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/128636
o 8 Q @® [b® fiJ@v c!J@(f(f~® Continued from page 3 to delete the offending segment from the commercial or pull the ad off the air . r» The AMA is urgi ng motorcyclists, espe<:» cially Virginia vot er s, to contact t he V irginia De mocratic Coordinated C ampaign I , and Robb' s campaign to let them know that this fear-mongering campaign tact ic will backfire on ele ction day , November 7 , and to urge them to take the ad off the air. You can call the Robb Fo r Senate campaign at 703 / 960-7622. The V ir9inia De mocratic Coordinated Campaign can be reached at 703 / 960-7500. You c an also send letters to: Kendra -Sue D erby , V irginia D emocrat ic C oo rdinated Campaig n D irector, 5834 A North King 's Hig hway, A lexandria, VA 2230 3 or send he r a fax at 7031 960-7300 . While there was abundance of talent co mpe ti ng for the $300,000 THO U.S. Open purse on October 14-15, the event' s defending cham pio n was watching the actio n from the THO party platform at the Grand Garden Ar ena's North Concourse. But in tha t same spot the night befor e the first race, Je ff Emi g was the one under the spotli ght, as he t hrew a part y to officially anno unce his n o c o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o reti rement. Aft er being fired from Kawasaki's factory race team near the end of last season for his arrest on a drug -relat ed offence, Em ig show ed up at the 1999 U.S. Open on a Yamaha backed by a team he had thrown together at the last m inute with the help of Tony Strangio. Tim Dixo n and Th eEdgeSports.com . His subsequent overall win was a thi ng of pure drama. "The race last year, after all that shit happened, was like destiny," Em ig said. "We built the bik e in the garag e and cam e out and won the world 's richest race." Of course the elation of that win was followed by the demo ralization of suffering two broken wrists in a crash as he prepared for the 2000 AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series, and then of break ing his leg and incurring a serious back injury as he prepared for the out door series. Those dramatic events were an exaggerated example of In la s t w e e k ' s p res ide nt ia l d e b a t e, R ep u b l ic a n ca nd ida te G eor g e W . B u s h vowed to wo rk c o ll ab o rat ive ly with lo cal officia ls and reside nts when making environmental de cision s, according to the AMA. Bush made the promise i n drawing a con trast between h i s approach and Preside nt Cl int on ' s road less land s initiative t hat cou ld shu t off recreational access to millions of acres o f public lan d . D uring the seco nd televi sed debate be tween Bush and D emoc rat ic V ic e Pre s id e nt A I G o re , hel d in W i n s t o n -S a le m , N o rt h C a ro l i na , o n Oc tober 11, Bush said his commitm ent to w o rk w ith local off ic ials and resident s i s on e o f th e sharpes t d iff e r e n c e s between the two c andidates on enviro nmental issu es . Bus h no ted tha t the C linton road less lands initiative, w hich cou ld e nd u p cl o s ing more t ha n 40 m i ll io n acres o f nati o nal fo rest land to all kinds o f recreation inclu d ing motorcyc ling , fish ing, bicycling and even hiking , was proposed and de ve loped " w it ho ut consui t ing local officials.' 'That's not the way I w o uld hav e do ne it. " B ush said. " Perhaps so me of that land needs to be set asid e . But I ce rtainly would have c o nsult ed w ith governors and elected officials before I wou ld have acted unilaterally.· The A MA has bee n sharply critical of the roadless lands init iative since it was first announced in Oc tober of last the swings between hig h and low that have ma rked Emig's entire career. Th e party , which Emig paid for himse lf, was primarily an oppo rtunity for him to thank those who have helped i him through out his career. Choking back tears Ii! as he spoke from a stage that was decorated '" with his championship-win ning Yama ha YZI 25 ~ and Kawasaki KX250 , and his U.S. Open-wintii n in g YZ250 , E m i g t hanked h i s fam il y , h is >- a a motocross racer." year, du bb ing i t ' Wi ld e rn e s s Lite " because of its p o t e nt ia l to i m p o s e Wilderness -like res trict ions through administrative action rather than a co ngressional d e b at e and vote . " I d o n 't believe in c o mmand and control out of Washing ton, D .C .. • B u sh re s po nd e d when asked by moderator Jim Le hrer what distinguish es him from G o re o n environmental issue s. "I believe W ashing ton o ugh t t o se t s ta ndards, bu t. again, I th ink we ought to be co llabo rati ve at the local levels, and I thin k we and runn ing whil e developing its own range of four-cylinder engines. And if current eff o rt s to relaunch t he company are suc cessfu l. Bologna 2000 may perhaps also mark the debut of Bim ota's new Drak o 900 naked roadster - and of Italjet's prototype thr ee-wheeler alternative to the BMW C 1 and its like . • More Euro Shows In the wake of Munich's recent Interm ot Show (featured in our last two issues), attenti on is already being focused on the two remain ing European bike exhibi tions. Britain's NEC Show at Birmingham in November, and the Bologna Motor Show opening in Italy on Decem ber 5, Birm ingham isn't lik ely to show us anyth ing significa nt that wasn't already at Intermot - but Bologna is another matt er , with Aprilia's eagerly-awaited 250cc " scooterone" (big scoooter) sure to debut, alongside the lim ite d edition RSV Mille 1000SP Superbik e with short- strok e engine which will be necessary to hom ologate all the changes introduced on the stock Mille at Munich - especi ally the aerody nam ic ones. Yamaha's wholly -owned Italian subdivi sion, Belgarda, will launch the XVSI100 DragStar·deriv ed street-rod it builds in-house for Europe. j ust as it did with the SZR660 single five years ago, while Triumph will debut the co m pletely redesign ed version of its 955i Dayt ona . reveal ed in th is column last month. But m ost attention is going to be focused on the rebirth at Bologna of Gilera, last of Ita ly' s famo us trophy marques to be born again during the current boom in world biking. using Suzuki motors at first to get up 8 c fj o J r> mech an ics , his te am managers . his spo nso rs, ~ his teammates, the press, his friends and girl friend, and mana ger Dave Stephenson. ~ "I'm a gratefu l champion and a grateful person. and I really appreciate all of you." he said. Fox. Shift , DC Shoes, Alpinestar s and NSty le all pitched in to buy Emi g a shiny Rolex watch . and SFX present ed him with a plaque. Davey Coombs. of Racer X and ESPN, presented Em ig with the jerseys he wore in last year's U.S. Open victory , and spoke of seeing Em ig cry upon losi ng th e 199 4 MX des Nati on s in Roggenb urg, Switzerl and , ending t he 13 -y ear U.5 . win streak. " He becam e my hero at that mom ent." Coom bs said, "Because in defeat. he was a greater cham pi on tha n I have ever seen." Emi g, a one-time Supercross Cham pion , three-time Nationa l MX Champion and six- time MX des Nations team member, will now concentrate on running his TheEdgeSports .com race team . "People ask , 'Are you going to go race ca rs?" he said. "I' m lik e, 'Hell no, I'm Expect once -strong Gilera to make a return at t he upcoming Bologna Motor Show . Chris Jonnum oug ht to work with peo ple at the lo cal levels , - Bu sh said . Team Kawa saki' s Doug Chandler and Eric Bost rom are t he sched ul e d gues ts fo r Spo rt bike N ight at In C ahoots in S ac ramento . C a liforn ia, on Monday, O c tober 23 f ro m 7 to 9 :30 . Fo r more informatio n, call 916/373 - 155 7. Ro ad ra c in g mecha nic K irk Kiyota died o n S aturday , S ep te mber 30 fro m an ap parent heart attack. At the ti me of his d eat h , K iy o ta had b een re t urnin g from a 10 -m ile hike, d e sc end ing on a trail aft er viewing a volcano in Hawa ii. Kirk is su rvived by his parents , Ji m and Fran, his brother, Keith , and sis ter, Ga il. Servi ce s fo r Kiyota were he ld o n M onday, O c t o be r 9 in Boul d e r C o lo rad o. Many o f the Kiyota family's friends from t he motorcycle community were in attendance. He had been involved with motorcycles since th e 1970s with the Kiyota fa mily ow ning and ope rating a Yama ha dealershi p in Brighto n, Colo rado . It was t he re that K irk and his brothe r Ke ith started K&K Racing , w ith Kei th successfully competing in AMA 250 G P cornpe tition for several years with Kirk turning the wrenche s. The second annual T o b y J o r g ens en M emorial 100cc TT Nationa l w ill be he ld on Saturday , Oc to be r 21 at the Lod i C ycl e Bow l in Lodi, California, with practice set to begin at 3 p .m. For more information , call 209/601-2059. eN 18.3% Grant Lang ston 1 1.3% 10. 3 % 8.0% cyclenews.com reader poll question of the week 5.Q% Greg Albertyn 3.1 % 2.9% Who will be top American at th Yves Demaria rian [i ~a~rr~a'~:---'~ • Fred Hoess _ A. Destry Abbott D. Randy Hawkins c • e n e vv s 0.7% D.Q%