Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

a n d Nixon answer, "Give m e the money and you can have the damn trophy." Be told by veteran road racers to watch th e oi l in th e first tu rn a t Nelson Ledges and then watch a ll of them throw it awa y th ere as I cruise b y in my firs t-ever road race , 'AMRR A even t in the lat e '60s. See Kenny Rob erts make his first appeara nce in a di rt track rac e in nearly three ye a r s a t t he 1980 H ou sto n Astrod ome TT National. And win it. And hear him say , " Ca n you believe that?" as he en tered th e H ouston p ress box. H ear tw o -t ime G r a nd Na ti ona l Champions G ary Nixon and Dick Mann bench racing after that memorable Dome race a nd Mann answer Nixon's inq uiry as to wh ether or not he though t th ey cou ld beat the " kids " if th ey got in shape: " Nixon , if I had had yo ur eyesight and Bart Markel's co urage , I cou ld have been Kenny Roberts." See (and hear) Russ Collins tear down th e Beech Bend drag strip on h is triple-engine Top Fuel dragster, the Atchinson, Topeka a nd Santa Fe. D itto a h orde o f t h ree-cylinde r Triumphs a nd BSAs a nd four-cyl inder H ondas lead th e " flyi ng" first lap o f th e 1970 Daytona 200. an EDITOR'S '-----= ·MGP OE E AH N By Jack Mangus s you read th is issue, we trust yo u' ll ' notice .th e "new. look" Cycle News. T he gra phic wi zard s i n ou r product io n department are a lways hitting on the publi sh er and edi tors to let th em change the graphic sty le o f Am erica's weekl y motorcycle n ewspaper. Continuously faci ng dead lines a nd perhaps set in our ways, we ed itors rarely listen to them. But this time arou nd the publisher said listen, and we di d - to a degree. The new look wasn' t ach ieved wi th what most p roduction personnel ca ll " crea tive use o f white space." To new spaper ed i to rs , white space is wasted sp ace. And space is one th ing ed it ors never have enough o f. We al ways wan t more space for more words. More photos. In th at vein, along with the new look, you 'll ge t m ore informa tion. For exa m ple, chec k ou t th e coverage of this p ast weekend's Atlanta Supercross. For sta rters, we've added th e results of th e q ualifying ra ces (heats, semi-finals, etc.) to our coverage and we'll contin ue to do that when ever possib le in ' ou r race reports. Our co nsta nt goal is to provide you wi th as much informa tion as we possibly can. Coinci dentally, p ress day for th is " ne w look" issue - Monday, February 26, 1990 ' - marks, to the da y, th e beginning of my 19th year as -a -Cycle News edi tor. H ighlights o f th ose years and the o nes th at preceded m y joi n ing the newspaper all ow me to ben ch ra ce abo u t ha ving been around to: See Bart Markel drag his foo t at Daytona in the '60s. , Paul Sm art drag his kn ee at Dayt ona in the '70s. Every road racer dra g knees in th e '80s. Joel Robert fly. The likes of Jeff Stanton, Jeff Ward, Ri ck Johnson and Damon Bradshaw fly through space. Meet the legendary Joe Petralli. . And Mike Hailwood. Sit in th e middle o f a strawberry patch eating strawberr ies while bench racing with John Penton. See th e Six Da ys take plac e i n ' America. Chuck Clayton throw ousted AMA head Russ March ou t of a Cycle Newshosted party after the Six Da ys in Massachusetts. . Attend a bu llf igh t in Barcelona with ' Bevo Forte after th e Six Da ys in Spain. See Wes Cooley save it after his bike went into a horrendou s ta nkslapper in the fast left-h ander o n th e infi eld road , course at Talladega . Reg Pridmore and Steve McLaughlin cross th e Daytona fin ish li ne in a photo finish at the end of one o f th e early Superb ike ra ces in th e '70s. King Ken ny Rob erts la p th e field in the Daytona 200. . Erv Kanernoto drag G ary Nixon across th e excre teme n t a nd u rineco vered floor of a paddock area res troom after he had passed ou t after "win ning" an F-750 ra ce in Venezuela. " Wi nning" because the organizer, who was t he Yamah a i m po rter, la ter realized Nixon was the only Kawasa kim ounted rider in the race. Result? Nixon had the trophy; Steve Baker got th e winner 's sh ar e of th e purse. Hear Baker ask Nixon for the trophy A " To newspaper editors, white space is wasted space. And space is one thing editors never have enough of. We always want more space for more words. More photos." Duke Pennell flag a dirt track ra ce - before starting lights. Dav id Aldana's skeleton leathers. Mike Gerald's hot-pink leathers. The AMA museum become a reality. Gene " Bu rrito" Romero earn th e pol e 'position for th e Day tona 200 by running a front wheel/tire on th e rear of his three-cylinder T riumph for h is qual ifying lap arou nd th e oval. Romero set a new one-hour speed record at Daytona o n a four-cylinder Yamaha TZ750. Chuck Palmgren rip the air filt ers off his Yamaha dirt tra cker to " lea n it o u t" as th e laps wound down so he co uld conse rve fuel a nd go on to win the 1970 Nazareth Mile 50- la p National. Rookie Expert Jay Springst een bounce his Harley's rear wheel off the .' concrete wall o u tside turns three-four at th e o ld Tam pa Fairgrounds half- ' mile oval o n th e first lap of p ra ctice. And com e within inc hes of doing it , again on every lap th erea fter. jammin ' Jimmy Weinert sail over th e tu rn o ne fen ce a t the York H alf Mile after highsid ing o ff the T ri umph , he was riding. And later laugh ab out it. Weinert win a Nation al MX title in New Orleans' m ost o p p ressive-ever summer heat and humidity. Weinert show up at the 1979 Oakland Su percro ss wi th a sa nd paddle tire . and smoke everyo ne. Weinert hold co u rt in the fir st-class cabin o n a red -eye cro ss-co u n try fligh t, wearing a pai r o f p hony nose/ p hony eyebrow glasses. The AMA grow to 170,000 members. Da vid Bailey go from bein g Gary and Darleen 's little boy to Nat ional MX Champion and Mo tocross des Nations World Champion. Freddie Spencer and Kenny Roberts due l in th e 1983 Spanish GP. Eddie Lawson th row his helmet a nd gloves into the crowd after winning th e Laguna Seca 500cc GP. J imbo Fil ice win th e Laguna Seca 250cc G P. . Beat Mik e S p o n se ll er in a r m wrestling. See Sp onsell er become a millionai re a nd sponsor a multi-rider tea m o n th e Camel Pro Seri es circu it. H ave an Au stri an doc tor con firm m y fear tha t I had broken my leg in the parking lo t o f th e KTM factory. Disco ver that no t one , but two six cyli nder motorcycles - a Honda CBX and a Kaw asaki 1300 - have falle n off the trailer a nd are dragging along behind the mo torhome I'm dr iving o n a freeway in downtown Chattanoo ga. See a smiling Bubba Sh ob ert stro ll through the pits a t the Springfield Mi le less th a n five m onths after h is near-fatal acci dent. Carn elSupercross Ser ies p romo ter Bill West a nd Camel field rep Bob J annell e do th eir Blues Brothers bit. Privateer Dale Singleto n win two Da ytona 200s. Tam my Kirk become th e first lady to q ualify for a National dirt track at th e Knoxville Half Mil e. Randy Goss recover from an earlylap spill and co me from last pl ace to win th e 1984 San ta Fe TT. ' Pol ice manhandle rider rep G ary Sco tt o u t o f Da y ton a ' s Memorial Stadi u m during a Cycle Week short track as th e cro wd booed. Gary Scott return as the cro wd chee red. ' H ear L oyal T ruesdale 's la ugh. Go trail ridi ng wi th Da vid Aldana a nd a bunch of o ther g uys andthen h id e behind trees and wat ch as only Aldana go t busted by the local cops for cross ing 1-83 o n a n unlicensed bik e in the Cockeysville, Maryland, area. Street riding with Malcolm Forbes. Ride coas t-to-coast with friends, my wife, a nd al one. Find out that m y wife a nd I and o ur bike are st ill functioning after ge tt ing knocked down by a pi ck -up tru ck that tail-ended us in aMay blizzard in New Mexi co. . T ake that first run down th e bl ack stri pe on the Bonneville Salt Flats. See Don Vesco rocket down that bl ack stri pe. Zen and the Art of Motorcycl e Maintenance h it the best-seller li sts. H ear th at due to a la te co n nec ting fligh t Mike Baldwin missed the Air Fl orida f1igh t that crashed into a bridge over th e Pot omac Riv er . Have known Randy Cl eek ; Kurt Keifer , Dale Singleton, Jay Ridgeway , Russ Paulk, Hazel Kolb, Pat Eva ns, Dick Bender, Jim Zimmerman, Drew P at e, Bee Gee Pennell, Jules Horky, Bill Robinson, Freddie Ephrem a nd many more motorcycl ists who regrettably are now doing th eir thing at the ' grea t, bi g ra ce track in the sky. Take Gi acom o Agostini for a la p around Daytona International Speedway in a ren t-a-ca r the da y he first arr ived in Florida, a week p rior to the 1974 Da ytona 200 - that he won. See Joe Leon ard a nd A.J. Fo yt " rac e" bikes in a mat ch race at the Indianapol is Mile. J ay Sp ringsteen bea t an illness that p lag ued him for years . Dave Despain and Larry Mai ers tal k abo u t motorcycle racing on TV. T uner Bill Werner 's ear-to -ear grin as Gary Scott, Jay Sp rings teen , J a y again, J ay aga in, Sco tt Park er, Scot t again clinch G rand Nat ional Cha mpi onship ti tles, Be in vi ted to the Hickm an Haul Ass Cl a ssi c/N ew Yea r 's Ev e/Birthda y Part y bash at Kenny Rob erts' ra nc h . H ave Kevin Sch wan tz come to my birthday party. Take part in assu ring that th e last 900 issues of Cycle N ews got to th e printer o n time, incl ud ing this one with its " new loo k." Run o u t of space. eN "e Darllner wearsllle. 00. Blink YOU're a bener -.-Ihan he is?, Ifyou want to ride like a champion, you'vegot to act like one. That means wearing a helmet,eye protection and protective clothing. Riders like Wayne Gardner understand their machines Reading your owner's manual can help you understand your bike too. And the best riders always have a motorcycle license, and never mix alcohol or drugs with riding. So use your head. When you ride, ride like a champ. HONDA Come ride with us. «:1 1989 Ame rican HondaMotorCo., Inc, (31 90) If vou don't have a spark arrester, -,'>-\ " we have a spark arrester. I

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