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/127724
".M TO R S O C O S..... Round 1: TajimiMX Park "AUJapan Motocross C hampionship Trickness alore I n 1986, the American Mot or cyclist Association implemented the following rule: In orde r to be eligible for competition in an AMA-sanctioned motocross or supe rcross, a motorcycl e must be a production model produced within the last five yea rs. Mo torcycles must be available for delivery in the U.S. through normal commercial channels. Thus came about the death of the ¢orks bik . In America, that is. Wh ere do you think the majority of new designs and technological ad va nces that grace ea ch new production motocross bike co me fr orn th e American fac tory teams? Thin k again! While many production specifica tions and se tti ngs are arrived upon in America, the majority of radica l new de sign testing is done where the bikes themselves are built in Japan. Because the Japanese fede ra tion ha s no production rule, manufacturer s are allowed to build radical one-of-a-kind works bikes and test new ideas and concepts that could eventually find their way onto the production machines of tomorrow. At the opening All Japan Motocross National. no less than 12 factory bikes were on hand, and that's only counting those in the premier 250cc class. Both Ron Tichenor and Jeff Matiasevich were mounted aboard fullworks bikes, Tichenor aboard a RH250 Suzuki, and Matiasevich aboard a SR250 Kawasaki. The top finishing Japanese rider, third-place Tatsuyuki Motoki, competed aboard a su pe rtrick perimeter-framed Honda RC250. Fourthplace Tetsumi Mitsuyasu piloted a factory YZM250 Yamaha. Photographer Shogo Nakao snapped a few shots of the trickest MX bikes on the planet fer us... > » v ich made a clean pass a t the end of the lo n g s t r a ig h t a w a y . Tichenor, though, was abl e to take the lead back only a few turns later when M a tiasevich went a little too w ide in a 180degree left-han d er. . " I came up ov er this rise and there wa s a rider crashed in a turn ," said Matiasevich. "I cut insi de to pass him, but he picked up his bike and gassed it into me. I don't know w hat he was thinking, bu t he clipped me and Ronn ie was able to get past." All Tichenor ha d to d o was hold on for the two remaining lap s, an d the win was his. Matiasevich was seco nd, well ahead of Mitsuyasu. Th e old man of Japanese (Above) Tomoyoshi Masuda 's Yamaha VZM250 doesn't look much different than last year 's factory Yamaha. The aluminum fuel tank and radiator sh rouds are of a dark navy-blue color , similar to the U.S. Yamaha team bikes. Works Kayaba upside-down forks are used. (Right) Externally, the VZM250 engine doesn't appear to be much different from production, but rumors have Yamaha deb uting an allnew works eng ine in the near future . ...... I-< 0.. <: 12 Professiona rider de l picted duringclosed-eourseevent. Do notattemptthese maneuvers. Dress prope rtytoryou ridew~ a helmet, frje protecnon. lon r g-slee shirt. loog trousers, gloves and boots. Yamaha an theMotorcycleSafetyFoundation enco ved d urage youto ridesafely and