Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.VOto theS IC editor· E Letters The death of dirt track I believe the death of dirt track racing isn't very far off if the AMA continues to do things the w ay it is. In orde r for the sport to g row, we need to get the Big Four invo lved. The last thing w e need to do is scare them away - like the AMA d id w ith H onda a number of ye ars ago. If H onda was still involved in the sport, it would be a lot healthier. Who knows, maybe even the other Japanese manufacturers would be involved today? I believe competition makes for good racing, not the other way around - like the AMA seems to think. Another mistake made by the AMA 'is the creation of the Harley-Davidson BB3 class. In my opinion, this class is not only slow but . very dangerous. If there was going to be a production-based class in AMA Grand Natio na l dirt track racing, th e AMA sho uld have allowed the other manufacturers to pa rticipate - instead of making it an all-Harley show. This gets me to the elimination of the 600cc class at the Nationals. Replacing the 600cc clas s with the 883 class is another big mistake. Eliminating the 600cc clas s doesn't ma ke racing more affordable. To the contrary, most all of your expert dirt track racers already have 600cc machines. They have acquired them from racing at the local level, from racing in the Pro-Am class, and from racing them in the now defunct Junior class. The natural thing would have been to have a National Expert class fo r them to race in. Th is would give them a place to showcase their skills and to catch the eye of a sponsor. The BB3 class hasn't kept the cost down, inst ea d it fo rces racers to bu y another bike - the Harley-Davidson 883. Most first-year experts can't afford to run the 750cc class without a big sponsor, and this leaves them no other choice but to run the B83 class. In dosing, I sure hope the sport of dirt track racing doesn't die because I am a big dirt track fan and racer . I believe that if the AMA takes an honest look at the future of .the sp ort, it will do the right thin g. But that will only ha ppen if it gets out of bed with the Harley-Davidson factory. Peter Ringwall Glenville, N.Y. Thanks I would like to compliment th e staff of Cycle News on the facelift you've given the newspaper. I like feature articles on America's weekly motorcycle newspape r Volume XXXI special motorcycles, mostly racers and class ics. Project bike reports are also very interesting. In general, I find road tes ts to be boring; it must be tough to re-arrange the same words ove r and over. Joe Scal- " zo' s stories are great. I' m a d irt track en thusiast so any ana everything rela ted to the Classic American Race is appreciated. On balance, Cycle News has hit the mark - year in, year out. Th e most important thing about Cycle News is the visi on. It works bec ause the people involved are moto rcycle enthusiasts . The m onthly "slicks" talk to the sport. Cycle News is the sport's voice, an indispensable member of the community. When I see Bert Shepard at a region al half mile, I know that Cycle News is there. It shows us all, from amateur to su perstar professional, the sa me re spec t for our individual contribution . Pl ea s e remember that 'w hen makin g any d ecisio n abo ut the paper. . Cycle News is more than news, it is a continuous celebration of the sp o rt of motorcycling . Moving on in v ol ves a solemn resp onsib ili ty and a w ond erf ul challenge. Best of luc k! Bob Heywood Dayton,OH Mr. Heywood, your check is in the mail...Editor. Isle of Man fan I'm planning to attend the Isle of Man TT races on June 3-12 and have tentative reservations on a ren tal house in Port St. Mary, located several miles from the TT course. The house sleeps four people and co sts $75 a night, and I wou ld like to share the cost with one to three others. If there are any Cycle News rea de rs who are planning to attend the TT but have not made hotel reservations, please contact me as soon as possible. Accommodations are almost non-existent at this date, due to the TT's in creasin g popularity, so please call soon. Paul Golde Mission Viejo, CA Mr. Golde can be reached at 714/364-6117 (phone) or 714/978-2787 (fax)...Editor. And the winner is.•• Enough of this B.S. ov er Robert Dunlop and Jeremy McWilliams being "Brits" or " Bri tish" and traveling under " British " passports. I know Robert and Joey Dunlop; I met them years ago on the Isle of Man. Please read the enclosed papers. You will find out that Dublin is in The Republic of North ern Ireland and is not part of the United Kingdom. Ireland is in the British Isles, the same as the Isle of Man. Robert and Jeremy travel with Irish passports. I'll be at the Metropol e Hotel, on the Qu eens Promenade, Douglas, Isle of Man, for the Isle of Man TT fro m May 29 until June 15. I drink Castletown Beer. It costs On e Pound per pint. As I won the bet, pl eas e send me One Poun.d, in a Manx Pound Note. Jim Dent SanJose,CA Mr. Dent sent not only his letter, but also a 50-page printout on Ireland. Hopefully, we can arrange a meeting between Mr . Golde (see letter above "Isleof Man fan") and Dent , - and we'll buy the beer ...Editor. Response to McGrath Th is le tter is in refer ence to Jerem y McGrath 's stateme nt about Jeff Emig in your covera ge of the Anaheim SX (Issue #5 ). Wh en I fi r s t r ead it, I thought McGrath was jus t blowing smoke. Howev er, after atten d ing the San Diego SX and wi tnessing Emig kick Mike LaRocco in the ba ck, I now believe McGrath was jus t stating fact - Emig is a d ick. LaRocco was just racing, w hich is what I paid to see, an d riders collid ing and going down is an unfortunate part of racing. Just ask Damon Hu ffman who went down in the first comer of the 125cc final, picked himself up and ga ve the crowd one of the best rides they will probably ever see cong ratula tio ns to yo u Damon, a n d thanks for the show. . H opefully the AMA w ill take action against Emig for such poor sportsmanship so th at the young ri ders in attendan ce do not think that this is satisfactory cond uct in the sp ort of motocross. Maybe Yamaha should also reprimand him to show their contempt for his actions. FOUR ·STROKETESTS 1994 A TK 60SCCES 1994 Husabe rg 501FC 1994 Kawasaki KLX250 HARE SCRAMBLES Smith runs away w ith Hollister Hills National HS ARENACROSS Gadd is grabs three wins at Lincoln, Nebraska AX lB Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts MJInager Mark Thome, Western Sales MJInager Thomas Gonter, Western SalesManager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Acc ounts Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesManager RickMatheny, Eastern Sales MJInager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Want Ads Kelly Branscome, Want Ad Sales Marketing &: Promotion Mark Thome, Ma1u1ger Dealer Sales Toni Kerr, Dealer Representative AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, NR Coordinator Geneva Repass , Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, MJInager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, DealerCoordinator Kim Mazenko, Data Entry Coordinator Service and Support The AMA fi ned Emig $1000 for his part in the in cident with LaRocco. He was also placed on a one-yearprobation...Editor. National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498,Long Beach, CA 90801-Q498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 63~. u-tters to the ed ito r should be se nt to Voleel, Cycle News, P.O . Box 498, Long Broich. CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 3101421-6685. Publ ished lett e rs do not neces- nrity reflect the positi on of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should no t exceed 200 worda and .aUletters are sub jed to editing. Anonymous letters win not be ccnsldered fo r publi cation. All Idlers shoul d conuln the writer'. name, o1ddrns .and d.aytimc phone number . eo Editor. Leonard Herring, Serv and Support ice FAJ«310) 427~ Eastern Office 4188First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FAJ( (404) 934- 112 3 I'OSTMAS1'EJl, Send .dd.... changa 10Cycle News. P.O. To determine the npintion cbte of your lu.bKriptiOn, check the four nu mbfts on tM fint line of your addrnl b beLTM 8nt two digiti indicate the wi iss ue nwnbe'r youll reeeiee and the bst two dw.acten indiate the rur of the wt bs ue, Subscri tion rates Rates tor the Unito.lnc.. 220 Cherry Avenue. Loog Beach. CA 9alO6. 1 Second class postage paid at Long Beach, CA.Canada Post International PubIic.1lions Mail . 546615. GRAND PRIX Roeseler, Davis ma ke Ad elan to GP A list : .4 Graph ics and Production . Ree Johnson, Production Supovisor Mandy 1.00,Productio MJInager n Dennis Greene, Lab Tech. . Chris Aitcheson, Headquarters Recepti nist o Issue#7, F 23,1994 eb. SUPERCROSS McGra...er ...Craig. Yes! Craig tops Tampa SX! Editorial t ' Paul Carruthers, Edi or KIt Palmer, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Chris [onnum, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistant Editor Bob Lynch Huntington Beach, CA INSIDE'.. . FEATURES Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher LOOKING BACK 48 ! 1 .48 sonable care, however, Cycle News assumesno responsibility for the safety.lossor damage to such motorial. Reprintin in g wholeor part only by permissionof the publisher.Advertising rates andcin:ulatio informationwill be sent upon n requost See S.R.05. ON THE FRON TCOVER Cycle News worked overtime to tes t the latest in hot rod fou r-strokes. See pages 8-15 for all the good stuff. Photos by Kinney Jones. U ~ WflP,8 ~dJffnoN Printed in U.S.A. I 3

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