Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

V - _ 0ICES_Letters to the editor INSIDE Killing the 500s? FEATURES o O"l O"l ...... HALF MILE Jones wins thelast oneatAscot 6 ..c o ..... MOTOCROSS Kiedrowski, Ward take over atSteel City .; : Puzar dominates Italian Masters of Motocross opener 20 o NEW BIKES Honda unveils its 1991 lineup 10 o '" ...... ~ iJ.) u HARE SCRAMBLES Summers swift in Indiana 8 12 TT Carr claims titleatCastleRock ..... 14 OFF·ROAD Hamel declared winner . atMesquite GP 16 ROAD RACE Another Team Suzuki triumph at Willow Springs 24 Hour Honda tops Bol d'Or 18 21 \ DEPARTMENTS WORKBENCH .· 5 LOCAL EVENTS CALENDAR ~ WANT ADS RESULTS , 21 30 .34 34,35,46,47 ' O N THE FRONT PAGE: Ronnie J ones (to p) won the last-ever Ascot Half Mil e Nation~l and (below) celebra ted in the winner 's circle wi th runner-up Chris Carr (far left),.Jay Agajanian , Miss Camel Paige Thom as and third-placed Scott Parker (far right). Coverage begins on page 6. Ph ot os by Mitch Friedman. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVII Mich a el Klin ger,Publish er C ro line Ge nd ry, Execu ti ve Secretary to t he Pu bl isher a Ed itorial . J ack Mangus, Associa te Pu blisher/ Edito r Kit Palm er . Associate Ed ito r Pa u l C.a rru th er s. Associate Editor Nan- Ra uba . As sociat e Edi tor Brian Ca tter so n. Associate Edi tor Ken Fau ght. Assistant Edi tor Ed wi na Man g u s. Calenda r Editor Graphics and Production Ree joh nson . Prod uct ion S upervisor Ma ndy Loo, Produ ct ion Manager Dennis Greene. Lab . T ech . Stacey G uest, Graphic Artist Am y Harris. G raphic A rtist C.a ro lyn Branham, T ypesett er . Advertising 'T erry Pra tt, Na tional Accou n ts IHanager Mar k T home. W estern Sa les Manager Ron Davidso n, W t.:stern Sales ~lanager T homas R. Ge n ter. W estern Sa les Manager Mark Mit ch ell . Easte rn A t cowus Alan ager Creg Mi tch ell. Eastern Sales Mana ger C Url is Ca m p be ll. Eastern Sa les Mana ger Joan Russian. Wes tern A d Coo rdina to r Carla Borden Allen , Eastern Ad Coo rdina tor Circulation Rh eba Smi th , M an ager Sara h Taylo r, Bill ing Coordinator Alma An gu iano, Processing Coordina tor Caro l Maggi o . Dealer Coordinato r Mark eling &: Pr omotion Mark T ho me Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan , A I R Coo rdina to r Ge neva Rep ass. Assistan t H erlane Lewi s. Credit Wanl Ads Debbie Well er, W an t Ad Sales Service and Support Chris Aitrheson . H eadquarters R ecept ion ist Leon a rd H erring , Service and S up po rt National Headquarters Eastern Office 220 1 Cherry Ave.• Long Beach . CA 90806. P.O. Box 198. Long Beach. CA 9080 1-0198 4190 First Ave.• Tucker. G A. 30084; ma iling address P.O. Box 805. T ucker, GA 30085-0805. (2 13) 427-7133; 2 13/636-8844. FAX (2 13) 427-6685 (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle New s (USP S 141-340 ) is published wee kly exce p t th e la st two weeks of th e ca lenda r year fo r $50 .00 per yea r by Cycle News , In c.. 220 1 Cherry Avenue, Lon g Beach, CA 90806. Second cl ass postage p aid a t Long Beach , CA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 -0498. . To determine the expiration date of your subscription. check the four numbers on the first line of your address lahel. The first two digits indicate the last issue number you'll receive and the last two characters indicate the year of the last issue. Subscription rat es: Rat es for the United States a nd its possessions for o ne yea r, (50 issues). $50.00; two yea rs (100 issu es), $95.00; six months, (25 issu es ), $26 .00; trial su b (15 issues ), $ 19.00. Ca na da a nd Foreign, one year (50 issu es), $90 .00 ; two years (100 issu es ), $175.00 ; six months (25 issu es), $45.00; trial su b ( 15 issu es), $38.00. Cycl e News welcomes unsolicited ed itoria l mat eri al including sto ries . ca rtoons, photos. etc. Suc h materi al. if published, becomes th e excl usive property of C ycle New s. Su ch ac - , cep ted material is subject to revision as is necessary in the sole di screti on o f Cycle News. U n so lici ted m aterial wh ich is not used will be returned if acco m pa n ied by a self addressed sta m ped en velo pe. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonabl e ca re. however. Cycle News assu mes n o responsibility for the- safety, loss or damage to suc h material. Rep rintin g in whol e or pan on ly by pe rm issio n of th e publisher. Advertising rat es a nd" circ u lat io n in formatio n will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. W/Bft'A V r, . AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyright8 CycleNews, Inc. 1990. Trademark Cyde Newsregistered U.s. Patent Office. All rights reserved. 4 I think th e AMA is going to kill the 500cc ou tdo or motocross Nationals . Letting r iders from the 250cc class race in the l25cc class wh en the 250cc seaso n is over is not on ly unfair to the riders co mpe ting for the 125cc cham pi onship, but also because it tak es a way the top names from th e 500cc class. We a ll kn ow ' th at Suzuki and Yamaha would lik e to see th e 500cc class dropped. I feel the riders from the now- completed 250cc class should either rid e in th e 500cc class or their season should be over. Scott Taylor Indianola, IL Rules are rules, right? After witnessing the San J ose Mile recentl y it became clear to us that the record book needs to be rewri [ten. It sho u ld rea d J a y Springst een Na tional Champion, 1976, 1977; and Steve Eklund - National Champion, 1978,1 979. In 1978, Eklund came to th e Syracus e Mile with a 16 point lead and only a few races left. Wh en the main event was calle d to the line, Eklund, while fi n ishi ng la st minute repairs, sent sorrieone up to the referee to ask for two minutes to complete his work. Mike Kidd also needed time to complete repairs, but waited a minute or so later to ask for his two minutes. Eklund ap peared at the line ready to race but it seems it had taken him two minutes and 15 seconds to get ·to the lin e from the time he'd asked for two minutes. Therefore, he was disqualified a nd sa t o n the sidelines as Mike Kidd rod e to the line a minute la ter and the National was started. Springsteen won, and Eklund left not with th e points lead , but four points behind. H e ultimately lost th e cha m pionship by five points. But . rules are ' rules, aren' t they? At the San Jose Mil e, Scott Parker crashed on the first lap. As we understand it, if a n event is stopped du e to a n accident all riders must be in their assigned posi tions a nd ready to -race eig ht minutes after the red flag or at such tim e th e track has been cleared. ·Eigh t minutes after the red flag at San Jose the track had been cleared and the ' majority of the rid ers were sitting on th e line ready to race. Yet it was easily 15 minutes after that before the race was started and it was evident that the amount of tim e over what the rule calls for was being dictated directly by how much time it would take for Parker's bike to be repaired. Apparently, rules are only rules for some. It ap pea rs to us that Eklund's only crime was not being a member of the factory team. It is hard enoug h for privateers to compete with the dollars and " migh t" of the factories without having to see the rule book adjusted weekly to suit the factories. It seems that everyo ne keeps asking why NASCAR and other rnotorsport events prosper and dirt track racing flounders. Earlier this summer, NASCAR points leader Mark Martin was disqualified for having his carburetor settting a fraction of an inch too high. How many times have you seen Dale Earnhardt or Bill Elliott crash and have the race held up until they are through making repairs? I think not. Rules are rules, right? Apparently not. Jay and Leslie Freeman Oklahoma, OK Support D-37 I was very disappointed to hear that the effort s to obta in a permi t from the BLM for the 1990 Barstow-to-Vegas race had been aba ndoned. Ken Boyd, th e president of AMA District 37, told me that since .little progress had been made in meetings with the BLM and time was runnin g out, further efforts for this yea r's race would have been wasted and that they would now sta rt to concentrate on next year's event. Unfortunately, without the fund s District 37 would have received from this year 's event, they will be hard pressed to mount an effective legal ca m paign for next year. r After hearing that other riders were going to donat e the money they would have spent on a n entry fee ($80) to the D-37 Legal Defense Fund, I have decid ed to do the sam e. I challenge all riders, especia lly D37 club members who had intended to race, to follow sui t a nd help improve the cha nces of survival for the classic event. Its permanent demise cou ld b e an ominous sign of things to come for all desert racing. Donations shou ld be sent to; D-37 Legal Defen se Fund, c/o Dick Postma, P.O. Box 526, Pearblossom, CA 98553. Barry Van Dyke . Agoura Hills, CA A classic is born As a veteran of all SIX L.A.-toBarstow-to-Las Vegas Dual Sport Rides, I found this "first annual " Cycle News Dual Sport Jamboree to be its equal. A definite classic must-do rid e is born. A fantasti c course layout with challenging fire roads, tricky water crossings, and beautiful scenery. The camaraderie was great and to top it off a quality roast beef barbeque at trail's end. A perfect day. I would like to give a round of hearty thanks from all of us who rode to the event sponsors; California Trail Rides and Cycle News and to all the volunteers . I will definitely bring more friends to next year's second annual edition. Larry "Robotank" Woodruff Riding Tiger Ent, Distributors Riverside, CA UIInSIO the ~itor should be smllO: veices. Cycle Nnus .P.O. So.. 498. Long Beach. CA 90801..0498. Publuhrd IdW'S do not necessaril y rdlecl the posit ion of Cyd~ Nnus, lnc.wlcT!i ~hould noCr xCffd 200 words and alll!:'u,=" arr subjKt to nliling.

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