Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

r I I r-:~l ........ I ~\ 00 00 0") ....... I _-~, ~ America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharo n Cla yton . Publisher Mile Klin ger.Comptrolkr Skip J ohnson . Associate Publisher ! N at ional Sales Mana gN Jack Ma nq-us. Associate Publisherl Editor Rh eba Smith , Ci rcu lat ion Manager Ca ro line Oendrv. Ex ecut ive Secretary to th e Publish er . Editorial Kit Palmer. Assodate Ed itor Paul Carru thers . Associate Ed itor Na te Rau ba, Associate Editor Brian Ca uersc n. Associate Editor Tyrone Van Hooyd onk, A s,~ istant Editor Edwin a Mangu s, Calen da r Ed itor Advertis ing Mike Church. Senior Sales Mana g" T erry Pratt Sen ior S ales Man agn Mark.T ho me. Westnn Sales M an agt'1' Don Steeber, W est t'1'11 S ales M anag" Mark Mitchell . Eastern Sales M an ager Thomas R. Gomer. Eastern S ales Man ageT Debbie Winkl er. Westt:m Ad Coo rdinator Ca rla Borden , Eastern Ad Coo rdi nato r l ay Izaqu ir re, Advert isin g A s.~ i.~tan l Graphics and Production Mal colm Wil son ,Produ ction M anager Dennis G reene, Lab..Te cb: Dia na Hilgen berg, Gr ap h ic Artist Stacey G uest, C rap hic Artist Jimmie O·DeII. Graphic Ar tist Mandy LoC). G raph iC Artist I - Mari on Ha tashi ta. T vp esetter Caro lyn Branha m, T yp esett er Arienn e Telias . T yp esett er Accounting /Data Processing Donna Bryan . Ac cts R eceivable Coo rdinator Geneva Repass, A.uistant Fran Ham wey, Credi t Circulat ion .. Sara h T a ylor , Assis tan t Alm a Angui an o. As sistan t . Oteri Ch apman . Assistant Manta Adam s. A ssistant Herlane Richm ond, A ssistan t Carol Scan nel l. Assistan t Circulat ion Development Ron Davids on. Mana ger Want Ads J oan R ussian, Wan t Ad Sal es Service and Support Chris Aitch eson , Hea~uart.t:rs R ecept ionist Leo na rd Herring. Service and Suppor t National Headquarters _ 220 1 Cherry Ave.. Long Beach . CA 90806. P.O . Box 498. Long Beach . CA 90801·0498 (2 13) 427·7433; 213/636·8844. FAX (2 13) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave.• T uck er, G A, 30084; mailing address P.O . Bm< 805. Tucker; GA 30085· 0805. (404) 934·7 850_ FAX (104) 934·3112 Cycle New s (USPS 111· 340) is p ub lished weekl y excep t th e first and last week of the calendar year for $32.50 per year by Cycle News, In c.. 220 1 Cherry Avenue. Long Beach . CA 90806. Seco nd class pos tage P.:'id a t Lon g Reach, CA, a nd addi tio nal mailing offices. POSTMASTER : Send f o rm 3579 t o Cycle News . P.O . Box 498, Long Beech. CA 90801-0498. . To dete rmin e the expiration date of your subscription. c hec k the fo ur numbers on the first line of your add ress la be l. The first two digits ind icate the ' last issue number you 'll receive and t he last two character. indicate the year of the last issue . Subscr iption ra tes: One year, seco n d class ma il , $32.50. Cycle News welcom es unsolicited editoria l material includi n g stories. ca rto ons. photos , etc. Such ma terial , if published, becomes the excl usive pro~rt y o f Cycle News. Such ac cep ted. material is su bjec t to revision as is necessary in the so le d iscre t ion of Cycle News. Unso lici ted mat erial whic h is no t used will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed sta mped en velope . All u nsol icited materi al will be handled wi th reasonable care. he we....er , Cycle News assumes no respo nsin ility for the safety. loss or damage to such mat er ial. Reprinting in whol e or pan only by perm ission of the publisher. Advertisin g ra tes a nd ci rcula tio n in for mati on will be sent u pon request. See S.R.D.S. BPA Consumer Audit D iv ision Member· ship Applied Fo r. Copyright " Cycle News. Inc. 1988. Trade -mark Cycle News registered U.S . Patent Office. All rig hts reserved . 4 Smokey and the O'Show I recently read an article in Ventura County's Star Free Press that left me somewhat irritated. The article was about J oh nny O'Mara training the Ventura County Sheriff's Department on how to catch off-road enthusiasts riding illegally on vacant land in Ventura County. Now , I know there is a problem with inconsiderate users destroying property, suing la ndowners, etc., but the part that gets me is where would Johnny, a long time resident of Ventura County (Sim i Valley), be today had he not trained in the local hills illegally. I wonder how Mr. O 'Mara can justify this in his ow.n mind. BOB LANGIN Langtown Racewa y Van Nuys, CA Dear Senator Wilson : I recently wrote to you criticizing yo ur align ment with Senator Cransto n and the Sierra Club regarding th e referenced bill (S7) a nd told you that I would, therefore, be su p porting Leo McCarthy in th e next election. No sooner had I ma iled the letter than I read in Cycle N ews th at yo u have now rea liz ed th a t the California desert is a n area that should be accessible to all Californians and not just closed to everyo ne but hikers. I am sure you are aware that the Sierra Club support of S7 is merely a way of getting back at off-road enth usiasts who hav e ofte n ' defeated them in legal battles regarding desert use. I, therefore, apologiz e . for my previous criticism and have enclosed a $50 donation in support of your re-election. Thank you, again, for supporting the rights of a ll Californians. THOMAS K. McGEACHIN Santa Monica, CA Let's hear it for Scranton! In the J u ne 22 issue you showed a picture .of a' billboard promoting motorcycle safety. The billboard is being sponsored by the Ca lifornia Highway Patrol and th e sp ace was donatedby the Patrick Media Group. This is a very large and worthy cause and I would like to point out that Patrick Media Group is a national company based here in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Please let your readers know where this company is located. ALFRED MURSCH . Scranton, PA We found them ! In answer to all the calls and letters we've been receivi ng, we decided to take a much-needed rest to catch up on things around the house and to have some fun riding our b ikes instead of just .watch ing everyone else. Bu t do n't panic, we'll be back in the desert in the near future with more coverage of District 37 and SC O RE off-road races and look - . forward to seeing all of you again then. ." ANNE & T OM VAN BEVEREN Simi Valley, CA Confessions of Miss Unadilla Fo l lowirig th e U.S . GP at Una d ill a, I got pl enty of attention during th e awards ceremony. I was n' t the center of attention. however, because besid e me were our "A merica n heroes Rick J ohnso n , Bob H annah a nd Micky.Dymond as they accepted th eir respective first, second and third place prizes. These gu ys ou trode th e best riders in a ll th e world , a nd I co ngra tu la te each one of th em from my heart.' In case anyone is wondering what ge ts my attention, ·the answer is simp le - MOTOCROSS gets itl I'm a model turned dirt bike rider turned trophy girl, and anywhere a ma jor motocross event is happening I'm there. I'm there for the love of the sport - the riders, the color, the ' e ne r g y, the bravado, and most importantly, the people. I feel priv- . ileged to meet a nd get to know all th e individua ls who make the world of 'mo tocro ss go ro und. Yes, even Motoworld announcer Larry Maiers. Unadilla represents the epitome of this great sport. This year 's race was my first Unadilla, but it won 't be my last. Bob Hannah said tha t he 'll return to race Unadilla until he's 40. Well. Bob, here's a proposition: I'll see you at the same time, same place for eigh t more years. In m y book, that's HANNADILLAI YVONNE BAUMANN Sco ttsdale, AZ That's Yvonne and Bob " H an nadilla " Hannah in th e photo abov e 'her lett er. Miss Unadilla operates a beauty salon bus iness in th e Scottsdal e/ Phoenix area, is an avid dirt bik e rider, and was named Woman R ider of the Year by th e Trail Riders of Houston in 1986, th e same year she won her class in a regional hare scram bles series. According to specs she pro vided, Yvonne is 5-feet, 5inc hes tall , weighs 110 pounds and has wheelbase or seat height or w h atev er dimensions of 36-2334 ... Editor. Will miss the "sights and sounds" A few weeks ago I passed the ' motorcycle shop on' the way horne from a week- long vaca tion. I was shocked to see that the BMW sign was painted over and the la r~ showroom was devoi d of motorcycles - a nd filled with John Deere lawnmowers. Sure, I kne w that the shop had changed hands, but I had no idea that it wou ld co rne to this. You see, this .was a special p lace to me. Located in northern New Jersey, the Sport Spot was known to most local rid ers. True to its name, the Sport Spot carried sporting goods. Bu t the main attraction to me was motorcycles - lots and lots of European moto rc ycles. Unfortunately , the shop had fallen prey to economics. More profit was to be made selling lawn mowers. I'd been freq uenting the Sport Spot for close uo 20 years. T he proprietor, Bob Wyckoff, was always more than willing to take the ti me to benc h race or demonstrate. the lates t iron. Let me go back in time and relate some of the sights an d so unds of the Sport Spot that I'll never forget: the mechanical fury and hand-made quality of the MV Agusta 750 America; the appliance-like loo k of the He rcules Wankel; the angular design of the Ducati 860; the menacing bark of the Du ca ti Darmah SS; th e quality and performance of the BMW R90S; the wail of the Benelli Sei; th e evo lu tio n of the Moto Guzzi LeMans; the brutish appea l of - the Laverda Jota; th e bea uty of the Du cati H ailw ood R eplica; th e untapped sales potentia l of the Ducati Pantah; a nd th e sea m less quality of the BMW KlOO, th e bike I would ultimately own. Wh en th e KIOO was introduced, I noted its long lasting quality and co nstr uctio n a nd stood in line at Sport Spot. I had waited years for the Eurobike that would tickl e my fan cy and us ed up a gaggle of Japanese bikes in the meantime. 'For the past three and a half years, period ic mainten ance of my trusty BMW had been in the hands of Ri chie, an excellent mechanic. And although it usu all y took so me time to find , Bob always had the accessory I n eed ed in stock. Tires, boots, helmets, leathers, the odd too l or accessor y - yo u name it. What's a rid er to do? I'm upset. THEODORE L. WI RTH Newfoundland, NJ Slamming I have just picked up the Ju ly 27 copy of Cycle N ews and find some In The Wind articles which are erroneous and 'po tentiall y damaging to WERA. Specifica lly I am referring to the "The race was held in nearly 110degree heat, and started three hours la te du e to diffi culties findi ng eno ugh corner workers ." I do n ' t know where you get your facts, but whe rever it is they a re most certainly in co rrec t. Yes, th e weather was warm, but we all knew the conditions and water a nd ice were being supplied a nd all racers had been told to shorten th eir riding time and to drink plenty of fluids. The race did not start three hours late - 17 minutes lat e to be exact and it was a six-ho ur event, not an eight-hour. The event was hosted by MCRA, a WERA Affiliate Roadracing Club, and they hav e a corn er crew through their club , which I might add did an excellent job 'on Saturday. We ended th e event 17 minutes sh y of six hours due to (the) T rack Rental Contract Agreement. You might have men tioned how the event progressed wi thout incident a nd that the a mb ulance ne ver left sta tion d uri ng th e entire endurance race. Mr. T auzin's dea th was an unfortuna te inciden t on" Sunday, bu t MC RA did conti nue the race program a nd ra n all the classes, co mp leti ng th e Sunday race da y at 7. With the exce ption of Mr. T auz in's acci dental death, th e weeken d was a (Continued to page 17)

• Cover