Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v ICES 0 INSIDE Dear California Assembly Transportation Committee: FEATURES JacksonvilleHalf Mile .. .. .. . . . ..• 34 DAYTONA CYCLE WEEK Daytona 200 belongs to Sadowski OcalaShort Track 8 Stanton's Superrross 12 Ingram's Camel Pro Short Track 14 250 GP to Oliver... . • . . . . . . .. . .. . 16 Supersport 600cc Road Race Pro Twins GP Road Races 22 Supersport 750cc Road Race 24 38 Amateur Supercross 40 Gainesville Amateur MX 42 MOTOCROSS Ryan sweeps Sandhill GFl showdown .44 20 600cc National Short Track . . •... ....... . .... . .26 DEPARTMENTS \vORJLBENCH 49 LOCAL EVENTS .48 Alligator Enduro 28 CALENDAR 54 AHRMA Historic Cup Road Race 30 \VANT ADS 59 RESULTS 70 Regional Short Track. . . . .. • ...... 32 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Vance & Hines Yamaha's David Sadowski (top) was 'the big winner at the Daytona 200 by Arai Superbike National in Florida. Race coverage begins on page 8. Photo by Henny Ray Abrams. Team Honda's Jeff Stanton (bottom), for the second year in a row, won the.DaytonaSupercross by Honda. See page 12. Photo by Paul Carruthers. . America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVII Sharon Clayton , Pu blisher • Mike Klinger, ComptTOIIN Rh eba Sm ith. Circulation lUan agn Caroline Genclry, Exe cut ive Secretary to the Publisher Editorial Jack Mangus. Associat e Publisher/ Editor Kit Palmer , Associat~ Editor Pa ul Carruth ers, A S$ociat~ Editor Nate Raub a , Associate Editor Brian Catterson. Associate Editor Ken Faught. Assistant Edit or Edwina Mangus. Calendar Edit or Graphics and Production ReeJohnson. Production Supervisor Mandy 1..00. Prod uction Mana ger Dennis Greene. Lab . T ech. Stacey Guest. Graphic Artist Jimmie O'DeIl, G raph ic Art ist Carolyn Branham, T vpesetter Circulation Advertising Terry Pratt, Senior Sales Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Ron Davidson. Western Sales Manager Thomas R. Genter, West ern Sales Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Sa les Mana ger Greg Mit chell, Eastern Sales Mana ger Joon Russia n . Western Ad Coord inator Carla Borden, Eastern Ad Coord inator SarahTaylor. Assistant Alma Ang uiano, Assistant Her lan e Richmond, Assistant Carol Maggio. Assistant Dealer Sales Eric Reec Mana ger e. Want Ads Debbie Weller, Want A d Sales Accou n ting/ Datil Proc essing Serviceand SU PPOrl Chris Aitcheson, Donna Bryan, Accts R eceivable Coo rdi nator Geneva Repass, Assistant Lisa Gill. Credi t H eadq uarters R eceptionist Leonard Herring. Service and Sup po rt Eastern Nationa l Headquarters 22lJ! Cherry Ave.. Lo ng Beach . CA 90806. P.O . Box 498. Lo ng Beach. CA 90801-Q498 (2 13) 427-7433; 213/ 636-8844. FAX (213) 427-6685 Office 4190 First Ave•• Tucker. GA.!0084; mailing address P.O . Box 805. Tucker. GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle News (USPS 141-340) is published weekly except the last IW O weeks 0 1 the calendar year lor $50.00 per year by Cycle News. Inc.. 2201 Cherry Avenue. Long Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage paid at Long Beach. CA, and additional mailing ollices. POSTMAST:Ell: Send address changes 10 Cycle News, P.O. Bo. 498, Long jeach, CA 90801-M98. T o determine the exp iration da te of yo ur subscrip tion. ch eck th e fo ur numbers on the lirst line of your address label. The firsl IWO digits indicate the lasl issue number you'll receive and th e las t two characters indicat e the year of the last issue. Subscription rates: Ra tes lor the United States and its possessions lor one year. (50 issues). $50.00; IW O years (100 issues), $95.00; six months, (25 issues), $26.00; trial sub (15 issues). $19.00. Canada and Foreign. one year (50 issues). $90.00; two years (100 issues). $ 175.00; six months (25 issues), $45.00; trial sub ( 15 issues). $38.00. Cycle News welcom es unso licited ed ito ria l ma terial includi ng stories. ca rtoons, phot os, etc. Such materia l. il published, becomes the exclusive properly 01 Cycle News. Such ac- cep ted ma teria l is su bject to revision as is necessa ry in the so le d iscretio n of Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a sell addressed sta mped en velope . All u nsolicited mat eria l will be ha nd led wi th reasonable ca re, however. Cycle News assumes no responsibility for the safety. lo ss or da mage to such mat erial. Rep rint ing in who le o r part o nly by permission o f th e publis her. Advert isin g ra tes a nd circu latio n inf ormation will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. W~ BPA AUD ITED "if CIRCULATION G:'pyrighl8 Cycle Sews, Inc. 1990. TrademarkCycle Sews legislem! u.s. Patenl Office. All rights reserved. 4 Lettersto the editor I'm writi ng in opposition to Assembly Bills 2560 and 3007 that rela te to the operation of motor cycles o n the highways in Ca lifornia. I am a ret ired LAP D Officer who spent 14 years pa tro lli ng the streets and freeways of Los Angeles on a m o to r cycle. I have ridden motorcycles in California for nearly 40 yea rs and currently ride almost every da y. I am an instructor for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. I am not an irresponsi ble rider. I do "split lanes" whe n I ride. H ere are my reasons for opposing th e above la ws; I. ) This is an emotio na l issue , no t o ne of safety. Wh y? "The re are no accident statistics tha t necessita te such laws. ·There is a study that indicates th e o p posi te (T he Hurt R eport ). ·Everyone I have talked to that does not rid e a motorcycle says, "It looks unsafe," or " It makes me mad that they pass me wh en I'm stuck in traffic!" 2.) There ar e alread y la ws on the books that govern th e issues that are brought up by pro ponents of the laws. Pl ease resear ch the followin g Californi a Vehicle Code Sections: 22350 VC, 21055 & 56 VC, 22517 VC. · The basic speed law (22350) requires vehicles to be driven at " a reaso na ble speed," wi th respect to th e traffic co n d i tio ns. Offi cers can and should ci te, as I used to wh en I was a traffic officer, mot orcycle riders wh o ride between the car s too fast. · Secti on 22517 VC requires that a driver may not open his vehicle door in traffic un less it is safe to do it. O penin g a vehicle door can be da ngerous any time. 3.) It is m y 40 years experience as a rider a nd 23 years as a police officer, th at most acci dents in vol vin g m otorcycles a nd cars cha nging lanes ha ppen while the motorcyclist is in his own lane mi nding hi s own busin ess, but is still not seen by the car dri ver prior to his la ne cha nge. 4.) Because o ther states have it , Ca li fo rn ia shou ld. R eall y? ·Other states don 't sell liquor on Sundays eithe r. There are many law s that others have that we don't hav e. So wh at? 5.) Traffic is co ngested enough a nd grid lock is bad enough. T ha t's wh y so me of us rid e! These pro posed law s will furt her increase gr id lock. Pl ease co nsi der the above a nd sto p this unnecessary legi slation in your co m mittee! Gary S. Smith Whittier, CA I'm writing in rega rds to Californ ia Assembly Bill 2560 in a n attempt to add so me information to your decision maki ng process. I live in the San Fernando Valley and co m m u te to Ho llywood o n a motorcycle daily, and I'm heavil y involved in th e motorcycle industry through m y job her e at Motorcyclist magazi ne. O u r sta ff co nsists of five ridi ng edi tors who log over 30,000 mi les each year and we all a d voca te la n e-sp l i t ti n g , or la nesha ring for severa l reasons . Gw en Moore is o n recor d as sayi ng she knows nothin g abo ut Mo tor cycle Accid ent Cause Fac to rs a nd Identifica tio n of Coun termeasures repo rt , o therwise known as the Hurt Report do ne in the early '80s a t USC. It 's im porta nt to cons ider the rep ort in your decision as it is widely accep ted as the defini tive study o n mot or cycle safety. In th is report, and in su bsequent interviews, Pro fessor H arry Hun di scus ses the pros a nd cons of lan e sharing a nd finds this practice less hazardous, when done correc tl y, than staying in a tra ffic line. T he reasons have to do with th e sma ll, single brake light motorcycl es have, and the ina ttention of foll owin g drivers. But the main reason for this letter is a n attempt to change the th inking of th e Assembly Transportation Cornmiuee about motorcycles. Ra ther than attempt to ban or control a motorcy cle's a bi lity to move through a nd around traffic, ca p italize on it. Europe sees motorcycles as a solution , no t a problem. Ro me, Ital y', has banned four-wheelers in the in ner cit y, a llowing on ly motorcycles, and o the r European cit ies have done the same. Ask an y Ca li fornia H ighway Patrolman in the Los Angeles a rea a nd he/ she will tell yo u tra ff ic fl ow is t he most importa nt thing; wh y th en eli mi na te a solution to tra ffic conges tio n? Wh y not ca pitalize on it? I urge this co m mi ttee to co ntact the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (800) 447-4700, a nd to work with them jowards making motorcycl es an accepted part of California's trafficco ngestio n so lution. In closing, I'd like to incl ud e som e figures reponed in the September , 1989, issu e of Cycl e World magazin e derived from a European study. The study found that motorcycles occu py roughly one-tenth of the road space of a famil y ca r (3.93 sq uare feet versus 36.9 sq uare feet ), a figure that makes motorcycles sensi ble.on crowded freeways and ci ty streets, as well as in overfilled parking lot s. Mot or cycles also make sen se in m ileage co m pa riso ns, but that fact has little to do with yo ur committee's work o n AB256O. Thank you for your ti me. Pl ease feel free to co ntact me o r a ny of the Motorcycli st magazin e sta ff for in formation o r cla rifica tio n . I urge you to allow mo torcycles to share lanes with automob iles. I urge yo u to regard motorcycles not as a problem , but as th e solu tion. N ick lenatseh Feature Editor, Motorcyclist Los Angeles, CA Dear Ms. Moore: As a so u thern California resident you undoubtedl y have no ticed th at we hav e a small traffic congestio n problem o n our freeways almost 24 hours a day . We look to o ur state legi slature for leadersh ip in solvi ng the problem s of our sta te. T his bill will do nothing but allow o ur alrea dy wealthy in su rance ind ustry to avo id losses a ttri bu table to mot orcycle acci dents . I note tha t your bill is su pported by the Ca liforn ia Stale Au to mo bi le Associat ion, an association whose primary objec tive is to make mon ey through selli ng autornobi le insurance. If the insurance companies a nd th e sta te government wou ld sp end a frac tion of the effort on promoting motorcycle use that they do on trying to o utla w the mo to rcycle, we would have less tra ffic congestio n a nd air pollution in the L.A. basin. T hat seems lik e a goal wo rth pursu ing. The co ncept of ma king the motor cycl ists sta nd in line wi th the cars just to be fai r to the car dr ivers is ludicrous. As for the danger to th e rider , we accep t that every tim e we get on o ur bikes. The eleme nt of ris k is with us alwa ys, in o ur ca rs , o n b ik es a n d in the bathtub. T he freedom 'to accept that risk is wh at th is co untry is all abo ut. I a m catego rica lly against your bill. John Thomson, AlA Torrance, CA . ul1rn 1 dw' rd ilor aho u ld 1M: ImI IO: v ckes, Cyck Nt'U/.IoP .O . 0 Bo1 498, Lang Ik~ . CA 9080 1.{).f,!J8. Publisbrd ku~ do n«asanl y rdlK1 dw pos ilion or C)lC Nnus, 1nc.U11ft'\ ltU10uld no! n cft'd!OOwonb .. nd ..lI kl1~ ..ft' su bjra LO cdi linC. n OI

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