Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Th e $7 .5 million development wou ld more th an double th e state's OHV parkland. OHV o wne rs are ent h usiastic a bo u t thi s pro ject a nd a re awa iting results from a n Enviro n menta l Impact Report st udyi ng th e p ro posa l. If th e acq u isiti o n is a p proved , th e n ew park sh o u ld o pen th e end o f thi s year. As your Assemblyma n , I a m co n cerned a bo u t th e need s a nd interests o f OHV o wn ers. I enco urage you to ex p ress yo ur o pi n io ns to me. WEST G IL FERG USON Mem ber o f the Assem bly 70th Distric t Sta le Capitol Sacramento, CA 958 14 America' s w eekly motorcycle newsp ap er Sha ro n C lay ton. Pu bl ish er MiL.t' K l i n ~. Co m pl ro l l.n Skip Johnson . A ssoc iate P ublisbert N at ional Sa lt's M ana1{t'1' Ca ro line Gc.'ndf}l. Exrcutioe St'f'rt't ary to thr Pu blishrr Assemblyman Ferguson recentl y sent th is letter to one of his cons tituents ... Editor . Editorial Ward at Rose Bowl J ohn Ulrich. Editor Kit P iIIOin'. Associa te Edit or Malt Hi lgen berg . Asso ciote Ed itor J im Wo k ot t, Associntr Edi tor Paul Ca rr ut he rs, A ssoc iate Editor Advertising T erry Prun Sa les .\1an ogn T im Rya n . Sa lt's Managn :\ta rk T horn e. Salt's M anager Linda Brown Advertising Coo rdinator ~a ocy Wastt'l l. Ad vertising /Edit oriei Assistant Graphics and Production Gi ng cr Dev aul . Prod uct ion M a,aa gtT Ma lcol m Wilson . Gra ph ic Artist Nate Ra uba , Assistant M.lr ion Hataehita. TYPt' t.'tlt'T s Ca ro lyn Branha m . T YINMttl!T Dennis Gn'me.LAb. T rch: Account ing/Data Processing Donna Brya n, Acrounts R n n lJd blt' Coordina tor Gcnc:-\'a Re pa ss. A ssistant Fra n Ha m....-ev. Cudit Circul ation Rh eba Smi th • .\Ia na Kt'T Sarah Tay lo r, Ass isuuu L yna H ood. Assista nt Rr br"CGI Braak. Assista nt Aim a Anguiano . Assisumt Dealer Sales and Service Bob Elli olt. lH"ln- Selrs MntU2Kn' Want Ads Ca nd y Hand. ara tlt .i d Snit'S Service and Support Ch ris Ah cbeson . R ecept io n ist Leona rd Herri n g , SirS West 220 1 Cherr y A Vl' " Lo ng Beach . CA 9OH06, 1'.0. Box 498, Lo ng- Beach. CA 9O OI· 0498 H (2 13) 127· 7433; L A Lim' 636·88+1. Eas t ·1190 FirM Avc., T ucker . G A. 30081. P.O . Bo x 805. T ucker , GA 300H5· 0H 05. (4lHI 934· 7850. Cvr te Ne w , / W"" (USPS 141-3'10) is published wt't'klyexce p t the firs t a nd la st week o r (he ca lendar year fo r $25 per year by Cycle N ~ 5 . lnc.. 2201 Ott'TT) ' Avenue, Lon g Be ach . CA 9OR06. Seco nd da \!i. postage p aid a t Lo ng Beac h . CA. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle News. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801-0498. Su bscnpuon ra -es: One ve r, seco nd da!i.s a ma il. $25; tw o )·t'an" !'JI('('Ond c1a~ ma il. 545; th ree ) 'l"".tn.. . seco nd class ma il. $68: 25 weeks, SI3 . FOn"iRO rates av lab le on request. ai Cyc le Nnts welco mes unsol ici ted editorial ma terial incl udi ng stories, cartoons, ph ot os , r ic. Such ma ter ial, if published. bec om es th e excl usi ve p ro per ty o f Cvc le :'\l'W 5. Su ch acce pt ed ma teria l is su bjec t to revision as i!lo necessary in rhe so le di scre tio n of Cyc le :--:t'W ~ . U nsohc u ed m at er ia l wh ich i~nol used will be returned ir accompa nied by a .!ot'lf add res sed sta m ped en velo pe . All unsolicit ed mat eria l will be ha ndled with reasona ble ca re , h owe ve r , Cycl e N ew s a ss u me s n o respom ibrluv for ll1('~ fe'I )' , lm~ o r damaK~ to such ma te ria l. Repr tm in g in w bo le or part onl)·I".·permission ol the-pu bli sher . Ad \1:"11i..in g ru te-s a nd ci rcu bu io n in fo rmation will be 'toI:01 upo n rrq ut-!lo l. Sc.'t'S .R.O.s. " Copyright ®Cycle New s. lnc. 1985. Trademark Cycle News registered U.S. Patent OffICe. All rights reserved. ON T HE FRONT PA GE : Suzuk i. KT M an d Kawasaki have released their line-up of 1986 motocrossers. in cluding the RM25 0 (top) . the all -new KTM 80M X (cent er) and the radical KX 1 2 5 . For a lo ok at the new MXers. see page 1 4 . 4 Indian Dunes Sorry to be th e bea rer o f bad new s but Indian Dunes ha s co n firmed that they will not re-open because o f liabil ity p roblems a nd perceiv ed legal ex pense despit e o u r man y effo rt s to assu me res pons ibi lit y. I ha ve directed Ral ph Cr yder. Los An geles Co unty Pa rk s a nd Recr ea tio n Directo r to co nt in ue o ur search to u tili ze fu ndin g to in cr ea se o ur OR V o p port u n i ties. MI CHAEL D. ANTON OV ICH Super viso r. Fift h Distr ict Boa rd of Su pe rv isors Cou nt y o f Los Angeles L os Angeles. CA ATV hearings I a ttended th e C PSC's AT V sa fety hearing in Concord. New Ham psh ire. What an ed uca tio n ! I mus t co n fess th a t before h ea ring Stua rt M. Statler. I felt tha t he co u ld n' t possi bly be as bad as th e p ress sa id (a fter a ll , the press wa s o n th e side o f th e ATV people ). Well , Sta tler is worse than a n y paper h as printed. . In hi s o peni ng sta temen t. he sa id . " . .. it a ppears th at the co n fig u ralion or design ma kes them unreaso nabl y dangerous." (O f course he 's no t su p posed to pass judgment unt il th ese hea r in g s a re o ver .) Stat ler is determined to find fault with the design desp ire testi m ony by m a n uf act urer s, rid ers. dea lers , a nd doctors a nd n urses. Docto rs test ified th at man y o f the inj ur ies co u ld have been prevented by th e use o f h el mets, boots. etc. Bu t desp ite a ll th e testimon y, Statle r in sis ted o n gri f ling everyo ne a bo u t the des ig n - ca ll i ng them a n unforgiv- ing veilicle. T he n he had t he n er ve 10 wa lk o UI o n th e hea r in g a fte r we deal er s gave o u r presentation. T he dea ler panel ists pointed o u t sa fety a nd ed ucation as th e key to reducing inj uries. Statler insisted we had a co m m un ica tio n problem a nd stormed o u t o f th e h ea ring. The o n lv co m m u n ica tio n problem is h is; he isn 't hea rin g what he wants (Q h ea r . a n d t herefore h e h ears no th in g. Per ha ps as fr us trating a s th e end- ing wa s the fact that o n ly a h andful o f deal er s (other than th e p a nel ists) showed up. What is wrong with all those deal er s who a re selli ng ATVs as fast a s th ey ca n get th em ? Apparently. no o ne thi n ks th at th e threa t o f a ban is ser io us? Orall th e o ther regu lations Sta tler is suggesti ng? Come o n dealers, wa ke up! T h is h earing wo ke me up to many th in gs. S ta tler is a real th rea t. T h e go vernment h earings ma y exist, bu t th ey need people to get involved . Dea lers a nd peo ple shou ld a ttend j us t to see what goes o n . Bel ieve me, it's a n ed uca tio n . DON NA M . OS O WS KI Bob 's C ycles So u th br idge. MA ' Letter from California Assemblyman Ferguson T h e lack o f o ff-h ig hway vehicle ' sa fety is becomin g a ser io us problem. Injuries a re co m mon and so me p arks are threat en ed with closure because o f lawsuits by inj ured driver s a nd riders. . T he dra ma tic in crease in a ll-terra in veh icle acc idents from a p p ro xima tely 8550 in 1982 to mor e th an 54,000 in 1984 demonstrates th e need for better OHV sa fety progra ms. Safet y edu ca tion p rograms wo uld ben efit OHV owner s. For th ese reaso n s, the Leg islatu re is co n sider in g AB2235 w hi ch would a lloca te u p to $300.000 of off-h ig h way veh icl e funds for vo lu nt a ry OHV safety ed uca tio n programs. A second bill affecting O H Vowne rs is ABl201. T h is measure wo u ld pe rmi t local a ut hor ities to designat e com bined -use h ighwa ys whi ch reg ula r hi ghwa y veh icles a nd O H Vs co u ld both sa fel y use for up to three mi les . ABI20 1 would permi t OH Vs to access recrea tio n, lodging. a nd ser vice facilities th at ca n n o t be reach ed under current la ws wh ich p rohibit O RV s o n h igh wa ys witho u t DMV ident ification pl at es or reg istra tion . Fi na lly, th e Off-H ighwa y Veh icle Recreati on Division of th e Dep a rt meru o f Pa rks a nd Recreat ion is in th e p rocess o f acq ui ring 47.000 ac res in Fresn o, kn own as th e Ma rt in Ra n ch . for a n O RV park. At th e Rose Bowl, J eff Ward rode backwards o n th e track after cras h in g during his qualifier. H e was protest ed . but th e p rotest was th rown o u t. J eff Ward has been ripping th e N at ional a n d superc ross circu it to pi eces a ll year long . a nd has become o ne of th e fastest riders o f th e 1985 sea so n. Bu t Ward made a mistake at th e Ro se Bowl. The sa me mistake that Glov er made a t Carlsbad this year a n d Magoo made a t Saddleback in '83. Both Glov er and Magoo were disqualified for thei r mistakes. If 0 .]. Sim pso n ran a touchdown from en d zone to en d zone to win th e game, but m ade the m istake of step ping o u t of bo u nds . th e to uchdown wo u ld not be a llowed. Let 's ge t professiona l, AM A. a nd stay consis tent! When the rules were broken o n the fourth down, yo u shou ld have given the ball to Gl ov er. My sincere co n gra tu la tio ns to both rider s for a fin e sea so n of exci ti ng ra cmg. DREW LIEN President, 100% Products Ca noga Park , CA F-1 sideshow I just read a bo u t F-I bei ng rel ega ted to "sides how sta tus ." I was luck y e no ug h to be a t La guna Seca thi s year and sa w Kenny , Ra nd y a nd Mike do their thing. Can you im ag in e what ir would ha ve been lik e if Freddie a n d Eddi e had been th ere too? I ca n 't imagine a ny of th ese guys riding a su p port race a nd I don ' t blame th em. Does this mean we won 't see a ny o f them race in this cou n try agai n? We hav e the best riders in th e world, o n th e m ost exotic machinery, but n o place for them to ride in thei r own co u n try. What a sha me. Why not try to bu ild up Formula One, bring so me Europeans o ver a nd wor k o n a w orld c ha m pi o ns h i p ro u nd . Superbikes a re g rea t but F-I is the cr ea m . LO U SNEDDEN Elk horn , KY Published letter s do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. I n c . Letters for p ublication must be typed and d o uble -spa ced ; short. concise letters st an d a better c hance o f being p ublished ; due t o the v olu m e of m ail no letters ca n be returned o r acknowledged. Send letters to Voices . P.O. Bo x 498. L o n g Beach. CA 90801 .

• Cover