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/128606
o o o c Continued from page 2 has added the bicycle line to its existing Honda. Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha lines of motorcycles. Sotheby' s will auction a 1951 Triumph Thunderbird that was once owned by Steve McQueen on September 16 in its auction of motorcycles and bicycles. The Triumph has been in a private collection since 1984 when it was purchased from the actor's estate auction in Las Vegas, Nevada. o [J o o o o o o o o The second annual Jim Forington Memorial race will be held at Rocky Mountain National Speedway on August 12. and not at Motorsports Park as some have been led to believe. The VDTRA National Series will be held there. along with local amateur dirt tracks and a 600cc Pro class. For more information, call 303/762-6006. of each new helmet. The site can be found at the follOWing address: http://www.araiamericas.com. Aprilia has announced its 2000 regional racing contingency program. with the program designed to benefit regional racers who compete aboard an Aprilia RS· 250. 1I.prilia USA will post more than $70.000 that will be available in nine different regional series and will pay back to ninth place. The opening rounds of Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series, which were scheduled for April 29-30 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California. has been canceled. According to Mulder, the dates were lost because the raceway believed that there may be confticts with other races. No new dates have been scheduled. Ducati has announced record financial results for the third consecutive year. For the year, gross profit margin increased to 40.1 percent from 38.2 percent. thanks to sales of high-margin accessories and apparel. according to Ducati. Full-year earnings. before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, increased 24.3 percent to $51 million from $41 .1 million. BMW of North America has again teamed up with the Women's Motorcyclist Foundation (WMFl in an effort to raise funds for breast cancer research. With 14 2000-model BMW motorcycles as lead mounts. roughly 2000 motorcyclists will participate in the Pony Express Round-Up 2000. a national ride expected to raise $1 million for a dedicated research fund established by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Founda· tion in Dallas. Texas. Yamaha will again be the presenting sponsor of the third annual Vintage Iron World Championship at Glen· Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. California. June 24-25. Along with the regular vintage racing program. Yamaha will host the Yamaha Race of Champions, featuring the likes of Mike Bell, Rex Staten. Danny LaPorte, Bruce McDougal. Marty Moates, Brae Glover. Gary Jones, Rick Burgett and Bob Hannah. The champions will compete in three motos over the course of the two-day event. with each taking a turn on a 2000-model YZ125, 250 and 426F. The combined score of the three motos will determine the overall winner. MotorcycleUSA.com will sponsor the AMA Superbike Holeshot Award with $500 going to the 'holeshot winner at each of the 13 rounds. The award went to Mat Mladin in the opening round of the series at Daytona. GT Bicycles are now available at Chaparral Motorsports in San Bernardino. California. according to Chaparral. Chaparral Arai USA now has a 360-degree spin feature on its website where potential customers can look at a revolving display o o Harley·Davidson contributed more than $2.8 million to the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 1999, according to Harley. The money was raised through rallies. rides and other fundraisers. The company has raised more than $32 million for MDA since 1980. o o o o o E c o o o L t E:'""'="1By ALAN CATHCART • • Cagiva's Comeback Cagiva is probably best known in the States as the former owner of Ducati and the current owner of Husqvarna and MY Agusta, but it's also a respectable motorcycle-manufacturer in its own right. Tn fact, the company is riding the crest of its comeback wave. The volume-production Strada version of the MY Agusta F4 is now in full production at the company's Cassinetta plant, and it's just been joined by the welTreceived Suzuki V-twin engined Cagiva Raptor, manufacture of which began on March 7 (look for a Cycle News test soon). But that's only the beginning of the forthcoming blitz of new Suzuki-powered Cagiva models, with the TLl OOO·powered Navigator max.i-street enduro already launched at Milan 94 MARCH 29, 2000· IC U IC I e n e _ Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series lost two dates and just as quickly picked up two new ones to ensure that the regional dirt track program will remain at nine events. The canceled dates comprised the two separate rounds at Watsonville Speedway in Watsonville. California. rounds three and nine, which were scheduled to take place July 8 and October 14, respectively. "It was unfortunate that the Watsonville promoter had to transfer nine of his sprint car events, including his Gold Cup and World of Outlaws dates. to Watsonville from his other track at San Jose. which last September alongside two streetrods next up into production in April. followed by SY650-engined mini-Raptors - the ones from Jurassic Park! - due to make their debut at the Intermot Show in Munich in September. After that, so it's rumored, comes a Cagiva four-cylinder Supersport contender, built around the new fuel-injected GSX-R600 engine coming at the end of this year, with a half·faired cafe racer based on the Raptor chassis and running gear also in the pipeline, for launch at the 2001 Milan Show. Confirmation of the link between the Japanese giant and the smaller (though still high-profIle) Italian company comes with the news that Suzuki will be selling both Raptor 1000 models through their dealers in Japan the first time ever that any of the Japanese big four has done such a thing. Production at Cagiva (spread between MY, Cagiva and Husqvama) is targeted to reach 32.000 bikes in the 2000 model year. s CIlsIIwa's *. COIftlMIIr's ......... has been closed.' Romero said.• Residents near the track expressed concern over the increase of events. so not only did he have to drop some of those dates, he was also forced to drop the West Coast Flat Track Series. For 2001, he is already looking at the possibility of reinstating dates for the series. It was a business' decision that had nothing to do with our shows. which were successful and building momentum there. The good news is that we have already filled those vacancies with two new dates: California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles. California. June 3, and Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, California, June 17.' United Four Wheel Drive Associations, the nation's leading representative of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts. has compelled the Federal Govemment to sign a settlement agreement prohibiting the U.S. Forest Service from categorically crosing roads or using the term • unroaded' in establishing roadless areas for Wilderness designation.• Under the terms of the settlement agreement. the Forest Service is banned from using the Road Moratorium to close a single mile of road.' stated Carla Boucher, author of the agreement and nationally recognized attorney for UFWDA. • United obtained evidence that many. if not all, of the national forests were using the Temporary Road Moratorium to create de facto wilderness areas as part of the forest planning. This agreement prevents the creation of de facto wilderness. protecting nearly 347.000 miles of access for motorized recreationalists .• po_red AIIptor is evidence of the 1taI....