Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

co nclud ed an industrial and co mmercial mission to the Far East. accord ing to a press release from MV. Castiglioni met with repres entatives of the gove rnme nt and of t he ind us t ries of M alay sia, and the Ital ian businessman ended up signing a lett er of inte nt wi th Prot on . " A LetI ~ e r Of Intent has been undersigned by C laudi o Castiglioni and Tengku Tan S ri I • Mahaleel Ariff , CEO of Proton Group, at :t he presence of M enteri Dat uk Seri dr M ahathire M o hamad , Malays ian pr ime 'minister. in order to closely examine the 'p o s s ib ilit y o f a jo int v entu r e . " t he re lea s e f ro m M V s ta t es . " It i s well known t hat MV Agu s t a i s c u rr e nt ly under co ntrolled administ ration . and with the supervision of the Co urt of Varese and with the suppo rt of Banca Inte sa, it s ~roduction act ivities are reco vering and enjoying a remarkable t urnaro und inter'nationally for the mod els cur rently on t he market . D uring t he co nv ersat io ns th e idea of the part icipa ti on of Prot on has been preliminarily examined. through an inc re ase in capital. A n agree men t has bee n reac hed wit h t he go al being to ac c ompli sh. in t he short est possi b le I t ime . all necessary deta ils o f the v enture. A final agreement will then be put Forth to be screened and approved by the institutional and cont rolling bodie s." In t he relea se, C ast iglio ni sa id: " I am really sat isfied wit h the inte res t I have no ti c ed for t he effo rt w e are making. also thanks to the help of Banca Intesa, to finally get out of the current sit uation and fo r a furth er relaunch of our act ivities . W e are cheered by the recovery at ful l capacity of our activities and by the exceptiona l popularit y s ho w n o n th e marke ts with regard to our product s and particul arl y wi t h refere nce to our new Brutale mod el. M V F4 1000S . and t he hew Husqvarna mod els . I hop e we wi ll be able to reach an indust rial and stock agreement , giving more st rength to our proj ects.- I f he high desert of South ern California is a popu lar hom e for mo to rcycle racers. and th e wildfire s that sw ept through the ~tate last week made their way over the mo untains that sepa rate the high de sert fro m the lowl ands. Hesperia, home of rac ers such as T ra v is P resto n a n d I Ty D avis . also ended up on fire last I week. Preston. w ho says he lives in the f iddle of town , said . " It 's not threatening my hou se , but it's maybe only one or t w o mi les from my paren ts' house . W e've got the wate r truck loaded up and hooked up to the hydr ant ready to go if it gets close r. I've been riding aro und all day chec king it out, look ing at the fire. There's all kinds of as h in the air. The fire's actually bum ing where my outdoo r tracks are and by the Hesperia dump. It act ua lly wo rked o ut go od , becau s e I wante d t o c lea r o ut the br ush aro und those track s anyway. but nature 's doing it for me now .A s w ind-driven w ildfires co ntinued to gut communiti es t hro ughout Sout hern C alifornia last wee k. e-mails from tw o racers w hos e homes are in danger zones have reporte d that in their case it was a mat ter of .. so far so good. - Linda Hopkins. t he mo th e r o f S uzu k i M o t oG P ri de r John Hopkins . e-mailed in to rep ort tha t their ho me in Ramo na. C alifo rnia , was sti ll in one piece . tho ugh homes had burn ed down j ust a mil e fro m t he irs . Mat Mladin . who owns a hom e in Rancho C ucamo nga, C aliforn ia, is in Au stralia. but his place was under the wat ch of fell ow Aust ralian roa d racer Da mon Buckmaster. The resident s on Ml adin' s st reet were evacuated but were let back in. acc o r d i ng t o t he f o ur -t im e AMA Superb ike Nati onal Champion. G len He le n R acewa y in S a n Bern ardino , C alifo rnia. remained ope n for business for its wee kly prac tice last Thursday despite the fir es . The facility survived the wildfires. but th e flames did come up to the track's edges . damaging some of Glen Helen's wat ering sys tem. The facilit y wa s also without elect ricity but operated with generator s. For more info rmat ion. call 90 9-880 -17 33 . Due to the catastrophic fires in the San Bernardi no N ati on al Fo res t an d else whe re in S ou th e rn C al if o rni a , t he Nov ember 16 Ma lcolm S m it h " No Whimps" D ua l S p o rt Ride has been c a nc e l e d . All pa id e n t ries wi ll be refunded or voided . AMA Tour s has inv it e d m o t orc y cl e design er and M ot orcycle Hall of Fame member Craig Vetter to jo in its Ap ril 2004 Redw o o d C oast To ur t hr o ug h no rt he rn C alifo rn ia . Ve lt er i s mo st famo us for his ground -break ing line of Vetter W indjammer fairings and for his des ign of the legendary 197 3 Tr iumph Hurricane. " Cra ig Ve tter pion eer ed t he des ign s fo r the fairings and bodywork f o und o n t o u rin g a nd spor t -to uring motorcycles for the past quarter -centu ry, and it is amaz ing w he n yo u re alize how much t his one individual has inf luenced the look of the machines we now take o n to ur , " says direc t or of AM A Travel & Tours Frank C ovucci. V etter wi ll join the AMA's Redwo od Coa st Tour at it s start ing point in Sonoma. C alifo rnia, and plans on taking seve ral oppo rt unitie s throughout the duratio n of the tour to e nlig ht e n t he t our g roup w i t h his t hough t s o n mot o rcyc le desig n. past . present and future . In fact, he hopes to be able to complete the tour aboa rd his radical new Defiant - a big-tw in-pow ered scoot er - if it's re ady for t he road by April. The tour will co nclude at the A MA U.S. Superbike Cha mpion ship weekend at Inf ineon Racew ay in Sonom a. A MA Tours are open both to AMA members and no nmem bers. Pro c eed s fro m the tours support the AMA 's eff orts to prot ec t Ame rican m ot orcy cl is t s ' right s . C ontact AMA Tours for additio nal detail s and to make reservation s at 800 / AM A JO IN , ext. 1190 or 1196 . gural "Leather & Ice" holiday party on Saturday, December 6 , from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at t he museum. The evening's festi vit ie s w ill feature liv e ente rt ainme nt , food. a cas h bar and. as the highlight of t he event. a silent auct ion. The Leather & Ice silent auct ion will featu re sports memorabilia, mo to rcycl ing coll ec ti ble s, and motorcycle s themselves. In addit ion, prizes wi ll be awarded to guests for co stu me s t hat best suit th e " leat her and ice - theme - combining a leather jacket with a st ring of pearl s. for example. o r weari ng motocross boot s w it h a th reepiece suit. The goal of the Leather & Ice holiday party is to raise money for The Mot o rcycle Hall of Fame Mu seum, which is administered by the Am erican Motorcycl e Heritage Fo undat ion. a nonp rofit public foun dat ion devot ed to the preservat io n of A merica's motorcy cl ing he rit age. Tick et s are $ 25 per per son and are available by phone (6 14/ 856-2222). fax (6 14 / 856-2220 or mail. Sp ac e is limited. so making reservation s early is recomm ended. To donat e an ite m to the Leat he r & Ic e silent auction . c o n tac t Susan Rutt er at srutt er@moto rcyclemuseum .org o r 61 4/856-2222 exte nsio n 1340. Deadline for donations is November 21. A ce lebration of the 50th anniver sary of BSA's top-five sweep of the Daytona 200 will highligh t AH RMA 's 2004 Florida Bike W eek extra vaganza in late February and early M arc h, acc ording to AHRMA. Run under unseasonably co ld and windy condit ions on the old 4. 1-mile beac h co urse. the 1954 D ayt ona 200 wa s an unqu al if ie d s ucces s f o r t he British manufacture r. Bob by Hill ro de a rigid-frame BSA Shooting Star tw in to victory in a time of 2 hours . 7 minute s. Tw ent y seco nds behind him was D ick Klamfoth on another Shootin g Star, this one swi ngarm -equippe d. fo llowed eig ht seconds later by Tomm y M cD ermott on a rigid Gold Star. Next across th e line were AI Gunter and Ken Eggers. both on rigid-frame twi ns. Several of the act ual bikes are still in exis te nce . and a rep lica of the winning machine is being built fo r the Dayton festivities. The machines and t heir ride rs w ill be a fe at ur ed pa rt of AHRMA 's Bike W eek acti vit ies. partic ularly Sunday . February 29. at the Ameri ca n M ot o rcycl e In sti tute in Da yton a Beach and then M onday and Tuesday. Marc h 1-2 , d uri ng A HRMA C lassi c s Days road racing at Dayt ona lnte rnation al Speedway . Th e A M A has an no un ce d t ha t Marg a ret W ilson of Ced ar Rapids, Iowa . is the latest recipient of the AMA Bessie St ringfield M emorial Award for Superior Achievement by a Female M otorcycl ist. The pr ese ntation to ok place on Saturday. October 4, during ce remonies connect ed w ith the 2003 M otorcycle Hall of Fame induct ions . The award, presented to M arg aret fo r mo re than 50 years of ac tive i nv o lv e me n t. le ad e r s hip a nd excell en ce in moto rcycli ng . recog nizes individual wo men who have been instrument al in show inq other women they can be active part icipant s in t he wo rld o f mot orcycling . Cr eated in 2000 . the AMA Bessie Stri ngfield Awa rd is presented to t hose ack nowledge d by their peers as tru e lea de rs in t he sp ort. women w ho have had a significant po siti ve impact on the ro le and image of wom en in mot or cycl ing ove r a sustained period of time . Wil son 's love of mot or cyclin g began in 1946, when he r hu sb and , Mike, gave her a new Harley- Davidson . Beginning in 1950 and fo r the next 25 yea rs , Margaret and Mi ke also were business part ners in Wilson ' s M o to rcy cl e Sales o f Cedar Rapid s. Sh e ' s a G o ld en Life M ember of th e M o t or M aid s , having joined this renown ed nati on al wo men's mot orcycle o rga nizatio n in 19 5 1, and she helped form tKe Corn Sta te Riders M ot orc y cle C lub in th e ea rly 1950s . Over th e years she has assi sted w it h many mo torcycle races and event s and has lo gged mor e t han 555 .000 miles t hroug hout t he United States and Canada . M argar et and Mike curr ently bot h serve on the board of direct or s of the M ot o rcycl e Hall of Fame M useum and are among the museum's principal benefac tors . " There may be no better ro le model fo r women . whe ther or not they rid e mo torcycles , than Ma rgaret Wi lso n. " sai d Rob ert Raso r, pres iden t of The M ot or cycle Hall of Fame M useum has announced that it will host the inau- the 2004 season. Resumes can be sent to Stomp Rider Support. at tn: Ken Reid. 1279 Dedi Avenue. South Lake Tahoe. CA 96150 or e-mail to ndersupportfsstcrnpdeslqn.com. CANCE LED : The Malcolm Smith " No Wimps" Dual Sport Ride. scheduled for November 16, due to fires in the San Bemardino National Forest. A CCEPTING: Dubach Racing Development Inc. is currently accepting race resumes for the 2004 season. Resumes can be sent to 1420 BO R N: Elli Grace Morales, to two-time Baja 1000 winner Randy Ritchey Street. Suite D. Santa Ana, CA 92705 or via fax to 71 4/953 7563. M orales and his wife, Alison. in Prescott. Arizona. on October 27. SIGNED : Motocrosser Troy Adams to a contract with OMS Sports. a OPEN: Dubach Racing Development lnc.'s new exhaust manufacturing full-service sports marketing agency, effective immediately. facility. For more information, call 714/ 953-7561. , ACCEPT I NG: Stomp Design Inc. is currently accepting resumes for BORN : Samuel Scoll Oakes to No-Toil's directo r of sales Scoll Oakes and his wife, Jessica. on October 22. Continlied on page 6 cu e I e n e _ s N OVEM BER 1 2 , 2 003 3 [ [ [ [. [ [ [ o o o o o o o o o o o [ [ r I I L r:

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