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/126632
, .. I would like to thank all of the racers and m y fri ends by writing this poem for th em. I am a Powder Puff Intermediate, And I would not be where I am if it was not for th eir support and caring: A prayer to a ll m y fri end racers .God, p lease keep them safe, in practi ce and in every race. Watch th eir turns and all th eir berms, help th em see wh at they must face. Ma y th e sun shine inside them on th e cloudiest da y, for th ey are racers, a nd that's th e racer 's wa y. _ Wh en their holeshots seem slow, and th e jumps won 't fly, .; help them rem ember to shoot lo r " l!. th e sky. I kn ow , dear Lord, they can 't al - 1 ays • WEST America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sharon Clayton. Publisher Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to the Publisher Li sa Sch orr, Advertising/Editori al Assistant. WIn ; Editorial Dal e Brown, Sen ior Editor. Lance Bryson. Edit or . Karel Kram er. Edi tor. David Edwards Editor . Advertising Skip Johnson. National Sales Manager. T er ry Pratt, Sa les Manager . Du an e J o hn son , Sal es Manager. Steve Wil son , Sa les Manager . Li nd a Brown . Advert ising Coo rd ina tor. Nancy Danger. Advertisin g Assistan t. DAWNITA FARRIS Stockton, CA Graphics and Production Kristin Cooper. Gr aphic Artist. Ron a Kramer, Assistant. Mari on Ha tash ita. Typography . Dennis G reene. La bor a to ry. Accounting /Data Processing Mike Klinger. Control ler. Don na Bryan. Accoun ts R ecei vabl e Coordi nator . Ge neva Repa ss, Assista nt . Terry Dail ey, Credit Ma na ger. Circulation R h e ba Smith , Manager. M iche ll e Hanna . Sarah T aylor, Debb ie Wal ker, Lyna Hood. Assista nts . Want Ads Loah Corry, Want Ad Sales. Dea ler Sales and Service Na ncy Emde Bro gger, Deal er Sa les Man ager. Service and Support Chris Aitch eson. Recep tion ist. G regory Han son , S&S. We st 2201 Cherry Ave.. Lo ng Beach . CA P.O . Box 498, Lo ng Beach . CA 90801· 0498 , (213) 427-7433; L.A. Line 636·8844. East 4190 First Ave.• T ucker, GA . P .O . Box 805. T ucker, G A 30084-()805. (404) 934-7850. Cycle News/ West (U SPS 111·340) is published weekl y exce p t the first a nd last week of th e calenda r year for $20 per year by Cycle News, In c.. 2201 Ch erry Avenue. Long Beach ,CA 90806. Secon d class postage pa id a t Long Beach . CA. POSTMASTER : Send form 3679 to Cycle News. P.O . Box 498. Long Beech. CA 90801-0498. Subscription rates: One year, second class mail. $20; two years, second cla ss mail , $35: three years, seco nd class mai l. $53; 25 weeks. $11. Foreign ra tes a vailable o n request. Cycle News welcom es unsol icited editor ial material including stori es, cartoons, ph otos. etc. Suc h mat erial. if published. beco me s the exclusive pr operty of Cycle New s. Such accepted mat erial is su bject to revision as is necessar y in the sole d iscretion of Cycle News. U nso licited mat erial whi ch is not used will be returned if accompa ni ed by a self addressed stamped enve lope . All un so licited material will be handled with reason able care, however. Cycle News as sumes no responsibility for th e safety, loss or damage to suc h mat eri al. Reprinting in whole or part only by pe rm ission of the publish er. AdventsinK ra tes and circulation information will besent u pon req uest. See S.R .D.S . Copyright$ Cyc le News, Inc . 1983. Tredemerk Cycle News reg istered U.S . Petent Office. A ll rights reserved. 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE : Tracy Meeks work. out on the KX260 and vice verlll. Photo by Kllrel Kramer. , guide th em to see that that's no ! a sin, and that no one is perfect , yet they only try. ~ Never a llow th eir sp irits to die. I ask a lot, Lord, and I ask it e;very . da y, because I know that you help in th e best possible way! •T Swedish speedway fan No more deadlines I never dreamed th at a temporary two-week job testing motorcycle in 1973 for Hi-Torque Publicat ions, would evo lve into a 10-year editorial career. It has now ended as Editor/ Associate Publish er of Mot ocross a nd Mot ocross A ction Ma gazines. T o put it in th e words o f o ur new publish er, " It is tim e for a parting or th e ways." My philosophical d ifferences with th e new editor of MXA and the publisher have ca used thi s si tua tio n, but it is some th ing I'm quite content with. It ha s been an in teresting a nd fulfillin g job expe rience during th ese last 10 years a nd, excep t for th e last year, I have had th e ed itorial freedom to sa y and do the things I thought .necessa ry to help th e sport o r motocro ss and the motorcycle .ind ustry grow. An added plus for me was th e realization o f a persona l goa l o f having an American m otocross team become World Champions by winn ing the Motocross and Trophee des Nations when so man y said it couldn ' t be done. It was especialI y rewarding to help bring this about because of the response and assista nce of so many others who felt th e same wa y I did and supported efforts of myself and others. It was truly a team victory for all. Thanks for that. As I empty m y desk I'm also in th e middle of packing my son, Rick, off to England where he'll be riding for the Coventry team in British League speedway. I think his involvem ent with motorcycles, motocross and growing up in this industry ha s made him a better p erson a n d a good example to other parents new to motorcycling, who are concerned with th eir children's preoccupation with the sport. . It's been fun . See ya at th e races! DICK MILLER Encino, CA Speaking back to Har ley In response to last week's "Harley Speaks Back" letter, it will be very interesting to hear the comments of Harley -Davidson a year from now 'when their non-competitive protected product is still n.at moving. PAT GRIFFIN Suggestions for the Camel Pro Series I strongly agree with Lou Sn edden 's open letter to Camel Pro race rs, fans, promot ers and th e AMA . An y rider wh o co ntes ts th e series kn ow s all too well that $20 in winnings just isn ' t going to cu t expenses. Is it a ny wo nde r th at fla t-trac king m ay be losing fu tu re tal en t. Wh o wants to enter a sport that po tentia lly is going to break yo u? . We in th e rea lm o f cycle racing often find fault with our rival brethren in th e four-wheel raci ng ga me, but a t least th eir sanct io n ing o rga n izations see to it that any gu y wh o plucks his butt in th e driver 's sea t a nd is th e who le sh ow , ge ts more than $20 to tak e home for ri sking his life. Many times whi le traveling th e circuit, I'v e seen riders wait hours into the night to be paid off; a nd for $20? Come on AMA, this has to cease. Come on fans! As Lou sta ted , a lousy $1 added to ticket prices won 't hurt. Come o n Tvshirt vendors I Most fans leave with yo ur products, how a bo u t $2 from each shirt sale going to the rid ers? It won 't kill you. Promoters, let's start ap p recia ting the stars of th e show. Without the riders the stands don 't get pa cked and yo u don't get a paych eck either. Let 's make it worth everyone 's while. Fans, let's get our heads together. Let's come up with ideas and let's write them in to " Vo ices." It only costs 20 cents. That 's not much . Consid er th e rider who blows a motor putting on a heck of a show for you, a nd then receives only $20 to get home and fix th e bik e. How would you feel? ED L. DO ER ING Milwaukee, WI Kind motocrossers I have been raci ng for about three years. I live in nort hern California and ride AMA District 36. Over these years, I have met th e most wo nderful people I have ever known. They are terrific. T here have been many that have done a lo t for me, and p robab ly a lot o f o ther pe ople as well. Motocross people and racers have to be th e kindest pe ople in the world. I'm a Swedish spe edway fan. I'm 17 year s o ld , and I'd like to excha nge letters with speedway fans worldwide. I'm a gr eat ran o f Bru ce PenhaII a nd I a lso lik e Bobby Schwartz, SteveCfesha m , Les Coll in s, th e Moran brothers and Tony Briggs . HELENA PETERSO Attungsgatan 7 S-602 12 Norrkoping Swed en Bridgestone help ' I was recentl y giv en a motorcycle, a BS350GTR Bridgestone, a nd I'd like to restore it . Could yo u pleas e send me any information you might have on the Bridgestone; i.e., d eal ers, new and used parts, who to contact? r F.B. CALDWELL Rt. 2, Box 2 Montgomery Creek, CA , , .Published letters do not necessari ly reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Send letters. to Voices, Box 49B, Long Beach. CA 90801 .