Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• ~ B ~ America 's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharon Clay ton , Pu blish" Mik e Klin ger,Comptroll er t Skip j ohnson . A ssoc iate Pu bli sher! . Na tional Sales M anagN jack Man gu s, Associate Publis hert Edi tor Rheba Smith, Circu latio n Ma nager Caro line Gendry , Execu tive Secretary to th e Publisher . Editorial Kit Pal mer. Associate Editor Pau l Ca rru thers , Associate Editor Na te Rauba, Associate Ed itor Brian Ca tterson, A ssociate Edit or Tyrone Van Hoo ydonk, As.siJ'an t Editor • Edwina Man gu s. Calenda r Editor Good old days I read, th oroughly enjoyed, a n d sincerel y thank yo u for your rece nt .art icle abou t mem ories of Cockeysvill e (Ed ito r's Megaphone, June 29 issue). Wh il e it is true yo u ca n ' t go h ome again, you ca n go ba ck into those m em ories th at p reserve our sense o f home a nd friendsh ip with people from ou r past. In today 's fastp aced -an d technological world, an article like yo u rs can h elp us all to realize th at th e "old days" co nsisted of fun a nd co m ra de rie, and we just might n eed to refo cu s o n tho se qualities once again. Thanks for mak in g m e feel ·like 'a celebri ty for a wee k! Advertising Mike Church . Sen ior Sale s Manager T erry Prat t Senior Sales Managrr Mark Thom e. Westt!T'n Sa les Manager Don Stoeber. Westt'Tn Sales M anager Mark Mitchell , Eastern Sa les Managt'T Thomas R. Gomer. Eastern Sa les Marlager Debb ie Win kler, Wt'stern Ad Coo rdina to r Car la Bord en . Eastern Ad Coo rdinator Izzy Izaq uirre, Advertisin g A s.sistant Graphics and Produ ction Ma Jcolm Wi lson .Product ion Ma nagt'T Denn is Gree ne. Lab. Te ch: Dia na Hi lgenbe rg. Grap hi c Artist Sta cey Gu est, Graphi c A rtist jimmie O 'Dell. Grap hi c 1rtist Mandy Loo. Grap hi CArtu t Marion H ata sh ita, T ypesetter Carolyn Bran ham . T yp esetter Arien ne Te lias. Typesettt'T Accounting / Data Proc essing Donna Brya n. Accts Receivable Coo rdi nator Geneva Repass, AssiJtant Fran Ha mwey, Credit Circulation Sara h T aylor. Ass istant Alma Ang uia no. A ssistant Cheri Chapma n. A ssistant Manta Adams, A ssistan t Herlan e Rich mon d. As sistan t Carol Scannell. Assis tant , Circulati on Deve lo pm en t Ron Davidson . Mana gt'T Wa nt Ads j oan Russi an . Want Ad Sales S ervice and Support Chris Ai tcheson, Headquarters Re ception ist Leonard H erring. Sero ice an d Suppo rt Nati onal Hea dq ua rters 2201 Cherry Ave,. Lon g Beach . CA 90806. P.O, Box 498. Lo ng Beach . CA 90801·0498 (213) 427-7433; 213/ 636-8844, FAX (213) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30081; mailin g address P.O . Box 805. Tucker. CA 30085· 0805. (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle News (USPS 141-340) is publis hed weekly except the first a nd last week of the calendar year for $32.50 per year by Cycle News. In c.• 2201 Cherry Avenue, Lo ng Beach . CA 90806. Second class po stage paid a t Lo ng Beach , CA. and add it ional mailing offices. POST MAS TER : S on d fo rm 3579 to Cyclo Nows. P.O . Box 498 . long Boech. . CA 908 0 1-049B. To determine the expiration date of yo u r lubscription. check the four n umbers on the first line of your addreD label. The first two di~ita indicate the last tesue num be r you If receive and the last two c haracte rs indicate the ye.r of t he 1 lt . issue. Su bscriptio n rates: On e year, second class ma il. $32.50. Cycle News welcom es un solicited edi toria l material including stories, cartoo ns, photos. etc. Such mat erial , if p ublished . becomes th e exclusive pro~y of Cycle News. Su ch accepted material is subject to revision as is necessary in the sole di scret ion of Cycle News. Unsolicited ma terial which is not used will be ret urned if accompa nied by a self addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be han dled wit h reasona ble ca re. how ever , Cycle News as su mes n o respon silHity for th e safety, loss or dam age to such ma teria l. Reprinting in wh ole or pa rt on l y by permission o f the p ublisher. Advertisin g rates a nd circulation in form atio n will be sent upon req uest. See S.R.D.S. BPA Con s um er Audit Divisi on M em be r~ I hip Ap plie d For, C opyright " Cy clo Nows. Inc . 1988. Trade~m.rk Cycle Newl regiltered U.S . Patent Office, All rights ,eserved. 4 NORM FARRIS Norm's Mot orcycle World Baltimore, MD Bubba challenge I am writing to express m y di sappointm ent with Bubba Shobert and hi s remarks in th e J u 1y 6 issu e of Cycle N ews. Bubba referred to J ohn Ashmead as a " m id -p ack rider" after Ashmead had legall y cla ime d Shobert 's $20,000 carburetors a t a real bargain p ri ce, a ll in accordance with th e AMA ca rburetor claiming guidelines. These claim a llowa nces are intended to ease factory domination, p romot e co m petitiveness a n d arouse specta tor interest, not crea te co n flict an d name ca ll ing. Doug Pol en had no negative co m me nts regard in g Randy Refrow claiming hi s " w i n n ing" ca rb ure tors a n d Pol en even said th at h e kn ew it was likel y to h appen. Th e o ther co m me nt m a d e b y _Sh ob ert was, " I pl ay wi th th ese guys .an d try to help 'em ou t, a nd this whol e thing (claim ing) u psets m e." In m y op in io n ; if Bubba wa s o u t th ere to pl a y, he would participate in the 600 Supersport event a nd sh ow a ll just how good he rea lly is. BUBBA BLAKE Da ytona, FL Re-elect Wilson It appears th at our co nstant pressu re a nd letter wri ting to Sen. Pete Wil son ha s paid off with th e postponement o f 5 7-. H owev er , this m eans the upcom ing el ection becomes ab solutely cri tical for th e future of 57. Wil son's op ponent, Leo McCarthy, has co me o u t totally in favor of S7. If h e is elec ted, S7 will probably pass next year. All o ffro aders, miners, roc k hounds, a nd other us ers " must unite to defeat McCarthy which in tu rn will help defeat 57 in its p rese nt form. There is ' a need for well th ought o ut wilderness, but not a bill wr itten by th e Sierra Club. We must double our efforts n ow to re-elect Sen. Wil son or th e battle will be lost. LARRY LANGLEY Bellflower, CA De sert race coverage I guess it 's over, all go od th ings . must end, T om a nd Ann Van Beveren spoiled us with th eir exce lle nt coverage of desert events . Now a ll us desert goer s (r acers, play riders, support crews , fam ilies ) h ave nothin g to look forward to when Cycle N ews a rrives. Sure, we ca n read abo u t roa d racing , spee dwa y, m ot ocross, etc., but no desert covera ge is like having a pp le pie without th e ice cream. Come o n, Cycle News, get th e sh ow o n th e road; let' s get some desert co vera ge aga in ! There a re a lo t o f sponsors su p porting desert racing a nd I am sure th ey would also lik e to see a rt icles. F. GORDON SMITH JR. Visalia, CA Y our letter was neatl y typ ewritten, so why don 't you give reporting a shot? Th e vast ma jor ity of race coverage that appears in Cycle New s is prov ided by [te elan cers, suc h as th e Van Beuerens. A con tribu tor's gu ide is available for th e asking; it prov ides in fo rm atio n on ho w to submit race coverage. We pay for race covera/te, both wo rds and photos. Drop a lin e to Editor, Cycle News, P.O . Box 498, L ong Beach, CA 90801, and we'll rus h a g uide to you . . . Editor. Dream come true I would like to th ank all th e people in vol ved in making m y year-lo ng drea m co me true - 'th e o pe ni ng o f mot ocro ss a t Sea tt le In ternat ional Ra ceway, in Sea ttle, Wa sh in gt on. T hey are m y bo ss Clem Tuch sh erer , R ick Ba rr y a n d Cha rl ie McKee, co ntractors Sco tt Corliss, th e Larry Kuabler famil y, Mik e Keohn a nd ~i.s fam ily, Mark Reiter, a nd m y bi ghearted friend J im Wat ers. It wou ld not h ave been possible wi thou t you r help. Thank yo u. JOHN DIXON Enamclaw, WA The best days I ca n 't tell you how much I enj oyed your article, " Coc keysville m emories ." It reminded me o f a time th at was in m y o p ini o n the best years of motorcycling. During that same p eri od I was a deal er in th e city of Ri chmond, Virginia, an d all those kids ca me to ride our little scrambles tra ck. Ov er a period of 20 years or so, just about everybody who ever rode a m otorcycle showed up there. It was not uncommon for riders 'to come from as far n orth as Connecticut a n d as far so u th as Florida. T he names in your art icle really p erk ed m e u p. I h aven 't seen or heard of Mik e Sponsell er since he wa s a kid. I am not surprised he did well in life. H e wa s al ways a super ded ica ted person. We were a t o ne time or a nother visited by su ch names as George Roeder ; H erb Reiber, the Meyers brothers, Marshall Lamm , Paul Lass i te r, Howard Whitting ton, McQueen, the Volkmar brother s, Gerald Givens, T ommy McDermott, Davey J ones, Wayne Cook, Don G o re , To m my Mor ri s and Sponsell er. I co u ld go on for days, but th e most importan t thing is that these guys all came for th e pure sport and fun of it. There wa s never any money, on ly a trophy for traveling and riding, but I am sure if they were polled , th ey would say that those were some o f th e best days of th eir lives. . I a m aw are th at it is a part of progress, but with a ll th e hi gh-tech eq u i p me n t a n d th e ex pe n ses I wonder. if the real thrill o f a ma teu r co m pe titio n is as strong and enjoy~d as it was in th e days as reflecte d m th e-annual fun day a t G ary Nixon's pl ace in Maryland. I know th is, your article prompted me to di g out som e old pictures and reli ve so me grea t da ys. ED BOOMHOWER Chesapeake, VA P.S. Is th ere any possibil it y th at th e Ea rl Roloff who makes your pages frequently cou ld be the son of the one-arme d racer of the ea rl y fifties wh o co mpeted in th e D.C.lBalti more area? Earl Sr. wa s unbeli evable and I know he moved o u t the re (Ca lifo rn ia) . Earl is indeed th e son of th e Earl R ol off you rem ember . . . Edit or. Sh oddy journalism ? Paul Ca rr u the rs' article ab out th e P ro Twins Modified Producti on ra ce a t th e Loudon National verges o n bein g . some w ha t o f a n understatem en t. Ga ry Stas ro de one hell of a ra ce. Paul negl ected to mention th at G ary sta rted on th e last row of the grid, an d excep t for Kevin Erion, h ad p assed th e entire fie ld by th e end o f th e fourth or fifth lap. Kevin seemed to h ave a com m a nd ing lead a t this point but within anothe r four or five la p s, G ary was a ll over him. . I watched G a ry try to p a ss Kevin severa l times and he claims h e d id m ore th an once, o n ly to have Kevin repass him goi ng over th e h ill. To infer th at G ary inherited th e win beca use Kevin fell is no t fai r to G ary. Kevin kn ew that he had a race o n hi s h a nds a n d perhaps th e pressure was just too grea t, perhaps no t. Only Kevin know s. G ary rode the wheel s o ff t~a t machine, so co m e o n gu ys, give . credi t wh ere cred it is due. T ell Paul to get o u t of the mot orhome a nd wa tch the races or at least listen to the a n nou ncer. DO N HUTCHINSON Race Director, Loudon Road Race Ser ies Woodstock, NY A nd t he w inner is .. . Your Red Bud National MX cov erage said that Guy Cooper won ~he l25c c National with 1-3 m ot o finish es over George H oll and 's 2-2. I thought th at when th ere was a tie in points th at the m an wh o pl aced best in th e second m ot o won. Guy scored four points as did George, but wouldn 't Holland' s seco n d top Coo per's third? SH AD REED Longview, WA In AMA Nat ional Championship MX events, points are awarded as follows (per m oto ): 25 for first , 22 for second, 20 for third, 18 for [outth, 16 for fifth, and th en on e less poin t for each fin ishing po sition through 20th place. Cooper earned 45 po ints at R ed . Bud wh ile Holland earned 44 .• . Editor. Publis h ed lette rs d o no t necessarily reflect th e po s ition of Cyc le News. Inc. Leners are subject t o con de nsa tion d ue to space limitations. Anonymous lette... w ill not bo p ublished. Sond lono.. to Voicos. P.O . Box 49B. long Booch. CA 9080 1·0498.

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