plus 4, Erik Buell starts motorcycle race shop - Milwaukee Business Journal

Erik Buell starts motorcycle race shop - Milwaukee Business Journal
Mexico tightens security at U.S. border crossings - Los Angeles Times
Keith Code's California Superbike School Switching To BMW For 2010 - RoadracingWorld.com
Auto Racing Star Jeremy Mayfield & Wife Shana to Sell Real Estate ... - Biloxi Sun Herald
HRC Bosses Race Mini-Bikes at Motegi - Motorcycle USA

Erik Buell starts motorcycle race shop - Milwaukee Business Journal

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 11:54 AM PST

Erik Buell has left Harley-Davidson Inc. following the company's recent decision to shut down Buell Motorcycle Co. in East Troy, the company he founded.

Buell has established an independent motorcycle race shop, Erik Buell Racing.

The new company will specialize in the supply of race-use-only Buell motorcycle parts and race preparation services for engines and motorcycles, and the manufacturing and sale of Buell 1125R-based race-use-only motorcycles under license from Harley-Davidson, as well as providing technical support to racers of Buell motorcycles.

"I'm looking forward to helping Buell racers keep their bikes flying," Buell said. "We've got some exciting race development projects in the works and it will mean a lot to me personally to see Buell racers competing for wins and championships in the 2010 season and beyond."

Buell Motorcycle Co. had operated as a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson. In October, Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) announced that it would discontinue its Buell line of performance motorcycles and shut down the East Troy factory, resulting in the loss of about 180 jobs.

Harley-Davidson management previously said it would continue to sell the remaining inventory of Buell motorcycles through authorized dealers, and warranty coverage as well as parts and service will continue to be offered through the dealerships.

"I'm pleased that Harley-Davidson is assisting Erik in establishing this business to continue supporting the racing efforts he has had so much passion for over the years," said Buell president and chief operating officer Jon Flickinger. "Harley-Davidson and the Buell Motorcycle Co. will always be proud of their affiliation with Erik and we wish him well in this new endeavor to support Buell racers."

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Mexico tightens security at U.S. border crossings - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 10:46 PM PST

Reporting from Tijuana - Driving into Mexico has been a largely hassle-free experience for decades: There were few customs inspectors, even fewer gates, and for most border crossers, no questions asked.

That's about to change.

The Mexican government is modernizing its ports of entry along the border, including its biggest crossing in Tijuana. The new infrastructure -- which includes gates, cameras and vehicle scales -- is meant to help curtail the flow of drug money and weapons to Mexican organized crime groups.

But bolstered security means more border-crossing logjams, and business and trade groups fear that the new measures will deal another blow to a fragile regional economy.

The System of Supervision and Vehicular Control is still in the testing phase ahead of its scheduled January rollout, but traffic jams already occur regularly at peak crossing times in late afternoon. Cross-border trips from San Diego that once took five minutes can take an hour or more.

Baja California Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan, fearing more damage to the collapsing tourism industry if increased wait times discourage Southern Californians from venturing south, has lobbied federal authorities to scale back the inspection process.

But President Felipe Calderon, under pressure to show progress in his nearly three-year offensive against drug cartels, declined, saying the measures are a necessary sacrifice. Since 2008, more than 1,000 people have been slainin Tijuana, many of them with guns believed to have been obtained in the U.S.

"We want security," Calderon said on a recent trip to Tijuana. "This requires sacrifice and measures that permit us to stop the trafficking of weapons, drugs, drug money and criminals across this border."

Intercepting the flow of contraband has always caused a headache for northbound travelers. Motorists in Tijuana sit in a sea of traffic waiting to be inspected by U.S. agents who run through a battery of checks, including license, passport and, in some cases, criminal background reviews.

Tijuana customs inspectors in the past conducted random checks and focused on people trying to avoid paying duties on shipments of secondhand clothing, or traffickers bringing hard-to-find drugs, such as Ecstasy, into Mexico. They also found the occasional rooster being smuggled onto the Tijuana cockfighting circuit.

Mexico's new process doesn't approach the sophistication and strictness of U.S. inspections levels, but still represents a dramatic change.

Instead of motorists driving directly onto Tijuana streets, a gate will block the way. License-plate photographs will be run against a criminal database in Mexico City; a scale and vehicle-scanning system will determine if the car may be overloaded with contraband; and canine units will roam the area.

Suspicious vehicles will be directed to a secondary inspection area staffed by inspectors and Mexican marines.

The process, Mexican officials say, should take about eight seconds per car, but business leaders have their doubts. And even an eight-second wait translates into traffic snarls at peak crossing times.

"It adds another brake to the cross-border economic engine. People are already not sure of passport requirements and worried about cartel violence across the border," said Kenn Morris, president of the Crossborder Group Inc., a San Diego-based market research firm. "And as word spreads that southbound border waits can take 30-40-60 minutes out of your life. . . . It's going to really highlight the lack of infrastructure and progress in creating efficient border crossings in our region."

On a recent late afternoon, the long wait times were on full display. Claudia Serrano, a San Diego resident, said she waited about 20 minutes, much longer than the five minutes it used to take her to cross into Tijuana. She was taking her children to a relative's birthday party, but had been ordered into the secondary inspection area, a rare occurrence in the past.

Serrano, an import-export broker who crosses twice daily, can't avoid the waits. But she said many of her Mexican friends don't cross anymore. "They hate waiting so long."

Some Americans didn't seem bothered by the slow crossing, including those heading south last weekend for the Baja 1000 off-road race. Traveling in convoys of trucks pulling expensive dune buggies and motorcycles, many said they appreciated the extra security. "It's a sign of the times," said Jim Blackmore, a member for the Riviera Racing Team.

Some experts question whether the new measures will affect southbound flows of contraband, pointing out that U.S. inspectors intercept a fraction of the drugs entering the U.S., despite having even more sophisticated detection methods. Mexican authorities say they're confident that the inspections will enhance their ability to spot traffickers.

"There's a lot of information we can exploit here," said Cesar Montoya, the port director.

The people most affected will be daily cross-border commuters like Richard Corona, 32, whose waits total more than one hour on some days. Corona, a construction worker, moved his family from the San Diego area to lower-cost Tijuana last year due to the slowdown in the construction industry.

"I'm thinking of going back," said Corona, waiting about 20 minutes for Mexican officials to inspect his Ford Escape. "This is not even worth it."

richard.marosi@latimes.com

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Keith Code's California Superbike School Switching To BMW For 2010 - RoadracingWorld.com

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 07:25 PM PST

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After 30 years running Kawasakis, Keith Code's California Superbike School is switching to BMW motorcycles for 2010.
Under terms of a new two-year sponsorship agreement with BMW North America, Code's school will run a fleet of 27 four-cylinder S1000RR models and four F800 twin-cylinder models.
Kawasaki Motors ended its sponsorship of the California Superbike School at the end of 2008, but Code continued to work with his existing fleet of ZX-6R Kawasakis while looking for a new OEM partner. He rode a pre-production S1000RR prior to making the deal with BMW North America.
Code said he had "no hard feelings" toward Kawasaki, which discontinued its sponsorship as a cost-cutting move. The new deal with BMW is "a perfect match-up," Code said.

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Auto Racing Star Jeremy Mayfield & Wife Shana to Sell Real Estate ... - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 05:52 PM PST

ROCKINGHAM, N.C., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- It was announced today that Jeremy & Shana Mayfield along with Mayfield Motorsports, Inc. have contracted with Iron Horse Auction Company, Inc. for a public auction of real estate and personal assets.

The real estate consist of 475+/- Acres with a 13,000+/- Sq. Ft. executive home, 3,000+/- Sq. Ft. ranch home, 1,800+/- Sq. Ft. log cabin, 21 stall equine facility, 6,200+/- Sq. Ft. shop and numerous sheds with electricity.

The personal items include heavy equipment, luxury vehicles, guns, race helmets, driver suits, shop tools, metal working equipment, tractors, motorcycles, ATVs, a 2000 Allegra Motor Coach and much, much more.

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HRC Bosses Race Mini-Bikes at Motegi - Motorcycle USA

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 04:41 PM PST

Riders in the final round of the NSF100 HRC Trophy mini-bike series were in for a surprise at the Motegi circuit yesterday when they found themselves racing wheel-to-wheel with HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto, along with former grand prix riders Tady Okada and Shinichi Ito. Mr Nakamoto was part of an HRC team competing in a special four-hour endurance race at the circuit, which hosts the Japanese round of the MotoGP World Championship. An amazing 86 teams and 420 riders were taking part in the one-off race, all on Honda mini-bikes.

The HRC team was made up of Mr Nakamoto, HRC Directors Seiki Ishii and Tomoaki Nagayama, HRC test rider Okada - who usually spends his track time testing and developing Honda's RC212V MotoGP challenger - and Honda racing veteran Ito. While the former Honda Grand Prix riders were inevitably keen to find the limits of the Repsol Honda branded NSF100, the HRC bosses were happy to simply experience the 100cc machine on which many aspiring racers begin their careers. The HRC team completed 105 laps and came home in a steady but respectably 57th place out of 80 finishers.

Apart from the fun of the endurance race, the serious business of the day were the two eight-lap NSF100 sprint races. These were the final rounds of the NSF100 HRC Trophy Championship - a one-make mini-bike series organised by Honda to promote affordable grass-roots competition and give the widest range of young riders the chance to begin racing. In 2009 there were 102 races held across Japan, with each circuit hosting its own championship. The NSF100 Trophy is also held in European countries such as Belgium, Italy, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Indeed, at the race in Motegi today, the top young NSF100 competitors from the European championships were taking part. Thirteen-year-old Andrea Locatelli, winner of the Italian NSF100 Trophy extreme, came home in 17th place, while Bo Bendsneijder (also 13) winner of the Netherlands series was 20th. Jesper Hubner from Sweden and Patrick Pulkkinen from Finland (both 13) placed in 22nd and 25th places.

The NSF100 is HRC's purpose-built production racing model with a 4-stroke, air-cooled single cylinder engine.

Quotes:

Shuhei Nakamoto, HRC Vice President: "It was really good fun to take part in this race today with my colleagues and with our professional riders. We probably could have gone a little faster, but we were here simply to enjoy the race rather than go for glory! For us today was an important occasion to see how the NSF100 machine is used by the riders across a wide age range, and to see how we can develop these type of race events in future."

Tady Okada, HRC Test Rider: "I had a good start today and was able to come from behind and battle for second place. Since Yuki (Takahashi) was also participating, we had an exciting race for the last 10 laps.
We do not have so much opportunity to race with other riders like this, so I had a lot of fun today!"

Shinichi Ito, former Grand Prix racer for Honda: "This was a little different from the racing that I normally do and I really enjoyed it.

Some of the younger riders are very professional on the NSF100, and they also fit the machine's small size very well, so they were fast in the corners and it was difficult to overtake them!"

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