Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

DeSoto Honored In Hawaii Former National Motocrosser John DeSoto was one of four people inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hallof Fame on Feb ruary 17 in a reception held at the Honolulu Country Club. DeSoto was joined in being honored by Sharon Pet e rso n, Robbie Naish and David Ishii, the four mak ing up the class of 200 3-04 . DeSoto, w ho spe nt four te rms on the Ho no'u lu City Co uncil, was the Hawaii State Motorcycle Champio n from 1965 to 1967. and he went on to have a successful career in both AMA and Grand Prix motocross. DeSoto was inducted into the AHA Hall of Fame in 1999 . Peterson was a volleyball playe r and the coach w ho led the University of Hawaii. Hilo to seven national titles; Naish is a six-time world w indsurfing cham pion; Ishii is the last Hawaiian playe r to win o n the PGA Tour, capturing the 1990 Hawaiian O pe n. The inductio n of DeSot o and the other three brin gs the total hon o red in th e Hawa iian Hall of Fame to an eve n 100. Take A Demo Ride Do you want to ride the lates t and greatest motor cycles d uri ng Daytona 200 We ek? Daytona Internat ional Speed way is offer ing that o ppo rtun ity with free man ufacturer demo rides . Motorcycle enthusiasts can check out displays and demo rides (rom manufacturers such as Honda. Kawasaki , Suzuki, Triump h, Bue ll, Yamaha, Aprilia, Moto-Guzzi, BMW, Harley-Davidson , Victory, Boss Hos s and Bourge t Bike Wo rks during Bike Week. Riders must ho ld a valid mo torcycle d river license and DOT-app ro ved helmet in or de r to participate in the demo rides, and the rides will be held fro m Sunday, Februa ry 29, through Friday, March 5, from 9 a.m . to S p.m. Honda w ill have a new and improved demo and vendor displa area to showcase y all-new motorcycle mod els; the re will also be numerous custom bike manufacturers locat- ed in Fan Walk o uts ide of Turn 4. including the custom eng ine builder S&S Cycles, American Ironhorse, Ridley Customs, Milwaukee Iron and many mor e ; in add itio n to the demo rides , Daytona International Speedway w ill host hund red s of vendor displays and the AdvanStar Internatio nal Motorcycl e Show. w her e riders can pick up the latest in parts. accessories and apparel, according to the Speed way. The AdvanSta r Internatio nal Motorcycle Show, loca ted in the hos pitality village in fron t of the N EXTEL Tower, w ill be o pe n Tuesday. March 2, through Satu rday, March 6. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m . The Ame rican Iron Magazine Bike Show will be staged in the Daytona USA par king lo t on Wednesday, March 3, through Friday, March 5. Th ere will be a different show on e ach day impo rt motorcycle s o n We dnesd ay, March 3, pre-1984 Ame rican mot orcycles on Thursday, March 4, and all custom ized Am erican motorcycles on Friday, March 5. Registration opens each day at 10 a.m . I Briefly... I Continued from page 9 gram will post more than $7 million at ove r 700 events across the country and will now include ATV, off-road/enduro and supermoto eventsin additionto supercross, motocross, dirt track and road racing. With the addition of the new TRX450R to the line, this year's program is expanded to cover ATVeve nts in three series nationwi de. Also new to this year's sched ule, e nd uro co mpe titors abo ard a CRF, CR or XR will have th e be nefit of contingencies in the AHA GNCC series and WORCS series . No te that supermoto, wh ich was adde d midyear last year, will again be on the contingen cy sched ule . "We love to race , and suppo rt those who race," said Ray Blank, vice president of Am er ican Honda's Motor- cycle Division. "With payo uts at over 700 events nationwide , this is one of the most aggre ssive racing support programs in the industry," Payouts will be credited to the Red Rider Rewards card - the ind ustry' s first and o nly contingency debit card , according to Honda. Racers can use the Red Rider Rewards card anywhere Visa is accepted. For co mplete details on events included , eligibility and payout schedules, visit www.hondaredriders.corn. Dan ny Eslick, the 17-year-old road racer and dirt tracke r from Broken Arrow, O klahoma, will pull double duty during Dayton a Bike Week, racing at both Daytona Internatio nal Speedway and Daytona Municipal Stadium over the co urse of fou r days of co mpe titio n, March 3-6. Eslick ¥viII race his Mille nium Tech nologies Suzuki GSX-R600 in the AHA Pro Hond a Oils Supersport even t o n the high banks of the speedway, then move to the AHA Short Track Hot Shoe and Grand Nation al eve nts at Municipal Stad ium in the evenings, rac ing a Dan Dafner-backed Suzuki DR-Z400 . "I'm rea dy to go racing," said Eslick. "I've been doing a lot of tra ining over the winte r, rid ing my bicycle. worki ng out , but now I'm rea dy to put all the hard work to use . I'm excited about the new 600; I've been helping the KWS crew get the bikes together, and they 're gonna be really good. Doing the dirt track will be cool because I get to race with my brother A J., who's on the Suzuki factory dirt track team .' Eslick made his debut in AMA Pro road race and dirt track competition in 200 3, riding five Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock events with the Attack Suzuki team, as well as five selected dirt track events, wi nning the H-D Sportster Performance d irt track race at Springfield in May,and also qualifying fo r and finishing 13th in the GNC main event at Springfield in September (o ut of 106 qua lifiers). The Fastrack event scheduled for March 12 at Ca lifornia Speedway in Fontana, California, has been moved to March 19 due to a scheduling conflict with the racetrack, according to Fastrack. For more information, call 877/560-2233 . Fastrack has also announced that it has added a date on May 30. On Wednesday, September B. Jason Prid more and Ja ke Z e m ke will be in Seattle, Washington, to attend the Seattie 100 - a public track day event at Pacific Raceways in nearby Kent, Washington, according to event promoters. The annual event is open to pub- lic participation and will benefit The NephCure Foundation, a not-for-profit organization promoting research into the cause and cure of kidney disease. 2Fast Motorcycle Track Days and Instruction will host the event and facilitate the track day. "Th ese are two great guys, and they're helping me bring natio nal visibility to the Seatt le 100 that I cou ldn't have ach ieved with o ut them," said Brian O rton, director of th e Seattle 100 and co-founder of The Nep hCure Fo undation. "As to the partic ipants in this year's event, every rider w ill be able to rub elbows w ith two of the fastest ride rs in the wo rld, and how often does the average guy get the opportunity to do tha t? How many people can say. 'Y h, I've ridden ea with Pridmore; I've ridden with Zemke'? The Seattle I00 will be the opportunity of a lifetime fo r parti cipants, giving them the chance to ride w ith some of the most famous personalities in motorcycle racing. Above all, we 're all co nt ributing to a fantastic cause," Participants in the Seattle 100 raise money through per-lap ($1 per lap) pledges and/or fixed -dollar ($100 ) contributions, each participant attempting to circle the track 100 times before the day is over. Due to trac k capacity issues. the event is limited to 100 riders yet is e ntirely free of charge to all who preregister and w ho show up w ith $500 o r mo re in collected donations the day of the even t . For more information , visit www.2-fast.org. or call O rton at 206/676-S683 . Seven, the worl d land speed reco rd attempting motorcycle, will be feat ured at American Sport Bike Night on Monday, March I, in the San Francisco East Bay. De nis Manning will be bringing his motorcycle to San Leandro for display and to d iscuss the construction and histo ry of the motorcycle and his upcoming land speed record attempt, sched uled for the Inte rnatio nal Moto rcycle Speed Trials that w ill be held at the Bonneville, September 6- 10. For more inform ation , call Michael Wozn iak at 510/483-8858. The Valvoli ne Company and Dayto na International Speedway have announced that Valvolinewill be the Official Motor Oil for Dayto na 200 Week and will offer ride rs the o pportunity to cru ise the famed Daytona Intem atio nal Speedway tra ck. "We 've become involved in Daytona 200 Week fo r two reasons ," said Valvoline Motorsports manager Mikel Hartman. "First, we're the official motor oil of Dayto na Inte mational Speedway. And second. we have introduced the Valvoline line of motorcycle oils. The products are available at AutoZone stores, and we want riders to know they can save mo ney on the right oils fo r their bikes," The "Best Looking Bike Contest" will be held throughout the week at the Valvoline d isplays at the Speedway and at Beach Street - and on March 5 at the Nova Road AutoZone store with 100 qualifiers then participating in the "Valvo line I00 Parade Lap" the morning of March 6 at Daytona International Speedway. 500,000 plus attendees at Dayto na Beach Bike Week, ending March 7. Kingsley Coach has been an exhibitor at each of the last four Daytona Beach gatherings and will be prominently located at 3220 Ridgewood Avenue , on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue , and Port O range , in Dayto na Beach , Florida. The company will demonstrate its auto mat ic garage feat ure , wh ich allows a motorcycle owner to drive the vehicle up an electroni- cally activated ram p that lowe rs to the gro und. This proprieta ry featu re allows tw o fully dr essed mo to rcycles to be driven up the ramp and into a fixed and secure position fo r easy dismo unt . The Uni t e d States Grand Prix Rid e rs Uni on (USGPRU) has announced the ne wes t series sponsor from Infinity Investing of D al- las, Texas. Infinity Investing has posted $1 S,OOO in cash to support the USGPRU in 2004 , raising the total value of the series sponsorship to ove r $75 ,000 , according to USGPRU. Payouts will be distributed among the top six finishers at each USGPRU event with $1000 cash in 12SGP and 2SOGP. Grand Finale payouts have increased to $3000 per class. "The $75 ,000 is mo re than twice the purse of th e 2003 season," said Stewart Aitken -Cade, president of the USGPRU. "Th is level of support will help to make o ur series more attractive to the younger riders just try ing to break into the sport. We also ex pect that it will further raise the level of co mpetition in this already highly com petitive series." Fran k Pate , CEO of Infinity Investing said, "We are pleased to support the USGPRU and look lorward to seeing the spo rt grow in the U.S." Rid e r 's Edge, the Harley-Davidson Academy of Motorcycling, has introd uced a new course aimed at further developing the riding skills of current motorcyclists. The Rider 's Edge Skilled Ride r Course offers motorcyclists add itio nal tra ining and practice to give riders mo re confidence and make the riding experience more enjoyable. "Eve ry motorcycle rider can benefit fro m addit ional training and deve lopment of rid ing skills," said Dave Koenings, Harley- Davidson d irect or of Ride r' s Edge. "Whether you 're an existing rider, a returning rider or a newer rider, the Skilled Rider Course gives all motorcyclists a way to improve riding skills in a controlled setting." Several Harley-Davidso n dea lers, who currently offer the Ride r's Edge New Rider Course, are preparing to offer the Skilled Rider Course start ing th is summer. Similar to the Rider 's Edge New Rider Course, the Skilled Rider Course uses the proven curriculum of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's (MSF) Experienced Rider Course (ERC) SUite . Add itio nally, all Skilled Rider Course instructors are MSF- and Harley-Da vidson-certified. "Harley-Davidso n wants to help equip riders at every skill level for a safe riding experi ence ," said Koenings. "O ffering continued rider training is one of the steps the company has taken to accomplish that end ." The Rider's Edge Skilled Rider Course ta kes place in the dealership and at nearby range facilities, with class sizes ranging from six to twelve students. Lasting appro ximately seven hours, the course Kingsley Coach Inc. ¥viII exhibit several Deluxe Motor Coaches to the expected www.cyclenews.com includes Interactive exercises and plenty of riding practice. CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 10,2004 11

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