"When I'm talking
to . people and they ask me
what magazine to buy,
I say, 'DIRT RIDER.' "
-John Martin
N.me: John Martin
Occup.tlon: Can-Am factory enduro/hare
scrambles rider
Riding hlstorr- "I've been riding and racing
for about 22 years. I won championships in the
'77, '78, and '79 Minnesota enduro series and
had three National wins in a row on Can-Ams
as an independent when the otTer came from the
factory in 1979. Now I ride about 30 National
races a year, plus local and benefit races. I also
work closely with Jeff Smith, our U.S. product
manager, doing dealer meetings, testing, and
that sort of thing."
Tr.ck r.cord: 1985 AMA National Hare
Scrambles Champion (placed third in 1984,
fourth in 1983); second, third, and fifth place finishes in AMA National Enduro series; two ISDE
gold medals (Italy, 1981; Spain, 1985); five-time
winner Illinois Cross j:ountry Championship.
Riding pr.f.rence: "I enjoy any kind of offroad riding, all the way from trials to motocross.
What I like most, though, is practicing. I enjoy
going out and riding and trying to get better. I
don't think I'll ever quit racing. If I were just going to go out and trail ride, I wouldn't enjoy it
as much. All the time I'd be thinking, 'I wonder
how I'd stack up against the big guys?' Practicing is the really fun part; what's fun about race
day is when it's over and you've got Number I."
......zln.: "I enjoy DIRT RIDER because it's
more intelligent than the other magazines on the
market. The bike tests are in-depth, and the testers put down their opinions about a motorcycle
without trying to bury a hatchet in it. Instead,
they let the reader evaluate the information and
judge for himself whether that bike meets his
needs. There's a whole lot of information in every issue, from the humorous side to the technical, and they cover the whole range of riding
from motocross to enduros. I also like the fact
that they spend a lot of time talking to all kinds
of people in motorcycling and finding out what
their needs are. For instance, Bob Carpenter
came back to one of our hare scrambles this year.
It's impressive to think that a California-based
magazine would test a
machine in the East. It
shows DIR T RIDER
understands that moforcycles don't function only on California-type terrain. Other
magazines rarely do
that., When I'm talking
to people and they ask
me what magazine to
buy, I say, 'DIRT
RIDER.' "
