Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.VO E IC S·· America'sweekly motorcyclenewspaper Letterstothe editOr. VolumeXXXI Sharon Clayton, Presiden: Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor KitPalmer, Associatt Editor Donn Maeda, AssociDlt Editor Chris [onnum, Associat« Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistant Editor The supercross blues Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, ProductitmSupertdsor Mandy Lao, Production MJmagtr Dennis Greene, LAb. T«h. StaceyGuest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graph", Artist Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Peggy Rivera, StCfetary to tht Publisher Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Managtr MarkThome, W-sttm Sal-sManagtr Thomas Gonter, Westtm Sal-sManagtr ForrestHayashi, W-sttm Sales Managtr Mark Mitchell, Eastern Account Managtr s Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sal-s MJmagtr Rick Matheny, Easttm Sales Managtr Rhonda Crawford, W-sttm Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Want Ads Kelly Branscome, Want Ad Sales Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, MJmagtr Dealer Sales Toni Kerr, Dealer&presentative Accounting/DataProcessing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Crtdit Circulation RhebaSmith, Managtr Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, Dealer Coordinator Kim Mazenko, Data Entry Coordinator Ev ery January I s ta rt to g et exci te d knowi ng that the AMA Supercro ss circus is com ing t o An a h eim St ad ium. Being a ma jor supercross fan, I can' t wait to see the best riders in the world for the first time (a n d their on ly L.A .-area appearance) in the ne w season. However, as I walked out of the "Big A" on Saturday evening, I left disappointed. Like every race for the past five years, I left feeling that the presentation of what should be an exciting event is at least predictable - if not downright dull. In s tea d of experimenting with new ideas that complement the excellent racing, the promoters continue to feed us the same bo rin g op en ing ceremony ma ndatory fireworks at the end of the National Anthem, champ ionship wrestling-style announcing, countless rider interviews, and too much downtime. Hey, even the music blasted at us before the individual main events hasn't changed in years. This is "go through th e motions " promotion: the same old people doing' the sa me old th ings. When MC Larry N a ston screams, "Anaheim, a re you ready?" and no on e seems to care, the audience is demanding cha nge. I hate to be ov erly critical of the promoters, but I love the sport and wa nt to see it grow and become respectable in the eyes of th e sporting world. Fans leaving Anaheim Stadium sho u ld be . rapping about the amazing race action, not about who's going to win the Super Bowl. Supercro ss is an amazing sport fu ll of am azin g a thletes. With enthusiasm and experim en tation shown by the promote rs, perh ap s more people will want to com e out and experience it. Thomas Kageff Manhattan Beach, CA Service and Support Chris Ai tcheson, Headquarters Receptionist Leonard Herring, Seroiceand Support Desert faux pas National Headquarters 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 Eastern Office 4188 FirstAve., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailingaddress P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0005 . (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 I anxiously look forwar d to Anne Van Beveran' s ex cellent cove ra ge o f th e major desert races. However, there was one error in the report on Desert M.C:s Hare & Hound (" H a me l Rolls On, " Issue #5) National that shou ld be corrected. Bill Maxim is not the title holder in the over-40 Expert div is ion . This honor belongs to Charlie Spellman, who earned 131 points vs. Maxim's 128 point tota l. . It is in teres tin g to note that Charlie raced most of the season on a beat-up, four-yea r-old bike and d idn't finish the last event when he was severel y injured in a cras h eight miles from the start. Broken ribs and a fragmented liver forced him to be on life-support equipment for three days, but he survived and is now d oin g w ell. No one tries harder than Charlie, so please give credit where it is due. Charlie Spellman is #1. DanStoy Corona, CA tunatel y, I need to look back to 1957. Keep up the good work, but tell the promoters about gu ys like me who depend on seei n g th eir ad s in Cycle News in order to make p lans to attend the races. Rola nd 1.. Cusso n Sol dotna, AK u.s. Supertrike National Championship will be held at Phoenix International Raceway on March 25-27. Ticket information is available by . calling 602/252-3833 , or by writing to Phoenix International Raceway, 1313 N. 2nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85004...Editor. The second round of the AMA Chicanery Being a bike mechanic, I've always enjoyed your publication (I'm talking from the Gary Scott/Kenny Roberts dirt battle days), but it is really disheartening to read la te ly about all the totally negati v e things said towards the Harley-Davidson superbike effort. I mean c'rnon, at least we have something w e hopefully can wa tch grow in to a contender - someday. But beating a project down before it even gets up is very distasteful. As readers, we don't want any ass-kissing. However, I know that a little published support would go a long ways towards making those invo lved in the effort feel better about it. As for publishing actual costs as far as daily track rentals, riders' sa la ries, etc. - is there en ough room for all .th e zeroes tha t would be Honda's invested effort? I ap p lau d Harley-Da vidson for at least getting so me thing go ing . Ken Keller II Burlington, W A Missing trials I just finis hed reading my issue #50 of Cycle News. Well, af ter reading all the in terviews with the various champions in va rio us fields of racin g, or shoul d I say competition, I noticed tha t the area of observed trials was completely left out. There was no interview with the U.s. National Champion. There are a great number of your readers who not only ride trials, but like to read about it as well. I feel it is important to include trials in your publica tion ju s t as you do road racing, motocross, and off-road. You might be interested to know that trials champion Ryan Young has won over 41 Nationals and has been the U.s. National Champi.on for the las t six years in a row . Believe me , this is no sma ll feat. Do you kn ow of any other form of com petition that has see n such a successful rider. I think it wo uld be appropriate for your new spaper to include coverage of observed trials . Wanting ads About a week ago I ma de a reserv ation to attend th e Daytona 200. I th en thought abo ut Phoenix two weeks later, so m y pla ns n ow in cl u de seein g the Phoenix su perbike races. My problem is th is: I haven't seen any ad s in the last three issues of Cycl News. e Pl ea s e confirm the race date at Phoenix and also let me know how to go about getting tickets. I already have my Da ytona tickets . I intend to be in Phoenix on March 23-28. If th e promoters don't advertise in Cycle News, how do they expect to fill the stands? I also want to let you know I like the n e w fo r m a t of the newspaper. The "Looking Back" column is great. Unfor- Ron Brehm Hopkins, MI We are currently working on improvingour trials coverage and have recently made arrangements to have even the World Championship round s featured in Cycle News...Editor. Letters to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 3101427-6685. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should nol 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, addres s and daytime phone number ... Editor. CycleNews (USPS 141 ) is published weekly except !he -340 last two weeks 01!he aIendar yeM r... 550 per YOM by .00 CycleNews, Inc.. 2201 01erry Avenue. Long Beach. CA 'lOII06. 5ess pcstagepaid .t Long Beach. CA. Canada Post Intrma tional PublicationsMail_IS. POSTMAS'Ta Send .dd.... changes '" Cyd. N ews, 80.498, Long _II. CA 90801-<1498- ~ ~ ~ 0\ 0\ r-i \,() r-i C P.o. To drtennine 1M rxpir.ation cblt of yoursubKription. check the four D~n on the rust liM of your ..dclrns bbellM fim two digits indiate the ldt issu~ numbft you ll rroc:nvt' U\d the b st two ch.uactrn indiute the feu of the wt iMue. Subscri tion rates: Ra for the United States and its possep tes $ions for onr yC'.u. (SO issues). SSCloOO; two years (100 issues ). $9S.oo; siv months.(l5 issues). $2f;.DO; lriaI sub (IS issues). $19.00. Canada and Foreign, orr yeM (50 issues).$90.00;two . years (100 issues). $175.DO; six months (l5 issues) $45.00; lriaI sub (15issues), $38 . .00 CycleNews welcomes unsolicited editorialmaterial including stories. pholuS etc. Such materiaL if published. , becomesthe exclusiveproperty of CycleNews.Such accepted materialis sub;ect to revisionas is necessary in the solediscretion of Cyele News Unsolidted material which is not used . will be returned if accompanied by a selfaddressedstamped envelope. Allunsolic it d materialwill behandled with reae sonable care, however, CycleNewsassumesno responsibility for the safety, loss or damage to such material. Reprinting in wholeor part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulatio information will besent upon n request. SeeS.R.D.S. ,.noons. Ie ] W!!P.8 ~c\JffnoN ~ Printed in U.S.A. 4 C0fYrlgh~ Cyc News, lnc.19'Jo1. TrodOllW'k CyeleN.... le regi5leml u.s. P.tent Office.AU righlll ....rwd. MOTOCROSS Windham wins again at Ga torback MX FEATURES SUPERCROSS McGra th, Hughes conquer San Diego SX TEST Ducati 916 6 20 SPEEDWAY Venegas on power play at San Diego Arena 22 PROJECT BIKE Honda CRSOO 24 10 INTERVIEWS 500cc National MX Champion Mike LaRocco 14 Three-time 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts 16 HARE SCRAMBLE Ha wkins garners first National Hare Scrambles win in Arkansas 18 DEPARTMENTS EVENTS CALENDAR WANT ADS CHICANERY LOOKING BACK 26 .29 : .33 47 47 ON THEFRONT COVER Another fi rs t. Cycle News r ides Ducati's rad, red 916 in Misano, Ital y. See page 10 for all the facts. Photos by Gold & Goos e.

• Cover