Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

..... ... ._ :-1- • . ... .I'I~ •• • - ..1. ' - - _ Happenings In Motorcycling • On Thursday , October 23 , J oe Marti n of Fairfi eld Cycl e Center in Northem Cali forn ia hosted a 50th birthday bash for the lone Americ an 500cc Worl d Motocross Champion , "Bad" Brad Lackey, at the RPM indoo r kan track in Sacr amento . Lackey 's birthday is actually July 8, but betw een his v intage racing and his tee shin business, this weekend was the first time the party could be held. Lackey's son Logan's birthday was coming up on October 28 , so wha t better time to celebrate them both? Lackey got to show off h is World Championship-winning Suzuki that he fi na lly fo und in Holland . When he discovered the bike, it was virtually untouched from when he rode it on that winning day in 1982, but it was missing a few things like the fork and seal He hop es to get the bik e back into riding condition soon. Kart ra ci ng ca me next , with fo u r l O-Ieps heat s an d then the m ain event. Th e Lackey boy s didn 't have a good nig ht, as both of their ka rls broke in heat races . They made it into the ma in event with back-up karts. Th e final finishi ng order was : Brok McAllister, Casey Yarrow, Rich Sil va, J oe Martin , Cory Call, Br ad Lac k ey , Harley Peek , Log an Lac key , Mike Wal esch , Benn y Harw ell , D av id Sm il ey, Mitch Friedm an , Trevor Bro wn , A llen Yarro w, Roger DeCoster , Fuzzy BeeChing, J ason Lamoureaux , Rick Cha pman. J im Barrow. Natali e Jackson . Chris Yend ley. By A LAN CATH CAR T • - The Cagivan-Korean Connection? MY A gusta 's sister brand Cagiva showed updated versi ons of its 650/1 000 Rapt or str eetrods at the Milan Show in September, headed by the X-3 con cept bike , all powered as before by the TL 1000 and SY650 90-degree Y-twin motors supplied by Suzuki. However, th e t erms of this contract do not permit Cagiva to sell these J apanese -engined bikes in several key countries around the wo rld, from the USA to New Zealand, on the grounds that local Suzuki Importers fear they might be competing with the Japanese com pany 's own V-tw ln models. And since the Raptors essentially comprise the full ext ent of Cagi · va's current range , this poses major problems for it in terms of chas ing export sales. which the indebted Italian manufacturer is in no position to resolve by developing its own rang e of Y-tw in engines, for both budgeta ry and timeframe reasons . However. Asian sources reveal that a solution to this difficulty may be in view, with talks having supposedly already taken pl ac e between MY Agusta and Korean manufacturer Hyosung, regarding supplies of the 650/l000cc V-twln engi nes. which Hyos ung's ow n internal R&D engineers have been working on for the past th ree years. Thes e made their debut at Milan in the GT650 Comet naked sportb ike - an Asian rival to Suzuki's best -selling SY650, at what is expected to be three-quarters of the p rlce and the sm artly -sty led chorne -bedecked GY650 A quila custom wit h belt final drive, also prese nted on the Hyo sung stand in prototype full one -liter GY I OOO guise. Production has already staned of the 650 Comet, with the full 995cc version reporte dl y ready for a launch at Interm ot next year. powered by the largecapacity version of Hyosunq' s own six-s pee d liquid -c ool ed 90-degree V-twin eig ht- valve engi ne format. with chain -driven dohc. Sin ce in 647cc Com et guise this produ ces a cla im ed 79 bhp at 9000 rpm, performance of th e A sian V-twln engine compares very favora bly - at least on pap er - with the 70 bhp output of the current Suzuki-en gi ned 650 Rapto r, and from an arc hitectural standpoint, the Korean eng ine would slot right into the Rapt or fram e with rel atively little modification while presum ably co sting considerably less. And with added refin em ent delivered via MY Agusta's own R&D input, the Korean solution would also allow the italian manufacturer to market its products on a worldwide basi s. without competing directly with Hyosung because of the extra price charged for Latin design flair and a more soph isti cate d specific ation - EA inst ead of cerbs, Eu ropean suspension rather than Kor ean. etc. T im e will tell if th is partnersh ip beco mes a reality . « fD cast yDur vete, IDg en te h ttp :/ /www.cyclen ews .cD.m. Val entino Ros s i 24.47% Ric k y Carmichael " Bubba S tewart 23 .80% , . . • . . .21.37 % St ef a n E v erts 17 .07 % M a t Ml adin 6 .05% Ch ris Ca rr .3.31 % N e il H o d g son What dD yDU lik e tD read mDst in Cyc le News? . . . . . . ••. . , 1. 24% Grant Langston A. RDa race cDverag e B. 5uperclOss/ mDtDclOss cavera Co Di rt track cDverage D. Off rea d cD ve rage E. 5upermDtD cDve rage K. Racebike fea tures/test s L. RegiDna l events cDverag e ~---- • In th e wind N. VDices cue. e I . 19 % D oug Lampkin 1. 14% Branden J e sseman . .. . . . • . . , • . .0. 3 6 % 193 3 n e vv s N O VEM BER 5 . 2003 7

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