Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~:.~ America's motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVII Sharon Cayton. PubliJ hn Mi ke Klinger, Compt rolln Jack Man gu s. Associate Publ ishn l Edi tm Rb eba Smith . Ciuu latio n ManaK"' Carol ine Gen dry . Ex~cutive S UUt4 ry to th~ Pu blisher ," ~-," i,II[5·ldi~· ---- , - .... -~ ~- . --~ ~~~ SUPERCROSS: Bradshaw wins again in Houston Astrodome 6 HARE & HOUND: Smith edges Hunnicutt in SoCal desert 10 Hunnicutt/Ashcraft top Arizona-only Parker 400 14 MX: Lewis, Natvig conquer Golden State Nationals ... .. . .•.. .. 18 Dowd, Coleman crowned Florida Winter MX Champions 22 .Vohland traps White Wolf GFI Winter Series North 26 INTERVIEW: Up-and-coming MXer Steve Lamson 28 OFF-ROAD: California OHV Commission meeting report . . .•.. . 30 CALENDAR : What's up in your neighborhood 34 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Damon Bradshaw (top) came from beh ind and won the Houston, Texas, 250cc Camel Supercross at the Astrodome. See page 6. Photo by Kit Palmer. KTM's Dan Smith (middle) topped the National Championship Series opener in Lucerne Valley, California. See page 10. Photo by Tom Van Beveren . MXer Steve Lamson interview on page 28. Photo by Donn Maeda. Editoria ' Jack Mangus. Editor Kit Palm er, As.scxiiJt~ Editor Paul Carr u thers , A ssocitU~ Edit or Nat e Rauba , ASJoci4t~ CditOT Brian Canersc n, Associate Edit or Ken Fa ught, A ssistant Editor F. wina Mangus, Calendar Editor d Advartioing T erry Prall . Senior SG l~s Managn Mark Thom e. We- tem Sales Mana gn s Ron Davidson. WesltTn Sales Managn Thomas R. Ge nter, West"," Sales Mana gn Mark Mitchell . Eastern Sales Mana gn e rrog Mitehdl. wttTn SaILsM anagn Joan Russian. WesttTn Ad COO1'dinalOT Car la Borden . Eas ttTft Ad COO1'dinat01' Graphics a nd Production Ret John son. Produ ction S upnvisor Mandy 1..00. Prodw:tion Mana gn Iknnis C reme. lAb. Tech. Stacry G uest , G rap hic Artist J imm ie O ·DtIl. Grap hic A rtist Carolyn Bran ham . T .,peUtln Yes, Virgin ia, there are sponsors Accounting /Da.. Proc:8sIing Donna Brya n. Acd s R eu ivtJblL Cocndinator Oe neva Repau. Assistant Fran Hamwey, Crt'dit , Circulatio n Sara h Taylor, AssutG nt Alma AnKUiano. Assutan t Herl an e R ichmond. ASJutant Carol Magg io. AssutG nt DulerSaleo Eric Reece, Ma nagn Want Ado Debbi e Well ei'. Want Ad S4lt'S Servica and Support Chris Aiteheson. H t'lIdqu4rlt'rS R eceptioni st Leonard Herrin g, Servia and Support Nat ional Hudquarters 220 1 Ch erry Ave.• Lo n g Beach . CA 90806. P.O . Box 498. Lo ng Beach . CA 9OB01-0498 - 215/ 427·7455; 2131656-8844. FAX 215/ 427·6685 Eaota m Office 4190 First Ave.• Tucker, CA, 30084; mai lin g ad dress P,O , Box 805. Tucker, G A 30085-0805. 4041934-7850. . FAX 404/934-3 112 Cyc le News (US PS 141-!4 0) is p ublis hed weekly excep t the last I WO weeks ot the calenda r year for $50.00 per year by Cycle News, In c., 2201 Chetty Avenue. Lo ng Beach . CA 90806. Second class postage pai d a t Lo ng Reach , CA, and additio na l maili ng of fices. '0 POSTMASTER: Send lonn 3579 Cycle New• • P.O . Box 498. Long Beec h. CA 90801 · 049 8. To de te rmine t he exp inltion de le of yo ur IUbacription. check t he four numbers on the first line of you r ed d,... " bel. The first two dig iti: indicate the issue number you"1I receive e nd th e last two ch.nleterI: indicllte the yHr of the last iuue. "at Subscri p tio n rates : Ra tes for the United Slales and us possessions for one yar, (50 issues ). $50.00; IWO years (100 issues).S95.00; six months, (25 iu ues). S26.00; trial sub (15 issues). $19.00. Ca nada a nd Foreign , one year (50 w un), S90.oo; two years (100 issues), SI75.00: six mo nths (25 issues). $45.00; tria l sub (15 issues). $38.00. Cycle New s welco mes unso lici ted editorial ma teria l including stories, cartoons, ph otos , etc. Suc h materi a l. if publi sh ed, becom es th e exc lusive p ro pert y o f Cycle News. Such accept ed mat er ial is su bject to revision as is necessary in the 501e di screti on of Cycle News, Un soli ci ted ma ter ia l which is n et used will be returned if acc o m pa n ied by a sel f a dd ressed sta m ped en velo pe. All unsolici ted ma teria l will be ha nd led with reasonable care , howev er. Cycle News assumes no responsibilny for the safelY, loss or damage to such ma teria l. Repr in tin g in wh o le or pari on ly by permissio n of th e publisher. Advertising rat es a nd circu la tion inform ation will be sent upon request, Sec S.R.D .S. AUDITED CIRCULATION 4 rog_ Copyright8 Cycle New.. Inc. 1990. merit Cycle News U. S. OffIce. All ri ghts . . -. Tro dePoton' The Virginia Championship Hare Scramble Series completed its 1989 season with a candlelight banquet in historic Williamsburg. The associa- tion, comprised of every off-road club in the state, would like to thank th e following sponsors for th eir tremendous support this past season: Tu cker- Rock y, Bell , Havoline, Sinisalo-AXO, Metz eler, SCOll, Boyesen , Thor, Malcolm Smith, PJI, Acerbis, and Roko Sports. In addition, we would like to thank Dunl op, Devol Racing, BelRay, Chartpak, Diamond , Yokohama, Cosmopolitan Motors, ATK, Honda, Kawasaki, KT M, Suzuki, Yamaha , Casey Cycle City, Mark IV, Ricks Cycl e Supp ly, Specialized Cycle Service, Portsmout h Yamaha and R.M. Felts Packing Co. for their generous donations, and to Cycle News and Trail Rider magazine for their coverage through the year. Also, a special thanks to Gary Hatch of the Havoline Race Team, Charles Halcomb of Team Suzuki, Bevo Forte of Scott Goggles and Tom Bartlett of Tucker-Rocky Distributing for being our gu ests and sharing their time and experiences at the banqu et before a n appreci ative crowd. People and companies such as these help our sport flou rish and are what helps organizations like ou rs exist. Their recognition is deeply appreciated by all. Support th e people that suppo rt the spo rt! GEORGE GREER VCHSS Coordinator Smithfield, VA Getting the .w ord·out I've just seen two go lden opportunities blown in the past two weeks. I'm talking about the 65,ooO-plus people at the Mickey T ho mpson Gran d P rix a nd the 66,OOO-pl us people at the Cam el Supercross, both held at Anaheim Stadium. Not a word was' mentioned at either of these races about the threat o f H R 780 or t he Sierra C IubCranston bill , S I I. It seems to me tha t these events would have been the perfect place to drum up some more support to defeat these unfair bills. Maybe if CORVA had put some of the donated money they receive to fight these bills into a public awareness announcement at those even ts, we might hav e had 120,000 more people on our side. The Sierra CI ub is doing their advertis ing,' su pporting these bills, on TV with Shelly Duvall as their spo kesperson. We need to let more people know of these desert closures, not ' just motorcyclists. In my op in ion, we mis sed a golden op po rtun ity. GA RY WHITTEN Anaheim, CA Goodbye, Banzai Banzai, the wor ld's grea test mot omutt, passed away on J anuary 22. He would have been IS in March . Banzai was one of the most intense com pe titors ever seen a t Saddleback ' Park, Ana heim Stadium, or wherever he went to race. Because Banzai co u ldn ' t h andl e the ju mps and whoop-de-doos like . he used to, he retired from racing two years ago. Still he would never turn down an opportunity to go trail riding. Banzai loved motorcycles and he loved life. Goodbye, Banzai. ART O LI VIER K9 Motorsport Promotions Bellflower, CA Regretable ove rsight At the Southern Enduro Riders Association awards banquet in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 21, I was i n charge of recognizing all the people and companies that ha ve helped the SERA over the past year. Mike a n d Marie Gi llespie of Mike 's Cycle, a KT M dealership and accessory .store in Bato n Ro uge, Louisiana, have contributed countless hou rs and . many do llars in su ppo rt of our series. Mike's Cycle has helped man y of our riders and KT M suppl ied ma ny awards and continge ncies for the banquet. I POint out all th is now because at the banq ue t I neglected to recognize their contributions to the organization. I deeply regret th is oversigh t an d hope to make it up to them some how. In closing, I would like to thank all the SERA sponsors: Mike 's Cycle, Spec tro Oil, Action Sports, Suzuki. Kawasak i, ICO Racing, Yama ha of T u pe lo, and Bell Helmets. JONATHAN M. KEMP Chairman, SERA Amite, LA Publillted lette.. do not necessar"" refl e c t the poo ition of Cycle Newo, Inc. Send le tte.. to Voiceo. P.O . Bo x 49B. Long Beach. CA 90B01 • MfA, NHrSA anntUJCe joint safety program LOS ANGELES, CA, JAN. 30 T he American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and National H ighway Traffic Safety Administratio n (N H T SA ) today unveiled a public information campaign that aims to "encourage responsible motorcycling practices." The pro gra m, called Pro Rider, will ini tially provide counter card disp lays to some 2500 motorcycle deal ersh ips na tionwide. The disp lays outline the Pro Rider Code the so-called "Ten Comman dm ents of motorcycling" - and invite riders to return a postage-paid card to the AMA in exch ange for a set of auraetive helmet/visor decals bearing the Pro Rider logo. All the rider has to do is sign the card's pledge to abide by the code; he need not be an AMA me mber. "We'd lik e to make riding safely the 'in' th ing to do ," said J im Bensberg, legisla tive specialist of the AMA 's government relations department. Bensberg explained that the idea for the program was derived from a TV ad campaign featuring stock car racing great Richard Petty requesting viewers to " drive like a pro," as well as from the Skier's Responsibilty Code printed on many ski areas ' trai l ma ps. However, the Pro Ri der Code is only a partial list; it also advises riders to " always use common sense. " The AMA and NHTSA have iden ti fied three areas of concern i n motorcycli ng: Motorcycl ists riding wi thout a proper license endorse. ment are overrepresented in accident sta tistics; alcohol/substance abuse continues to be a contributing factor in accidents; and the vol untary use of helmets sh o u ld be stro n g ly encouraged. "It is our (the AMA's) ho pe that this positive approach will instill a safety con cious attitude in the rider (especia lly the you th fu l cyclist), and will serve as an example to other cyclists to practice re sponsibl e cycli ng as well ," read s the AMA's 'press release. The project is significant in that it is a joint venture between the federal government and the AMA. Initial funding for the project was provided by a $24,000 grant from the NHTSA. " NHT SA shares the con cerns of motorcycle safety with the AMA and the motorcycle industry ," said Dr.1 J oseph Cindr ich , NHTSA Region 9 admi nistrator. " Motorcycles are an integra l part of our highway transport a tion system . .. we wan t to ins ure that we keep all those mo torcycles moving safely." Phase one of the project should see the dis p lays in deal erships by February 16, with the target number of responses set at 10,000; future phases may see the displ ays a t addi tio nal locations such as state Departmen t of Motor Vehicles facilities, motor· , cycle trai ni ng centers, popular rider ga therin g spots, etc. The program is ex pected to conti nue in to 1991 consistent with consumer demand and available funding. •

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