Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the case brings an en d to a fouryear legal ba ttle that be gan whenthe AMA filed suit on behalf of three AMA m emb ers wh o liv e in Can y on Lake, located 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Ca li fo rnia . Th e su it was brough t after negotia tions b etween the AMA and the Can yon Lake Proper ty Owner s Asso ciation failed to rev erse the po licy that prevented resid ents fro m rid in g stree t-legal m otorcycl es to th eir homes. Resid en ts who violate th e bike ban are subject to subs ta ntial fines a nd can be excluded fro m u sing th e co mm unity 's common areas. Th e 19 98 NA S B World C ycle Fe s t schedule ha s been rel ea sed . The ninerace series is as follows: March 1 - Daytona Internat ion al Speedway, Dayt on a Beach, Florida; Ma y 10 - Road Ame rica, Elk ha r t Lake , Wi s co nsin ; Ma y 17 Watkins Glen, Watkins Glen, New York; June 10 - Milwaukee Mile , Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; TBA - Me tro-Dade Mot orsp o rts Complex, Homest ead, Florida ; July 5 - Buttonwillow Racew ay, Buttonwillow, Cali fornia; Jul y 26 - Heartland Park, Topek a, Kansas; September 20 Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia; October 25 - Da yt ona Internation al Speed way, Dayt ona Beach, Florida, Castrol Hond a will field a two- ri der t eam in th e 1998 W orld Supers p or t . Series. with Michael Pa q uay and James Tos ela nd set to ride CBR600s in the 10round series. Paquay, 25, has twice won th e Europ ean Supers port C ha m p ionship, while Toseland , 17, was th e sen sation of th e British road racing se ries and was si g ned by Ca strol H onda in August. It loo ks as though there will be at least th ree A merica ns contes ting the FIM 500cc Grand s Prix in 1998, as road ra cer Malt W ait h a s secured a deal wit h the FCC Ho nda tea m and will be ab o ard a 500cc H o n d a t w in in the series. The 21- year- old former AMA 883 Twin Sports Na tional Champion from Lod i, Ca lifornia, bega n working on ge tting th e rid e as far back as a yea r a nd a half ag o, according to his brother, Na te "Ga ito r" Wai t. "He went over 'there a nd m et everybody and got his feet wet ," t he younger Wait said . "They (FCC) decided tha t he was rid ing a 250 in A me rica last yea r, so the y d ecid ed to give him a try . It's an allJapanese tea m, so to have an American o n it wi ll be different. It 's a Dun lop tes t team, so he'll be testing a lot. He' s going to d o the wh ole year. " Dirt track silly season, part 1: Joe Kop p may or ma y no t be looking for a ride for the 1998 AMA Grand Na tiona l Ch ampionship s e aso n . Th e ha rd-charg in g Washingtonian , wh o won the 1997 Peoria TT while aboard Mi ke Shattu ck ' s Harle y- David s on o f Sacr amen to machinery, has yet to secure a solid deal si n ce team m ech a n ic Ke n ny To lbert depa rted to join up with Chris Carr on th e Earl Small Harl ey-Davidson roa d racing team . "I might still go d irt tra cking wi th Mike , if onl y o n a lim ited schedule, an d I'd like to try some road racing, so it may work ou t if I don't d o the wh ole thing," Kopp said . "I've been talk ing with KTM about d oin g the 600s '(factory d irt trackers), bu t I haven' t go t anything locked down yet until I talk wi th Mike. Then there's a local Suzuki d ealer in town w ho might be inte rested in a 600cc su pport road racing deal. I d on't know; I'm prett y sure tha t I'm going dirt tracking." Dir t track s illy season, p a rt Il: An entirely d ifferent po ssibility is that Joe Ko pp could wind up as the sole rider o n the Suburban Motors Harley-Da vidson team, w hic h for merly fielded J.R. Sch nabel, Ji m Su mn er and Bret Beyer in va rying d egrees of su p port. Team o w ner Joe Ho upt is sca li ng back th is season in o rd er to concen trate on his Th iensville, Wisc on sin , Harl ey-D avidso n s h o p , but w o u ld lik e to s tay involved in dirt track racing , an d is loo king at Kopp as a p oss ible rid er. "It's all up in the air," Houpt sa id . "I may he lp some guys ou t, but I'm not g oin g to go ou t fo r th e whole year . .An other d eal might be that I just give Joe (K op p) the eq ui pm en t, and he can take it out on the road, and I'll sho w up to the ones tha t I feel like, to help ou t. So far , that's the only thing that seems to wo rk out the wa v I'd need it to. Joe and I just have to sit down and figure it out." Dirt track s ill y seas on , part Ill : Rich King and team ow ner Craig Rogers are all se t for the 1998 AMA Grand Nati on al tour, th e du o ha ving secured full fi nan ci a l ba cking fr om cus to m -sea t m agnate Mike Corb in . King will cam pa ign Cor bin Ra cing H onda RS750s w hile Rogers' son Gary will remain as th e second member of th e team, riding Harley-Davidson XR750s and 883s. The Rogers team is now the only suc h tea m to wear Corbin Racing colors, as Corbin o pted to relea se the Tim Torrecillas-run h alf o f the operation , w hich field ed Chance Darli n g a nd Lonnie Pauley. "Mi ke has really made this a good prog ra m for us this year," Rogers s aid . "This is th e best deal th at we've eve r ha d . We've got plen ty of parts. I don' t know what happened on the ot her end (of the team ). That's none of my business. But we did not backdoo r anybod y. Mik e Corbin wants to stay in dirt track lo n g -t er m and win . W e e n ded o n a good no te last year, a nd we th ink tha t we ca n give Mr. Parker a run for hi s money this year." Dirt track silly season, part IV: Ricky Graham w ill retu rn to Harley-Davidsons for th e first tim e since 1987. Graha m , w ho won th e Gran d National Cham pionship on Tex Peel-tuned XRs in 1982, wi ll return to Harl eys in the Johnny Goad/USC Racin g ca m p this year. Graham said that he feels the switch will no t be adisa dvan tage for him . " If the tracks were perfect, like they are in practice, then I' d always want to ride the Hondas . But as they get sli cker, I' m fighting them , a n d tha t ' s when th e Harley-Da vidson twingl es really have an advantage," Graham said . "I'm just looking forward to being even . I'm real excited ."Goad sai d , "Lancas ter Harl eyDavidson and the Dod ge brothers have giv en the bik es to me . I was going to have to sp end a lot of money to mak e them Hondas like they were in 1993 (w hen Graham last won the cha m p ionship). Now I'm raci ng w ith 'gots' instead of 'wa n ts .' '' Graham will also ha ve a new teammate , as forme r Amateur National Champion Bryan Bigelo w will park his Mar in e Transport XRs to join the Z Ga lleries-sponsored Graham on the USC tea m in 1998 . Big el ow replaces Kevin Varnes, w ho has go ne o n to repl a ce Will ie McCo y o n th e Chico Bednar and Rose and Barry Krillowned Rose Raci ng Harley-David son team. Dirt track silly season, part V: Rumor has it that former AMA Gra nd Na tiona l C ha mpio ns h ip-wi n n ing team Chris Carr and Kenny To lbert have taken a look a t the 1998 AMA Grand National s ched u le a n d reali zed tha t - if the y wanted to - they could con test 16 ra ces. .T h e ir ability to be compe ti tive i s un questionable. Dirt track silly season, part VI: Former TCR mechanic Denn is Town has found a n ew h om e w ith th e S t e v e Morehead/F&S Ha rley-D avid so n ra ce team, and w ill be spinning wr enches for Morehe ad as th e Ohi o ve tera n enters hi s 25th season in Grand Na tiona l racin g. Lance Smail has signed a on e-year con tra ct w ith KTM for th e 1998 motocross season. Smail will campaign the AMA Supercross Series on a KTM 250SX and will ride both th e East and Wes t Fou rStroke MX Series on a Husaberg. Smail will also ride th e AMA 250cc National Cham pionshi p MX Series o n a Hus abe rg. ANNOUNCED: The ph on e number for Ricky Graham's Dirt Track Univer sit y. The phone number is 408 /455-11 13. MOVED: Bod y Mecha nic Sp orts Ma ssa ge, to 2973 Harbor Blvd., Su ite 243, Cos ta Mesa , CA 92626 . Owner Karen Sotiroiou, a ma ssage therapist, says she · again pla ns to follo w th e AM A Superbike Series and can be reached at 1-800792-7706. OPENED: Malco lm Smith Motorsports' hom e page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following add ress: http:/ /www.malcolmsmith.com . MOVED: Works Sta nd Accessories, to 8412 Railroad St., Cry stal Lake, IL 60012, 815/455-6800, 815/ 455-6806 (fax). H IR ED: K eilita Svoboda, to the pos ition of legislative assistan t, by the Am erican Mot orcyclist Association. Svobod a will wor k in th e govern men t- re la tions department office in Was hington, D.C. AI'POI NTED: Jack Edwards , as market ing manager of Race Tech in Pomona, California . Edward s most recently served as ma rke ting coordinator for DC Performanc e. OPENED: The Centennial Classic IT's h ome page o n the Wo rld Wide Web. Th e site can be fou nd at th e following address: http: / /www.centennial-tt .org . O PENED: Formula USA' s h om e page on the Wor ld Wide Web. The site can be found a t t he fo llowi ng address : http: / /www.formulausa.com. OPENE D: T ea m Pro-Moti on Rid er s Cl ub' s ho me pa ge o n th e World Wid e We b. The site ca n be found a t th e following address : http: / /www.teamprom otion.com . O P EN ED: CBR Bea rin g Company's home p age on the Wo rld W ide Web. Th e sit e can be found at the foll owing ad d ress: http:/ /www.tfb. com / - cbr. O PEN ED : Hemp Racing's home page o n th e World Wide Web . The site can be found a t t h e fo llow ing address : http :/ /www.e-z.net /-rampage. ROHM Performance O P EN ED : Ma chin e's home p a ge on th e World Wid e Web. The site ca n be found at the following add ress: h ttp :/ /www.d yno- jet.com /VR /RPM I MOVED: Corbi n Pacific, to 2360 Tech- nology Way , Ho llis ter, CA 95023 , 408/634-1100 ,408 /634-1059 (fax). RESCHEDULED: The Steel Shoe Fund three-hour end u ran ce race , to Ja nuary 31. Un seaso na bly warm w eather has forced the event to change fro m its origin al d ate of January 3 . Th e sho rt track /IT race s scheduled for January 4 have been canceled. For m ore information, call 4141353-5920. OPENED : Mot osport Tr aining's home pa ge on th e World Wide Web . The site can be fou nd at th e followi ng address: http: / /www.mosquitonet.com /-motosport 1index.htm. OPENED: Chris Haines' Baja Off-Road Tours' home page on th e World Wide Web. The sit e can be found at the follo wing address : http:/ /www.bajaoffroad tou rs.corn, AUTOGRAPH SIG NING: At Del Amo Mo torsports in Redondo Beach, Californi a , o n Friday, [a nua ry .v, frpm 5 to 8 p .m . Te am Kawasak i' s,Jeff Emig and Ryan Hughes and M oto XXX rid ers Mike Me tzger and Brian Deega n are sched u led to appea r. For more inform ation , call 3101370-5651. APPOINTED: John M. Reiff , as p resi d ent o f Big Dog Mo torcycl es LLC, by Sheld on Coleman, fou nder and CEO of Big Dog Motorcycles, effective immediately. COR RECTION: Issu e #50 inco rrectly »: listed Randy Stubblefield as th e third place finisher in the results from Action Speedway in Texas. Thi rd place actually went to Mitch Hovden. AUT O G RA P H SIGNI NG: At Cl ea r Lake Kawasaki Sea -Doo in Webs ter, Texas , on Janu ary 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p .m . Tea m Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, Ryan Hug hes a nd Damon Huffma n are scheduled to appear. For mor e information, call 281 1486-4604. AUT O G RA P H S IG N ING: At · M id Citi es Ho nda in Paramou n t, Ca lifornia, on January 9 at 6 p .m. Factory Connectio n' s Mike La Rocco and FMF Ho nda team riders Scott Sheak, David Pingree, Jason McCo rmick, Brock Sell ards a nd Danny Smith are scheduled to ap pear. Fo r more inf ormation, call 562 / 5311225. AUTO G RAP H SIG N I N G: A t St u b bs Cycles in Houston, Texas, on January 16 from 6 to 8 p .m . Team Suzu ki' s Greg Albertyn , Larry Ward, Mickael Pichon, Robbie Reynard, Ryan H uffman a nd Rog e r DeC ost er are sc h e d ul ed to appea r. For m ore in form ation , ca ll 713/ 644-7535. OPENED: KD Kanopy's home page on th e Wo rld Wid e Web. Th e site can be found at th e following address: http:/ /www.kdkanopy.com . O P EN ED: Griffis MotoC ross Racing' s home page on the World Wi de We b . Th e site can be found at th e follo wi ng ad dress: http:/ /www.griffisracing.com. CORRECTION: In our race test of th e 1998 CC M C26 ES (H a re & Houn dabl e, Issu e #50 , Ja nuary 7) we inad ve rten tly rep o rted th a t Pa trick Ga rrahan was the 1996 No rt he rn Ca lifo rnia C r oss Count r y Series C hampion . Aaron Sykes was th e champio n a nd had actually locked it u p ea rlie r in the year . l'~ 00 0\ ~ 5

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