Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

c c C r Continued from page 3 J CJ Rick Mitchell, assistant manager, motorcycle parts, sales and marketing. "As title sponsor of AMA Supersport, 2003 marks our 10th consecutive year as title sponsor of the series long-acknowledged as one of the most competitive motorcycle racing series in the world. " o O e (l 0-... AMA Pro Racing has also announced that Shoei will be the presenting sponsor for the Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship. For 2003, the series is being called the AMA Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship presented by Shoei. Say that five times in a row. Ducati calls its new S4R the first true production "cafe racer." It is an evolution of Italy's - and the world's - best loved "naked" racing motorcycles, according to Ducati. This bike will be an early release for the Ducati 2004 model year. It is expected to arrive in North American dealer showrooms by late summer of 2003. The basic design that has made the Monster such a huge year-afteryear success has been retained, but now - for the first time in the history of this motorcycle and after ten years - every aspect of the S4R has been given a decidedly aggressive look. The most important developments regard the setup and the engine, now equipped with the championship-winning, electronic injection, water-cooled e The SuperFlow AMI Brute Horsepower Shootout record was smashed at Daytona when Kent Stotz's Honda Rider's Club of America and Turbo Charged by Velocity Racing- C C D D O D O motor from the 996. In addition, the bike features: new exhausts with two-into-one-into-two high mufflers, a new aluminum singlesided rear swingarm, a new fully adjustable Showa rear shock absorber, a new fully adjustable Showa front fork with TIN (titani- backed CBR 11 OOXX became the first motorcycle ever to break the 500 horsepower mark, according to a release issued by the team. Tuming 12,500 rpm on a SuperFlow SF-250 Pro EC motorcycle dynamometer, the Stotz Street Xtreme Honda recorded an all-time-high run of 505 uncorrected rear-wheel horsepower. Due to the atmospheric conditions during the test, the corrected power number translated to 497.2 horsepower. Previous AMI Shootout record-setting runs have been achieved with the help of turbo-charged engines running nitrous oxide, but Stotz's CBR hit the 505 hp mark using only a Velocity Racing Turbo System with a Garrett Turbo. Stotz's CBR is a street-legal machine, according to the team. To be eligible for the Streetbike Shootout class in the AMA Prostar drag race series, the AMA requires that all bikes must meet street legal specifications. um nitride treatment), new mirrors, and more. Ducati claims power output to be 113 horsepower, which they claim is l2 more than the S4. Stotz is the reigning AMA Pros tar Streetbike Shootout champion. O 'I L., n L Now that Josh Demuth has wrapped up his second straight National Arenacross Championship, the Shogun Motorsports rider is going outdoor racing. Demuth, along with Shogun teammates Tommy Hofmaster and Phil Lawrence, will join the AMA C O O Maxxis/VP Western Four-Stroke National Series at round two in Adelanto, California, March 23. The team will compete on Yamaha YZ450Fs. Another rider set to join the series is Michael Brandes, who has reportedly struck up a deal with o o o [f!J[jjJrKiJfi3§fXJ '@@ o D o e c c [ [I [ [ r move. "They requested it to see if they could make the change. and we did what we could to accommodate them: Bober said. "We will hold Rich's number 80 for him. As far as scoring, it will not be a problem. We have traditionally allowed Novices to use three-digit numbers." AMA director of dirt track operations Steve Morehead also said that he thought the move by MARCH 19,2003· cue I e n According to a study commissioned by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA> proposed new emissions standards regulating highway motorcycles "ignore the issue of rider safety." "None of the major EPA documents that discuss the proposed standards even make a single mention of either 'rider safety' or 'consumer safe- @@§@ 1) @@ It's a once-in-a-Iifetime deal for Rich King ... that is unless he is still on the Harley-Davidson factory dirt-tracker when he is 139 years old. In a move to recognize the 1OOth anniversary of the HarleyDavidson Motor Company, the two-rider factory dirt track team will be sporting new paint schemes and leather designs for the 2003 dirt track season. The normally Orange and Black 500Rs (pictured) and XR750s of King and teammate Jennifer Snyder have been repainted in the same Silver hue that is being used on all of Harley-Davidson's IOOth anniversary street models this year. And King has even gone a step further, asking for and receiving a special dispensation from AMA Pro Racing in order to change his National number from 80 to 100 for this season only. "The idea came up, and I thought it was a good one," King said. "To be a part of heritage this way is outstanding. It's something that no one else will ever get to do. I'm fortunate to be the one to get to do this. Besides, if this the only way that I do get the number one on my numberplates, then what the hell." AMA dirt track manager Bruce Bober said that the sanctioning body welcomed the Harley PR 112 Chaparral and a long list of sponsors. Brandes will ride a Yamaha YZ450F in the series. Speaking of the Western Four-Stroke Nationals, you can hear a live webcast from each round at www.4strokenationals.com. e _ 'IS Harley-Davidson was a nifty one. "Well, you see this in NASCAR all the time, teams coming out with special paint schemes: Morehead said.•Anything that we can do to put more pizzazz in our series and get away from the old· school way of thinking, the better." King carried the number 100 machine into battle at the seasonopening Daytona Short Track at Daytona Municipal Stadium, putting it in the main event, where it finished eighth. For a full Daytona Short Track rundown, read our coverage elsewhere in this issue. ty,'" said Garrett A. Vaughn, Ph.D., author of the study. "The EPA's analysis shows remarkable little evidence that the Agency has- made any serious effort to meet its obligation under the Clean Air Act to consider 'potential impacts on safety.'" Dr. Vaughn cites bum hazards to riders, passengers and passersby, particularly children. In its public comment on the EPA proposal, the MRF expanded on the danger of heat-induced rider fatigue. " ... Motorcycles eqUipped with catalytic converters ... impose the threat of heat injuries (e.g .. heat stress, heat stroke) and may increase injuries and fatalities due to rider fatigue and particularly the loss of faculties and impaired judgment symptomatic of heat injuries." For example, the catalyzer aboard one particular 2003 European Superbike is nested with the exhaust system beneath the saddle. After only a two-minute idle on a 70-degree day, an infrared thermometer registered 140 degrees when pointed at the top of the heat shield adjacent to the saddle, according to Cycle World Magazine's January 2003 issue. And according to some of the manufacturers the MRF has consulted, the core temperatures in catalytic converters on motorcycles can exceed 1500 degrees. Pipes and adjacent materials can remain dangerously hot for several hours after tuming off the engine. The MRF's public comments to the EPA regarding these proposed rules continued to address this important lifethreatening issue, stating, "There will be a human cost to equipping motorcycles with catalyzers, and that cost will be measured in injuries and fatalities." The Vaughn study was paid for solely with emergency contributions to the MRF by individual motorcyclists and State Motorcyclists' Rights Organizations nationwide and is available in its entirety in pdf format on the MRF's website at www.mrf.org. eN

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