Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v0ICESLetters totheeditor' INSIDE The h elmet hair blues FEATURES DRAG RACE Sch ultz takes poin ts lead at U.S. Nation als ROAD RACE U.S.GP Kocin ski completes comeback at Laguna Seca 21 16 Ca pi rossi ca ps 250cc USGP 12 RIDING IMPRESSION H ammering on the'1994 H onda CRI 25 Raudies heads 125cc battle by the ba y 14 DEPARTMENTS 20 EVENTS CALENDAR RESULTS WANT ADS OFF ROAD Hawkins flies to Texas National Enduro w in 6 22 34 38 : 39 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Kevin Schwantz (34) leads Mick Doohan (behind Schwantz) an d Jo h n Kocinski (3) through the Corkscrew during the USGP at Laguna Seca. For the complete story, tum to page 6. Photo by Henny Ray Abrams. emIa~ America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXX Sharon Clayton, Presid,ent Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Jack Mangus, Associate PublisherlEditor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Paul Carruthers, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Chris [onnu m, Assodate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistant Editor Edwina Mangus, Calendar Editor Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loo , Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graphic Artist Victoria Vaus, GraphicArtist Administration Judy Klinger, Caordinator Peggy Rivera, Secr etaryto thePublisher Want Ads Kelly Branscome, Want Ad Sales AccountingIData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, NR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlan e Lewis, Credit National Headqua rters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 (310)427-7433;(213) 636-8844. FAX (310)427-6685 Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas R. Ge nter, Western Sales Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manager Rick Matheny, Eastern SalesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager Dealer Sales Toni Kerr, Dealer Repr esentative Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Debbie Weller, Dealer Coordinator Pam Klein, Assistant Service and Support Chris Aitcheson, Headquarters Receptionist Leonard Herring, Service and Support (404)934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 tersindicatelhe year of the last issue. Subscription rates: Rates for the United ~ta tes and its po~sessions f?r one year, (50 issues), $SO.OO; two years (100 issues), $95.00;sixmonths (25 ISS~es), $26.00; trial s~b (15 IS , SUes) ~19.oo. Canada and ForeIgn, , one year (SO issues), $90.00; two years (100 ISSues), $175.00; SIX months (25 ISSues), $45.00; trial sub (15 issues), $38.00. Cyde News welcomesunsolicited editorial material including stories, cartoons, phot?", ~tc. S~ch mater!al, ifpublished, becomesthe exclusive property of Cyde News S~ch accep t~ mat na.! IS subject to.revI. : sion as is necessary in the solediscretion of Cyde News. Unsolicited ma t~,:,al which ~s no! used will be returned ifaccompanied by a selfaddressed stampedenvelope. All unsolicited matenal WIll be handled with reasonable care, however, Cyde News assumes n? responsibility f~r the safety, .I~s or dama~e to suchmaterial. Reprintingin wholeor part onlyby permISSIon of thepublisher,Advertising rates an CIrculation information willbesent uponrequest.See S.R.D.5. 4 Step hen H. Kramme Santa Rosa, CA "Laid off," n ot "terminated" This letter is in response to your In the Wind item regarding th e restructuring of the Motorsports Division at Yamaha Motor Corpora tion . In layman's terms, I w as laid off, not terminated, as yo ur piece claimed. Th ere is a big d istinction betw een the two terms, as my lay-off wa s due to restructuring changes within the d epartment, no t in relatio n to performan ce. I h old Yamaha in highest regard s and feel honored to ha ve been an em p loyee at such an esteemed com pa ny . Pa rting with Yamaha was an unfo rtu n at e sit u a tion . I d o h ope this le tter clarifies the status of my dep arture. Paul Kellen Cypress,CA A way to stop Ricky? Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084;· mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. Cyde New (USPS 141-340) is published weekly except the last twoweeksof the calendar yearfor $50.00 s per year by Cyde News, Inc, 2201 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage paid at Long Beach, CA. Canada PastInternational Publications Mail #546615. POSTMASTER: Sendaddresschanges to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498 Long Beach CA 90801-0498. , , To determine the expirationdate of your subscription, check the four num~ers on the firstline of your address label, The firsttwodigits indicate the last issuenumberyou'llrecem; and the last two charac- W~.P.8 ~~'bJITEJnoN I wa s very pleased to read yo ur cover age of the most recent AMA Na tional a t Sears Poi n t. It was e ven b etter th an bein g there! My wife and I took a lap around Sears Poi nt that wa s ver y carefully con. troll ed and paced by Sears Point pace cars. I must say I' ve gai ned a whol e new resp ect for the rac ers, who make it loo k decep tively easy . We were g ive n strict instructio ns not to d o anything stupid and to keep the speed down, and no one was allowed on the tra ck witho ut a helmet. This sounded more than fair to me. My only gripe is that before and after each race, an AMA official (I'm assuming he was with the AMA because of his uniform) took a lap around the track on a dual purpose bike, wearing no more head protection than his AMA hat. Does th is really set the best example? What if the offici al lost it out on the track and really g o t hurt? I'm sure the press wo u ld lo ve to sensationalize that. I ask ed a co rner worker about this and was told that the AMA runs the event an d can do whatever they want. I w as never able to get a satisfactory answer fro m an official, other than being politely told to mind my own business. Don 't ge t me wrong. I'm not trying to start ano ther helmet debate. My wife and I always wear our helmets and after taking a lap myself, I would not dream of not w earing the proper equipment. So how abou t getting with the program, AMA? Printed in U.S.A. Copyrigh~ Cycle News, Inc 1993. Trademark Cycle News registered U.S. Patent Office. AU rights reserved. . Well, he did it. They d on't call him "Mr. Springfield " for nothing. Privateer Ric ky Gra ham ro d e his seven-year-old Ho nda to the fron t of the p ac k and bea t the best and latest tha t H a rl ey had to offer , do mina ting Sp ringfield much as he did in May. In th e process, he m anaged to wres t th e number-on e pla te from the factory team.. Ricky will wear it proudly next season, as well he shoul d. Watching th e in - fig h tin g a t AMA h eadquarters w ill be almost as much fu n as wa tching the racers on the g-ack. I can imagine th e Harley rep resentatives behind the closed d oors o f the Co mpetition Co ng ress, whisp ering, "do something." Unfortu na tely, th er e's not mu ch they can d o. The AMA could reimpose the weight penalty that was just lifted a cou ple of seasons ago when it looked as though th e Hondas w ere no longer a threat. However, this w ould be so obviou sly protectionistic an d transp arently politica l th a t even so m e Harley-Davidson fans would object. Th e A MA could order that th e restric to r pl a tes that all 750s already m us t have be made sma ller s til l. It's w id ely ackno wledged th at these pl ates hurt the Hondas m ore than the Harleys. Th is too w ould pose a problem, though. As things are now, the fas tes t 600s are pulling lap speeds on pa r with the slowes t 750s. Whil e I doubt I will see a 600 in the Camel Challenge, this w o uld make th e gap between the tw o classes too narrow for comfort, for the fans and racers alike. P e rhap s th e o n ly id ea that ha s a chance to put these upstart Hondas in their place is to simply pass a rule that would onl y allow motorcycles manufactured in the last seven years to be eligible. This would outlaw the Hondas altogether and create another Harley-only class. This idea just may have the inside track. Watch and see. It will be a very interesting w inter. Dennis Wendt Waupun, WI Good luck, Wayne I was deeply sa ddened, as was everyo ne else in th e motorsports world, by the tragic accident that Wayne Rainey suffered at the Italian GP at Misano. I've watched Wayne race for many yea rs, so it is especially heartwrenching to have som ething like this happen to "one of our own." Let us all w ish Wayne a speedy recovery and give Wayne and his famil y our warmest w ishes and prayers. We're pulling for you, Wayne! Is there an address where w e can send get-well wishes to Wayne? Lon K. Taniguchi Santa Rosa, CA Fo r an update on Rainey's condition and an address where cards and letters can be sent, seeIn ti,e Wind...Editor Whose best interest? It is clear b y th eir actions th at th e AMA/District 37 board of directors are ignoring the view s of th e ma jor ity of the 0-37 sports com mi ttee members regarding th e Barst ow -to-Vegas race and associa ted BLM land clos ur es. It has been four years since the last B-to - V ra ce and un le s s so me th ing cha nges it w ill have been th e las t. This year the boa rd has vo ted to all ow a club (So. Ca l. M.e) to hold a race on th e traditiona l Bars tow- to-Vegas race d ay . It ma kes one wonder if a back room deal was worked ou t wi th the BLM or others s o th a t a n event wo u ld be h el d on November 27 in order .to red uce attend ance a t a legal B- to -V pro test. Two q ues tions tha t e v e ry 0 -37 m emb er should a sk themselves are: .Does th e 0-37 board of directo rs represen t my in te rests or their own ag end a? And if the Barst ow- to-Vegas race is allowed to be taken away from us w ithout a fight, which race is next? John W. Dietrich Moreno Valley, CA Lellers to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 310/4276685. Published lellers do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Lellers should not exceed 200 words and all letters are s u b ject to editing. Anonymou s letters wiII not be considered for publication. All lellers should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number ... Editor.

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