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/128171
.... _: • . . . -1• • I'I~ .1~"".'-8_ • Happenings In Motorcycling In the late '90s, statistics showed that more and more women were riding motorcycles, but that those motorcycles consisted predominantly of cruisers. Times are changing, and women are turning to sportbikes to indulge their need for speed. Track days, club meets and national championships are filling with women on competitive machinery, giving the boys a run for their money. When track-day organizers Sportbike Track Time and Aprilia combined forces to cater to these women, they were unsure of the outcome. Femmoto was originally designed to address the problem many women had with the V-twin's tall seat height, but Aprilia also hoped it would attract more women to sportbikes and track riding by offering them a safe, friendly environment to get their feet wet, so to speak. Femmoto went so much further than that. A fleet of 12 bikes, consisting of the Mille Superbike, the street-sport Falco, the sport-touring RST Futura, and the adventure-touring CapoNord, were made available for women to test ride on Virginia Intemational Raceway's south course the Friday of the last AMA Superbike round. Parts Unlimited brought a huge array of Alpinestars and Teknic women's riding apparel, which many women took the opportl.lnity to purchase. Michelin's racing specialists Ron Wood and Walt Schaeffer held seminars, during the racing breaks, on tire technology, and Alpinestars saw fit to fly a representative from California to answer any questions the women had. Fifty-three women tumed out for the inaugural event, coming from every comer of the continent and ranging in experience from novices to racers. Each hour was broken into three groups - fast, medium and slow - and women decided themselves which group suited them best. Ten helpers were made available to assist the women getting on and off the machinery, but they were soon standing back with nothing to do as the women became more and more confldent. Nancy Montgomery, an instructor at Keith Code Superbike School, fell in love with the Mille. It was her second time riding a V-twin on the track, and both instances have left her nothing but impressed. Vintage 500 racer and endurance racer Samara Talkin also loved the MiUe. "It's the biggest bike I've ridden, bar none," she confessed. "The first couple of laps, it took some genuine input to get it into the comers, but once I figured it out and got used to the engine braking. I found it remarkably easy to ride. I loved the power.' Wendy Hogg By ALAN CATHCART • • A Foggy Intermot Debut One all· new three-cylinder motorcycle making its show debut at Jntermot will be the Malaysian-backed Foggy Petronas FP-I SuperbIke. whk:h appeared in race form in front r:l 126,000 cheering spectators at Brands Hatch on July 28 - and in doing so certainly both sounded very I1lUSIcal and looked very sleek and swoopy. The customer stngel version whose delay in reaching productlon forced Cart Fogarty to abandon plans to TUn the FP· 1 in World Superbike thlll season after it failed to meet the required level of production for homologation purposes (never a problem In the pest for April• la or BeneIJi, but then the FP·I Is an Anglo.Malayslan project rather than an Italian one). won't be on display at Intermot, but will be launched early next year in KuallI Lumpur, in the world's tallest bu8dlng, the Pelronas Towers. Testing has already begun with the race version in the hands of team riders Troy CorRr and Jemes Haydon, lind the general feeling Is that the delay in grIddIng up for the bike's first race W1tIl Valenda in March next year was a blessing In disguise. aJIowlng the team to be c:ompetitive from the first race rather than doing their R&D in full public: view. Octagon race bosses will be awaiting Its debut eagerly to see If their hopes are fuIIIIIed that the Foggy's arrival will leaven the BattJe of the Twins that World Superbike has now become To cast your vote, log on to http://wcycJe:news.com. B. C. D. E. F. G. Belgium (Marnicq Berv France (Mickael Pichon England (James Dobb:-,h!lfneli..NDbJLe,..buL[DIOplU"'-~ Italy (Alessio Chiodi, Andrn Bartolini, AlEX Puzar! New Znland (with Josh Coppins, Ben Townley, Shayne King! South Africa (Greg Albertyn, Grant Langston, Tyla Rattray! cue I e n ... _ so • SEPTEMBER 1 1. 2002 3