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/128608
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Compact Luxury
When it comes to automobiles, I have yet to jump on
the bigger-is-better bandwagon that has been resulting in trucks and SUVs that mimic just that - bandwagons. True, monetary concerns are part of the
reason I'm still driving a mini truck, but even now
that I'm in the market for a new ride, I'm not too
interested in driving a vehicle that could carry the
entire London Philharmonic.
We recently tested a 2000 Troy Lee Designs-edition 64000 4x4 pick-up truck by Mazda, the company that sponsors Jeremy McGrath's Chaparral/Mazda
Yamaha team. This is definitely a compact, with the
maneuverability and affordability to match (base
price is $23,640, while our unit - with an automatic
tranny, anti-lock brakes and limited-slip differential went for $25,895). But it's got some of the luxuries
of a full-size, including a leather interior with faux
carbon-fiber accents, an extra cab with dual suicidestyle rear doors. and a4.o-titer 12·valve fuel-injected
V6engine.
Ow time wiIb die Aazda ... limited to just a cou-
to..-
pled
quite extensively. One editor pulled several 125-mile
round-trip commutes in it, another carried two
motorcycles to a trail ride, and a third drove it 270
miles to Lake Havasu and back, pulling a trailer
loaded down with 2000 pou'nds worth of personal
watercraft.
The V6 engine
offers adeq uate
power, even for
the river trip, but
its revvy nature
will remind you
that you're not in
a
big
truck
(though its paltry
15 miles per galIon in the city
might make you
think you are).
Handling is solid,
and the chassis doesn't sway in turns, and a.Ithough
the ride is a tad on the stiff side, we appreciated that
cbing a brief off-road excursion. That occasion also
enabled us to try out the shift-on-the-fty four-wheel
~ "the substlantilII ground deallIiace . . . the ~
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•
o The Peugeot of Motorcycles?
cer, Mattea promises to fill the house for
the ride's closing ceremonies on July 10
in Peoria, Illinois. Registered Pony
Express riders will get a head start on
purchasing tickets, followed by the riding
community at large, with final offerings
going to the general public. For more
information, call 800/442·3550 (ex!.
6117), or check the ride's website at
www.ponyexpress2000.org.
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American Ryan Hughes, who injured
his wrist when he over-jumped a jump's
downside in Saturday practice for the
March 26 Portuguese 250cc MX GP,
had surgery to repair the broken
scaphoid, and is hoping to contest round
three on April 9 in Holland. Hughes has
only contested one of four motos this
year (he was not allowed to race the
season·opening moto, when his
After many delays caused by a c:ombiNotion of internel procb:tIon
problems at the c:ompeny'$ IssoIre bese and hitches in deIiYeries IX
components from suppJIers, manufac:ture IXV~'s Roadster 1000
V-twin AlIked bike is finally in full swing without intenuptlons, widl
12 bikes a day now leaving the factory SOUlh 01 Clermont Femmd, in
the cemr 01 France. Initially, these were III lIlmed at meeting the
backlog IX orders which has built up in the French home nllIIket.
with a second production line ~lng the half-falied Cafe
Racer due to start up this month, Bat production 01 the acclaimed
Scrambler 1000, launched at the '98 ParIs Show and the worl< 01
Boxer boss Thierry Henrieue. won't begin till the end of the year - by
which time Voxan ill expected to have appointed Importers for
A. Shae Bentley
96
APRIL t2, 2000'
B.
Jirii:.!!!!!t!!...!=.!~g.!:ll.!!!~!:.!!
cue
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high-quality. func:tiooaI ClIIiapect truck, and during
the time _ had it, . . . . eaecdy"What it . . .
mechanic failed to impound his bike on
time), which he won.
It looks as though defending 400cc
Four-Stroke World Enduro Champion
Giovanni Sala may be switching to the
250cc two· stroke class. Sala rode a
KTM 250 at the season-opening Italian National Enduro, an event that
is always a good indicator of how
BrItain and Qecmlmy, the company's first two targeted export mar·
kets, where the French bikes are expected to go on sale In 2001.
Other Europeen countries are next in 1lne, Ilrilb lhe a.S~ Japan and
AusnIia not expedIed to seethe V_ models til 2003 • but well
before thet the Fr