Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2001 06 13

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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o cheduled to comme nce the sec ond leg f its Eur op ea n tes t p ro g ra m at the atalunya circuit in Barcelona, Spain, in e week after round six of t he World hampionship . Taking advantage of the ac htnes ava ilab i lity. Y am aha has nnounced that the VZR-M 1 will make its rst public appearance in action on Sunay prior to the day's racing activitie s on une 17. The YZ R-M 1 is planned to be dden on the Catalunya circuit by Yamaa test rider Norihiko Fujiwara, who wi ll a tw o la ps in front of a n expe cted OO.OOO-strong crowd. It will be the first me eve r that t he pub lic will have t he pportunity to see and hear a 2002 GP ur-stroke prototype machine and get a ste of wha t the future holds for the eries . After the public appearance, two R-M 1 test machines will stay on to join he M arlboro Yamaha Team for a threeay t est . Regular Yamaha factory raceeve lop me nt ri de rs Kyoji Na mba and or ihiko Fujiwara will again be joined by ohn Koci nsk i. Yamaha 's top men Max iaggi and Carlos Checa will also test the ike to provide furt her pure racer fe edack on t he YZ R-M 1 developme nt and o mpare t he M 1 wit h their latest twot roke VZR500 , The primary object ive for iaggi and Checa , however, is to test the urrent YZR500 two-stroke machines as art of the team 's ongoing monthly testng schedu le . The aim i s t o further mprove their 2001 YZR500s for the secnd half of the highly competit ive 500cc arid Championship season, concentratng on new engine parts and new aerody arnics . he fi rst attempt to tu rn a majo r new sa f e ty initia tive on behalf of motorcyclists into law has beg un with the introduction of a bill in the New Jersey Legislat ure . accord ing to t he AMA. U sing a blueprint drawn up by the AMA, the Con c e rn ed M oto rcy c list s of N ew J e rs ey orga niza t io n has wor ked with state A ssemblyma n Peter J . Biondi (A-Morri s. Somerset) to introduce AB-3528, a measure that wou ld increase penalties for drivers who inj ure or kill other road users. Th e bil l is modeled c lo s el y after the M ot orcycl ist s Ma tter c ampaig n developed by the A M A early this year. The campaign directly attacks one of the root causes in a majority of car-moto rcycle accide nts - car drivers wh o pull into the path of motorcyclists . leaving the riders no escape fro m a painful. sometimes lifethreatening , crash. " Research show s that more th an hal f o f all ca r- mo to rcycle I cras hes are caused by other vehicles violating the right-of-way of a mot orcyclist. ' noted Sean Mahe r, AMA director of state affairs. "This campaig n is de sign ed t o hold drivers accountable for the injuri es " Q they cause. ' The bill wou ld increase the penalties for a driver who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a charge of failing to yield right of way in an accident. The minimum penalty would be $200 and a 30 -day drivers-license suspension if the accident result s in bod ily injuries to another person. If the injuries are serious , the penalty would rise to a minimum of $500 plus a 90 -day suspensio n. And if the driver's actions result in the death of anot her person. the minimum penal ty w o uld be a $1 ,000 fine plus a six-month suspension . The add it io nal money raised by these increased fines wou ld be depo sited in the state 's Motorcycle Safe ty Ed uc at io n Fund , w he re it wou ld be used to t rain new motorcycl ists in defen siv e- rid inq techniques. The bill has been referred to th e Assemb ly Law and Public Safety C omm ittee. In a re late d development. Wa sh ing ton Governo r Gary Locke has sig ned into law a bill supported by the Washingto n Road Riders Association that takes a similar directi on to the Motorcyclist s Matter campaign. according to the AMA. Under the new law , a per son can be charged with the felony crime of vehicular assa ult if he o r she ope rate s any ve hicle wi th disregard for th e safety of others and cau se s substan ti al bod ily harm to another. "With t hese two bills, the first steps have been tak en toward making car drivers accept responsibility for the injuries they cause to moto rcy clist s. bicyclist s. pede strians and other vulnerable road users.' Maher said. ' We hope that legislator s in other states will he lp sp read t hi s program acr os s the country. " A cc ording t o rep orts in the Balt imo re Sun, T ravis Pastra na is being investigated for "what appears to be an illegally built mot ocross cou rse on property that is partly ow ned by Travis. and the co unty ordered three prope rty owners to stop all wo rk on t he site. " the report said . The newspa per is reporting t hat the network of dirt trai ls that cut s t hrough wooded land on the three properties potentially violates state environmental laws governing sediment pollution. eros ion, and disturbance of nont idal wetlands and waterways. Penaltie s include fines from $1000 to $ 10 .000 per day . State and county ins pec t o rs o rder ed the land owners to stop all grading activity after they found violat ions of local and state environment al laws . " We 're j ust t ryi ng to gues s how so me bo dy got a p iece o f eq ui p me nt down ther e to do that work. ' said J ohn Peaco c k , ch ief of envi ro nm ent al pro gram s fo r Ann e A ru nd el C o unty , wh o described much of the terrain as stee ply sloped. "The inspectors were just shaking their he ad s, say ing. 'O h my God . where do we start?" Peacock said in the Baltimore Sun report . County inspectors said they spoke with tw o of the property ow ners - one of them Robert Past rana. Travis ' father. who agreed to coopera te w ith t he co unty to bring the propertie s into co mpliance. " W hen you cut down a tree in yo ur back yard, you don 't know if you 're in vio lation o r not. " Robert Pastrana told the Sun. "Did we blatantly know t hat we were doing things that were illegal? No. Do we know it now? Yes." The property owners were cited by the county for gradin g wi tho ut a permit and proper sediment and erosio n controls. Violations of county grading laws carry civil and criminal penalties . including fines of $ 1000 a day and up to six months in jail. The Ameri can M otorcycle Heritage Foundation is pleased to announce t he donation of 114 motorcycling books from the estate o f Joe Parkhurst . The books wil l be housed in th e ar chives of t he Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickeringto n, Oh io. Parkhurst . w ho died last D ec e mbe r at the age o f 74 . was t he founder and origina l publisher of Cycle World mag azine . In recogn it ion of his co ntr ibutions to mot orcyc ling, Parkhurst is part of the M otorcycle Hall of Fame's 2001 class of enshrinees. "W e're honored that Joe Parkhurs t remembered us with this gift ." said M ark Mede rski . executive di rector of the Motorcycl e Hall of Fam e M useu m. "These books are an important addition to our archives - especi ally coming from J oe , who ga v e so much to motorcycling . ' The Parkhurst colle cti on spans the spectrum of motorcycling topics - from road riding to racing; from maintenance to vintage machines. It includes English-language titles published in the United States, Great Britain, and New Zealand , as well as several foreignlanguage books in French, It alian, and G erman. Pub lication dates range from 1947 to 1995. The 200 1 M otorcycle Hall of Fame class will be inducted during cer emon ies Sep tember 8 at t he M useum. The ceremony. and a reception the night before, will be open to the public. Final preparations are underway fo r the firs t annual AMA Crossroads Rall y . to be held Ju ly 16-19 in As hland, Ohio. Between now and the rally' s opening day. the AMA will publis h regular updates on its we bs ite . Rid ers can get the lat est information on the AMA Crossroads Rally at htt p://www.AMADirectlink.com/crossroads /crra lly .htm . Set in north ce nt ral Ohio, close to Amish country, Lake Erie and the Mot orcycle Hall of Fame Mu seum, the AMA Crossroad s Rally is sandwic he d bet w e e n t w o mot o r c y c ling ev e nts: th e July 13 -15 A MA Vintage Mot or cycle Day s at nearby M id -Oh io Sport s Car Cou rse in Lexington. and the J uly 20 -22 round of the A M A Chevy Truck s U .S . Superb ike Championship, also at M id-Ohio. The AM A C rossroads Rally will be based at the Ashland County Fairground s, just 20 miles from the racetrack. The AMA Crossroads Rally will feature gUided and self-guided rides. tours of the M otorcycle Hall of Fame Mu seum. a vend or midway. a full slate of sem inars , town-hall meetings with A M A offic ials, and more . Registration fees are $4 5 for AMA memb ers and $ 50 for no n-member s. Aft er June t Sth, costs will rise to $50 and $5 5. Tent camping is $ 15 for the durat ion of the rally, and RV parking can be reserved fo r $50. Secure regist rat ion is available online at www .A M A Di rect link.com. John Farris, AMA Pro Racing vice preside nt of C ommercial D evelopm ent . has announced that scheduling co nflicts for television coverage of spo rts events by ESP N have resulted in an unp lanned r e schedu ling of the TV broa dcast of the Chevy Trucks U.S. M otocross Champion ship season op ene r at Glen Helen . Origi nally scheduled for broadcast at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. M ay 26, the Glen Helen race was instead aired at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. May 27. Although some viewe rs were frustrated with having the broadcas t time ch ang ed on such short notice, other motocross fans wer e delighted to discover the Glen Helen race being aired during prime time on Sunday night . the AMA says. A cc ord ing t o a pre ss release issued by the AMA. "AMA Pro Racing 's curre nt licens e agreement with ES PN f or t he C hev y Trucks M ot oc ro s s serie s g ives rac ing great expos ure. but ESPN retains the right to change programming and time slo ts as the network deems nece ssary . Unfortunate ly, unf oreseen changes sometimes occur in the sports business ; in this case. a shortened NHL playoff schedule resulted in the rescheduling and early airing of th e Stanley Cup Finals. Na tu rally, t his new airtime prec ip itated many other changes in ESPN' s broadcas t schedules, incl uding the G len Helen race . Vi ewers can always find the latest and most accurate schedules for television coverage of motorcycle racing - including these most recent changes by ESPN - on A MA Pro Racing ' s web site at www .amapro rac ing.com, according to the AMA. Long -t im e e ng ine bu ilde r, carburet or developer and tu ne r Barr y See ve rs has been st ricken again with Post Polio Synd rome , leav ing his legs temporarily paralyzed. Cards and letters can be sent to : Barry Seevers. 2331-D2 Ave S PMB 138. Palmdale, CA 93550 . .. . . . . .... . . .... . .... . . . . . .... ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . " " N A MED: Don Vance, as the U.S. representative for Alpina Safety Sys- " tems, a manufacturer of Air Fence/A ir Modules based in Austria, and will f::j. manage a U .S .-based Air Fence rental program. For more information. call 603/5 71 -5935. A UTOGRAPH S I G N I N G : At Valley Motorsports in Northampton, APPOINTED: Cycle Moto Inc. as a new dealer for TM motocross and enduro bikes in Mesa, Arizona. For more information. call 480/898-0559. APPOINTED: Pete's Cycle & Sled as a new dealer for TM motocross and enduro bikes in Worchester, Massachusetts. For more infonmation. call 508/ 852-7024. Massachusetts. on June 7 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Team KTM's Grant Lanqston, Kelly Smith, John Dowd, Brock Sellards and David Pingree are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 413/584-7303. MARRI ED: Dirt Wheels magazine editor and Hi-Torque Publications photographer Steve Casper, to his longtime girlfriend. Usa Cards, on May 18 in Carmel. California. .... . .... .......... .......... .... .... ........ ...... ........ .... ...... ........ ........ . . . . . . . . . . . .... .... ...... . . . .... . .... ........ .. .. . ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,. ,.,. ,. . . ,.. cue I e . . The United Nations Economic and So cial Council has recom mended that t he AMA be gra nt ed s tat us as a recog n ized non·governme nta l orga nization , puttin g the A ssoci ation into po sit ion to co ntribute information on behalf of motorcy c li st s to the U.N .. accordi ng to th e AMA. The AMA had requested the nongovernm ental -organization C NGOl status in order to partic ipate in the World Forum for the Harmonizat ion of Ve hicle Regulations, a U.N . group that is conside ring - - -- - - - - Continued on page 80 n e _ S • JUNE 1 3 .20 0 1 3 8 o o o o o o o 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 8

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