Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127174
That in the briefest moment of mind slip, I allowed the Road to take charge and Rule. I was in a rush , harder on the throttle than I should .have been. R iding that textbook danger zone closest to home. Leaning the turn, a tricky reverse camber, a nasty lefty - forgetting the blind traffic light was still going to be there. Exactly as it had been for decades. All my driving and riding life. Listen, I'd beenthrougb that section hundreds of times, thousands is more like it. A girlfriend in high school had lived . right near by, a block away. And it was The Road To T he Beach! Hey! _My entire lineage of motorcycles had made the turn safely before! Now, all these riding years later, acciden t free, it was suddenly doubtful if I . would. I couldn't run the red light - not even in desperation, ' out of sheer necessity. I sim p ly had to sto p. Period. Because there was a car there, already stopped, and another, stopping, blocking my on ly flank escape. It was either stop or go down. Or hit the halted hatchback. And in that dreamy slowed instant when my crash warning lit , it became clin ically clear what had to be done. Still lean ing, still turning, I had to go hard for the brakes - but w ith a perfect front-&-rear blend. No mistakes, I told myself. No second chan ces here. Lose traction and I could well lose my ass. My own rider's computer went into action, the mind's extra sense signaling limbs to respond. It was like going on to au tomatic pilot; I could [eel the years take over and begin sorting alternatives. That, and a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class helping work the equation, too. Riding With Con trol, they call it; the vital skill of not lett ing Stick become Slide. My whole nervous system coursed through the bike. And when I felt the brakes working, it was like bare palms and fingertips were skimm ing the pavement, monitoring the grip. I even saw close-ups of that p recise po int of contact between tire and hardstuff, that fic kle patch of adhesion determining fate. And I knew then what was going to happen. T he motorcycle was going to stay ru bber side down . I was going to get it stopped in tim e. And start playing it safer. William Edgar INTERVIEW: Supercross champ Rick Johnson loves w inning races ;4 PREVIEW: Supercross takes a step toward the big leagues 8 MOTOCROSS: LaRocco puts a lock on Hyman Myers Winter AMA 12 Kiedrowski. Ward on top at Sandhill GSN 16 Geyer golden at Glen Helen GSN amateur opener 20 ICE RACING: Brow. Ingram slick . 14 . on Illinois ice HARE & HOUND: Smith edges Krause for Go ld Strike win , 22 TIRE WARS: AMA/CCS spec tire rule stirs controversy 26 SUPERCROSS: Bayle, Schmit score wins at Scottsdale 28 PARTY: King Kenny celebrates birthday with a car race 30 TEST: Kawasaki's ' 8 9 KX125 gets better : 34 TRAVEL: Motorcycling in Russia 38 LOCAL RACING : The place where everyone begins 42 CALENDAR : What, where and when everything will happen 46 WANT ~DS: Bargain hunting 51 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Supercross Champion Rick Johnson hopes to continue his dominance in the 1989.Camel Supercross Series. but his opposition has some ideas on' how to stop him this year. See page 4 for an interview with t he champ and page 8 for what the other riders have to say about Johnson. Photo courtesy Fran Kuhn/SuperMotocross Magazine. r----------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - ~- , SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name--:;;;--;-;;-;:;-;;-=:-::77,.";;;-;;;- _ o ( PL EA S E PRINT CLE A RlY I Ad dress _ _-:- _ Cit y_· Sta te Order Date: ....LZip . _ _ Thi s is a r enew al '0 Ple as e b i ll me o Encl osed is c heck o r mo ne y o rde r C h arg e my 0 V isa 0 M as t e rca rd .=c OK, please start my subscription to Cycle News and send me the newspaper Signature o e ve ry w eek f o r on e y ear (50 issue s) for $35 .00 o ever y wee k fo r two y ears (10 0 is sues ) f or $ 6 5 .00 o si x months se co n d .cl as s (2 5 issue s) for $ 18.00 MC /V isa # One yeer (50 issues). 2nd cleos Cene de or Mexico end ell other f orei gn cou nt ries $75 .00 (U.S. funds) . First c ia•• and airmail rat el ava ilab le upon ~equ8st. ~ Send t o : CYCLE NEWS, Inc., _ ---'" ...,..- _ Expiration Date _ . ~ P.O . Bo x 4 9 8. Long B ea ch. C A 908 0 1 - 0 4 9 8 j (21 3 ) 427-7433 • ~3