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/126628
WEST America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sha ron Clayton . Publish er Caroline G en dry, Executive Secretary the Publish er Lisa Scho rr, Advertising/ Ed ito rial '0 Ass ista nt. Editorial Dal e Brow n . Sen io r Edi tor. La nce Bryso n, Edi tor . Karel Kram er. Edi tor. Advertising Skip Johnson, Nationa l Sales Manage r. T erry Pratt, Sal es Man ager. Du an e Johnson. Sa les Manager . Steve Wil son . Sales Man ager. Linda Brown. Adverti sing Coo rd inator. Nan cy Danger . Adverrising Assistant. Graphics and Production Kristin Cooper. G raph ic Art ist. Rona Kra mer . Assis ta m . Marion Hat ashi ta , T ypograph y. Dennis Gr een e, La boratory . Accounting/Data Processing Mike Kli nger, Co n tro ller. Don na Bryan . Accounts Recei va b le Co o rd i n a to r . Geneva Repass, Assista nt. Terry Da iley. Cred it Manager. Circulation R h e ba Srn i t h , Man a g er. Michelle H anna. Sarah Taylo r, Debb ie Wal ker. Lvna H ood. Assistants . Want Ads Loa h Co rry. Want Ad Sal es. Dealer Sales and Service Nancy Em de Bro gger , Deal er Sa les Manager . Service and Support Ch ris Aitcheso n. Receptionist. Gr ego ry Hanson. sss. Wes t 2201 Ch err y Ave.. Lon g Beach , CA P.O . Box 498. Long Beach , CA 9080 1· 0498. (213) 427-7433; L.A. Line 636-8844. East 4190 Firs t Ave.. Tucker . GA . P.O . Bo x 805. Tucker, G A 30084-0805. (404) 934· 7850. Cycle News/West (USPS 141· 340) is published weekl y excep t the first a nd last week o f th e ca lenda r year for $20 per year by Cycle Ne ws, In c.. 2201 Ch erry Aven ue. Lo ng Beach. CA 90806. Second class po stag e pai d a' LOn g Beach, CA. POSTM A STER: Send form 3679 t o Cyc le News, P.O . Box 49B, Long Beach, CA 90B01 -0498. Su bscription rat es: One year. seco nd clas s mail . 520; two years . seco nd class mail . $35; three years. seco nd class mail , $53; 25 weeks, $11. For eign rate s avai l_ ble o n req uest. a Cycle News welcomes un soli cit ed ediroria l material incl udi ng sto ries. carloons. p h otos. etc. Such mater ia l. if p ub lish ed. beco mes th e excl usive p ropert y of Cycle News. Such accepted mat erial is su bject to revision as is necessary in the 'Sole discretion o f Cycle News. Unso licited mat erial which is not used wi ll be ret urned if accom panied by : self add ressed sta mped en velope. A u nso licited mat eri al will be handle wit h reasona ble care. h owever. Cycl News assumes no responsibility for th l safety. loss or damag e to suc h materi al. Rep rinting in wh o le or part o n ly by permission of the publisher . Adverusing rat es an d circu lat ion in formatio n will be send u pon request. See S.R .D.S. Copyrigh t$ Cycle News, Inc . 1983. Trademe rk Cycle News registered U.S. Pete nt Off ice . All rights re8erved . 2 ON THE FRON T PAGE: Seriel leader J eff Ward took another 125cc.:Pro win at Holliste r in t he Golden State Series. Pho to by Kare l Kra mer. Sears Point development We wo u ld like Cvcl e Neuis readers, especially those wi thi n the northern Ca lifornia regi on to be aware that So no ma County Regio na l Parks Department will be st udying th e potentia l development of im proved OHV faciliti es at Sears Point Raceway, in souther n Sonoma County. The County ha s retai ned Larry Seema n Associates of Berkeley to stu dy the en viron me ntal impacts o f this p ro ject, a nd Card Corporation of Sacram ento to pr ep are a master pl an and econo m ic feasibilit y study. Card will be conducting a su rvey of user needs an d wants, both through th e ma il and a t ridin g ar eas. They ar e interested in hearing from a nyone who ha s com ments or q uestions regarding this project or w ho wou ld like to respond to the survey. Ra ndy An derson, the project manag er for Card , has been a rider , both o n- and off-road for 15 years, including five years of motocross racing in no rthern California , so you can be sure he would be a willing and un derstanding listener. He can be reached a t 916 /448-8308 , or 3101 " I" Str eet, Sac~amento, CA 95816. Dino Bo nos, Project Planner for the Parks Depart ment, can be reached at 707/ 527-2041. J OSEPH D. RODOTA Director, Sonoma County Regional Parks Department San ta Rosa, CA checkered flag. He began his strea k back in 1979, wh en a riding buddy Wall y Neal , approached him with the idea o f being a co-rider. Ap pa rent ly, it was a wise choice, because Dave's introd uction to SCORE ra cing resulted in a first pl ace effort . Sin ce hi s first race in '79, Dave h as made th e 290-mile annual event a so lo affa ir , dubbing him a true iron man. In Arizona desert raci ng, th is man o f steel chooses not to run with th e o thers in h is age bra cket, but with the you nger Expert s. He co nsis ten tly fin ish es in th e top five overall -at each ADRA event, al ways keeping his yearly number plate to a single digit. This year, h e cu rren tly holds the number five overall desert plate, while his son, Kent , holds the number one. Kent, we might add, fini shed second in Class 21 (250cc) of this year's Parker 400, after losing his lead, and a shot at the overall titl e, with a flat rear tire on the first Arizona loop. He , like his father, opted to solo the event with support given by Malcolm Sm ith Products, Halford's Arizona Husqvarna, and his many ADRA friends. We here at Malcolm Smith Products would again like to congratulate Dave Miller and offer him th e credit he deserv es as a respected desert racer and a motorcycling enthusiast. BILL L UCK San Diegol Arizona Sal es Rep Malcolm Smith Products Record books Parker, AZ, was the sight o f a new mark to be placed in the SCOREI Parker 400 h istory books . Dave Mill er, 44, from Scottsdale, AZ, riding for Jim Halford 's Arizona Husqvarna and Malcolm Sm ith Products, once again soloed th e event for a Class 38 victory. Ordinarily , th ewin might be overlooked, but in this case, th e victory marked his fifth straight Pinker 400 win in a row. Dave's win was not just handed to him either. In a field o f 17 Class 38 p~rticipants , mo st o f wh ich are ver y higb ly respected rac er s (i .e . J .N . Roberts, Max Switz er, etc., ), Dave not o n ly beat his op pone nts by to ta l elapsed tim e, but al so sta rted th e race in th e back lines and wound up finish ing as th e first Sen ior to receive th e H-D comment continues... In response to Mr. Dye' s letter in th e Feb . 16 issue of Cycle N euis, it must be remembered that with the cu rrent economic climate, all motorcycle manufacturers are suffering from the reduced market , not just HarleyDavidson. In Harley-Davidson's case, however, they are also suffering from th e unfair trade practices of the Japa nese manufacturers. A spokesman for Harley-Dav idson said at first it was thought that the J apan ese were si m p ly maintain in g production levels because o f their com mi tme nt to lifetime em p loyme nt . However , it became apparent that Japan ese motor cycle manufacturers had inst ituted unfa ir trade pract ices by irresponsibl y increasing the ir production and irn - ports to the U.S. despite a sign ifica nt drop in retail sales. It ca n be statistically shown th at with regard to pricing, Japanese motor cycles contin ue to be suspi cio usly lo w wh en co m pa red to J apanese im port car prices. In th e last five years Japanese car pri ces have ri sen a t a rate twice th at o f J apanese motorcycles, wh ich is o ne of th e reasons for th e. differ en ce in p r ice betw een Harley-David son and th e Japanese motorcycles. An d , as to the claim th at a favorable ru lin g by the Int ern at ional T rade Commission will do harm to the alrea dy slo w imported motorcycle bu sin ess, co nsider th is: If the J apa nese refuse to con duc t business respo nsi bly by contin ui ng to add to already irra tionally-overstocked inventories, a price war betw een all th e competing companies will result. Wh! le Harley-Davidson has nothing aga in st healthy price com pe tition , drastic price-cutting mov es by th e imports in order to desperately reduce . large inventories would produce dea ler profit margins that are thin, nonexistent, or negative. This wo uld weaken dea lerships, which would be unable to provide service after the sale and contri bu te to business failures . Again, th ese are a ll U.S. busines ses. Harl ey-Davidson is not askin g for . or do the y need, " ba ilo u t" in th e form o f federall y-guaranteed loans. Guess wh o would ultimately be fundin g suc h loans? U.S. taxpayers. In dustries in Japan enjoy th e luxury of being su bsidized by their govern ment, thus ha vin g no un em pl oyment and also h avin g a su bstantial advantage over U.S. fir ms in fu nding for research and development. A mo tor cycle man ufacturer does not su rvive for 80 years withou t p ro du cing a motorcycle of quality and dependabil ity that a p pea ls to a good sh are of th e market. And it ap pears th a t it is the japanese who are foll owing H arl ey-Davidson 's exa mp le in referen ce to V-twin s by ente rin g the V-rwi n mark et with " Mi lwa u kee stylin g.: America is a free mark et with regard to tr ade, but as Mr. McC oy men tioned in th e Feb . 16 issue, American products ca n no t be sh ip ped to Japan without excessive tariffs and trade restri ctions. Th e $19 billion trade deficit in Japan 's favor attests to that. No free and eq ua l world market can exis t with such in equalities. The Intern ational Trade Commission's recommendation proves that H arleyDavidson has a case and the President must cons ider U.S. industries and livelihoods first , just as Japan su pports its own inte rests. KERRY BRETHORST Wh ittier, CA Pub lished letters do not necessarily reflect the pos ition of Cycle New s. Inc. Send letters to Voices. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801 . Next week: Golden State Series finale!