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/731940
IN THE WIND P36 DESTRY ABBOTT BACK AT THE TRACK D estry Abbott, the five-time AMA Hare & Hound Cham- pion, multi-time ISDE gold medal winner and racing legend, was di- agnosed with leukemia in May of this year and immediately started chemotherapy sessions. The 44-year-old is attacking it with the same toughness he has displayed during his long racing career. Abbott just completed his fourth round of chemotherapy at a clinic in Houston a month ago when more horrible news came. Charlotte, his wife of 25 years, was diagnosed with breast cancer and she too has started chemotherapy. The couple is well known in the motorcycling community for their own generosity and willingness to help fellow riders. Destry and Charlotte started the DA8 Training facility a couple of years ago and that is their sole income, which has been seri- ously compromised now that both of them are forced to focus on their battles with cancer in addition to their staggering medical expenses. On a positive note, both Destry and Charlotte were able to attend the AMA EnduroCross that was held near their home in the Phoenix Arizona area September 24. For Destry, it was the first time at a motor- cycle event since his diagnosis and he seemed to thrive on the positive vibes from the racing community. They sold over 500 tickets for a special DA8 Strong seating section and Destry got to express his appreciation to the crowd during the opening ceremonies. "I love Arizona and the motor- cycle community and we are just so overwhelmed with the love and support that we have been given," Abbott said. The proud parents and partisan crowd also got to see Cooper, the Abbotts' 19-year-old son, put in his best-ever Enduro- Cross finish with an eighth place finish in the main. The Abbotts still have a long and challenging road ahead but are fighting hard to get through it together. If you want to help, visit www.r2rfund.com/da8. To find out more about the DA8 Training facility, visit www. da8training.com. CN EBR COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD. AGAIN. E BR Motorcycles is planning on relaunching its product line for 2017 to include a new "Quick, Dark and Low" motorcycle—presumably a cruiser— along with new machines in the sub-$10K range that target bikes like the Yamaha FZ-09 for 2018. New EBR owner Bill Melvin, who purchased the EBR brand in January this year, took to the com- pany's Facebook page to announce the details of his grand plan. "It has been an amazing summer since the new EBR was launched," he began. "You can imagine the challenges restructuring the new company, but we have made really nice progress building our base for 2017 to launch this week. Our dealers have had nice success selling bikes this summer and we have many new ones coming on. Our quality is continuously improving, our supplier relationships established, and now we are looking towards the future. This fall we have something 'Quick, Dark, and Low' in the works that should be exciting for urban street riders, and we are making real progress on expanding the range of models of the 1190 platform, as well as developing and delivering accessories that our EBR riders want. There is a bright future for EBR, and as part of that work is proceeding on a sub-$10K platform for 2018." EBR says the 2017 models will hit dealers this week, and the company will attend the International Motorcycle Shows in Long Beach, New York, Dallas and Chicago this year to spread the word on EBR's latest revival. CN