Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sharon Clayton. Publisher Mike Klinger, Comptroller kip Johnson, Associate Publisherl Notional Ssles Man4gn Jack Man~us, As.rociaJ.e PubLishnl EdiJ.OT Rheba Sml,th. CiTctdOlion Manage-r Caroline Gendry, £xuutroe Secretary to the Publisha Editorial Jack Mangus, Editor Kit Palmer. Associate £.ditor Paul C... rrulhers. Associau EditOT Nate Raub... AS.fociale Editor Bri-an Cauerson, Associate Editor Ken FauRht, Assistant Editor Edwina Mangus, Colendar Editor Advertising Skip Johnson. Nat'l Sales Manager Mike hurch. eniQf' Sales Manager Terry Prau. Senior Sales Manager M.. rk TIlome. Wtstl"rn Sal~ Mlanager Ron IJ..lvidson. Western SalcsManagn- DAVID JONES Dallas, TX M.. rk Milchell. Eastern Sides MtJJlager Thomas R. Conter, &sinn Sales Mtl1lQgtT Ikbbie Weller, Wt'stertl Ad Coordinator C.r1d Borden. Eastern Ad Coordmalor Graphics and Production Del1niJio Grttnt..l.Ab. T«h. SLacry Guesl. c..,aph,c Artist Jimml O·DeIl. Graphic 1rl;sl Mandy Loo. GrGphlc ArtISt Michael GruSlka. Graphic A.,tist C..amlyn Branham. TypesdltT Ari('nne Tdias. TYfH'sdttT Accounting/Detll Processing Donna Bryan. Aeets Rt:uivabu Coordinator Cellf:\.... Repass. AssIStant Fran H~unwry. Cr~dlt Circulation • r.dh Taylor. tfSSlslGnl Alma Anguiano. AsslSlGnt M.. ri13 Adams. Assut4111 Herlanr Richmond. tfMulant C;lrol SGlnnelt. A.u-l.Stanl Circuletion Development ROil l>.Ividson. Manager Went Ads Joan Rus,)i .. n. Want Ad Salt:$ Service end Support Chri) Aitcheson, Ht:adquarle'ts Rt:Ct:pt;o"ist Lwnard Herring. &rotCt:- and Support NetionelHeedquerteB 2201 Oherry Ave., Long Beach. CA 90806. P.O. Box 498. Lon~ Be;lch, CA 90801-0198 (215) 427·7455; 215/656-8844. FAX (215) 427-6685 Eestern Office 4190 First Avt:.. Tucker, GA. 30084; mailing addro) P.O. Box 805, Tucker. CA (40<11 934· 7650. FAX ('1041954·3112 ~0085·0805. Cycle News (USPS I·"H-MO) is publishrd weekly ex('('pi lhe f:irs~ ;md last w~k or the Cllendar year ror S5O.00 per year by Cycle News. Inc.. 2201 Ch~rv Avenue. Long Beach. CA 90806. ond ctas's posl;)ge paid 31 Long Beach. CA. ~md additional mallingol£ices. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cyc\o News, P.O. BoJi. 4.98. long Beach. CA 90801 ·0498. To determine the exptrlltion ct.te of your subscription, check the to.. numbers on the first Nne of you< odd......... The tnt two dliliu indicllte the len issue number you'll receive end the lut two cherllcten indicate the yeer of the lest issue. Subscription rdlt"S: Rates ror the United SUllO and il possnsion ror O~ )·r-dr. (50 issues). $500.00: tWO years (100 issues). $95.00; six months. (25 ISSll~). S26.00; lrial sub (15 issues). $19.00. C:Il1.,dol :md Foreign. one y ar (SO i sues). S90.00; 1""'0 It''oIn. (100 I:»UCS). $175.00: six momhs (2.1) I~Ues). $·lS.()(); tn.lI sub (15 issues). $38.00. Cyde News welcomes unsolicile'd editOrial 1Il.11('fial indudin~ slOries. cartoons. photos. etc. Such malerial. tf publish~d. becomes the t"xclu..iveproJX'ny of Cycle News. Such accepted material I) subjcct to re\'ision as is necrs!>ary in 111(' 50le discretion of Cycle News. Unsolicited material whi h is not used will be returned H a{"wrnpanied by a selr addn:Js('d stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be h.mdled with reasonable Clre. however, Cycle News assumes no responsibility for lhe sah:ty. Ie») or damage 10 such material. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission or the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation Information will be sent upon S.R.O.S. W/BPA V requ~L Thumbs up Last year I wrote to voice my opinion regarding the lack of concern for rider safety at the GNC Finals at Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch in Texas. This year at the GNC Finals on March 10-13, the concern and renewed commitment for rider arid spectator safety was evident in the promoter's actions. Mr. Jerry Surber provided a safe and well prepared track, fenced spectator area, controlled and organized practice sessions and most important of all, enough flagmen for a safe race. Our hats are off to Jerry for giving us a race which we can be proud of. From the motocross racers of Texas, Jerry, thanks. Stt AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyright8 Cycle News. Inc. 1989. T__• ....... Cyc\o News resJi- U.S. ""..... Office. AN rights ..-...d. Hyped-up club racing Frrst Jet me say I started going to the Daytona races as (ar back as the late sixties. This year when I arrived back in the cold north thinking about all of the racing I'd seen, I read my latest issue of Cycle News. The "Daytona, here I come" article must have been written by someone who never read (about) nor witnessed the races at Daytona when the world' best came to Daytona to try and trounce the Americans. Now what do we see? Hyped-up club racing. (It looked like it to me.) At one time Daytona meant you would see the world's best. Now we don't get to see our own top guns because they're sitting on therr hands waiting to go to Europe, while our premier road race draws a crowd that would only fill one section of Daytona's massive grandstands. If GP racing is where all of our top guns and pOtential top guns are . going, then someone is not reading the handwriting on the wall. When I was leaving Daytona, I felt a bit of a hollow feeling because I no longer get w see what Daytona used to provide. Sorry, guys, I can see our best at Mid-Ohio and Loudon. When I go to Daytona I want to see the best there is. ALNAGY Elizabeth, PA How soon we forget. I wrote the Daytona preview article, A I, and I, too, have been going to Daytona since the sixties. I suggest you read the second and third paragraphs of the preview article one more time. Club level and Nationallevd racing produces the GP stars of tomorrow. Kenny Roberts, EddieLawson, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey, Kevin chwantz, Randy Mamola, Bubba Shobert, etc. weren't "the best there is" when they first took a lap around Daytona. By the way, did you watch the best motocross riders in the world take part in the Daytona Supercross or the best dirt trackers in the world race in the Camel Pro race at Municipal Stadium? ... Editor. Oopsi Shame, shame, Mr. Catterson. A journalist should check his facts before writing. Let's see now. I believe Freddie Spencer won the first-ever "Superbike" Daytona 200 in 1985. Wayne Rainey won the 200 in 1987 but someone named Eddie Lawson riding a FZ750 (that's a Yamaha, Brian) won the Daytona 200 in '86. I guess Lawson's switch to Honda this year effected some people to the point they forgot about Yamaha entirely. Now if I figure this right, I would say the "(Yamaha) losing streak" is only three years now. All this and I'm not even a Yamaha fan. I just wanted to set the record straight for the new enthusiasts who are just getting into the gTeat sport of road racing and this fine paper. By the way, Brian. Check where Bubba (Shobert) pushed his bike from in last year's 200. I'll bet you find it wasn't from the chicane. While I'm spouting off, I would like to give my congratulations to two Midwest racers on their fine finishes in this year's Daytona 200: John Eidenberger of Port Washington, Wi consin, in lOth and Eric "The Moe Show" of Spring Lake, Michigan, in 12th. 1 hope the rest of your season is as successfull GORDON LUNDE Milwaukee, WI Brian thanks you for corTecting his errors. He says he left some brain cells on the red-eye flight he took back to Long Beach from Daytona jhat Sunday night. But others say he left those cells in Daytona's Shark Lounge earlier in the week. By the way, John Eidenberger lost his top 10 finish when a scoring recheck the day after the race gave Richard Schlachter his rightful eighth place finish rather than the 17th place finish he was originally credited with. Eric Moe also dropped down the finishing order one notch. _ . Editor. Call for Gamma freaJts I'm sure many of your readers find the Suzuki RG500 Gamma as fascinating as I do. Since uzuki no longer makes the Gamma, I am interested in starting an information club or "clearing house" for tips and information on the legendary RG500 for people here in the U.S., even if they don't own one. I already have quite a bit of information on the RG500 Gamma, such as parts sources, modification specifications, accessories, service tips and ervice special tool information. I'm always looking for more and I am willing to share and collect any information on the RG500 with your readers. Anyone intere ted in contributing or receiving information may write to me at P.O. Box 481, Yucaipa, CA 92399, or call me at 714/794-9644 if they would like to just talk square [ours, rotary valves and rocket-like performance I Thanks for any help you can give me in getting us "Gamma freaks" together. technical people to the GNC International MX Final at Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch in Texas, March 10-12. Upon arrivin~ there, we developed a problem durrng the first day of practice and would not have been able to compete if they weren't there. Our 900-mile trip would have been for nothing. A special thanks to Greg Quador for solving the problem and not giving up. Some manufacturers really care. THE FRASSANDS Fayetteville, TN Helping hands Following a crash at the Daytona Cycle Week Busch Half Mile at Barberville on March 5, our son Jim Sumner was flown by helicopter to the Halifax Trauma Center. Fortunately, he suffered only a concussion. His leathers were more severely harmed by the medic's scissors and are beyond repair. We'd like to say thanks to all who expressed concern over this accident. This caring group of people is what makes the dirt track racing community so gTeat. Special thanks to Bob Ybema, AJ Beyer and Stan Millard. As a side note: Several years ago in Voices you printed a poem from a guy 4t Kansas or Oklahoma. The poem centered on flat tracker who ran the fairgTound circuits; and the writer was comparing the riders with the gladiators of old. I'd saved it, but lost it. Any chance of you recalling it and printing it again? It was a neat poem I Maybe the author could send us a copy. AL & JUDY SUMNER 4630 W. Mill Rd. Milwaukee, WI 53218 We'll dig through our bound volumes of Cycle ews when we have some spare time. Meanwhile, perhaps the person who wrote the poem will see your letter and respond ... Editor. Credit where credit is due The coverage in the March 22 issue of the March 4 WERA/EBC Brakes National Endurance Series round at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway did not list any Mediumweight Production class teams. Oui National Endurance Series includes five classes as well as teams competing for the overall positions. Those classes include Heavyweight Superbike, Heavyweight Production, Mediumweight Superbike, Mediumweight Production and Lightweight. Each of our classes have manufacturers' contingencies as well as the teams competing for over 23,000 in a point fund which has been posted by WERA and EBC. The top three in the Mediumweight Production class are as follows: I. Arai/Fox Racing/ Metzeler-sponsored We're Human Too (Suz); 2. Mid-South Honda & Suzuki/EBC/Doug Henry/Royale Racing-sponsored Royale II (Suz); 3. Metze1er/Action Honda-sponsored No Cents Racing (Hon). These teams compete just as hard as the guys going for the overall victory both on the track and for sponsorship. Thank you for your time and attention in correcting this . slight oversight. KURT HALL Organizational Manager WERA Hilton He~d Island, SC RICK LANCE Yucaipa, CA Thanks. Yamaha We would like to thank Yamaha for sending their support trucks and Published IetMrs do not neceuarify reflect the sx-ition of Cycle News. Inc. Send Ieaers to vote.. P.O. Long _ . CA 1IOl101. 1Ioll_.

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