Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 O'l ....... America 's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXV Sharon Clay to n: Publish" ~ Mi ke Klin ger" Compt roller Ski p j o h nso n, Associate Pu blisb ert Na tio na l Sales Man ag" Jac k Mangus , Associate Pub tisher t Ed itc r Rheba Smi th, Circulation Ma nagtT Caroline Gendry , Executive Secretary to the Pub lish", Editorial Kit Pal mer. Associate Editor Paul Car ruthers. Associate Ed itor Nate Raub a, Associate Ed itor Brian Ca tterson, Associate Ed itor Edw in a Man g u s. Calenda r Ed itor Advertising Mike Chu rch. Sen ior Sales Man ager T erry Prau. Senior Sales Mana gtT Mar k T ho me. Western Sales Mana gn Ron Davidson. WesteTn Sales Mana gtT Mark Mit ch ell , Eastern Sales Manager Thom as R. Oo ruer. Eastern Sales Mana gt'T Debbie Winkler. Western Ad Coor dina tor Carla Borden. East"!' Ad Coordinator Graphics and Production Malco lm Wilson ,P w d uct ;on Manager Dennis Gree ne, Lab, T ech. Dia na H ilgenberg, Gra phic A rtist Sta cey Guest. Craph J Artist ·c Ji mmie O 'Dell, Graph ic Ar tist Man dy Loo, Grapbic Artist Carolyn Bra nha m , Typ~sett" Arien ne T elias. Typesetter Account ing /Data Processing Donna Bryan , AeeLs Re uivable Coo rdinato r Gen eva Repass. Assistant Fran Hamwey, Credit Circ ulatio n Sarah Taylor, A.ssistant Alma Anguiano , Assutant Oteri Chapman, A ssutant Marita Adams. Assistant Herlane Richm on d, A ssistant Ca rol Scannell, Assisront Circulation Development Ron Davidson. Manager Wan t Ads J oa n Russia n , Want Ad Sates Service and Support C hris Aitcheso n, H eadquarters R eception ist Leo na rd H erring, Service and Support We goofed! Regard in g the Kin g Cross article in your Octob er 26 edition, I am appalled that any mo torcycle p ublication would p ub lis h a pict ure of so me idiot rid ing a mo to rcycl e, especially a very da ngerous one in da ngerous co ndi tio ns , wit hou t a helm et or a ny ot her protective gear for th at matter. If some self-described "crazy" stu n tma n wan ts to ris k life a nd lim b, th at 's his problem , but don' t show it in a nationa l publ ica tion for a ll to see. It 's hard eno ug h a lread y to co nv ince yo u ng a n d daring riders to wear safety gea r a t all tirnes.Tll ea n up your act or you' ll be min us a t least one sub scriber. T O MMY WEST Ft. Worth, TX Finnish stuntrnan Art o Nyquist may have ach ieved fa me a nd no torie ty for th e crazy st u nts he performs bu t I a m will ing to bet his skin he does n't jump o££ his KZI300 at 100 m p h weari ng the "fools gear" we saw him disp layed in o n the pages of Cycle News. I ca n just hear my Motorcycle Safety Fo u ndation Mo torcycle R ider Co urse- Ri d ing and Street Ski lls students whe n I present them th e information on p ro per riding gear. " Well, Arto whee lied unti l th e front forks collapsed and he was wearing ten nis shoes, shorts, T -shirt a nd no hel met. I saw it in Cycl e News." I wish Alan Cathcart a speedy a nd fu ll reco very from h is broken tibia an d I wish he wo uld have elimina ted the last four pa ragra phs and th e pi cture of Arto from his article. Alan , I ass u me you wea r " fu ll gear" during your race bik e test sessio ns. Nat ional Headquarters 220 1 C herry Ave., Long Beach, CA 9080 6, P.O . Box 498, Long Beac h , CA 9080 1·0498 (2 13) 427·7 433; 213 / 636-8844. t 'AX (2 13) 427·6685 Eastern Office 4 190 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084 ; ma ilin g add ress P.O. Box 805, T ucker , GA 30085· 0805. (4ll-1 ) 934-7850 . FAX (404 ) 934-3 112 Cycle News (USPS 141·340 ) is published weekly except the firs t and las t week of the ca lendar year for $50.00 per year by Cycle News, In c.• 2201 Cherry Avenue, Lon g Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage )l;' id a t Lo ng Beach, CA , and additiona l mailing offices. POSTMASTER : Send f orm 3579 t o Cycle N ews, P.O . 80x 498. Long 8each , CA 90801 -0498. To determine th e expiration da t e of your su bscriptio n. check th e fo ur numbers on : t he first line of your address labe l. The first two dig its indicate the last issue number you ' lI receive and t he last two cha racters indica te the yea r of t he la st iss ue . Su bscriptio n rates: O ne year, second class m a il. $50.00. Cycle News welcomes un solici'ln:l editorial material inclu di ng stories, cartoons, p hotos, etc. Such ma teria l, if publ ished , becomes th e exclusive pro~TlY of Cycle News. Such accepted material is sub ject to revisio n as is necessary in th e sole discretion of Cycle News . Unso licited ma teria l which is n o r used will be re tu rned if acco m pa ni ed by a sel f addressed sta m ped envelope. All un solicited mater ia l will be handl ed with reasona ble ca re, how ever, Cycle News ass u mes no responsibility for the safety , loss or da mage to such ma terial. Reprin ting in whol e or pa rt only by perm issio n of th e publishe r. Adverti sin g rat es a nd circ ula tio n informat ion will be sent upo n req uest, See S.R. D.S. W.I BPA V AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyright - Cycle News, In c. 1988. Trade -mark Cyc le News reg istered U.S . P.tent Office. A rightl.reMrved. _U DAN PETTERSON Ludin gton, MI I ca n not believe you guys a t Cycle News . I ha ve been a n a vid read er o f your newspaper for 14 years and never have I seen a ny thi ng as bad as th e p icture of stu ntma n Arto Nyquist on page 15 o f your Octo ber 26 issue. In light o f the recent helmet law and ATV co ntroversy in our govern me nt a nd Cycle News runnin g ads with Eddie Lawson, Bubba Shobert and Wayne Gardner tell ing people to wea r he lmets and protective cloth ing when they ride motorcycles, I ca n not believe that you would have a p ictur e of stu n tma n Arto in short pants a nd no he lmet on " the wo rld 's biggest, fastest , and most powerful dirt bi ke. " T his is a bad exa m ple for a you ngs ter who, desirin g to be the next Bubba Sho bert, picks up your newspa per and sees this pi cture. We try to teach you ngsters to be safe a nd wea r a helmet wh en they ride mot or cycles and you sho w them th e opposi te. Wh a t if, after seeing th is pi ct u re, a youngst er wou ld go a nd ride hi s mot or cycle with no helm et, fall and get h urt? We m ust set th em , and o ur selves, 'a good example to follow. DON McBRIDE -Los An gel es, CA C'rnon, Cycl e News , I thought you were better than this. Leave this crap for the "round file," an d remember th e maj o rit y of your read ers (if not a ll o f th em ) compete o n real bikes, wit h real brains, and look u p to the top p rofessional racers in the wo rld, not some boneh ead stu nt foo l o n a bo nehead bike. RI CH KATZ New York , NY . W e na ivel y th ought that read ers wou ld look at th e K ing Cross as bei ng nothin g m ore th an a cabin feve r exe rcise or an April Fools-type joke. Th e jo ke w as on us and w e realize th at now. You w on 't see the likes of A rto on th ese pages again . . . Editor. Is 'not hing sacred? Sa y it ain' t so ! Eddie Lawson on a H o n da l Is nothin g sac re d ? It certainly ca n' t be for a better handling mach in e, so that on ly leaves the money as a moti ve. Could it be th at Yamaha didn 't want ' to "an te up? " I shouldn' t be surprised, though, Yamaha o nce em p loyed a cou p le o f guys named Bob Hannah a nd Ri ck J o hnson and was stupid enough to let them bo th get away! (Nei lson) and Ken n y (Roberts) only happen ed because o f h is perseveren ce. It 's really a great feeling to sha re th e fun and responsibility wit h you r so n. Tha nk s, H arv (Gary's his ni cknam e). I sho u ld also say than ks to Bill T all ey, Don Vesco , Mark Martini, " Steve H a ug, J im m y Dunn an d Steve Schaefer for so m uch help alo ng the line. It too k ex tra effort fro m Dunlop as tim e ran short in supplyi ng the tires and a n u nexpected boost fro m California Gold a nd Pl atin u m Fu el. Some people p laced bl am e on the m for engine prob lems that I don't think they deserved. It was either a good product that th ey supplied or damned blind luck on m y part that made that Ya maha ru n. I a m more in clined to feel the fuel was good. T hen the addit io n th at rea lly ceme nted the entire th ing toge ther was those 10-vear-o ld Lectrons. I don 't see how something so sim p le 'can wor k so well. It 's a lso handy to ha ve Ran dy Scoville a nd Cha m pio n th ere wh en needed. Last to th an k is Rob North for m y new pipes. Fast service from a gen ius. GLENN FREU DENBERG ER, M.D. Sea ttle, WA . Objective coverage It was very refreshi ng to read t he covera/?e of the Indianapolis and Su m mi t Po int rounds of the WE RA En durance Series. La rry Bell did a fin e job , eq ua lly covering a ll the classes instead o f focus ing only on th e to p three ove ra ll teams. We ap p reciate the objective coverage and hope to see more o f it. DO UG H ENRY Royal e Racing Grass Lake, MI GA R Y CH R ISTO P HE R La ns ing, MI T h e Mar lboro Yama h a team is " o w n ed" by mu lti-time W orl d Champion G iacom o Agostini an d as far as we kn ow Lawso n 's contract was with Agostini, not Yam aha. A s far as we kn ow', Agostini didn 't have a chance to " bi d" o n L aw son 's services for the 1989 season . Un ti l we're to ld o the rwise, we believe Lawson decid ed at some po int to switch teams and did exactly that w itho u t con ducting th e tradit ion al back and forth " can yo u top th eir offe r" n egotiat in g . . . Ed itor.' Oops! In refere nce to the Video Review (Road to La guna Seca) th at a p peared in your Nov ember 2 issue , p lease a dv ise J a ck Mangu s that Eddi e Lawson is a th ree-tim e World Ch amp ion, not two as sta ted in the review. T h is error aside, you folks do a grea t job o f coveri ng o ur sport (yo u too, J ack). CARL D. T ESORO West Islip , NY T he review was written pr ior to L awson winning -his th ird title. We fai led to u pdate it before it was p ublish ed . . . Edi to r. Land of Lincoln I would like to th ank T ot e Gray a nd th e Peoria M.e. for getti ng the AMA Am a teur/Youth Na tio na l Dirt T ra ck Ch am p ionsh ips for Ill inois in 1989. We wi ll do a ll we ca n to help mak e thi s event a success . G EO RGE HINTHORN Director of Dirt Track AMA Distri ct 17 Bloom ington, IL All the Issues I agree 100% with th e letter fro m Richard F. H amilton J r. (Voices, N o vember 9 issue ). I, too , will consider all the issu es before voting. Even thou gh m y m ain for m o f recrea tio n for over 20 years has been o££-road ing o n m y bikes and even th ough I have been em ployed in the dirt bike b usiness, I realize that there a re. man y more importa nt issu es. I beli eve there are th ousands o f dirt bik e riders who loo k a t all th e issues. T ha n k yo u for print i n g Mr. H am ilt on's letter. We a ll need to keep our perspecti ve abo u t the truly importa nt issues in this world. REX McCLELLAN Boonvill e, CA Fast Freud I a p p recia te th e story by Dorde Wood ru££ ab ou t my e££or ts a t Bonnevi lle in 1988. It was th e first tim e in over 60 trips to the Salt that I have . had a serio us rid e. There' s a huge di££eren ce to step ou t fro m behind the ca mera a nd run some ser io us number s. A re liab le bike reall y helped but the most help th at I received ac tua lly ca me from m y son Ga ry. During Spee d Week he did all the dirty work. It 's not the first time th a t he has step ped u p a nd mad e a p roj ect work. Our infamous heico pter o u ting in Haw ai i with Cook Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters are subject to condensation due to space limitations, Anonymous letters will not be published. Send letters to Voices, P,O, Box 498, Long Beach, CA. 90801-0498.

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