Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXIV Sharon C layto n, Publish er Mike Klinfl;e!".CompuolkT Sk ip J ohnson. Associate Publish"! N atio J1D. I Sales Mtana gnJack Mangus, A ssociate Publ ishrrt Edi tor Rh eba Smith, Circulation Mana gnCaroline Gendry. Executive S~crt:tary to fh~ Publisher Editorial Kit Palmer. Associate Editor Paul Carru thers. A ssociat e Ed itor Farren Willi ams. Associate Editor Mike Lar son , A ssistant Editor Edwina Mangus. Calendar Edit or Advertising Terry Prat t Sales Ma nag" Mar k T ho me. Sales Ma na grr David Metz, Sales Atanag~ Mike Church . Eastern Sales Man ag", Mark Mitch ell , Eastern Sa les Mana~t'T Thomas R. Comer. Eastern Sales Alanagt'T Cathy Corrao Western A d Coo rdinator Carla Bord en . Eastern Ad Coordinator Linda Von de Vel d. Ad vertising Asst. Graphics and Production Malcolm Wil son .Prod uct ion ManagtT Diana Hilgenberg, C"aphic Artist ' Peggy Smith. Grap h ic Artist Sta cey Gu est, Grap hic Artist Marion Ha tashita, Typesf!ltrt Carol yn Branham. Tvpeseuer Den ni s Greene, Lab. Tech. Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan . A ccts Receivable Coordinator Geneva Repa ss. A ssistant From Hamwey, Credit Ci rculation Sarah T aylor , A ssistant Alma Anguiano . Assistant Cheri Chapman, A.ssistant Manta Adams. A u istant Want Ad s Debb ie Winkl er. Want Ad Sales Dea ler Sales and Service Double pleasure While thumbing through the May 27 issue , I was becoming more and more upset with th e in credible problems we have fa cing us as motorcyclists . Page a l ter page reminded me about th e Cranston Desert Act , th e Feds trying to ban ATVs, and the closure o f Anz aBorrego State Park to off-road vehicles. It seems as if the whole world is saying to m otorcycli sts and ATV riders , " Sta y home and watch TV I" . T hen, on page 34, Kit Palmer's excellent article on a d ua l sport trip charged my batteries back u p again. Most of your stories ar e told fro m th e spectator's seat , but this exceptional piece put me on the road with Kit and hi s friends. Jim Pilon and th e Dual Sport Committee of AMA Distri ct 37 hav e . cranked out some excell ent rides like th e Du al Sport " Bsto -V" ride in Nov ember a n d rides lik e th e one John Chase and I organized last month. We went from Santa Barbara .tothe Songdog Ranch at Ballenger Canyon, a 225-mile round trip. Our dual sport b ikes .ca n out-corner Ninjas in the tight twisty canyons, climb nearly verti cal fire roads, negotiat e tigh t tree-lined trails and then take us home on the freeway. We can get milk and m eat from the same cowl Thanks again, Kit, Ior th e great story. By the way , you are invited to join us on our n ext ride. MIKE BISHOP Santa Barbara, CA Reuben Casa rez. Dealer Customer Rep, Service and Support Chris Aitch eson. Heodquaners Receptionist Leonard Herring. S eruice an d SUPPO'ft National Headquarters 2201 Ch erry Ave., Long Beach , CA 90806, P.O . Box 498, Lo ng Beach , CA 90801-0498 (213) 427-7433; 213/636-8844. Eastem Office 4190 First Ave., Tucker , GA, 30084; ma ifing address P.O . Box 805. Tucker, GA 300850805. (404) 934·7850. Cycle News (USPS 141-340) is published weekl y except th e first and last week of the calendar year for $52.00 per year by Cycle New s, I nc. , 2201 Cherry Avenue. Long Beach, CA 90806. Second class postal!" ?:l id at Lo ng Beach . ~ and additional m.:nling offices. POSTMASTER : Send form 3579 to Cycle NewI , P.O . 80x 498, Long Belch, CA 90801 -0498. Subscription ra tes: One year. second cla ss mail, $52.00. Cycle New s welcomes unsolicited edito rial mat eria l including sto ries , ca rtoo ns . pho tos, etc. Su ch material. if published, becom es th e excl usive prop~IlY of Cycle News. Such accep ted ma terial is subject to revision as is neces sary in th e so le di screti on of Cycle New s, Unso lici ted material which is not used will be returned if accom panied by a 5C'1£ addressed sta m ped envelo pe. All un soli cited ma terial will be handled with reasonable ca re, how ever , Cycl e New s assumes no respons ibility for th e safety, lo ss o r da mage to such mat erial. Reprinting in whole or pan o nly by permission of th e publ isher. Advertising rat es a nd ci rcu latio n information will be sent u pon request, See S.R.D.S. Copyright" Cyc le NewI, In c . 1987. Trade-mark Cycle Newl regiotlred U.S. Patent Office. All rights reserve d. BPA Conlumer Audit Division Member· Ihip Applied For December 1986. 4 ON T HE FRONT PAGE : World Champion Eddie Lawson beat Randy Mamola to w in t he West German Grand Prix at Hockenhe im : See page 14 f or r ac e coverage. File photo by Henn y Ray Abrams. Backers missing Second City' Raci n g would like to thank Ran dy Marr s for h is coverage of the May I AMA /MotoWorld U .S. Endurance Series round at Road America. We were a bit disappointed th at our sponsors wer e not listed and would like to thank 4&6 Cycle, Tsubaki Chain, Spectro Oil, MidAmerica , Barnett Clutch , Kayo Corp., SuperTrapp Exhausts, Fox Shox, and Dr. Lloyd Callaway for their support, and riders Mike Harlow and Bob Voorhees for their fine performances. DAVID NE UMER Second City Raci ng Ch icago, lL Second City Racing fin ish ed third in th e Road America Endurance Road Race . . . Ed itor. Help us graduate This letter is directed to th e alumni of Los Angeles Trade T ech College as well as motorcycle enth us iasts. As yo u perhaps know, th e powers that be are attempting to eliminate th e two-year motorcycle (mech a n ics) course. Their reasons ar e that it is not a useable skill. Some of us are in our first year , and if th ey have their way we will nev er grad ua te. . If former students would write to the Board o f Trustees, ou tli n in g th e following three points, we feel sure it will have th e desired effect. I. They are using skills learned in the motorcycle program. 2. T hey recommend keeping the program fo r present a nd future students. _ 3. Rem ind th e Trustees that you are ~ registered voter and will be looking a t the present board to see how th ey act to retain th e present program. The members of the Board of Trustees are: Wallace Albertson president; Arthur Bronson, vic~ pr esident; Lindsay Conner; Harold W. Garvin; Leticia Quezada; Monroe F. Richman M.e.; Linda J. Esca jeda; and Marquerite Archie-H udson. Mai l to th e trustees should be addressed to: Board of Trustees, L.A. Comm unity District, 617 W . Washington Blvd ., Los Angeles, CA 90017. Send a copy of your letter to th e president of th e college, Thomas L. Stevens Jr. , LATI College, 400 W. Washington Blvd. , Los Angeles, CA 90015. You will have th e thanks of th e pres ent and future students. Please remember to vot e on J u ne 2. STUDENTS OF L.A. T RADE TECH Los Angeles, CA Belated results I was disheartened not to see any of the results printed for th e 125cc Stock and Modified Novice classes at th e NMA Las Vegas Nationals. I don't understand how they could have been overlooked seeing as how th ey were among the classes with the most entrants. I called th e NMA and here's th e results th ey ~ve m e. I wo uld really appreciate it If you would print them in yo ur next issue. 125 MOD NOV: I. Mik e Chamberlai n; 2. Jeff Kor honen; 3. Dou g H o uston. 125 .ST K NOV: I. Dou g H ousto n ; 2. MIke Chamberlain; 3 . Matt Worbes. BOBBIE CHAMBERLAIN Garden Grove, CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Send letters to Voices. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801. Insurance limit (Con tinued from page 2) The new SIOO,OOO ceil ing is the lat est in a seri es of " su rp rises" from K&K In surance Company - and its underwriter , TransAmerica Insu rance Compan y of Los Angel es , California - that have left some southern California race promoters smoldering. . Wh en promoters received their new liability in surance p olicies in April, th ey were h it with premium increases of anywhere between 10% and 35%, depending on the promoter. T o make matters worse, a restriction in th e new policies said no racer under age 12 would be covered. After several promoters " ra ised hell ," K&K said it would provide covera ge for riders under 12 if the promoters would pay a 25%premium surch arge. The promoters, who were under the impressi on th at they would recei ve full coverage for th e yo u ngs te rs (a t lea st $ 1 milli on ) agreed to " b ile th e bullet and pa y th e bil l. " . Last week, h ow ever , p romoters discovered a clause in their policies limiting covera ge for riders under age 12 to $100,000 . K&K Insu ran ce points to its underwriter - TransAmerican - as the reason for the new, $100,000 limit. After the race policies had been written and ma iled, and after premiums - including th e 25% su rcharge - had been paid, TransAmerica officia ls apparently changed their minds and lowered coverage on younger riders to $100 ,000. " (The promoters) have a legi timate complaint in that the communica tio n of this topic has been very poor this year. ''I'll ta ke the blame for that," said K&K's J osep h G. Rep ass, vicepresi dent of marketing, motorsports div ision, "We're doing ~he best we can to get them the msurance they need in a very d ifficult period." . Repass said TransAmerica wanted to discontinue coverage for all racers ' under age 18, and agreed to insure riders under 18 only after negotiations with K&K. He said hi s company " went to bat" for promoters, an action which also resulted in li m ited coverage for riders under 12. Repass said the recent TransAmerica ruling affects all motorcycle races insured by K&K Insura n ce - not jus t . Ca lifornia races . He added that th e maximum insurance offered by hi s company to any promoter for any class , regardless of age, is $100,000. He said a few large southern California promoters have special policies offering $1 million coverage for most classes. The new $100,000 ceiling has left most southern California mini riders ' out in the cold. " T h e parks we ride in have a minimum (req u irem ent for liability coverage)," said Barbacovi. "Even if I wanted to run (races for riders under 12), none of the places where I ride wo uld a llow it. Gl en n H el en , a county park, h as a $2 m ill ion (m inimum); P erris and L.A. Cou nty Racewa y are privately owned, but they're in the same boat. "We won't a llow riders under 12 onto the racetrack until we get this insurance thing straightened out, " he said. " It has eliminated th e Pee Wee and 60cc classes and a small percentage of the 80s. Most of our 80cc riders are 12 & over." "This happened right in the middle of our (10t h Annual) Dunesto wn Series," said Barbacovi. "These ri ders were riding for points and they showed up last Sunday (May 17) at' G len Helen, and we had to turn the m away." "T h ere's a big problem with the track owners," said Jim Beltnick of SMX. "They have th e most to lose. Insu ra n ce is purchased to protect th e -la n downer from lawsuit. If they can't pay up, they lose the lan d." "Track owners won't even let you open the gate unless you 've got a million (dollars coverage)," said Stu Peters of CMe. "Carlsbad is n ot affected yet becaus e (they hav e a . policy that runs from) November to November. The rest of us go fro m Apri l to April. Perris said ' no, we can 't ra ce them.' DeAnza only runs $ 100,000 insurance , anyway , so the y'r e running. Ascot is waiting (to see what happens). Baylands ha s dropped th em (races for riders under 12); SIR has dropped them; Portland had dropped th em. " •

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