issue of American MOlorcyclis.t contains a section devoted specifically to
government news.
I certainly understand Holeman's
frustration in dealing with not only
an anti-motorcyding politician, but
with an often apathetic media and
general electorate. This magazine and
Association deals with it on a daily,
momhly and yearly basis. But please,
Mr. Holeman, don't criticize us for
agreeing with you and taking action.
America's
motorcycle newspaper
Volume XXIII: Number 47
Sharon Clayton, PublisltnMike Klinger, Comptroller
Skip Johnson. Associ.te Publish",1
N41;ona' SaUl MorutgtT
Jack Mangus. AssociaU Publishn/ Editor
Rheba Smith, Ciuuu"ion M",..gtT
Caroline Gendry. Executive Seaet4ry to
the Publish...
Editorial
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Paul Cariuthen: Associate Editor
Fanen Williams, Associ4te EditOT
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MId.
4
ON THE FRONT PAGE: Kit
Palmer plows the' 987 Suzuki
RM'25H through a Perris
Recewey berm in Perris, California. See pege 8 for firsttest
of the new Suzuki. Photo by
Kinney Jones.
Camel Pro #20 says ...
I would like to thank the following
for their support in making my 1986
season a successful one: HarleyDavidson Motor Co., Ron Wood, Mert
Lawwill, Eleerro Heavy Equipmem,
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Shoei
Helmets, SuperTrapp Exhausts, RS
Taichi, Hap Jones, Hi-Poim, Tsubaki, ScOll Goggles, Tim Kriebeich,
Dave Garroulle, C.R. Axtell, and
Mike Libby.
lowe a great deal to the following
who put me up in their h1>mes
throughout, this year and in years
pasl: Ron and Barbara Magers, Dave
Atherton and family, Carol and Staci
Hall, Mario Bernardini and family,
Wayne Bonesteel and family, Skip
Marell and family, and Bill Shindler
and family.
I would also like to tip my hat' to
MotoWorld with Larry Maiers, and
MotorWeek Illustrated with Dave
Despain for their cominued coverage
of all forms of motorcycle racing and
activites. We, as motorcycle emhusiasts, owe lotto them for supporting
and promoting the great sport of
motorcycling.
Also, I would like to thank my
mom, dad and grandparems for supporting me through thick and thin
during my 13 years of racing. I
couldn't have survived without them.
See you in 1987.
a
CHRIS CARR
Manteca, CA
Roots
I am now 19 and after blasting
around the streets of New York I have
decided to return to road racing,
using my name and age this time.
When I expressed this desire to race
hikes my father memioned to me that
his father, Amon Jonsson, had raced
motorcycles. My fai.ber didn't know
much about his father's racing since
my grandfather had died when my
father was only eight; my grandfather's kidneys were reduced to lima
beans with the pounding of cross
country racing. In addition, my father
recalls that my grandfather did not
talk about bike racing at alll For various reasons my father did· not have
an ongoing relationship with his
mother, so not much else could be
found out about my grandfather,
until now.
With the recent death of my father,
Eric John Jonsson, I have had a
chance to talk to my grandmother.
She has blessed me with a wealth of
information regarding the subjea of
my grandfather.
I have learned that he started out as
a mechanic in Sweden and bad traveled to England to expand his career.
Rumor has it that he was the black
sheep of the family due to his interest
in motorcyclingand was, for all prac·
tical purpose, disowned by the family members, who were momentarily
successful in aviation. He raced on
the Isle of Wight in about 1909 and
won a gold medal that is now sup·
po edly on display in a museum in
England. He also won a gold pocket
watch which was given to me as' a
graduation presem from my father.
This is all I know regarding my
grandfather, Amon Jonsson, and I
would like to know more. I would
like to know of any books, magazines
and people who might have some
information regarding him or just
the earl y days of motorcycle road racing in England. The Guinness Book
of World Records says the firstmOlorcycle race was held in 1907. Additional information regarding the
early races would also be helpfuL
K.J. JONSSON
83-15 98th St.
Apt. 2-D
Woodhaven, NY 11421
Stealing points
Just a note to say how much I
enjoyed the November 16 District 37
Bad Mountain Enduro at Gorman,
California. Gram Palenske and his
fellow checkpointers pULOn a fantastic
evem with excellem marking, well
placed checks, and reasonable speed
average in the particularly dangerous
sections. When the terrain was less
life-threatening yet still very challenging, they provided some great
special tests and managed to steal
points from ISDE competitors Dave
Bertram and Pete Postel.
Congratulations on a superb evem
that even included laying out an
entire alternate second loop in case of
snow in the higher elevations I With
dedication and preparation like that,
maybe next year the club can host a
National!
JIM WILLIAMS
Costa Mesa, CA
GREG HARRISON
Executive Editor
American Motorcyclist
Westerville, OH
In response to the above letter, Dave
Holeman said, "While American
Motorcyclist magazine did some
awareness pieces they didn't specifically make a list of politicians who
we should· either vote for or against.
At least they did something, but it's
too bad they can't put as much effort
into these crucial issues as they do
into racing." ... Editor.
Thanks for the memories
The time has finally come for me
to cut back on my racing activities.
With the demise of professional Formula One road racing, my '87 plans
are up in the air. To the people I've
met through professional racing, I'd
like to say thanks for all the great
memories and I hope to stay in touch.
I'd like to thank the firms and
individuals whose assistance made
my winning the WERA Formula One
Championship and a runner-up spot
in the AMA/CCS Formula One
Championship possible. Thanks to
Bell Helmets, Castrol Oil, Lou's
Leathers, and American Machine and
Tool for their product support. A
special thanks to my tun.er, Rocky
Dean, for traveling to the races and
pUlling up with me.
MARTIN K. MORRISON
Elida,OH
Don't criticize us
Earning those stripes
Dave Holeman's guest editorial in
the November 26 issue represents a
major part of the problem involved
in making motorcyclists more politically aware and active. While chastising those who did nothing to prevent
Senator Alan Cranston's reelection,
healso takes a shot at those of us who
are on his side.
For the record, the AMA supported
the election of Ed Zschau over Cranston. We supported him editorially
in American Motorcyclist magazine,
saying, "The California Senate race
is key to motorcyclists because of the
role Cranston has played in shaping
wilderness legislation in California.
Almost without exception, he has
shown an unwillingness to com·
promise his vast preserva tionist proposals to allow for off-road riding
opportunities. For California riders,
Zschauremainsan unknownonORV
issues, but having seen Cranston's
true colors, riders there could hardly
do worse."
We also supported Zschau in the
pages of Cycle News, through a leller
to the "Voices" section from Rob
Rasor, AMA vice president for government relations. That leller urged
all California motorcyclists to remove
Cranston from o£fice.
And at the AMA we put our money
where our mouth is and donated
funds from the American Motorcyclist Political AOlion Commillee in
support of Zschau, just as we did in
dozens of other races that affected
motorcyclists around the country.
We here at AMA realize how unex·
citing political stories can be, but we
also realize how important these issues
are to motorcyclists. That's why every
Is it possible to write a few lines in
YOUf desert race reports about the
Novice, Beginner and ATV class competitors? They make up beller than
half of the starters and buy a lot of
your newspapers. .
Let us read a little about the up and
coming riders or at least put them in
the results. All of those hot shot
Experts had to earn their stripes and
work their way up.
KEITH MEHLBRECH
Long Beach, CA
ATV racing is COVeTed by our sister
publication, ATV News. When space
allows we do report on Novice, Beginner, etc. classes and if the results are
provided the top finishers in those
classes are always run as part of the
results. Beginner and Novice class
riders who choose to continue racing
will advance to Intermediate and Expert class competition. Those who
continue to race and succeed in a
more advanced class, will get more
ink . .. Editor.
Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of
Cycle News, Inc. Letters for
publication must be typed and
double-spacad; letters must indudethe author's correct name
and addre..; 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.
