Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 02 15

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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FZR400 Upside Down Front End '92 GSXR750 Iront end lor FZR4OO. 41mm, 3.5x17, fuJllIoaters, Nissin 4 piston , remote reservoir, ESC CFK , polished tr iple, bars, damper mount, steel lines, wired. $1,OOOIobo. Jim (303) 225-0858. CO . (106) 'T AR Carr\JUlers ' ESyPaul O N: DW . 1991 SUZUKI DR350S, Renthal bar, 4 gal . tank, Ball E1imintor.6,5001<. $2.6OOIobo or trade for 600. Cash to boot Eves (702) 832-0442. NV. (106) MasserinVCoolTech Beautiful Italian crafted carbon silencer for CBR 9OORR. 1 3/4 perforated core. Includes extra packing . New in box $190 . Also Cool Tech Excalibur jacket size 38. Original charcoal , red. black color no longer available, $175. Both for $350. Call Steve . If not at home, please leave message. (901) 668 - • (106) 1180. TN. . Dealers... TIred of tearing off the tops of your Cycle News covers, trying to figure out the difference on you r billing? Call (310) 427 ·7433 & talk to our Deal er Seles Manager to convert to ' Plan B", to sell CYcle News without returns . Better dealer price, and fass paperwork l (506) '93 Ducati B88 SPO Very c lean , 4 ,000 mil es, ca rb on le n de rs , Termignoni , K&N , chip, March esini, Brembo mlc, Kevlar lines, $12,750. (610) 356-3951. PA. (106-09) '94 HP FZR400 Motor CCS Nat iona l #2 Lightw eig ht super bik e, 560cc 15.1:1, prov en reliabl e, Jordan Engineering bullt , WSMC , CCS legal, W eb cam s , Psycle Rac ing .head, Bamett, Factory ACM , fresh lop end, dyno charts avail, $3,3OOI0bo. Jim (303) 225-6858. CO. (106) New KTM Dual Sports 620 RXCs, 400 AXCs. Take delivery now. We ship anywhere . The Cycle Shed KTM, North Vemon, IN. (Galactic headquarters) (800) 795· 1KTM. IN. (306-07) Custom Made I.D. Kits (600) 843-8244. (708) 208·9289 . It. (206·TFNIP) *ll's C .oming* 1995 KTM Duke 620 The bike that we thought we would never see in the states is coming . It will be a very limited quantity model to insure you get one call David or Russ at Motorcycle Enlhu siastslKTM . (904) 596-8028. FL.. (206-07) 1994 Kawaski ZX·7 Factory demonstrator. only 345 miles. $6.80OIobo. (508) 339-5018 . ME. (206-07) KTMs In Arkansas '93 KTM 250 EXC, $3.595, newll '94 KTM 300 EXC. $3,495 , demo. '94 4ooLC4 . EXC, $3,795, demo . '95 KTM 620 AXC, super low pricel 1(800) 658-82 13. AK. '(306-08IE OI) Wanted: FZR Carbs 33mm Keihin CR f1atslides to fit e ~he r FZR400 or FZR600 (33mm). Please call Rick (404) 986-0952. GA. (506-07) 1994 CBR600F2 Roadracer Nat ional championship caliber rcadracer. Ridd en by 600 Supersport Natio nal #16. Best of everything. Micron pip e, Autometer tacho mete r, Linde mann suspension . very fast and ready to ra ce. $4 ,9OO/obo . Will consider Irade lor pro expe rt 600 Rotax , 600 Honda Dirt T racker. XR750. H-D 883 Dirt Tracker or Roadracer . Joe (714) 495-1238. CA. (1~ . Damaged '94 Ducati 900M Front end da mage , salvag ed title . 152 miles. (306) $3.500. (SOB) 644-3 111. '79Honda CR250R Original Used four times from new original tires, stored 14 years, mini, $1,675. Trade '88·'90 KX·CR25O. (310) (306) 427·3966. CA. I Almost New 1995 VZ250 Never ridden in the dirt. Used for R&D purpo ses. $4.500 . Mark (714) 630-5474. CA. (306-09) '92 GSXR750 cases $285 , crank $150 . cylinders. lransmission. alternator, swingann. Call Dave (914) 823-5446 . NY. (306) Carbon Carbon Carbon 900M rear tum signal relocation kits with factory finIsh. 900 belt covers, sprocke t cov ers and Triumph exhausts are available. Call Wilson 's M/C Parts dept. for details. (209) 237-0215 or (600) 956·2925. . (206-Q8) CA. Parts & More '92 ZX-llC I.rame. forks. lank , f-wheel, etc. '92 zx· 60 forks . wheels, gauges. etc. '90 ZX-ll tramellille $900 . '90 GSXR 1100 fram ellitle $1 ,000 , curved cooler $185, CBR 6ooF2 wheels $150 each , '91 CBRlooo plastic , '91 VFR750 rt. side upper/mid ., also parting out '93 GSXR 750 plastic, lights, rece only frame , ' 86 FZ 750 for parts. Call Recycle Racing 1(800) 22·F IXUP. Ft. (106-07) "It's like two eight-yeJlr-01d kidsfightingover an ice cream. The moretheyfight the more it melts andeventually all they'regoing to be leftwith is thestick. Dale Quarterley ever one to mince words, top p rivateer road racer Dale Quarterley managed to sum up the current situation with Superbike racing in the U.S. in a single statement. The AMA vs. NASB. Quarterley's off a tad with the ages in his ana logy. It's actually a 70-year-old versus an infant. One often seems senile, the other too young to think with a ny cla rity. The question re ma ins - can so meo ne win the ba tt le before the ice cream melts? I think not. The AMA Superbike National Championship calendar slithered like a snake fro m within th e fax machine the othe r d ay - just in the ni ck of time. With Daytona loo m ing in the no t-too-d istant . fu tu re, it was importa nt to know ju s t where I'd be headed in the mon ths that follow the 200 . My su m mers revolve aroun d the racing calend ar, and thus so • are the summers of those wh o depend on me. My wife eagerly awa its the news; the rest of the family waits to plan the birthday parties, the cookouts, the outings to the beach. The summer vacation. The sheer excitement of knowing that I would be going to new venues was enough to keep me from falling into a d eep dep ression as rain pelted puddles in unheard of amounts last month. Just where would I be spending my Excellent Summe r Vacation? I've passed the last 10 years at great race places like Mid-Ohio, Bra in erd Internation al Raceway, Road Atlanta, etc . I was loo king forward to s omething new. . Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed w hen the sched ule finally arrived. Las Vegas, Memphis, Indianapolis, St. Louis. My eyes w ide ne d. Sin City, Elvis' crib, the Brickyard, Clydesd ales. What a summer. Where do I sign up ? Unfo rtu na tely, no t all that glitters is gold. U there is any gold to be found in the current AMA schedule, I'm afraid it's of the fool's variety. The biggest sin that will come ou t of th e city of Las Vegas in October could well be th a t the AMA cho se to have a National at Las Vegas Speedway Park. I'll ad mi t Tigh t no w that I' ve never been to Las Vegas Speed way Park - but I'm in good company. No one from the AMA has been there either. Apparently, actu ally seeing a race track firstha nd is no lon ger a prerequisite for ap p roving race facilities, so how can it possibly be a p rerequisite for wri ting a column? " It mak es Willow Springs loo k like Laguna Seca; th e tr ack 's not bad , but there's absolutely nothing there," is how one source I spoke with summed up the lifeless facility whi ch sits only 10 miles or so north of the ga mbling cap ital of the world. And further delving doesn 't bring man y more positives to the table. With an existing lap record of 58.80 seconds, Las Vegas Speedway Park will bring som ethin g unique to the AMA Series - the ability to make Loud on look like the Isle of Man. Ah, but that's not all. As the AMA's Merrill Vanderslice says: "Basically, there are no facilities there at alL We'll have to d rag everything in." Including spectators, I might add. But le t' s remember something im portan t: This is all hearsay because neither Vanderslice nor anyone else from the AMA has yet to set foot in Las Vegas Speedway Park. As for Elvis' crib, well, there's the gift shop at Graceland. That seems to be contributor Henny Ray Abrams' most vivid ~ memory of the la st time the AMA stopped at Memphis Motorsports Park in 1987. That and a constant sweat amid sweltering humidity. Riders complained back then about a particular spot where the road course entered the d rag strip staging area - so me thi ng, by the way, that all the new venues on the schedule seem to ha ve in common. Vanderslice says th at a rea o f the tr ack is being changed and should no longer be a problem. No hearsa y on th is one - Merrill's been there. The Brickyard. Well, let's just say my excitement was tempered some wha t in my knowledge tha t Ind ian apolis Raceway Park d efinit ely d oesn 't carry the same weight as the India na polis Motor Speed way. This one, though, may end up being on e of th e crown jewel s of the AMA series. WERA hold s a Pro Series race th ere eve ry yea r so it can't be all bad . Right? And the AMA has a t least paid th e' Ind y folks a vis it . As for th e drag strip, at least it'll be used for wha t it was designed for the weekend the AMA visits - they've sched uled a round of their ProStar Series for the same weekend in June. That leads me to St. Louis and the famous Bud w eiser Clyd esd ales. With visions of brewery tours dancing in my head , I was given a reality check by further examination of Gateway In ternational Raceway's locale. It's in East St. Louis - Illinois. With the key word being "East." Across the river from regul ar St. Louis, East SI. Louis doesn' t quite have the same reputation. Is there any irony in the fact that the race track is bu ilt on a d ump? Again, like the AMA, I've never been to Gatew ay Interna tional Raceway. Neither has Quar terl ey: " I've nev er even hea rd of it and I've bee n racing since I was 12: ' Mike Sm ith 's las t visit to Gateway International Raceway was in 1989. His day ende d w hen he crashe d the Tea m Suzuki Endu rance bike into a gua rd rail with an impact tha t snapped th e front end off the bike: "1 don' t know wha t it's like now," Smith said. "But I reme mber it as being narrow, tight and rough - there are some esses wi th the guard rail right there." As for going back to Gateway threequarters into a season in which he could be fig h ti ng to become th e next AM A Superb ike National Ch ampion, Smith sai d : "1 had to ride on some of th ese tracks as an ama teur and now it looks like there's going to be another time in - my career when I'm going to have to ride 'em again. There was nothing I could do about it then, and there 's nothing I can do abou t it now." And did I mention that while Phoenix International Raceway has opted to back out of any motorcycle race in 1995, Firebird Raceway in nearby Chandler, Arizona , will host an AMA race in the coming se aso n? As is th e ca se w it h Indianapolis, Memphis, Gateway and Las Vegas, AMA Pro Racing /Parad ama will be the promoter at Firebird - so those race tracks will have little or nothing at stake if nobody cares to show up. Whil e it is ha rd to find a nybody worth siding with on this issue, I'll admit that the AMA doesn't ha ve much of a choice. Beggars can' t be choosers, and the AMA isn 't carrying much weight wi th the best racing facilities in the country. For, while the AMA has the backing of the factory teams , the factory riders, and the support of the in d us try, Roger Edmondson and the North American Super Bike Series (NASB)have locked up a number of the best race tracks. U that wasn't bad enough, lawyers are now involved. Apparently, there's a doc- ument making the rounds which, for all practical purposes, threatens a lawsuit if the AMA so much as makes contact with any of the current NASB promoters. People are tip toeing around the whole issue, fearful of the da y wh en Mr . Subpoena shows up at their front door. I'm afraid we have yet to see just how ug ly this whole mess will get. . And to think tha t a spokesman from NASB recently was ange red by the AMA sched uling Indy on the same day as MidOhio, utt ering something about the conflict of dates "not being in the best interest of the sport." Since when do lawyers represe nt the "best interest of the sport?" Sport is you and your bud dy, handlebar-to-han dlebar at your local club race fighting over a tr ophy and b r agg ing righ ts for a week. National level road racing is big business. Conflicts in scheduling are not about undermining "the best interest of the sport" - those conflicts are abou t bu siness and trying to get a leg up on the compe tition. So with the Mid-Ohios, the Brainerds, and the Road Americas of the world having op te d to join up with N ASB, the AMA is left wi th places like Las Vegas Raceway Park and Gateway International Raceway. Fortunately, not all is lost as they've also managed to save a few of the be tter events, namely Laguna Seca, Loudon, Daytona (the lone facility tha t is able to stra ddle the fence by schedu ling . bo th AM A a nd N ASB events) a n d, well...Pomona. Hey, they may be racing in a parking lot, but at least it's a parking lot that sits smack dab in the mid dle of 10 million people. Ther e will be no winners in any of this - only losers. The losers are the fans who will venture to Mid-Ohio for their ann ual summer trip to what was one of the hig hli ghts of an AMA Su p erbike National Cha mp ionshi p . When th ey arrive, th ey wo n't be treated to Jam ie Ja m es, Migue l Du H a m el ' a n d Mike Smith. They won't have factory HarleyDavid son VR1000s to gawk at; Smokin' Joe's Racing and their purple and yellow semi won't be there. Suzu ki, Kaw asaki, Yamaha , H ond a, H a rl e y-D a v id son, Ducati - they'l! all be a t Ind ianapolis Raceway Park. The losers in the AMA Series will likely be those very sa me riders and teams. No matter how you look at it, Indianapolis Raceway -Park is not th e Mid -Ohio Sports Car Course. Las Vegas Speedway Park is not Brainerd Interna tional Raceway. Ga teway International Raceway is not Road Ameri ca. As Smith says: "It'll be: Just go ou t there and survive." But Smith, like the other factory stars, will try to make the best of a bad situation: "1 wan t to d o as muc h as I can to he lp it," Smith sai d . "We 've go t to try and build it up, but we also have to be truthful." Well said. It will be men like Qu arterley, independents who do their own thing; who will be faced w ith a d ecision. Race against the best in Indianapolis, or go to Mid-Ohio where they would almost certainly win in the othe rs' absence. But would it be the same? As William Shakespeare once penned: "Lest too light winning make the prize light." "I just want to go racing," Quarterley said . "1 want to run ra ces and w in money. U we're doing good in the AMA stu ff, then I might not be at Mid-Ohio, Right now I'm signed up for both and 111 also nul WERA, as well. If I was up there in the point standings, then I'd rather finish fifth at Indy than win at Mid-Ohio, But how can I even begin to pl ot out a season?" How can any of us? a 51

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