early December to lay the groundwork for a lawsuit seeking to protect motorcyclists' rights, according to the AMA . The motorcyclists were among 500 riders who were harassed, video taped, searched and interrogated at a Red Cross charity ride last fall. They were on hand to meet Steven Bates, executive director of the South Carolina ACLU; Gaston Fairey, one of the state's leading civil rights attorneys; and Robert Rasor, AMA vice president of government relations. Rasor told the group that the AMA is committed to ensuring that another Spartanburg won't happen in the future, and he presented Bates and Fairy with a check for $5000 to initiate a class-action suit against law-enforcement authorities responsible for the actions that day. As reported earlier, the participants in the Red Cross charity event were stopped at the entrance to the' Spartanburg Fairgrounds, where the ride was scheduled The official 1995 World Championship Road Race Series ca len d a r ha s been revised wi th some changes from the original release. The round of the World Championship in the United States will definitely be held at Road Ame rica on Augu st 6; and the round scheduled for September 17 will be held in Rio de Janiero , Brazil. Th e Sideca r Wo rl d Championship will be held over sev en rounds. The updated schedule is as follow s: March 26 - Eastern Creek, Australia ; April 2 - Shah Alam, Malaysia; April 23 - Suzuka, Japan; May 7 - Jerez, Spain; May 21 - Nurburgring, Germany; Jun e 11 - Mugello, Italy; Jun e 24 - Assen, Holland; July 9 - Le Mans, France; July 23 - Donington Park, England; August 6 - Road America, Wisconsin ; Aug ust 20 Brno, Czech Republic; Septemb er 17 Rio de [aniero, Brazil; Sep tember 24 Buenos Aires, Argentina; Octob er B Catalunya, Spain. AMA Pro Racing has annou nced th at the name of the AMA Harley-Davidson Twin Sports class has been cha nged to SuperTwins for the 1995 AMA National Road Race Championship. The class, now officially entitled the AMA /Progres sive Insurance Harley-Davidson SuperTwins Series, will be fea tured at all the AMA Superbike Series races. In other road racing news, AMA Pro Racing has announced that they will red uce the entry fee for SuperTeams endurance racing 33 percent - from $150 to $100 per team. "Due to a streamlining in series management, the AMA has been able to make a number of changes that will better serve the needs of our riders, and the reduction in entry fees for SuperTeams r iders is an important benefit ," sai d Merrill Vanderslice, the AMA's director of professional racing. Chuck Graves set a new motorcycle lap record at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, on December 18. Graves turned a one-minute, 24.5-second lap during the 1994 Toyota Cup F-l series final. Nick Ienatsch was another record setter on the recently repaved race track; lenatsch turned in a 1:24.7 on his SteyeBiganski-tuned yarnaha TZ2S0 in th e F-l race. Two-time Wo rld MX Champion Donny Schmit was also on Huffman nabs GFI Invitational SX win a m Suzuki's Dam on Huffman (right) was the winner of the January 2 GFI $10,000 Invita tional Supercross, held at Perris Raceway in Perris, California. The de fending Wes tern Regional l25cc Supercross Cha mpi on elected to contest the prem ier 250cc class at Perris, an d th e switch to the bigger bikes proved to be quite p rofitable. For his wi n, Huffman earned $SOOO of the $10,000 purse. Winner of th e previous two GFI Invitationals, Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig crossed the finis h line a distant second after crashing in the closing stag es of the race. Emig w aited un til th e lat er laps before making his move, and a mistake in the whoo ps sent him to the gro und . Emig did, however, recover in time to finish well ahead of third- and four th-p laced Honda /l-BOO-Collec t's Dou g Henry and Honda of Troy' s Mic hael C raig . Team Ka wasa k i' s Mike Kiedrowski finished fifth. New Team Suzuki rider Craig Decker emerged victorious in the 125cc division, edging out Honda-mounted Brian Deegan and Pro Circuit Suzuki rider Greg Schnell. Last year's l2Sec class winner, Ryan Hughes, crashed out of contention. ~ hand a t the season finale. Schmit took pa rt in the WSMC Racing School befo re fin ishing fou rt h in t he six-lap Middlweight ovice race. p.m. Team Yamaha 's Jeff Emig, Jo hn Dowd and Kevin Windham are expec ted to appear. For more information call 407/631-5571. International Cha m p ions h ip Events (ICE) will be kicking off its 1995 World Cup Ice Speedway Series with two California dates. The series will begin at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego on January 6 before heading north to Sacramen to's Areo Arena on January 13. For more informatio n con tact Internation al Championship Events at 303/262-9067. Bri tis h rider Paul Cooper will contest the '95 250cc MX GP circuit on a Honda with backing from SoCal clo thing, an American company. SoCal, which od dly enough is located in Chicago, is providing Cooper with a transporter. Former fac to ry Kawasa ki rid er Jeff Ma tiasevich has signed a deal to rejoin the man ufacturer's factory squa d . The on ly di fference is that Matiasevich w ill be racing Kawasakis in Japan, though ru mo r has it tha t he will also rac e the first few rounds of the U.S. Supercross Series, using factory equipment. Moroney's Harley-Davidson will field a four-man race team in 1995'to compete in Twin Sports road racing, Grand National d irt track and 883 dirt track racing. Arran Yates and Jim Leslie will compete aboard Harley-Davidson 883s on the pavement, while Georgie Price and Mike Hacker will compete in the AMA Grand National Dirt Tra ck Seri es on Harley-Davidson XR750s a nd also contest the HarleyDavid son 883 Dirt Track Series as well . Spectro Oils has again signed on as a primary sponsor of the team. Current 500cc World MX Champ ion Marcus Hansson will be switching to the 250cc class for 1995. The Swede will rid e a Honda backed by former cha mpion Georges Jobe. Swedish rider Peter Johansson has switched to Husqvarna after a longtime association with Yamaha. Johansson, who usually rides 125 and 250cc machinery, will contest the 500cc World Championship MX circuit. AUT OGRAPH SIGNING: At Cycle Sports Center in Orlando, Florida, on January 12 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m . Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig, John Dowd a nd Kev in Windham are expected to appear. For more information call 407/299-9191. . AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: A t.Beach Sportcycles Yamaha in Orlando, Florida, on January 13 from 7:00 p .m . to 8:30 AU T O G RAPH SIGNING: At C ycl e Spo rts Cen ter in Orlando, Florida, on January 12 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Team Ka w asak i' s Mike Kiedrow ski, Mike laRocco and Robbie Reynard are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 407/299-9191. CORRECTION: Th e manufact urer s' suggested retail pri ces for the Husqvarnas printed in our Issue #50 Buyers Guide were incorrect. The correct price for the 350 and 610 fo ur-s trokes are $5748 and $5999, respectively. AUT OGRAPH SIGNING: At Miamitown Cycles in Cincinnati, Ohio , on Janua ry 7 from 12:00 p .m. to 3:00 p .m. Grand National Cross Country Champion Scott Plessinger is sch e d u led to appear. PROMOTED: Scot Harden, to the position of Vice Presid ent of KTM America, Inc., whose main function is the sale and distribution of KTM's new mini line. In addition, Harden was promoted to the position of Na tional Marketing Director for KTM Sportmotorcycle USA, Inc. and is responsible for all KTM na tional marketing, ad verti sing and media relations programs. HIRED: Jeff Salamon, to the position of sports marketing d irector of KTM Sportm otorcycle, USA , Inc. Salamon is responsible for all Team KTM U.S. Racin g Sponsorship development programs, and will work out of KTM's eastern office in Ohio. AUT O GR APH SIGNING: At Cycle Service Racing, in San Pedro, California, on January 14, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Greg Zitterkopf is scheduled to appear. The event is also the shop's grand re-opening under new ownership, and KTM and FMF represen tatives will also be on hand. For more information, call 310/548-6874. a

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