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/128231
- • .... ... ._:...1•• . ... .. .f'I~ ~.." ........ Happenings In Motorcycling While on a ride to Eurek a. Californ ia . with his wife Kar en. associate editor Blake Conner spotted th is billboard on the side of the road som ewhere in Humboldt Count y. The sign is an ad for Clover brand m ilk . It dep icts the Litr e of the Pack (head co w) sitti ng on the side of the road on a Honda CBR95 4RR, waiting for her slow buddies to catc h up . Note the helmet in hand; no irrespon sible squid cows are riding in the Northem Califomia area. Who would have thought tha t a cow wou ld need an addi tional set of leat hers to keep from getti ng road rash? We always thought one set was fine. It ju st goes to show that Northem Califomia is way more in tune with m otorcycling than us southerners. }ij[JiJ@{J!JD@fl @fd fJ ~D @ fJ [fJ@DrB@@ fI3 rP@fl [fJD@@ (/@fl f%D@rB Som etim es a pol ice-escorted m otor cycl e ride through some of the count ry 's most beautiful landscape ca n save lives. wh ich is exact ly wha t hap pened on Sunda y , Augus t 24th as Ride for Kids events were held in Ashe v ille , North Caro li na, and An n Arbor , Mich igan, to raise funds to co m bat th e deadliest of all childhood cancers. ped iatr ic brain tumors. Approxim ately 72 5 m otorcycl ists. volu nt eers and fundraisers gathered at Washtenaw Comm unity College in Ann Arbor . Michiga n. for the 12th annual co mbined Dual Sport and Road Ride event. A t th e end of the day , $ J25 ,476 was raised to help support the Pediatr ic Br ain Tumor Foundatio n's research and fam ily support program s. Further south , in the m oun ta ins of west em North Carol ina , the 10th annual Asheville Ride for Ki ds took place. A new record of 650 m ot orcycl ists. gathered bri ght and earl y at Biltm ore Square Mall for the ir police-escorted joumey through wind ing mountain road s to their end point at Lake Lur e. Th e Bunc om be County board of commission ers decl ared August 24 , 2003, Official Ride for Kids Day . And what a da y the riders had ! Th e riders raised $89,555 for chil dhood brain tum or research. By A LAN CATHCART • • Super, Super, Supersports Dropping down in capac ity to the 600 Sup ersp ort class. this inst all m ent reveals Suzuki's m ajor sportbike novelty, the all-new GSX·R600, inev itably clo sely based on its all- conquering GSX· RJOOO big brother, with a new. higher-revving but more compact fuel -inj ected 16-va lve engi ne housed in a much tighter beam fram e, which will allow the present bik e's rather porky dimens ions to be significantly downsized. Ex pect upside-down forks , rad ial brakes (perhaps wit h wav e discs, whi ch Suzuki's race -wi nning Alsta re Corona World Supersport team has used with suc cess for the pa st two year s), and very light w eight for what is sure to be a potent chall enger in the Supersport stake s next season . It'll have to beat Ducati's major new sporting novelty to achieve th at , though · the 749R . wh ich in spite of co m pany bos s Federico Minoli's down playing of the Italia n com pany 's future inv olvement in Supers port racing , has apparently been lapping Mugell o in Superbike times in the hands of the m an who will race it in World Super sport next season, Europ ean Supe rsto ck points leader for the fi rst half of the season, Lorenzo Lanzi. Exp ect radi al brakes, lots of car bon fib er on the homologati on -special street bike , and over 115 bhp in street form from th e 749R's Testastretta Supe rspo rt eng ine. whi ch it's belie ved D ucati has short-stroked fro m th e current 105 ·bhp 749 ' s 9 0 x 58 ,8mm dim ens ions. in orde r t o obta in co mpeti tive power against the new gen eration of four-c ylinder J apanese 600s, Th ese will be augment ed by a power-up ver sion of the Kawasaki ZX -6RR to be launched at Milan . com plete with higher-lift cams and a revi sed cylinder head compared to the current bik e, which reportedly just lacks that initial pun ch out of tums to make it truly competitive in World Supe rsport racing. Next ti m e, prepare to get Nakedl To ta st your vote. log on to http:/ /www.ty tl enews.to m. Do yo u think the AMA made the right deti sion by not resthe duling a repilltement rouna for th e raine a-au t Troy National final? : - 6 S EPTEMBER 10. 2003' c ue I e n e VIls - - -