Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v ICES 0 INSIDE WERA congrats FEATURES MOTOCROSS Windham blows away competition at Florida Winter Olympics 6 DUAL SPORT Burning off thanksgiving d inner on the L.A.-to-B-to-V dual sport ride GREETINGS Happy ho lidays from the Cycle News staff 17 TEST 1994 Suzuki RM125 18 DEPARTMENTS 10 HOLIDAY GIFf GUIDE EVENTS ROAD RACING Th e AMA factory su pe rbi ke teams' p re-season test a t Day tona 16 10 _ 12 CALENDAR 27 WANT ADS 31 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Kevin Windha m (511) leads the pa ck to the firs t tum a t the Florida Winter Nati on al O lymp ics. For complete coverage see page 6. Photo by Mik e Adair. . America's weekly motorcycle newspap er Volume XXX Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Edi torial Paul Carruth ers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Chris [onnum, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistallt Editor Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loo, ProductionManager Dennis Greene, wb. Tech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Gr aphic Artist Victoria Vaus, GraphicArtist Advertising o Terry Pratt, Nati nalAccounts Ma nager Mark Thome, Western SalesManager Thomas Ganter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sak 'SManager Mark Mitchell, Easlern Accoullts Mallager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Marzager Rick Matheny, EasternSalesMarzager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinat r o Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Admini s tration Dealer Sales Toni Kerr, DealerRepresentative Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager Judy Klinger, Coordinator Peggy Rivera, Secretary to the Publisher Want Ads Kelly Branscome, Warzt Ad Sales Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit RhebaSmith, Mimager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billillg Coordinator Carol Begovic, DealerCoordinator Missy Pierson, Data Entry Coordinator National Headqua rters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beac CA 90806, h, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 9080Hl498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4190 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404)934-7850. FAX(404) 934-3112 Circula tio n Service and Suppo rt Chris Aitcheson, Headquarters Receptionist Leonard Herring, Service and Support CycleNews (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, CA90806. Second class postagepaid at Long Beach,CA. Canada Post International Publications Mail#546615. POSTMASTER: Send addresschangesto Cycle News, P.O. B ox498, Long Beach, CA9OB01..()49B. To determine the expiration date of your subscription, check the four numbers 01; the first line of your "address label.The first twodigits indicatethe last issue number you'll receiveand the last twocharacters indicate the year of the last issue. Subscription rates: Rates for the United States and its possessions for one year, (SO issues), $50.00; two ; ; years (100 issues), $95.00 six months, (25 issues),$26.00 trial sub (15 issues), $19.00. Canada and Foreign, 5.00 one year (SO issues), $90.00; two years (100 issues), $17 ; six months (25 issues), $45.00; trial sub (15 issues),$38.00. Cycle News welcomes unsolicited editorial material including stories, cartoons photo etc. Suchmateri, s, . al, if published, becomes theexclusive property of Cycle News Such accepted material is subject to revision as is necessary in the sole discretion of Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned ifaccompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, howev Cycle News assumes no responsibility for the safety, loss or damage to er, such material. Reprinting in wholeor part onlyby permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent uponrequest. SeeS.R.D.5. Printed in U .S.A. 4 Letters to the editor Copyrigh t* Cycle News, Inc. 1993. Trademark Cycle News regis tered U.s. Patent Offic e. All right s reserved. Recen tly 35 W ERA N at iona l Championships we re d ecided. Alt hough all WERA riders can' t be awar d ed titles, they are all cham pions in my book. This year's group of rid ers a n d tea m s displayed the grea tes t a moun t of co u rage I've ever see n on any playin g field . Special recognition sho uld go to the -Virgi nia Breeze Racing team for persevering in the face of tragedy. The tea m . bra ved the odds and stuck together as a te am a n d a s frie n ds . Th e tea rs that flowed at the WERA banquet sai d it all. Here's to yo u Jay Bar tlow, Jim Tribou, C h arlie Safley, Ta yl o r Masse y, Chris Morse and the team. You're a class act. C ong ra tulations to Ch uck Gra ves, new Form u la USA Champ ion. he's tough, he's a figh ter an d he'll be ba ck . And ne w Formula II Champion Rich Oliver has proven him self once again as one of the most dominant riders in the series . After ea rning the 1100cc Suzuki C u p titl e a t th e Me tzele r GNF, Ku rt Hall an no u nced his retire me n t. Kurt has w on just abou t everything there is to wi n in WERA racing. Alt ho ugh we'll miss seeing hi m race, he will be a major player as WERA's operational manager. A hea rty co ngratula tio ns to To mmy and Nicky Hayd en, two yo ung bro thers who a re World Champions in the makin g . ...And to Rod ney Fee a nd Nancy Delgado. The se Formula I II .pilots always put on a show . I'll co ncl ude with sp ecia l ch eers to Michael Martin, Lee Shierts, Jo e Bre tt Willi am s, David Sa d o w s ki, Chris D'Aluisio, Kevin Ren tzell, Tray Batey , Fritz Kling, C huc k Sorenso n , Jo hn Ashm ead , Michael Ba rnes, David S ta n to n, G erald Rot h ma n, Steve Pa tterson, Steve Doolin, Jeff Leonard, Sh aron Ea rthrna n, Su zanne D' Angelo, Letha Jeffers, Ca thy Creighton, Carolyn Ostrander, all the en d u rance teams and all the other 3975 WERA riders. You're illl champs. Can't wait till next yea r. Brenda Taylor WERA Pro Series media d ire ctor Truckee,CA Strong thanks I w ould like to th ank ev eryone for all the d on ati ons . I never expected such a n ove rw helm ing res p o ns e . These ha v e been the bes t years, with a ll th e good fri end s and compe tition I've ha d . It w ould be im possible to than k ev eryone indivi dually , so I'm tha nking you th is way. Th anks again. Kirk St rong Na ti o nal #81 Edmonds, WA Strong suffered two broken f emurs and a broken pelvis in a crash at the Bellingham Short Track round of tile 600cc National Championship orz September 11. Strong is recovering well and turned in his toheelchair for a pairof crutcheslast week...Editor. are resolved so that bo th tra cks can have their respective weekends in the 1995 season. If rain-ou ts a n d d elays were a co nsideration, D uQ uo in has a n even worse rain-ou t history than Springfield. Th e second reaso n I ha ve mixed feelings is because the last ev en t I attended at Du Quoin (1989) was a bit of a disappoin tment. Between the Keyst on e Cops style of officia ting 'a nd the overly lon g and la rgely u n necessary d elays, many fa ns left th e track la ter than ex pected wi th a b a d tas te in th e the ir m outh . Myself incl uded. I a m su re th at many o f us fans are hop in g for a " new a n d impro v ed " DuQuoin this yea r , w ith b ette r a nd m ore reaso na ble officia ting. Let's cu t the p oli tics before it d estroys di rt track racing for good . Dennis Wendt Waupun, WI According to Denise Hartley, the executive director of the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association, the reason the Springfield Mile lost its M emorial Day weeken d date is because the remodeled grandstands won't be fi nished. "We 're going to take the race to DuQuoin for Ml!tl1orial Day, but we're still running Springfield on Labor Day. In May of 1995 we'll be back in Springfieldfor the normal Memorial Day date," Hartley said. "This is just a one-time deal because of circumstances beyolld our control." Although the DuQuoin Mile is all tire AMA schedule, Hartley Itas yet to sign a contract. She was scheduled to do so, however, on Tuesday, December 7... Editor. Thanks To make a dream come true is a d ifficult ta sk. But to make it p ossi b le to reli ve that d ream is a no ther matter. So to just say tha nks isn't quite eno ugh. As w e all know, it tak es a lot of work and sup por t · to get through a year of racing - no matter w here you finis h. After almost a 20yea r layoff, I though t m y racing d ays were over, b ut thanks to the 883 class, Ha rley -Davidson and the AMA made it possible for m yself and others w ho still love the sport to re turn and relive the dream. I would like to ta ke this opportunity to say "t ha nks" to the man who made it possible for me to ever consider a return to the sport and tha t is Bill Bartels of Bar tel s' Harl ey-Da vidson . H e al s o he lp ed me when I w as a novice in the '70s by ge tting m e a rid e on a HarleyDa vid son Sprint a t Asco t Park. A lso , I would like to tha nk some of th e m any people who h e lp ed in th e en dea vo r: Merle Bartels, Scott Bartels, Will th e ma ch inis t a t Bar te ls ' Performance Products, Vanso n Leathers, Bruce Porter fro m Arai Helmets, Ma rk Mitchell of Penzoil and last by not least, Ken t Truman for all his tim e and effort. Altho ugh th is was no t a champi onship-winning year, I d id m ee t a lot of good people and I learned a lot. See yo u all in th e spring. Rick Hutchins Los Angeles, CA Mixed feelings It is w ith mixed feelings that I no te the return of D uQuoin, lIIi nois, to the Gr a nd National Championship circuit. While I a m glad to have another race in the Midwest tha t is w ithin range of my home, I am n o t h a p p y a t all tha t th e Me morial Day Springfield Mile w eekend was sacrifice d to acco m moda te DuQuo in. Visi ting Spri ngfie ld fo r M em orial Day was a tradition for. fans, racers and th e Spr ing field lo ca ls ali ke . I do n ot know of the p o li ti cs involved in th e d ecision , b u t I, for one, hope that things Letters to the editor should be s e n t to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Bo x . 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 310/427-6685. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number . .. Editor.

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