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/126412
,- - - - - - - - - -- - - -- You 've been promoting cats in sports for sometime now, and I th ink it's about time that we bears come out of our caves and be counted. The bear facts are that we're tired of just hanging out in the forests and ea ting marshmallows that the campers leav e us. The only sports we have in th e forest are tree climbing and an - occasional swim in the river. although I would like to try hunting (especially that leave us fo r ca m pers marshmallows). We're just sick and tired of it . We want to ride motocross without people snickering behind our backs 'saying dumb things like "Look at that gu y's stupid riding gear," or ''I'm not racing with anyone who wears a fur coat in August" (We both know that fur is where it's ar. ). I've come a long way since those days. I've earned respect. People know I can ride. Other bears are still stuck with bear prejudice, no matter how great of a rider they are. That's why m ore bears don't race. 'So Cat . why d on't you and I get together for a race. Let's promote animals for mo tocross, enduro or maybe even speedway. You name th e time and the place and I'll be there. P .S . Well maybe, I was plugging Norstar and Goat Breker just a little. Do you blame me? (Yo u also go t a plug.) MOTO CROS S BEAR Anaheim , CA WIST America 's No, 1 Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper S ha ro n Cl a yton . Pu blishe r Tom Culp. Ma rkt"ti nl; DiR'CWf Caroline Gt-nd ry. S{"'C. to the." Publ ishe r Ma rgie So ut hern . 51"('. to rhe M lk l(. Di r . Advertising Jim R ya n , Sal es Manager. Skip Johnson , Sa les Manager. Chris Kolber , Adverrislng Coordinator. Editorial Ch a rles MOTey. Managing Editor. Dal e Brown , Ed ito r. Bob i Scott . Ed itor . Graphics and Production Da v Paul i, Produ ctio n Manager , J ud y Klinger , P roduct ion Assistant . Ma ri o n H arashita , T ypography . Dennis G reene , La bo rato ry . Accounting M ik C' K l i n g t"r . M a n a g e r , j e-anne H ammon d . Acc ts . Rec ei va bl e . Donna Brv an . Asst. Accrs, Rece iva ble . R ick ~usch . C redit . Ell ie COUC"T. Assista nt . Circulation Rh eb a Sm ith , Manag er . Barbara T aylo r. T am my Ta ylor. Shirley Sho rt . Assistanls. Terry Pra tt , De al er Sal es Manag t"T . Reader/Dealer Service G in Harpe r , Want Ad Sa les . Services and Support Chris A i tcheson . Re cep rionsr. R ick Alexande-r, S&S . West 22 0 1 C herry Ave .. Lo ng Bea c h . CA P.O , Box 498.. Lon g Bea c h. CA 90801 (2 13) 4 27 -74 33 : L .A, L ine 636 ·8844 . East 4190 First Ave .. T uc ker . GA . P.O . Box 80 5 . Tu cker. GA 30084 , (40 4) 93 4 · 785 0 , C yc le New , /We" (USPS 14 1· 340 ) is publ ished weekl y exce p t th e fi rst and last week o f th e' calen dar y("ar fo r $1 5 ~r yt"ar by Cycle New s. In c , 2201 Che rry Avenue . Lon g Bea ch , CA 90801. Seco nd c lass post a g e pai d at Lon g Bea r-h. CA . POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycl e Ne w s, P.O. Box 498, Long Bea c h, CA 90801. 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Tra d e mar k Cyc le News registered U.S . P aten t O ff ice. All righ ts re se rved. 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: At Southwick, MA, Kent Howerton shows the secret of w inning an AMA 250cc National MX: Being able to turn the bike without the front wheel on the ground. Photo by Jim Gianatsis. Feathers to the Sierra Club Enclosed is a copy of a letter I wrote to Art Day in response to his letter in your Voices section. Dear Art: I just read your lett er regarding the Sierra Club in Cycle N ews. It is sure refreshing to hear that someone in th e Si erra Club is not an ultra conservationalist; that th ey are willing to listen to both side of th e story . More people should try it! I am not lied into anyone group of OR Vers (buggies, 4:x:4s, bik e races or cowtrailing) . I enjoy all aspects of offroading. My utmost concern is that I am able to continue my OR V activities without being chased or hassled by the law or verbally abused by a Sierra Clu bbe r who has only visited the desert on 1·15 on the way to Vegas. Th e Sierra Club has taken a rather dim view of OR V activities in th e desert . I too have ears within th e Sierra Club and would describ e many of the views as militant conseroatio nalist. That sounds terrible but th ey can sound terrible wh en talking ab out us in print unthin their own club . What I am trying t o do is help keep th e desert open for th ose who wish to view its vast beauty and carefor it, but not abuse it . Those who choo se to do this via motorized transporta tion are my concern. Some folks like to hike. others lik e to ride horses, st ill oth ers travel on motorcycles or in trucks and buggies. Let's let everyone share th e desert not just the ones who walk or ride horses . How many times ha ve you seen a hiker in th e desertl :If we all work together to keep our desert clean and man 's impact low key" everyone can be happy. , Art, thanks for listening and thanks for caring enough to ask for another opinion. SON OF DESERT DUC K Quackl Quack! Sierra Club dez outings go on and on I too sent for the Sierra Club Outing . Catalogue and chortled at the lack of desert outings. But . when I started ribbing Sierra Club guy at work . he brought a: copy of his outings schedule for the Angeles chapter where he's a member. This schedule was for Ma rch a I-July4 , 1979 . I flipped through it and cou nted maybe 50 desert trips . My Sierra Club buddy was quick to point out that these were the desert trips of just on e chapter and that th e schedule only had in it the outings tha t were firmed up in time to make it int o print. He wen t on and on , explaining that th e catalogue Papa Wealey had me get is only a list ing of specia l Sierra Club national trips. I mean , th e gu y just wouldn't shut up. He won th e argument and I was red-faced. VIKKI BEDFORD Los Angeles. CA Sorry 'bout that , Vikki. But remind your Sierra Club buddy at work that there 's room enough in th e California desertfor all of us - on e ofthe editors here spent three years as a fre e lancer covering desert races and riding there and th e only Sierra Club m embers he ran into were at a desert race, gu ests of th e promoter . . , Editor. Gas crunch hits NorCal MX Du e to the gas cru nc h . Jhont MX .has had to resch edule their Ma y 27 event to July I S. Jhont wishes to thank th~ ~olIister Hill s SVRA rangers for th eir Int erest in motocross. Because of their help. when Jhont runs on July I S, it will be in " a new meadow area" in the lower ranch at Hollister Hills. This will be cooler during the summer and a lot easi er for th e water truck to prepare the ground , since wat er trucks do not handle well o n hills as many of us know. Another thank you to the riders who helped th e Mother's Day race on Ma y 13. It was a rough day due to riders not being able to get gas and ex tra expenses for ambulance and water truck transportation , but Jhont MX ho pes motocrossers will stick together during the gas prob lem to keep their sport goi~g. HONHERRERA Su nnyva le, CA 4081733·9545 Bear's MX Cat challenge genuine Yes Cat. this is a genuine challenge. I haven't raced all winter (hibernation you know) and I can't think of a nyone else I would rather race with than you. Motocomplaint I am making an official co mplaint about the running of the AMA District 36 Hollister Hills MX which was ru n on Apr. 29 , 1979 . promoted by Jhont MX . The following are the reasons for this complaint: I . We were charged a $4 gate fee for a track which cannot be viewed at any point in the track. I feel we were robbed. 2 . I have been to many MX events in the two years my son has bee n racing and have never had to listen to profane language being spoken over the p .a. system d uring the rider's meeting, or any time during the racing event. My chil dren should not have to come in con tact with officials of a track which wou ld conduct themselves in this m anner also. 3. Besides the bad language over tlie microphone , the track was most unsafe . as many MX co urses a re , b ut the promoters made this one especia lly unsafe by not providing flagmen . It was conveyed to me that at a prior event run at Hollister Hills by the above mentioned promoters a rider laid with a broken leg in the bushes for qui te a length of time before a spectalor found him . And even at th at time it was impossible for the ambu lance to reach him . I wish my complaints to be he a rd and I expect something to be do ne. Some of the riders who wcre m aki ng these complaints were told over the loud sp eaker that if they didn't like the way the track was being run then they could pack their gear up , get th eir money back , and "get th e hell out." (By the way. the person over th e loud speaker was sup posedly a la dy.) T his was the firs t AMA MX event that my family ha s ever attended. We were very upse t wit h t he way things went and I' m sorry to say but if thi s track represents the AMA we will never even' a tt empt to a ttend a nother. WENDY REYES Castro ville , CA T his is a copy of Ii let ter .sent to AMA he ad q uarters in Westerville, OH .. . Editor.