Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- wholesome-living image. T his may be true, but we face a bigger problem in o ur midst - clean living does n 't seem lO keep certain racers from racing for th e enjoy me nt of or in the pa y o f the much-hated South Africans. How will it look wh en it is pointed o ut th at, uniquel y in a ll sport s of maj or a tte nda nce and wh en every o ther sport ing federation worth its name won 't permit its members lO even enter So u th Africa, o urs ra ce th ere every year under th e name of the AMA and FIM ? And, needless to say, is th e Christian bel ief of a certain racer (wh ich surely sho u ld cry out for justice under God 's will for th e ensla ved ma sses o f Black South Africa ) weak er th en his desire for th e monetary recom pe nse availa ble at this ven ue? It wa s noted that T ak azum i Kataya ma skip ped the South African GP for " politica l" reasons. Good lO see that so meo ne is a wa ke O U I there, a lt hough this is not a po liti ca l issue bu t a moral one. Fin ally, anybody who thinks " Let' s keep poli tics out of raci ng" never dea lt with the AMA or th e FIM . Bo th are politica l organizations, and both shou ld loo k to their heart s and min ds befo re world opinion chastises the m. NO RMAN E. GAINES J R . Hartsdale, NY WEST America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sharo n Clavron . Pu blisher MiJ..t" Klin gff,Complrolln Skip J ohnson , Assoc iate P ubl ish rr t N ational Sales ManaK" Ca roline Gendry . Execu t ive Secretary to thr Publish" Editorial J ohn Ulri ch. Editor . Kit Palmer, A ssociate Ed itor Mati Hil g berg, 'Associate Editor en J im Wolcon. A ssociate Edito r Pau l Ca rru the rs, Associate Editor Advertising T~rry Pr;lII , Sa lt's Managt'T T im Ryan . Salt' s Ma nagn Mark Thorn e, Sa lt'S ManaK~r Li nda Brown . Advert ising Coordina tor Na ncy WaSldl, A dvntising lEdito rial Assistant Graphics and Production Ginger DeVaul: Graphic Artist Ma lcol m w ilson . G rnphic Artist M;lrion H ara..hi ta. T vp eseu er Ca rol yn Bra nh am . T vp rseu er Den n is Greene. La b. T ech. Accounting/Data Processing Don na Brya n. Accounts R eceiva ble Coo rdi nato r Gen eva Repass, Assistant Fran Hamwey. Credit Circulation Rbe ba Smi th . .\lanaKt'T Sarah T aylor. Ass istant Lyna Hood. A ssistant Rebecc Braa k, An isln'll a Alma Ang u ia no, Assistant Dealer Salesand Service Bob Elli o ll, Dealer Sau-.~ Managn Want Ads Steve Gr uner, Wa nt Ad Sales Service and Support Chris Aitcheson . R ecept ionist e n'Rory H anson. SbS West 220 1 Che rry Ave., Lo ng Beach . CA 90806 , P.O . Box 498. Long Beach. CA 9080 1·0498 (2 13) 427·7·1 33: LA Li ne 636·884-1 . East 4190 First An '.• T uc ker. G A. 50084, P.O . Box 805. T ucker, GA 30085-0805. (4tH) 934·7850. Cydr New !t/ Wn.1 (US PS 141-340 ) is published weekl y excep t the fiN a n d last week o f th e ca lenda r vear for $25 pe r yea r by Cycle Nrws.lnc.• 2201 O1 erry Avenue.Long Beach . CA 90806 . Seco nd class po sta ge pa id OIl Long Beach . CA. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle News P.O. Box 498. Long . Beach. CA 90801-0498. Subscription ra tes: One year, second class mail. S25; IWO years, second class mail, S4:;; three y ears, second class ma il. $68; 25 weeks, S13. Fore ign ra tes availa ble o n request. C yd r News wel com es un soh ci ted eduoria l ma terial includ in g sto ries, ca rtoons. ph ot os , etc. Such mat er ial . i f publi shed . beco mes tt\(o exc lus ive proprl'ly of C)'CIt" Ne ws. S uc h acreped mat erial is subj ect 10 n:v isio n a~ is n ecessary in l1K' so le d iscretion o f Cycle N~. U nsohcited mater ial wh ich isnOl used will be returned if accompa nied by a self add ressed sta mped en velo pe . All un sol icited material will be handled with reasona ble ca re. however , C ycl e New s a ssu mes no responsibi fitv Ior th e safety. fo ss o r dama ~ 10 such mat eri a l. Rep rin n ng in whol e.' or pan onl y by permis..ion of the publ isher . Ad\n1isinK ra tes and circu la tio n iniormation will besent upon re ue t. See S.R.D.5 . q s Copyright Cycle News Inc. 1985. . Trademark Cycle News registered U.S. PatentOflice. All rights reserved. O~ THE FRONT PAGE: Randy Mamola caught in action at the South African GP. Mamola interview begins on page 24, Photo by Gavin Stapleton . 4. Riders beware' As an ATV ent husiast wh o testified a t the seco nd CPSC hearing in Dall a s, [ wis h lO warn yo u of a n im mediate danger. T he da ng er is you r lack of co n cern over th is cr itic l a issue. If you think you ca n j us t sit back a nd wait till thi s th in g blow s o ver. you are sadly mi staken . You won 't h ave a three-wheeler lO ride in a year. Stu art " Ba n 'em " Sta tler , th e self-ap po inted leader o f the lyn ch in g, is moving westw ard, He co ntinu es lO dramatize .th e injured by ignoring facts and insi sting that crashes due lO rider ignorance (n o helmet, no traini ng , n o safety apparel ,' ridi ng double, or drinking) a re in fact due to som e unknown design flaw in the three-wheeler. \\ Prio r lO the hearing in Dallas, Mr . Statler ha d ca lled for.a ban and reca ll on numerous occasions. In Da llas ; he modified his strategy o f a tt ack. Throughout the day he would as k ATV su p porte rs " Don't you feel th at the public deserves a sa fer ATV, deserve s a vehicle th at will do what it was designed lO do? " Several supporters, nervous u nd er th e pressure of the lights, videotaping a nd a udience, an d thinking th ey were making a positive sta teme nt for safety, would. in fact . fall victim to Statler's plan. They would say "Yes." We are all in favor of making our sport safer , but by sa ying yes to th e loaded question, the en th usiast was act ually stating that current ATVs a re not safe. This is just what Statler wants. If cu rren t ATVs are judged to be unsafe or possi ng some design flaw, th ey will be recalled or banned. When I challenged Mr. Statler abou t the res tricted memo and his ca lls for a ban, he denied it a ll. H owever , if yo u ' read his opening rem arks to th e hearing, he u rges a reca ll right now. I urge each of you to do something a bo u t th is serious matter. Write a letrer 10 your Congressman cha llen g in g . Mr. Statler 's betr ayal o f the public .trust. Or writ e to the CP SC so th at yo ur feelings will become pa rt o f th e p ublic record . Ca ll a nd request to spea k a t o ne o f the fut u re hearin gs. Your input ca n m ak e a d ifferen ce. T he ot he r Commissio ners a p pea r to be ho n or a ble in the searc h for the facts. But Statler's acti o ns, unch allenged. could en d it a lL · Righ t n ow, we sti ll ha ve a cho ice. A choi ce lO ri de a three-wheeler or four-wheeler. A cho ice free o fgovern ment regulations. It has been th e industr y's choice lO imp leme nt safety p rograms a nd provide training as th e means o f reducing injury. Don't let Sta tler win this war. Don't let ridi n g a n ATV become just a fond mem or y of day s gon e by. Speak out now. CRAIG H AIRST O N Owner , Southwest ATV' P lan o , TX Repacking silencers La tely it has been bro ught to our attention that due to the recent land closings th e Forest Service is cracki ng down on noise co nt ro l, spark a rrestor installation, etc., when riding on USFS parks. Enclosed you will find an information card tha t goes in all Answer Prod ucts exhaust components, pipes, mufflers, spark arrestors, and spark arrestor add-ons , For maximum noise reduction and performance it is imperative that yo ur silencer be re packed at least every eight hours of operation. This holds .true for any sile ncer or spark arrestor that uses glass packing, Answer, Rich ter, O EM or wha tever other type the co nsumer's bike may ha ve on it. H opefull y you can find room in your in for mation section to try and ed ucate the con sumer by makin g the m aware o f this fact . Answer sells a repacking ki t for $5.95 . Bu t any fiberglass insulation wo ul d work effective ly. Than ks fo r your coopera tio n in th is. RO D ANASTASIA Answer Products. Inc. Va lencia, CA Boycotting South Africa You recently noted th at in th e U .S. o ur motorcycl e ra cers don't get enough publicity for their clean-cut, Racing people While a t th e AMA area qualifier in Byro n , Illino is I was reminded of how good -hea rted true raci ng people are. We had blown a shock o n our racebike a nd didn't have a spare. T he re was a no ther mota in 45 minu tes so the work in th e p its was fever is h. My o ldes t son rushed the trashed shock to the factor y sup port truck .o n ly to be told th at they couldn't help in th e shan time left before the next class. : Over -h earing th e problem we were havin g a member of the Stahlman famil y ru sh ed back to their pit and wi thin moments showed up at our truck with a sh ock in han d , even though m y son was competing in th e sa me class as their son . T hey loaned us the parts to get back into th e race. The Stahlrna ns, who race ou t of J&W Cycle Sh o p in Wasington, Missou ri, (Loy d , Billie,Mark, Gregg and Mi ke) are prime exa mples of a racing family. Good competit ion and good fol ks. . Thank yo u again for your hel p , Loyd, and good luck in T exas. T H E T O M MO NTGOMERYS Col um bia, MO Results I look forw ard each week to receiving Cycle News and especially ap preciate yo u r fine coverage of the d esert races. I hope you will continue to include Beginners in your Results co lu m n. as yo u did in the May 15 issue. for your results reach me long before I receive them from the race organizers. MI KE McKEEVER #406 Pica R ivera , CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Letters for publication 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 Beach, CA 90801 .

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