Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

[g@[iiJ [ljJfjJ@Dljg ~ W@fJUD @[iiJ@@(}f) ~ . !1@[llfjJ@'illz ~ @@@@ [?r?D@[iiJ@ LJ o o o The f ina l ro und o f th e A M A N at ion a l Ch amp ion sh ip Hare S cramb le s S e rie s wa s held in Lynnvi lle , Ind iana, on Oct ob e r 12 , and Jason Ra ines (Ya m ) came away with t he wi n and the series titl e . Doug B lac kwe ll (Ha n) f inish ed second in the race , foll ow ed by B arr y Hawk Jr. (Ya m) . S c o tt Summers (H an ) a nd Nathan Kanney (Y a m ) Ken Maely, the original hot shoe man , died on Thursday, October 9, in Riverside, Califomia, after suffering a heart attack . He was 78 . Known the world over for his m anufacturing and developme nt of the steel shoe or "hot shoe," the Wisconsin-born Maely got his start as a motorcycle racer in the Midwest flat track hotbed known as the "fairs circ uit" in the '40s , after World War II, But he soon realized the need for an im provem ent upon the skid shoes that riders were fashioning out of automobile parts for their left boots at the time, "It used to be the big rush after the races to go down to the jun k yard to get all the bumper ends you possibly could because it would last you for about a month or so," Maely once said whil e filming a segment of the now-d efunct television show "The Excit ing World of Speed and Beauty." "In about 1948 I started making my own shoe, after that , whenever I'd loan someone my shoe, why... After you sell someone a shoe, he is not just a custome r, he's a good friend from then on." Demand was so great that Maely quit racin g to concentrate on his hot shoe-building business full-ti me , He moved to a ranch in Cor ona , California, to set up shop , where he conti nued to build shoes and also created a training facility for flat track and speedway racers to hone their skills . Ken Maely Hot Shoes were wom by several AMA Grand National Cham pions, most notabl y Kenny Roberts · who won the AMA title in 1973 and '74 before going on to win the 500cc World Champ ionship thr ee tim es, from 1978- 1980, and with whom Maely had a great friendship. Maely was recognized for his shoe work when he was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1999. World Speedway Champions such as fiv e-time litlist Ove Fundin of Sweden and Ameri cans Bruce Penhall , Bobb y Schwartz and Billy Ham ill all wore Ken Maely Hot Shoes at various ti m es in t hei r careers; Ham ill won his first speedway race as a j unior at the Maely Ranch in Corona. Maely so enjo yed the sport of speedway that in 1977 he began to develop his own speedway engine, Architecture from that engine was later used in products from other engine ma nufacturers, such as Husqvarna. His engineering efforts also earned hi m num erous 90ve rnmen t contrac ts wit h th e Repub lic of China , where he made frequent visits to assist in setti ng up m anufacturing and assemb ly plants. Maely, who had just undergone heart surgery about three weeks ago, had battled and defeated cancer and other heart problem s earlier in life . He remained a constant fixtu re at West Coast flat tra ck Nationals, where he continued to sell 'and do repair work on hot shoes. At hom e, he could alway s be counted on to be running his water truck every hour on the hour for the riders who showed up to practice at his trai ning track . it was also at hom e that Maely recently won one of his toughest battl es, when he fought and won a legal challenge to keep his train ing faci lity open even as a housing developm ent was encroaching o J o o ro unde d o ut the to p five finis hers . Kurtis Roberts w ill defin it ely no t be rid ing fo r Americ an Ho nda in t he 20 04 AM A /U .S . Supe rbik e S eries, acco rd ing to his manage r St eve D ict e row . "At this po in t. after d isc uss io ns w it h Am eric an Ho nd a las t wee k - which I do hav e to say w as amicable and fr ie ndly , and w e may do business aga in w ith the m in the fu tu re - the y just do n't have a place for rr-; Ku rt is at this point. He ' s unsig ned , and we are pu rsu in g o th er opport unities ." S inc e Ro bert s has always had a lon g. t e rm goa l of goi ng Grand Prix rac in g , that may be w he re he ends up next yea r, t ho ug h everyt hing in Euro pe c urre nt ly d ep e nd s on w h a t Va le nti no Ro s si de c ide s to do. " U nt il Valen tin o sig ns, w e ju st do n't know where the cards w ill fall ov er there , " D ictero w said . "Kurtis' goal has always been to be a Grand Prix ra c e r . I ' d sa y that w e s houl d k n o w so mething within the next tw o weeks ho pe fully , w it hin a week . " Ro bert s fi nished third in this year' s AMA Superbike ~ National C hampionship. w inning his first AMA S uperbi ke race at V irg inia Internatio nal Rac ew ay . He wo n agai n in th e fina l ro und of the series at the Barber M oto rspo rts Park. o o [] ] on the property. When asked at a recent practice day why he didn't just thro w in the towel and sell his property , mos t likely for millions, Maely replied , "If I do that, then where will all these kid s go to learn how to ride?" According to Ken Maely 's son, Mike, there will be a bench racing session and memorial celebration for the late hot shoe builder and motorcycle racing icon who passed away last Thursday. The event is scheduled to take place at Bassani Manufacturing, 2900 E. La Jolla, in A naheim , Califo rnia, 92806, on Saturday, Octo ber 25 , from noon to 6 p.m . Th ere will be refreshm ents and food available, but the event is BYOB. Atte ndees are requested to please RSVP to Mike Maely via the following e-mail address:maelyinc @aol. com. Ken Maely will truly be missed... al u se rs who dam ag e p ublic la nd . In [] l 4 u m o to r ized re crea tion a nd t ho se w ho additio n, t he bill subs ta ntia lly inc reases enjoy other fo rm s of recreation . "U nfor- the penalti es on indiv iduals wh o wi llfully The A M A has endo rs ed leg is la t ion in Congress to get tou gh o n ind iv idual s wh o ca use w ill f u l d a m ag e to f ed e ra l lands , according to a release iss ued by t he AM A . Th e Trail Re spo nsi bility and A cc ountab ilit y for t he Imp rov e me nt o f La nds Ac t (TRA IL A ct) , introduce d by U .S . Represen tat ive To m Tancredo ( R· C ol o r a d o ) , prov ides fo r co n s isten t enfo rce me nt of land use, prot ectio n and manag ement regulat ion s by t he fede ral Bu r e a u o f L a n d M a n a g e m e nt , the N at ional Park Serv ice , the U nited St ates Fish and Wildlife S ervic e , and the Forest S e rv ic e . Curren t ly , t ho s e a ge nc ies impo se diffe rent penalti es o n recr eati o n- t una te ly , t he is su e of law enforceme nt cau se damage to desiqnated trails , A ny has been used as a pol iti cal fo otball to fines col lected w ould be used for reha - dem onize and de ny access to the mo torize d c o m m u n it y," H o lt z s ai d . - B ad bilita tion and t rail awarene ss programs at t hat t rail . " This leg is lation se nds a ac t o rs , r ega rd le ss of t he ir m o d e of clear message to individu als w ho delib- recrea tion , sho uld be punished appro pri - erate ly en gage in irres po ns ib le recr eation , " Tancredo said . " Abu se o ur public ately ," Th e AMA supports re spon sible lands and you w ill pay the pri ce ." A M A riding o n pub lic land and be lieves th at t ho se who in te nti o na lly d a m ag e la nd W ash ingt on represent at ive Patrick Hol tz sho uld be pun ished , wh e th er they're said he sees the pro po sal as a co mmon - motorized vehicle use rs , horse riders, o o o @[iiJIV7@@r? !1@u @@ @1V7 [){jfjJr?D@[l- - - - - -o 2L . UO fj U (I U O O O O o o publ ic land beca use it does n't make a sense approach to law en fo rcement o n campers o r hikers . The AMA decided to endorse the Tancr ed o legi slatio n, in part d ist inc ti o n betw ee n pe op le who e njoy beca use ano ther rneasu re Fema le racer Jennifer Snyder is no longer a mem ber of the HarleyDavidson factory flat track team after Harley-Davidson Motor Com pany opt ed not to renew her contract for 2004. The 20-year-~ld Snyder, who joined the team at the start of the 200 1 season, enjo yed a meteoric rise to fame . when she won her Harley facto ry debut, the Fomnula USA Colonial Downs Pro Singles Nationa.1 Mile in New Kent, Virginia , on May 3, 200 1. Snyder was in co ~tentlo? ,for a top-five flnish In her rookie season when she was critically Injured at the .Emerald Downs Mile the foltowtnq September. She retum ed to racmq after a year layoff but clearly struggled to regain the form that she showed from the start. Rumors of her being released by the team began to swirl after the Harley factory failed to show up at the Fomnula USA Del Mar Mile, the last National-level dirt track race of the season. Harley -Dav idson confirmed the news of her release this morning. "Rich Kin g will lead the H-D factory dirt track racing effort during the 2004 season, and our focus will be on winning the AMA Grand National Champ ionship," said Mik e Kennedy, director of H· D Rac- 2 O C TO BER 2 2 , 2003 ' C II C • e n e - s > H. R. 751. ing, in the statement released by Harley. "Jennifer Snyder's contract with the Harley-Davidson factory di rt track racing prog ram ended with the close of the 2003 racing season. We thank Jennifer for all she's done for Harley-Davidson and for the sport of dirt track racin g and wish her all the best in her futur e endeavors. For 2004 , we look forward to an intensive effort with Rich and the team to win the AMA Grand National Championship." ' Factory Herley-Devidson m echanic Bill Wemer was on vacation at the time of the news release. When reached by telephone Werner f d b d th f II . ' re ~se to com ment ey~n e ~ O~Ing : ." . . I enjoye? working WIt Jenmfer, Werner said. I certain ly W h Ish her the best. . Cycle News .reach~d Snyd:r via telephone on the same d~y that the Herley-Davidson info rrnatlon was released. Snyder declin ed to comment on the matt er but added that she would be releasing a statement of her own in the coming week . -Scott Rouss eau co mmo nly ca lled" RO VER" - t arg et s o nly m o t o r i ze d ve hicle use rs an d doesn' t provid e fo r co nsiste nt penalties amon g t he variou s fede ral land agencies. Tw o -t im e AM A S up ersto ck C ha mpion Jimmy Moore has ret urned to th e racetrack , parti cipating in riding schools, t rac k days and reg ional races in prepara t ion fo r th e 2004 A MA C hevy Tru ck s S upe rbike series. According to his pub lic i s t , M o o r e is fu ll y heal ed f r o m his injuries suff ered at Brainer d in Ju ne and is ready to race again . ''I' ve been riding my s t ree t bi ke [a G SX · R 10 0 0 Formu la Xt re me repl ica] a lot. and I w as a gue st ins t ruc to r last w ee k at a Pacif ic S uper Spo rt Ride rs sc hool at Po rt land [Intern at ion al Ra c e w ay l , " sa id M o o r e . " I ' m d o ing a J aso n Prid mo re STAR School next week at Thunderhill, and I may do the Wil low 200 o r go to an O M RRA race at P.I.R . and see if I can se t a new lap reco rd at my hom e track. The riding has been easy, no problem s w ith my body ; it fe e ls rea lly go od t o g et b ack o n t he racetr ack again . " W ith the releas e of the C orona Extra S uzuki team by American Su zu k i, M o ore is e a g e r t o t a k e hi s c hampio nship-w inning talent s to a new team for 2004 and beyon d , acc o rding to the releas e . " Yo u know , I had a co uple of good seas o ns w ith th e C oron a team , and I feel like I d id a good jo b on the For mul a Xt re me bike thi s y ea r be fo re th e

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