Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

FINALChris 'JonJium.: MOTO . ' By t' s been a month and a half since the end of th e Internat ional Six Day Enduro, and I still have a bad taste in my mouth. Seeing what you consi der to be th e m ost pres tigious motor cycle eve n t in the world turne d int o a fa rce w ill do th a t, es pecially whe n the host country is your own. Not too many people disagree with me on that point, but things are a little less una ni mous when it comes to laying blame. The amb iguity surrounding the event makes it hard to know exactly wh o to point a finger at but, from wha t I can tell, Jim Long should get much of the blame. Long, who was supposedly invo lved in the promotion of the 1988 Calga ry Winter Olympics, was hired by the ho sting Tulsa Tra ilrid ers to handle the public relations side of the Tulsa Six Days. Long's resume ma y be im pressive, but I was amazed at how ineffectively the ISDE was promoted. Of course hindsight is 20/20, bu t I can't really say the lack of organization was a surp rise. Sure, a few years ago I wa s as excited as anyone else to hear that the ISDE was coming to the States, bu t in th e weeks leading up to Day One, the genera l consensus in the motorcycle ind u stry w as th at th ere would be a lot of ticked-off Europeans. Nearly eve ry attempt to obtain information - or even volunteer ass istance, for that matter - wa s met with either a total lack of cooperation or downright animosity. Richard Heffernan , a staff writer at the Sand Springs Leader, told us stories of local business owners being promised 30-50,000 spectators, and b eing ru dely surprised by th e much lower actual numbers. The opening cerem onies were a joke as w ell, with more parade participants th an act u al spec tators . Mayor Bruce Ford wa s even introduced to welc ome th e competitor s bu t, unfortunatel y, someone had forgotten to inv ite him. It see ms fu n ny to u s that o ne of Long's primary resp onsibiliti es wa s to help the press. He was supposed to be th ere, answeri ng an y questions and prov id ing any informati on that w e wo uld re q ui re to write our s tories abo ut the event. But we never saw the man once. We may have been mad, but the Eu ro pe an pres s w as outraged. At least we spoke th e same language as I the fr iendly and hard-w o r kin g (but unfortunately ineffective) p ress room volunteers, "You put the first ma n on the moon and invent the most sophisticated computers in the worl d, but you don't even ha ve a photocop ier in the press room, " one b efudd led Italian jou rnalist was hear d exclaiming. Telephones were another commodity mysteriously absent, unless you count the five pa y ph ones located outside in the rain. But don't think for a min ute that I'm angry'because the press was n' t trea te d b etter . I don 't ex pec t to be cat ered to with a lavish press room, complete with generous spreads of food and d rink; as long as Cycle News ge ts the information we ne ed to write a story, I'm happy. Besides, I prefer being out on the course with the fan s, wh o along wi th the ride rs, should hold the to p posit ion on an y promoting club's list of priorities. And that's where the Tulsa Trailriders came up short. From an enthusiast's point of v iew, the feeling is pretty much unanimous that the even t left a lo t to be desired, as evidenced by the mountain of mail dumped on the Cycle N ews offices. We have alread y published many of the letters we received , but due to sp ace Iimita tions, several read ers w ith valid po ints had to b e excluded . Most of the complaints centered on the fact that spectator access w as ridiculously restricted , d espit e promotional statements that this would be the most spectator-friendly Six Days in years. In actuality, spectators were restricted to the pits on Day Three and, from Day Four .on, they wer e restrained in a fenced-off "cattle pen" by a comer in one of the special tests. We got a letter from Williams!own, New Jer sey, resident Mike McHale, who s tated, "John Zink had 33,000 acres of land, but the average fan got to see about half an acres' worth!" Fortunately, the Day Si x fi n a l motocross test offered some respectable spectator viewing, but terrain tests and g rass tracks are what th e event is all about. Merl e Yost, from Wich ita, Kan sas, wrote, " Imag ine for a moment a Winter Olympics, where spectators could not actua lly see any of the events except for the very last." Liability concerns were the principal reason given for the restrictions, wh ich is understandable given the litigat ionh ap p y legal sy s tem of th e Un it ed States . Still, the cl u b has promo te d events for years, and has sent representat ives to the past few Six Days; the y shoul d have known what wa s comi ng beforehand. If they did kno w, but sti ll tried to attract spectators, then they are even more guilty. While the trea tment of the spec tators wa s ap palling, it must be .said that the competition end of the eve nt wen t off wit hout a hitch. Sure, some European riders comp lained that the trail wa s too tough, but th e org an iza tio n of the co u rse and sc o ri n g were both topnotch. "The Tul sa Trailr id ers d id the best job that could be done," said Wally Burkhart, from Clarksburg, West Virgin ia. "The only mistakes they made were in giving Jim Long a job, and in wh ere they held the event." Some people th ink that the AMA should be held responsible for the catastro p he. Fred Hensl ey [ r ., from Fort Wo rth, Texa s, wrote, "I don't know where the Tul sa Trailriders found Jim Long, but my understanding is that his specialty is in promoting parades, not racing events. An d wh ere w as the AMA? Weren 't they involved? " Actually, th e AMA is as upset as an yone else, but the fact is that Long was hired by the Tulsa Trailriders - not the AMA. As AMA director of member activ ities Hugh Fleming, puts it, "The AMA is a sanctioning' body, no t a promoting body. Basically, we gave it (the ISDE) to the Tulsa Trailriders to put on, and we relied on them to do the right thing. We paid Tu lsa Trailrider represe n tative s to attend the last five Six . Days, expecting them to take notes, . take videos, whatever , and use this input for our event. We tried giv ing them advice but they just wouldn't listen; they wanted to do it their wa y. Why they didn't listen to us is beyond me." Som e of the letter writers felt that other p eople had dropped the ba ll. Dale B.' Gazzolo, from Tucson, Arizona, wrote, "It's unfortunate that the ISDE org an izers and yo ur coverage are not held to th e same p erformance sta ndards as the riders...Th e article hints, . w it h o u t any real d etail, that the spe ct ato rs were up set about the way they were treated b y th e promo ters an d their be ing d en ied access to the te sts as promised ...Apparently Kit Palmer and Chris [onnum felt it was journalistically significant to sing le out Scott Summers fo r h is tra ilside sho ck replacement instead of the Italian who did the sam e on Day One. And since when is a shock a marked part ? Isn't find ing parts along the trail as much a part of the Six Days as skunk-stri ped helmets?" . Kit and I thought that two spectator quotes w ere pl enty of "real d etail," especially since we wanted to focus the bulk of our s to ry on th e on- course achievements of the riders. And we do admit that "finding" parts is a part of the game, which is why we relayed Geoff Ballard 's humorous story of Scott Summers pulling a "sneaky." Shocks aren't a marked part, whic h means they may be replaced, but only at a checkpoint or in the pare ferme (unless the rider is carrying it in his fanny pack) . Kit remembers the '89 German Six Days, where U.S. rider Grant Palenske rebuilt the top end of his Yamaha on the tra il. The next da y, a press release came out sa ying that it must' ve been "raining pistons and rings" out on the trail. No one accused Palenske of cheating, because he didn't get caught. We are a new spaper, and it is our re s p o ns ibi li ty to report th e news , whet her or it is po sit ive or negative. Unfortunately, there just wasn't all that much in the wa y of "positive" at this year's ISDE. While it may be a good way of letting off steam, the fact of the rnatter is that all the finger-pointing in the world won't rep air the dam age done by this year's International Six Day Enduro. "I think the AMA should try to get this event again and they should run it and notlet a club do it," said Burkhart, in another part of his letter. "I know that the U.S. can put on a great event." . While le ss optimistic, I'm afraid McHale's concl us ion may be a little more accurate. McHal e closed , " I'd be very surprised if the FIM ever granted the USA another chance to have the Six CN Days." I·:400KlNG.BACKou .' j 25 YEAR SAGO... N ovember 25,1 969 ,t....;:...,.' ,--.__ . · ~"....,.z J''/ -~,., r--..d" • ~~. ~. hat better way to I , introdu ce yo u r . • new sa les man- ; ~~ ager 'than put a picture I . of .h i m on the fro nt L~_ page? ·Featured on the ( :"="'"-"''::;;;:;;' cover 25 years ago was Cycle News' new western sales mana ger Paul Cosner, former editor of Cycle News East ... Rick Woods dominated the ha lf-mile speedway at Ascot Park ... The 2nd Annual Carlsbad Team Motocross was held and won by To m Rapp and Larry Pfutzenreuter (250-500cc), and Ruben Benites and Bill Holc o m b (l25cc) ... Don Emler, th e founder of the Flying Machine Factory (FMF), was the main attra ction at the Hun tington Beach Cycl e Park mo tocross. In th e first 125cc Ju nior rnoto, his bike siezed, but in the second W ...:_ -'-. - - - -1 - and third mot e s, Emler took the wi ns going away . That day, Emler wore a full coverag e helmet and his girlfriends $90 wig . Th e announ cer ca lled h im "Donna"... More than 1100 rid ers competed in the Cow Bill 125-mile National End uro held in Upp erlake, Californ ia... Mark Brelsford won the San Jose Short Track that was held on pavement at the San ta Clara Cou nty Fair gro unds... Cycle News test- /ffl~Fi::;::lI:::l!:J, ed the Mota-Beta XC-1 00 scra m bler . It sold for $495. 15 YEARS AG ... O November 21 , 1979 photo of Husqvarna-mounted Larry Roeseler at the start of the Baja 1000 was on the cover 15 years ago. The winni ng Roeseler and Jack Jo hnson team completed the 985-mile, Ensenada A to LaPaz race in 19:48:4.24. Fin ishing seco nd wa s th e team of Scot Ha rden and Brent Wallingsford... Mike Hannon finished one poi nt ahead of Rick Munyon to win the Buckhorn Na tional Enduro in Oak Run, Californ ia... Cycle News ran a comparison test on the new 1979 Kawasaki KLX 250 and the Honda XR250 off-road bikes. The test ended up in a " d raw" ... Seve n teen-yea r-old Shawn M o ran won th e Long Tr ack Speedway Champions hips at Ascot Park ... A short profile story was ru n on motocrosser Ji m Gibson... Jeff Jenn ings, Tony DiStefano an d Jeff Ward won the 125, 250cc and Open Pro class, respec tively, at Saddleback MX... 5YEARS AGO... N ovember 15,1989 . h e Daytona Race of Champions was featu red on the cover, including the start of the 750cc Su per- T sport race and Michael Barnes, winner of th e 600cc Supersport clas s... Jeff Ward was named the AMA Pro Athlete of the Year at the AMA Awards Banquet held in Long Beach, California. Voted by the readers of Cycle News, Supercross Champion Jeff Stan ton was named as the recipient of the Mick-;: >l /. ~-. . . - . ey !Jj-;''?'' .~ ' Th ompson ··_-~ :J..;:L Jj Awa rd of ExcelO'I!o~~_R~,-.!LCll'~"Pj;';; lence... Scott Sum i · '. ". . ..... . mers sco re d th e . r;';', ; ~",J,: :~:;',,,~. . . overall win at the ~ ~,. 'i" final ro und of th e '~ ':"'i:~ Gra n d ""''!;.' N ational '::;:;:;:;:" ;;:';;;c ::; ": ' Cross Country Series " _.:~~S!.~ . in Mt. Morris, Penn- . -- - - : : sy lvania ; despite Summers winning the event, Ed Lojak wrapped up the series title... Cycle News tes ted th e 1990 Kawasaki KX125 MXer... Mike Healey wo n the Commotion by the Ocean II MX at Carlsbad. C\' -::tt:: "::l'l -, 0\ 0\ ...... ~ ...... .... Cl) "S Cl) :> o Z 55

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