Roundup

ROUNDUP

UP To five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, for telling it like it was. During a recent interview with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” the native Californian told reporter John Frankel that his “greatest Christmas present ever” was the motorcycle he received when he was just 4 years old. “That was heaven right there,” recalled Johnson. “I figured out how to ride that motorcycle before I did a bicycle—without training wheels. My family would camp out in the desert in California or Arizona with other families or we’d be at the local racetrack riding motorcycles. “Most kids were searching for what they wanted to do and be. It was crystal-clear to me that I wanted to race. It’s what I wanted to do. I was dead-set on it.”

P To Washington State, for passing SB 5800. This new law authorizes the use of motorcycles labeled as “for off-highway use only” on public roads if said machines meet certain standards. The bike must conform with all applicable federal and state motor-vehicle safety standards, have a current off-road vehicle (ORV) permit and the operator must have a valid motorcycle endorsement on his or her driver’s license. Also, the motorcycle must be equipped with the following items: headlight, tail lamp, stop lamp, reflectors, brakes, right and left mirrors, horn, turnsignals and “adequate” front and rear fenders. should check with the State Department of Licensing (www.dol.wa.gov) or state patrol for more information on regulations.

I |JTo Chip Yates and his SWIGZ.com Pro Electric Superbike, for setting, what he believes, is a record for the world’s fastest electric motorcycle. Last April, Yates attended the Mojave Mile Shootout in the high California desert, which measures both motorcycles and cars in a standing-start mile. Yates and his 240-horsepower home-built racer recorded a 190.6-mph pass in the M1 class, finishing fourth out of 14 entries. It was the first time an electric motorcycle had competed in the event

nn\A/MT°critics oithe Red Bui1 LJ VV IMteam, for questioning the legality of Mike Alessi and Andrew Short’s 350 SX-F race machines. Rumors circulated in the AMA Supercross and motocross paddocks that the 350cc machines, despite already giving up 10Occ to the competition, actually displaced nearer to 400cc. Rumors were fueled by the holeshots Alessi had been grabbing at SX events. At the Dallas, Texas, round, Alessi’s bike was randomly selected for a tear-down inspection and found to meet regulations that stipulate that bore and stroke must remain the same as the homologated model. “The AMA inspection of Alessi’s KTM 350 SX-F and its subsequent clearance as a completely legal, appropriately bored 350cc machine proves that Alessi has been scoring his holeshots on his and the bike’s merits,” said KTM’s head of racing, Pit Beirer.