Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.T earii Green crew tri ed to ge t us running again at San Matias on th e way north . T he effort was valia nt, bu t, alas, unsuccessfu l. Kawasaki is to be congratulated on th e very positive attitude of their representatives. By the way, we were riding a KTM , not a Kawasaki ! PAT RICE Lomita, CA America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXIV Sharon Clay ton , Pub lisher Mike Klinger.Ca mp tTOIIn Skip Johnson. Associate Publisher ! National Sales Managn' J ack Man gus, Associate Publisher t Ed itor Rh eba Smith. Circulation M ana gtT Caroline Oe ndrv . Executive Secretary to the Publis her Editorial Kit Palmer. Associate Ed itor Pau l Ca rru thers, A ssociate Edito r Farren Will iam s. Associate Ed itor Mike Lar son . A ssistant EdJ OT " Edw ina Mangu s. Calendar Edi tor Advertising Te rry Prall Sales Ma nagn Mark T ho me, Salt'S M an ager Da vid Mel Lo Sale s M an agtT Mike Church. Easttm Salt'S Managn Mark Mitch ell . Eastern Sa les Manager . Thom as R . Oomer. Eas tern Sa lt's Alanagt'T Cat hy Corrao Western Ad Coordinato r Carla Borden . EastM71 Ad Coor dinator J ulie Cynacks. Advertising A~ t . Graphics and Production Malcolm Wilson .Production Managn Dian a Hi lgenberg. Graphic Artist Peggy Smith. C"aphic Artist St3~ G uest . Graphic A rtist Marion Ha tashita, Typn eu er Carolyn Branham, T ypesetter Den nis Creene, La b. T ech: Accounting /Date Processing Do n na Bryan, Accts R eceivable Coordinator Oeneva Repass. Assistant Fra n Hamwey. Crrdi t Circulation Sara h Tay lor. Assistant Alma Angu iano . Assista n t Cheri Chapma n . Assistan t Man ta Adam s. Assistant Want Ads Debbie Winkler. Want Ad Sales Dealer Sales and Service Reuben Casarez. Dealer Cus to mer R ep. Service and Support · _ Chris Aiteheson, H eadq ua rters R ecep tion ist Leonard Herring. Serv ice and S uppo rt National Headquarters 220 1 Ch erry Ave.. Lon g Beach . CA 90806. P.O. Box 498, Lo ng Beach . CA 9080 1-0498 (213) 427·7433: 213[63 6-8844. FAX (2 13) 427-6685 FAX (404) 934·3 112 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave.. T ucker, GA. 50084: mai ling add ress P.O . Box 805, Tucker. GA 300850805. (404) 934·7850. Cycle News (USPS 141-340 ) is publis hed weekly excep t the: first a nd last week of the calendar year for $52.00 per year by Cycle News. In c.• .2-0 1 Ch erry Avenue. Long 9 Beach. CA 90806. Seco nd class pos tage J!3id at Lo ng Beach , CA. and additio nal mai ling off ices. POSTMASTER : Send fo rm 3579 to Cycle New•• P .O . Bo. 498. long Beach. CA 90801 -0498. Su bscrip tio n rates: O ne year. second class ma il. $52.00 . Cycle News welcom es un solicited edi toria l material including stories, cartoons, pho tos. etc. Such mat erial, if pu blished. becomes the exclusive pro~rty o l Cycle News. Such accep ted material is subject to revisio n as is necessary in the sole discre tio n of Cycle News. Unso licited ma teria) wh ich is not used will be return ed if acco mpanied by a self addressed stam ped envelope. All un solicited material will be han dled with reaso na ble ca re, how ever. Cycle News assumes no respo nsibi lity for th e safety, loss or da mage to such material. Reprinting in wh ole or pan on ly by permiss ion of the publ isher. Advertisin g rates and circu lat ion informati on wilt be ~n t upon requ est. See S.R.D.S. Copyright" Cycle New•• Inc . 1987. Trede-mark Cycle New. registered U.S. Patent Office, All rights reserved . BPA Conlumer Audit Division Membership Applied For December 1986. ON THE FRONT PAGE: Alan Cathcart pilots the radically designed Elf3 road racer. See pege 24 for a close -up look at the Elf road race bikes. Photo by Kel Edge. 4 Think positives During th e past year and a half Cycle News has keptus aware of th e p ro b le ms fa ci ng th e m otorcycl e program a t Los Angel es Trad eT echnical College. Two 'recent letters in th e Voices sectio n, one inviting th e public ou t to see th e facility, an d the o th er, in whic h students requested letters be sent directl y to th e tru stees, are sho wing results. . Two of the 'visitors to o ur open house were Fred Wing, senior mo torcycle in str u ctor for Am eri ca n H onda, a nd Sam Winson , associate regional vice president of Uni ted Way . The three of us di scu ssed severa l survival p lans ; the one most lik ely to be accepted wi ll resu lt in a nam e change for th e course to Motorcyc le a n d Po wer P rodu ct s Mech ani cs. Na turall y, th e co urse content will be revised to cover th e repair of products (genera tors, etc.), The Motorcycle and Power Pr oducts Mechanics course would give graduates a wider job market to choose fro m. Because man y m o torcycle dea lers sell and service power produ cts, the ind ustry will also benefit. As Mr. Wing was leaving my la b he asked me to cons ider attending th e advanced Ho nda Vo-Tech class at Torrnace J uly 20-24. Yesterday I sen t in my tuition and ent ry form for the cla ss. An y instucto r teach ing at a public school can attend Vo-Tech class es, and the mateia l given at the classes can be p u t to u se wi th students this fal l. If you are interested, call Ca nd ice Mead at 213/6042873. The basic class wi ll be taught in July at nine location s throughout the U.S. T ha nks to everyo ne who wro te letters in su ppo rt of the mo torcycle program at T rade-T ech . It mi~ht take th e Cycle Ne ws Finish Lin e Camera to determin e our margin of victo ry but we have the checkered n ag in sigh t, thanks to a great team effort and the perfec t med ia tim ing of our weekly Cycle News. PAT OWENS Motorcycle In structor LA_ T rade -Technical Coll ege Los Angeles, CA Helping hands I, especia lly, want to th an k Lar ie Trippe t of UEA for staying with me during m y recen t rac e acci dent, holding m y hand and keeping th e rest of the cra zy racers fro m run ni ng over me. . So many peop le were very helpful and caring - ma ny of the racers, the peopl e of CRC, IRRC a nd STAT Ambulance and Emergency and xray personnel at Ridgecrest H osp ita l. Some p lay riders with a p ick-u p too k my bike back to camp. It 's great to kn ow I ha ve friends a nd fellow club mem bers wh o care abo u t my hea lt h. Special th anks to the Bortree family for providing assistance to get my wife back home from th e desert . (It's also wea t to hear from your ridi ng buddies while you 're laid up, even if they're just razzing you for "getting off bad. " ) I wish to use this letter for a seco nd purpose: as a warning to riders wh o go to races but do not belong to a i club or have o ther support in the event of an accident. I fractured my hip and a close friend was serio usly hurt at the same race, Ask yo urself, " Who is going to make sure I'm cared for at the hospi tal ? Who is goi ng to get th e bike, truck o r whatever out of th e desert?" Motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport ! Pl ease pro tect yo urself by jo ining a club or group. Anyone int erested in names of clubs can call or write me and I'll send the m a list of District 37 clubs. ART MO R E .Referee, AMA Distri ct 37 32440 Sadd le Mountain Dr. Westla ke Village, CA 91361 8181707-3736 Supercross. lnc, responds In response to Hal Sanguinetti 's letter claiming that Supercross, Inc. is bl at antly stea lin g riders from Mammo th Mountain , I would say, " Hal, ge t the facts straigh t ... read the wh ol e ad." . First, we as promoters are subjec t to the facility schedules which m ust consider other events, constructio n , pr eparation tim e, and most of all p rofessi onal sp o rts wh ich takes pr ecedence over all other acti viti es. ' Origi nally we had requested J uly 25 as the Supercross date . H owever, due to various facility decisions we were given June 27. This left no room for negotiation. We either too k June 27 or no thing at all . I agree it is unfortunate th at two maj or events are occurring a t th e same tim e. As you noted in your letter a nd we sta ted on th e ent ry form, th e free entry is on ly for the " 250" Pro cl ass ride rs . T he Ma mm o th schedu le lists th e 250s for Sunday and Supercross is runni ng on Sat ur day . With a free entry. riders will have some financial assistance to participate in both events . 111 additio n , every entered 250cc rider will receive a minimum pa yback of $200. T his is not mo ney out of th e riders' p ockets, Mammo th 's budget, or : anyon e else 's except Supercross, Inc. I fail to see how this is construed as th e quest for th e almighty do llar wh en o ur com pany ga ve up the m com e. In order to avoid a ny furt her sched ule conflicts, Su percross, In c, has cance lled its Sunday Amateur da y out of consideration of Mammoth 's program. We a re a lways int erested in anyone 's co nstructive suggestions for im provem ent, but please get the facts straight. JIM DELZ ER Produ ction Manager Supercross, In c. Newport Beach , CA Green and white mix It 's thank you tim e from a Baja 500 competitor . Thanks to th e District 38 crew at J ohnson Ranch Ro ad for their help in changing a tire. T he Kawasaki Support T ea m (Tea m Green ) is deserving of a . special commendatio n for th eir help in keeping us !\,oing as long as we did . The team Just west of Sina loa helped us with kn owledge , mechanical abi lity and ma terials. Ano ther Please return At th eJ une7 Piney Woods Enduro in' E non , Louis ian a , someone " p icked up" th e cu stom-made alum inum ramp that goes with m y husband's bike trailer. Alt hough I was a t fault for fai li ng to check that it was secure ly o n the trai ler when I went to pic k up my h usba nd's bi ke th a t broke down, the person or perso ns who fou nd the ramp could have easily taken it to the spo nsoring club's desk. O f course , my husband was very upset with me fo r my carelessness. Bu t more im porta nt ly, I was very disappoin ted to find th at a th ief was pres ent amongst all the good sports a t the race. If anyone has any informatio n concer ni ng this u nf o rtunate ac t, please co ntact me. MRS. VAN A_FAGAN c/o Acadiana Dirt Riders, Inc. P. O. Box 51267 Lafayette, LA 70505 3 18/ 896-9855 Ethics are still alive Wh at a refreshi ng piece of journalism by An ne and Tom Van Beveren on th eir covera ge of the SCORE Baj a 5OO! Their courage (and yours) to print the facts of " H~nda- Ga te " proves th at ethics are still" aliv e and well wh en it co mes to p ro fessional journa li sm. In retro spect , I'm guessing that th e "Agony of Defeat" for H onda wou ld have been more acceptable tha n th eir p r e s e n t , c o m p ro m i s i n g p r e dicament: It 's been said before th at the true character of lead ershi p surfaces in battle. If th at 's the case, th en " Following the Leader" isn't all th at it 's cracked up to bel ' J OE VOSICKY U tility/ Genera tbr Product Manager Kawasaki Motors Corp. , USA Irvine, CA Equal in skill Re th e article I wrote o n the Ma y 3 Trials, Inc. Trial in Mantua, Ohio , that was published in issu e 21: It has co me to m y a ttention tha t t h e com parison of the ridi ng styles of the two top Experts in o ur clu b was interpreted as demeaning to o ne of the m. This was the opposite of m y inten tion. T he two are abso lu tely equal in skill and a bi lities. Bo th work magic on th eir bikes. T heir style s are com p le te ly di ffe re nt, th ough, a nd I wa n ted to point tha t o ut, Also , the edito rs of Cycle News edited out the las t sentence in th e com parison paragrap h: " Bo th riders are sheer pl easure to watch perform. " I w is h bo th r ider s co ntin ued success. WILL ST O NER Ch argi n Falls , OR Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Send letters to Voices. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801 .

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