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/128229
1 ... .... _:-1_ •• .... • .... .I'I~ ..".'--- - Happenings In Motorcycling The 2003 AMAjNATC Youth National Trials Championship took place at the Trials Training Center In Sequatchie, Tennessee, over the 4th of July weekend where slippery rocks, logs and mud provided challenging sections for youth competitors from 6 to ]4 years of age. Three days of competition were held with four different lines used in each section to provide age-appropriate levels of difficulty. The 2003 Champions are: Open Class, Patrick Smadge (WI); ]4·year-old, Stevie Darrow (CO); l3-year-old, Daniel Allen (TX); ]2-yearold, Ron Comma Ul (VT); ] ]-year-old, Josiah Mizell (TX); 10-year-old, Eric Storz (CA); 9year-old, Brian Roper (AZ); 8-year-old, Chase Harker (CA); 7-year-old, Tyler Merrihew (NH); 6-year-old, Dean Bechard (TN). The ·Open· Class was added this year to allow competitors of any age to elect to move up to the most difficult line to create an Overall Youth National Champion. ] 2-yearold Patrick Smadge from Wisconsin defeated all comers including the ]3- and 14-yearaids to take top honors. flDD@fj @ffJ[fjJ97] !XJ@ffJ[? L1@{}[} ~D[fjJ@D[fjJ@..L- _ BMW posted this sign to congratulate Harley-Davidson on its 100 year anniversary. It's a little tongue in cheek, but we think you'll agree that BMW meant nothing but goodwill with the gesture. How's that for good sportsmanship? WE'D SAY CONGRATULATIONS . ON YOUR 100TH. BUT YOU WOULDN'T HEAR US. CONGRATULATIONS HARlEY·DAVIDSON ON 100 YEARS. By But for sure the new Honda CBR]OOORR will aim to do that Closely based both technical- ALAN CATHCART - ly and aesthetically on its present CBR600RR kid sister, with chassis and styling derived from Valentino's RC211 V World Champion MotoGP racer, the new ultralightweight (supposedly 365 pounds!) maxi·sports Honda with 16-valve dohc in-line four-cylinder motor (not a V4, as some have tried to convince us, and certainly not either a street version of the V5 GP bike!) will certainly replace the obsolescent current FireBlade as well as the now dIscarded It's Showtime! RC51jSp·2 V-twin as Honda's point bike in the Superbike category - and by the way, don't laugh too hard when you read the MSMA manufacturer cartel's press release pontificating The annual unveiling of the latest and greatest with which each manufacturer is hoping to seduce us to part with the customer dollar or euro or pound or yen... is about to get kickstarted, first with the EICMA Salone di Milano opening on September 17, followed one week later by the Mondial du Deux Roues, the Paris Show, beginning on September 26. Within this space over the next few weeks, we'll be giving you a taste of just some of the new models we can expect to be regaled with by the world's manufacturers at these two exhibitions. Goodness. where to begin? The 2004 model year is set to be a season where the world's bik.e customer straddles the market, with a foot in two widely differing but still sportbike-focused camps. On the one hand, in anticipation of the Superbike category's move next season to a one-liter across-the-board formula, 2004 will be the year of the ultrasport race replica, with three of the four Japanese manufacturers launching ultralight, ultrapowerful four-cylinder 1000cc sportbikes aimed at overturning Suzuki's present dominance of this vital - and highly profitable - market sector with the peerless GSX-R1000. Suzuki's astuteness in getting its retaliation in first by unex· pectedly laynching the new Gixxer one year ago means it's going to take some overhauling with a bike which has already .set the benchmark for others to target. To cast your vote, log on to hllp:/ /www.cyclenews.com. • - - .. - • • Of the following privateers, who do you believe has the most potenlial to somellay get a faclory rille? A. Ryan Clark B. Keith R. Johnson c:. Tim Weigand O. Richie Owens i. Jean-Sebllstien Roy J. James-Povolny about refusing to compete in Superbike racing next year because it doesn't like it that the FIM and Flammini followed the AMA's lead in' binning the hated restrictors that only the MSMA thought a good idea, and tried unsuccessfully to impose from on high. Can you imagine Honda - or Kawasaki, or Yamaha, come to that - trying to sell an all·new ultrasports model like this one without going racing with it, especially against a Suzuki that's already a) a proven race winner at every level, b) has acres of credibility thanks to the exploits of its customers, and c) has already translated racetrack supremacy into showroom success, several times over? No - me neither - so expect a titanic struggle for victory in AMA, BSB, Japanese, Australian and, if they resolve the current spec tire standoff which has nothing at all to do with the MSMA's hurt pride over the technical regs. in World Superbike, too. A vintage era for the NASCAR of two wheels beckons, dontchathink? More on the 1000cc Superbike class next week.