Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~THD fiY P41PQ WfQLfY America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVI Sharon Clay to n, Pub /ishn M lk~ KJing" . Com ptroller Skip Johnson. AnodalI' Pub/ishn! National Sd ll's MallG gn Jack Man~u ~. A ssoci4 11' Pu bl ish n l Ed it o r Rh eba Smith . Circulation Ma"a gn Caroline (;(ondry. Exu uliw Sf"C'TI't4ry to PublisMr ,Ir., Edit ori. 1 j ac'lt Man gu s. Edi tor Kit PillmM' , Associall' Edit or Paul Ca rruthe rs. Associate Edi tor Nai f" Rauba . A.uoci att" Editor Brian Ca uerson , As soc iate Ed ito r Ken Fau ght. Assistan t Ed it or Ed wi na Mangus. Call'n dar Editor Advertising Sk,ip j ohn son . N at' / St21t's Man agrT Mlkr Ch urch. Senior Salt'.1 Mana gn Terry Prau. Sen io r Sa lt's Managn Mark T ho me, Wt'slt'r" Salt' S M anagn Ron Da vidson , WI'S'"" Salt's Managt'r Tbom as R. C mer. Wt'stn n Salt'S M anaKM' o Me k Mitchell. EtJJ1, rn Sales Mar l4gr r n G rr'KMilch el l. Ees tern Sates Managf"T j oan Ru ssian , Wt'stt'm Ad Coo rd inator Q u i.. Borden . Eastern A d Coo rdi'1ator H nlly Co wart. Eestrr n Ad Co o rd ina tor Graphics arid Production Ree j ohnson , Produ£tion SUPtTVisOr M.md y Loa. Production Ma nG~" Den ni s Greene, Lab . T ech, S ld(ey G UOl. Grap hic Artut Jimmie oo-n. G rap h ic A rtist ~I ichad G ruuka. Grap h ic A rtist C ...ro lyn Bra n ha m. T'YfH'~tt" Ari('lIrlf' Te lias. r yp,.v ttn Accoun t ing /Data Processing Donna Brya n . Accts Rt·('t" vabl,. Coo rdina tor Ce neva Rq>d!l~. A.uuront Fran Ha m wey. Credit Circu lation Sa rah Tay lo r, A J.Sis,a", Alma AnKuia nu. As.sista nt M.u ita Nd \fJO, Assistan t H er tan e Richmon d . A lli~lant Ca ro l ~b ~ io , A ssislant o••ler S.le s Kevin Beau bien. Ma nag ,.r W.ntAds Debbi e Wd lt"r. lYant Ad Sal,.) Women's MX a success I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who helped make the 2nd Annual Discover Women's MX , which was held to benefit the juvenile Diab etes Foundation, such a success. Thanks to GFI Racing, American Honda, U.S. Su zu k i , Kawasaki Motor Corp., Yamaha Motor Corp., j ohn Burr Cycles, Redl ands Honda, Ra cewa y H onda , O 'Neal USA, AXO , Answer, M.S. Racing, HiPoint, Sports Gas, Barn ett, Shoei, Dunl op , j ake's Sus pension, No leen , Race Tech , Varner Racing, Rebel Smi th, Sprocket Specialties, Troy Lee, Scott USA, Rat Racing, Performance Cycle, Acerbis, P ro Ci rcuit, j T , P IP Printi ng, T erry Cable, White Bros., Fox , NGK, Hallman, Uni Filter, Kal-Gard, RK Chain and CeeL Thanks to Dirt R ider, Dirt Bike, MX Action and Cycle N ews for coverage of th e event, and to Suzuki 's j oe Col ombero for don ating Bob " H urrica ne" Hannah 's Trophy des Nations helmet for the ra ffle. Thanks to all th e peo p le wh o sold raffle tickets, bought raffle tickets, or competed in th e event . Thanks to th e j u ven il e Diab et es Foundation voluntee rs, Kathi Gibeault, Tami Ri ce, Bonnie Warch , Shane and T eresa Cirb y, and my fami ly and friends. Without everyone 's help, thi s event wouldn't hav e been poss ible. Because of their efforts, we raised money for a good cause, co nt ribu ted to a more positive image of motorcycl ists; had a great tim e, and ga ve away prizes totaling over $16,000. S.rvice .nd Support Chris Ai tcheso u . H" adqu ar' ers Rf.'u p' io"ist Leo nard H erring. Seroice and S u p po rt N.tion.IHe.dqu.rten 2201 Cht"rr y Ave.. Lo ng Beach. CA 90806, 1'.0 . Box ,198. Lung Beach. CA 90801·049A 1213) 127·7153; 2 t3/ 636·88H . FAX (213) 127·6685 E.-tern Office 4 190 Finl Ave'.• T ucker, GA . 30084; ma iling addr ess P.O. Box 80S, T ucker. G A 50085-0805. ( 404) 934-78!JO. . FAX (401) 95405 112 Cycle News (US PS 111-340) is published wnokl y except the' fint a nd last week of rhe ca lendar year fOT $30.00 per yt'a r by Cycle News, ln c., 2201 Otary Aven ue, long Beach. CA 90806. Seco nd r1..u posta ge' pa id at Lo ng Beach . CA. a nd addi tio nal mailing offices, POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Cycle New... P.O. Bo x 49B. Long Beach . CA 90801 · 049 8. To determine the expi,.tion ct. te of your wbat;ription . check the fou r numbers on the first li ne of yo ur add,... lllbei. The ftnt two d igits ind icate the laat isaue number you"1I receive and the laat two chanetera indicate tha year of the laat i...... SubSCTiplicm ra tes: Ra In for the Un ued Stai n ..nd ib possessions fo r o ne ,,·~r. (50 i ~un ) . SSO .OO: two 'lo'roI 100 issues). $95.00: six mo nths , rs( (25 i s~ un ) , S26.00; tria l su b ( 15 issun ), 519.00. Ca na da a nd For eign . o ne year (50 iUU M ). 590.00; two y('om (100 i~MJn ). $175.00: six momhs (25 inun), S·1 5.00; tr ia l sub 115 issun). 138.00. C ycle Nt"w ~ wel com es un sol ic u ed ed uon a l ma teria l Incl udi ng sto ries. ca rtoons , ph ot os. et c. Suc h m a terial . if p ubli sh ed . becomes the excl usive pr o per ty of Cycle New s. Sue h accep ted mat er ia l i!lo su bject 10 revision as is nrct'ssary in the \0 1t' di w reti c n of Cycle Nt'W ~. U nso licited lIlat t'rial which i~ nul used will be retu rned if a( co m p a ni ed by a sel l ad dr t' s ~t"d \ .a m pt"d ('m·do pt' . All un solicilt'd matt"rial will . br ru-ndl t. d wi th (r aM)nabl e ca r~. hOWt' t'T, Cycle V N('ws a!i!lo urnt"S no Tr ~ po mib ilil Y for Iht" Y ft" ty, lo!ios or da ma ~r 10 such matrria l. Rt-print in g in w hol t' or p a n o n ly b y prrmi ssion of thl;' pu bli ~ht"r: . Advt'rt isin..: ra lt'S and drculalion IIIfnr m al io n will be \f.' l upon u·q ut"\I. St-t" n S.R.O.S. ~B V PA AUDITED C IRCULATION Copyright" Cyc le News. Inc . 198 9 . Tro'" mark Cycl e News registered U.S. Pa tent Office. A ll rig hto ...--d. DEBBIE MATTHEWS Racers Choice Sant a Ana , CA Turnaround I wou ld like to commend whoever is responsible for the sidebar co mmentary i ncl uded with Mi chael Scott's report of the Belgian GP in th e july 19 issu e. Whether it was initiated by the editor or Mr. Scott himself, it is, in my opinion, th e proper wa y to exp res s p er sona l evalua tions and o pinions in co njunction with a news story . In sp ite of Mr. Scott's rebuttal to my ori ginal protest of his coverage of the Italian G P (in which he claimed hi s o pin ions were in fact the co nsens us of crowd opinion, even though he did not say so at the tim e, and chas tised m e for not read in g " ca ref u ll y eno ugh . . . in th e torment of my rag e" ), it appears th at he has taken that protest to heart and altered hi s format for the better. If so, I a pp la ud his reaction to co nstructive cri ticism and migh t also add that all of his reports of la te hav e been clea r, concise, a nd informative. Cr edit given where credit is du e, you might say. . po pular with outdoor folks and a lo t of bikers: Pa tago nia 's catalog has a two -page spread on how they use 10% of their pre-tax earnings to support conservation organizations. I was startled to see Earth First on their list. If you've ever wo ndered how Earth First can afford to be so crea tive wit h cute little tire spikes and barricades - do n 't wo nder any longer. Do no t bu y from organizations that spend money on Earth First. Do n 't buy from Patagon ia and, if you have one of their catalogs , write to them and let them know what you think. LYMAN MARTI N Arcadia, CA Deja vu Is'this deja vu, or what? I'm talking a bout the recent 250cc MX Grand -Pr ix at U nad ill a wh ere johnny O 'Mara ga ve th e fans hi s usual 0Show by grabbing third at th e start of th e first moto and holding it through out th e race, despite pr essure from th e best in the world, specifically Pekka Vehkon en. This was done despite his havin g just come off a re-injury to his kn ee wh ich , from wha t I hear , is held toge ther by rubber bands. All was in vain , however, because his bike quit haifa-lap from the flag , exactly wh ere he ra n o u t of gas on th e last lap while leading Bob Hannah in the 1986 G P. Ouch ! Well, not to say th at us Unadilla fan s didn't enjoy Bob Han nah 's win in '86, but we j ust want you to know that we recog nize that he is not th e on ly veteran we kn ow who can fly on this track. Good lu ck to yo u n ext yea r, joh n ny . I' ll be th er e screami ng myself hoarse for you aga in . . BRI AN J ACKSO N Melrose, MA Two-cent copy Th is is an open letter to anyo ne wh o attended th e Buchan an, Michigan , round of th e AMA National Championship 125/ 250cc MX Series. Near th e fin ish line jump/tunnel was a T-shirt vend or whose name I will not mention. This vendor was selling aT-shirt that read s " Big Doub les, No Tro u b le . " Thi s un authorized copy of a T -shirt is a poorly print ed, pathetic rip-off of a design tha t I did for T uf Racing of Dekalb , Illinoi s. I don't even kn ow how much the ace at th e' accessories trai ler was charg ing for thi s ga rbage, however, if you co m pare it to the origina l and a uthent ic Tuf Racin g " Big Doubles, No Trouble" T -shirt , th e copy isn 't worth two cents. CHUCK GO RDO N Villa Park, IL MATT L EWIS Santa Cruz, CA M ichael S cott sidebar . . . Ed itor. wrot e th e Supporting tire spikes Recently I received a catalog from Patagon ia , a clothing manufacturer Published letters do not necesnrily reflect the posit ion of Cycle News. Inc o Letters .re subject to conden· sa tion due to space limitations . Anonymous letter. w ill not be published . Send letter to VOiC8S, P.O . Box 498. Long Be.ch. CA 90801 0498. (Con tin ued from page 2) land's Trials and Motocross News. " We'd been practicing and testing at a track in Italy all da y. Then so meone pers uaded me to try out a pair of upside-down forks. That was a mistake! I was flipped over the fro nt and landed o n my sho ulde r. I also broke a bone in my foot. The doctors wanted to put me in pl aster and (have me) stay off a bike for five weeks , bu t tha t could' ve blown my cha nces (for the cham pionship)." Park er went on to win the Bri tish GP with 4-2 mo to finis hes , and then took thir d overa ll one week later at th e Ir ish G P wi th a 2-4 score. Holland's Pedro Tragter, one of the pre -season favorites for the 125cc World title. will miss several GPs while he recovers from a broken bone in his right wrist suffered back in April. Tragter has ridden the past several GPs in considerable pain. America n 125cc G P contender Bob Moore's fouled plug on the start line in moto two of th e july 2 British GP ha lted what th e American hoped would be a steady climb to th e top in th e G P resul ts. Moore fin ished third in th e first moto and had been steadily improving by on e place per G P in the overa ll column and had finished second in the Czechoslovaki an GP pri or to Britain. BORN: Jake Russell Arnet. son of Dirt Bike magazine editor Ed Arnet and his wife Mary. on July 6 . in Valencia. California. The Missouri-based Midw est Trail Riders Associa tion (MT RA) recently received th e fo llowing eq u ip ment and cash donations/ loa ns: $600 for so und me ters fro m the MIC ; a 4X4 Foreman and $4000 from Honda; th e loan of a Mul e from Kawasa ki, two DR 200 trai l bi kes from Suzuki, and a T erra Pro a n d mowe r from Yam ah a. The eq uipment and cash will be used by the Mark T wai n National Forest Rangers for the construction and maintenance of a Design a ted OH V Trai l System within the Po tosi and Salem Districts. Since th e formation of the MTRA in August 1988, membership has grown to 475 off-road riding enth usiasts. For more informatio n on joining or the tra il system , write to MTRA, P.O. Box 1203, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. . West Coast road racers and endurance road race teams interested in participating in the AMA/CCS Yokohama Supersport 600 and 750 Series or the EBC Brakes Endurance Challenge event at Sonoma, Cal ifornia's Sears Point Raceway during the August 1011-12 AMA National. can call 704/6B4-4297 for entry information. All participants must be AMA members and riders holding ARRA, AFM. OMMRR and WRRA licenses may purchase an event license from CCS for only $1 0 for this event. The normal post-entry surcharge of $25 per class is being waived for Sears Point due to the late confirmation of the event. (Continued to page 38)

• Cover