Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

there were not enough dates ava ilable to give one o ~ two to the AFM . -'-. . Mark Conner has been elected preside nt of th e Oregon Motorcycle Road Racin g Association , repla cing Tom Stein wh o was serio us ly injured in a dirt track racing accide n t las t year. For more informatio n write to OMRRA, P .O . Box 6388, Portland , O R 97228 or call 503/655-7266. America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sha ro n Cla yton , Publish~ Mikt Klin ger. Comptroller Skip J ohnson. Associiue Pu biishert N ational SG l~J Ma na gtT Ja d Man gus . Associate Publish" ' Ed itor Rbeba Smith. Ci7(u lJJtion ManagtT Caro line Cendry, Execu tive 5« utary to I h~ Publ isher Editorial Ja ck Mangus. Editor Kit Palm er, A uocilJt~ Edi to r Paul Carru thers . Assocku e Edit or Nat e Ra uba. Associase Ed itor Brian Ca uN50n . Associa te Editor Ken Fa ug h t. Au istanl Editor Edwina Man gu s. Calt'nda r Edit or Advartising Skip J ohnson. N at 'l Sales Manag" Mike O lUT h . Senior Sale s Manag" C Terry Pra tt . Senior Sales Mana gn Ma rk Thome. West!!'rn Sales Ma nag" Ron David son, Wt'st""l Sale s MlJnagtT Mark Mitchell. Eastern Sa~s Ma nag" Thomas R. Oo nter. Eastern Sales Manag" Debbie Weller. Western A d Coo rdin ator Ca rb Borden, Eastern A d Coo rdinator Graphics and Production Malcol m Wih.o n. Prod uct ion Manager DM1nilo GrN"n~. LAb . Tech , SLaa:y Gunt. Gra phic Artist J i m mi r O 'Dell. G raphic A rtist Man d y Loo. GraphU' A rtist Michael Gruszka . G rap hic A rtist Carolyn Bra n ham , T yp,.setln Arirnne Telias, T ype .s t'aer Accounting /Data Processing Donna Brvan , Auts R rceivabte Coo rdi nator Oeneva Repass. Anistant Fra n Ha m wev, Credi t Circ ulation San.. h Taylor. As.s i.stant Alma Angu iano; A.uu tant Man u Adams. Awtant Her lane Rich mo nd. Aui.s t tan Caro l Scannell, A.u ijtant C irculation Developme nt Ron Da vidson . .\(a nagtT Wan tAlls j oa n R ussian , Warlt Ad Sales S e rvice and Support Chris Aitchescn , He adqua rters Ruept ion i.~t Leo nard H err ing, Service and Support Nat ional Headquarte rs 2201 Cherry Ave.• Lo ng Beach . CA 90806, P.O . 80 x '19K, Long Beach . CA 90801·0498 (2 1~ ) 127-7133: 2 1 3 /6~6-8844 . FAX (2 13) 427·66>15 Eastern Off ice Who's the baddest? I would like to ask a question (o r just make a sta tement). Do yo u think we'll ever see an all star race pitting th e top motocrossers agai nst the desert aces? Interesting idea, isn't it? Who's the baddest? Desert racers or motocrossers? ED HOUSTON In dio , CA Depends'tm w ho you 're bench racing with . . . Ed itor. Left out Your coverage of last Nov ember's Baja 1000 was, as usu al , first ra te. Being a Cycle N ews su bscri ber, I enjoy reading a bo u t races in wh ich I performed well. At this race o u r team was first overa ll through th e first two chec ks. We th en'ex peri en ced mech anical difficulties an d had to dro p o u t. Your coverage incl uded our team 's short but exci ti ng performa nce with the exce p tio n o f o ne th ing - my name was left ou t. EA RL ROB ERT S Sa n Diego , CA Heavy load to bear As fa r a s the La wson /Sp encer ep isod e, the o n ly rea l pressure is on Freddie Spe ncer. Not only is h e a ttem p tin g to return to ra cing after a long br eak, he's doing it on a co m p letely different team. But m ore th an th e m ech an ical differen ces, the mental pressu re will be treme n do us . T he reason is simple: The sta kes for him are enormous. If he fails to co m pl ete th e seas o n or ..re tires " aga in, hi s reputat ion a nd p lace in motorcycle racing hi story will be forever tarnished. T ha t's a heav y load to bea r. Let 's hope h e is up to it. 1190 First Avl"'.• T uc ker , G A, .:J0084; mailing address P.o . Box 805. T ucker. GA 30085-0805. (404) 934·785/). FA X (404) 934·3112 RANDY T O WNSE N D Redl ands, CA Cyc le News (US PS 141-340 ) is publ ished weekl y except . th e first a nd lasr week of the calenda r yra T for S50.00 per yea r by Cycle News. Inc.• 2201 Ql("tTy Avenue. Lo ng Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage paid a t Lo ng Beach . CA. and addi tio na l ma iling o ffices. Open letter to manufacturers For abo u t th e 10th year in a row, I' ve just visit ed th e local mot orcycle show and foun d th a t th e new sport b ikes are unnecessaril y uncomfortable a nd awkward . Wh y do yo u p ut th ose stu pi d cast exc uses for handlebars o n your best bikes? Can it be for th e few of th ese bikes th a t actua lly ma ke it to the trac k? Bubba Shobert's 750 su per b ik e h as to uri n g b ik eco mfortab le b ars, a n d h e surel y do esn't ride slo w. Even weirder is th e fact th at the most co m forta ble bi ke in th e en tire show was Keith Code's Superbi ke School's Kawa sak i which h ad sta ndard tu b ular ba rs m ade possible by Storz adapters. H ow abou t on the street? Read a ny test o f a dua l sport bi ke a nd see th e favo rable com men ts abo u t th e good handling that results fro m wide bars. On the o ther hand, most every sport bike test co m p la ins a bou t h eavy steering or a vague feel th at is ca used by essen tia lly hol d in g o n to th e fork tubes. Righ tin g th is stu p id wrong has become in creasing ly di fficu lt . To put a decen t set of bars on the bikes it ta kes a bo u t $200 a nd 10 hours of work screwi ng aro und with ada p ters, lo n ge r hose s/ cabl es /wires, a n d POSTMASTER: Send f orm 3579 to Cycle New s, P.O . Bo x 498. Long Be a c h . CA 90801-0 498. . To determine the ex piration da te of yo ur l ubacription. ch eck the four numbers o n the first line of yo ur a ddress l.bel. The first two digiu in d icate the Ia.t issue number you' ll receive a nd the last two characte rs ind icate the y••r of th.l.at issue . Su bscription rates: Rat es (or the United Sta les a nd its possessio ns for one year, (50 issues), S50.oo; (WO yl"'3n ( 100 issues). S95.00; six mo nths. (2.5 issues). S26.00: trial su b (15 iuues ), SI9.00. C anada a nd Fore-ign, one yea r (50 h·lUes). S90.00; tw o yl"".m (lOO issues). SI75.00; six mo nt hs (25 i!lIoU(, S) , S15.00; tria l sub ( IS issues), S38.00. Cycle News w elcomes un solicired ed uoria l material indudin ~ srones . cartoons. p ho toa.etc. Suc h mat er ia l. If p ublished. beco mes the exclusive prope rty of Cycle News. Such accepted m ate ria l is su bjec t to revisio n as is. nl"'Cn :<.ary in the sole discreuon of Cycle News, Unsol icited ma ter ial wh ich is nOI used will be retur ned if accom p a ni ed by a lodf addressed sta m ped en vel o pe. All unsolici ted ma teria l w ill be ha nd led wi th rea sonable ca re, how ever, C ycle News assumes no respo nsibtli w for the sa fety. loss or damage 10 such materia l. Rep rin ting in whole o r part o nly b y pe rm issio n o f the p uhl isher . Ad ver tisin g ra tes and ci rcu la tio n in forrna uon will be sen t upon request. See S.R.D.S. WI B PA 'if AUD ITED CIRCULATIO N Cop yright@' Cycle News. Inc. 1 989 . Tr.demark Cy cle News reg istered U.S . Patent Office. All ri ghts reserved . 4 so me ti mes even cutting th e fairing. ' Vhen yo u're done, th e mirrors are useless. What does co m m on sens e say that will cure this entire mess ? Every sport bike shou ld co me with simple tubu lar 30-inch bars that can be cut down to 25-i nches or so without replacing or gri nding anything. For those few w ho actually believe clipons are better, they can purchase c1ub ma n b a rs for $25. End of problem! DO UG LAS WEIR Lincol n, P A Wind (Contin ued from page 2) Civic Center. A variety of outdoor events, including a poker run, will be conducted to raise funds for MDA. VOTE, the organizers of the annual Schreiber Cup Trial in southern Californ ia, have announced they intend to move the annual event from its traditional December date to one in January or early February. VOTE President Neil Sankey said the 1988 Schreiber Cup had a low turnout of Expert class riders and he believes the financial demands facing everyone in December (Christmas) played a part in that. Sankey, in a letter to ATA members, said VOTE intends to award prize money at the next Schreiber Cup which will "probably" take place January 27-28, 1990. Minimum prize money proposed at this stage would have the winner earning $1000. West Valley O ccu pational Center in Woodla n d Hills, Ca li forn ia , is starting its 23rd year o f vocatio n al mo torcycle m echan ic s trai n i ng. Enroll m ent is now open for th e n ext class which starts February 6. For m ore information , ca ll 8 18/3 463540. Ann Arbor, M ichigan -based Eclipse, Inc. has installed a new 800 phone number to im prove service for its dealers; 800/6661500 is effective for both interstate and intrastate calls. The 1989 AHRMA National Ch ampions hi p Vin tage T rials Seri es will co ns ist of six rounds, beginning on March 4 in Brooksville, Florida. The Fl orida ro u nd will be run in conjunction with a Florida Trai l Riders Two-Day Trials. The seri es is open to pre-1975 vintage trials bikes which will be co m peting in six ma ch in e classes: Girder-Fork, Ri gid, Premier Hea vyweight, Premier Li ghtweigh t, Modern an d Clubmans. For more informati on , co n tac t AH RMA Na tional Vintage Tria ls Coordinator Stan ley J . J akubaszek, 1739 Old T re nto n R d ., R obbinsv ille , N J 08691, 609/426-4387 (after 6 p.m. eas tern time). . M ike Kidd Promotions has set February 17-19 as the dates for the U.S . Arenacross Nationals at the Lazy " E" Arena in Guthrie , Ok lahoma. The 125 and 250cc Pro classes will race Friday and Saturday, with Amateur c lasses slated to race Sunday. For more inf orm at ion, call 817 /433-5587. The AFM is currently seeking help, so .those so u the rn California road raci n g enth us ias ts who want to work beh ind th e scen es should contact Clark at the abo ve number or Maddox a t 818/963-8676. AFM North's attempts to secure dates at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, have apparently been thwarted for another year. Despite AFM North Presiden t Joe Montoya's proposal that competitors use stock exhaust systems (assuring that noise would not be a problem), Laguna's board of directors decided that Jim Filice (left) was honored for his " Cinderell a" win at the 1988 U.S. 250cc GP at Laguna Seca by the San Francisco-based Motoring Press Association at its January 22 banquet. Terry Patterson (right) accepted an award for Bubba Shobert, who was en route to Japan and co uld not attend. Shobert was honored for winning his fourth straight Camel Pro Series title and his first Superbike title. The 1989 AMA District 38 Awards Banquet will be held on February 25 at th e Catamaran Resort Hotel in San Diego, California. Tickets are $35 per person an d in clude coc ktails, dinner buffet an d entertain ment. For more in forma tio n or to make reservations, co n tac t Vicki Larson, 11599 Mesa Verde Dr. , Valley Center, CA 92082, 619/749-5697 (even ings). NAMED: Tom Mueller as promot ions director for Mercury Performance Products of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Mueller formerly served as an ed itor of Cycle News and as a member of Wrangler's public relations department while that f irm was involved in supercross racing; he will be mainly involved w ith Mercury's IOGP boat racing series; friends can contact him at 414/236-2539. T he All-Italian Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet will be h eld at the Miramar by th e Sea Resort Hotel in Santa ·Barbara , California, on April 1-2. Saturday' s show is lim ited to Ital ian motorcycles, with T ouring/ Sport Tou ri ng, Offroad/Motocross (Contin ued to page 45)

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