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/126411
we express th e sincere hope that you don't succumb to blackmail in the future . We a re afraid that th e Big Four will threaten you th e next time. saying they won 't race unl ess their rid ers ca n start 60 seconds before the crowd so that th eir precious works bikes can avoid possibl e d amage in a pile up at the fir st corner. ECKART SCHORN Mai co West , Inc. Burbank. CA WIST Darnell to clog-seeker's rescue America's No.1 Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper To a ll th e hard-core clog wea rers out th ere. I offer th e following info : o I-Swedes Scandanavian Imports #2 Whal ers Wharf Ports 0 Call San Pedro. CA 90731 213 /457 -3722 or. Solvang Sh oe St ore 1663 Copen ha gen Solvang. CA 93463 805 /688-4065 I am also enclosing my copy of th e form letter CBS sent me in response to L m y com pla int on th e 60 Minutes ripoff. For them to have come up with a r blanket form letter suc h as this . we mu st ha ve ge ne ra ted a considerabl e a mou nt of hea t. It's a bou t tim el Let's keep showing the govern me nt types a nd th e an ti-m otorcycle media that we have voices, and teeth. Sharon Clayton, Pu bl isher Tom Cul p. Ma rketing Directo r Caroline Ge ndry. Sec . to the- Publ isher Ma rgi e So ut hern , Sec . to the Mtkg . OiT. Advertising Jim Rya n . Sales Ma nager . Lar ry Little . Sa les Manager. Skip Jo hnson. Sa les Man a ger. C hris Kolber. Advert ising C o ordinator. Editorial Charles Ma rry , Man ag ing Editor. Dale Brown . Ed ito r. Bob i Sco tt , Ed ito r. Graphics and Production Dav Pau li.. Prod uction Manager. Judy Klinger, Prod uction Assistant . Ma rion Ha rashita. T ypography. Denn is Greene. La boratory. Accounting Mi ke Klin g e r . Ma nage r . J e a nn e Ha m mo nd . Accts . Receivabl e. Don na Brya n . Asst. Acc ts. Receivabl e . Rick Goe ttsch. Cred it . Ellie Cotter. Assista nt. Circulation Rh eb a Sm ith, M an a g er. Ba rba ra Taylor. T ammy Ta ylor , Sh irley Short . Assistants. Terry Pratt, Dealer Sal es' Manager. Reader/Dealer Service Gin Harper, Want Ad Sales. Services and Support Chris Ait cheson . R eceptio nst. Alex ander . S&S. R ick West 2201 C herry Ave .. Lon g Beach . CA P .O . Box 498. Lon g Beach. CA 9080 1 (2 13) 427-7433; L .A . Line 636 -8844 . East 4 190 Firs t Ave . . T ucker. GA. P.O . Box 805 . Tucker. GA 30084 . (404) 934- 7850 . Cycl e News/West (US PS 14 1ยท 340 ) is pu b lished ;:eekly exce p t the first and last week ' of the calenda r year for $15 per year by Cycl e Ne ws. In c . . 220 1 Ch erry Avenue , Long Beach , CA 90801 . Secon d class postage paid at Long Bea ch , CA . -POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle New., P.O . Box 498. long Beach, CA 90801. Subs crip tion ra tes ; One year. second class ma il, $15: two yea rs. seco nd cla ss ma il. $27; th ree yea rs. seco nd class ma il. $3 7.50 . Cycl e News wel com es unso lici ted edi tori al materia l incl udi ng stories , cartoons, photos, et c. Suc h m at eri al . if publ is hed , beco mes t he exclus ive p roperty of Cycle Ne ws. Su ch accepted mat eri al is subject to revision as is necnsa ry in the sole d iscretion of Cycle News . Unso licited m aterial which is om used will be returned if accomp a nied by a self-ad dressed sta mped envelope . All un solicited m at er ial will be ha nd led with reason abl e care, how ever , Cycle News assu mes no responsibilit y fo r th e safety , loss or d a mage to such ma teri al. Reprinting in whole or part on ly by pe rmission of th e publishers. Ad verti sing ra tes a nd ci rc u lation information will be sen t upon request. Set' S.R.D .S. Copyright ~ Cycle News. Inc. 1979. Trademark Cycle Newl regiltered U.S. Patent Office. All rights reserved. ON THE FRONT PAGE: Kenny Roberts and Brad Lackey, America 's bigger-than-Iife ' Grand Prix heroes, get their names on the front page of eN. Appropriately enough, it's in bigger-than-life type. 4 CRC to sponsors: Thanks! AMA - factory controlled? On behalf of th e 2, 700 partici pants in th e recently concluded CRC/Dr. Pepper/Yamaha Seri es. we wou ld like to ex ten d ou r very appreciat ive feelings toward tho se who made the four events such a tremendous success. We ca n no t pu t together a fi ne racin g program with out a st ro ng su pport from 'other members of th e indust ry, and we received exactly t ha t fr om t he strong su p port participan ts a t ou r events these past weeks. From Dr. Pepper a nd Yamaha , th e major sponso rs, to the p rizes a nd co n ti ngencies d on ated by Elec tro Helm ets, IRC Tires. Circl e Industries, Spectr e Oi l, J im O 'Neal Distributing. Kal-G ard and NO Spark Plu gs. everyone's su pport was su pe r . a nd from a ll t he partici pan ts, "T ha n k you!" , We at CRC wou ld a lso like to poin t out the specia l duty turned in by th e participat ing motorcycle parks . Fro m th e beginning of th e series on Ap r. 15 at Indian Dunes. to ro u nd two a t Saddleback Park on Apr. 22. and th en to rou nd three at Ra cing World on Ap r. 29 , ea ch week th e tr acks wer e beautifully pr epared with more than the usual ent husiasm fr om each park's ma intenance crew . And we offer a very sp ecial tha nks to W ah James and his team a t Indian Dunes for the long hours spent preparing for th e final e of the series , "Dunestown" on Ma y 6. That special effort wa s g rea tly appreciated by the mo re than 1.200 who participated in that fina l fling in the series . _ If there is any way to pa y back all our sponsors, the first would be to purchase their produc ts . Indeedl Support those who support the spo rt! And. if we do. we are quite su re that all these fine sponsors will be back again with another CRC Seri es in the very near future , and they will be joined by even more support from the industry and everyon e will benefit for the better. Again , in addition r- to th e 2.700 "Thank you " notes from the participants, you can add two more , from us . JACK BARBACOVI JERRY McNEIL CRC Carson, CA DiPret e's suspendi ng the cla iming rul e should come as rio su rprise to a nyone - after all , he wants to keep his job. It only serves to dramatize t he fa ct that th e factories control the AMA in every segmen t. Why. everyone knows th at Honda: plans to. incorpora te all th ose exotic par ts in to th eir product ion CR250s in a pig's eye . T hat's why th eir works machines a re made of 4130 chro mo ly and their product ion bikes are melted down sa rd ine cans; and I am su re the com p u terized igni tio ns (such as on Tripes ' and Wi se's ra cers ) will soon be on you r local dealer 's parts shelf. The truth is. th at machine was built for one th ing - beating Bob Hannah . H on da do es its testing in J a pan , not on the ra ce tr ack. It m ak es no d iffere nce, until Tripes gets ou t of his d iapers , he won't beat Hannah on a nything . W hen the AMA b rass wrings their collective hands wondering ' wh y m otor cyclists do n't line u p to becom e members th ey m ight co nsider th is. The Class A members (you and I) have abso lu tely no say in the direction and poli cies of the AMA . It is totally controlled in every aspect by th e Class B mem bers (t he fa ctories) . I always thought Mike was a square shooter - even square shooters hav e their price. DAVID LEAKE Dallas, TX Open letter, Maico to DiPrete You admitted in a recent Cycle Ne ws interview that you were all but blackmailed by a joined effort of Japanese manufacturers to temporarily suspend the AMA cla im ing rule. Mai co USA and their riders protest the way and circumstances in which this decision was made. Rules are made for all and shared by all. Mai co has more entries at the upcoming Atlanta 500cc AMA National Motocross t ha n any Japanese manufacturers (27 Maicos , three Hondas , two Kawasakis . 20 Yamahas , 10 Suzukis). Maico riders help to stage the show, therefore , Maico representatives deserve to be heard before decisions of similar gravity are made . In the name of many Maico riders , " R USS DARNELL Sylmar. CA G Sheridan marches on Da vid Sheridan is a t it aga in! You remember him - th e author of th at infamous bedtime sto ry tha t appea red : , in N ew West. "The Rape of the Desert." This was th e article that a lleged that ORVers att ack fenc es with wire cu tters a nd dynamite and 0 cru ise th e desert in dune buggies, rifle lo in on e hand. beer in th e other. The Victo r Valley Daily Press carrie d a U P I story on Ma y 7. rega rding a p roposed tax on off -road vehicles. The sto ry said that the Council on En vironmental Quality has tol d Presid ent Carte r t ha t ORVs shou ld be taxe d to re pair an d m a inta in the pub lic la nd ' ha t th ey ;l "destroy. " ORV "sca rs" ar e said to last . possibly a m illenium . No w really , th a t's overdo ing it a bit! The report cites eigh t-foot deep gu llies ne ar Sa nta Cruz th at a re su pposed to exist an d su p posed to be caused by six years of trail bik e use. Does th e govern me nt " expect us to believe t his? ' As you alrea dy ma y have gu essed . th e author of this re port is David Sheridan. Read "T he Rape of th e Desert" a rt icle in N ew W est at your local library and th en decide if you want its author telling President Carter what is fact or fiction about our public lands. This tax effects each state - not just California - s!l everyone has a stake in this. If you don't agree with David Sheridan. write President Carter, your senators and representatives, and tell them so. Tell them how you feel. SON of DESERT DUCK Quack! Quackl Thanks from the newlyweds The pleasure of having so many people enjoy our wedding and the love and friendship you gave us, is over whelming. Please know that you left us feeling very good about desert people and their generosity. Thank you for the one gift we wanted , your support. LEE BALLENGER MARGE REESER Lancaster, CA