Etc.

ETC.

DUCATI STILL. FOR SALE

Financially stricken Italian manufacturer Cagiva is still planning to sell 50 percent of Ducati to an American company, reports the Bloomberg news agency.

Though Eugenio Valenti, Cagiva’s finance director, wouldn’t name the players, he did tell reporters that the $320 million deal would be completed by July, and that their goal is to list the company on the New York Stock Exchange within three years.

Chicago-based financier Sam Zell had discussed purchasing Ducati for $190 million, but couldn’t close the deal.

COLLABORATIVE CUSTOMS

Considering the popularity of custom Harley-Davidsons, it comes as little surprise that customizing kings Arlen Ness and Bob Dron have joined forces. The duo recently struck a deal that allows customers to take a Ness design to Dron for fabrication and assembly. Explains Dron, “We’ll be able to quickly integrate quality Ness billet components into final assembly on custom cycles—all in one stop and to Aden’s design specifications.”

At least one result of the partnership is already complete: the Billet Boy, a fully “Nessessorized” Harley-Davidson Fat Boy.

RADAR REPORT

If being forewarned truly means being forearmed, then the Speed Monitoring Technology Handbook should provide plenty of armament. Available from the Radio Association Defending Airwave Rights (RADAR), the 115-page book is designed to protect drivers from speeding tickets by discussing different radar-detection systems, offering purchasing advice and disclosing technological details. It’s available for $19 from RADAR,

4949 South 25A, Tipp City, OH 45371;800/448-5170.

STREETBIKE SIX-DAYS

Are you, as a street-riding enthusiast, jealous of your off-road brethren who compete in the hallowed International Six Day Enduro? Then the Zion’s Sport Touring Rally 1000 may squelch your envy.

The six-day, 1000-mile ride begins at the Oasis Hotel and Casino in Mesquite, Nevada, on September 5, and explores America’s Great Southwest. Prices start at $1295, which includes hotel accommodations, breakfast each day, tour guides and a chase vehicle to carry your gear.

To register, contact Brent Kirk of Pro Cycle Sports at 801/673-0368.

SUPERMAC WANTS YOU!

The fastest man on knobbies, Jeremy McGrath, wants you to show your support for America’s Motocross des Nations team by purchasing a souvenir T-shirt. After our boys lost by just one point last year, the ’96 team of McGrath, Honda teammate Steve Lamson and Kawasaki’s Ryan Hughes has its best chance in years of bringing the worid title back home where it belongs.

Proceeds from the sale of these shirts ($15 for adult sizes, $10 for kids) will help defray the AMA’s costs of sending our athletes to this year’s “Moto Olympics” in Spain.

To order by phone, call the AMA at 614/891-2425.

READER INFO REQUESTED

Do you own a BMW R850R,

Buell S-2 Thunderbolt, Honda Valkyrie, Honda XR400R or 1996 Suzuki GSX-R750? Then Cycle World would like to hear from you. Send us a letter about your bike discussing such topics as price paid, maintenance, modifications, problems, etc., and we’ll use the information in compiling future longterm updates. Address your remarks to Long-Term Updates, Cycle World, 1499 Monrovia, Newport Beach, CA 92663.