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/128104
Continued from page 2 create a 'source of injury ' restriction that makes clear a person cannot be excluded from a plan for engaging in certain recre atio nal activities , but benefits for a particular injury can be excluded based on the source of an injury," the letter states , It t hen spells out t he init ial intent of the HIPA A regulat ion s , passed fi v e yea rs ago , " Because of the practice of insurers d eny ing benefits cove rage for injuries res ulting from recr eational activities , such as motorcycling, Co ngress intended that individuals not be denie d bene fits coverage for injuries t hey may receive whi le participating in the specified recreational activities, " The mem bers o f C o ngress are asking the Bush administrat ion to amend the HIPAA rules that govem such activity - and fix the apparent lo op hole. "These are Co ngress members who are standing up for motorcyclists and others w ho enjoy all kinds of outdoor recrea tional act ivity," says Edward Moreland, t he AM A ' s vice president fo r govern ment relations. - I enco urage moto rcyclists and oth ers to thank t heir members of Congress who have gone on reco rd to end this insurance discri mination ." Regulations affecting th e des ign of future mot orcycles are less likely to come from officia ls in na tional go v ern me nts , and mo r e li kely to b e se t by th e Uni t ed Nations, requiring a sig nificant change in app roach on behalf of motorcycl ist-advocacy gro up s. That' s t he me ssage th at came out of the Third International Riders' Public Policy Conference, held Ap ril 27 -29 Organized by the th e A MA. t h e t oge th e r more in Pic kerington , Ohi o . FIM in coopera tion wi th con f erence brou gh t t han 100 w o r ld wi de motorcyc ling lead ers t o d iscuss the effects of growing int ern at io nalism in standards for new motorcycles, according to the AMA. Conference participants included AMA Presiden t Robert Rasor , who organized the conference as president of the FIM 's Road Safety and Public Policy Co mmiss ion; Erw in Renett e, presi dent o f the Federat ion of European M otorcycli st s Associations (FEMA): Tom Pauley , President of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation: and Achi lles Damen, vice preside nt of the Road Safety and Public Policy Commissio n. M o to rcycl e manu fac turers were represented by Timo th y Hoelter , vice president of government aff airs fo r the Harley -D av id son Motor Company, Nick Rogers of the International Motorcycle Ma nufacturers Association and Federico Galliano of the Association of Constructors of Euro p e an Motorcycles. Featured speakers inc luded Robert Tornhns, acting secretary general of FEMA : Julie Abraham, director of the Off ice of Intemational Harmon ization at the U .S . National Highway Traffic S af et y Adm inistra t ion : and Wol fgang Schneider of the A utomotive Unit of t he European Commission . At the conference , Rasor announced t hat the A MA, FEM A and the M ot orcycl e Riders Foundation will provide financial support for a co mmittee to mo nitor the U.N .'s efforts to crea te so-ca lled - globa lly harmonized " standards for motorcycles. " I hope we 'll be able to bring the FIM to the table as we ll, " Raso r sa id . " B ut for th e ti me being, I t hink it's incredi bly significa nt th at these rider grou ps have j o in e d hands, large ly as a result of the work of the three international conferences org anized by t he FIM . W e must incre ase our • visibility with the United Nations and our watcbfulness of the ir wo rk. " A b raham noted that as of last year, an agreement for the development of globa l vehicle regulations is now in effect through the World Forum for Harmon ization of Vehicle Regulat ions, a part of the U .N . based in Geneva, Switzerland. To date, 12 parties have signed the agreement: the Unit ed States, Japan , the Europ ean Union, Canada , Fr anc e, Germany, It aly , t he United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, China , South Ko rea and S out h Africa . The standards that could be set by that U.N . group include regulations related to safety, emissions, energy efficiency and theft prevention of vehicles, eq uipment and parts . However, Abrah am to ld con ference partici pants that t he U n it e d States currently ha s 1 t prio rities for standardizing veh icle regula tions worldwide, and t he only motorcycle-related it em on the list is a uniform standard regarding brakes . Such worldwide stan dards cou ld offer potential benefits to motorcycle manufacture rs and consumers , by reducing the costs associated with meeting diff erent standards in each country. But Tomlins caut ioned that global veh icle standards could cause problems for motorcyclists . He ma de note of the te ndency by interna tiona l agencies to ado pt t he mo st res t rictive standa rds in existence in any member country, leading to increasi ng ly toug h regu lations re gardi ng s uch matters as emissions and noise. Tom lin s told co nference part ici pant s t hat he anti cipates the U .N . wi ll dev elop approx imately six tech nical reg ulations affecti ng mo torcycles over the next fo ur or five year s. And he noted that mo torcycl ing gro ups need ed to former Ferrari F1 chief engineer Mauro Forghieri's Rf,D operation in Bologna, working in conjunction with Ml's technical boss Jurgen Zum, formerly associated with the Deutsche Touringmeister title-winning AMG Mercedes race team. Design of th e four- stroke MZ race engine has already been completed, and can now be revealed as being a 90degree V4, with pneumatic operation of the 16 valves, gear driv e to the twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank . and a target of 200 bhp at 18,000 rpm , with a wide spread of power from 8000 rpm upward. Forghieri and Ml have decided to take full advantage of the 990cc maximum capaci ty permitted under the rules, wit h substantially short-stro ke dimensions of approxi mately 86/88mm x 41/ 42 mm and a very flat total included valve angle of j ust 18 degrees. Bosch EF1 will be employed, using a butterfly throttle rather than the rotati ng barrels now commonplace in F 1. Dyno testing will commence during the summer, with track tests of the complete bike schedul ed to beg in in Oct ober, Th e MZ team , which will incl ude at least one German rider, is set to join Honda and Yamaha on the grid for the first GP in the 2002 se as on. • MZ to GP? If BMW look s to beat Ml into production with a supercharged streetb ike, it' s most probable the positions will be reversed when it comes te deliverin g a German challenger to the GP1 grids in 2002 . Fior Ml is well advanced with development of a high-tech contender for four-stroke Grand Prix honors, which is set to forever extinguish the fo rmer DDR motorcycle giant's abidi ng reputation for buil ding millions of smoky, downmarket two-strok es. That' s the purpose of Ml's proposed entry into GPl with a two-rider team in 2001 , the costs of which will be underwritten by th e com pany's Malaysian own er, Hon g Leo ng. An d although the German factory will construct the bikes and run the team in-bouse, engihe development has been subcontract- c:yc:lenews.c:om reader poll question of the week S ears Point Race way has announced t hat the t rack has fo rmed a partnership with Kawa sak i that will make the manufacturer t he " O ffic ial M oto rcy cl e and ATV " o f the racetrac k. The dea l is for three years , wit h Kawasaki provid ing cash sponsorship and ve hicles to meet the needs of Sears Point Raceway. "W e are excited to partner wi th Kawasaki and their quality produc ts," said Tim Schuldt, vice p re s id en t of sa les/market ing at Sears Point Raceway. "W e also look for ward to working with Kawasaki and helping the co mpany achieve its goals in the marketplace." Kawasaki begins its relationship with Sears Point Raceway as the fac ility continues work on its $3 5 million modernization plan. B rile s Wi ng & He licopter, Inc , and Heli USA Helicopter Tours of Va n Nuys, California, w ill be offering round-t rip h e l lcopter s h u ttle serv ice from Rialto Airport to Gl en Helen Raceway for t he openi ng round of the AMA C hevy Trucks Nat ional MX Series in San Bernardino, Califomia , on M ay 5. Moming flights fro m Rialto to Glen Helen beg in at 7 a.m . and depa rt every 5-6 minutes until g a.m. or by spe cia l req uest thr oughou t t he day. Return flights beg in prio r to t he co ncl usio n of racing . Round-trip shuttle ticke ts are $ 50 each. Pre-pay tickets are available by advan ce reserv at io n. S eats are limited so book early to guarante e your spot. First come first serve cas h only at Rialto A irport on the mom ing of the race. For more information or to purchase an advance ticket, call 877 /863-5952, ext. 202 , or www.briles.rot or .co m. eN Mrs unveiling of Its 1000S Superblke (shown. at last ,ear's Intermot appea... to be only the beginning of a big push Into modem tour·stroke sport tor the Gennan CGmINlIIJ'. Now It looks _ though an MZ fOur-atrolut QP racer wHl-..ke the grid In 2002. -- AMA U.S. Supetbike Championsh ip, onda, Kawasaki, Ducati, "atley-Davidson) nOlli.t1lr..mlC. to stay on top of those issues to make sure they are appropriate for users. 8 .3% 1.4% 1.3% MAV16,2001 ' cue. e n e ..... s