Cycle News

T hat w hile givi ng to ot hers, we d isco ver ed th e g reatest g ift to ourselves. We we re having a T oy R un , that annual H ol iday G ift -Giving R ide. We'd seen lit erall y thousands of m otorcycles and the goo d folks w ho ow n them, arid had been do wn to th e dept hs of th e city tog ether. Dow n w here people live on. the streets because th ey've got r IO other hom e. We'd brought Chr istmas gif ts to th e kids th ere. We'd seen th eir smiles and fel t th eir th anks. And saw w hat our com passion reall y m eant . And now w e w ere h ead ed back again , so fortunate to have a pla ce to go to, a real home of our ow n , after bein g am on g th ose w ho had non e. Men and women and famili es down on their lu ck , barely han ging on. But man y w ho wou ld still grin an d wave w het! th ey saw us ride by. A nd later, w hen as a group w e stopped to eat before rid ing separate wa ys, our conv ersations drift ed on th e w inds of m em ory and renewed appreciati on for w hat we have - for all th ose dreams of ours tha t truly did com e tru e. That brou ght us here to th is pla ce in time. In th e crow d, I m et two new friends fro m a similar and distant past. We'd gro wn u p in th e M idwest only few m iles apa rt. We'd p robabl y ridden th e sam e coun try roads on th e same sum mer days. ~Ve might everl have passed each other, an d heard our ex haus ts grow fa int across fields. Now we talked of th e way th in gs w ere. A nd of a lillie tow n in M ichigan w here noth in g has ever changed, w here the clock paused on ce and sim p ly fo rgot to m ove on. A kind of true lif e " T w ilig ht Zone" - with a bit of " Back T o Th e Future" for sp ice. Yeah! Out of all th ose m iles an d m ot orcycles and far pl aces in betw een , th e thr ee of us s hared that mutual back g round. John and Viv ian and I. And w hen it cam e time to leave we we n t and look ed at each others' bik es, like toys from San ta under a tree. M in e was n ew ; th eir s v in tage, polish ed to w he re m etal now showed through paint. There was th e wh ol e wo rld of motorcycl in g here in th ese tw o ma ch in es we 'd used to give presents on. But th ese bik es were our own g if ts - to ourselves. Wh eth er from the Six ties, or N in eties. H ere w ere the things that might keep us young forever! a W illiam Edgar Copyright Page 3 Productions. From a n idea by Carol S ims HARE & HOUND: Smith sails to Barstow-to-Vegas victory MOTOCROSS: Windham , Steel top Florida Winter Olympics NEW BIKES : Suzuki twin steals the spotlight at Milan show Yamaha's adjustable design project, the Morpho NEW PRODUCTS: Last-minute Christmas shopping ideas LOCAL RACING : Heros from around the country and across the seas . CALENDAR: See what will happen in the future RESULTS: Official standings WANT ADS: Find your bargain 6 10 14 17 18 0 " 20 26 30 31 ON THE FRONT PAGE : The fi rst wave of Experts leaves the starting line at th e 17 t h running of the Barstow, Cal ifornia. to Las Veg as. N evada. Hare & Hound . Four-t ime National Hare & Hound Champ io n D an Sm ith (in set) w as the overall winner. Race cove rage begins on page six . Photos by Bernadette ' Phillips and Kinney J ones. r-------------~- -- - -- - - -- -- - -- - - ---- ------------------ -- - - - - - -- - -~ , SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM j P l E A S E PR I NT C LE A R lY I A ddress --' . City Order Date: _ St at e - 7ip _ ~I ~I VIS4 I I Signatu re _ ---,- -'- _ ev e ry w ee k f o r one yea r (50 is su es) fo r $ ~ 5 . 00 o ev e r y week' fo r tw o ye ars (10 0 issu es) f or $65 .00 o six m o nths secon d cl a ss (25 Issu e s) for $18 .00 O ne yea r 150 issues). 2nd class Canada or Me xico a n d all other for e ign co un t rie s $75 ,00 (U.S . fu nds) . First class a nd a irmail rat e s availa b le upon request. ~ Charg e m y 0 V isa 0 M ast e r ca rd _ OK, please start m y subscription to Cycle Ne w s and send me the newspaper _ o o Th is i s a renewal o Please b ill m e o En cl ose d i s c heck o r mon ey o r d er Se nd to : CYCLE NEWS, lnc., MC / Visa # Expira t ion D at e ~ P .O . Box 498 . Long Beac h . CA 9080 1 -04 9 8 _ --; ..:- - 1 (2 13 ) 427-7433 _ ~3

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