Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

out at the Czech Grand Prix held a t the Bmo circui t o n August 31, in the three so lo classes and in the Sid ecar World Cup class . No use of any banned su bstance to enhance or attemp t to enhance perfo rman ce during an even t w a s detected. O ne case is still under analvsis in the Sideca r class . ~ Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wiscon sin, and Snap-on Tools have announced a IO -year, category-exchi siv e sponsorship ag reement that will see th e co ns tructi on o f a new co ncre te-and-s teel Snap-on Bridge ca pa b le of ha nd li n g roa d tra ffic at the ent ra nce to the tu rn nine Carousel. thus op ening a n ad d itional 7G-acre par king and viewing area at the 550-acre facility . Buell American Motorcycles has developed a "specia l recognitio n" program for the S2 Thunderbolt line, the mo torcycle tha t m arke d the b egin n i ng of Bue ll 's co ll a bo r a tio n w ith Harl ey David s o n in 1993 . Bu e ll S2 a n d S2T o wners are being mailed a Signa tu re Se rie s ti me r cove r to iden tify their motorcycles as Signatu re Series models. Bue ll is seeki ng curren t a nd fo rmer owners of the 52 to complete its reg istry. Owners who have not received the Signature Series packet should send th eir name, address and VlN number to Scott Habegger, Buell Distribution Corp., P.O. Box 653, Milwaukee, WI 5320HJ653 . Mo torcycl is ts' needs will be considered in the d evelopmen t and implem entation of the " in te ll ige n t" high w a ys of th e futu re if a ne w ly a m ended p roposed la w is pa sse d , re ports the AMA. The U.S . Se na te Envi ro nme n t a nd Pu blic Wo r ks Com mi tt e e ha s a mend e d the Senate version of the highway reauth orizatio n bill to ens ure that [ntelligenl Transportation System, a massive project to em ploy technological solu tions to enh ance tra ffic flow and improve safety on the na tion' s highways, takes mo torcyclists into consideration. The amend men t, offered by Sen. Bob Smi th (R-Ne w Hampshire), wa s approved unanimouslyon a voice vot e . Th e bill, titled the Interm od al Surface Transportati ons Efficiency Act 11 (ISTEA Jl), will now move to the Sena te flour for considerat ion. the lan guage in th e Senate transp orta tion bill is sim ilar to the mot orcycle-frien dl y ITS pro visi on s co n ta ine d in BESTEA, the House version of the high way reautho rization bill. lSTEA II also provid es $131 m illion in recreational-t ra ils fund ing over a six-yea r peri o d . However, ISTEA II d oes no t co nt a in a ny pro visio ns to ensure motorcyclist acces s to all fed era lly fund ed roadways, no r does it prohibit the U.s. Depart ment of Tra nspor ta ti o n fro m lobby in g i n fav or o f mandato ry-h elmet laws, as th e H ou se version likely will. "BESTEA is motorcyclists' best bet ri ght now," sa id Rob Dingma n, the AMA's Washing ton represen tative. "but o ur biggest concern is that any lo ng -term highway reauthorization bill, w hether it be the H ou se version. BESTEA. or the Senate version. [STEAII, may beco me bogged d own if budget issues are no t resolved. If Con g re ss elects to no t pas s an o mn ibus hi ghwa y bil l and in st ea d app ro ves a short -term , tem porary-fun d in g bill for the nati on ' s hi ghway system , we will hav e lo s t man y of the gai ns w e ha ve made in bo th BESTEAand ISTEA [I. " In othe r governme nt new s, th e AMA repo rts that in an effo rt to cu rtail prohelmet-law lobbying efforts by officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad mi ni s t ra tio n (NHTS A ), the U .S. House o f Representative' Scien ce Cornmittee ha s ap proved a bill that wou ld prohib it N HTSA and other agencies w ithin th e U.S. De pa r tm ent of Transpo rtation from trying to influence fede ral, sta te and local legislation. The bill, HR 860, is titled the Su rface Tran sporta tion Research and Development Act. It was amended by chairman jim Sensenbrenner (R-WisconsinJ and the committee's ranking democrat, Geo rge Brown (D-ealifo rn ia), to prohibit further DOT lob by ing effo r ts afte r Sensenb re nner had received a flood of letters from consti tuen ts protest ing the use of federa l tax dollars to furt her NHTS A's pro-h elmet-law age nd a. Ear lier this yea r, representatives of the AMA and the Motorcy cle Riders Foundatio n had learned that the N HTS A was spend in g more than $100, 000 in federal fu nd s to prod u ce pro -helm et-law vid eo s fo r use in state legislatures. Add itiona lly, it wa s learned th at NHTSA officials had actively lobbied man y elected s tate officials in favo r of maintaining ma ndatory-helmet laws for adu lts. Accord ing to AMA Washingto n re pres entative Rob Di ng ma n. HR 860 will prevent the u se of fede ral fu nds by the N HTSA for lobb yin g purposes. Dingman also said, "The legis lation will be inco rpo ra ted i n to BESTEA, the Ho use version of th e highway reauthorization bill that already includes many provisions th at co ul d benefit mot orcyclists. I would encourage all riders to write their federal representatives in support of B~TEA and the incorpora tion of HR 860's lobbying prohibitions." In an effort to combat TLlOOO customer complaints a bo ut erratic idle and surg· ing at low rpm, American Suz uki Motor Corporat ion a n nou nc ed a TLlOOOSV Cust omer Satisfaction Program. Su zuki has d eveloped a new En gin e Co n trol Module, which is now available for customer orde r and dealer installation at no charge at authorized Suzuki dealerships nationwide. The remapped ECM is said to imp rove eng ine smoo thness and lowspeed perfo rma nce, while reducing the deg ree o f preci s io n requ ir ed to tun e TLlOOOS mod els fo r op tim u m perf ormance at all en g ine s peeds. For more information, co nt act your loca l Suzu ki dealer. Due to the ra in-ou t of the AMA Grand National Dirt Track round in Syracuse, New York , o n Se p te mber 7, th e Beer Nuts Brand Snacks Challen ge has been resch ed ul ed to run a t the penu ltimate round of the series in Las Veg as, Ne vada , on October 4. The six-rider, five-lap race features a $2000 pu rse. Fou r-time AMA Gran d Natio nal Cha mp io n Carroll Re sweber will m a ke a n a ppea ra nce at the upcom in g Del Mar Co ncours d 'E1ega nce on Satu rday, October 11, in Del Mar, Ca lifornia. Resweber, who carried the AMA number-one plate from 1958 to 1%1 , will join o the r former nu mber-ones Brad Andres, Mark Brelsfo rd , Chet Dyk g r aaf, La rry Hed rick , Bobby Hill, joe Leonard, Mert Lawwill, Dick Mann, Ga ry Nixon, Gen e Romero, Bubba Shobert, Bill Tuma n and many other racing legen ds. For more information , ca 1l61 9/27~7. In a cle ver piece of product-placement wo rk, Au stria-based KTM had a number of its off-road motorcycles pr esent as suppo rt ve hicles at the recen t Au strian Formula O ne Grand Prix car race at the new-and- improved A I Ring. On Frid ay, d efending Fl World Cha mpion Dam on Hill was plas tered all o ver the wo rldwide elect roni c broad cast medi a shown riding a KTM . complete with his racing uniform and renowned nav v-blue Graham Hill replica hel me t - back to the pits afte r his engine detonated in prac tice . O n Su nday, Prost Mugen driver jarno Trulli, who led the first 40 laps o f the race before his engine blew to pieces, was shown climbing o nto th e ba ck of another KTM and being provi ded wi th a lifl back to the pi ts - a s a n ESPN 2 announcer described to the TV aud ience, "o n the back of a KTM mot orcycle." Ha rley-Da vid son 's a nnua l York Open House in th e compa ny's plant in York, Pennsylvania, is sched uled for Sept em ber 25-27. For th e first time, th e eve nt will also be run at the York Fair grounds, an d will offer ca mping . Proceeds from the even t ben efit the Muscu la r Dystrophy Asso ciation . For camping reservations, call 717/848--2596. For eve nt informati on , call 717/ 848-1177. The C ha m pi o ns h ip C up Se ri es /CCS entries for the Race of Champions a t Dayton a In tern a tion al Speedway have been mailed . The season finale is schedul ed for October 29-November 2, and will crown national champio ns in all CCS classe s, includ in g NASB a nd FUSA. All licensed rid ers sho u ld ha ve received their mai ler. Entrv form s can be obtained by calling 704 i b84-4297 or faxing 704/ 684-3819. Team Obsolete has revived the Tra nsAtl antic Match Ra ce s for ma t of th e 1970, and early '80s and expanded it to include no t o nly British ve nues but also Da y to na Int e rn a ti o n al Speedway where th e first match is sched u led for Oct ober 26 - wi th two teams of six riders each com peti ng. T he USA te a m will con sist of Dave Aldana, Cal Rayborn Ill, Todd Henning , Don Ve sco, Dave Roper a nd Ri chard Moore . The UK team has yet to be completely filled , bu t it is sched u led to incl ude Mick Grant, Dav e Pither and Colin Breez e. ja y Irwin and Ken Landerma n o f Eng lishto wn's Racew ay Park in Englis htown, New jersey, have confirmed tha t 1997 AMA Su p e rc ross a n d 250cc N a t io na l Mo tocr oss C ha m pio n jeff Em ig wi ll return to compete at the 21st annual Kawasak i Race of Champions, sched u led for Oc tober 5. joining Emig wi ll b e 1997 A MA 125 cc Na tion a l Motocross Cha mpion Ricky Carmichael a nd Kawa saki fa ctory r id ers Ryan Hughes a nd Damon Huffman. O the r top pros, includ ing factory racers fro m the New York and Ne w England areas, are anticipa ted to be in competition at the event. For more info rma tio n, ca ll 908/446-7800. D&D Perform ance Exhaus t is o ffering ra ce r discoun ts fo r all 600 a nd 750cc .Su pers tock /Supe rspo rt classes. 0&0 will se ll its ex haus t systems for all 600 a nd 750cc classes a t a subs tan tial d iscount for all licensed road racers, as well as pay co ntingency mon ey for all D&Deq uipped Superstock/Supers po rt champion s a t th e end of th e year. Fo r more inf orm ation , write D&D Performance Exha usts, 2923 Edit h Lane, Fort Worth, TX 76117, o r ca ll 817 /834-896 1 fo r an application. fo r the 1998 racing seas on . Resumes sho uld be sent to Rider Suppo rt, Sinisa1 Pacific, 27833 Avenue Ho pkins, Unit 0 2, Val en cia , CA 91355, o r faxed to 805/257-3455. O' N e a l US A is cur re n tly acce p ting resu mes for 1998 sponsorship packages. Resumes" should be sen t to O'Neal USA, 9800 Eton Ave ., Chatsworth, CA 91311, Attn : Chuck Kober. Factory Connection is now accep ting race resumes for its 1998 race sup po rt prog ram. Resumes s ho uld be sen t to Rider Support, Factory Connectio n, 10 Crossroad s Indus trial Park, Rochester, NH 03868. Suzuki of Greenville is now accep ting amateur mo tocross race resumes for the 1998 race season. The deadline for cons id e r a ti o n is O ctobe r 10 . Res u mes shoul d be se nt to Suzuki of Gree nville, 812 Ma rti n s t., G ree n ville, O H 45331, Attenti on : Race Team . A se m inar for asp irin g profes sional road racers spo nso red by the AMA will be held o n Friday, September 26, d uring the Bridgestone Grand Championships at New Hampshire Internatio nal Speedwa y i n Loudon, New Hamps hire . Spe akers a t th e hour-lon g sem ina r will be AMA Pro Racin g road racing manage r Ron Barrick and AMA Pro Racing media-rel ations liaison Larry Lawrence. The se m ina r will be aimed at all riders wan tin g to im pro ve the image of the sport by presenti ng themselves p rofessionally to sponsors and to the med ia. The se minar is open to all racers attend ing the race and is free of cha rge. Mike Kidd , vi ce p resid ent of PA CE Motorsports , has an nounced that he has Signed a n ag ree ment with Carol Stacy, pres ident of CAS Communica tions, to develo p nationa l corpora te sponsorship and marketin g packages for th e AMA Pjl National Arenacross Series. O PENED : Dest.-rt Racer X, a rom p_my specializing in w riting resumes for racers in motorsports. The address is Desert Racer X. 6984 Alo ndra Blvd ., Hes peri a, CA 92345. The phone num ber is 760 /2405517. The fax line is 7bO/ 244-2008. • AUTOGRAPH SIGNI NG: AI the Arco AM-PM s tore at 1959 Arden Way in Sacrame nto, California, on Friday. Sep t...-mbc 26. from 6-8 p.m. AMA Grand r Na tion al Dirt Tracker Joe Kopp is sc heduled .to appear. For more inform.. ation, call 614/ 891-2425. PURCHASED: Har d rock Cycle Park (formerly the Oca la Mot or Spo rts Park) in Ocala , Flo rida , by Randy and Sue Kcun tjes of Creen Bay, Wisconsi n. Th e Keuntje,' dim lu make the facilit y one of the fin e st motocros s and mo un tain -bi ke racing and practice ven ue in Florida . Hard rock Cycle Park s will host the World Spurts Gold Cup Race on October 19. For mo re information, call 920/434-6680 or 920/337-

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