v ICES
0
INSIDE
Appreciation (rom New Mexico
FEATURES
6
ROAD RACE
Chandler too hot to
handle at Road America
Team Suzuki Endurance
OK inOklahoma
ENDURO
No match forHough at
ountain Qualifier
Trask M
20
10
HALF MILE
Parkeron topat Lima
MOTOCROSS
Ceboers takes om in Italy,
Liles isout withbroken leg
24
26
PREVIEW
Theone andonly - Unadilla
U.S. 250cc ~I X GP
1
6
INTERVIEW _
RickJohnson:The road to
recoveryisalmost over
18
DEPARTMENTS
LOCAL EVENTS
WORKBENCH
NEW PRODUCTS
CALENDAR
WANT ADS
RESULTS
28
29
.43,49
44
.50,5 1,62,63
T here 's n othinglike it - U nadi lla ! Once aga in , th e u p state N ew Yo rk
tra ck wi ll be th e site o f th e U .S. rou n d o f th e World Champion ship
250cc NIX Seri es. See p age 16 for a U nad illa G P p review . Also , che c k
o u t p ag e 18 for a n intervi ew w ith Tea m H ond a 's R ick J ohnson ( 16) .
who is th e reigni n g " Ki ng of U nadill a ." P h ot o s by Kin n ey J ones.
America's weekly motorcycle newspaper
Volume XXVII
Mich al'! Kl inger. Publish er
Carolin e Ocndrv. Ex ecutive Se cretory to th l! Pu blisher
Editorial
Jad;. ~'I an~u ~. A ssocia te Publishert Editor
Kit Pal mer, A .~'i() c ialt" Ed itor
Pau l Carruther s, A ssociat e Ed it or
Na il" Rauha . Associate Edi tor
Bria n C.a llCT\OIl. Associat e Editor
Ken Faught . A ssistan t Edi tor
Edw ina ~la ng-u s . Calendar Editor
Ad vert ising
Terry P ra tt , National Accu urzls .\1arlaga
Mark 'r ho me.', II'estrrtJ Sales· Ma,w grr
R O il Da vid so n. lVesl t"r71 Sa les I\ f au ag er
T ho T11a~ R, (;0 111 ("1', lI'estern Soles Manager
:\I;nk ;\1ilrhd I. Eastern A cco utJts At anag t'r
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J oan Ru ssia n , Il'estn n A d Coordinator
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G raph ics and Product io n
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C ircu la tio n
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Na tio n al H eadquar ters
Eastern Orrico
220 1 ChC''U)' An'.. l..on l( Beach . C.A 9OM06,
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FA X 00-1 ) 93'1·3 112
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W/Bft'A
'if r,
Copyrighl8 Cyclt
~tw,.l n c .
As a n a vid fan o f din track racing.
I wou ld like LO thank a ll th e race rs who
part icipa ted in the June 17 Albuquerque Mile. Even with ver y poor
track co nd itio ns, th ey kept u s fans in
the sta nds o n o u r feet for th e entire
day of racing . H o pefull y, they will
o nce aga in have a grea t track to race
o n next vear as th ev did in 1989.
We a l~o ho pe fo~ a spee dy recovery
by Steve Eklu n d . who was sho wingthe
yo u ngs ters ho w it's done. He even had
th e H a rley fans chee ring him on.
O n e qu esti on : Wh ere wa s J a y
Sp ri ngsteen ? I sa w h is bi kes in th e pits
with hi s tru ck a nd cre w a n d he was
a lso pre-ent ered , but no J a y.
Vau ghn Lewis
Farmington, NM
50
ON THE FRONT PAGE:
4
Letters to the editor
AUDITED
CIRCU
LATION
1996. T radtmark Cyclt Stw, rtgiSltrtd U.S. Palm I Olfitt. All righlS rtStrVtd ,
As repo rted last wee k, S p rings teen 's
stomac}t acted u p and he scratched
fro m' th e pro gram . . . Editor. '
Tragi c accid ent
T ht· Jun e 17 Albuqu erque l\l i le
resu lted in the tragic acc ide n t involving no t o n ly a close frien d bu t a lso
a fonn er G ra nd Nati on a l Cha m pion,
Steve Ek lu n d.
After readi ng,a bout th e arcide n t in
Cycle N ews, th ere are so me question s
le ft u nans we re d. Aft er co m me nts
a bo u t th e co nd it io n o f th e track. wh y
was the race even resta rted , especia lly
gi ven the appa re nt se rio us ness o f
Steve's injuries? Wh ere wa s the res pect
for th is former cha m p? Wh at rid ers
voted for or agai nst restart in g th e race?
And wh y si x la ps ins tead o f five, since
it was nearl y 8 p. m. a nd severa l rid ers
were a lready being lapped ?
If (Steve) Mor eh ead , (Ch ris) Ca rr a nd
(T err y) p oovey a ll sta ted th e track wa s
i n poo r co nd it ion a nd o bv io us ly
deteriorati ng, why cont in ue? Si nce
they are th e vetera ns o f th is span . by
no w th ey shou ld know wh a t 's sa fe. At
th at speed I feel th ere sho u ld he more
meas ures tak en to ens u re th eir safety.
In Mor eh ead 's own words, " I' m j us t
a stupid rider. rhey'r« (the off icia ls)
in telf igen t people . . . .. I h a ve lO
wo nde r.
Nick Nauisi Jr.
Morgan Hill , CA
/I is th e referee's resp on si bilit y 10 see
that a race is com p leted if a l all
po ssible. Th e majority of riders w ho
were in vo lved uoted for th e restar t and
all who were capable of doing so too k
pari in the restarted pori ion of the race.
T he riders lined up fo r the restart in
th e po sitions the» held a l th e com plelion of the 19th lap because du e to the
melee in turn four , four riders did not
co me arou nd 10 th e li ne 10 receive the
red flag . . . Edit or.
Less so u n d, more ground
The Nat io na l Recrea tio n Trai ls Act
represents a trem en do us o pportu ni ty
to expa nd OH V access 10 th is nati o n 's
~reat outdoors. A b ill like this wo u ld
do much lO raise the stat us of d in b ike
riding in America . It a lso rep resents
lil t' possib ility of a bad ly needed shot
in th e arm for th e mo torcycle ind us try
hy increas ing dem an d for d in bikes.
It co u ld st im u la te to urism. Imag in e
t h.. a p p e-a l of see i ng th .. n atura l
wo nde r a nd Iwa u ty o f America o n a
d in bik e. via a nati on a l net wo rk of
Irai ls, bui lt a nd prope rly ma intained
with " fede rJ I" mone v.
As I see it, th e m~i n th reat to th is
p rog ra m is Ihe issue o f noi se po lluti on
in the wilderness. For the ~ood of th e
spon, America 's d irt bikers a nd the
A:'vIA, a lo ng wi th th e hel p o f the
motorcycle med ia , sho u ld dem and tha t
a ll din bikes (MX incl uded) so ld in
Am eri ca be qu iet. I' m no t ta lk ing
a bo u t so me heav y, choked-dow n, ha lfth ro ttle toad, but lig htweig ht, hi g h performa n ce mach in es tha t a re q ui et
(83 db)., In a n in dustry th at bristles
wi th h igh tech , I don't th in k th at 's too
much to ask.
U nt il everyone is ridi ng qu iet offroad machines. we will be fig hting ali
uphill baule to keep ridi ng a rea s open.
Now's the time to show th e na tion th at
d in bikers love the ou tdoors a nd are
.very co ncerned with preserving its
p ristine beauty a nd tranqu il ity.
Daniel Douglas Smith
\'orba Linda, CA
Harassed in Baja
Severa l weeks ago I read a bout a
group of riders who whil e in Baja were
ha ra ssed by Mexican Federa l Pol ice.
T h is is n ot a n iso lat ed incident ! Our
g ro u p, five riders a nd a cha se Grew ,
were stopped near Sa n Mat eo recently.
U n like th e o the r gro u p, we had our
pa perwo rk with us , To m y know ledge ,
yo u don 't need a visa to go to Sa n
Fe lipe , but that 's j u st why we were
h assled . We were held a t gu n po int (I' m
ta lki ng machine gu ns in th e ha nds o f
tee nagers) for severa l hou rs whil e th ey
LOre a pa rt every stitc h we had o n
look in g for drugs. T hey we re so ho stile
tow ard us that we actua ll y feared for
our lives! Fi na ll y. wh en th ey co u ld n 't
find a ny thi ng, th ey tol d us to fo llow
the m back to Sa n Feli pe, It was a lmost
da rk by then a nd we tried to exp la in
th at o ur bik es had no lig h ts. We finall y
real ized tha t this was just a pl o y to
ge t us to bribe th em to let us go. We
eac h pai d 20 ( 100 tota l) to th e
captai n, H e p rom pt ly put the money
in h is pock et a nd to ld us we co u ld go.
Wh en we arrived in En senada la ter
th at ni gh t. th e lo ca l p o l ice just
laughed a t o u r sto ry.
We ll. th a t's it fo r this g uy. Baj a was
a rid er 's pa radi se, Now it 's hell. I hope
o ur experience w ill help to ed uca te
o thers .
Ron Finel y
Fallbrook , CA
Dear Doug Chandler:
Co ng ra t u la t io ns on yo u r recen t
Wo rld C ha mpion ship Superbike Ser ies wi n a t Bra in erd In ter n ati o n a l
Racewa y. As a resu lt of yo ur effo rts,
as well as tho se o f yo u r tea m ma tes
SCali R u ssell a n d J ohn Ash mead ,
Kawasak i aga in has become a respec ted
for ce in th e roa d racing world. Super
tuner Rob Muzzy a nd Kawa saki USA
a re to be co m me nded for their su p port
of a nd co m mitment to Kawa sak i 's
re tu rn to th e b ig leag ues.
Let 's hope tha t the powers-tha t-be
at Ka wa sa ki recogn ize yo ur effo rts a nd
emba rk o n a fu ll-sca le return to th e
World Cha m p io ns h ip C Ps. Ka wasa ki
has a lways been the king of speed a nd
h igh performance from the legen da ry
Z·I to th e phen omen a l ZX- II. It is o n ly
filli ng tha i these mot orcycle s become
a do mi na n t fo rce o n ra ce tra ck s
th roughout the wo rld. From a true
Ka wasa ki romantic, co ngra tu la tio ns
agai n.
Lee Marconi
Mountaintop, PA
Letters to the editor sh o u ld be sent to:
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Long Bea ch, CA 90801-0 498. Published letlers do not necessarily reflect
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