Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:.TE D W ·, . AR O N ,'C ::' By Paul Carruthers ' ycle News is the motorcycle newspape r of r ecord - it doesn 't have to look good ." I happen to believe tha t th is sta temen t is dead wrong. It simply makes no sense. News is news. News pr esented to the reader in a bland, m atter-of-fact manner doesn't make it more newsworthy . And the use of more-pleasin g graphics, photography an d inn ova tive lay outs does not make that sa me news less newsworthy. It's like your mother telling you tha t if the medicine doesn't taste b ad, it doesn't work. Same premise - not usually true. Still, the most important issue here is news. It matters not how good Cycle News looks on the outside if there's no substance on the inside. That 's like the motorcycle with the fancy paint job, but no engine oil. It looks nice, but it won't last. Well, Cycle News has lasted for 30 years. And it has remained a steadfast .institu tion for.,30 yea rs because of it s ability to provide readers with ne ws. Each and every week. Fifty times a year. Now we've just tried to freshen it up a bit. In addition to the new look, I hope you notice some other things w e' re doing differently around here. One of m y pet pee ve s ha s always been reading news elsewhere that we should have had here first. I much prefer to read a monthly magazine that 's filled entirely with old news. One of the things I've tried to accomplish in my 14 weeks here as the ed itor of Cycle News is to brin g the information to the reader a little bit faster . Having the first U.S. test of the Kawasa ki ZX-9R in this issue is a p ri me ex a mple of that. For the most p ar t, we can' t a lways give you a test tha t's as comprehensive as in so me of the magazines - they simply have more time. The y can spe nd their time taking motorcycles apart, weighing motorc ycles, running them on the dyno, an d riding them vast dis tances across the country . We can't, but I can promise you tha t we will attempt to give you information on tho se very same moto rcycles much faster . As soon as we get the info r mation, you'll get the in forma tion . Th is includes tests on all varieties of motorcycles, from the latest sportbikes to the trickest motocrossers. You can also start looking for more techni cal stories, rang- . ing from Alan Cathcart's tests on the top road ra ci n g motorcycl es and s treet bikes, to our own project bikes and hopup stories. The only thing that prevents us from showing you a new mod el first is when a manufacturer cuts a deal with a monthly ma gazine and gives them an exclusive. We can't counter th at unless we ca n ob tain the information fro m another source, sa y Jap an , Eur ope or Australia. . Th is was the cas e w it h the Ha rleyDavidson VR-lOOO Sup erbike that's featured in this issue. A monthly magazine somehow gained an exclusive to b ring you the fir s t s tory on that company's ven t u r e into superb ike r acing - bu t we've brought you the first photos, the first information. We d id so th an ks to Henny Ray Abrams, a d edicated contrib- utor w ith a good sense for news. Henny went to Ha rley's private test sessio n at Daytona Internationa l Speedway, shot pho to s from the g randstands, and obtain ed information the old fashio ned way - he wat ched, and he listened. The backbone o f Cycle N ews h as always been its racing coverage fro m arou nd the world . That's not go ing to change. Still, the objective around here is to do it better tha n we've ever done it before. The supercross season is almost upon us. The road racing and dirt track seasons a re just around the corner. Desert racing, endures, hill climb s, trials...it will all be here. Some critics say that this newspaper will soon feature not hing but road racing: "Hey, the editor's a road race guy. Right?" Wrong. Th e editor is a motorcycle racing guy. Anytime two or more gu ys show up to race, it shou ld be in th is newsp aper. And it will be. It matters not to me what surface they choose to race on , or what motorcycles they chose to ride. We'll ha ve the coverage, an d we'll have it fast. We ha ve a staff of ed ito rs with a deep knowledge of their respective segments of the sport, in addition to a well-rounded co mp rehension of all aspects of motorcycling. One thing we fee l Cycle News has lacked of late is opinion, and we've created ills las t page to bri ng you exactly that. Someti me s tha t opi ni on will be ligh t hearted, and other times it will be heavy. We plan on bringing you a wide range of thought on all aspects of motorcycli ng fro m no t onl y the editors, but also from some of our very best contributors . Some may make you laugh, others ma y en rage yo u . Eit her way, w e hop e to bring you a litt le somet hing on the back page that you will read and enjoy. You've probably also noticed by now that we've brou ght back an old favorite, w ith a bit of a ch ange. The "Looking Back" section on this page is a take-off on a sectio n we did eigh t or nin e years back, ca lled "Ten Years Ago. " We 've expan de d on that idea, highlighting tidbits of in forma tion that ap p ea red on these pages 25, 15 and 5 years ago. "Ten Years Ago" was always a well-received column and we 're hoping that "Looking Back" revitalizes that interest in the way things used to be. Other features that give insight into the motorcycles, people, and pl aces of years go ne by are the "Ti me Rem embe red " ar ticles w ritte n b y Joe Scalzo. Fortunately, Joe has pr omised more and we're hoping to run a least one a month. Scalzo says he doesn' t live entirely in the pa st, and he wants to prove it by penning stories on current day heroes, motorcycles and race places. We plan on giving him that opportunity, Last, but. not least, we'd like to hear from you, the read er. What would you like to see more of in the pages of Cycle News? What do you en joy re ad ing about? What d on' t yo u like? We'd like to know. In the meantime, welc ome to 1994 an d welc ome to the "new" Cycle News. We hope you like it. (N .. . ....... .~ <' IN E IN :'! . 'TH :W D .' ' .' :. .': .Continued from page 3 .,' BORN: Shelby Lynn Evans, to pro motocrosser Dustin Evans and his wife April, on December 20, 1993 in Victorville, California. APPOINTED: Marvin L. Speciner as vice president/ general manager and partner of The Women's Motorsport Associa tion . CH ANG ED: The add ress of The Women's Motorsport Association, to P.O. Box 3472, Idyllwild, CA 92549-3472. The phone number is 909/ 659-4754. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Seminole 25 YEARS AGO JAN AR 1969... U Y21, IpI " ,~-,~ .1I· , .C " , ' , ; . ~ h e new Ascot IT course was featured -'-::';:;'.:i;: : on the cover of Cycle News and showed Dallas Baker d oing battle with Eddie Wirth, Jim Rice and Bill . Manley...Two-time World MX Champion Jeff Smith announced that he would be touring the U.S. to teach the art of motocross racing to Americans...In the Oyde Utch BenefitTT held at Ascot Park in Gardena, California, Dusty Coppage took home the victory followed by Jack Simmons. The Amateur main event was won by D av id Aldana over Don Castro...Gary Bailey won three motos on his Greeves to earn the 125cc victory in motocross action at Carlsbad Raceway...J.N. Roberts battled snow and a total entry of 246 riders to w in the DesertChallengers Me Snow Run desert race in Lucerne Valley, Ca lifornia...Pat T ,rr - Honda Kawasaki Yamaha in Longw ood , Florida, on January 13; Jeremy McGrath, Doug Henry, Erik Kehoe, Davie Yezek, Todd D e Hoop , Larry Wa rd, Larr y Brooks, Kyle Lewis and other top supe rcross stars are scheduled to appear. For more information con tact Lon Wagner at 407/299-1299 . AUTO G RA PH SIG N IN G : At Cycle Sports Cen ter, Inc., in Orl ando, Florida, on January 13 from 6:00-8: 00 p .m .; Tea m Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski and Mike LaRocco are sch eduled to ap pear. For more information ca ll 407 / 299 9191. Evan s won the l00cc Production class in road race action at Carlsbad Raceway...A Yamaha on Enduro was available in the Want Ads section for $645... 15YEARS AGO JANUAR 7, 19 Y1 79... Goodyear tire test- ' .• ,. , .•:i'• • ing session at Dayt ona in ternational Speedway saw. Mike Bal dwin tum a 2:03.9 lap on his Yam aha TZ750. Goodyear' s Bill Ro b in sOll p r ed icted that Baldwin and Kenny Roberts would tum times under tw o minutes during Cycle Week '79 ...Team H onda signe d Rick Ho cking and Mickey Fay to ride XR500-powered d irt trackers in' the opening round of the AMA Gra nd National Championship at the Houston Astrodome...] eff Ward, Jimmy Weinert and Rex Staten won th e 125, 250 and 500cc classes, respectively, in the open- A FORMED: Tru e Val ue Racing , by David DeR onne a n d Paul Bove. DeRonn e w ill ride a True Value Hardware Stores-b acked Yamaha TZ250 in AMA/CCS and WERA road race events in 1994. NAMED: Susan Lee as national race sup port manager for Race Tech. Lee also serves as race support d irector for Motul Oil USA. APPO INTED: Garry Ga llagh er as sales p ro mo tio n/ technical support manager, b y EBC Brakes. Gallagher will wo rk out of his Woodin vill e, ing round of the Golden State MX Series at Saddleback Pa rk ...Bobby Schwartz qualified for the World Speedway Qualifier by winning the AMA's final speedway roun d at Santa Ana Stadium in southern California...Brad Lackey began filming for his featu red ap pea ra nce in the movie On Any Sunday H...The hot rumor of the week had Ken ny Robe rts sw itching to Hond a for the 1979 500cc World Ch amp ionship w ith Australian Gregg Hansford set to replace Roberts on the factory Yamaha...The mak ers of Greeves motorcycles, Greeves Motorcycle Accessories, wen t ou t of busine ss. Greeves a lso ma nufa ctur ed Inva ca r three-wheel tricycles; w hen the Min.istry of Pensions (Englan d) phased out those vehicles the company failed...Tony Di Stefano was signed by Can -Am to spearhead their 1979 motocross effort. Th e three- time 250cc National Champion would be joined b y Rich Eierstedt in the 250 cc N a tional MX Se ries ... Washington-based office an d wi ll represent EBC Brakes a t all AMA and WERA National road races and will administer th e EBC Brakes Road Race Contingency Program . Congratulations a r e a ls o in order since Gal- ' lagher's wife, Teresa, g av e birth to a baby girl, Mik aela , on December 4 in Kirkland, Wa shington. BO RN: Alex Quarterley, to road racer Dale Quarterley and his wife Tracy, on December 10 in Westfield, Massachussetts. According to Team Milage Racing, th e ne xt p rivat eer road racer will start training shortly. (N A 1977 Husky 250CR was selli n g for $925 in the Wan t Ads section of the newsp aper ... 5YEARS AGO JAN UARY11, 1989-. ,).,~ ~ h e co ver o f issu e #1 in 19 89 fea tured three-ti m e World Champion Fred d ie Spencer, who claim ed he wa s "on a mission" to win the 500cc W orld Championship again...Rick Joh nson, Ron Lechien and Guy Cooper took home wins from three nights of supercross racing in Paris, France...Kev in Hines won the Tecate 250k enduro in Tecate, Baja Californi a, Mexico, topping Larry Roesel er and D ave Bert ram...Mike Kied rowski wo n the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at Los Angeles County Raceway...A 1988 Kawasaki KX500 was for sale in the Want Ads section for $2500.. . Ci T

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