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/128326
Four-Stroke Trials Debut T omoyuki Ogawa rode Honda's four-stroke trials bike to a ninth-p lace overall finish in the bike 's deb ut in the japanese roun d of the World Trials Championsh ip, May 22-23. Ogawa rode the RTL250 F in the Weider japanese Grand Prix at the Twin RingMotegi circuit in japan. According to a press release from Honda, the company has independently developed the new bike "w ith the goa l of combining solid competitiveness and outstanding environmental performance, in anticipat ion o f the expe cted regulation changes that will req uire all competi tors to run four-stroke engines starting in 2006 ." The single-cylinder, 250cc water-cooled engine com es eq uipped with e lectronic fuel injection (Honda Programmed Fuel Injection System, or PGM-FI) - a first for a tr ials machine. The Hondo RTL250F four -stroke trial s bike made its debut in Japan on May 22. MotoGP Testing In France Afte r finishing second and fourth , respect ively in the French Grand , Prix on May 16, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha riders Carlos Checa and Valent ino Rossi stayed on at the Le M ans circuit for a one -day test on Monday, May 17. With just ove r tw o wee ks to go before the fourth round of the 2004 World Championship in Italy on june 6, the team took advantage of the good wea the r to wo rk on race settings and try to solve som e of the setup problems that Rossi experie nced over the weekend. A total of ten riders stayed on to test , with Marlboro Ducati's Troy Bayliss topp ing the unofficial time sheets with a lap of 1:33.50 - just a fraction of a second off the pole-position time set on Saturday by racewinner Sete Gibema u. Reign ing World Champ ion Rossi was only just slower, recording a best time of I:33.58. Max Biaggi, third in the Fre nch Grand Prix on the Camel Honda, was third fastest with a time of I:33.86, while Checa set a best lap of I:34.08 to end up fourth. Speaking about the test , Gauloises Fortu na Y amaha tea m director Davide Brivio said: ':4.fter the race yesterday we decided to stay one extra day to try to analyze with Valentino [Rossi] what happened yesterd ay and to try to find an alternative. We have made some progress. We spent the day wo rking on race settings and have had quite a good day. We have solved some of our doubts, and things wo rked better than yesterday. We have tried some differe nt ideas and got some goo d information, so now we are looking towards Mugello with a little more confidenc e . After three races in very different conditions and situations and wi th different re sults, w e felt it was impo rta nt to take this time to analyze where we are at. Carlos [Checa] had a very good race yeste rday, but even so it was important today to try some differe nt things. We have collected som e good information tod ay, and now Carlos is looking forwa rd to the next race." 12 JUNE 2, 2004 • C YCLE N EWS Hall Of Fam e Announces I I New Members The Motor cycle Hall of Fame Museum has annou nced I I new members for induction into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, with ceremonies scheduled for Saturday, October 9. The Class of 2004 includes some of tod ay's best- know n racing champions and industry leaders, as well as lege ndary figures who played a major role in creating and building America's rich motorcycling heritage. The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2004 is as follows: joe Bolger - Five-t ime New England Scramb les Champion, mid- 1960s and I970s. Designer and man ufacturer of motorcycle tools . Long-time contri buting editor for Cycle World, Cycle Sport; engineer and designer, ircluding work on Yankee motorcycles. Willard "Red" Bryan - Eight-time National Hillclimb Champion! 1938 through 19SI. Built his own engines, made heads, cast cylinders, designed and built frames. Roy Bur ke - 1947 Class A National Hillclimb C ha"lpion , 1952 Open Class C Hillclimb Champion, 1955 ,Big Bear Grand Prix winner. Moto rcycle deale r. Wes Co oley - 1979 and 1980 AMA Superbike Champion. Eight AMA5upe rbike race wins. Member of two winning Suzuka a-Hou r endurance race team s. Li nda Dugeau - Pioneer and founder of the Motor Maids of America, the oldest motorcycl ing organ ization for women in North America . Motorcycle rider and enthusiast throughout her life. E. Paul duPon t - Major investor and former president 40th Anniversary of the Indian Motocycle Co mp any in the postDe pression years from 1929 through 1945. Saved the company from financial ruin. jeff Emig - Three AMA Motocross Championships, one AMASupercross Cham pionship. 1999 U.S. O pen of Supercross w inner, 37 National victor ies, member o f six Motocross des Nations teams 1992 th rough 1997. johnny Gibson - Winner of 1956 Daytona 200 and over 100 dirt-track, road -race and TT races . He lped organ ize speedway-racing revival in United States. Steve Mclaughlin - Successful road racer in the 1960s and I970s. Winner of the first AMA Super bike race at Daytona, member of the Transatlantic Match Races team, originated the Wor ld Superbike Championship in Europe. Steve Morehead - Career spa nning th ree decades; dirt-track racer from 1972 to 1999. Upon ret irement he was ranked tenth on the all-time AMA Grand Nationa l win list, and fourth-ranked in half-mile victories. Curre ntly operations manager for AMA Flat Track. Dal Smilie - Passionate advocate for motorcyclist rights throughout his 35-year industry career. Longestserving AMA director, first American Motorcycle Heritage Fou ndation chairman . Recipient of Motorcycle Safety Foundation Award of Excellence for national safety leadership.