Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXIV Sharon Cl ayt on, Publisher Mike K lin ~ . Comptrolln Skip Johnson , Assoc iate Publishert Nat ional Sales Mana gtT Jack M an ~ s . Associate Pu blis hn/ Editor Rheb a Sm it h . Circulation Manag,.., Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to the Pu blish" Ed it o rial Kit Pa lm er, Associate Edi tor Paul Carr ut hers, Associate Edit or Fa rren Will iam s. Associate Edit or Nate Raub a, Associate Edit or Ed w i na ManKWI. Calendar Edi tor Advertising T erry Pratt Soles Managn Mark T home. Sales Managt'T Don Stoeber. Salt's Mana gt"T Mike Ch urch. Eastern Sa lt's M an agn Let down After reading Alan Randr's letter in the October 28 issue I feel compelled to write. If U.S. riders feel the need to cheat or ". . . to make a move to be competitive just like any o ther team has done" th ey should not be racing the ISDE. The riders selected by th e AMA represent our co unt ry. The impressio n the rest of the motorcycle world has of us is a result of their actions. I personally feel cheated and let down by the actions of everyo ne involved in the Alan Rand t in cident. Let's not let it ha ppen aga in. TO DD STEELE EI Toro, CA MdTk Mitch etl , Eastern Sal t's Manaf:t'T T homas R. Com er . Eastern Sales Ma PJageT Ca lh y Co rra o W f.OsltTTI Ad Co ord i n ato r Carla Borden . Eastern Ad Coor din ator T oni Donesk e. Advertising Assu stant Graphics and Production Mal rolm Wil M>n .Prod uct io n Ma nagt"T Dian a H il... berg, (; ,ap hic Artist ren Peggy Smith, G rap hic Artist Stacey Guest , G rap hic Artist J imm ie O' Dett. G rap hic A rtist Mario n Ha ta sh ua , Tvpeseuer C ..arol yn Bra n ham . T "Ipt!'St't n t Den nis Grt"t:f\ '.LA b. T ech : t Accounting /Date Processing Donna Bryan . Aceu R t'ct'iuablt' Coordinato r Gr nr va Repa ss. A.uistant Fran Hamwev. Cud;t Circula t ion Jim Kosta , R ,.ta;l Sales Managn Sara h T aylor. Assistant Alma Anguia no. Assistant aleri Chapma n. A.uistant Mari ta Adam s. Assistant Want Ad. Debbie w tn kter. ""ant A d Sales Se rvice a nd Support Ch ris Aitch eson . Hrado uarters Rrcrptionist Leo nard Herrin g. Senner and Suppon Nat ion al Headquarters 220 1 Che rry Ave., Lon g Bea ch . C :\ 9OKOfi. P.O . Box 19K Lo ng Beach . CA 9OHOI -0198 . (213) ·127·7133; 213/ 636-H841. FA X (213)·127-66115 Eastern Office .. 190 First Ave.• Tucke r, G A. 30084; ma ili ng address P.O. Bu x 1«)5. Tucker. GA 30085~ OW5. (11 930 X50. }l) FAX (101) 93·\·3 112 Cycle New s (U SPS HI ·.3 40) is p ub tished weeklv except th e first a nd last week of the ca len da r yea r for $52.00 per year by Oyd r S ('ws. l n c. , 220 1 Cher ry Ave-nue, Lo UR Beach . C 90806. Second class postage pa id ..A al Long Beach . CA. a nd additio na l ma iling offi ces. POS TMASTER : S end fo rm 3579 t o Cycle News. P.O . 80x 498. Long Beach. CA 90 801 ·0 4 9 8 . Subscr ip tion ra tes: One' yea r, seco nd cla ss mai l. S52.00. Cycle News welcom es unsolicited edi tori a l mat er ia l in cludin g sto ries , ca rtoon s. p ho tos , etc. Suc h mat eri al . if p u blished. beco mes th e excl usive pro~y o f Cycle New s. Such a~~ cepted m ater-ta l is su bject 10 rev ision as IS necessarv in the so le d iscret ion of C ycle r New s. Un sol ic ued m a le- i al wh ich is not used wi ll be returned if accom pa ni ed by a self add ressed stamped en velope. All un soli ci ted mat eria l will i~ handled with reason able ca rr'. ho wr ver. Cy cle. New s assumes no respo nsibilhy lor the safety. loss o r damage to such ma terial . Reprinting in wh ole or pa rt o n ly by permissio n of th e publ ish er. Adverl i ~ing rates and ci rcu latio n infor ma tio n wil1 be sent upon req uest. Set' S.R. O.S. . Copyrigh t " Cycle New. : Inc. 1987. Trad e-mark Cycle News registered U.S . Patent Office. All righ ts reserved . BPA Consumer Audit Divis ion Membership Applied For Dec ember 1986. 4 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Kit Palmer gets so me air ti me on Honda 's latest big-bore MXer, the 1 9 BB CR500RJ . See page s ix for a test on t he ne w Honda . Photo by Kinn ey Jones. Danforth front page October 28 - what a fantastic cover, story and victory. It mak es on e awfully proud to be a mot orcyclist ! DANA BELL Legislative Offi cer AMA District 37 Long Beach . CA of th e wom en 's race. The club stood behind th eir scor ing but the sn iveling co nt inued for at least 30 m inutes, taking th e tim e of th e top three compe titors a nd several Dirt Diggers' memb ers (who were fairl y di sgu sted by thi s tim e). As a person wh o lives out of the District, I have always felt it a treat to rid e in a Wom en's class . But after this incident I can see wh y many, if not all of th e clubs don 't run a Wom en's clas s. As a com petitor for many years, there are two rules that I race by and I hope Ms. Sniveler reads this and learn s so m eth in g wit h th e experience. . Rul e I: Never abuse or take [or granted the privilege of being a wom an in a man 's spo rt. Appreciat e th e small courtesies afforded to you du e to your sex. 2. Never, never , .let your mouth go faster than your motorcycle. Thanks, Dirt Diggers, for your great race as well. LINDA SMART Fresno, CA DICK H EN DER SO N P.O. Box 505 San Marcos, TX 78667 Gunny's thanks Being a member of th e ISDE support crew this year was a lot of hard , tedious work. Becau se of th e limited amo unt of support personnel I had to da il y call on the same people to work checkpoin ts and gas pits, so there was very little time for sigh tseeing. Even if I tried to give som eone a da v off I would rind o ut th at evenin g they worked a checkpoint or specia l test anyway . It's hard to believe that someo ne will pay for a " vaca tio n " in Europe so th ey can work all da y long in cold, heat, dust, rai n , mud, etc. . I'd li ke to tha nk Larry and Mary Sabastian who handled the Pare Ferm e beautifully with th e he lp of J erry Valencia and . Chuck Mason. Thanks to th e following people wh o wor ked checks, taped hands, poured gas and end ured rid er frustration to - do it again th e next da y: Wayn e and An n Hinman, Don and Carolyn H ou gh , Bunny Lenover, Sue Blackburn , T ob y T eller, Barb ie Sherbert, th e Nielsons and Nelsons, Murl Bright, Jim Harris, Bill Peiser and Bill Ackerman. The list goes on and on, only space limits me to naming these few and to those missing I apologize, Thank yo u all very much for your help and putting up with me, and I have a ll your names for next year. Also, I'd like to add my personal th anks to the following sponsors for their support [or the ISDE team: Malcolm Smith Products, H i-Poin t, Smith, Scott and J o nes Goggles, Ralp h Hines of " O ff-Road Proddu cts ," Bevo Forte, Bel-Ray Lubrican ts, Bell, Arai and Shoei Helmets, Hallman USA, Trim, O ' Neal , and all the other companies and clubs that supported the team with either money or products. P:S. I'm older tha~ Forbes. but I don 't know Liz. RICK " GU N NY" CLAYPOOLE Twentynine Palms, CA No snivelers. please At the recent Kernv ill e Motocross put on by die Dirt Diggers M.C., a protest was made after th e first rnoto Photo f inish Well , the good 01' motorcycle racing sanctioning body did it again. If Shobert had been on a Harley at Impressive numbers In th e In The Wind section of your October 21 issue, you sta ted th at th e Orient Express Funny Bike ridden by T erry Kizer set a new IDBA Nati on al record at 4.58 seconds and 173.08 mph in the one-eigh th mile. This information is right excep t th at the record was rai sed o n a sub sequent run to 177.I7 mph whi ch is th e official IDBA record and fastest tim e ever run by a motorcycle in th e o neeigh th mi le. In addition, on O ctob er 17 at th e IDBA U.S. National at Atco Dragway, th e Orient Express Funny Bike again won and th is time set a new E.T . record for th e on e-quarter mile a t 7.08 seconds at 195.80 mph. JACK O 'MALLEY Orient Express Racing Freeport, NY Seeking a Henderson In the Octob er 21 issue of Cycle N ews there is an acco un t of an old bik e sho w at Davenport, Iowa, wh ere there were a " number" of Henderson motorcycles, including Charles Petty's which won third place in th e Best Restored class. For reasons which sho uld become ob vious with m y signature , I want to acq uire a H enderson. When I was _a boy we used to play with th e fram e and wh eels of an old dereli ct. Now two of my sons and I ar e bik e fan ati cs .and we crave a Henderson . Can you put us in touch wit h som eon e who craves to sell one who doesn 't -want Malcolm Forbes' salary for it? th e Sacramento Mile they - wo uld have had to toss a coin. As it was, he made it easy for them - if there is a doubt give H arl ey-Davidson the win. (T he pi cture on page 6 of Cycle News issue #40 leaves no doubt.) Of course, after stealing the champi onship from Shobert in '84, it was easy to steal a race. With rega rd to th e way he received the decision, Bubba proved himself the true champ io n. On a lighter note: Is there an y truth to the rumor that Willie G. is personally painting a bike to be given to that " ba llustrio us" senator from Missouri? It certainly would produce pari ty if all motorcycles were required to weigh 700 pounds with a 50 horsepower twin to pow er them. DON KUHL Cincin nati, O ,H Mama said A few weeks ago I received a letter from J M Pro mo tions of Riverside, Ca lifornia, that began, "Congratulations Yamaha' Western 600 Finalist." I didn 't expect to qualify for the final and was more than a little surprised. Wow ! A rac e with a $15,000 purse, on ly 20 en tries, paying to 12th pl ace, sandwiched between the Suzuki GSXR National Cup Finals, spectators ga lor e, at Riverside. Mama said there would be days like this. As you know by now it was less than a "day in the su n " for all of us. Especially those of us who have never raced in th e rain. It was em barra ssing having to ride so slowl y. But the weather was only part of th e problem. What really made the event anti -climatic was that Yamaha Motor Corp. didn 't bother to advertise th e race. They did not send any representative to th e tra ck. No banners were hung. No o ne to hand out the ch ecks. No support, period. (Thanks for buying a Yamaha. ) Then o n recei vin g this week's Cycle News I find on ly the top four rider s listed in th e results, even though the race paid through 12th place. I did tak e notice that you did l ist the top 10 finis hers in the GSXR750 class , a race that didn 't even take p lace. . J DOUG STEPHENS Yomama Racing Garden Grove, CA The four riders we listed were th e only com peti tors iden tified on th e resu l ts su p p lie d to th e reporter covering th e even t . . . Edit or. Help from Watts I am a 250cc Beginner class motocrosser who just co mp leted th e CMC Trans-Cal MX Seri es. At round one of the series at Gl en Hel en I was introduced to Tomm y Watts. Although h e 's a well known National rid er, this gu y is in a class of few. H e helped my performance and my confidence IOO-percent by watching almost all my rnotos of the series, gi ving me advice on everything, and having his mechanic to tall y set up my '88 Kawasaki for me. Watts showed concern in helping me out and Ijust want to express my thanks to h im . Tommy, success hasn 't spoiled you! T hanks mu ch ! DO UG J OHNSO N Lake Tahoe , NV P.S. Your coverage of the series was outstanding. Published letters do not necessarily ref lect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Send lettars to Voices, P.O . Box 49B, Long Beach. CA 90B01 .

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