Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Happenings In Motorcycling • Americans In S aln At the AC Delco Nationals in Las Vegas, newly crowned NHRA/Powerade Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion Angelle Savoie posed for photos with rock icons Gene Simmons (left) and Paul Stanley (right) of the band Kiss. Simmons and Stanley were on hand as the Grand Marshals of the event and - through a unique cross-marketing agreement between the band and the NHRA - the Top Fuel dragster of Doug Kalitta, the funny car of Tony Pedregon and the Pro Stock car of Kurt Johnson were all painted in Kiss livery, with facial images of the makeup-wearing band adorning each vehicle. By ALA CATHCART • - Arrivederci, Carlo. Triumph was rocked by the tragic death of its Italian importer Carlo Talamo, who died in a road crash while riding a bike in Viareggio, on Italy's west coast, on October 29. Triumph's Italian importer for the past decade, Talamo was for many years his country's importer of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, but he was a man for whom two wheels spoke louder to his heart than four. Talamo founded Numero Uno in the mid '80s as Harley-Davidson's official Italian importer, and by a correct combination of astute marketing, imaginatively-designed dealerships, clever product placement and latin brio. he turned his operation into one of H-D's worldwide success stories - so much so that Milwaukee made Carlo an offer he couldn't refuse, and Numero Uno was sold to H-D in 2000. This allowed Talamo to concentrate on the other two-wheeled challenge he'd been pursuing since 1992 - that of importing upwards of 2500 British three- and four-cylinder products (and, now, twins) to Ducat;'s homeland each year, under the umbrella of his official Triumph import operation, called • what else? Numero Tre. Deploying his own intuitive marketing skills as well as the wealth of experience acquired via his Harley connection. Talamo expanded Triumph's presence in the Italian market considerably. In the process. he assumed an increasingly influential role during his regular trips to Hinckley as an advisor to John Bloor. With his finger on the pulse of the market, Talamo was able to offer suggestions from the commercial coalface as to what Triumph ought to do next. More often that not, Talamo chose to actually demonstrate how his ideas could be put into The final Grand Prix of the season in Valencia, Spain, proved to be a popular spot for Americans. Among those in attendance were AMA Superbike National Champion Nicky Hayden (pictured with five-time World Champion Mick Doohan) and World Superbike Champion Coiin Edwards. Both Hayden and Edwards will be doing battle against Valentino Rossi and Co. in next year's MotoGP World Championship. metal by building yet another of the literally dozens of imaginative and distinctive specials, first Harley, then Triumph-based, which he constructed over the past 15 years. These bikes included the Baby Speed stripped-out TT6O

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