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HARLEY LIVIN’ LARGE

Escalating sales have prompted Harley-Davidson to expand its Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, productdevelopment center, affectionately known as “Willie World.” More than 140,000 square feet will be added to the current 218,000 square-foot facility, which is only four years old. A 75,000-square-foot office building for engineering and product development and a 65,000-square-foot expansion of the existing test lab are also planned. In York, Pennsylvania, plans for a new 332,000-square-foot manufacturing plant are also underway.

FAST FREDDIE FOREVER

Three-time world champion Freddie Spencer, whose professional roadracing career spanned nearly two decades, was inducted into The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame in Novi, Michigan, this past June. The museum currently enshrines 93 “Heroes of Horsepower” in nine categories. Inductees are selected annually based on their desire to win, mastery of their field and courage to innovate.

SUIT SETTLED

The AMA has agreed to pay former roadrace manager Roger Edmondson $3 million in an out-of-court settlement, ending the parties’ six-yearlong legal battle. “Our efforts to settle this matter when it first arose were unsuccessful and resulted in the lawsuit,” said Rick Gray, chairman of the AMA board of trustees. “The amount we have offered in settlement, though large, is substantially less than that which was originally awarded, when interest, counsel fees and the portion of the judgement affirmed on appeal are factored in.”

I JUST SLIPPED, REALLY...

After five years in the making, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 became law this past May. The final version provides that an employer cannot refuse an employee medical coverage based on his or her participation in activities such as motorcycling, horseback riding, skiing and snowmobiling. Benefits may, however, be denied for injuries sustained in connection with those activities. Watch your step, folks...

VINTAGE MX

Bowled over by Bultacos? Find Sachs sexy? Then read all about ’em in I/MX, an Australian quarterly dedicated to vintage motocross.

Now available in the U.S., the all-

color publication counts ex-MXers Brad Lackey and Jeff Smith among its contributors. For a subscription, go to www.vmxmag.com, or send $48 to Too-Due LLC, 8882 Timberchase Ct„ Westchester, OH 45069; 513/942-4019.

DEATHS IN THE FAMILY

Bill Spencer, a San Francisco-area icon known for his high-spirited race announcing, has died. Lauded for helping champion racers Chris Carr, Jimmy Filice and Doug Chandler, among others, get their start, Spencer, who worked in photo reconnaissance while in the Air Force, was 59 years old. Also, Bruno Cavalieri Ducati, who founded Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati with brothers Adriano and Marcello, has died at age 96. Cavalieri designed the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale, even laying the first stone in 1935. His memoir, Storia della Ducati, was published in 1991.