Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

21 to ride helmetl ess if th ey satisfy the s ta te's hea lth-in sura n ce requ ir emen t. Those w ho sa tisfy the req ui rements will be issued a license-plate sticker that will permit them to ride without a helmet in thaf state. Th e U.S. Forest Service is developing a new transportation po licy d es igned to h elp secu re a dequa te fu nding fo r th e agency's road-maintenance effo rts, bu t off-highway vehicle ent h us iasts are conce rn ed that the plan may sig ni fica ntly red uce the number of off-highwa y recr eational opportunities currentl y available to trail riders, accord ing to th e AMA . C u rren tly, th e For es t Service overs ees roughl y 400,000 miles of roa d way s, and ag ency officials claim that cu rren t funding level s are inadequate to ma intain safe an d enviro nmentally so und roads . Th e p roblem w it h th e proposed plan, accor d ing to the AMA, is that th e Forest Se rvic e defines anything fro m sing le track trails to paved two-lane parkways as road s. That leaves OHV en th usias ts co nc erned tha t th e agency in te nds to concentrate on the paved par kw ays th at se rve au to mo bile an d mo to rho m e visitors - w hil e simultaneously "decomm issioning" o r closi ng th e single- and dualtra ck trails. The A MA and H arley-Da vidson have co me to an ag reement tha t wi ll see the A MA 883 N ational Dirt Tra ck Series undergo a titl e change. The new series, w hich will still be th e su p po rt class at a majority of ra ce s o n th e AMA G rand Na tio na l sc hed u le, w ill no w be ca lled the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series. The machinery will basically be the s a me, but the AMA has loosened up the rul es to allow for ad d itional engi ne mod ifica tion s. Acco rd ing to A rt G ompper, ra cing p romotions manager for Harley-Davidson, the company is proud to co nti n ue its inv olvem en t in the se ries. "The Harley-David son Mo tor Company ha s been involved w ith AMA d irt track racing for a long, lon g tim e," Go mp pe r sa id. 'We feel that th e Spo rts te r Perfo rmance Series gives d irt trackers the opportunity to exce l at this g reat sport wi thou t spending the kind of mon ey it tak es to field a com pe titive G ra nd Na tiona l C hamp io ns hi p m a ch in e . W e ' ve a lrea d y s e en so me bri ght yo ung stars shine on the Sportster dirt tra ckers, a nd we loo k fo rwa rd to seeing m any more ." The series begins o n May 17 a t the De laware State Fai rgrounds in Harrington, Delaware. New York d irt tracker Marco Morello ha s secu red a sponsors h ip d eal w it h Lombardi 's H arley-Davidson tha t w ill a llow h im to co ntest th e entire AMA Grand Nation al Championship Series in 1998. Morello will have one brand-new J&M-fra med Harl ey-Dav id so n XR750 and one backup XR at his di sposal as he a tte m p ts to cha lle nge ot her to p yo ung hot s hoes, such as Bry an Bigelo w , for AMA Grand Na tio nal " Rookie of the Year" ho nors. Th e Co mfort In n a nd Conferen ce Ce nter and the new Ramad a Ltd . in Rochest er, Minn esota, have been d esignated as the officia l eo-r ace headqu arte rs fo r th e A ug u s t 14 -1 6 rou nd of th e AMA 125/250cc Nati o nal Mo tocross Ch ampio ns h ip a t Spring Creek MX Park in Mill vill e, Minnesota. For more information, call 502/288-9090. Th e AMA and Central Park Travel are offering tour pa cka ges to the 1998 ISDE, scheduled for November 1-16 in Traralgo n, A u st ralia. Th e packages include ro und-trip airfare to Melbourne, a rental ca r and 14 nights at o ne of the officia l Te am USA hotel s . Eac h to ur p acka ge also includes an official Team USA ISDE ja cke t. For m o r e infor ma tio n, call 800/657-2550. An o riginal oil painting has bee n crea ted by Troy Lee to commemorate the Shoeis ponsored AMA 125 /250cc Na tional M otocross round a t G len Helen Race- . w ay in San Bernard in o, California , on May 10. Th e painting features Jeremy McGrath , and 50 0 limited -edi ti on po sters wil l be av ailable the weekend of the National. For more informa tio n, call 909/384-9342. Th e Ford Taurus d riven by Rick Mast in the 1998 Wins ton Cu p Series is ba cked pa rtially by Po laris ATVs. In addition to ATVs, Po laris also manu factu rers perso nal w atercraft a nd th e new Victo r y line of mot orcycles in Minneapolis, Minnesota . American Suzuki anno unced on Febru ary 18 that the company w ill con d uc t a safety recall on all 1998 Suzu ki RMI25s. Pursua nt to requir emen ts of the Cons u me r P rodu ct Safety Comm is si o n , Suzuki has iss ued se veral recall notices to all au tho rized Suzuki dealers as well as to all kn own owners of the affec ted m od el. It ha s been d etermi ned that th e foot peg mounts of some RM125s were not h eat-trea ted duri ng m anufacture ,which coul d cause the footpegs to bend or brea k. Owners are ad vised to contact their local dealer . Fo u r-time AMA Supercross Na tiona l Cha mpion and curre n t p o ints leader Jeremy McGrath recently co m pleted a shoo t with th e syn d ica ted tele vision en te r tai n men t news s ho w Ext ra . The show spent a day wi th McGrath on Febru ary 16, shooting action foota ge of him ridi ng at his su percross track and interviewing him at his Canyon Lake, Ca lifornia , h om e . M cG rat h ' s pro fil e is sched u led to air th e w eek end o f February 28 and can be seen on m ost NBC stations across the country. All Pro MX Fitness Training is currently acce pting resumes for th e 1998 racing season. Mail resumes to All Pro MX Fitness Training, 31875 Byers Rd ., Menifee, CA 92584, attn: spo nsors hip . All a p plicants must res id e in California, accord ing to All Pro. Th e M id-Cities HOG Chapter will host a Ride to Catalina ride on March 28, begi nni ng wi th a boa t rid e to the island off the coast of Southern Ca lifornia. The event will fea ture a parad e down Front Street in Avalon, Catalina - led by the Mayor of Avalon. For more info rmation, call 562/408-6088. The A m e ri can Motorcycle H e ritage Fou ndation ha s started planning for th e crea tion of the Moto rcycle -Heritage Ha ll of Fame, which w ill hon or and mernori.alize ind ivid ua ls who have made significant co ntribu tio ns to motorcycling i n A me rica. T he Board o f T r us tees anno unced the Hall of Fam e project o n Fe bruary 19, fo llow ing a m eet in g of a pl an ning team appointed . "The foundation' s mission ha s always inclu ded the d evelopment of a motorcycl ing hall of fa me," pl anni ng team m ember Don Emd e sa id. "With the Moto rcycl e H er it a g e Mu se u m d is cu s sing pos s ib le e xpansi o n, the tim e is rig h t to m o ve ahead wi th pl an s to identify and hon or th e g rea t perso na lities w ho have m ad e American m oto rcyclin g what it is." A goa l h a s b ee n se t to ann oun ce th e AMA Dirt Track Grand Cham ionshi s set for Ind u ri ng a reception ho ste d b y A m erica n Motorcyclist Ma gazine in th e Indiana polis Motor Speedway H all of Fame o n Fe bruary 21, the AMA an nou n ced tha t it has entered into an ag reement with Fast Track Racing to co-promote the five-d ay ama teur AMA Dirt Tra ck Grand Cham pionships in Ind iana polis. Racing wi ll take place on four different tracks at th e Indiana Sta te Fairgro u nds and at the new 16th Stree t Speedway, July 611. Th e hal f. m ile, mil e an d IT Natio na ls are sched uled for the Indiana Sta te Fairgrounds, home of th e Indy Mil e, a longtim e sto p on th e AMA Grand Nati onal Championship Series sched u le. Th e short tra ck nati onal is set to be held on the quarter mile at 16th Street Speedway, a haven for USAC Midg et ra ce car s. Home of the fabled 500-mil e race, the Indianapolis area is rich in trad ition and hi story of automobile racing, a nd th e AMA hopes to add dirt track motorcycl e racing to th at heritage by keeping the Grand Championship s there for years to come. "We believe that the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships represent a crucia l elemen t of grass-roots d ir t track racin g, as w ell as a vital link between amateur and pro raci ng," said AMA vice presid ent of marketing Bill Am ick. "We also bel ieve that the IJ in nova tive a p proac h w e've ta ken to the '9 8 G rand C ha m p io nships will help us se t a course toward a higher vis ibility and more com prehens ive d irt track program in the future." The p rogram it self h as u ndergon e severa l cha n ge s a nd improvements, including but no t lim ited to the foll owing : Pro Sport rid ers a t the Nationals will be racing for a $12,000 purse ; a women's class is be ing offered for the first tim e; ad d itio nal "participat ion" classes wi ll be offered for riders up to 8 yea rs o ld; A HRMA vi ntage classes will ma ke their d ebut at th e Indiana Sta te Fairgro unds M ile o n Jul y 9. But the re will be more to do than jus t race. Th e city has taken a role in the promotion of the eve n t by g iv ing rid e rs and their fa m il ies the opportunity throughou t th e w eek to take advantage of sp ons ored a nd discou nted visits to local attrac tions in the area . "The Indianapolis community has been genero us with its hosp itality a s we have pl anned for th is yea r's Grand C ha m pi onships," Ken Saill ant sa id . "We ' re excited abo ut all of the new featu res , and we w on' t be satisfied wi th anythi ng less than the bes t races in the 21-year histo ry of the A MA Grand C ha mpionships." Mot o rcycle Hall of Fame's "Firs t One Hundred" before the end of 1998. Triumph Motorcycles America will host demo rid es o n the full lin e of Triumphs, includ ing the new Thunderbird Sport and Sprint m odels , duri ng Bike Week in Da ytona Beach, Florida, beginning on Ma rch 1. Tri umph will be loca ted a t 510 Ball ough Road in Da yto na Beach. RESCHEDULED: The Over the Hill Gang's mo tocross at Lemo n Grove in Piru, California, to March I. The Febru ary 22 race was rai ned out. Fo r mo re inf o rmatio n, ca ll 562/921-4752. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Ray C's Cycle and Sports in La Peek, Michigan, on April 3 from 7 to 8 p.m. Team Kawasaki's jeff Emig, Dam on Huffman and Ryan Hug hes, and Tea m Split Fire /Pro Circu it's Ricky Car michael, Casey johnson, Nic Wey and Nathan Ramsey are scheduled to appea r. For more information, call 810/664-9261. OPENED: Springzz U.S.' s home page on the Worl d Wide Web. The site can be found at http:/ /wwwSpringzz.com. NAM ED: Warren Harringt on, as Victory Motorcycles' zone sales manager, by general manager Matt Parks. BORN: All ie Kait lyn Henso n, to former Grand National dirt track racer Ricky Henson and his wife, Shelly, in Boise, Idaho, on February 10. . CORRECTIO N: Contrary to w ha t was report ed in the ZX-6R First Ride (Issue #7, February 25) the GSX-R600 and CBR600F3 are not the same price as the ZX-6R:They are both 57799, 5200 less . OPENED : AMRacing's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the followi ng address: http:/ / www.flattrack.com/amracing.hlml. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Yamaha cons ume r tent at Dayton a In tern ational Spee dway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 7 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Team Yamaha' s Rich Oliver and ja mie Hacking are scheduled to appear. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Yamaha co ns u mer tent a t Day ton a In te rna tional Spee d way in Day tona Beach, Florida, on March 6 from 3 to 4 p.m. Team Yama ha's Kevin Windham , john Dowd an d Doug Henry are scheduled to appear. OP ENED: Motorsp ort s Ne two rks' hom e page on the World Wide Web. The site can be fou nd at th e fol lo wing add ress: http:/ / www.motorsports-network.com. RESCHEDULED: Rou nd two of the GFI Sout h Winter Seri es, to March I at Perris Raceway in Perris, California. GA will also hold practice on February 28 from 8 a.m. to I p.m. For more info rmation, call 909 /653404 2. BORN: Christian Peterson, to AMA 250cc GP road racer Ashley Peterson and his wife, Cindy, in Fort Smith, Arizona, on February I. SIGNED: Rock Oil, as a spo nsor of Dave Th orp e' s 1998 Worl d Cha mp ions hip Motocross Series team of Jam es Dobb and Luigi Seguy. POSTPONED: The Wild Boar 4 Enduro and Wild Boar Family Enduro (D-36), to May 1718 at the Gear Creek management area near Coalinga, California, due to weather cond itions and road closures in San Benito County. FORMED: R Cal Racing's Power Sports divis io n, in Hu ntington Bea ch , California. For more information, call 714/ 848-6797. HIRED: Daniel Knowlton, by R Cal Racing, as support race technician for the new Super IT Motard race series . For more information, call 714/848-6797. OPENED: Acid Fast Racing's home pageon the World Wide Web. The site can be found at http:/ / www-hsc.usc.edu / - mdube. l:'

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