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/128114
8 o ~ G!1@DD [fJD([jJJ~ {§)([jJJ @(! ©DD([jfJUD[fJil@[JiJ~ g)@f1~ [X]@@@f?@ I!lltJf1DD !?il!JtE Not to be left in the dust by Harley-David son's rad ica l V-Rod crui ser, Buell came out swinging with the introduction of its all-new 2002 Firebo lt XB9R , the first of a differen t breed of motorcycles th at Buell calls sport fighters , at the Harley -Davidson/B uell deal er conventi on in Los Angeles, California , on J uly 13. The Firebolt boasts several new fea tures , incl uding a ra dical -look ing alu minum perimeter frame that doubles as the fue l tanks , a swingarm that hold s the engi ne oil and Buell's new Zero Torsional Lo ad fr ont brake . The compact c hassis measures in at a short 52 inches of wheelbase and features a steep 2 1-degree rake, with 52 percent of the bik e's weight biased to ward the front wheel. Claim ed dry weight is 385 pounds. The Firebo lt's engi ne is actua lly an all - new, fuel -i nj ected, 984 cc, 45-degree fancoo led V-Twi n wit h a short -stroke/light-f!y wheel configurat ion that is designed to rev h ig h er t ha n any B u ell ever has . The em phasi s i s still p l ac ed on deliver ing stump-pulling torque and a broad pow er band in an atte m pt to offer the best torq ueto -weight ratio of any middleweight engine currently available . Buell cl aims that the new Firebolt engine has the hig hest specific out p ut of any mass-produced engi ne, i ncl udi ng the Ch ev rol et Co rv ette a nd Dodge Viper's engines. Accord ing to Buell officials, the Firebolt XB9R is scheduled to be released in ti me for the spring riding season. Price has not yet been set, but the co mpa ny expects it to be j ust under $ 10,00 0. The wor ld 's leading Grand Prix road racers joined with British motorcycle fans prior to the start of the Br itish Grand Prix at Doni ngto n Park to raise rec or d amounts of money for one of motorcycling's charities Riders for Health . On a gloriously sunny day , more than 6000 peopl e enj oy ed events such as the Grand Prix Sc ooter Sho ot -out, the DoC Ride-in, rides on racin g sidecars and even, for four lucky peopl e, ride s on th e doubleseat Yam aha 500cc Grand Prix bike. th e SuperAn orak qui z, all- day inte rvie ws with racin g person aliti es and a demonstration of a je t-powered bicycl e. Th e day came t o an en d w ith th e famous Riders for Health auction, in which GP stars, i ncl udi ng Wo rld Champion Kenn y Rob ert s J r. a nd c ha llengers Vale n ti no Ro ssi , M ax B i ag g i , Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros and oth ers , auctioned t heir helm et s, leathers and other memorabilia to raise so me $ 52, 50 0 . Th e highest single sum was paid for Biaggl's leathers ($67 50). The total for t he day was almost $1 20 ,00 0, with more fund- raising to t ak e pl a c e over t h e cou rse of the weekend . Said organizer A ndrea Colema n: "This is a new record for Day of Champions and It goes to show , once again, what a big heart the m otorcy cl e community has." RfH manages motorcycles and fourwhee led vehicles used in hea lt h delivery programs in Africa in associa tion with the World Health Organi zati on , national governme nts and non -qovernrnentel c rqa nlze- tions working in health. There are RfH pro grams , all run by nationals of the cou ntries co ncerned, in Zimbabwe. Nigeria , Democ rati c Republic of Congo , the Gam bia and South Af rica. New programs are scheduled for K en ya and Ch ad . RfH was rec ently voted UK "Charity of the Year," in recog ni tion of in no v atio n an d ef fect ive m oney man agement . lion. Ship men ts of mo torcycles grew 12 .8 raci ng accide nt at Perri s Auto S peedw ay percent. d uring a G en e Rome ro ' s E-Mooia .c om W e st C oast Flat Trac k Series even t held M otocros sers Joshua Coppi ns , C a r l there on Ju ne 30 . A memorial fund has Nunn , Fr e d e r ic Bolley, B r ia n J o r - been es t abli shed to ass ist the fam ily . gensen . Mark de Reuver and A le- D o nat io ns c an be mad e o ut to Brenda sandro B e l o m ett i all passed drug D amro n, P.O . Box 2562 M o rgan Hill, CA tests is sued by the FIM at the Sw ed ish ercent. outdoing W all S tr eet es timates. Iy st s expected earnings in the range of arley -Davidson re ported a p ro fi t of with a consensus of 35 ce nts a sha re. ompared w ith $90.6 million, or 29 cents er sha re , a yea r earlier. W all Street ana- A memoria l service wa s he ld for late Buddy Fo rd Prod uct io ns will present the dirt-track racer R ob Da mron o f Mor- f irst M i le D irt Track ra c e at t he Harley said motorcycle sales for the quar- gan Hill, Ca li fo rnia, o n J uly 12 in S an M ontreal Hipp od ro me in M ontreal , Q ue- ter increased 15 .1 percent to $664 m il- Jose. C aliforn ia. D amron , 36 , died in a bec on Au gust 19 t h. Th irty years have gone by since th e la st t ime D irt Trac k moto rcycl es visited the famo us M o ntreal OPEN ED : Moose Racing's home page on the Worid Wide Web. The track. The new 7 /8-mile c us hio n track site can be found athtt p:/ / www .mooseracing.com. surfa ce will enable r ide r s to r e a c h speeds o f ove r 125 mph . "As lo ng as O P ENED: The Motorcycle Design Association's home page on the World W ide Web . The site can be found at the following address : HIRED: Erica Polite s. as marketing assistant for Vance & Hines Hac- I'v e been around all ou r Dirt Track races hav e been run o n half m ile s o r 5 /8, " http ://www.motorcycledesign.com. promoter Ford said . " This will be a real ing. Inc. Polites previously worked at Emap USA in sales and marketing for the Motorcycle Group. For more information. call 562 /9 2 1-7461 , ext. 154. tr eat for the D irt Track fans of Quebec RESIGNED: Tom Webb from his position as director of marketing of FMF. effective later this month. Bill Ber reth. FMF's director of sales. to have a Ca nad ian Mi le ra c e with the will be assuming Webb's duties and will become the director of sales M OVED: BRP to 23011 Moulton Parkway. Suite J5, Laguna Hills. CA be st riders in the c o untry and some fast and marketing for FMF. Ameri cans raci ng at s pee ds of 125 92653 . 949 /380·1160. 949 /588 -9093 (faxl . mph . " Fo rd will be offering $ 15 000 in HI R ED: C hris William s. as web coordinator for M axxis Tires. For more BORN : Delasia Caballero Nazzaro. to Motohead Production s' Dean prize mo ney for the August 19th event. information. call 770 /962.8229. ext. 148. For m o r e informat ion , ca ll 45 0 -654 - Nazzaro and his wife. Mardel. on July 8 in Laguna Hills. Califomia. · AUTOGRAPH SIGN ING: At Pro Caliber in Vancouver. Washington , on J uly 27 from 7 to 8 p.m. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki' s Ricky • C ar mi ch ael and S t ephane Ro ncada and Team Kawasak il Pro Circuit/SplitFire's Casey Lytle, Mike Brown, Bobby Bonds. Shae Bentley and Tallon Vohland are scheduled to appear, For more infor mation. call 360/750-0007. ~o o o o o o o o o o o o o o T. Dam ron S pecial Funds Accou nt. 35 cents a share to 36 cents per sha re 115 .6 m ill ion . o r 38 cen ts pe r s hare. 95037 -9 99 8, re feren ced to the Ro be rt G rand Prix on July 1. o o o o o 8193 , or fax 450-654-14 20 . N A M ED: Top Gear Motorcycle s of Eugene . Oregon . as the U.S. importer and distributor for Corner Race and Street leathers from Italy. N ine-tim e AMA Grand Nati on al C ha mpi- For more information call 888 /893-9324 . on Scott Parker and legendary G rand APPOINTED: Mouse's Cycle & Guns in Jacksonville. North Carolina. N at ion al tun e r Shell Thuett are t he as a new dealer for TM motocross and enduro bikes. For more informa- f ir st t wo indu ctees t o t he 20 0 1 D irt 9 10/ 346-1010 ·..................................................................... . . ................... ..................................... ... . ...................................................... . . tlon. call eye I ... Track Hall of Fame. In additi o n to be ing Continued on page 88 n e _ s • JULv25.2001 3 8 o o o o o 8 8 o o o o o o o