Etc.
etc.
MOTORCYCLING GOES COUNTRY
The motorcycle industry has arrived. Not only did the Motorcycle Industry Council announce that overall sales are up by 25 percent for the first six months of ’99, but the MIC sponsored the nationwide tour of country crooner Lyle Lovett and his Large Band. (The effort was underwritten by Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki.) An avid motorcyclist, Lovett rides off-road and on, and has become quite the motorcycling media darling. And he plays guitar pretty good, too...
ROLLING ART
Asked by Aprilia to design the next generation of two-wheelers, students at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, recently spent 14 weeks research-
ing and designing machines displacing 500-1 OOOcc. The results included a sporty retro scooter (with optional sidecar) that offers “the simplicity of a scooter with the torque of a motorcycle;” a threewheeled sportbike with its front wheels driven by elliptical belts; and a sophisticated super-scooter with a built-in telephone, personal digital assistant, windshield instru-
mentation display, GPS and antitheft device. Gianfranco Frison, Aprilia’s Design Center manager, helped guide the students. “Our goal was to open the students’ minds and explore unconventional ideas and solutions,” he explained. “Many of these concepts represent the thinking of young designers who will lead the industry forward in the years ahead.”
TRIALS TIME
Attention all trials-rider wannabes, have we got a deal for you. In conjunction with Gas Gas USA, SoCal's newly formed MotoVentures is offering classes in tnals riding. For $300, riders get a choice of three clinics: Tnals Experience, relaxed riding for beginners; Trials Train ing, with more intensive instruction for beginners and intermediates; and Trials Tours, for those who already know when not to dab. For more information, con tact MotoVentures at 909/584-9560.
FAMILY TIES
Moto Morini is back in family hands. Franco Morini, nephew of company founder A~onso Morini, recently pur chased the rights to the long-silent Italian marque from The Texas Pacific Group. The buy-out was prompted by former Moto Morini Chief Engineer Franco Lam bertini, who is a consultant to Motori Franco Morini, makers of 50-125cc twostroke scooter engines for ltal jet, Malaguti and Aprilia, among others. Im mediate plans call for a four-stroke maxi scooter, and possibly a full-size machine powered by Lambertini's long-standing, sohc, 60-degree, 750cc V-Twin.
ROOF OF THE WORLD TOUR
Lotus Tours has received permission from the Chinese government to lead a motorcycle tour from Katmandu, Nepal, to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Scheduled for May 2-15 (with a return trip on May 18-31), the mostly off-road tour will cross three 16,000-foot Hi malayan passes on 1998 India Enfield 500cc Bullets. Plans include a visit to the still-active Buddhist monastery in Xigaze. Cost is $5040 per person. For more information, contact Lotus Tours at 312/951-0031.
KICKS ON 66
President Clinton has designated $10 million over 10 years toward helping to preserve historic Route 66. The fabled "Mother Road," which came to promi nence in John Steinbeck's classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, traverses eight states and 2448 miles between Chica go, Illinois, and Santa Monica, California.
