Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-... America's motorcycle newspaper I""""t c-r Volume XXIV ~ Q,) ..c o .... u o Sharo n Clayton , Publisher ~ i ke Klinger ,Com p tTOlln ~~ip Johnson. Associate Pu bl isher t Nat ional Sales Man4geT Jack Man gus, Associate Publish er! Editor Rheb a Sm ith . Circulation ManageT Caroline Cendry, £xuwiw Secretary to the Pu blisher Editorial Kit Palmer. Associate Editor Paul Carruthers , Asso ciate Edi tor Farren WiJliam s. Associate Editor Nat e Rauba , Associate Ed itor Edwina Man gus. Calendar Editor Advertising T errv Pratt Sal es M ana ger Mar k Thom e. Sa les Manag N Mike Church. Eastern Sales Man agt'f Mark Mitch ell. Eastern Sales Mana ger Thomas R. Go mer. Eastern Saks Mana gt'T Cathy Corrao Western Ad Coordinator Carla Borden . EAstern Ad COOTdina.tOT Toni Doneske, A~tisin g Ihsw tant Graphics and Production Malco lm Wilson.Prod uct ion M ana gtT Dian a HilJ m br:rg, Graph ic A rtist Peggy Sm ith . Graphic Artist Stacey GUOl. Graphic A rtist Jimm ie O 'Dell. Gra p hic Artist Mari on Ha tashita, T'YfUs~tln Carolyn Bran ham . T ypesetter Dennis Greene. Lab. T ech, Accounting/Date Processing Donna Bryan. Accts R eceivable Coo rdi nato r Oen eva Repass. Ass istant Godspeed, Pops It was a very sad day September 9. The motorcycle world lost a fin e ent husiast and friend. I can still vividly remember the day when Pops Unimi would tune th e Hondas ridden by his lat e so n Ed. They were a great combination, a great team. Together they won more AFM road races than one ca n co unt. Pops had a habit of making th e old 175 and 750 go a bit faster. Pops will always be remembered on the track as giving a helping hand. It seemed no matter how bad it got, Pops knew th e right words to make it better. Always displaying wit , (he had an) uncanny ability to make people laugh. Pops was a fine famil y man. He will be deepl y mi ssed by hi s beloved wife, Marion , daughter Mari e and countless friends. I, for one, will sore ly mi ss him a t th e races, but I am gratefu l for being given the opportunity to sha re so me part of my life with him. T ha n ks, and Godspeed, Pops! . JOHN G. TONNOCHY, JR. Sun nymea d, CA Fran Hamwey, Cudi t More District 38 desert racing! Circulation Sara h Taylor , A ssistant I am an A. \fA Life Member and i h-ave subscri bed to Cycle News for many years. I li ve in Indio , Ca lifornia. I race desert , mainl y in Distr ict 38's Imperial County. For over a year I have been com plaining to AMAIDistr ict 38 president Otis Fudpucker abo u t th e lack of Distri ct 38 desert race covera ge. Fudhas told me he ha s don e all he can to get your paper's atten tion. Bob Bell , District 38's representative, has repeatedly sent information for the calender section th at never appears. Please give us some attention. We, the members of District 38, would like to feel a part of yo ur wonderful newspaper. Alma Anguiano. Assistant Oteri Chapman, A ssistant Man ta Ada ms, Assistant Jim Kosta. R etail Sa les Managn Want Ads Debbi e Win kler. Want Ad Sales Service end Support Chris Aitch eson . H eadq uartn s Re ception ist Leona rd Herring. Servi ce and S upport National Headquarters 220I Cherry Ave., Long Beach. CA 90806. P.O . Box 198. Long Beach, CA 9080l .()ol98 (213) 127-7133; 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 127-6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave.• T ucker. G A. 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805. T ucker, GA 30085- 0805. (101) 931-7850. FAX (101) 931-3112 Cycle News (USPS 141-340) is pu blished weekly except the £in t and las t we-ek of the calenda r year for $52.00 per year by Cycle News. In c.. 220 1 Cherry Avenue. Lo ng Beach. CA 90806. Second class postage paid ' at Long Beach . CA. and add itional mai li ng off ices. POSTMASTER ; Send form 3579 to Cycle New1I. P.O . Box 498. Long B"""h. CA 90801·0498. Su bscription rat es: O n e yea r,"second class mail. $52.00. Cycle ~ eW5 welco mes un solicited edi tori a l material including stories, cartoons, p hot os. etc. Such material, if p ublished. becomes the exclusive pro~y o f Cycle N~. Such eccepted mater ial is subject 10 revision as is necessary in th e sole discretion o( Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not used .....ill be returned if accompanied by a seff addressed stamped envelope. All unso licited materia) will be han dl ed with reasonable ca re. however . Cycle News a ssu mes no responsib ility for th e safety. loss or da mage to such material. Reprintin g in whole or pa n o nly by permission of th e publisher. Advertising ra tes and cir culation inform alio n will be sent upon req uest. See S.R. D.S. Copyright" Cycle News. Inc . 1987. Trede·mark Cycle N.ws registered U.S . Patent Office. All rights reserved. SPA Consumer Audit Division Member· .hip Applied For December 1986. ON THE FRONT PAGE ; Suzuki·. 1988 production RM250J. See pege 16 for en RM125 and 250 close-up. (Inset) GSXR750/1100 National Cup Series Aoed Aace Final winner Doug Polen. See page 6. Photo by Kinney Jones. 4 EDWARD M. HOUSTON Indio, CA What's the beef? I have been waiting in an n crpa tion for articles on AFM road races and much to my di sappo intment (and other racers') th ere has been no co rresp o ndence for th e last tw o months of races. I th ought you gu ys were sup posed to cover these events so we ca n keep up with what's going on? These are major events wi th up to 700 en tries. You 're doing a grave injustice to th e local heros here in Ca lifornia and to th eir spo nsors. What's th e beef? Also, let me correct your article by Paul Carruthers on th e K591 Sport Elite. Doug Polen was not th e head rider in the development of the 591. A certa in Kiwi by th e nam e of la in Pero was working with Dunlop sin ce 1985 to get that 591 right. And as far as Steward being an assistant test rid er, I can tell you I've been working . , with Dunlop last year (and seven years prior) while Pol en was still with Michelin. While I'm beating my chest, let me thank my spo nso rs th at su ppo rted me in 1987: Dunlop tires, APA Trucking, Matzinger RCG , KalGard, Shoei Helmets, Z Leathers, Dr. John 's Frame Shop, Tsubaki chain, Power Spans, and tun er John Schaeffer. CHRIS STEWARD Los Angeles, CA Unfortunately, it's im possible for Cycle News editors to cover roery local race held euery weekend from coast-to-coast. Distr ict 38 and AFM need to find someon e involved in local racing who can cover th e euen ts and su bmit sto ries, results and photos to us. Ask around, see if som eone with latent writing talent might be interested. A set of con tributor guidelines is available for the asking. As for calender entries, we publish everyth ing we receive. Make sure en tries are su bmitted on th e proper form (located each wee k in the calender section ) and ma iled to Cycle News Calendar L isting, P.O . Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 .. . Ed itor. Summers and La Carrera Concerning th e Duane Summers inte rvie w (Se p tem be r 23, 1987: Number 37) - a ny notion th at Duane Summers " ba ttled all th e way with th e gu y that won it (the April running of th e La Carrera Mexi can roa d race)," is simpl y not tru e. Mr. Summer s' sta te me nt wh er ein h e refers to Ceo££ McCarthy two tim es as " the guy" reflects a ba sic arrogance o n Duane's part that he sho uld get rid of or at least con trol as he climbs to the top. During th e April La Carrera race, Geo££ " the guy " McCarthy helped Duane find his way through th e mountains and when Geo££ got too far ahead he would slow down until Duane and myself co uld catch back up; th en he would take o££ and leave us again. Geo££'s actions were inexpli cable but my hunch is that he was more concerned with Duane's safety and less concern ed with a runaway victory for himself. For what it matters, th e racers of La Carrera agree on on e thing, if all else is eq ual; machines, goats, gravel and trucks, the real ace of that road is Fred Eiker - and Duane Summers remains a puppy. JIM ROCHE Tallahassee, FL Roche fin ished th ird in th e April La Carrera on his BMW. Durin g th e recent September 19 La Carrera, R oche crashed after hi ttin g a pat ch of gravel w hile pre-runn in~ th e race and brok e h is tibia . . . Editor. Acting like children? I have been fortunate eno ugh to go to severa l of the Camel Pro Series races across th e country thi s year. I have been a racer and race fan for 20 years but I still am not prepared for what I have been seeing. At two of the races (Springfield and Sacramento) the finishes were very close. When th e trophies were awa rded th e Harley riders in the crowd were jerks. They booed the winners while calling th em everything from wimps to unprintables. These gu ys are the very best in the country at what they do, and risk life . and limb for the sake of competition, to be booed for their choice 0(equipment. . I have never heard owners of Japanese bik es carry on like this wh en Harleys won. This didn't take place even when Nortons, Triumphs and BSAs were racing. I can see wh ere th e public gets the idea that Harley riders/fans are less than desi rable wh en they act like this at National even ts. It's a shame that we as motorcycle people cannot act as adults. MARK CARLSON H omer,IL Gorman OHV volunteers Gorm an -Hungry Valley riders will be interested to know that a Volunteer Off-Road Vehicle Patrol will be starting weekend patrols in the com ing weeks. They will all be trained in firstaid and will be carrying first-aid kits, along with two-way radios. There's a good possibility they will also be carrying maps of the area showing trails and open /closed . areas . They will be recognizable by their yellow number plates with blue letters stating " Volun teer O.H.V. Patrol " and, for now, orange " Ca l-T rans" vests. Feel free to stop anyone in thi s group for assista nce or information. GORMAN-H UNGRY VALLEY VOLUNTEER O.H.V. PATROL Ca nyo n Country, CA Kenworthy replies Ken worth y' s G.P . Club, In c, wo uld like to thank Matt Miller for his constructive letter abo ut our first Pro National , held August 9. I would like to elaborate on a few of h is co mmen ts. We did hav e a great concern for th e rid ers. Tha t is wh y we had two of the top five 500cc riders at the track three weeks before th e National, to ride the track and give us comments on what was safe, di££icult, too fast, etc. We had several 125cc riders do the same. (Because of their input) we made some changes. On th e subject of continuous pounding, Pros are supposed to be in physically good shape. This is a physically demanding sport. You also said yo u never saw so many p eopl e ca rr ie d out · on stretchers. The fact is, there were two transports - a dislocated wrist and a broken coll arbone. Both of these injuries were to 125cc riders. Furthermore, AMA prefers twominute, 30-second to three-minute lap times so th e top riders will not be lapping soo n. We ha ve tried to provide th e best layout of a track , taking into consideration o ur limited natural terrain. We will eliminate some jumps next year, but are still committed to provide a cha llenging race co urse. DONALD KENWORTHY, JR. Troy,OH Faster than Walker The September 23 " In The Wind" asked if anyone went faster than Dale Walker a t Baylands Ra ceway Park. Yes. Wes Nyce went 8.03 (seconds), 169.81 mph, at an IMRA meet 'a t Maple Grove Dragway in May of this year. H e also was astride a Pro Street Suzuki. Thanks to Mike Magaro of Magaro's Cycle for remembering the numb ers , then digging out the papers to prove th e time. G.R. Boyer Mechanicsburg, PA Published lette... do not nec....rily reflect the posltlon of Cycle New.. Inc.

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