Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

America 's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sharon O ayton. Publishn Mike KJingn'. ComPl!olln . Skip Johnson. A.uooou Pu.bluhnl N 4tiOflDl Sale s Mtltu1gn Jack Man ~. Associ4tt Publ ishnl Editcw gheba Smith, Circulation MI.m4gn Caroline Gmdry , £%t'cutiw S«Tdllry to 1M Publishn Editorial Jack Mangus. Edi!Of . Kit Palmer. A SS OCIate Editor Paul Carruthers. Associate Edilm Nat e Rauba , A.uociale Editor Brian Catterson. Associate Editor Ken Faught, A.uisumt Editor . Edwin a Mangu s. e,denda, Edit or Advertioing Skip Johnson. Na,'l Sales Managn Mike Church, Senior Sales Managn Terry Prau, Sen ior Sales Managn Mark Thome, Wt"stnn Sales ManaglT Ron Davidson. We.ttnn Sdks MtJn4gn Thomas R. Oonter, Westnn SAles Managn Mark Mitchell . Eastern Sales Managn C rq Milch t-n. &.stnn Sales Ma~gn Joan RU55ian. We.tttTn Ad Coord iruuor Ca rla Bo rden . Eastern Ad Comdindwr H olly Cowart, £Astem Ad COOJ'dintl toT G..phica end Production Ree J ohnson . Production Mllnagn Mand y 1..00 Art DiY~ctor . Denn is G rttne.1...4b. T«1t. Slatty Gun t. GUJp hic 1rtist . J immie O'Dell. GYGp hu: ~ Ytut. Michael Gruszka. GrG phu:.A rtut Caroly n Bran ha m. T~uun Ariennf' T elias, TYfJrMttn Accounting/Defa Processing Donna Bryan. AcctJ Ru rivcblr COOf'dinG tor Geneva Rrpau. ASJUl4nt Fra n Hamwey. Cr~dll Circulation Sara h Ta ylor . AssistGnt Alma Angu ian o. Assist4n t Mari ta Nelson . Au istGnt Herlan e Rich mond, Au ist4nt Caro l Scanne ll, A.u:UtGnt DealerSelas Kev in Beaubien. MG nGg~ Went Ad. Shena Gomer . WGnt Ad Sates Service end Support Chris Airch eson , H~a.d9U4rtnj R~uption i.Jt Leo nard Herrin g , Seroice Gnd Support Netionel Heedquerters 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Beach. CA 90806, P.O . Box 498. Long Beach . CA 908OI..Qot98 (213) 427-7433; 213/ 636-8844. FAX (213) 427-668.\ Eestem Office 1190 Fu sl Ave.• Tucker. GA. 30084; ma iling addrns P.O. Box 805. Tucker. GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle News (USP S 141-340) i.spublished wttldy exccpI me ftnt a nd last week o r me ca lenda r year ror 150.00 per year by Cycle News. ln c., 220 1 Qlcrry Avenue, Lo ng Beach. CA 90806. Second daM postage pa id .a t Long Beach . CA. a nd additiona l ma il in g offtcn. POSTMASTER: S - form 3679 to Cycle N_•• P.O . Bo< 49B. Long Beech. CA 90801-0498. To determine the expir8tion dalte of your IlUblcription. check the four numbe1'8 on the fint line of your .dd..... label. The first two dig iti indican the last issue number you'lI receive end the lest two cha,..ete,. indicate ""'_oltha _ _. Subscription rates: Rat es for the UnitC'd: Statn and ita ~ioru (or o ne yrar. (50 ISSues ). S50.00: two ~n( l 00 issun}. $95.00; six monml. (25 iuun), $26.00: uial sub ( 15 issues I, $19.00. Canada a nd Foreign, one year (!)()IU un). $90.00; two yean (100 i~ucs ). $175:00; six months (25 i~!mC'lI . $15.00: m al su b (15 ISSUes ). $38.00. Cycle News welcom es unsoli cit ed ed itor ia l material incl udi ng stories, cartoons. phot o s, etc. Suc h ma teria l, If publ ish ed . beco mes the exclusive property o r Cycle News. Such accepted ma teri al is subject to revision as is n~ an the soh: discretion o r Cycle Nf:W5. Unsolicited m a teri al whi ch is not used will be returned if accompanied b y 3 self add ressed stam pe d en velo pe. All un so licited ma te rial W ill be han dled with reasonable ca re, however, Cycle News ass u mes no responsibili ty ror the ~ rety , loss or da mag e to such material. Repr in ting in whole o r pa ri only by perm ission or ~h e publi sher. Adv.erti sing rat es a nd d rcu la u~m in forma tion w lll be 5(" 0[ u po n req uest. See S.R.D.S. W~B V 4 PA AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyright" Cycle New•• Inc. 1989. T.. demark Cycle News registered U.S . P.tent Office . All rights r.served. Motocross without Hannah7 I'm wondering what motocross is going to be like without Bob Hannah. My enjoyment of the sport was once again lifted by the heroics of the " old man" at the Southwick National MX. Riding in his first National of the year , he put on a typical Hannah performance in the first rnoto, coming from back in th e pack to take third behind the you ng stars, (Jeff) Stanton and (Ro n ) Lechien. Then, in the second moto, he led those two, moving into an early third behind local rider john Dowd and Kawasaki 's jeff Ward. Probably forgetting he was supposed to be rusty, Hannah quickly went after the defending champ, but got into a bad position in the sand whoops and was thrown off his Suzuki at speed. Unable to continue, Bob went . back to the pits, got changed, and came out to sign autographs. When asked how he felt , Bob told us he was a little sore, but cheerfu lly added . spreading his arms, " You see that Superman act? " Mo st riders would 've been p outing in their motorhomes, or gloomil y fulfilling th eir "duties" to th e fans after such a cra sh. But, as always (on th e East Coas t anyway), Hannah was th e " life of th e party." Not only is the " H urricane" a legend on th e track, but off th e track as well. I've watched h im race. since 1977, and I didn 't lik e him back then. But now , I'm convinced he is the best thing that ever happened to American motocross. We'll be cheeri ng for yo u a t Unadilla, Bob. After that, well , we'll mis s you . Thanks for everything. STEVE FARENELL Saratoga Springs, NY Wh at really happened? A little less than one year ago, my friend Lasalle Chuck, aka Chuck or Chucky, was fatally injured during a practice session crash at Bry:ar Motosport Park. The reason I wnte this letter now is that a t first I was very angry and frustrated and was unable not to try and blame someone for what had happened. I write now to clear up a few things about that da y and to let people know a little more about Chuck other than what they might have read. Fir st of all Chuck was not hit while attempting to run off the track. All reli abl e sources and eyewitnesses tell the sam e story and that is that Chuck cras hed and was hit in th e chest ar ea by a tra ili ng bike, and th en he was hi t by ano ther bik e. After exam in ing Chuck's leathers and bi ,I know th is to be the true version of the sto ry. Chuck is survived by hi s wife Sandy a nd th eir so ns j esse and Nicky. Chuck was a good father and famil y man, a fin e exa mple of a kind a nd caring person for his sons to follow. I really miss Ch uck a nd I am sure his fam ily and man y friends mi ss him even mo re. I know one thi ng, thou gh , my life is far richer for having known Ch uck and I for on e will never forget him. Gods peed , Chuck. TIM CAR RO L LO Wantage, N] Perris memories Perris Raceway (Perris, California) isn't the same, but still is a blast. After my over IO-year retirement from racing and major knee surgery last December, I made my comeback debut at the White Bros. 4-Stroke World Championship MX and "IT Scrambles at Perris. It was good to see old friends like Tom and Dan White, Ben Faculty, CoH. Wheat, Monty Darling, Scott Bell - just to drop a few names. Thanks, guys, for making my day such a good one. I thought it was quite a success even though I crashed in the last MX moto. I hurt a little but that just brings back other " good old day" memories. I love racing and the people involved that are so neat. A special thanks to Dan and Tom White for the great races, and to Goat Breker and his crew for the good track conditions. The water was a little surprising at times, but you did a great job. Thanks, again. And th anks to my wife Phylis for her love . and support. See you all next year or next ume at th e races. God blessl RICK MARQUIS Vacavifle, CA Viva, Randyl when a good friend lay in critical condition and thousands of his fans agonized over his fight for consciousness and perhaps for his very life, it was our only Imk with a wonderful man who was both hero and friend. Spillman's daily updates were factual, honest, informative and always as positive as the situation would allow. At times the edges of Rick's voice would sound a bit frayed (after a particularly long day at Bubba's bedside, I would think), but there was always a sense of quiet personal resolve and that other word ... caring, that underscored the spoken message. They really don't pay people to do jobs like this, it 's simply a part of the person. It's a part of Rick Spillman and I wanted to personally thank him for it. DOUG STOKES Vic Olesen & Partners Culver City, CA American Honda's Rick Spillman is in charge of public relations for the Cabin Racing Team . . . Editor. Fun races I would like to express thanks to all the people at the Southland Racing Association. They always put on good, fun races and are very helpful when needed. Promoters are always the first to be told if something is wrong, and the last if something is done well. These people work hard and deserve a bit of recognition for th e good and fun races they run. I have lots of fun and appreciate their organization. JEFF KINNEY San Diego , CA I really enjoyed th e Randy Mamola interview in your April 19 issu e. Having raced in AMA District 36, th e same one as Randy, and having seen him develop as a rider ha s been exci ting for m e. Do yo u have an address where I can send a letter to him personally? DON McBRIDE Los Angeles, CA Randy Mamola can be reached through R.M. Promotions Inc . c/o James C. Doyle, lnc., P.O. Box 620539, Woodside;CA 94062 U.S.A. . . . Editor. Looking for women I am the East Coast representative for the Women's Motocross Associatio n. Any girls interested in having women 's events here in the East con tact me any time. Rac ewa y Park in Englishtown, New jersey, has offered a Women 's class at the Kawasaki Race of Champ ions in October. To run the class I need to confirm riders by early june. Pleas e contact m e as soon as possi ble if you want to ride at Englishtown. CARLA NELSON P.O. Box 425 Clark Mills, NY 13321 Caring ma kes the difference He'll tell you that he was just doing his job. And, in truth, that's wha t he was doing, but it was how Honda 's Rick Spillman did his job; th e professionalism, the equanimity, and (mostof all) the caring that made all th e difference. Rick's esta blishme nt of and dail y personal upd ates on a s pecia l " hotl ine" offeri ng th e lat est information o n Bubba Sho bert 's condi tion was more than simply a service. " In th ose firs t few days and weeks (Continued from page 2) Rider Course available to motorcyclists throughout the state. Under the bill, the pro~m will be expanded to also provide information to the general public on how to safely share the road with motorcycles. The bill will increase the funds available to support the program by adding $5 to the fee assessed for a four-year renewal of a Class M motorcycle driver's li cense. The legislature repealed a 75-cent annual assessment on motorcycle registrations which had provided inadequate support for the program since 1983. " We know that the Motorcycle Safety Foundation co urse is an effective safety remedy," said Senator Steve Carriker of Roby, the Senate sponsor of th e legislation. "The additional funding provided by this bill will make it possible for more Texas motorcyclists to benefit from this excellent course." FORMED : SPF Racing Des ign. by Steve Pittman; Pittman was shop f orem an at Ca lFab for the past eight years and recent ly purchased t he swingarm division of Cal-Fab f ro m A lan Christian ; CalFab swin garms w ill now be m anuf actured by SPF Rac ing De sign at 26871 Hobie Circ le. Unit C-1. Murri eta. CA . 71 4/677-2027. (Contin ued to page 46)

• Cover