Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America's motorcycle newspaper .... v ..0 8 v u v o Volume XXV Sharo n Clayton: Publisher Mike Klin ger . Compt roller Skip Joh nso n. A ssociate Publisher / Na tio nal Sa les Managn Jack Man Jlus, Associate Pub lis her ! Editor Rh eba Sm ith. Circu lation Manager Caroline Gendry . Executive Secre tary to the Pu blish er Editorial Kit Palmer , Associate Ed itor Paul Carru thers, Associate Edi to r Nat e Rauba . Associ ate Editor Brian Ca uersc n. Associat e Edi tor Ed wina Man gu s, Calen dar Editor Advertising Mill- C h urch, Senior Sales Manager T erry Prau , Senior Sale s Man ager Mar k T ho me . JV estem Sa les M an ager Ron Davidso n. W estern Sal es ManQ.gn' Mark Mitchell, Eastern Sal~s AlanaKer Thom a!'> R. Ooruer. Easte rn Sa les M anag er Debbie Weeler. Westl'rn Ad Coo rdinator Ca rla Borden . Eastern Ad Coordinator Graphics and Production Mal colm Wil son .Production Ma nage?' Den n is Greene. Lab . T ech . Diana H ilgen ber g , Grap hic Artist SLa«'Y G uest. Graphic A rtist J im m ie O 'De ll. Graphic Artist Ma ndy Loo , Graph iCArtist Carolyn Bran ha m. Tvpeseuer Arie nne Telias , T yp esettn Account ing /Data Processing Donna Bryan . A ccts R eceivable Coo rdinator Geneva Repass. Assistan t Fran Ham wey, Credit Circulat ion Sarah Tay lor . Assistant Alma Anguiano . Assisunu Cher i Chapman. Assisllln' Mar ita Ada ms. Assistan' Herl ane R ich mo nd. AssisUJn' Carol Scannel l. Ass is'ant Circulat ion Development Ron Dav id son . l~ a n ager Want Ads J oan R ussian. Want Ad Sales Service and Support Ch ris Ait cheson , H eadqUfJrters R eceptionist Leonard Herring. SeTVlU and Su pport National Headquarters 220 1 Cherry Ave., Lon g Beach, CA 90806. P.O, Box 498. Lon g Beach, CA 90801·0498 (2 13) 427·743 3; 2 13/6 36·8844, FAX (2 13) 427·6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave.• Tucker . GA. 3008 4; ma iling add ress P.O. Box 805. T uck er . GA 30085 · 0805. (404) 93'1·7850, FAX (404) 934· 3112 Cycle News (USPS 141-340 ) is publi shed wee kly excep t the first and last week o f th e ca lenda r year for $50.00 per year by Cycle New s. In c. • 2201 C he rry Avenue. Long Beach , CA 90806. Seco nd class pos tage paid at Long Beach , CA . a nd additional maifing offi ces. POS TMAS T ER : Send f o rm 3579 t o Cyc le New s, P.O . Bo x 49B. Long Beech. CA 90B0 1-049B. To determine the expiration da te of your su bs cript ion. check the fo ur num be rs on th e first line of your add ress la bel. The first two digits indicate the last issue numbe r you'll receive a nd the last two characters indicate the yea r of the last issue. S ubscr ip tion "rates: O ne year. seco nd class ma il. S50.00. Cycle News welcomes u nso licit ed ed itoria l ma teria l incl ud ing stories, cart oons, ph o to s. etc. Such ma terial. if published. becom es th e exc lusi ve pr operty of Cycle News . Such accep ted material is su bject to revision as 150 necessary in th e sole di scretion o f Cycle News . U nso licited material which is n OI used will be returned if acco mpan ied by a self addressed stamped envelo pe. All u nsol ici ted materia l will be handled with reasonable car e, how ever . Cycle New s assum es no responsibi lit y for the safety. loss or damage 10 such ma terial . Reprin tin g in who le or pa rt o n ly by perm issio n o f th e pub lis her. Adverti!'>ing ra tes a nd circula tio n info rm a tio n wj ll be sent upon requ est. See S.R.D.S. W'BPA 4 AUD ITED CIRCULATION Co p yrig ht e Cyc le News . In c . 1 9 8 8 . Trade -ma rk Cycle News registered U.S . Pa te nt Off ice . All right s re served . Europe bound I wa nt to tak e a moment of your readers' time to exp la in th e reason I am going to Europe next yea r to co n test th e 500cc Worl d Cham p io nsh ip Road Race Series. T he item wh ich a ppeared in fn The Wind in . yo u r No vember 16 iss ue left th e rea der with th e im p ression th at I was so ur abo u t th e way th e 1988 season ended a nd bitter abo u t th e AMA d isq ua lifica tio n a t th e Syrac use Mil e. I ad m it th at I wanted to win as a ll racer s do, however, th at is no reason to get mad a bo ut th e rules th at determine how' th e ra ce is run . I rea lize that those ru les have 'help ed me man y times a n d I have ea rned a lo t of money ra cing. This would not have been pos sibl e without th e AMA an d th e order th at ru les esta blish. I want to sa y th at I a m gratefu l for a ll th at a nd for a ll th ose who su p po rte d me here. The ra cing in Eu rop e is very compe ti tive. My goal fo r th e first year is to a ttract th e a tte ntion o f th e to p peop le at HRC and to learn the fin e po ints o f rac ing o n th e different . track s. I a m very lu ck y to ha ve Am erican H onda behind me in this effort and I hope th at I ca n event ua lly win th e ch am p io ns h ip for a ll m y fa ns and th e good peo ple at H onda who have a lways supporte d me. BUBB A SH O BE RT Ca rme l Valley, CA Racer salute Thanks to a ll th e fell ows who ran up front, hung in th e p ack or bl ew o u t th e back . The g runts in th e sta nds sa lu te you . ' DAVE LI EB ENROOD Cincinna ti , OH Ex-Lawson fans In regards to the In T he Win d i tem in you r November 23 issue: Yes, we are Ya maha riders! Among the four of us we have eigh t RZ350s, a 550 Vision and a RD350L C. TRACY B. DO YLE WAD E NEWMAN R EUB EN FRAN KENFIEL D CH R IS WE IDL Cincinnati, O H Th e In Th e W ind item said , " . . . a van occu p ied by self-p roclaimed 'exLa wson fans' was spo tted at th e recent WERA Gran d N atio nal Final at R oad A tlanta, sp orting a crossedout- post er of th e thr ee-time World Champ ion (Eddie L awson ) on a Yamaha and a sloga1z readin g , ' L aw s on is th e ant i-Christ,' Hmmm w on de r if t h ey rid e Yamahas " ... Editor.' B-to-V cheers Now that th e 1988 ed i tio n o f Barsto w- to-Vegas is but a fa ntastic memo ry, I feel I sho u ld writ e and share m y th ou ghts o n what I th ink was th e finest desert ra ce ever hel d. My si nc eres t, th an ks to the Bars towto- Vegas o rga n izi ng committee , sponsors a nd vol u nteers who worked , so h ard to p ut o n what can best be descri bed as a " classic race." T he jo b was well do ne by all. I wo u ld'a lso like to than k my pit , crew which was hea ded up by Lane a nd Donna H odgin from Mill Cr eek Welding. T he ir a tt it u de and emotio n was a n inspira tio n to a ll 12 of th ei r riders. T hese peop le are th e g rea tes t a nd this - support a n d friendship - is wha t desert racing is a ll a bo u t. P it cre ws shou ld be reminded h ow val ua b le sm iles, ent h us ias m an d a pa t o n th e back ca n be to atired racer. Lastly, a bi g dusty hug to my wife Debb ie for all her h elp and lookin g so good a t G as One. KIM PALM ER Colton, CA B-to-V winner I wo u ld appreciat e th e o p p o rt u nit y to make a correction of yo ur Barstow-to -Vegas co ve ra ge . Firs] o vera ll Novice was Terr y Altma nn, #856, on a H o nda XR600 in l39t h p osition overall , a full 30 minutes a hea d of Kaw a saki 250-m ounted J im R ideno u r a nd 4 1 minutes a head of th e seco nd p lace O pen No vice rider. This p laced him ahe ad of -th e third place finisher in th e Open Am ateur class. As yo u ca n see, he was probably rid ing th e wrong class; he a p p lied to ride th e Am at eur class but was sent th e Novi ce entry because he had co mpeted in o n ly three previ ous races. I hope yo u will print th is because o f th e a ll -o u t effort T erry Altmann , hi s famil y a nd pit crew put into a n o u tsta nd ing Barsto w-to-Vegas race. PETE ALTMANN H esperia, CA Two big winners For m any of us this year's Bars towto-Vegas rac e hol ds many memorable moments. For me and for ' m y friend in particu la r, thi s yea r's ra ce was indeed ver y special. T h ro ugh th e kindness of Larry Ca rlson an d th e rest o f th e Master L in ks;my friend was abl e to co m pe te a nd finish th e race. While o n the surface the re wo u ld a p pear to be n oth in g rem arkabl e ab out th at , in deed the re is quite a story to tell. It was abo ut a year ago th at m y frie nd Ken ny Grobe was d iagno sed as havi n g H odgkin 's disease (ca ncer of th e lymph nodes). TIle o u tlook was 'gtyly indeed. During th e co urse o f this" year Kenn y underwent radia tio n therapy to help eradicate the ca nce r that was invadi ng h is bod y. Several months passed a nd m or e than anyth ing Kenn y wa nted to race in this vear's Bvto- V. Qu ite fra n kly, I didn't thi n k he had th e stami na to go th e w hole dista nce . I co ntacted Larry a nd he made the necessary arrangeme nts so tha t Kenn y co u ld p it with th e Master L in ks. We wa ited p atien tl y fo r th e race to begi n . I was a t pit number tw o helpin g th e Master Li n ks, a ll the wh ile keep ing an eye o u t fo r Kenn y. Quite h onestl y, I 'did n ' t thi n k h e would ma ke it th at far, but so me th ree a nd a half to four hours afte r the race started , Kenny ca me into pit number two, much to m y su rp rise. He was p retty ti red, but ready to go on. I d ro ve to the fi nish lin e a n d wai ted for wha t seemed an eternity, wondering all the wh ile if he co u ld go th e distance. Fi nally, ou t o f the co rner of my eye , I caught sight o f him coming up o n th e finis h . H e had fini shed th e race! Kenny ha s sh o wn g rea t courage in th e co urse o f this last year. His desir e to race thi s year and go th e dis tance ga ve m e th e co u rage to do so me th ing I h adn't done in a lmos t a year, sin ce su fferin g a debilitating kn ee injury a nd subseq ue nt su rge ry - I began to run after him as he flew pa st th e finish line. I hadn 't had the co ura ge to tr y running since m y injury a nd surgery, yet hi s exa m p le was th e inspiratio n I needed . For th e first time in nearl y a yea r, I ra n . It was verv difficult, but it sure felt good. T ha n k you, m y fri end, for showing me th at th e o n ly limitati ons we have are th ose we p lace upon o u rselves.. Thanks for th e co urage yo u had to even tr y th is race for the fir st time. And th anks for giving ba ck to me a part o f my self that I thought was lost forev er. T han k you, Larry Carlso n, and the res t of the Master Links for ma ki ng th is victory possi b le. WAYNO GUE R R I N I San Diego, CA Sachs parts I am writing in hopes of obtaining information on the availabi lity of pans , man uals, etc. fo r a 1976 H ercules with a I75cc Sac hs engine tha t I am rebuilding. Any information you ca n give me wi ll be greatly appreciated. TOM LAFOLLETTE Garden City, MI Anyone who has what T o m is looking for shou ld drop us a line and w e'll relay the information to him . .. Editor. Fast lady Barstow-to-V ega s '88 co vera ge fun cove r, exc iti ng story a nd great pi ctures. Bu t how ab out cred it where cre d it is du e? Ov er a nd o ver, the top riders were quo ted a nd described as th ey bat tl ed tow ard th e finis h t hrou gh th e " to ug he s t, rocki es t ter rain that District 37 or ga niz ers co uld find." Caref u ll y and deserv in g ly, a fter eac h rider' s nam e 'wa s sho w n th e bike th at th ey ro de a nd th eir sponsors. And the n, a t th e end o f th e story, o ne sho rt line men tioning tha t Mercedes Go nzalez too k th e Wom en 's division hono rs in 6 1st ove ra ll. No bike, no sponsors, no co mmen t o n what an accom p lis hm ent th is was for a 25-yea r-old woman ridi ng a sma ll bike. . Mercedes, on her 1989 Kawasa ki KDX200, ba cked bv Team G reen , AXO Sport, Sh oei , Scott USA, Max ima, Dun lop a nd D;\l C, finished a hea d o f 172 of th e 232 Experts who blasted orr th e line at dawn . Qui te a finis h aga ins t, as th e Va n Beverens said , " ... th e cr eam -of-the-crop co m pe titio n tha t AMA / D-37's most presti g ious even t a lways d ra ws." It sho u ld have a lso been mentioned th a t this was o n ly th e seco nd desert race that Mercedes has ridden. Congra tu lations , Mercedes, o n a n in cred ibl e ride! DAN A BEL L Long Beach , CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News" Inc. Send letters to Vo ices, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 . .

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