Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v Letters to theeditor 0ICES My way or no wa y Wi th t he advent o f . H ar leyDavidso n 's new engi ne, Dirt Track 1991 may have a very interesting year. T he new (XR750) engine, after correction of so me o f th e em ba rrassi ng production probl em s, p romises to be · mu ch more reliabl e than th e previous design . This makes it more feasible for the average race r to bui ld and maintain a competitive mach in e. As a matter of fact, excep t for a few mega-buck Hon da s, everyone will be o n Harl eys. Therefore, wouldn 't it be neat if Harley rea lized there is no lon ger a need for a factory team, and in stead funneled th e racin g budget through their deal ers in the form of an XR750, or a t least a hell of a good deal on on e. Then let th e dea ler decide wh o he wants to rep resent his shop out on the tra ck. I would al so like to see the AMA return to th eir old hard-nosed . my way o r no way, approach to racing, ins tead of hav in g format , procedure and th e color of number p lates dictated by th e toba cco co m pa ny . L et eve ry body benef it, not just the"chose n few. Norman L. Gruber Beach Park. IL Party time! I enjoyed the interview with factory Harl ey-Davidson riders Scott Parker and Chris Carr, but let 's not for get the privateers, because when one of those won derful riders pu lls off a National win it's really party time ! Rob R ickman Lynden, WA Although Parker and Carr p itch ed a shu tout against th e pr ivateers on mile tracks last year, privateers Dan In gram (Daytona Sho rt Tra ck), R onnie Jones (Asco t Half M ile) and St eve Morehead (Ascot Half M ile and Hagerstown Half Mil e) pulled off Gran d Nat ional Champion sh ip /Camel Pro Series wins and, yes, it was reall y part y time following th ose even ts . . . Editor. National Recreational T ra ils Act As we all kn ow , it is a very rare occurren ce wh en a positive p iece of legisla tio n ai med at off-road motorcyclists - and motorcycli sts in genera l, for tha t matter - is introd uced by o ne of o ur elected officials. Fortunatel y, through the efforts of U.S. Senator Steve Sym ms (R- Ida ho ) such a bi ll, namel y the Na tiona l Recr ea tional T rails Act, was dra fted and presented in a public hearing. The Nati on al Recreational Trails Act is timel y a nd, if passed , wi ll enha nce th e future of tra il riding in Am er ica . In sho rt , th is bi ll w ill gen erate the necessary funding (via a fair proportion of the already-existi ng gasoline tax ) to adequately improve and main tain our national trai l networks. This bill, as th e AMA says, "could gen erat e mor e than $50 million a year [or trail co ns tr uc tion a n d ma inten an ce." Although th e Nat ional Recreational T rail s Act has received m uch positive • feedback as of late. it is important th at we act now. The wor st thing we can do is sit back and hope this bill gets • passed . Therefore, we a ll sho u ld tak e an active role by writ in g to o ur elected officials in Washington, D.C. , urging them to support this bill. And wh ile yo u 're at it , dr op Sen ator Symms a line showing him that you appreciate h is efforts , as well. The office of yo ur state secretary can provide you with th e names of your senators and congressmen, as well as other officials you wish to contact. Mo torcyclin g sti ll has a fut ure if we want it to have o ne, Even if it means missing a day of riding, wri te those letters a nd then write more. Tha t way we all can be sure that we can experience the thrills of riding for many mor e days to co me. Daryl M. Nuese Merrimack, NH The bill will be reintroduced in the cu rre n t session of congress . It is sp onsored by both Sen . Symms and R ep . L arry Craig (R- Id aho ). Th e BlueR ib bon Coalit ion , the Idah obased ORV organization, says approxim ately 175 million would be transferred to th e trails fund from the high way trust fund if th e Nat ion al R ecreational Tra ils Fund Act is passed. A ccording to Bl u eR ibb on , " T h e amount tran sferred w ould be that portion of th e federal m ot or fu el excise tax es us ed in off-road m ot orized recreation and back -country cam ping." Blueil ibbon Coalition individual m embersh ip du es are $20 per year; Mem bersh ip includes a BlueR ibbon su ppo rter p in and a subscription to the month ly Blueli ibbon magazine_ For more inform ation, cont act: Blueli ibbon Coalition, P.O_ Box 1427, Idaho Falls. lD 83403 -1427; 208 /5243946 .. _ Editor. INSIDE FEATURES SUPERCROSS Looking into the 199\ Camel Supercross Series crystal ball \2 MOTOCROSS Tichenor andSwink star in Florida Winter AMA MX at Cocoa . •••\6 TEST Suzuki'scolorful 1 99\ RM\25 and RM250 MXers DEPARTM ENTS LOCAL RACING .. _. NEW PRODUCTS M cGrath shines at Sunrise GoldenState Nationals 26 .. _ _.30 _ 36 20 CALENDAR 39 Schmit and Crumb land GFI Winter MX Northand S wins .. .. .. .. .. 2 outh 2 WANT ADS 43 RESULTS 56 ON T HE FRONT PAG E: Will Jeff Stant on make it three in a row? Will J eff Ward claim his thi rd title? Will Rick J ohnson go out in style? Will J ean-M ichel Bayle beat them all? Check out page 12 for a preview of the 1991 Camel Supercross Series. Photos by Kinney Jones. DTX. Try it! After spending 20 of my 30 years invo lved in the sport of motorcycli ng , I th ough t it was ti me to thank a few peo p le and pass o n a few thoughts on my part icular passio n: amateur flat trac k raci ng. I wa s the l u cky wi n ne r of th e Yam ah a 250 DTX ma chine at the 1989 AMA Amateu r Dirt Track Nationa ls. I received the bike in early 1990 and raced it a ll year long. It is a gr eat bik e! I wo uld encourage people to try DTX racing. At th e Nati onal s, we had a full field in th e DTX classes and it mad e for some great clos e racing. In th is application . th e bike s are fun , Cast and very reliable. T ha nk yo u very mu ch to Yam aha and all of the people and companies who were inv olved in this proj ect. Special th anks to Willie Amaradi o in th e Yam aha p ublic relations department for taking care of the details of getti ng my bike to me. John Lambrick Decatur, IL Leuers to the editor should be sent to: Voices, Cycle News. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach , CA 9080100498. Published leuers do not necessarily reflect the position 01 Cycle News , Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 worn. and .11 letters arc su bj ect to editing. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXVIII Michael Klinger. Pu blish" Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to th . Publish" Edit orial jack Mangus. Associate Pub lisher ! Editor Kit Pa lmer , Associate Editor Paul Carruthers , AS.Jociat~ Editor Nat e Rau ba, Associate Edit or Ken Fa ught. Assistant Ediior Edwi na Man gu s. Calenda r Editor Graphics an d Pr oduction R ee joh nso n, Production Su pennsor Mandy Loo, Production Manager Den nis Gr een e. La b. T ech . Stacey G uest, Grap hic Ar tist Amy Harris. Grap hic Artist Carolyn Bra nham, T yp esetter Accounting/Data P rocessing Do n na Bryan-Diamond. A IR Coordinator Geneva Repass. Assistant H erla ne Lew is, Credit Marketing Ie Promotion Mark Thome, Manag" Deal er Sal es Allen Dennison, Dealer R epresen tative National He adquarters Advertinng Terry Pra ll. National Accounts Managa Mark Thome, W estern Sates Manag" Ron Davidson , W estern Sat es Manag" Thomas R. Gomer, W estern Sat es Manag" Ma rk Mi tch ell , Eastern Accounts Manag" G reg Mitch ell , Eastern Sales Manag" Curtis Cam pbell, Eastern Sales Manag" j oan Ru ssian . W estern Ad Coo rdi nato r Carla Borden Allen. EasuTTl Ad Coordi nator Ci rculation Rh eba Smit h. Manag<: sent upon request. Sec S. R. D.S. W/BD'A 'if r, AUDITED CIRCULATION e Copyriglll Cycle News, Inc. 1991. Trad.",.rk Cycle S.... registered U.s. P.ltDt Office. Allrigh15 mened. 3

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