Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ken Maely's ranch in Corona, CA. Mike Bast will be the in structor, and the action w ill take place on a new ly -resurfaced track w it h lo ts of decomposed granit e. For reservat ions to the school, call 7 14 / 7 3 5 -0 54 0 . T h ree public workshops will be held to review a nd comment on work co n d ucted on th e Ca lifornia Statewide Off-Hig hway Vehicle Trails P la n by the Departmen tof Parks and Recreation and ED AW, In c. The first meeting will be July 22 at the Sen ior Ci tizens Bu ild in g , 915 27t h St. in Sacramen to . T he seco nd is July 23 at th e Friendsh ip Auditoriu m , 3201 R iverside Dr. in Los An geles, and the th ird m eeting is J u ly 24 in San Diego at the Recital H all , Pa lisades Bu ilding, in Balboa Park. All meetings beg in at 7:30 p. m. Specific topics to be discussed incl ude th e existing tra ils inven tory , results of user surveys, a nd con clu sions of the needs an alysis for tra ils and h ow th ese will be used in developing th e p lan. CRC's Amateur Supercross, set for July 18 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , p ic ked up additional suppo rt re cent ly. In addition to JT Rac ing and Miller High Life, Ext ru de Ho ne, Skoa l Smokeless Tobacco , N O Spark Plugs and Ceet Raci ng Products will be providing over $350 0 in contingencies to Sportsm an w inners. In addition to the $1500 Pro purse, Skoal will provide an additional $50 to each Pro class m aking the longest jump. Rem ember, riders must qualify to enter this event. The last qualifiers are Friday night, J uly 9 , at In dian D unes and Sunday, J uly 1 1 at Saddleback Park. Call CR C for more info at 213/830-7 5 1 9 . If you 're wo nder ing wha t to do after wa tching practice and the Superbike race July 10 at Laguna Seca , Papa suggests wanderin g over to th e Mon terey County Fairgrou n ds w h ere District 36 short trackers will be performin g in a dou ble-h eader. T h ere'll be a special Black Plate race plus a sem i-pro sh ow, including m in is a nd three-wh eelers. Overnight cam ping at Laguna Seca will be $8 per night . We were sadden ed to lea rn of th e recent death of Dud ley Bra ttin, owner of Brittin Mo tors in San Diego an d a lon g time fr iend of moto rcycl in g. When Gary Nixon was racin g arou nd the Midwest, he used to hang ou t at Bra ttin 's shop back there. G odspe ed , Dud. Fred Marik, f ormerly with Bell Helmets, was recent ly named president of Int ernational Helmet Corporation. The Gardena, CA, firm markets several lines of helmets for va ri ous uses, including the Premier bicycle/mot orcycle brand. . The BLM has issued an enviro n men tal assessment for the Oct. 9 J oh nson Valley to Parker Check Chase. The course is the same as las t yea r's, exce pt for three minor cha n ges. For inform ation o n this, or to comment (deadlin e July 30), contact th e BLM 's Needles ' Reso urce Area , P.O . Box 305, Needles, CA 92363,714/ 326-3896. American Lance King, still mending from a broken collarbone, won two races and was second tiwce for third overall at t he Under 2 1 speedway sem i-f inals July 4 in Germany. The top eight qual~fied for the final• . Former National MX regular Arlo Engl und took his knobby-shod YZ490 to the O pen Expert class win at the annual P ikes Peak hillclimb, held July 4 in Colorado . Englund set fast time of the day, 13 minutes and 19.28 seconds, to best the Open Expert. runner-up , d efend in g champion Brian Anderson. Ch uck Lee made it a sweep for Colorado riders by winning the 250cc Expert class on a Kawasaki dirt tracker. T he race was marred by tra gedy when Bill Gross , a 21-year-old Colo rado Springs rider, was killed in a crash while competing in the 250cc Expert class. Results f rom last w eek 's National t rials eve nt at Donne r Lake should have listed Mike Griffitts in fifth . Griffitts, who rode an SW M , was competing in his f irst Natio nal round in five years. Texans Da n ny Storbeck and Darr en R hot en were th e big wi nners in the July 3-4 G NC Good T imes Na tio na l at the Lake Wh itney Cycle Ra nch in Whitney, TX. Sto rb eck took his Yama ha to vic tory in th e Mini Stock, Mini Senior a nd Mini !05cc Open classes. Eddie Vreeland and Billy Whitley took tu rns in the runner-up slot on Kawasakis. J eff Em ig and Cody Marek were the fast guys in Mini J uni or. In the motorcycle classes, R hoten (Yam) earned the nickname " T h e Animal" by winning five o f six Expert mOlOS and the 125 and 250cc titles in the crushing heat and humidity. Dennis H aw th orn e took the O pen Expert class on a new Husky 500 and put his 250 Husky into third in the 250cc class. With $250 up for grabs for each moto wi n racin g was tig ht. Rho ten too k home $1,250 for hi s day. Co m p lete coverage next week . (Above) California's Vance Breese (H-D) competed at the annual Isle of Man Classic TT. (Below left) Dave Roper ran his Aerrnacchi in the 10M 350cc race. (Below right) Phil Read. HosPITal STO P: Las Vegas desert racer/motocrosser J eff Harper is out of action for awhile f oll ow ing knee surgery. Cheer him up with a card or letter to 622 Sunny Place, Las Vegas, NV 89109. Miller High Li fe will be awarding cash prizes and trophies to three lucky individ u als a t the end of th e year. The first will be a Roo kie of the Year , voted on by the press; the second is the Mechanic of th e Year , voted on by riders a n d mechanics; and th e third ' is the Rider of th e Year, vote d on in combination with Motocross A ction magazine. -Ba llo ts will be handed out at the L.A . Coliseum on July 17 and the awards themselves handed out at the season-ender in San Diego Nov. 6. A toast (with th e champagne of bo ttl ed beers) to the folks at Miller. (Below left) American Dave Elford competed on a Honda (Below right) Classic TT winner Dennis Ireland. Alan Cathcart photos. Robert W eh m an, p resi d ent of Spectro Oils, announced several appoi ntment s to the company's sales an d market ing staff. Ken Ci ochi w as named New England sales m anager, Jack Merc er w as appointed to the previously un f ulfilled position of intemationalsales manager, and George Pet et in is the new director of marketing. Papa ha d heard so me rumors th a t Can-Am had clos ed down its motorcycle line, bu t Ca n -Am ho ncho Jeff Smith called to say that, "We are very much alive. We have closed our Canadian test a rea beca use we realized it was too m uc h of a handicap to do development in an area that h ad sn ow so much of the year." All majo r development is now done in Aus tria near the si te where R o ta x engines are manufactured. That area has only a few wee ks of sn ow each year. To help add strength to his cl aim , Smith announced four new CanAm models for 1983. All f our will hav~ ri~i~g.ra~~; ,~i~$I~~ ~~~~ ~~r i • suspensions. The top of the Ih.e will be an all-out motocross Sonic with the single shock rear suspension, more horsepower and a claimed dry weight of 240 pounds' While the Sonic (four-stroke) has been on a diet the 125 and 250cc MXers have gone on a liquid diet - both will be water-cooled. Speaking of shockers, there will also be a 486cc two-stroke that is more than a rehash of the old 400. A bigger bore, longer stroke and new cases are the major changes. All four bikes will have Ohlins in the rear and 40mm Marzocchis in the front with aluminum sliders that are said to reduce stiction. Also new will be the color: CanAms will now be delivered in a red and white color combo. Smith also .hint ed at twC? ~I;' !:J!~~. ~a,chin.s. A few weeks ago we me ntion ed that there was a dea l in the works be tween Honda and Montesa. Accordin g to Cosmopolitan Motors, the U .S. Mo ntesa im porter, the dea l will work like this: " Moritesa will build, under li cense, small displacement motorcycle for the Span ish do mestic market. Montesa will also market large displacement H ondas in Spain through th e esta blished Montesa dealer networ k. In addit ion , Montesa will produce trials motorcycles for distribution through European H onda dealer s. This agreem ent is no t a me rger, but an i n d u strial a nd marke ting agreement with bo th H onda a nd Montesa retaining strong and separa te identities. Montesa is currently ' developing a 'P ro -L in k' type 250cc motocross bike for th e 1983 season~" . .. ~ . ,3

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