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/128149
• ... ... • -..1 • • 1'1'" ~ Happenings In Motorcycling Katoom Room Austrian manufacturer KTM is making a push not only in the racing world (where wins by KTM Red Bull riders like Grant Langston and David Pingree are no longer particularly surprising), but also in the more applicable realm of dealer service. This shot is of KTM's brand-new parts distribution center, which opened recently at the company headquarters in Amherst, Ohio. BY ALA CATHCART The year: 1984. The rider: Jeff Ward. Perhaps the most brand-loyal factory superstar to ever swing a leg over a motorcycle, Ward won 56 total National-level supercross and motocross races over the course of his career. He won a total of seven National supercross and motocross titles (which, until Jeremy McGrath's eight, tied him for the most ever with Rick Johnson), and he is the only rider to have won a 125cc National Championship, a 250cc National Championship, a 500cc National Championship, and a Supercross Championship during his career. He won at least one supercross race every year for eight consecutive years - 1984-1991 - which is a record that was just recently eclipsed by McGrath with at least one supercross win in nine consecutive years just last year 1993-2001. Perhaps most significantly, Ward did all of it on Kawasakis. Today, Ward races in the Indy Racing League in a Target-sponsored, Ganassi Racing machine. After the first three races, the 40-year-old legend of motocross sits eighth in the points with a season-best fourth·place finish at round one. He was the 1997 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, he's eamed two pole positions thus far in his car· racing career, and racing cars has increased his income potential significantly - he's earned $152,800 in just three races this year, with the big race still to come: The Indianapolis 500. - • Piaggio and Aprilia While PIaggIo seeks to regain a share of the still-buoyant motorcycle market as a means of recovering rmm tile drastic drop it's suffered in scooter sales, it has taken steps to ally itself with another allJlPllI1Y in similar straits: ApriJia. In a move dearly resembling the rec:ently ~ commerda/ aIIance between Suzuki and KawasakJ, PIaggio and ApriIla announced a similar Joint venture, under which the two Ielsders of the Italian scooter market have agreed to comblne forces and c:oIIaborate in several cornmerdal sectors • while at the same time remaining completely separate Industrial entitles and. indeed, fIeIce competitors in severaJ markets. The areas in which the two companies wll coDaborale are, somewhIIt inevitably. joint purchasing of component supplies, sharing the development and acquisition of engines and product p1l1lforma. and overaH R&D of new models - though it seems improbable at this stage that there w81 be any outright bedge engineering, with the same euentIa1 product sold W'Ider both labels. And while the agreement has certainly been inked in order to reduce costs and increase nmgInI on scooter products in the of the onslaught coming from T aJwan and Korea, it's quIIie possible that It could be extendecIto motorcydes, too. ApriIla has already been considedillJ how to relaunch Laverda with a range of models powered by Aprilia RSV 1000 engines, without promoting c:ustorne.f conftasIon with two such similar products from the same group. Equipping the bcm-egaln Laverdas with Pieggio V-twin engines • which by nature of the design's modular buls could be done on an Individual basis quite cost·effectiveIy • is one poa1bIe area in which ibis joint pmdlasing agreement could be extenc:Ied to motor· cycles. Howeww, not just yet, ac:ccxdlng to ApriIIa boa Ivano Beggio. "' must that our agreement with PIaggIo relates only to scooters," he cautions. race di.......-e "We need to reduce costs by sharing the heaviest investments enta1Ied in manufacturing our products, which means creating common platforms for engines, cycle parts and components. That relates to both the R&D and the manufacturing processes, after which each of us will be free to personalize this common base product with our own styIlng and to give It an individual personality. In this way, we can each remain competitive in the marketplace against any other company, from whatever source.' Beggio also stales that Apnlia is planning to consolidate its growth in !be motorcycle sector in its own right, by focusing on developing three ells· tinct ranges each powered by a difJerent family of four· stroke engines. One is the existing RSV lengthways V·twin range (perhaps including the 750cc version which was ready for production one year ago, but aborted at the last minute ...ith !be cIedIne d the Ducati 748 range. on the race· tnIck IlS -U as In the showroom), another the new-generation Moto Guzzi transverse V·twin family, and the third, confirms Beggio, a family of blkes powered by different versions of the Cosworth·developed 120·degree three·cylinder 990cc Cube engine making its GP debut this season in the hands of Regis Utc:onI - both with and without the GP racer's Ieadlng-edge pneumatic valve operation. So there - we will be able to buy a street version of the sexiest·1ookIng racebike ever made, in a couple of years • and of course. It goes without saying that this, too. will be a top• level SupeJbjke contender post-2004... To tast your vote, lag an to _--_thllp:/lwww.l:yt:le ews.t Who AM LDu.rlds,.ulwiuItJUtllLAp.dl.&.::.; fornia Speedway in Fontan,:a:.:.,;C:.:a~li::.;fo;.:r.:.:n::.:ia::.;?~ _ A. Erit Bostrom B. Doug Chandler C. Miguel DuHamel 6 APRIL 10, 2002' ,----- cue 1 • n • _ s MIIIa..................... _ 181: paL II' • • tl:llnAl Ihl' 1\ ..... to ...... I . . . . lOoa. .r -. . . . . . . C.-pa· 1\ ..... ................... .........'U ..... 1 I' .. _Cube .......