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/128108
o Em G1J:lQ) o\XI c=::Jc=JCJCJ 0 o o o o o o Continuedfrom page 3 intemational motor-veh icle sta ndards. The forum is cha rged with setting regu latio ns in areas such as safety. emi ssions. energy eff ic ie ncy and t heft preve nt io n. The United Stat es is one of the countries that signed the agreement creating the fo rum, raising the possibility that stan dards set by the intemational agency could become the law of the land here. The A MA 's sta tus as a recognized NGO is expected to take effect in J uly. It will allow the A ssoc iatio n to provide input on those stan dards from the pe rspec tive of moto rcycl e rider s. That could help eliminate o r modify regul ation s that wo uld not be in the best int e res t s o f m otorc ycli st s . The U .N . Social and Economic Council has recomme nde d the AMA fo r desig nat ion in the "roste r" category of no n-gove rnme ntal o rg a niza t io n s . T h at mea ns t he AM A would be recognized as a gro up th at " can make occasio nal and useful contributions to th e w ork o f the C o unc il o r its su bsidia ry bodies . " A n ap p lic ati o n by the M oto rcyc le Ride rs Fo undat io n, ano ther U .S .·based g roup, was deferred , bu t is likely to be approved next year, givi ng motorcyclists additional representation in the plann ing process. "I t's clear tha t as regu lations govern ing motorcyclists become mo re intemational in nature. w e need to be involved at every leve l." said Ed Moreland. vice pr esident of government rela tio ns f o r the A MA . " T he process of seeki ng recognition has been a lo ng o ne fo r t he AMA and the MRF. Wh ile we had hoped to have bo th orga ni· zat ion s reco gnized simulta neously. we loo k fo rwa rd to making sure the vo ices of motorcycl ists are heard as t hese requlat ions are being drafted. " 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o ~. o ,......, I Li ,...." Race Tech has announced its presence at t his year 's 3 4 t h A nn ual M am m ot h • Vive Le Voxan The lonq-ewaited l00·p ercent French Superbik e comes ever clo ser to assuming reality , with the imminent debut of t he works Voxan 1000 cc V-tw in Enduranc e racer built for the fast-growing French com pany in the separate race depart ment newly established by its chief engineer. Ala in Chevallier . With a proven record of success in top -level competition with the twin-cy linder 250 Yamaha and 500 Honda thre ecy linder-powered Chev all ier GP racers. which featured his own avantgarde chassis designs housing works engines supplied by the Japanese factories, and were consistent frontrunners in Grand Prix racing a decade ago , twice earning the World Championship runner- up spot - Alain Chevalli er has now co nst ruc ted a leading-edge Voxan end urance rac er which is set to make its shakedown debut at the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium , Ju ly 14- 15. But Spa will only be the preparation round for the one that mailers: France's premier, best-attended bike race, the Bol d'Or 24 Hours at MagnyCours, September 15- 16. Using a mo dified version of the distinctive twin -tube chassis he himself designed for the current Voxan street range, Cheva llier has built what amounts to a prototype full-fairinq Sportbike for the French manufa ctur er, filled with Ohlin s suspension and AP Racing six- piston front brak es, whic h has to be ballasted to m eet the 356 ·pound World Superbike weight limit in sprin t form , and in endurance guise weighs less than 375 pounds , com plete with lights and electric sta rt. The fuel -inj ected. eiq ht -valve, 72·degree V· twin , 996 cc engine. which in the Cafe Racer that is currently the most powerful street model in the Voxan range, prod ucing j ust 108 bhp , has been developed to give 155 bhp in Endura nce raci ng guise, although with its very nat 21·degree total valve angle, proven 98 x 66mm cylinder dim ensions (same as Carl Fogarty's title-winning Ducati 996 ) and compact buil d, the Voxan motor has the potential to produce still more performance in spr int Superb ike form. When exactly that happens will depend on the outc ome of an ong oing internal deba te between two factions in Vox an m anagement, One of them prefers to concentrate on buildi ng M otocross and OTHG race. Full suspe nsion suppo rt, incl uding service, prod uc t sales and setup. will be availab le beq inning Thurs day, Ju ne 14 , and ex ten din g through Sunday. J une 24 . Race Tech w ill also be on hand at the third roun d of the World O ff- Road C hampio nship Series in Washougal. W ashingt on. J une 9·10. also be run t his year , de sign ed for any 125c c o r smaller mach ine o rigin ally built with drum brakes fron t and rea r. Honda XR10 0s and drum-bra ke model Yama ha D R 125s are welcome . Fo r more information on the event, call V intage Iro n at 714 / 69 4·0066. The 24 Hours of G le n Helen w ill be held September 8-9 at the racing facility in San Bemardino . C alifo m ia. W ith a Pro purse of $5 000 . the fo rmat will consist of both Pro and A mate ur tea ms . The Pro po rt io n w ill c o nsist o f fo ur- man tea ms w ith o ne bike w hile the Am ateur class w ill feature six-man team s with two bike s. For more info rmatio n, call 90 9/880·3090. After not do ing so fo r some 15 years. Bob Hannah is sc hedu led to instruct at the Vi nta g e Iron M ot o c r o s s S c hool. a ses sion to run in co njunction w it h t he V int age Iron Wo rld Champ ions hips at Gl en He len Rac eway in S an Bernard ino . C alifornia, J une 2 1·2 4 . This yea r's V intage Iron even t w ill also featu re t he D ecade class , op en to any mach ine to-pro s years o ld. The cla ss is designed to i ncor p orat e m a ch in e s that hav e rec ent ly becom e ob solet e , acco rdi ng to V intage Iron . The Evol ut ion 125 class w ill up the company's imag e via its thr ee-model streetbike range. presently comprising the Roadster naked bike, good·selling half-faired Cafe Racer , and the acclaimed new Scrambler model. Othe rs believe the firm should prom ote the worth of its products , as well as gain added prestig e for the home market, by waving the French 'lricouleur' nag in world -class road racin g, especi ally in the Endurance class which is so popular in France, and has the added benefit of being closely based on product ion sportb ikes. And that' s the probe m - for the Voxan Enduranc e racer is onl y able to compete in the prototyp e class at Spa and the Bol , unabl e to score championship points because of the many detail changes to the Cafe Racer spec which would be needed to hom ologate it for Superbike (and therefore World Endurance ) raci ng. At the very least, this would entai l Voxan building 150 exam ple s of a limited-edition Superbi ke -with lights , something which some factory insiders are reluctant at present to do. But with company chairman and Voxan founder Jacques Gardette repor ted to be firmly in the racing camp . the chances are good that when the thr ee-man team of riders headed by French Prom ospo rt cham pion Laurent Bria n debuts the Voxan racer at Spa in July. it'll be the first step toward adding another marque - and another country· to the World Sup erbike entry roster. Som e French sources also ins ist that Vox an is set to debut the st reet version of its Endurance racer at the Paris Show at the end of September, as a Iimited · edi ti on hom ologat ion sp ecial for World Endurance 2002 . and, by definition, Superb ike racing , too . Meantime, a privateer half-faired Voxan Cafe Racer, running in the Stocksport class and entered by the com pany' s Paris dealer, Brooklands Motors, already ma de the marque 's com petition debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in April. Producin g 135 bhp in the lightly mo dified form which the class rules allow , the Voxan imp ressed in qualifying , eami ng 29th place on the 60 -bike grid (and first European V-twln, ahead of its Aprilia and Ducati rivals), befor e being slowed in the race by an arcane problem: the sparkp lugs kept breaking! A fter more than a dozen stops to change them. the team ran ou t of spares, and was fo rced to put out a loudspeak er app eal for rep lacements . But the pro blem pers isted , and event ually the series of broken electrodes led to piston failure . t ho ugh the bike was pus hed ove r the li ne with a dead engine, as a nominal finisher. Voxan will be hopi ng that the factory racer won't suffer a simi lar pro blem on its Spa debut. P it Pro has annou nce d that they wil l be at the M am moth Mot ocro ss from J une 14 t hrough June 24 to prov ide service for those racing in t he eve nt. eN Other Voxan news: After a slow start, caused primarily by problems with local supp liers unused to working in the twowh eeled sector no vo l um e pr odu cti on larqe-cepacity motorcycl es had previously been buil t in France for more than 50 year s - Voxan production is now ramped up, with 23 bikes per day built on two separate product ion lines in the company' s exi sti ng factory at Isso ire in c entra l Fr ance , south o f Cl erm ont- Ferra nd . Bu t the c ur rent 130 ·s trong > workforce is set to expand when the com pany moves into a new, purpose-built manufacturing plant in 2002, which will allow Voxan's present 5000-un it annual production to be cfoubled, and the curren t three -m odel range to be exp anded. too. This will fuel the French firm 's planned debut into three key export markets: from this spring , Voxans are now being exported to Germany. Benelux, Ital y , Austria and Switzerland. to be joined in 2002 by Britain , and in 2003 , the USA and Japan - three countries in whi ch the Gallic marque' s blend of disti ncti ve engineering and personalized styling are expected to do well. To cas t your vote , log on to http://www.cydenews .com. ~~ cyclenews.com reader poll question of the week 17,8 "10 a tional 1 1.2% 2.1% 80 JUNE 13,2001 • c ue I e n e VIl' s