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/126296
INSIDE. CMC/Suzuki Golden State Ser ies 6 Staten still srnokin' Camel Pro preview 8 Who'll top Springer? How to ride like the Hurricane 10 Starting stuff Desert hotline . . . ..• . . . 14 Quicksilver goes Enduro VOICES 01' II Suzuki GS1000 test .... . 16 Strong and light without any fight Western hotline 20 Camel Pro contacts . . • . 24 Who and where for ticket sales Calendar of Championship Events 25 Every major event in the wor ld Northern dateline Mickey Boone 30 36 The cont roversia l hillbilly ON THE FRONT PAGE: Who will be the Astrodominators at the Feb, 3·4 Houston Nationa ls? We'll know next week when the 1978 AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series opener becomes history. Photo by Charles Morey. Charles C . Cla yton . Presiden t Grace period set for Nat'l. MX class changes There's bee n quite a bit of confusion over the new ru le of a ll Profession al MX riders choosing their class for the AMA Nationals in 1978. Since this is the first year for this new rule, and since there is so much confusion , we'll give a grace period for cha ng ing classes. All riders have the opportunity to change th ei r riding class , The grace period will end on Feb . 10. All change requests re ceived in t he AMA office o n or before then will be honored . No cha nges will be m ade a fte r Feb . 10 except as stated in th e rulebook . A service fee of SI 0 will be cha rged for a ll cha nges. MICHAEL A . DiPR ETE AMA Professional Mot ocross Man ager W estervill e , OH Bobi Scon . Aut. to the: President Sharon Cla yton . Publ isher Ed na Mnwton . Sec re tary to the Publisher Advertising Jim Ryan . SOl in Mgr . Larry Lin le . SOl in _~1 gr . Chris Kel ber . A~iu a nt. Editorial Cha rles More y, M..naging Edit or . Da le Brown . eorge. Assisram Editor . Edit or . Bri an G Graphics and Prod uctio n S u~ Morey. jan Gill. Prod uction . Marion Harashha , Donna Oab ard. T ypoguphy. Drnni~ Greene. Laboratory Product ion. Accounting Mike Klingr r . Manager. j eanne Hammond. . Acn:s. Receiva ble, Pamela Dickerson . ADt . Acc15. Receivable. Ju anit a Blanton . Co llection an d Credit. Circulation Rhe ba Smith. Ma na ger . Dia ne Felten . Debbie Drayden . Robin Hol be rt , Sandi McKay. K.. thy Bo.al . A u.ist a nt~ . Services and Suppo rt Lind a B a ca. Rrc r ption ilil.Jim Piu rr u , S&S. West 22.01 Chnry Ave. . Long Beach . CA P.O . Box 498 , Lon g Brach , CA 90801 (2U) 427·74 " : L. A . Linf'6'6-8844 . East 4190 Finl Ave . • Tucker . GA , P.O. Bo x 805. T ucke r. GA :50084. ('04)9~ ,7 850 . Subscription O ne yea r, second class mail . S15; 2 yun.. 7 second cia '" ma il, S2: ; , )'f'an, second clau ma il. S'7 .S0. 4 CopyriXht" Cyck- Nrws . Inc . 1978. T rildMTI.uk C ycle News registe red U.S. Paten t Office-. All righ u reserved . Pu blished wn.-kly r " Clpl the ' finl and last wee k uf the ca le -nd a r yra r by C ydr Ncw s , In c. . P . O . Bml 498 . LonK Br -ac h. Ca li Iomia . Seco nd d aM j>(lIli.tagc paid at L CIIlX Beach. C A 90801 . C ycle News wrlcumn u n ~ 1 licued ed ito ria l materia l includ ing stories . ca rt oo ns . ph ot os . MC. Suc h material , if publisbed . becomes the exclusive copy rig ht p roprrt y of Cycle N ew s. Suc h are-e pre-d ma teria l is subject to revision as is nr('t"Ilar y in Iht" 1I01t" d iscretio n o f Cycle N rw ~ . Unso licited mater-ia ! wh ich i ~ nOl use-d will lx· r("tu rn t'd if accompa nied by .. self-a ddressed st a m p d e en velope . All unsclic hed mate rial will be ha ndled wuh reasonable carr. however Cycte News a!ioSumn no rrospo nsibilit y for the sa fny , Ic)5.\ or da ma ge to suc h ma teri al . Repr in ting in whole or pan o nly by pe rmiss ion of rhe publi,hrn. Ad vntisinR' rates and circ ulatio n information will be sern u po n requ est . 5_ S.R .D.S . Bob Bitchin, you're full of prunes ! I have a few comments to make reg arding Bob Bitchin's Street is Neat col umn, the one whe re he says dirt riders are not good risks o n street m achin es. in I believe I'm co rrect remembering that in New York st ate in 1976 , of the street bike fa tali ties only thre e had previous d irt bike ri di ng ex perience. I' ve fo u nd th a t m ost serious d irt riders a re not st reet bikers; they're afra id of the fourwhee led b ike-squash ers. The few di rt bik ers who ch ance it on the h ard to p are usually very cautious, very good street ridersl O ff ro ad is the idea l place to learn to ride a bike (the younger , the better). Then, when the rider ta kes on the street, he(or she) has only to learn how to drive defensively - to look out for the bl ind and .un thinking ca r drivers. There are lots of street accidents caused because the street rider simply doesn't know how to ride his bike. He ca n' t ride well enough to avoid dangerous situations. A good dirt rider who's also para noid is like ly to be a safer street rider. Just becau se you a re a klutz wh.o is large eno ugh to "lose" a norma l-SIZed dirt bike by hitt ing a hard bu mp the first and only time you ever rode offroad , that doesn't make you an expert on the dangers of dirt riding. Again , I say " horsefea th ersl" I' m su re you 'll be riding by Dallas on you r way to or from Dayto na . And you don't have a ha ir on you r overstuffed posterior if you don't try a little cowtrailing on my Yamaha . You might even like it. Have you ever considered suspending a dirt bik e off the stem of your Water Wing (Bitchin rid es a Honda GLlOOO. . . Editor) like a 'd inghy so you 'll have a fun bike ~or chasing woofies down the street while yo ur heavy cruiser is moored at the hotel? CHUCK BEAR Dallas, TX Friends of Rescue 3 On J a nu a ry 14 , Rescue 3 member Al Pucha1ch u nderwent open heart surgery. Desert riders from 0 -37 will remem ber AI ; he d rove the co m mand unit a nd worked a t the comma nd post for many yea rs. He has gi ven m uch of his tim e to 0 37 m ot orcycling, and he would love to hear from his friends no w, Yo u can d rop him a fri endly ge t-well no te at P.O , Box'6 38 , Yermo , CA 92398. Wha t wou ld we do without Rescu e 3, a group of wonderful dedicated people. Thanks to each one of them . DA VE AND LINDA BARR Masterlinks, M.C. La kewood , CA 395 Cycle. Park owner dies Seldom , in this capitalistic society of ours, do we find someone with an ambition not related to monetary success , Ra re are the people who will give 100 % effort to som ething that will not benefit them financially . I had the p leas ure of kn owin g such a person; his name was Do n England . The sport he loved was motorcycle raci ng , a nd those who knew Don will understa nd what is being written. Don England was not only a dedicated race track owner , he also was a sincere and generous individual. T o Don , winning wasn't everything ; sportsmanship was . Most of th e people participating at his events were racing families . De n 's attitude toward racing set an excellent example for everyone. With more youngsters involved with racing, Don's sportsmanship , clean riding , and sa fe track policies sh owed them what our sport should aspire to achieve , Once again , misfortune has struck by ta king the life of someone m a ny loved , He will be remembered fo r his honest and down -to-earth way of life . H e will be re membered for his wonderfully optimistic views on life and racing . He will be remembered for the m a ny memorable and well-run races he promoted and the fine 'track he persona lly pre pared , Yes, Don will be re me mbered . EA RL RO LOFF,JR , Im perial Bea ch , CA Sext ons send thanks There is certain ly truth in the old adage "Every cloud has ' a silver lining. " Many ti mes it takes a setback in life to make you aware of the care and concern of your friends and fellow riders . Your generous expression of support since our son Scott was injured while racing at Plymouth . is overwhelming, Scott is in intensive care at Amador Hospital in Jackson and is steadily improving from a broken rib . bruised lung and surgery for removal of o ne third of his liver. Hopefully by the time you read this he will have been transferred closer to home , to Fremont Hospital in Yuba City , or better yet , discharged and a t home . We would like to give special thanks to thoseof you who have given blood , including members of the National ~otorcycle Patrol, F Troop Motorcycle Club . a nd the Sacramento J ammers Mo to rcycle Club . Blood do nations are needed and Ca n be don ated to Sco tt by specifying the bl ood is to go to the N a tion al Motorc ycle Patrol account a t the Sacramento Delta Blood Bank. Any excess bl ood will remain in the National Motorcycle Patro l account . and will be availab le for a ny rider wh o nee ds it. 'W o rds seem very inadequate at this time, but our he art felt thanks to each of you . Please know that we are very your caring and gr a teful for ge nerosity. CHARLIE SEXTON AND FAMI LY , Li ve Oak, CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Send letters to Vo ices. Box 498. Long BeaCh. CA 90801.