Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

lived because it was low ered anot her seco nds to 2:13.08 by th e MRA's Bru ce Sass . By th e way, th e Formula I a nd III results weren 't even listed. What irk ed me a bou t the a rt icle is th at it was a t odds with wha t I actua lly sa w. an d I ha ve co me to expect the truth to be reported in Cycle N ews . TOM NICKELL Denv er. CO IW O F-1 vs. Superbike WEST America's' weekly motorcycle newspaper Sha ron Cl ayton . Pu bl isher Mik e Klinger . Co m p trol ler Skip j ohnson . A ssociate Pu blish er! Nationa l Salt' s Ma n ager Ca ro line C endrv . E Xf'cUlil.1t' St'cTt'ta ry to thr Pu blisher Edito rial J oh n Ul rich . Ed itor Kit Palmer . Associate Ed itor Mall H ilgen berg. As.w ei ali' Edi to r J im w olcou. Associate Editor Rex Reese. Feat u re Ed itor Advert ising T e-r y P rJ.lI. Salt's Al ano/{t'T r Mike Spencer , Sa lt's M a nag t' T T im R yan , Sa lt's M Otl a g t'T Linda Bro wn . A dver t isin g Coo rd in ato r Nan cy w astcl l. Adnertising l Ed itor ial A s.~ ;stant Graphics and Prod uct io n Lo ri T yson , G rap hi c A rtist L1.ITY Gill . Graphic Ar tist G ing-er Det'aul . Associate G rnjJhic A rtis t Ma ri on Hat ashua . T v pesru er Shei la La rse-n . T YPt'st'ttn Den ni s G reene . L ab. T ech, Accounting/Data Processing Do nn a Brya n . A ccounts R rcriva bte Coo rdinator Gen eva Re pass, A ssista nt Fran Hamwey, Credit Circulation Rh eba Sm it h. Manng r r Sa rah Taylor. A ssis tan t Lyna Hood, A ssista nt Dea ler Sa les and Service Bob Elliou, Deal" Sale.. M..,ag" Want Ad s Judy Hilgenberg. W ant Ad Sales Service and Support Chris Aitch eson, R ecept ionist Grego ry H anson. 56-5 West 220 1 Ch erry Ave.. Long Bea ch , CA 90806. P .O . Box 498. Lon g Beach . CA 9080 1-0498. (2 13) 427-7433; L.A . Line (213) 636-8844. east ' 4190 First Ave.• Tucker. GA. 30084. P.O . Box 805 . Tucker. GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850 . Cycle News/West (U SPS HI -340 ) is published weekl y exce p t the first and last week or the ca lend ar year for $25 per year by Cycle News . In c.. 220 1 Ch erry Avenue. Lo ng Bea ch . CA 90806 . Second cl ass pos tage paid a t Long Beach . CA . POSTMASTER: Send f orm 3579 to Cycle News. P.O. 80.498. Lang8eadl. CA 90801 -0498 . Subscript ion ra tes: One year. second cla ss mail , 525: two yea rs, second class mail . 545; three yea rs . second cla ss mail $68 ; 25 weeks , "$13. Foreign niles ava ila ble o n request. Cycle NM\o' S wel comes un sol icited editorial mater ial in cludi ng sto ries. C"dr IO O Il S. photos, etc, Such materi al. ir published . becomes th e exclusive pro~rty or Cycl e News. Su ch acce p ted mat eri al is subject rc revision as is n ecessa ry in the so le di scretion or Cycle News . U nsol icit ed mat eria l wh ich is not u sed w ill be returned if accom pa n ied by a self-ad dres sed stamped en velope. All unsol icited ma ter ial will be handled with reasona ble rare, how ever . Cycle News assu mes n o respo ns ib ility for the safet y, los s o r dam age to such m aterial . R eprinung in who le o r pa rt o n ly by J>l'r· m ission of th e p ubli sher. Advertis ing rates an d circu latio n inf orm ation will be scm u pon. request. See S.R.D .S. Copyrigh~ Cycle News. Inc. 1985. Trademark Cycle News registered U.S. Patent Offica . A ll rights reserved . ON T HE FRONT PAGE: Eddie Michetti styles on the new '85 CR250 Honda at DeAnza Cycle Parte. Test on t he CR begins on page 12. Photo by Kit Palmer. 4 Governor on OHVS I am pl eased to ha ve th is op po rtunity to sha re with yo ur readers m y Administration's com mi tme nt to o ffhighwa y ~ot or vehicl e recrea tion program s. The Stat e Division of O ff-Hi ghway Motor Vehicl e Recreati on is curr ently making su bsta ntia l p rogr ess to wa rd in creasing recreation a l op po rtu n ities for all o ff-h igh wa y ent h usia sts. A seven-member commission, supported by our Administrati on, was formed 10 study var ious aspects of the program, such as safe ty training, public p lanning meetings, recreational activity and user representation. We al so recognize the importance of acquiring new recreational areas so that off-highway road user s can enjoy their favorite pastime. We are p resently working 10 acquire 47,000 acres for off-highway recreational use in Fresno County, and we are exp loring the possibility of acquiring additional acreage statewide for this p urpose, incl udi ng 25,000 acres at Ocotillo Wells in southern Cal ifornia. The Adminstration also supports a grant a nd cooperative agreement program, whereby we work with the federal government and local agencies to use additiona l recreational lands. With th e support and input from readers of Cycle N ew s, as well as a ll other off-highway users, our Administration will do its best to continue improving th e faci liti es and opportunities availa ble for California's o ffhighway motor vehicle enth usi asts. GEORGE DEUKMEJIAN G overnor Sacram ento , CA Unhappy guy L a st year I a tten de d th e Grea t American Motorcycle Exposit ion in San Francisco a n d was grea tly di sappointed in th e lack of participation of motor cycle manufacturers a nd accesso ry suppliers. . This year was n o di fferent. In fact, this show was terrible. My thanks to those manufacturers such as Kawasaki, Yamaha , Mi chelin , Carlisle, BMW, Kosman and others who took the initiative to keep th e show from bein g a com p lete failure. Also a ro u nd o f appla use to Doug Domok os. I m yself drove 300 mil es (ro und trip ) to see a farce o f a motorcycle exposilion. Not on ly did th ey close th e expo a t 8;00 p .m, wh en adv ertised until 10:00 p.m., but again they co uld not ha ve a com pl ete showing of th e major motorcycle com panies . It is unfortunate tha t th e promoters GIn not make th e effort to produce a show worth paying for. I myself would be wi lling to pa y a fair amount in admi ssion to see a first- class show su ch as in Europe and not a halfa ssed a nd in complete show whi ch takes advantage of motorcycle enthusiasts such as myself. CHARLES PRICE Fo lsom, CA Setting the record straight I just finished reading J ohn Bu rrus' a rticle about la st month 's AFM I PRRO cha lle n ge races at P hoen ix Fir ebird Raceway for the umpteenth time. I couldn't put my finger on just wh at it was that irked me about th e art icle. What he wrote about was true... sort of - he had most of the facts down - sort of, and mi ssed a few key points - sort of. H ere' s what I saw happen con cernin g th e Championship Cup Seri es Endurance o pe ner. It would be of interest to note that Team Lockhart's tri ck 900 N inj a was being cha lle nged for th e overa ll win by a .bo x stock FJ600 Yamah a in th e cap ab le hands o f T eam Spirit's Bru ce Sass a n d T om Marquard t. No word wa s mentioned th at T eam Sp ir it's FJ600 won th e six-hour GTU class . As th e cha llenge sprint ra ces held o n S un day , so me credit is due to th e dozen roa dr acers from Colorad o wh o rep resented the Mountain Roadracin g Assn . (MR A). Of th e n in e events th ey pa rt icipa ted in , th ey brought home three seco n ds . a nd five thirdpl ace tro phies, plus second overall in th e six- ho ur. Con cerning records... Scott 'G ray sha ved 2.5 seconds off th e old 2:18 record whi ch was set two weeks ea rlier by th e MRA's Bob Burk ler Scott Gray 's record lime was short I have been reading a bou t th e F-I vs. Superbike a t Daytona quest ion for some time n ow an d I think we a re a ll mis sing th e point. Wh y isn't th e p rem ier event a t th e Speedw eek a bon af ide 500cc World Ch ampionship event? Facto ry participation in F-l is fallin g. Why? T oo expens ive for th e retu rn in adv ertising! If th e advert isin g were taking p lace in th e number o ne motor cycle ma rket in th e world perhaps the return on inv estment would be bett er. I ca n ' t beli eve tha t with promotion by th e AMA . the FIM . Da ytona Speedway. Yamaha and H onda - Formula I wouldn't dr aw th e biggest cro wd ever. With Yamaha pl astering Kenn y a nd Eddi e and Wayn e's faces a ll over a nd Honda doing th e same with Freddi e a nd Randy, with the usual Bad Guy vs. Good Guy h ype th at they push in their MX an d flattra ck ad s, it co u ldn ' t lose. If we want F-I to be popular in the USA we'r e going to have to have a race here so o ur.guys can kick ass in front of a home-town cro wd. One of th e reasons wh y autom obile F-I isn't doing well h ere is th at Phil Hill , Dan Gurney and Ri chie Ginther wer e born too soon. I hope we won 't have to say that a bo u t o u r cu rrent cro p of world beaters. Keep up th e good work - weekl y news, not month ly history. JIM DINCAU Lake View Terrace, CA Rothmans It was nice to read in the February 13 issue that Ro th mans International will be sp onsor in g Team Honda and Freddie Spencer in th e 500cc Grands Prix. Bu t your statement, "T h is marks Roth rna ns' first venture into raci ng," is hardly accura te. Ro th man s International has sponsored the World Endurance Championship-wi nni ng956 Porsche factory cars with drivers Derek Bell . J a cky Ickx a nd Stephan Bell of and Jochen Mass th e past two years , 1983 and 1984. They won LeMa ns in 1983. Also sponsored the Jacky Ickx team Porsche 911 tha t won Paris-to-Dakar 'in 1984. Sponsors need credit due if we expect more in motorcycling. Thank s. JIM GIANATSIS Gianatsis Design Van Nuys, CA This is Cycl e News. n ot Car N ews ; Rothman's invo lve men t w ith HR C is th e com pan y's fir st involvem en t uiith. motorcycle racin g... Ed itor. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters for publica tion must be typed and double-spaced; short. concise letters stand a better chance of being published; due to the volume of mail no letters can be returned or acknowledged , Send letters to Voices. P.O . Box 498, Long Be ach, CA 90801.

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