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/128361
Briefly.•. Demuth Returns to Winning Ways in Dallas J osh Demuth claimed his first win of the 2004-05 National Arenacross Series before a very vocal hometown crowd at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, January 7-8. The Shogun Factory Yamaha/Motion Cyclesportssponsored Demuth added a Dash-For-Cash victory and electrified the partisan crowd by running down series points leader Darcy Lange from a 20-bike deficit during Saturday's 2S0cc final to almost take a third win. The showing was Demuth's best of the season, while series points leader and defending champion Lange suffered his worst outing of the season, including a season-low 12thplace finish in Saturday's 12Scc main. The Kawasaki Team Green/Pro Circuit/Richmond Racing-sponsored Lange suffered from bad starts, poor gate selections and an unfortunate crash with another rider. but he still managed two main-event wins on the tight and slippery course Saturday night. Kawasaki Team Green/Pro Circuit/Richmond Racing's Jeff Northrop, who occupies second place in the series standings, also had a night to forget after finishing eighth in Saturday's 250cc main and having to watch the 125cc final from the bleachers. Like Demuth, Branden Jessemen, of the Motoworldracing.com/Suzuki team, liked the Dallas course and claimed his second win of the year in a wireto-wire run in Friday's 125cc main, while Lange worked up to second from one of his sub-par starts. With only four rounds remaining in the series, Lange stiil holds an almost insurmountable points lead, a full 122 points ahead of Northrop, with Jessemen another 33 points back. Shan Moore Erion Racing is now the exclusive distributor for Ten Kate racing produet5 in the United States. Ten Kate runs the World Superbike team of Chris Vermeulen, and the team won the World Supersport Championship last year with Karl Muggeridge. Ten Kate offers a full line of engine and chassis kit parts for racers. Kawasaki has announced the launch of the new Kawasaki owners club, effective imme- Former Arenacross Chamr.ion Josh Demuth pleased the home crowd with a coup e of wins in Dallas. Barnes Hoping for 200 Ride Floridian road racer Michael Barnes continued to impress with the second- fastest Supersport time posted at the Daytona tire test at Daytona International Speedway last week. Barnes is hoping to put together a package for the Daytona 200 and will run the rest of the Formula Xtreme season on the Innovative Research Buell. "That's my main deai for the year - the Buell deal in FX," Barnes said. ''I'm trying to put something together for the 200. We're just having budget constraints, so we're thinking it'll help us finish the season if I find myseif a ride for Daytona. So, I figure I can get some good points on something else and carry on the rest of the season." Henny Ray Abrams Michelin Out Michelin's Jim Rhodes called Daytona International Speedway the Friday prior to the annual multi-team tire test to tell them that Michelin wouldn't be attending. It's been a particularly humbling time for the American arm of the French tire giant. First. it lost the Ducati Austin team to Dunlop, after the parent company pulled support when the Marlboro Ducati MotoGP team switched to Bridgestone. That was followed by the M4 Exhaust team, formerly Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, ending its longtime relationship with Michelin to go to Pirelli. Michelin will be putting its money - some say the figure is as high as $2S0,ooo - in Travis Pastrana's supercrosslmotocross team. Henny Ray Abrams Supermoto With the Goberts Erion Honda's Alex Gobert raced supermoto and supercross during his off-season at home in Australia, at one point competing against older brother Anthony. "He did half a day and then he went home," Alex said of the supermoto race at Oran Parle "We had qualifying to put the grid positions for the heats, and he qualified second and I qualified fourth. And then I was in a different heat race. He ended up going home. He was over it. He was going pretty good, but that's the first time we'd seen him riding really good again since probably early last year. He went home. I'm not sure why. He's been practicing a lot of supercross." Alex said Anthony planned on racing supercross in Australia this year. "Motocross starts in March, and supercross starts later in the year," Alex Gobert said. "Supermoto, he was doing that for a while and he wanted to do something that had more recognition. He was splitting his time between supermoto and supercross/motocross, but I think he's concentrating his time on the other things now." Hemry Ray Abrams diately, which replaces the Good Times Owners Club. The new Riders of Kawasaki (ROK) owners club expands the benefits available to owners of street-legal Kawasaki motorcycles, according to Kawasaki. Member benefits include six issues of the new ROK magazine, special promotional packages and VIP hospitality at select national events, such as ANA Superbike races, and a membership kit. ROK also offers a premium membership package that includes a H-hour roadside assistance program with coverage extending from the continental United States to Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. To help spread the word about ROK, Kawasaki is giving a free one-year membership, including the roadside assistance package, to those who purchase a new 200S Kawasaki street bike. An additional ROK benefit for new riders is that, upon completion of a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course or Keith Code's California Superbike School, Kawasaki will give new members a $SO gift certificate redeemable toward parts, accessories, apparel and service at any Kawasaki dealership. For more information about joining ROK, consumers can visit their local Kawasaki dealer or call 877/ROK-CLUB. They can also apply for membership online at www.kawasaki.com. Hartey-Davidson Motor Company and Buell Motorcycle Company recently announced the implementation of "Operation Extend the Ride," a plan to extend warranty coverage to military personnel deployed in support of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Men and women from around the world have made great personal sacrifices to serve their countries during military efforts in the Middle East," Steve Phillips, vice president of Quality, Reliability and Technical Service, said. "Harley-Davidson and Buell want to recognize these military personnel by extending the warranty on Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycles owned by those who have served and been unable to ride while they were on duty," The program will apply to owners of Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycles who are coalition military personnel from any country deployed to an area controlled by CENTCOM, or deployed in support of coalition operations in the Middle East from November I, 200 I, and on. If their motorcycles are under warranty, Harley-Davidson and Buell will provide an extension of the factory warranty for the number of days they were deployed to account for the balance of the remaining warranty period. If the warranty on any of their Harley-Davidson or Buell motorcycles Continued on page 9 CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 19,2005 7