Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

an excellent idea to me since it would allow some of the riders who are in points contention to see the other ' side o f th e fence wi th ou t being penalized. CURT RANDOLL Rovers M.C. BigBear City, CA 00 00 O"l ........ Wanted: Matchless manual America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharon Cla yto n, Pu blish er Mike Kl i n gt"r. Comp tToll~r SkiJ:! J ohnson . A ssociate Pu bl isher/ N ationa l Sales Manag er , jack Mangu s. Associate Pu bl ish ert Editor Rhcba Smith. Circulatio n Man ag" Caro line Gendry, Executive Secretary to th e Pub lish" Editorial Kit Palmer, A ssociate Editor . Paul Carru the rs, A ssociate Ed itor Farren w illia ms, A ssoci ate Editor Nate Raub a . A ssociat e Editor Brian Cauerson, A ssociate Editor Edwina Man gus. Calenda r Edit o r Advertising M ike Church , Senior Sales Man ager Terry Prau Senio r Sal es Managn · Mar k Thom e, Westnn Sales Managt'T Don Stoeber. West"" Sales Managn Mark Mitch ell . Eastern Sa les Mana gM' Thom as R. Gomer. Eastern Sa les Ma,w /{M' Ca th y Co rrao Westn-n Ad Coordinator Carla Borden. Eastern Ad Coo rdi nato r T oni Doneske, Advertisin g Assistant Graphics and Production Malcol m Wihon ,Production Manag t'r D ian a H ilgenberg , Graphi c Ar tist Stacey G uest , Graphic A rtist Jimm ie O 'De ll, G raphic A rtist Marion Hat a shita , Typesett er Ca ro lyn Branham , T vp eseu er Dennis Gr eene. Lab. T ech: Accounting/ Data Processing Do n na Brya n, Acets R eceivable Coo rdi nator Ge neva Repa ss, Assistan t Fran Hamwey, Credi t Circulation • Sa ra h Tay lor, Assistant Alm a An guian o , Assistan t C heri Cha p ma n . Assistan t Mari ta Adam s, Assistan t Circulation Development Ron Davi dson . Manager Want Ads Debbi e Win kler, Want Ad Sales Service and Support Ch ris Airch eso n, He adq uarters R ecept ion ist Leo na rd H erring, Service and Support Off the air As 'a n owner of a bu sin ess wh ose survival is dependent o n technological advancemen t in th e motocros s industry , I am very co ncerned with .the AMA's decision to ban radi os from profession al motocross. The radios are still legal and available to am at eurs, but I thought that pro ' racing was su pposed to be th e cutting edge for product development. Radio systems are being used in almo st all forms of motorsports and the result has been safer, more com petitive, and more exciting racing. . The reasons cited by the AMA for banning th e radi o system were th at . th e AMA didn 't feel th at the radios were good for the sport a nd th ey would n ot en ha nce th e racing . Additionall y, they felt th at the AMA is not read y for radi o co mm unication s. I could n ot get th em to ela bo r a te o n ei t he r o f th ese statements. My co ncern is not limited to the radios. If th e AMA is go ing to ban every technological adva nce, product development in motocross will die. Then the sport will die. I can no t im agine wh at mo tocro ss would be lik e today if th e AMA had taken this a p p roach wh en wat er -co oled engi nes, single shoc k absorbers, ro lloffs, ca rt ridge fork s, and electr ic pow er ports were introd uced. If th e AMA co nt in ues to ban every innovative new product th at is introduced, motocross will not maintain it s excitement value and the sport will vanish. I feel th at it is th e co nsumers' d ecision whether a product is good for th e spo r t. Not th e AMA' s decision ! COLE BRAUN React, In c. Abil ene, TX National Headquarters. _ .' _ 220 1 Cherry A\le., Lo ng Beach. CA 90806, P .O. Box 198. Long Beach. CA 9080 1·0198 (2 13) 427·7433; 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 427·6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave., T uc ker, GA , 30084; ma iling addr ess P.O . Box 805, Tucker, G A 300850805. (404) 934·7850. FAX (404) 934·3112 Cycle News (U S PS 141· 340 ) is p ubl ished week ly excep t the first and last week o f the calenda r year for $32.50 per year by Cycle News , Inc. , 220 1 Cherry Avenue, Lon g Beach. CA 90806. Seco nd clas s po stage ~id a t Lo n g Beach . CA, a nd add itiona l ma iling o ffices. POSTMASTER; Send form 3579 to Cycle News. P.O. Bo. 498. Long Beach. CA 90801·0498. Subscriptio n rates: O ne year, second clas s ma n . $32.50. Cycle News wel co mes u nsolicited ed itoria l mat erial in clu di n g sto ries , ca rtoons, p ho tos, etc. S uch mat eri al , if pu blished , beco mes the excl usiv e p ro~rt y o f Cycl e New s. Such accep ted material is subjec t to revisio n a s -is nec essary in th e sole d iscreti o n o f Cycle News. U nso licited mat erial wh ich is not used will be ret u rn ed if accom panied by a sell add ressed stamped en velo pe. All uns o lici ted mat eri al will be handl ed wit h reasonabl e ca re, how ever, Cycl e News ass um es no responsibility for the sa fety, lo ss or da ma ge to such mat erial. Repr intin g in who le or pa ri on ly-by pe rm ission of th e pu bl ish er. Advertis ing ra tes a nd ci rcu la tio n in forma tio n wi ll be sen t upon req uest. See S.R. D.S. BPA Consumer Audit Division Membership Applied For. Copyright& Cycle News. Inc. 19B8. Trade·mark Cycla News registared U.S . Patent Office. All rights reserved. 4 Accord ing to Braun, in add ition to the reasons cited above th e AMA was concerned that pr ivateers would not be abl e to afford a radio system and that would give th e factory riders on e more adva ntage. Th e R eact In c. Mot ocross Radio Communication System retails for $1510 .. . Edit or. Harley-Rotax I would lik e to know how Harl eyDavidson can put th eir nam e on the 600cc Ro tax engine th ey are using on dirt tracks. If th is is possible, why can 't they purchase 750cc Honda engines and put their nam e o n thos e? Is H onda also doing thi s with the Rotax engine or are th ey using a 600cc engine of their o wn? If either or both can do this (use Rotax engines), how can th e manufacturer claim credit for a ·victo ry wh en th ey didn 't make the engi nes The fact is that mo st of th e fans think th ey ar e Harleys. This is ou t a nd ou t deception. Is thi s th e America n way? ROBERT NELSON Hi ghview , WV Honda uses Honda engin es. R otax engines are manufactured in Austria and are use4,..by a num ber of firms besides Harl ey-Davidson. For exam ple, R on W ood markets a race-ready di rt track bik e, th e Wood-R ot ax, th at uti lizes a R otax engine; A prilia and Cobas fie ld R otax-pouiered bik es in th e World Champion ship Road Ra ce Series; and until they recently stopped manufacturing motorcycles, Can-A m used Rotax engines. Stop by a cou p le of automobile dealersh ips and check out the " m ade in Japan " cars bearing names lik e Ch evrolet, etc. It might not be th e " A me rican way " as you're apply ing it, but it is th e new Amer ican way . . . Editor. Get involved I just wanted to publicly say thank you to all of the clubs that put on desert races. To say th at th ey go th rou gh a lot of trouble would be an understatement. Li ving in Hinkley I get to go riding quite a bit, and somet imes I forg et wh at people in th e Los Ang eles area have to go through just to go riding. When club members, th eir families and friends spend th eir tim e, mon ey and effort to hold a desert event a nd certain people bitch about it . . . well , that reall y pisses me off. The old saying seems to fit , if you do n' t have an ything ni ce to say, don 't say nothin' at all! If you think you have an idea on how things might run smoother, . join a club and get in volved. I've found th at organized desert racers are some of the best people around. VINCENT V. FASSO Hinkley, CA The name of the game is fun After reading th e letters written by Mike Haines and Dan Ash craft, I decided to throw in my two cents . worth and voice my opinion as a Distr ict 37 desert racer. I) Desert races should be laid OUl with th e a bility of th e maj ority of riders taken in to acco unt - even the Nation al s. 2) The courses that are " to ugh , tight and with very little wide-open sections" arc not much fun for the average rider. 3) When th e avera ge rider does not have fun he or she doesn't race anymo re. 4) T he total entry fees collec ted from th e " best riders from all over ' the count ry" isn't enough money to even start to put on a desert race. 5) T he reason th at companies sponso r riders like Dan Ashcraft is to ultimately sell products to us average rid ers; i.e. no average riders means no one,to sell products to and no reason to emp loy Dan. Oh, by th e way , Dan, if yo u read th e_ Cycle N ews report on th e Four Aces H ar e & Hound again, you would realize that th e riders wh o were quoted were not th e average riders. Let 's hear a little more abo ut the way the majority of riders feel, not just th ose who did well in the results. The Fou r Aces M.C. has al ways enjoyed th e reputation of th rowing so me of th e best races in the desert, and for good reason, the courses are fun and the majority of riders enjoy th em year after year. One last thing, I understand that it has come up at Distri ct 37 meetings th at so me would like a ru le change, similar to th e end uro rules, that would allow members of sponsori ng clubs to clai m points for working at their club's races. T his sou nds lik e I own a 1947 500cc Mat chless and I need to know wh ere I can get a service manual for it. I go t th e bike 15 years ago in a basket and now it 's all together and read y to go , ho wever I don 't know th e fin er points such as valve clearance, plug type, oil type, etc. Can yo u point me in th e right direction as I have had no luck in finding a manual or someone who knows abou t th e bike. I realize this request is not normal, but I don't know where to turn as I have exhausted every lead to no avail. DO UG PIANKA Madera , CA Send a written request to Dom iracer, 5218 Wo oster Rd., Cin cinnati, OH 45226. Wh ile th ey tell us th ey don 't have suc h a manual in stock, ow ner Bob Schantz usually obl iges s uch requests by furnishing a Xerox cop y of a manual from his p ersonal co llec tio n for a n om inal f ee . . . Ed itor. Coe's finest hour T han k you for your gracious and generous 250 report on Danny Coe's third- pl ace ride at Dayton a. While thi s may have been Dan iel's fin est hour, I think I received about a halfhour of his credi t. Though I own and build Daniel's Rotax engines, he prepa res th e Spondon-Rotax almost entirely by . himself. The magazine keep s me too busy to be of any sign ificant help beyond th e engine department. Whether in the shop or at the track, Daniel usu all y makes the piv otal decisions. And, excep t for the basic engines, he pays for everyth ing. The magazine, which has no need of a corporate racing team , on ly assists in th e most peripheral areas. Despite his high-profile job, Daniel - lik e most racers - gets to pay hi s own way. In fact, on race day Daniel had exactly two guy s in his corner: th e enormo usly savvy David H arold twirling wrenches, and Rhys Howard , who was one of the most gi fted 250 riders of the 1980s . . . until a racing acci dent retired him. On ra ce da y, none of th e four people who ha ve, at o ne time or another, helped Danny over th e past years co uld be th ere: Bob Pepper (Pe r form ance Research Organ ization ), the Spondon chas sis importer; T ony Murphy, the two- strok e Rotax dis tributor for th e United States; th e ever-m ysterio u s a n d co ns is te nt ly invi sibl e Stanley .Chan , and yours tru ly, wh o was helping finish up o ur May issu e. All of us - in variou s parts of th e coun try - were pulling for DDC. We were grea tly pleased with Daniel's achievement, and we recognize it as precisely that: his. PHIL SCHILLING Edi tor, Cycle Magazin e Westlake Vill age, CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Inc. Letters are subject to eondensation due to space limitations. Anonymous letters will not be pu blished . Send letter to Voices. P.O . Box 49B. Long Beach. CA 908010498.

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