Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Tires Fare Better At Second Miller Test Harley-Davidson's Grand Nalional dirt-rack team graced the cover of Cycle News 30 years ago.-. Defending Grand Nat- ional Champion Gary Scott r€bounded from a touSh start to the season to take the Louisville National... Kent Howerton rode a factory Husqvarna to the win at the opening round of the 500cc Motocross Nationals in Me"xico. NY takint 2-l moto fln- ishes on the day. Bob "Hurriaane" Hannah took second with 1.2 finrshes. whrle Tony Distefano's 5-4 was enough to round out the podium... Hannah headed east ro Red Bud for the second round ofthe l25cc Narionalseries, going l- I the following week to take the win in Mi(hrtan... Barry Sheene firmed his grip on the 500cc World road-racing title, taking his (hird srraight win at the ltalian GP.. Roger Decoster cruised to the Swedish 500cc World l'4X GP win, taking both moto wlns. The second AMA Superbrke test at Miller Motorspons Park in Utah was far more encouraginS than the first, accordint to Dunlop's road-race boss,.Jim Allen. Allen watched helplessly at the first test when the virgin tarmac shredded every cire within about six laps. When they returned for last weeks more inclusive tes!, Dun,op was ready, and left Utah with rhe belief $at they'd be ready for theJune l8 AMA Superbike Championship double- header "The llrst mornin8, both the front and rear looked realt bad,"Allen said. "we said, 'Here we go again.' By midday, $e rea$ had improved dramatica.lly. By midday, the com- pounds were lookint 8ood. We seem to be in Bood shape on the rears. The abrasion w;snt really a factor in the rear" Part of the reason for the early wear was that Dunlop used older tires in the morning and newer stock in the after- Allen said. "{t may also continue to improve." There's also hope that a WERA race the weekend prior to the AMA race will lay down additional rubber. But it won't be on the entire track. \ryERA doetn't use the full AMA layout. "That part's not gettint cleaned by any- body but the AI'IA.'Allen said. The data gathered at the test was transmitted back to Dunlop's headquar- ters in Birmingham. England. where race tires will be built for the race, then air- f.eiShted to Utah. "We have som€ alternative com- pounds," Allen said. "We're going to have one shot at making a better fronttire. One idea that came out of the test helps abra- sion. We're tryint to duplicate that in a number of front tires in all sizes and all classes." Henny RCf Ahro'7rt /Et! n..d+r EaF cTctf,IlEii kd i:EFlt.t 20 Year5 Ago--. June tl. tgEE took the overallwin on the day with 3- I moto finishes, while the l25cc class was topped by Keith Bowen on a Yamaha... Scoft Fdrker slid his way the to Louisville half-mile flat-track National win after a race]ong duelwith Chris Carr... Wayne Rain€y used his team Honda VFR750F to win the Brainerd round of the AMA Camel Pro Superbike Series, but it was Randy Renfrow toppint Rainey in the Formula One race that weekend... ln World Grand Prix road racing, Eddie Lawson took his Yamaha to the 500cc GP win in the third round ofthe series. ln Germany, ,tl Years Ago--- JunP 5, 1996 !JC.uil:[j Mick Doohan and leff Emig shared the cover of Cycle News l0 years ago... Doohan continued to dominate the 500cc World road-racing charn- pionship with anothe. win atthe ltalian GP Max Biaggi won the 250cc race in ltaly aboerd an Aprilia... Kawasaki's Emit stopped Honda's ,eremy Mccrath from continuint his out- door National motocross win streak at Mount Morris. Emig did so by virtue of his consittent 3-2 moto finishes, while Mccrath struSgied to go 5- l on the day for second overall. Kevin Windham continued in his winningways, tak- ing the l25cc overall at Mount Morris with 4- I moto finishes... We interviewed a young Anthony Gobert about his buddin8 road- racing career and his fast rise to the top. Benelli's MotoGP Bike? lllustrator Damon Moran was intrigued by Alan Cathcart's recent report that Benelli may be 8et- tjng into MotoGP racint in the near future. Here's Horan's look at what the bike might look like. o : I k CORRECTION: Our test of the Triumph Rocket lll Classic featured the wrong price for the cruiser. Th6 standard Rock- et lll Classic carries a susgested retail price of $ 16,299 - not $21,600, as was indicated in the stor),, HIRED: Kristin Cheatwood, as the North American distrib- utor salesperson fo. both Scott USA and Acerbis, ellective immediatel, Cheatwood most recently handled the market- ing.esponsibilities for l'4axxis Motorcycle Tires. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Heritage Harley-Davidson in Concord, New Hampshire, on June 15, from 3 to 7 p-m. Hadey-Davidson factory dirt tracker Kenny Coolbeth is sched- uled to appear. For more inforrnation, call 601n24-3268, OPENED; Rumble Import's new home paSe on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: www. rumbleimport.com. CORRECTION: Our coverage of the Missouri National Enduro (lssue # 18) incorrectly stated that Cody Mastin was riding a KTH, Mastin was, in fact, aboard a Gas Gas DE 300. ETtr. CYCLE NEWS . JUNE 7. 2006 I I 3D Years Ago.-- June t. t976 Jlcl \-\ lJ5 Ri.k lohnson and his factory Honda CR250 motocross machine was on the cover ol Cycle News 20 years ago... Johnson took the 1986 250cc National lvloto- cross title with l-J moto finishes in Denver, Colorado- lelf Ward t noon, and part was that the temp€rature increased in the aft€rnoon, The cooler track seemed to cold-tear the tires in the momin8. "Because we didn t have anythint suit- able, front or reac for the first test, the plan was to start with the old Superbike stulf," Allen said. "We used a lot ofthe old stuff the first day." Ar to why the tire life improved, Allen speculated that it was a combination of factors: motorcycles laying down rubber, a lot of car traffic, motorcycle schools. "Cenainly the rears got a lot better, but the fronts continue to be a problem," Allen said. 'Both days the tires got better, and at lhe end of second day we said, 'We could mce now-"' But lor how long? "lt may be a situation where we can Sive 14 to 15 comfortable laps and five laps where it's not so good lon the fronts]," * * Benelli ) \ a:. e I i il t l \ I Domon Moron Technicol lllustrotions 2006 -.'-

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