Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:VOICE ' ·' S': America'sweekly motorcyclenewspaper . Letters to the editor: • Volume XXXI Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger Publisher , Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Chris [onnum, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistant Editor Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Lao, Production MilTUlger DennisGreene, LAb. Tech. Stacey Guest, GraphicArtist Amy Faught, Graphic Artist Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Peggy Rivera, Secr etary to the Publisher Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western SalesMilnager Thomas Genter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, WesternSales Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesMaTUlger Rick Matheny, EasternSales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, EasternAd Coordinator Day Six 1 · Kit Palmer ' s atti tud e is out of pla ce regarding the team slots for the Six Days in Oklahoma (Day Six, Issue #3). Ad ditional qu ality rid ers who can help their overall country award tota ls are plen tiful. Also, the friends brought along' can h elp at all p its to reduce the load on team members. Many riders will contes t because ou t-o f-p ocket exp enses ma ke the event affordable. In years past, riders who could afford to go we re not necessarily the best, and many slots ultima tely were left o pen at sel ection ti me b y changed minds or ligh t wa llets. I, too, have always dr eamed of qua lifying, but now am too old and too slow . . I will co ncen trate on h elping a rid er twi st the throttle WFO by helping fund the effo rt and by w orki ng in the team p its. I would suggest Palmer do likewi se to accen tuate the positive an d wo rk for a great turnout. Lee Hill man Hazard, KY . Want Ads Kelly Branscome, WantAd Sales Marketing & Promotion MarkThome, MaTUlger Dealer Sales Toni Kerr, Dealer Representative Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass , Assistant Herlane Lewis Credit , Grculation Rheba Smith, Milnager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, Dealer Coordinator. Kim Mazenk o, Data Entry Coordinator Service and Suppo rt Chris Aitcheso n, HeadquartersReceptionist Leona Herring, Service andSupport rd National Headquarters . 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-ll498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FPLX(3 1 0) 427~5 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 80S, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FPLX (404) 934-3112 Day Six 2 This letter is in response to Kit Palmer's Day Six column about the ISDE in issue number th ree. Bein g an avid Six Days fan and past ISDE ri der, I can understand Kit 's feelings. Th e idea that a ll USA rid ers ma y get to wear the traditional bl ue and white striped helm et at thi s year's Six Da ys in Tu lsa w it h ou t going thr ough the tradi tional qua lifying procedure, lessens the value of this prestigious helmet. In addition, the sense of accomp lishment one ge ts th rou gh earn ing the helmet, no t buying one, is lost. I al so grew u p wa tchi ng Malcolm Sm ith and the Pen ton cla n compe te in the Six Days, an d I was fortuna te enoug h to atten d the 1973 ISDT held in the Berkshires of Massachusetts at the age of 13. Upo n returning from Massachusetts, I promptly painted my orange Bell SOOTX w ith th e tradition al bl u e and white stripes. How ev er , a ye ar lat er, whe n I started com petition, I put that helmet on the she lf and vowed to ea rn a real one some day. After 13 years of adding several helm ets to my she lf for New England en d uro, ha re scrambles and mot ocross cha mpionshi ps, I qualified for the 1986 ISDE in Italy. My helmet shelf was comple te, and each one was earned . I am in agree m en t w ith Pa lme r's com ments abo ut allowing only the Trophy Tea m and Club Team members wh o hav e ridden the qualifier series to wear the tradi tional helm ets . My suggestion is tha t the re main der of th e team could wear bl ue hel mets with a USA or flag emb lem, but save the s tripes for the riders that have earned them . . Alan Wickstrand Redondo Beach, CA Wickstrand, son of two-time AMA National Hillclimb Champion, Carl Wickstrand, earned a Silver Medal at the Italian Six Days in 1986. Alan is currently a manufacturing engineerat the McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach, califo rn ia. Hi s cu rrent project involves f designing the tailcone section o the new C-17 Glooemaster III cargo plane...Editor. Day Six 3 I wo uld like to com plime n t Kit Palmer on his editorial "Day Six" in the January 26, 1994 issue of Cycle New s. As an execu tive in th e m ot o rcycl e ind ustry I am both a fan and a friend to man y ISDE riders. In fact, through sponso rship, I have helped man y ride rs qualify for the ISDE and have eve n seen a few top riders miss by a few po ints . As an off-road rider, I, too, have fantasi ze d of qualifying for and ridi ng in the ISDE. Unfortu na tely, all the heroes who qu alify for the ISDE have an un fair ad vantage over me...they use skill, so mething I lack. Like Palmer, I just wouldn't feel right wearing the coveted "s kunk" helmet just because I can afford a $500 entry fee in Ok lahoma. Tulsa Trail Riders have every righ t to sell all of the entries they can. However, I hope the AMA decides on some way to keep th e sku nk h elmet s for the rid ers who really earn them, not simp ly those who can afford them. fan, I want to express my d isappointment in finding out that the Prime Network is continuing to get the majority of the television coverage for the 1994 AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship . In 1993, Prime Network had sched uled va rio us motorcycle road races to be broadcast on certain d ates an d times as announced by national and local publications, bu t wh at we got instead of the races was minor leag ue baseball card trading, minor leagu e games and other events that were not scheduled to be on at those times and dates (Thu rsday nights). Numerous calls to my cable company led nowhere. We in Phoenix, the peo ple wh o wa nt motorcycle road racing to get the recogniti on it d eserv es, feel chea ted! In fact, we paid for sh ows we nev er go t to see. The sp onsors of the series should fee l cheated and every fan who loves mot orcycle road racing should feel cheat ed . Thanks for nothing Prim e Network. Jose Obando Phoenix, AZ Sans san In th e January 19 issue, Alan Cathcart tests the 1993 250ccWorld Championshi pwinn ing Ya ma ha TZ250 th at Te ts uya Harad a rode so convincingly in his debu t season. In one pa ragraph, Cathcart refers to "GP d eve lopmen t engineer Ich iro h Yoda ." In the sa me paragraph , he calls him "Yoda-san." Then, in the very next paragra ph, he calls him "Ichiroh-san, " Now wai t a minute - it should be one or the other . Oh, wel l. Born to gri pe . An excellent newspaper, overall. Steven Aucella Marshfield, MA The cold New Eng land weather must be keeping you inside too much, A ucella-san. The correct way to address Yamaha's Mr . lchiroh Yoda would be "Yoda-san"...Editor. Letters to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 310/427 -6685. Published letters do not necessarily refled the position of Joe Col ombero Brea, CA Prime Time? As a mot orc ycle enthusiast and racing Cycle News, Inc. Lellers should not exceed 200 wo rds and all letters are subject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be con sidered for pu blicat ion. All letters s h o u ld con tain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number . .• Edi tor. INSIDE' . . Issue#S, Feb. 9, 1~ : CycleNews(US PS141-3W) is publishedweeklyexcept the .00per year by last two weeks of thecalendar year for $50 - CycleNews. Inc. 2201 Cherry Avenue, LongBeach. CA 9OlI()6, Second classpostage paid a' Lon Beach. CA. CanadaPool g International PublicationsMail'546615. POSTMASTER: Se-nd ~ddrns changes to Cycle NrwI, P.O. Box 498 Long Beac CA90801-ll498. , h, To det erm ine th e rxpira tio n da te of your subscript ion. check the four numb ers on the fi rst line of yo ur i1ddrns label. The first tw o digits indicate the J,2,5't issue nu mber you11 receive Mid the I.lsl two ( ~rade rs indicate the yeu of the Wit issu e. Subscription rates: Rates forthe UnitedStatesand its p0ssessions for ore year, (50 issues). $50.00: two years (100 issues), 595.00; six months, (25 issues), $26JX); trial sub (15 issues), $19.00. Canada and Foreign. one year (SO issues), 590.00; two years (100 issues), $175.00; six months (2S issues), 545.00; trial sub (15 issues), $38 .00. Cycle News welcomes unsolicitededitorial material including s tories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such material , if pub lished, becomes the exclusive property of Cycle News. Such accepted material is subject to revision as is necessaryin the sole discretion of CycleNews. Unsolicited material which.is not used will be returned il accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with rea- eonable care, however, Cycle News assumes no responsibility for the safety, lossor damage to such material. Reprinting in wholeor part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulati n information will besent upon o request.SeeS.R.D.5 . .W!!P.8 ~1~dlTI'T10N Printed in U.S.A. 4 Co~yrigb t" CycleNews, lne-I994 Trademark CycleNews . registered us , P.tent Office All rights reserved. . Moore too much at Glen Helen MX Manneh masters Barona MX FEATURES SUPERCROSS Anaheim SX becom es part of McGrath trilo gy 6 HARE & HOUND Hamel cards Lucerne Valley H&H victory 12 TEST 1994 Suzuki RF9OOR 28 30 RALLY Orioli malta bene in Pa risDakar-Paris 32 ARENACROSS Goodman blows away Topeka Arenacross .33 16 DEPARTMENTS OFF·ROAD Hamel ha ppenin' at Parker 400.......20 GRAND PRIX Zitterkopf best in the desert at Mesquite GP : MOTOCROSS Curry, Ferry storm Dad e CityMX ON THE FRONT COVER 37 WANT ADS 41 RNAL MOTO 26 34 CALENDAR 24 EVENTS 55 LOOKING BACK 55 Cycle News gets a .rid e on Suzuki's hot new RF900R. See page 16. Photo by Tom Riles. Inset Photo: Jeremy McGrath once agai n took cente r stage on the victory podium at the Anaheim Supercross. Coverage begins on page 6. Photo by Kinn ey Jones .

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