Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ler 's fund . It is o ur hope tha t no more rid ers w ill ever be h urt lik e h im or Donnie H ansell ever aga in . eithe r in side o r ou tside o f stad iums . We d on' t feel it's fa ir th at a rider shou ld be co m mi tted to race o n tracks th at wer e desi gned fo r the crash -o rient ed a n d accident -anticipati ng specta tor, H ere's toa safe 1986 year for spectato rs and riders. t.O 00 - C IN DY AN D MIK E SMIT H North Bend, O R 0') NATIONAL America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Sh aron Cla yton . Publisher M ik(' K l i n ~ . Com ptroller Ski p j oh nso n . AS.t M ;at,. Publish"' N.t;on al Sd~S Managr,' Jack :\(a ngus.IAs.soc-iatr Publish er! S en ior Editor Rb eba Smi th , Cir cu lation Ma "agt'T Carol ine Ce ndry . Exe cutive S,.crt'tary to tht' Publisher Edito rial J oh n Ulrich. Editor Kit Palmt'r,' Associa lt' Editor Matt H ilgenberg, A ssociate Edi tor Pau l Carr uthers. Associa te Edi tor Farre n Will iam s. A sso ciat e Edi tor Advartising Terry Pra ll, Wt'.I tt'Tn Sa lt's ManaK'" Tim Rya n. U',.l ln n Sa lt's Mana g,., Ma rk Thome. Wt'stt'm Sales M anagn Milt' Church. Eastern Sal~s Managn H ila ry Brown. Eastern Sal~s ManQ/{tT Thomas R. GOOl('r . Eastern Sole s ManaKtT Linda Brow n. It'~sttTn Ad. Coordinator Car la Borden, Sastrm Ad. Coordinator SanC1' Wasld l. AdUN'tising lEditor ial AnI. Grap hi.,. a nd Production G in ger Machado. Prod ucti on M ana K"' Ma lrolm Wilson . Graphic Art iJt Dia na H ilgen berg , G rap hic Art ist ~I a ri on Hat as bita, T'YfN.~tttT Carol yn Branham. TYP~JdUr [Xonni, Gree ne, Lab. T echnician Accounting /Oata Process ing Donna Bryan. AeelS. R «~iva b u- Coordiniuor (;('nn:a Repa ss, Assista nt Fran Ham wey, Crt>dit Circulation Sar.dl Tay lor A.u;J:tatit AIm •• Auguiauo Assistant LiIllLll.arfl;lrripa A ssi.~'n"t Clw ri Chapma n A ssistant Wa nt Ads Sian Bem l1'o."t Ad Saln Sarvice and Support Chris Aircheson ••H eadquarters R ecept ionist Leonard Herring, Se rvice a rid S u pport National Haadquartars 2201 Ch err y Ave.• Lon g Beach , CA 90806; maili ng ad d ress P.O . Box 498. Lo ng Beach. CA 9080 1-0498: 2 13/427·7 433. 213/636-8844 . Eastern Offica 4190 Finl Ave.• T ucker. CA 30084; mailin g add, ess P.O. Box 805. T ucker. GA 30085· 0805; 404/934·7850. C,T! t' l"\l:'WS (U SPS 14 1 ~ 340' is published weeklv exce pe th e fiut a nd lasl week o f theca lenda r year for S25 JX'ryea r by Cvcle New s, Inc.. 2201 Ch erry Avenu e, Long Brach. CA 90806. Second class post age paid at Long Beach . C.A . POSTMASTER : Send form 3579 to Cycla Naws, P.O . BOll 498, Long Baach, CA 90801 · 049 8. Su bscri p tio n ra tes: One year, second cbss mail . $25; tw o years, seco nd class mail . Si S; three yo n. second class m ail, $68 ; 25 week s. SU o Fo reign ra tes a vai la ble on request . Cyclr Nno.' s wel com es unsol icited edi to ria l m at erial incl ud in g stories, ca r too ns . ph o tos . e tc. Su ch ma terial . if publish ed. beco mes th e excl usi ve pr operly o f C,'C1(' N'Oo· . ,Such ;ICs cept ed material i, subjec t 10 revision as i!!o n("("M ~I)' in th e solediscrencn o f Cycle ~('w s . Unso lic ited mat erial whi ch is no t used ""ill betetumed if accom pa n ied by a !it'll addressed sta mped env elope. All unsolicited material will be h and It'd with reaso nable ca rl:'. ho wever , C)'clt' News assu mes no responsibiti tv for the safet,'. lossordamagco to such ma terial . Reprin ring in whole or pan o n ly b" permission of th e publi her, Adveni sing ra tes a nd circu la tio n in fo rm a lion will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. Copyright ill> Cycle News, Inc . 1986. Trademark Cycle News rag istarad U.S . Patent Office. Allrights ....rved. 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Han· dII's new VFR750F. John Ulrich r ides the Honda at Willow ~prings in Rosamond, California, Photos by Ulrich and courtesy of Cycle Guide. Impresaion begins on .,.ge 14. r • ~ • _ .. ...... . __ "_ Glover's great H urra y for your fine article featuring Broc Gl over {Cycfe N ews. Feb. 5). I believe that Bro c is the bes t thi ng th at eve r happen ed to American motocross. H e is articul at e, bright, good- looki ng a nd a genui ne credit to . th e sport. Broc's views co ncerni ng th e prom otion o f supercross races are leg itima te. As a veteran motocross race r a n d fan , I am em barrassed by th e ads o n TV an d th e radio eac h year for the Seattle su pe rcross. The a n nou nce r is so wou nd up, he so u nds as if he m igh t exp lode any seco nd. Why ca n' t th e promoters rea lize it would be in the ir own best lon g term interest to promot e the sport in a more professional manner? KIR K D. ANDERSO N Seattle, WA Supercross safety My h us ba n d a nd I have a few co m me nts co nce rn ing the 1986 A naheim Supercross, as welcomed by promoter Mik e Good win 's J an uary 18 letter to the fans at the begi nning of th e su percross p ro gram . First. we wa nt to state that these eve nts have to be an incredi ble event to organize and coordi na te; we apprecia te th e compl ex ity of it a nd commend Goodwin a nd his associates on the ge neral o u tco me. We have been associated with ona nd off-road motorcycles fo r many years , includi ng owni ng a repair sho p. ~~e ha ve a lso been i nvo lved in organ IZIng an d running sma ll, local m ot ocross races in Juneau , Alas ka , and fee l like we are well educa ted in th e a rea or th e sport of m otocross. My husband a n d I feel that th e recent supercross tra ck in Ana heim was border ing da ngerous . The track shou ld be fu n, with challen g ing ob stacles, not mad e to excee d th e skills o f the p ro fessiona l rider, as to mak e it a lmost " da re-dev il" in complexity. We have bo th wat ched through the years as th e sp ort of m o tocro ss h as graduated to su pe rcro ss with th e man-made track. It seems that with each passi ng year. the tracks at the stadi u ms get worse , more da n gero u s, a n d less safety-co nscious. We are wondering what David Ba iley ha d h idden beh ind h is com m ents quoted in th e January 29 issue o f Cycle Neurs .. . " My heart was do ing 100 m iles per hour out there. One ti me it got rea l ra dical o u t th ere wh en Ri ck y a nd I bo th did th e tri p lej u mps wh en there wasa lapped rider rid ing th rough it . At th at time, I was co nsidering death." We are also conce rned abo u t th e flaggers, phot ographers and o ther mi scell aneous track specta tor s. There wer e th ree or four times th at ind ividuals o n th e track were barel y missed bein g h it from ei th er th e m ot ocross racers or ca rs. The safety on th at track wa s at-a m inimum - a dangerous m i ni m u m . T he re were peop le run ning sporad ica lly arou n d th e tra ck everyw he re. T hese have been co rnmon com p lai nts for years , a nd it seems like nothing (or little) has been done. Th is sport can still be fu n an d exciti ng, j ust like it was back in the origi na l mot ocross days wh en a bunch of people got togeth er o n wee ken ds and raced around a nat ural motocro ss track. T here were less people getting hurt then. No w, the stadiums are filled to ca paci ty, just so everyon e ca n ho pe th ey see enough crashes to get their money's wo rth . People are not attending supercross races these days to eva luate riding ski ll s a nd predict a winner. th ey are goi ng to cheer crashes and broken bo nes . Th is is n ot th e way the motocross sport was mea nt to be. It has turned into a money-making sport wi th fast , dangerous o bstacles. Wha t is a spon so red rider su p posed to do if he feels th e track is too dangerous? It 's either race or breach th eir co ntracts. We rea lize th at th ese tracks a re expe ns ive to co ns truc t and th at expe nses m u st be co m pe nsa ted with so ld tickets. We a lso realize th a t rid ers have some input to th e track's design. but isn 't it a lso tru e th a t th e majori ty of ride rs wouldn 't ris k th eir professional reputa tions by co m menting o n or refusing to ride o n da ngerous tracks? My husband a nd I a re going to be making a dori ifflon to Dann y Cha nd~ ... : . . ~ . ~. Money and Magoo There have been quite a few tim es I have th o ug h t about voicing m y opinion on different letters i n Cycle Neuis, I could not agree more with th e letter from D.R. Wann on Magoo. I have bills and p ayments, too, and never seem to have ex tra bucks laying around. But Dan n y (Ma goo) Chandl er always p u t so much into hi s ridi ng an d gave me lo ts o f enjoy ment watchi ng h im ride. What bo thers me though is I haven 't h eard of th e big four putting an y money up (Magoo rod e on a ll of them even if on lya sup port o n Suzuk i and Yamaha. Surel y, Magoo winning th e Superbikers, USG P and two Moto -X de Nations rnotos and two fir st place trophies de Nations moto s in th e sa me year. so ld some H onda s. Ka wa saki is wh at Dan n y was ridi ng at th e time o f hi s injury. We. th e rid ers, ar e bu ying your bikes. It wo uld be great if yo u co u ld give a ta x deduct ibl e donation to th e peop le who bu y your products . I th in k there's a little Magoo in all o f us . PAT LO NG LakeSherwood,CA American Honda . Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S., U.S. Suzu ki Motor Corp . and Kawasaki Motor Corp. U.S.A. have donated thousands of dollars in cash as w ell as products for auct ion s and raffles benefitting Magoo . R eaders in terested in do nating to aid Magoo should send checks to th e Pro R ider Benefit Fund, 14024 Sylvan , Van N uys, CA 91401, 818/ 787-3497. The Vallergas I wo uld like to exp ress m y tha n ks to G eorge and Lou Va ller ga o f P al o Alto Yam aha. The Vallergas ha ve operated Pal o Alto Yamaha for severa l years. and ha ve done a fin e job of it . P.A. Ya maha h as provid ed m yself as well as m an y o th er Yamaha riders wi th excelle nt sup port over th e years. I have yet to co me across a deal er th a t equals th eir parts inve ntory, prices, a n d service. Lou Vallerga is a very co m petent mech a ni c. I a m sorry the Vallegras h a ve d ecid ed to lea ve th e business. T hey will be mi ssed . MIKE M ULDO O N Mo u ntai n View, CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters for publication must be typed and double-spaced; letters must in clude the author's correct name and address; unsigned or anonymous letters cannot be used; 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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