Etc.
etc.
DUCATI HOMECOMING
More than 10,000 Ducatisti from around the world gathered in Italy, June 12-14, for the first World Ducati Weekend. Event highlights included a parade from Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna to the Ducati headquarters in Bologna, tours and tech seminars, and an exhibition by the Minardi Formula One car team at the Santa Monica racetrack in Misano. Special guests included factory roadracers Troy Corser, Pier-Francesco Chili, Paolo Casoli and Carl Fogarty, 1972 lmola 200 winner Paul Smart, and former AMA and World Superbike Champion Doug Polen. Also in attendance was Ingegnere Fabio Taglioni, the legendary designer responsible for much of Ducati's engineering successes from the late 1950s to the mid-'80s. Closing ceremonies included a rock concert by Simple Minds.
TITAN TOURER
Titan, maker of custom heavyweight cruisers, now offers a saddlebagand windshield-equipped touring model. Retailing for $29,795, the Roadrunner Sport RM is powered by a rubbermounted, 107-cubic-inch S&S" Chassis-wise, there's tive steering geometry, plus front and rear floorboards, and a detach able sissybar. A full-dress version is also planned. For more information, contact Titan at 602/861-6977.
VOXANS DELAYED
French marque Voxan's range of V-Twins has been delayed again, this time for development reasons. "Our principal objective is to market bikes which are reliable, and so we've opted to delay production to ensure that," says company founder Jacques Gardette. Apparently, the major holdup is a need for new crankcases to over come oil-scavenging and filtration problems. Another concern is with the Sodemo-developed electronic fuel in jection. An alternative Magneti-Marelli system is now undergoing testing.
BMW CRUISER THRILLRIDE
Looking for virtual excitement? Then get yourself-and your family-to one of the five Paramount amusement parks in North America for a spin on the new "License to Thrill" attraction. Viewed through the eyes of British secret agent James Bond, the ride puts show-goers in seats synchronized to the action. Bond may get the girl, but the star is BMW's R1200C. The ivory mega cruiser zooms through the air, lands on train tracks and is catapulted onto the top of box cars in the open ing sequence of the action-packed, four-minute adventure.
DUCATI 916 REPLACEMENT
Ducati is hard at work on the next generation of Bologna-built sportbikes. Sources close to the factory insist that the new-genera tion, fuel-injected, 1000cc V-Twin has a narrower, 75-degree cylinder angle. If the rumors are true, this would reduce the length of the en gine, thus improving packaging and weight distribution. Moreover, the liquid-cooled cylinders and upper half of the horizontally split crankcase will be cast as a single piece for additional strength.
BILL SIGNS BILL
The Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA 21) was re cently signed into law by President Clinton. In the works for several years, the bill provides $216 billion in funding for various transporta tion-related programs during the next six years. Motorcyclists benefit via increased funding for the Recre ational Trails Program, considera tion in the planning and devel opment of the Intelligent Transporta tion System (ITS) and guaranteed access to roads built using federal funds. Furthermore, the bill inhibits the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from lobby ing state and local governments to adopt helmet laws.
