Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I I pon leaming thar Chris Carr had {inal- LJ ized a deal that will see him venture out of his normal dirt-track environment and onto the salt of Bonneville Speedway in northern Utah for an attempt on the outright motorcycle land-speed record in Denis N4anninS's Bub EnterpriseVDrag Specialties/Parts Unlimited motorcycle streamliner. we contacted the seven-time AMA Grand National Champion for addi- tional comment. When did you lirst start talkinS to Denis Manning about piloting his streamliner? My inrerest was piqued back in late Octobe. or early November [2005] , when Denis lYanning put out a press release, asking for people to inquire about going aftea the land-speed record in his stream- liner. So I inquired, and he called me back. As lar as you're concemed, what's the appeat o, chasing the land.speed record! The appeal for me goes back seveml years. I had talked with Kenny Tolbert many times about going to Bonnevlle to experience it and maybe to set a land- speed record on something that was dirt- track-oriented. We talked about it, but we iust put it off until, 'Hey, we're done racing. Let's go do this forfun.'But this piqued my inter€st. I remember tl\at On Any Sundoy had more of an impact on my life than just the flat-track segmenls in it, but also the se8ment with cal Rayborn 8oin8 up and down the sak and sefting a world record - and Denis built that bike - so it Soes back a long way for me. lt really does. Have you met with Manning in per- sonl Have you even sat in the machine yetl I acrually met with him at his shop in Grass Valley, California, .lanuary l0 and I l. I wa5 accompanied by Kenny Tolbert and by l'like Shaatuck, the former owner of Harley-Davidson of Sacramento. I sat in it, and we did some preliminary measure- ments and just kind of talked everything out. We asked a bunch of questions and met allthe people who have had a hand in building this particular machine. We talked to the whole crew This isnt lust a one- or two-guy eflort. This is a whole group of people who put a lot of time and effort into this particular motorcycle. ln the end, I liked what I saw. I like the people who are involved in this proiect, and I like to believe that we have a really good chance at makingsome history That's what Denis wants, and I wouldn't do this just for the thrill of going 300 mph- I want to set a world record. I went to win. While the fatrlity rate in land-speed racing has been low, therc are no guar.ntees at 300 mph. Some people think that l'm nuts for aftempting this, but after lookint at the bike and looking back at what I put myself through on a weekly basis, lsee no reason why thir is any more dangerous than what I'm currently doing on a weekly basis. lf anything, it might be a bit safer, ro be per- fectly hones( with you. I don't think that l'm putting myself or my farnily at any Sreater risk level than I normally do. I'm looking forward to it. What do you think it will feel like toint that fast? I have no idea. I know what it s like tucked in and coming out ofa double dnft on a mile, but l've never been encapsulat- ed in a vehicle and gone triple or quadru- ple, or whatever, of the speed limit. l'm Chris Cort certainly intritued by what it's going to feel like going over 30O mph. I cenainly want to know what it feels like doing 330 mph lthe current record is 322.150 mph]. I wouldn'[ be doing this if I thouSht that we couldn't come ou( ofthis with the record. HaYe you had the ahance to see th€ moYie The World" FotLtt lndlon, about the lile oI land-speed raccr Burt l'lunro, yet? I saw it after agreeing to do this. lt was a Sreat movie. lt's tn ly an inspirational story and I have a whole different appre- ciation for people who do this. No pun intended, but they're the salt of the eanh. They're a liftle dillerent, bu( in a lot of ways they're a lot like flat lrackers. They're doing somethingthat they love to do, not for getting rich or whatnot, but to put their name next to a speed that says the),,'re faster than anybodyelse. I hope to experience that. Scott Rourseou t I 1t I ,; a ) I tr :rI '4 JG rq : Garr For Speed Record Attempt Briefly... Defending Champion Russ€ll Pearson kicked off the AMA,/FMF Racing NationalHare & Hound Series with aseemintly elfortless win atthe J9th annual Winter Classic, the Walt Baehr Memorial, put on by the Desert Motorcycle Club near Lucerne Valley, California. After following Honda racers Mike Childress and Steve Hengweld to the bomb, Pearson quickly found better lines and motored by both of them within a few miles. From there, he simply stretched out his lead, despite one crash on his Montclair Yamaha/Zp-Ty Racing/Moose-spon- sored YZ450E winnint by a couple of minutes over former champ Destry Abbot, who rode his Team Green/Pro CircuidThor-backed KX450F in a National for the lirct time. Ty Davis, another former champ and Pearson's leammate, took third, "lt's nice to b in lthe season] like that," Pearson said. "Do your homework, get your bike working 8ood, and it comes together. "The second loop, they got us in some gnarlystufl" he added. "ltwas like an enduro. lt was definitely National-caliber" Childress ended up fourth on his Berkeley HondrPrecision Concepts/O'Neal XR650R. Precision Concepts/RenthayMsR CRF450X- mounted Hengeveld passed KTM's Matt Gosnell almost within sight of the finish for fifth, with Gosnell tr),ing to retaliate and stuff his way back past as they climbed up a rock section. Unfonunately for Gosnell, there wasn't enough room, and he had to settle for sixth. Mork Koriyo Stewart Gets Mattel Deal Kawasaki's .James Stewan and Mattel announced last week that they've siSned a m'rlti/ear deal for Mattel to produce and distribute toys based on Stewart's likeness. Stewart and his siSnature Kawasaki KX450F cycle will be featured in the Hot Whe€ls Moto X line in 2006 as part of the Hot Wheels I : l8 l,1oto X Assortrnent, which will be available soon, and the Hot Wheels Moto Kick-Start Assortment, which is slated to be released this summen "Mattel is the biggest toy company in the world. and I am proud to be associated with such a powerful brand as HotWheels." said Stewan in a Mattel release. 'lames Stewan's skill on a motorcycle is undeni- able," said DouS WadleiSh, vice president, Mattel Hot Wheels. "His personality and ability to transcend the sport in mainstream media were as compellint to us as his ra.ing accomplish- ments, and we look fol.- ward to a very successful partnership." Continucd fuom poge 9 senior director of AI'4A Spons, will contin- ue to be responsible lor leading the AMA Spor$ stafi, which mana8es firor€ than 4000 AMA-sanctioned Afnateui Pro-Am, ATV and Youth competition events each year. "Douglas is a valuable asset to the AMA. and we're pleased to recognize his leadership with this promolion," said Parfl- cia DiPietro, the AMAS chief executive offi- cer. "We look forward to AMA Spons' con- tinued 8rowtfi under his direction." Harl€y-Davidson Inc. announced record revenue and earnin8s for its fourth quarter and year ended December 3 I , 2005. Rev- enue for the quarter was $1.14 billion, com- pored with $ 1.22 billion in the year-ago quane( a 9.9-peraent increase, according to Harley. Net income for the quarter was $230.0 million, compared to $209.0 million, an increase of 10. I percent over 20O4. Fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share (EPS) were 84 cens, an |8.3-percert increase compared with last year's 7l cents, Revenue for the fullyear wEs $5.34 billion, compared whh $5.02 billion in 2004, a 6.5- percent increase. Net income for the year was $959.6 million, a 7.8-percent increase vs, last year's $889.8 million. while diluted EPS for the full year were $3.41 , a 13.7-per- cent increase compared with $3.00 in 2004. "Today, Harley-Davidson is celebrating an excitinS milestone of 20 consecutive yea6 of record revenue, earnings and retail motorcycle sales," said Jim Ziemer, chief execulive ollicer. 'iAs we refle(( on our per- formance in 2005, we had many accom- plishments. We shipped 329,000 motorcy- cles, which is a L7-percent increase over the previolrs year. Worldwide retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorq,cles increased 5.2 percent durint 2005. Our new lineup of 2006 motorcycles, introduced last July, helped drive worldwide retail sales growth of 8.3 percent in the se.ond half of the year. During 2005, our international motorcycle sales Erew significantly and motorcycle sales to wornen continued to increase, demon- stmtin8 that our strategies in these areas are beginning to take hold. We believe the prospects for retail growth remain strong and suppon a wholesale unit growth rate in the range of 5 to 9 percent annually and an annual EPS growth rate of I I to 17 percent. Our Harley-Davidson motorcycle shipment Erget for 2006 remains in the range of 348,000 to 352,000 units, with planned wholesale shipments of 79,000 motorcycles durint the first quarter." The Al'4A reports that President GeorSe \,'{ Bush intends to nominate Nicole R. Naron of MEinia to be administrator of the Nation- al Highway Trafiic Safety Adminastration (NHTSA) at the Department of Tranipona- tion. "When Ms. Nason assumes her pos! as NHTS.ts ne)c Administ6toi *Ie AMA fill ask to meet with her as soon as possible," said AI,4A presidert Roben Rasor "ln addi- tion to v/ekoming her, ar the leadin8 voice for American motorq/clists, we intend to help her become acquanted wth the issues that are imponaflt to the AMAs 260,000 members and all motorcyclists." Among the most important of those issues, according to the AMA, is the concem of increasinS Contini.,ed on poge 13 Pearson Tops Nationa! H&H Opener o o r ,d CYCLE NEWS . FEBRUARY I, 2006 T T

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