Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126290
long as they keep having large , cheering crowds they'll race. They like long track too l There will be a bigger turnout next season from just talking to people I know . We're sorry to see the season end especially me. Cycle News , you're right up there with Jeff Sexton in m y book. ' KATHY BURDIC Yorba Linda. CA Champions' eye view. . . . 8 Three top aces in a motocrossexaminatio n Ramblers' mini-GP . , , " 12 The race we fear once a year San Gabriel Valley M.C. H&H ,." ".14 1:' ... Q) .0 S Q) u Q) o Western hotline , 16 Test: Suzuki DS8O, 100 and 185 ,., ,24 Northern dateline . . , , , , 27 Results .. . . , .. " .. " .. ,30 Motocross Cat .. , .. , , .. 31 Calendar of coming events ... """""", 33 Want Ads. . . "" .. ".,.36 ON TH E FRONT PAGE: (Top) Rex Hailey hastens ahead of Don Grigsby at ' the Lightweights M.e. IT (See story in Western hotline). Photo by Wizard Ra cin g Ph otography. (Bottom left) Larry Roeseler leads the way to the SGV bomb . Photo by Gary Laudig. (Bottom right) Wet Wilseyville Hare Scrambles by Bob T orn ai. (Story in Nor th ern dateline.) , Cha rles C . Clayton . Presid en t Bob i Scott . Asst. to the Preside nt Sharo n Clayton. Publisher Edna Mewton . Sec re tary to the Publisher Advertising De b bie Wilkins. Sales MgT. Jim Ryan. Sales MgT . Skip j oh nse n . Sa les Mgr. Ch ris Kol ber, Assisran r. Editorial C harles Clayton . Editor. Dal e Brown . Assistant Editor. Bobi Scott . Assistant Editor. Brian Geo rge . Auistant Editor. Graphics and Production Produc tion : Jud y' Klinger, Jan Gil l. Typo· gr ap hy: Marion H atash h a . Don na G..bard . Labo ratory Prod uction : De nnis Greene . Accounting Mike K l i n geT . M an a ~r . Jeann e Ham mond . Aceta Receiva ble . Pam el a Dickerson , Au l. Accu Rece -ivable. Juanita Blan to n, Co llec tion and Credit Circulation Rbeba Smi th . Man aster . Dian e Fe lton . Deb bie D rayden . Sa ndi McK ay. Assista nts . Services and Support Jim Pisa re ta. Lind a Baca . rece pti onist . West 220 1 Chr-rry Ave .. Lon g Bea ch. CA P.O . Bo x 498 . Lon g Bea ch . CA 901}0 I (21 3) 427·7433; L .A . Lint' 636 -8844 . East P.O . Box 80 5 . T uc ker . GA 30084 . (4 04) 934 7850 , Subscription O ne yea r . sec ond class mail, SU ; ~ years . second class m ai l. $27; 3 years, sec o nd class mai l, $37.50, 4 Demand action from AMA What can take the place of Barstow to Vegas? Copyright © Cycle N ews . Inc. 1977. T radem ark Cycle News regi stered U .S . Pa tent Offi ce. All rights reserved . Published wee kly e xttpt the first and last wee k of the cale nda r year by Cycl e N ew s . Inc .. P.O . Box 49 8 . Lon g Beach . Ca lifornia. Second classpostage pa id at Lo ng Beach . CA 908 01. Cycl e Ne ws welcom es u nsolicited ed ito rial material inclu d ing stories. cartoons . p ho tos . etc. Su ch m at e rial. if published . becomes the exclusive copyrig ht propert y of Cycle News . Suc h accepted mat erial is subject to revision as is nec essary in the sole discret io n of Cycle News . Unso licited ma teri al which is not used will be re tu rned if accom panied by a self-addressed stamped e nvel ope . All unso lici ted material will be handled with reasonab le ca re , how e ver Cycle N ews assumes no responsibili ty for the safe ty. loss or damage to suc h mate rial. Re print ing in who k or pan o nly by permissi o n of the pu b lis hers . Ad vertising rates and ci rculat io n infc rmanon will be sent upon n:oq Ue5t. SttS. R.D .S . Cowbell clangor I certainly , hope Steve Booth d id more research on h is book about enduros tha n he did on his letter about the Cowbell. . While n o riders like to see several zeroes in an enduro , certainl y th e Cowbell was no way to rectify that situation . A good enduro should have some sections th at take po ints from everyone follow ed by easie r sections , lower avera ges, or resets to let m ost riders get back on time . The Cowbell was flat ou t ra cing for the whol e 100 miles. This may be gr eat for th e handful of "A" rid er s who can enjoy a nd ride those con di ti ons, but for the vast major it y of other contesta nts it i s unfair, dangerous , and b ound to be 'd isco u ra g ing . And i t is that vast majorit y, by virtue of their entry money, that makes end uros possible. I'm not crying abou t th e Cowbell . I personally enjoyed it and ended up seventh overall . But I'm sure if there are too many mor e runs like it . th ere • will be a lot of "B" and "C" riders hanging up their helmets . And instead of riding enduros , th ey will just read about them. Like Steve Booth does. JOHN CLARK Walnut Creek, CA Thanks to a small sponsor I would like to extend m y thanks to two beautiful people who ha ve faith in two gu ys over 38 : Lane and Donna Hodgins of Redlands Su zuki. They gave Gene Fox and m yself a new stock 250 Su zuk i PE beautifully prepared to ride the Baja 1000: ext ra wheels . tires. chain , oil . . . the whol e en chilada. no strings attached. We were the only 250cc bike out of 10 ent ries in clas s 38. W e were in second place and had about a 15 m inute lead five miles from th e finish when I got lost. The Mexi can child ren like the race ribbon and tape . We rode that stock PE 23 hours. 24 minutes and 23 seconds. changed one flat front tir e and a chain and lost second place by 62 seconds . It makes me feel good that a small businessman has that kind of faith in the best 250cc Enduro bike m ade. T han ks again to Redlands Su zuki. RICHARD L. HALE Glendale. CA The next time you see Perris I'm a TT short track and half-m ile racer in th e Southern Cal ifornia area , I'd like to telI everybody that Perris Raceway has re-opened and now has a new owner. His name is Len Sh irley. He's you ng . ambitious and open for suggestions . The grounds are kept clean and the atmosphere is friendly . So if you like to race, get sideways and get a lot of laps. and come out and ha ve a good timel TOM HEARD Bellflower. CA Get involved I n referen c e t o R ob R a sor' s sta temen t concerning th e indifference of bik er s to land use plannin g (L a test Poop , Nov. 9 issue), he's a bso lutely right , We seem to be spending most of our tim e sitt ing back and letting other people ca rry th e ball for us. Couple thi s with litter and va nda lism by a few. and excessive noise by ma ny, and it's not hard to see why we're in troub le. Not on ly is it tim e for us to clean up our own ac t , bu t also to ge t involved in lan d use planning for our fo rm of recr eation . End of Lecture . DA N GERBER Yorba Lin da , CA Loves long track For the past four years my friends and I have enjoyed going to speedway. We like watching the races (and not to mention a few riders ), When Ascot started having Long Track Speedway we loved it. But now that the season is over a lot of people . wish that Ascot will have the half-mile next season. It's great at Ascot. The races are longer and more exciting, I know it costs a lot for on e n ight of racing for the riders , but I'm sure as As many people may know , Castle Rock has not in the past been a popular National wit h th e selfproclaimed kings of pro racing fro &' th e Northeast. Few have been vel;}' su ccessful at Castle Rock and hav e cla im ed it to be ' set 'u p for the hometown riders . In view of this dissatisfaction with Castle Rock , AMA has chosen to attempt to move the National to tlie Super Dome in Seattle, taking th e promotion from the on ly club promoted National in the West. This club p ro vides a pre-national series to develop pro riders for the circuit ana an opportun it y to h a ve local pro compet it ion in the ' Northwest , Tlie Michigan kings h ave not over the years been very successful against this local competiti on , h ence their dissatisfaction and influence over AMA to abandon this 'very popular spectator National. From past experience we have found commercial p romoters pocket the profits and run. not providing an y developmental pro series as Mt. St. Helens M.C. does in the weeks preceding the National. T h is type of situ a tion has led the Na tional circuit to be an exhib it ion of one brand of machinery . wh ich is not a true display of racing: It is th e responsibilit y of th e m embers of AMA to flood its office with objections to situations such as the elim in a tio n of the Castle Rock National and demand that our associations staff not be influenced by corporate interests that are dest ro ying the American founded sport of dirt track racing, Demand that action De taken to broaden th e scope of nonnational dirt track racing, Let AMA know we need a Castle Rock National in the Northwest and a grea ter va riety of machinery on tlie dirt tracks . l; BOB AZEVEDO, AMA#360388 Redding, CA Castle Rock has been reinstated. See our Poop column . . . Ed itor. ) Te am W FO f! Being a fan of motocross and especially the Supercross Series, I hereby say that I think that the riders of motocross such as Marty Smit~ , Tommy Croft. Jim Pomeroy. Wam;n Reid . Bob Hannah, Broc Glover , Gaylon Mosier, Danny LaPorte , Ton'y D , and last but not least Jimmy Ellis (t wo -t im e Superbowl of Motocros s Champion) should form their own team. Now if th ey did. and if it would b~ cool with themselves and th e AMA , I J