Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v Letters to the editor 0ICES INSIDE FEATURES ROADRACE Polen edges Russell at Laguna Seca . •••••• .. ••••••••••••6 NOS TALGIA A weekend with Kenny Roberts 24 DEPARTME1'tllS Doohan wins third straight in Malaysia 18 Roche dashes-to Donington World Superbike win 22 14 LOCAL RACING 28 .35 WANT ADS Bayle hits the jackpot in Las Vegas 2i CALENDAR SUPERCROSS NEW PRODUCTS .42 RESULTS :.54 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Doug P ol en scored the wi n a t ro und two of the AMA National Ch a mpio ns h ip Superb ike Se ri es, h eld a t Lagu na Seca Interna tional Racewa y. T h e w in m oved P o len into a tie fo r the series point lead w i th Da yto na 200 winner Scott R u ssell. For a fu ll repo rt see page 6. Pho to b y H en n y R a y Abrams. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXIX Michael Klinger. Publ isher Caroline Gendry, Execu tive SeCTeltJry to th e Publisher Edito ria l Advertising Jack Mangus. Assoc iate Pu blisher! Editor Terry Prall, N atio nal Accounts Ma nagnMark Th ome, Westn-n Sales Manager Kit Palm er, Associa te Edi tor Pau l Carruthers. Associate Editor Na te Ra ub a , Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Ed itor Ken Faught. Assistant Editor Edwina Mangus, Calenda r Ed itor Graphics and Production Ree Johnson. Production Supervisor Mandy Loa, Production Mana ger Tho mas R. Go mer, WeSlnn Sales ~lanagn' Steve Goroski, Westn-n Sales ManagnMark Mitchell, Eastern A ccounts M anagnGreg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Mana gnRick Matheny, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford. Westn-n Ad Coordinator Carla Borden Allen. Eastern Ad Coordinator Steve Gotos ki, Dealer R epresenuuiue Circu lation Ac counting/Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond. A IR Coor di nato r Marketing Ie Promotion Mark Thome, Managn- Alma Anguiano, Processin g Coordinator Debbie Weller, Dealer Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Serviceand Support Want Ads Toni Kerr, Want Ad Sales Chris Aitcheson , H eadquarters Recept ionist Leonard Herring, Service and Support National Headquarters Eastern Office 2201 Cherry Ave., Lon g Beach , CA 90806, P.O. Box 498. Lo ng Beach . CA 90801 -0498 4190 First Ave., T ucker, GA, 30084:; mai fing eddress P.O. Box 805, T uck«. GA 3008>-0805. (310) 427-7433; (310) 636-8844. FAX(310) 427-6685 (404)934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 Cycle News (USPS 141 -340) is published weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per year by Cycle News, Inc., 2201 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage paidat Long Beach, CA andat additional mailingoffice. Canada Post International Publications Mail #546615. POSTMASTER: Send address rna'.'gestoCycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-G498. To determine the expiration date of your subscription, 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 th e last two characters indicate the year or the last issue. Sub scription rat es: Rates for the Un ited Sta tes and its po ssessions for o ne year, (50 issu es), $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 (25 issues), $45.00; trial sub (15 issues), $38.00. Cycle News welco mes un solicited edi toria l material incl udi ng sto ries, ca rtoons, p hotos, etc. Such material, if published, becomes the exclusive property of Cycle News. Such accep ted mat eri a l is subj ect to revision as is necessary in the so le d iscretio n o f Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed stampedenvelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, however, Cycle News assu mes no responsib ili ty fo r th e safety. loss or damage to such ma teria l. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. W/Brll'A V r, 4 Fred Bramblett Petersburg, KY Bending the rules? After reading David Do tson 's letter a nd Mrs. Mann 's rep ly, I a m com pe lled to shed so me light on o ne o f AH RMA' s ma n y do u ble sta nd ards. Da ve was chastised and deprived of hi s win and trophy beca use he was usin g gas shocks bu ilt in the mi d- to la te-'70s, yet he is a llowed to use ga s shocks bu ilt in 1992. Mrs. Mann wrote in her letter , "The AH R MA ru le book states , 'No ma jor com pone nts may be la ter than 1974.' " I would understand th is to mea n that all gas shock s built after 1974 are illegal. Mo st of th e Wo rks Performa nce shocks used in AH RMA events are gas a nd were built in the late '80s a n d ear ly ' 90s (d o u b le sta ndard?). As presid ent o f th e CZ Club , I recei ved a number o f co m plaints concerning th e legality o f th e Works shocks. I th ink thi s is u n fair to th e riders wh o comp ly with AH RMA rules as they a re wri tten a nd ru n shocks tha t were bu ilt before 1974, as many o f. us do. Bending th e rules for Works shocks is o n ly o ne of th e double sta nda rds in AH R MA ra cing. Less ru les eq ua ls m ore fun ! Ron Aldrich President, CZ Club Lancaster, CA Dealer Sales Dennis Greene. L ab. T ech. Stacey Guest, G rap hi c A rtist Amy Harris. G rap hic Artist Carolyn Branham. T ypeseu er Rheba Smith. Man agnSarah Taylor, Bill ing Coordinator Missin g something? On the morning of th e Alligator Endu ro in Daytona, I needed a disc guard to p ro tect a sensor that was mounted o n Scott Summers ' bike for testing of a new timekeeping instrument. A H onda X R rider who was parked nearby generously loaned me his and gave me a business card with the address to which I was to return the guard. U nfortunatel y, after th e event, I lost the card. If th e rider who loan ed me his gu ard is reading th is, or if any of his fri ends ar e, pl ease con tac t me a t 606/689-5854. AUDITED CIRCULATION Copyrighte Cycle News, Inc. 1992. Trademark Cycle News nghtmd U.s. p.tau Office. AD righb reserved, No longer Swine Dudes In yo ur co verage of the Willow . Springs endu ra nce road race (Ap ril 22 issue), you m entioned tha t we are a Dunlop- sh od team. We do no t run Du n lops. We are not sponsored by Dunl op. We run Metzeler tires. We are sp o ns ored b y Me tzel er. We are a Metzeler tea m. We fin ished first in class and fourth overa ll because we are a Metzeler tea m. Pl ease, in the fu ture ca ll us Pearls. We are no t Swi ne. O th erw ise, th ank you for the excelle nt coverage. Peter Jones Manager, Team Pearls Auburn,NY L et's see, your FAX m essage arrived on letterhead bearing " T eam Pearls form erly T eam Sw ine Dudes - R acers on the half-shell." And we w on 't m ent ion the logo with th e thunder- bolt, or uihateuer it's supposed to be, st ic king through a pig. You dudes . . . sorry about that , guys don 't have any trouble getting loose, do you? . .. Ed itor. J ust want to have fu n I ha ve read with interest recent letters co nce rning AH RMA and Fox Airshox (a n d Works Performance shock s). Phon e calls directly to the powers that be at bo th factories p roduced som e interesti ng results: The Fox Airshox was indeed manufactured in 1974, bu t the Wo rk s Per fo rm a nce shock (the origi nal o ne which, according to them , was much less adva nced than the one they custom-bui ld for vintage bikes now) was first availabl e in 1976. Not on ly does the Fox shock predate the Works shock, it rema ins unch an ged, wh ile the Wo rks (shoc k) has benefi ted fro m mod ern knowl edge. If AH RMA refuses to all ow Fox Airshox, they'll have to find a better reason than Mrs. Mann ga ve. Don 't these g uys rea lize that the fast riders will wi n regardless of th e shocks the y're using, and th a t vintage rid ers just want to rid e an d have fun with their old motorcycles? Randy Tomlinson Smyma,GA U su a lly turn their heads I'm wri ting in response to th e letter in th e April 29 issue abo u t the rumble betw een Ted Metzger a nd Chris Lance a t CMC' s openi ng round o f the Spring Classic a t Glen H elen . In defen se of Ted Metzger, it 's obvio us that the person who wrote this letter hasn 't attended many motocro ss events where the Metzgers have been prese n t, I have p er sonally witnessed the Metzgers tu rning th eir heads and brushi ng off other peopl e's in fer ior beha vio r tow ards Mik e's ta lented riding many ti mes. I ad mit that Ted's reaction s could have been avoided a nd handled in a different way, but you ca n only tum yo u r head a nd look th e ot he r way so m any times. Jodi Hollow Oceanside, CA Triple thanks Thanks and m ore th anks and mo re tha n ks to th e m any read ers who wro te regarding my pe rmit appl ica tio n. I got my en terta inment permi t a nd we are now building Daniel Boone MX Park in Laurel, Kentucky, and will be racing May 3. Jerry Hebel Daniel Boone MX Park Laurel, KY Letters to the editor should be sent to: Voices, Cycle News , P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. Published letters do not necessaril y reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editing.

• Cover