Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v Letters tothe editor 0ICES L eave it alone We have a ll heard the phrase: If it's working right, don't touch it. Not so d uring the 'Mem oria l Day weekend National program at Sunday's Springfie ld Mile. Records were set in tim e trials and heat races on a track th a t was as sm ooth a n d troubl e-free as. a fresh ly paved highway. The fans com e fro m long distances to see sa fe and fast races, and th e tra ck appea red to everyo ne th at it was just th a t perfect. So what do th ey do, but bring out the wa ter truck and create an ho ur and a half delay. Even (AMA dirt tra ck manager ) Mike Kidd , in retrosp ect, a n nou nc ed to the fans, "I think we shou ld have left it al one. " H opefu ll y, at races ar ound th e co u nt ry, some though t will be gi ven before un ca lled for mistak es an d delays are made again. Many of us face lo ng rides h ome and want to ge t a good start o n our trip before da rkness settles in. R ich ard J. Mack Lom bard,IL A man of integrity The p hone message on my answer i ng . m a chine was from Willie G . Davidson , tell ing me th e sad news o f h is fa th er 's p assing. Wm . H . Davidson (he preferr ed the " Wm. H ." ra th er th an th e first name spelled o u t. H aving th e sa me first name, I 'a dap ted h is style, as it saves a lo t o f unnecessary p en m anship) was a born leader and a man o f integrity. I was among man y who h ad th e great pl easure of kn ow ing this fine ge ntlem a n. Back in th e 1950s a n d 1960s, wh en I wa s ed itor o f Motorcycl ist ma gazin e, we cor responded u pon occasio ns and met a numb er of times, whe the r it be Daytona, Ontario or M ilw aukee. In th e mi d-1960s I was a m ember of the AMA Executive Comm ittee. Bill Davidson a nd Bill H a rley we re a lso m emb ers at tha t time. Whenev er we faced a tough decision o n an agen da item , Bill wo u ld ra ise the q u estion of, " Wh a t a re the alternatives?" After such exp lora tion , it became eas ier for us to rea ch a so u n d decisi on. Wh en the board elected me AMA preside nt in 1968, I'm sure th a t I had Bill David son 's bl essin g. In th e m id-1970s, on our way ba ck to o ur southe rn Ca li fornia ho me from th e ISDT h eld in Massachusetts, my late wife Sh irlee a nd I ro u ted o urselves via Milwaukee, so th a t we could visit Bill Davids on. We shared a memorable even ing 's dinner at o ur ho tel. T he n Bill invited us to h is h ome, in which he took gr eat pride in .sh o win g us numerous sou ven irs fro m tra vel s h e a n d h is late wife Ru th had mad e. The foll owing d a y we m e t to h a ve a persona l tour of th e Harl ey-Davidson Motor Co mpany . Bill had recently retired as com p any presid ent, a nd he took grea t prid e in sho wing us the va rio us produ cti on de p art m en ts . Wherever we went, workers greete d him by his first n ame, an d h e, in turn, INSIDE greeted th e wo r ker s by th eir first n ames. Aftereach meetin g he proudly in formed us th a t tha t person h ad bee n with the com pany since 19--, with so me b ei n g seco n d g enerat ion em p lo yees. The day's hila rio us highlight came wh en we wal ked out to h is car, on whi ch he fou nd an illegal parking ticket from o ne of the factory 's securi ty p o licel ' In th e years since th en we didn't see eac h o ther, a lt ho ugh we exchanged Christmas card s each year. His usually con taine d a no te as king me what and h ow I was doing, wh ich I followed up with a letter. My n otes to him were sim ila r. Ov er recent years I freq uently thought of tak ing an eas tern loop, wi th a pi t sto p in Mil waukee, to renew old fri endships. U n fort u nately , I never go t around to it. And in recent m onths I fou nd m yself wondering ho w Bill was doing - even in th e week p receding h is death, and, fo r some unknown reason, I n ever p icked up the p hone to ca ll h im , m uc h to my regret. . Ironically, on faci ng pages 2 and 3 of you r June 3 ed itio n, were the items on th e deaths o f Bill Davidson and Dea n H ensley. Bill reached 87, a n d Dean, just less th an half of th at a t 43. Both had con trib ute d , not only to the , wonderfu l world of motorcycling, b u t to th e wo nd erful worl d itself. U n for tunat el y, Dean was a llotted about half th a t time. Bu t they were both very specia l people, in and outside of motorcyclin g. We'll never understand th e rationa le o f so many similar th ings unti l we ourselves cross over that threshold. Such peop le ma de our world a better p lace . Godspeed , gentlem en ! Wm. M. "Bill" Bag n a ll Irvine, CA . Boun d for England I will be vacat io n ing in the Un ited Kingdo m from July 18 to August 3 a nd , plan to a tten d th e road race G rand Prix at Doningt o n Par k on August 2. T his is wh at an o u t of shape, form er Hodaka ISDT Intent class rid er does for h is motorcycle fix th ese days. So, how can I get ticke ts and wh ere in the heck is Donington Par k? J oe D. Mason Fairview, NC For tick et in jo rm at ion , co n lac t Donington Park Ra cin g Ltd" Castle Don ingt on, Derby DE7 2R P, England (p hone 011-44-332-810048). Doning ton Park is localed approximat ely 80 m il es n orth of L on don , between L eicester and Derby . . . Editor . Letters to the editor should be' sent to: Voices, Cycle New s, P,O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 -0498, Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position 01 Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editing. FEA TURES RELIABILIT Y ENDURO Cunningham strikesagain in Ohio ROAD RACE Spencer tops at Texas World Speedway 24 26 Phillis, Polen pound 'em ' in Belgium 14 DIRT TRACK Graham gasses it at Springfield Regional Mile Schwantz SlOpSthe Doohan steamroller in Italy 16 MOTOCROSS Nicoll nabs Finnish 500cc GP win . . .28 .4 SUPERCROSS Bradshaw reels in Bayle with Dallas win o ,....., DEPARTMENTS 10 FEATURE A review of the World Championship Superbike Series 20 INTERVIEW Road racerSCOlt Russell 22 NEW PRODUCTS 19,53 LOCAL RACING .30 CALENDAR 47 WANT ADS 52 RESULTS:.... .•.. ..... .... .. .. ..'.67 ON THE FRONT PAGE: (U p per left ) Sco tt Russell , who is competing in th e.Sta tes an d in Europe, says th e AMA Natio na l Cha mpions h ip Superbike ti tle is hi s number one goal th is year. (Bottom) Defending Wo rld Superb ike Ch am p ion Doug Pol en is also co mpe ting in bo th su perbike series. Ph otos by J ohan Vandeckerhove. - America 's weekly m otorcycl e n ewspa p er Vol ume X X IX Michael Klinger, Pu blisher Caro li ne Gendry, Ex ecutive Secretary to the Pu blis her Editorial Jack Mangus, Associate Pub lisherl Editor Kit Pa lm er , Associate Edit or Paul Carru th ers , Associate Editor Donn Maed a, Associate Editor Ken Faught. Assistan t Edi tor Ch ris JOlln um , A ssistant Editor Edwina Mangus, Calen dar Editor G rap h ics an d Production Ree Jo hnson . Production Supervisor Mandy Loo , Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. T ech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Ar tist Amy Harris, Graphic Artist Carolyn Branham, Typesetter Circulatio n Rheba Smith, Manager Sarah Taylor, Bill ing Coordinator Alma An gui an o, Processing Coo rdin ator Debbie Weller, Dealer Coordina tor Advert isi ng T erry Prat t, Na tional Accoun ts Manag er Mark T home, Western Sales Mana ger Thomas R. Gan ter , Western Sales Manager Steve Gotoski, J Vestern Sales Manager Mark Mitch ell , Eastern Accounts Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manag er Rick Ma th en y, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Borden Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Dealer Sales Steve C o tos ki , Dealer Representat ive Marketing Be: Pro mot io n Mark T home, 111 anager Accounting/Data P rocess ing Do n na Brya n -Dia m o nd , A I R Coordi nator Geneva Rep ass, Assistant H erlan e Le wis, Credit Serv ice and Support Chris Aitcheson, Headquarters Receptionist Leonard Herring, Service and Sup po rt Want Ads Toni Kerr , Want Ad Sales Eastern Ollice Na tio nal H ead q ua rt ers 220I Cherry Ave.. Long Beach, CA90806, each, CA90801-0498 P.O. Box 498, Long B (310) 427-7433: (310) 636-8844. FAX (310) 427·6685 4190 Fi rst Ave., T ucker, G A. 3(1)84; maili ng add ress P.O . Box B 05. Tuck GA30085-0805. er, (404)934·7850. 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