Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v 0ICES· INSIDE Letters to the editor Let the fun begin Against my husband's wishes, I am compelled to a nswer David Dotson 's let ter regardin g his illegal shocks (Voices, April 8 issue). The AHRMA ru le book states, " No majo r compo nents may be later than 1974." David was to ld last year that his Fox Airshox were ill egal. David states no co m petitors co mplained to him abo ut his shocks. The fact is letters were received by Dick Mann (who is o n the AH RMA rules co m mittee) questioning th e legality of David co mpeting with these shocks . Although Da vid a nd others were aware that his Fox Airshox were ill egal, he was allowed to compete at Sandhill Ranch , but dep ri ved o f the wi n an d trophy. Dick Mann was n ot respo nsible for his disqualification the acting referee made the decision. It is unfair for o ther competitors to make th eir equipment co m p ly with AH RMA rules when a nother rider doesn't want to m ake the effort. David is a very tal ented rider an d may not have had a n advantage with h is Fox Airshox, nevertheless, they are ill egal and that is the bottom line. As David sta ted in his letter , th e problem has been solved with his Works Perfo rmance shocks. Now everyone can get back to th e fun part of vin tage m o tocross. Kaye. Mann Richmond, CA So much to lose After reading Al ex H odgkinson 's great p iece o n th e firs t 40 years of Worl d Championsh ip 500cc m otocross and standing on o ne o f the hillsid es at th e rece nt U.S. 500cc MX GP at G len H elen, I got to co ntem p la ting so me thing. With all o f th e doomsday talk of the 500cc MX GP class supposedly nearing th e end of its exis tence , has anyone taken into account a ll o f th e gr eat history, heritage an d ambiance that would end with it? I hope so. . ra ined pretty hard and while the rangers were co m fortable, th e campers were in the mud. I don't have anything against workers being co m fortab le, but I do resent having o u r Green Sticker m oney go to support th e agencies vs. pro vidi n g us m o re land to ri de o n or nicer areas for the ri ders. Also , when are we (O H V enthusiasts) going to learn? Kettlem en H ill s was taken away several m onths ago d ue to "ab use" - p eople cu tting fences, destroying eq uipment a nd trashing the place OU L Then on my last trip to th e Moj a ve (Jawbo n e Canyo n ), I was a mazed at h o w tras hed numerous locations were - ' everyth ing from broken bo ttles to ol d chairs and even dirty di a p er sl The env ir onmental whackos do n't need any more in centive to dislike us ri ders. Let's stop fue ling their fires by making su re we leave areas cleaner than we find th em. It's a lwa ys th e "o ther gu y's" fault or mess, but if we lo se our ridin g areas , who cares whose fault it was ? Let's ta ke a few minutes to clean up af ter ou rselves and the o the r guyl Mark Leopold Hanlord, CA Double standard II In response to Ron Coop's letter (Voices, April I issue) about double sta ndards, I will give yo u a n exam p le I sa w two yea rs ago a t th e Binghamton , New York, National. At Bingha m ton , Damon Bradshaw hit a flagman wh o was keeping riders from hi tting a downed rider. Nothing was done. Bra ds haw had already been by th e rider and flagman the lap before. There were several peop le arou nd th e rider keeping other riders away a nd th ey were easy to see as there weren 't any hills or blind co rners nearby. If this had been a local ra ce, the sa me referee would have th rown Bradshaw out of the race. I' m not say ing it is as bad as Mr. Coop says, but havin g rod e th e National circuit, I have seen a few double sta n dard in ciden ts. J erry Harris H annibal, NY Off-road thoughts I rece ntly wen t riding a t Carnegie O H V Park in Livermore, California. It had bee n abo ut a year since my last trip there. Two major changes were quite ob vious: the en tra nce to the p a rk, especially w here the rangers work , was quite luxurious, and their equipment storage area was a lso nicely upgraded. H o wever , I di dn't notice any additio na l riding areas (in fact , numerous areas wer e ro ped off ), no r wer e th ere any improvements to th e ca m ping areas. It INTERVIEW Road racer Colin Edwards SUPERCROSS Bradshaw sweeps Pontiac doubleheader 4 24 AMA VP of Sports Marketing Dick Maxwell 26 10 Graves, Greene gas it at Willow Springs 14 Team Suzuki Endurance again at Willow Springs 16 ENDURO Hawkins hammers 'em at Little Muddy National 18 HARE SCRAMBLES Naylor nails Shasu Dam GP win . . . .20 MOTOCROSS Evens aces250s in Holland 22 RIDING IMPRESSION Suzuki GSXR600 28 Suzuki Katana 600 ROAD RACE Slight, Roche on top in Spain 32 FEATURE A look at the National . road race tracks 24 DEPARTMENTS LOCAL RACING CALENDAR WANT A DS RESULTS : .36 48 59 68 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Coli n Ed war ds won th e AMA 250cc Grand Pr ix race at Daytona, and leads th e series po int sta ndi ngs heading into th e second round at Laguna Seca In ternational Raceway. Our interview with thi s rising star begins o n page 24. Pho to by David Goldman. RUB-ed the wrong way II From wh at I can see, R UB 's have as much love for motorcycling as the next guy. If they fall down they know how to p ick the mse lves up and get back on and go down the road again. As for your $40 per ho ur lab o r rate, it is very expensi ve to pay good mechanics and sales personnel fo r what th ey do ; $40 is not ou trageous for good wo rk. As for aftermarket parts, they will never have the q uali ty o r q ual ity control as facto ry H ar ley-Davidson parts have. Terry Sanford Spirit Harley-Davidson Glenshaw, PA You meet the nicest people on a .. . Eric Johnson Manhattan Beach, CA FEATURES I wou ld like to publicly recognize and than k Ameri can H onda ' s Scott Summers a n d hi s m an a ge r a n d mechanic, Fred Bramblett, for the he lp they gav e me a t this year's Sa nd lapper En d uro in Pelion, South Carolina, and the Alligator Enduro in Da ytona. Their co m mi tt me nt to sportsmanshi p a nd leaders h ip in th e sport o f off-road motorcyli ng is gr eatly a pp reciated and sh ou ld not go unrecognized. It a ll began abo u t five m iles after the start of theSandlapper End uro whe n I lost my rear brake. I was ab le to make it to th e ga s sto p wh ere I saw Bra mblett and asked if he had any ideas why m y rear bra ke was not working . After bleeding th e system, Fred d iscovered the master cylinder was leakin g internally. He then rem oved the complete rear brake asse mbly off Scott's brand new Honda XR600 a nd installed it on my bike, and th en a llowed me to use the sa me system four days la ter at the Alligator Enduro. P ri or to the Sa ndlappe r Enduro , I had never met Summers and Bramblett. My highest compliments must go to Scott and Fred, for they ar e true National Champions, both on an d o ff the co u rse. Bob Bennett Wenonah, NJ Letters to the editor should be sent to: Voices, Cycle NroJs , P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. Published letters do not necessaril y reflect th e position of Cycle News, InC: Le tters should not exceed 200 words ani! al l letters are subject to editing. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXIX Michael Klinger, Publish" Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to the Publisher Editorial Jack Mangus, Associate Publisher! Edi tor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Paul Carru the rs, Associate Editor Nate Rauba, Associate Edit or Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Ken Faught, Assistant Editor Edwina Mangus, Calen dar Editor Graphics and Production Ree Jo hnson, Product ion Su pervisor Mandy Loa, Produ ction Manag" Dennis Greene, L ab. T ech. StaceyGuest. Grap hic Artis t Amy Harris, Grap hic Artist Carolyn Branham, Typesetter Circu lation Rheba Smith, Man ag" Sarah Taylor, Bill ing Coordinator Alma Angu iano. Processing Coordina tor Debbie Weller, Dealer Coordinator Advertising Terry Prall, N ation al Accounts Manag" Mark Tho me, Western Sales Mana g" Ro nDavidso n , We SleY" Sal es Manager Thomas R. Gonter, Western Sales Manag" Mark Mitchell, Eastern A ccounts Manag" Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Mana g" Rick Matheny. Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawlord, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Borden Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator DealerSales Steve Go toski , Dealer R epresent ative Marketing &: Promotion Mark Thome, Man ag" Acco unting/Data Processing Donna Bryan -Diam ond , A /R Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant . Herlane Lewis, Credit Servic and Support e Chris Aitch eson , H eadq uarters Receptionist Leonard Herring, Service and Support Want Ad. Tonya Kerr, Wa1ltAd Sales National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Beach. CA 90806. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 -0498 (310) 427-7433; (310) 636-8844. . FAX (310) 427·6685 Eastern Office 4 190 First Ave.• Tucker. GA , 30084; mail ing 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 las' two weeks 01 the calendar year tor $50.00 per year by Cycle News, Inc., 22 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Second 01 classpostagepaidat Long Beach, CA and at additional mailing office. Canada Post Intemational Publica tions Mail #546615. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Bo. 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. T o determine th e expiration date of your su bscri p tion. check the four numbers on the first line of your address label. The first two digits indicate the last issue number you'll receive and the last two ch aracters indica te th e year or the last issue. Subscription rates: Rates lor the United States and its possessions lor one year, (50 issues), $50.00; two 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 (25issues), $45.00: trial sub (15issues), $38.00. Cycle New s welcomes unsolici ted edi toria l mat erial includ ing stories, cartoons, phot os, etc. Such material, il published, becomes the exclusive property 01 Cycle News. Such accepted ma teri al is su bject to revision as is necessary in th e so le di scretio n o l Crcle News. Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned il accompanied by a sel addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, however, Cycle News assumes no responsibility lor the safety, loss or damage to such material. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation inlormatio n will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. . W/BD'A V ri AUOITED ClRCULATION Copyright41 Cycle News, Inc.1992. Trademark Cycle News registered U Patem Offitt. A rig reserved. .s. ll hts 3

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