Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

/ . Suzuki ha s agreed to su pply the team with lea sed factory race bik es. Since the Harris team w ould now be "cu stomers" ins tea d of the official factory squad , Stev e H a rr is sa id the team would have a choice be tween th e ca rbureted or fuel-inje cted versio ns , a nd that the team wou ld d efin itely u se the carbureted m o d el. The n e w fa ctory squad , Tea m S uz uk i Al sta re, m a y have to use th e fu el-in jected ve rsion . Th ere are e v ide ntly th r e e possible spo nsorshi p d eals currently in negotiatio n, w i t h unkn o wn spo nsors, tho ugh all three wou ld see th e retu rn of James Whitham to th e Harris-run team . As for the second rid er, tw o of the th ree p os s ibl e d eal s have Peter Goddard returning, th ough th e th ird d eal has th e stip u lat io n that one rid er must be Germa n . A t Du cati, Pier-Francesco Chili ha s a ppa re n t ly b e com e th e vic ti m of d ownsizing, as ha s team manager Vi rginio Ferrari. The sing le official fac tory tea m will run under the Ducati Perfor m a n ce bann e r a nd fea tu re Carl Fogarty and m o re th a n li kel y Troy Corser as rid er s, thou gh th e deal w ith the Aus tralia n is s till und er n eg otiation. Davide Ta rdozzi will be the team m a n a g er . C hi li an d Fer r ar i we re offe re d a sa tellite team but th e bi k es wo ul d b e s om e tw o ge ne r at io ns be h in d th e cu rren t evo lu tion o f the 996cc su perbik e. Th ey both d ecl ined. As a resu lt , Chili is set to sig n w it h ' Team Suzu ki Alstare as th e n u m berone rider for the team, after also turning d own a d ea l to help d e velop th e Aprilia RSV1000 durin g the 1999 seaso n . Ferrari, however, may end up as the team manager for Aprilia 's na scen t su perbike effo rt. Coul d Jean-Michel Bayle end up on a factory Yamaha superbike? With bo th Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa ri ding fo r the factory Ya ma ha Gran d P r ix , tea m next year, a nd w ith Simo n Crafar a n d Norifumi A be o n t h e Re d Bu ll Ya m a ha s q ua d, it .m a y e n d up th at way. Acco rdi ng to so u rces in Europe, Bayl e ha s been offere d u pward of $1 million to ride the all-new R7 homologa tio n special alo ngside cu rre nt Yama ha su p erb ike pilot Noriyuki Haga on the official team . U .S. Natio nal number-tw o Ryon BelI (Mon) finished seven th in th e Three Days o f Ci ngles Int e rn ati on al Trial , he ld i n Sa n t Feliu d e Co d ines n e ar Bar celon a, Spain. The eve n t, held October 10-12, was wo n by Jose M. Alcaraz (Mon) with 13 po ints. Bell finis hed w ith a 49. Be ll , w ho rema in ed in Europe after th e Tria l des Na tio ns in September, has been livi ng and training wi th newly crow ned European Cha mpion Jordi Pas quet. Charlie Vau gh n , a top ama teur ro ad racer in the Mid w est , suffered serious closed-head in ju ries d urin g GLRRA's Cha m pions hi p fina ls . Vaughn faces an extended hospital stay and a lon g pe riod of recover y. H is friends an d fellow race rs ha v e s et u p a tru s t fund to w hich people may send cont ribu tions, at: Benefit to Charlie Vaugh n, United Bank, P .O . Bo x 601, Galion, O hio, 44833. Fo r m or e info rmation , ca ll 616/458-5888. PACE Mo tor Spo rts, th e p ro mot er s of the AMA / Su percross Series, will offe r family seating a t all PACE Supercross e ve n ts . The new fa m ily sea ti ng section s w ill offe r fans - es pecially th ose California softens tough emissions/an ne w eek aft er announcing the tou ghest em iss ions sta ndards ever set for road mo torcycl es , the Ca lifo rn ia Air Resources Board ha s backed off its proposal slightly. CAR B's new proposal, announced October 13, will still se t stringen t sta ndards for motor cycle em issio ns in Ca lifornia - six times stric ter than the fede ral standard - but it represents a modera tion from the agency's previous proposa l, announced one week earlier at a pub lic mee ting on October 7. At that tim e, CA RB sai d it woul d tig hten the sta ndard for hyd rocarb ons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from 2.1 gra ms per kilom eter traveled to 0.4 grams by 2008. That wo u ld have mean t a reduction of 80 percent over the 10-year peri od, and the age ncy noted that the stan da rd likely would have requi red the u se of com p uter-co ntrolled fu el injec tion, th ree-w ay ca ta ly tic converters wi th feed back con trol, and pulse air-injection syste ms on motorcycles sold for road use in the state. At that meet ing, re presen tatives of the motorcycle industry and the AMA ins tead p roposed a p lan tha t would lower emissions 40 p ercent , from 2.1 gra ms to 1.2 gra ms per kilometer. The mot orcycle groups argued tha t fur ther reductions wo uld not be cost-effective, given th e min u te contribution of motorcycles to California's air -po llution problems. In additio n, it was noted that the equipme nt necessary to mee t that CARB prop osal could add 20 percen t or more to the cost of a new mot orcycle. An d it was poi nted ou t tha t the design of man y motorcycles, wit h exposed engines, presents a problem in fitting O wi th yo u ng child re n - th e a dvantage of sitting in a sec ured ' sec tio n tha t is free of alcohol and. "extrem ely en thu sias tic behavior. " In ad d ition, in s tadiums wh ere it ap p lies, the areas will be smo ke-free. PACE cond uc ted its firs t famil y-s eating- secti on test la st April at rou n d 15 of t h e U .S . Su p ercr os s Series a t T e xa s S ta diu m . " .. .In th e never-ending sea rc h for en ha ncements for our fa ns , we ha ve joined together wi th th e stadiums to provid e an alternative sea ti ng e nvironmen t for th e fans a t ou r even ts ," said Ken H ud ge ns, vice pres id en t of marketing at PACE. "Wit h our new family-seati ng se ction, fa ns of supercross will have th e o p tio n of sitting in great s e ats w ith thei r family and frie nds . It's simp ly a n a d di tio na l seating choice fo r ou r race fan s." Seven-time AMA Natio nal and Su per- . cross Cham pion Rick Johnson wi ll be th e G ra nd M a r sh a ll o f th e White Bro t hers Worl d Ve t MX C hampionshi ps at Glen Helen Raceway in San Berna rdi no, Ca lifornia, October 31Novem ber 1. Joh nson will a lso co mpete in th e Over 30 Pro event on Sunday . ''' I am very excited about thi s eve nt , and I'm glad to h ave an opportu nit y to com pete in the yea r' s race ," sa id Johnson , who will also co nduc t hi s firs t Rick Jo h n s o n Motocro ss School at Glen Helen, November 2-3 . For m ore information, co n tac t 'Lori Yarnell at 909 /394-9342. Malcolm Smith Moto rsports will be h os tin g its six th annual District 37 Dua l Sp ort Rid e on Sunday, N ovember 15. The rid e w ill travel over singletra ck tra ils and fire ro ads p ersonally laid ou t by Ma lcolm Smith, with cha llen gi ng A sections and B-section a lterna tives thro u gh th e San Jacin to district of the San Bernardino National For est. Thi s year's rid e features less pavem en t th a n d id pa st rides a nd is for q ui et, stree t- lega l dual -sp or t mo torcycles. Fo r mo re in fo rm a tio n, call 909 /6 871300. Impuls International Inc . from Russell- th e kind of emissions-sy stem plumbing that ha s become th e norm in au tomobiles. ,After considering those issues, CA RB subseque ntly released a compromise proposal tha t would red u ce com bine d motor cycle HC and NOx emissio ns levels to 0.8 grams pe r kilometer. That sta ndard wo uld be phased in over 10 years, with an interim stand ard of 1.4 gra ms taking effect in 2004. In add itio n, CA RB ag reed to retai n the l.4-gra m standard throughout the period for small-vol u me manu facturers (those producing few er tha n 1000 mot orcycles per year). The agency also decided to not adjust sta ndards for carbon mon oxide emissio ns d uri ng the lO-yea r period. "This CA RB pro posal still represen ts a very stric t emissio ns sta ndard for roa d motorcycles in California," said Rob ert Rasor , AMA vice president of governme nt relatio ns. "Bu t the fact that CA RB listened to the concerns of manu facturers and motorcycles is an encouraging sig n. We wi ll be looking closely at this latest p rop osal to see wha t design changes it will requ ire." CA RB is expected to make its final decision on roa d-e missions issues at the meeting scheduled for 9:30 a.m . on December 10 in Sacra men to. In the meantime, the pro posed sta ndards are open for public comment. Mo torcycl ists wh o wou ld like to state their op inions abo ut the CA RB prop osals can send their comment s to: Californ ia Air Resources Board, 2020 L Street, Sacram ent o, Californ ia 95814. ville, Arizona , and Ha inan Sundiro Motorcycle Ltd. from Haina n, Chi na , recently ope ned up th e first-ever Ch in ese Ame ric an .join t-ven tu re assem bly plant of its ki nd in th e Un ite d States. T he p la n t is a bra n d - new, 35,00 0square-foo t faci lity located in Russellville. For the past tw o years , Impu ls In te rn a tio nal ha s been th e excl usive u.s. d is trib utor of Su n d iro scoo ters. Th e new compa ny, American-Su ndiro, will produce a comp le te li ne of 50cc scooters in the facilit y. For more information, con tact Trey Du ren at 303/6177660. Bill Brown of Wulfsport Interna tional h as purchased the comp lete stock of. old Mai co parts, pictures, awards , an d many special-development parts from the old Maico factory in Germany. For more info rma tion, call Wulfsport Inter n at ion al Oo cate d in Engla nd) at 44 (0)194 6-692 697 18; fax 44(0) 194 6691759. Longtime motorcycle enthusiast Roger Lyn n Crum p was killed when his ho me caught fire in Dalton, Georgia, on October 6. Crumb was born on Nove m ber 17,1953. In 1973, Crumb was chosen as Cycle News Rider of the Year. Du ring his motorcycle-racing career, he raced for factory teams such as Bultaco, Trium ph and Harley-Davidson. Crump quit racin g m otorcycles in the early 1980s to pursue a ca reer racing ca rs. Crump is survived by his wife, father, mother, and two daughters. Rid e with Freddie Spencer at th e Las Vegas Mo tor Speedwa y on November 22 to help the Juvenile D iabetes Fou nd a tio n o f N ev ada . The "O p en Track Day" is op en to all street riders or racers on a ny type of bike. The all-d ay event w ill in clu d e so me instruc tion a nd pri z es. Fo r mo re informa tion, ca ll 702/ 643-1099. M OVED: Fast Forw ar d Racing to 1701 So.i Stoughton Rd. , Madison, WI 5371 ~, 608/222-7936. FFR is accepting resum es fo r 1999 race season for amateu r d irt trackers and motocrosser. NAMED: Keith Bowen, d irecto r of PJl Nationa l Arenacross Series for PACE Motor Spo rts . BORN: Sean Patrick Henry, to Aga janian Presen ts Inc. vice presiden t of marketing Do n Henry and his wife, Lisa, o n Se pt emb er 27 in Anaheim H ills , California . MOVED: FMF Raci n g, from Harbor City, Ca lifornia, to 18033 S. Santa Fe Ave., Ranc ho Dom inguez, California 90221. Th e n ew phone n um b e r is 310/63 1-4363. Th e new fax num ber is 310 /900 - 5699 . FM F ca n a lso b e re a ch ed a t th e followi ng web s ite: www.fmfracing.com. The company had been at its Ha rbor City lo cat io n for some 20 years. HIRED: Bo b Ba b co ck , b y Gas Gas North Americ a , to oversee th e N orth America service team. For more informati on , call 601/843-3251. OP ENED: ProClea n 1000's home page on the World Wid e Web. Th e site can b e fo u nd a t t h e fo ll o w i n g a ddress: http:/ /www .proclean1000.com. M AR RIED : Fo rmer road ra cer Andy Milton, to hi s lo ngti m e g irlfr ie n d, Laura Hor ton Morrison, on October 10 . in Los Ange les, California. OPENED: Motocross Facto ry Ou tle t's home page on the World Wide Web. The .site can be found at the following address: http :/ /www.2bonline.com /mofo/html/ 98ho liday.htrnl. RESUM E: O'Neal USA is now accep t00 ing resu m es for the 1999 racing sea - 0\ s o n . Resu mes s h o u l d b e se n t to 0\ ...... O 'Neal USA , 9800 Eton Ave ., C ha ts wort h , California, 913 11, a tt n : 00 N Chuck Kobe r. l-< il) M O VE D : Europea n Accessories, t o 1815 H Street #2, Sacra me n to, Ca lifo rnia , 958 14. The new phone numbers a re: 916 /446 -6988; fax 916 /446-6924 . The toll-free number rema ins th e same : . 877 / 936-2562. f'X .n o ..... u o 3

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