Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sharon Oayron. Publisher Mike Klinger, Comptf'olla Skip Johnson, Associate Publishnl Natio'lal ales Manage?' J3 k Mangus, A$Sociat~ Publish~1Editof' Rheba milh, Cif'culalion Manag~ Caroline Ccndry, Executive ecretary to the Pu.blishtr Editoriel Jack Mangus, Editor Kil Palmer, Associate Editor P~lIl Carrulhers. Associat~ Editor Nale Rauba, AssQCilll~ Editor arian Cauerson, Associale Editor Kcn FauglH. Assista,tt Edil.or Edwina Mangus, Calendar Editor Advertising • Skip Johnson. N41'1 Sales MlUl4fl~ Mike hurch, Sf:'tuor ales Manager T~ry Prdll. Srnior Sales Manager Mark Thomc. W~slnn Sales Mam:lg~' Ron Davidson, Wt'stnn alt:s Manager M:.uk Mitchdl. wtenl Sales Manager ThomOis R. Gonler, EasteT11 Sales Momag~ Ot.'bbie Weller. Westtm Ad Coordmalor C...rla 8ordl'n, E.4surn Ad CoordiTlator Grephics end Production [knni - Grttne. LDb. Tt'Ch. tolCXl Guest. Craphlc ArtISt Jimmie O'DeIl, CrophJc ArtisJ ~bndy Loo, Craphlc ,hllst Michad GruszkOl. Graphle Artist Carolyn Branham. TY/R'setler An('llne Tchas. Typeuttn Accounling/DeUl Processing Donn.. Brrdn. lIecu Rt'uIlJOblt' Coordinator Repass, ASSLSulIlt Fmn Hamwey. Crf'd" Ccn~a Circul8tion ~r.Jh Taylor. Apista"t Alma AnRuiano, AsslSta.nt Manl.,J Adams, ASSl.$ttml Herlanc RIChmond. Asststant Cal'ol SCilnnr>lI. Assistallt Circuletion Development Fort Ord cruisin' The U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca is coming up, and it should be a great weekend. One way to tart the whole thing off on a sour note, however, is to get a speeding ticket. And this will happen if you don'.t observe the posted limits once you enter Fort Ord property. I know, because it happened to me and thousands of other people last year. What happens is, you cruise to Monterey at a good clip, then you hit tills long, straight, seemingly deserted road inside Fon Ord with a silly 30 mph speed limit. Going 30 ~eems ridiculous, so you crank in a little throttle, and wham, there are th MPs pointing a radaJ: gun at you. Last year my two friends and I were stopped and ticketed. Before we even got inside the track we were down 96 bucks collectively. The folks at the gate said that the MPs had been doing this all day (this was on aturday). By the time they pulled u over they had probably made enough loot to finance a limited Central. American incursion. The only good thing about these tickets is that they are federal tickets, and do not how'upon your DMV record. 0, a word to the wise. In ide Fort Ord. do what the sign sayl ure it's hard to go that slow, but you can fill the added time thinking of all the good tuff you can buy with the money you are saving. Have a great weekend! Ron O.JVldbOll, ManagN Went Ads Joan Ru ....lan. Want Ad Salt:s RICK HOLTZMAN Berkeley, CA Service end Support Chrb t\itchnon. f1eadq'JtlrttT5 Rect:ptionut u'Ollolrd Herring, S~ru,ct: and Support Femme support Nelionel Heedquerters Hats of[ to Diane Polen, who supports her husband' professional road racing career 100%. You make her sound like a rider's dream orne true (in "Doug Polen's Law: Maximize the potential" by William Edgar in the March 8 issue). I mean, holding Doug's helmet and everything - all the "neat, caring things people do when they're so in love." Big deal. Hang around a privateer's pit area for awhile and you'll find real support - from wife, mom, girlfriend, etc. A privateer's supportive wife not only helps pay for practically everything from ockets to the bike, she usually doubles as budget coordinator, "manager," body/paint person, mechanic' a i tant and parts per on, not to mention the one who break in the new bikes (in Montana, that means in the rain and snow). And most of us really enjoy it! I have nothing against Mrs. Polen, if you'd written the arti Ie about omeone else I would've u ed them as an example. I just think some of us who do 0 much for our husbands who aren't professional riders deserve a little credit. There, Darr, I said it, in Cycle News. Give me my quarter. 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Seach, CA 90806, P.O. !lox '198. Lon~ Beach. eA 90801·0198 (213) 127·7133: 213/636·8814. FAX (213) '127·6685 Eestem OHice 1190 I·irst Ave., Tucker, GA. 30084: mailing addrts.. P.O. Box 80rl. Tucker. GA 30085-080£». (4IB) 93-1·7850. FAX (40-1) 934-3112 Cy Ie News (USP 141·MO) is published weekly t'x£cpt the' first and l.lSt week of the calendar year for 550.00 per ye-.r by Cyc~ New, Inc., . 2201 Cherry Avenue. Long Be:.t h. CA 90806. Second class posta~e paid at Long Beach. CA. ilnd ..tddltlOnal mailing of(ices. POSTMASTER: Send lorm 3579 to Cycle News. P.O. BoJC 498. Long Be.ch. CA 90801 -0498. To determine the expir.tion dllte of your subscription. check the four n.umbet1: on the firat line of your addre.. label. The first two digits indate the I••t issue number you'll reeeive .net the last two ch.racters indicate the ye.r of the ~.. issue. Sub'iCTipllOn r.Jt~: ~tn for the Cnited Statts and lilt posSC'Ssions for one year, (50 issut5). $50.00: twO yc:-,JrS (100 issues), $95.00; )ix mOllLh!l. (25 i30sut' ). $26.00: trial sub (15 issues). $19.00. C,lI1ada and Fore.lgn. on~ )'ear (50 issues). 590.00: two yelrs (100 issues). 17~.00; six momhs (2~ issu~). $15.00: trial sub (15 i uo). $3 .00. Cycle Nt'w!l wf."icomes unsolicited editorial material includin~ stories. cartoons. pbot~. etc. Such material. If published. become) the e](du~h't' property of Cycle News. Such accepled material i subjecl to revision as is necessary in lhe wit' discrelion of Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not u~ will be relUmed if a<"Companied by u self addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will b hundlt.'d with reasonable care. however. Cy Ie News a)sume!l 110 respon)ibility [01' the safety. loss or dilmagt' to such material. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation mformation will be ~Ill upon request. S« S.R.O.. WI' V BPA AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyrigh" Cyele N.... Inc. 1989. T _ N. . . . . . . - U.S. P._ ...... Cycle 4 Office. All rights -..ed. CLAUDIA RIGGERT Missoula, MT Setting the record straight I want to call your attention to an identification mix-up in your coverage of the Daytona 600 Supersport heat races. In the second heat race, which John Kocinski won, your report state that Todd Hoge battled with Jamie James, Kocinski and Thomas Stevens. It was not Hoge. It was Gary Sherrod, #53, riding as an Expert for the first time after les than 12 ovice races. MARY SHERROD Knoxville, TN Both Sherrod and Hoge were involved in the early lap dice for . front positions . .. Editor. We want Larry Huffman! Motocross without Larry Huffman is not the same nor can it be wi th the mono LOne replacement announcer. I am hoping you will help in the effort to bring Larry Huffman back. A petition has been started and some of u boycotted San Diego. A letler similar to this has also been sent to the Los Angeles Times, the (Orange County) Register and MTEG. MTEG may have reduced their overhead but the people that attend motocross that I have spoken with are not happy with the new ann uncer. ELKE KEIL Anaheim, CA Mysterious team members In your coverage of the Daytona round of the AMAlCCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challenge Series (March 15 issue) you mention that John Curwick of Hooter' -Team Florida was assisted by Mike Kennedy, Wayne WallS and tephen Dangleman. Tills is only partially correc!. Th names of Wayne Watts and Stephen Dangleman my teriously appeared atrider registration. We did not au thorize these riders, nor did we know of their registration. We are informing AMA/CC offi ials of the above facts and ask that you correct your article. PENCER MARC SCHULMAN Hooter's-Team Florida Palm Harbo F Stoked. but .. Having only been nding and ra ing motOlTvcles for a year, I was stOked to ,ee my name in the results of the Baja Malibu GP coverage in the March 29 issue, bu t it seems a typo was made in that William Carman wa Ii ted as the fir t place fini her in the 250c Beginner c1as . "Wild Bill" was on a Honda XR600, not a 250. Bill should be Ii ted as the first Open Beginner and I should be Ii ted as the first 250cc Beginner. BRIAN SALLEY Carlsbad, CA Open letter to Gary Busey As a senior executive with the world's leading helmet company, I am compelled to respond to many of the statements you have made recently concerning the safety and usefulness of motorcycle helmets. I want to make it clear that I feel you have every right to your opinion concerning mandatory helmet laws, and I can state for the record that my company maintains a strict policy of non-alignment with either side of this is ue. Because you are a public figure and role-model to thousands, however, you su ely recognize that your opinions are often mi onstrued as fact - and as facts, your tatements are, quite simply, inaccurate. In every responsible study ever conducted around the world, helmets have been found to be extremely effective in diminishing injury and ~n saving thousands of lives. Contrary to many of your· published and televised comments, helmets do not break necks; helmets, when correctly fitted, do not interfere with neck rotation; helmets are required by all accreditation standaJ:ds to furnish a minimum of 105 degrees of peripheral vision (the natural peripheral vision of the average person is known to be 90 to 95 degrees; helmets do not interfere unreasonably with hearing - in fact, studies have shown that motorcyclists can hear sirens, horns and other important sounds better when wearing a helmet because it effectively filters out distracting low frequency engine noise; no responsible brain surgeon I have ever talked to or read about has ever made remarks coritradicting the importance of helmets as protection against injury or death due to. motorcYcle accident . For the sake of your own education about the value of wearing a motorcycle helmet willie riding, I want to extend to you an invitation to visit the Bell factory and share in our exhaustive research on the subject. I also strongly uggest that you meet with re ponsible medical experts to reassure yourself about the strong consensus among them favoring helmet use. It is my opinion that you seek to justify your personal desire to ride without a helmet by tring to convince the public that helmets aren't effective. But I wonder if you've really thought about the thousands of people you are influencing because of your celebrity. I certainly hope you never have occasion to explain to the mother of a young rider who dies from a head injury that his death could have been avoided. I, like you, am an avid motOrcycle enthusiast, and I want to convey to you my sincere best wishes for a complete recovery' from your accident. At the same time, I strongly' urge you to acquaint your elf with .the fa ts the next time you see £it to speak out about helmet use. There is simply no doubl in my mind that once a motorcyclist becomes fully aware of a helmet'~ protective value, he or he will exercise freedom of choice as well as common ense and make the decision to wear a helmet. DEAN FISHER r. Vice Presiden t for Corporate Affairs Bell Helmets, Inc. P.O. Box 927 Rantoul, IL 61866 217/893-9!lOO Published letters do not necessarily_reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters are subject to condensation due to space limitations. Anonymous letters will not be published. Send letters to Voices. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498.

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