Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

eck or money order for the $4.95 ver price plus $1 for mailing and ndling (Ohio resident s add 5.5% les tax) to Trail Atlas. P.O. Bo x 41. Westerville. OH 43081 . Dea ls w ho have sold their allot m ent t he book ma y reo rder di rect ly om t he A M A . • MAl manufacturr mediation ttempts underway y Tom Mueller ew avenues of mediation are penin g up between the AMA nd the Japanese manufacturers ho pulled thei r en tries fro m the pcoming Trans-USA MX Series. After num ber of weeks of stalemated alks, both sides a re ready to recon ene meeti ngs and work towards a ompro m ise for 1983. Hopefu lly, an greement can be worked out which ill keep the factory teams in quesion competing in AMA sanctio ned ven ts. Ed Youngblood , AMA 's execu tive irector, received letters from Honda nd Suzuki on Sept. 7, concern ing. hose co m pa ny's plans for '83. We sked Youngblood if the letters co n ained an y ultimatu ms concerning the 983 AMA Grand National Cham pionhip MX program , which those Iacories oppose. " I think that is one of evera l co ncl usions you could draw rom the letters , though they do n 't xplicitly say th a t. It's stated very learly from both companies th a t hey ha ve to make some decisions ery soon," said You n gblood. " I view the letters as opening a bit of a crack for continued negotiations. These ar e two separate letters which are not worded the same, but their content is quite similar" Youngblood plans to form a ne w committee which would reopen dis cussions between the two groups. "Agreeable to all parties, I might bring in some outside people to join in the discussion. By outside, I mean outside the (AMA) staff. The group must remain small, and it must be done quickly." One positive note contained in the letters is the manufacturers' willingness to keep MX issues separate from other AMA activities. "The companies want to identify and separate . issues," said Youngblood. "Whatever becomes of motO€TOSS, the factories realize they dea l wit h many other things with the AMA (government relations issues a nd other forms of racing) and th ey'd li ke to keep a good relationship going concerning those matters." War d Robi nson ,owner and promoter of Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New York, is also trying to coordinate a meeting between the outdoor National MX promoters and the factories in question. ," There are absolutely n o talks go in g on between the manufacturers, promo ters, the AMA , the contingency sponsors and the press. What we do now means whether professional motocross survives or not. I quit throwing rocks, I'm trying to talk. " Wrangler, AMA's major sponsor for the '83 National MX and Supercross program, co ntinues to back the AMA an d, accordi n g to spokesman Bob J a nell e, will back AMA sanctioned MX in '83 whether the large manufacturers in question participate or not. Last week, we reported th a t a meeting was held between representatives for the Supercross promoters a n d H onda , who reportedly also represen ted Suzuki and Yamaha. AMA Board of Trustees member Gary Sm ith, , who represents Honda, said , " T here wa s n ever such a meeting p lanned , a nd Honda does not represent a ny other groups." Smith told us we should ha ve verified o u r re ports with H onda befor e p ubl ish ing them. We mad e fou r a ttempts to contact Mr. Kuzuka, th e h ead of H onda 's race de partment, but non e of o u r ca lls were ret urned. " All the J apanese feel th ey got a raw deal, " co ntin ued Sm ith co ncern ing th e implem enta tio n of the '83 GNC MX p rogra m. " We (Honda) are not tr ying to sh oot the AMA down; no decisions ha ve been made by Honda for '83 , a nd we' re still o pe n for negotiations." Information of the meeting in questio n was obtained through Pace Management's C.E. Alt ma n. Mike Goodwin, h ead of Stadium Motorsports, said, " T he wa y I was represented (through Altman's quotes) in th at article wa s incorrect .. .1 was asked to sit in o n some meetings as a n observer and to com ment on how reasonable th e di rection they (fac tories in question ) wa nted to take was. " Goodwin met with outdoor promoters Rob inson and Bill West and Hi-Point R acing pres id en t Larry Maiers in Los An geles, on September 10. The resu lt was a p ro posal for restructurin g th e AMA's p ro fessiona l racing d epartm e n t, w h ic h wa s express-mail ed to AMA's execu tive director Ed Youngbloo d and all other promoters. " T he cu rrent structure of the AMA ca n ' t cope wit h the chan ging needs of motocross," said G ood w in . " I'm go in g to presen t a p roposal to Ed Yo u ngbl ood aski n g for a whole new a rm o f the AMA. This is m y idea, with input fro m Rob inso n and West, who modi fied and helped concerning outdoorpromoters. I' m proposing tha t an independent board of six to eigh t people be formed , wh ich wo uld o n ly have a f isca l resp onsib il it y to th e AMA. Th e board w o u ld be weigh ted with manufactu rer reps, and also incl u de one Supercro ss promo ter, an ou tdoor p ro mo ter, one industry person, a p er son wh o is a n exp ert in market ing to control sp on sors and TV, and another p erson who is an expe rt in busin ess admin istration . The board would ha ve its own execu tive director. " O u r outdoor series is nearly dead right now, and this n ew board would help the outdoor promoters wi th their advertising programs-the manufacturers might even seed in money to pay for standard co mmercials and artwork for a ll th e events. My ideas might step on some p eople's toes , but I think we 'll see a response one way or another for '83. Supercr oss draws second only to NFL foo tball , and I th in k we could make th e entire program as big as NASCAR by th e end of th e 1980's." CMC replies to controversy In your issues of Sept. 8 and Sept. 15, some of the language attributed to me is so far fetched and so removed from the truth tha t I feel it necessary to set the record straigh to Continen t~!.)\1 0 t os p o rt (Continued to page 23) ••• Have you tho ught about moving up to KTM performance and quality? Right now is a perfect time, because you can get one of the wlnnlngest enduro motorcycles and a $300 value competi tion parts package at no extra charge. The motorcycle Is the 250WR, a proven winner with overall 1982 championships In the New England (NETRA) and Southeastern (SETRA) Trail Riders Associations, the Texas State Enduro Championship and the Rocky Mountain Enduro Championship. And, for a limited time the $300 value package Including Metzeler tires (3.00x21 and 4.50x18), front and rear sprockets, replacement brake shoes , skid plate, 520 D.I.D. chain and nylon, lined KTM Jacket, Is Included at no charge. So see your KTM dealer soon and fin d out how you can get the motorcycle you really want . . . and then some. 3

• Cover