Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America 's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sharon Clayton . Pub lish er Mikr Klin ger , Co m ptrolln" Skip J ohnson, Associate Pub lis hrrl N ational Sales Mana ge?' Ja ck Man gu s. A ssocia u Pu blish errEditor Rheba Smith. Circulation Ma f'U1gn' Caroline Oendrv. Executioe S~cutary to t h~ Publisher Editorial Kit Palm er , Associate Ed itor Paul Carr uthe rs, Associate Edi tor Nate Rauba, Associat e Edit or Brian Ca tterso n, Associate Edit or Edwina Mangus, Calmdar Editor Advertising Mike Ch urch, SmiOT Sales Man age?' T erry Pratt, Sen ior Sales Ma nag~ Mark Thome, Westt'm Salt's Man agn' Ron Davidson, Weslnn Sales Maf'U1g~ Mark Mi tchell , Eastern Sales Manag~r Thom as R. Come r. Eastern Sales Mana K" Debb ie w eeler. WestNn Ad Coo rdina tor Car la Borden, Eastern Ad Coo rdin ator Grap hics and Production Mal col m Wilson, Production Manag~ Dennis G reene, Lab. T~eh . Stacey G uest. Graphic ~ rtist . Jimmie O 'IXII , GraphIC1 rtlSt Ma ndy 1..00 GraphI C;frtut . Carolyn Branham, Ty~sdtn Arienne Telias, T YfNM tk'T Accounting /Data Processing Do nna Bryan, It eelS R eceiuable Comdinator Geneva Repa ss, ASSIStant fran H amwey, Cud ;t Circulation Sarah Tay lor . Assist4nt Alma Angu iano . A ssot4nt Man ta Adams, Assistant Her lan e Richmon d, Assistant Carol Scan nel l, Assistant Circul ation Develop ment Ron Davidson:, ManageT Want Ads J oan Ru ssian, Want Ad Sak s Service and Support Ch ri s Aitcheson, Headquarters R eceptionist Leonard Herring, Setvice and Su p po rt Nationa l Headquarters 220'1 Ch erry Ave., Long Beach. CA 90806. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach . CA 90801-0198 (213) 427·7433; 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 427-6685 Increased respect just finished reading th e in tervi ew with Ron Lechien in th e j anuary 4 issu e. My respect for this yo u ng man h ~s in cr ea sed a hundred -f ol d . HIS honesty abo u t his past probl ~m s a n d , m ore importantly, what h e IS do ing about them is so me thi ng to be co m me nded . As we ha ve ' a ll seen, peo p le who reach th e to p too yo u!lg a n d too fast are act ua l ly quite vulnerable to just th e kind o f trouble with drugs that Ron has had. Everyon e ca n name one or mo re professi ona l bask etball o r b a seb a ll players who have lost a career or, tragically, their lives over drug~. } gue ss it was Just a matter o f ume before ou r sport started to su ffer from th e sa me m al adies. I a m g lad for Ron th at he has ta ~en large positive steps towa r~ ge tt mg hi s life and ca reer ' back m order. Frankl y, I thi n k th a t Kawasa ki a nd Roy Turner are noth ing short o f a ma zi ng for s ta ndi ng by Ron th rough th is long peri?d. T he su l?port th at Ron has rece ived fro m hi s fa m il y a n d fr ie nds is ex tre me.l y importa nt, too. I ho pe that they WIll co ntin ue with th eir efforts a nd I a lso hope th at Ron is fu lly aware of w hat a grea t asse t th ey ar e. . . Ri ck j ohnson has admitted to IS past troubl es with drugs , t ,an d, o f co urse. is cons ide red a good rol e m odel for our yo u ng rid ers and ra cers. Ron now ha s th e cha nce to become a n even grea ter hero. H is hard work and renewed ded ica tio n to overco m in g gr eater problem s th an Rick has had to face can ha ve that much more influence o n th e yo u ng folk s. I would like to con gra tu la te Ron for h is accomp lishm ents and wish hi m continued su ccess both on a n d off the tra ck. BRIAN Ea stern Office 1 190 fint Ave., Tucker , GA . 50084; mai ling address P.O . Box 805. Tucker . GA 300850805. (401) 934-7850 . • FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle News (USPS 141·340) is published weekly C'X n of ~e ~ublisher: Adv~ tisin g ra tes and o rcu lau o n information will be se nt upon requ est. See S.R .D.S. # W'BPA We've never used a < otorcycle tow m bar. Yes, you should rem ove th e drive chain w hen tow ing th e bik e with th e device yo u describe. And ma~e su re yo u' re runn ing th e proper. air pressure in th e rear tir e .. . Edit or. Copyrig ht e Cyc le Naws . Inc . 19 8 9 . Pat en t Office . All rights reserved. R ANDY RATTARO Rohnert Park, CA Oops! In o ur White Bro s. ad in th e j a nuary 4 issu e. we incorrec tly listed j o hn Bra a sch j r. a nd Ron j e~mngs as usi ng Wh ite Bro s. sus pe ns io n to win th e Baj a 1000. j ohn Bra a sch uses Pro Circui t s us pe ns io n. We apologize to j ohn an d Pro Ci rcuit for thi s mistake. DAN WHITE White Bro s. G arden G rove. CA Video night In November th e Mid At lantic Road ra cing Club (MARRC) held its 2n d Annual Video Night a t the Rockville, Maryland, Elk 's Club. Approximately 146 members a n d guests enj?yed a n even in g ~f bench ra cing, Vid eos and ren ewmg old friendships. I wou ld like to ex p ress a specia l thanks to Dav e Wal~ for preparing the new MARRC vld~o tape which was shown for the fir st tim e a t th e Video Ni ght. Many lo cal deal ers donated var ious door prizes a nd I WIsh to tak e th e o p port u n ity to thank th e followin g deal ers and o.ther MA~RC. su ppo rters for th eir co n t r ibut ion s: Battley Cycl es, BP Cycles, Coleman Pow ersport, Cycle Sport U n lim ited, Fr ed eri cktown Yam ah a , H ey ser Cycle Center , Doug Tosten Ra cing, Dave Black o f Yam aha Motor Corp., Carol ' Hi ck ey, S ue Laban o wski, Randy Renfrow, an d Larry Scholl. Finally, m any th anks to everyo ne wh o has shown support to MARRC. We co ntin ue to be dedi cated to th e adva nceme n t o f m o torcycl e roa d raci ng. KAREN COOP ER Dir. o f Social Activites MARRC Wh ealon , MD . Still the champ Give me a br eak. Edd ie Lawson is Eddi e Lawson ! Mounted on a Yamaha, Honda or a Kawasa~i, he is still th e ch a m p. He ha sn 't ndden Yarnahas his entire career an ywa y. An yone remember his su perb ike da ys? J. DAVIDSON Grand Forks, ND AUD ITED CIRCULATION Trade -ma rk Cyc le News registered U.S . 4 RICH AR D D. JONES Marion,OH KX500 wa s sto len . As a result o f many phone calls a nd th e treme~d ous effort of fell ow m otorcycli sts wh o just plain gave a damn , I go t it bac k! Because without th e help o f th ese fin e peop le I stood little cha nce o f recovering m y bike, pl ea se assist ~e in ex tend ing m y since re a p p recratio n to the folks at An g. Rossi Mot orcycle. G &B Kaw asak i, Ukia h Motorsports , Fairfield Kawasaki, WesteT!l Kawa saki , Ri chmond Kawa saki , Dublin Kawa saki, Powell 's Kawasa ki Diab lo Kawasaki , Bikeworld Ka":a saki , B&T Kawasaki , Cycl e Sa lvage, U.S. Kawasaki , Rohn ert Park P.D. , Sonoma County Sheri ff's Office California Hi ghway Pa tro l, Ameri~an Motorcycli st Association, an d , fin all y, to Cycle News and Papa Weal ey. Thanks agai n! I got it back! This past November m y Kaw asaki GP fever Who 'd a thunk it? Lawson to Honda. Spencer out of retirement on a Yamaha. Sh ob ert finall y on th e GP ci rcu it. Lawson mi ght look like a traitor, but, hey, m oney tal ks. It 's a bo u t ti~ e Fa st Fredd ie go t ove r th e MI SS Louisiana " Dea r j ohn " blues. Now Shobert ge ts his cha nce against th e "Big Boys." I' ve been wai ting for this since he showed the top U.S. road racers that a dirt tra cker could' take th e chec kered flag against th em a few years ago at Mid-Ohio. . . I'd like to mak e two predi cti ons for th e '89 GP season : Laguna Seca o n April 16 will see a crowd 150,000 stro ng if th ey ca n sq uee ze that man y spec ta to rs tra cksid e. The!l, barring m ajor injuriesor mech amcals, th ere will o nce again be a n Am eri ca!1 swee p of th e 500cc GP class. This mi ght be wish fu l thinking but I ca n' t imagine a ny tlu ng bett er for GP road rac ing, especia lly here in th e U.S. since th e Roberts-Spencer wars! ED BOGGS New Orleans, LA Godspeed. Russ Our so n , Russell Paulk, lost ~is life at Sear s P oint Ra cewa y III So n o m a .. California , in a tragi c accid ent during Friday' s AMA ProAm pra cti ce session on September 30. I have been involved with motorcycles and th eir peop le for most of my life, and as a dealer for th e past 33 years. For a long tim e now I have been a larmed a t th e ap pare n t lack of co nce rn for th e safety o f th e riders o n th e part of some of th e tra ck o pe ra tors. How sad it is th at so ~a!1.Y of th em rep eat edl y refu se to eli m in at e o bs tr uc t io ns suc h as th e em ba n kme n t at Sears Point's turn eigh t. .Let us hope th a t from this will co me a cha nge o f a ttitu de resultin g in saved lives in the fut u re. Mrs. Paul k,-Russ' sis ter Ca rol Hardegr ee, and I wou ld j ust lik e to ex p ress o u r deep gra ti tude .for th e many kin d lett ers, ca rds, ViSItS, a nd p hone ca lls from Ru ss' frien d s a ll over th e U.S. exp ressi ng thei r co ncern for us a nd o ur famil y. We a re indeed co m fo rted in kn owing th at Russ' life touch ed so many people in a good way. His sudde n death ha s been devastating , but through God's help a n d that o f Ru ss' a nd o u r friends we kn ow th ai we can cope with o u r gr eat loss. For Russ' sa ke, we can do no less. LINTON K. PAULK North Augusta , SC . Express yourself I wrote to Steven Berard of ESPN and voiced my opinion o n their . coverage o f motorcycle road racu~g, and how I'd lik e to see more (of It). Beli eve it or not, so mebody actuall y read it and wrote m e back thanking m e for m y letter. T o qu ote: " Response from our audience provides us with a valuable measure of o p in io n and is always welcome." Pl ease keep reminding yo ur readers th at a letter to ESPN is avaluable tool , and a t only 25 cen ts ~ !etter it 's worth it to see more exciu ng road raci ng co verage on television. ED LINK Newark, DE ES PN, ESPN Plaza, 935 Middle St .• Bristol, CT 06010 . . . Edit or. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the positio n of Cycle News, Inc . Letters are subject to condensation due to space limitations: Anonymous letters will not be publ ished. Send lett ers to Vo ices, P.O. Box 498. Long Beach, CA 90801 -0498.

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