Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

of the best rid ers in the region. What makes going racing really fun is the people; the camaradarie and brotherhood of th e motorcycle road race r is truly second to none . I have on m an y occasions seen a racer lend parts to another racer w ho is h is ot her d irect competitor. This all ow ed the parts lendee to compete directly agains the pa rts lender, where he would not have been able to otherwise. Can you see that happening in car racing? Why would someone lend to their direct competitor who might possibily bea t them? It's the sportsmanship, brotherhood and tight-knit family that makes motorcycle road racing the best sport on this planet and I'm very proud to be a part of it. But this year something terrible happened . A motorcycle was stolen from the pits at Summit Point Racew ay. The victim left the bike,' a late-model TZ250, in th e pits overnight and left the tra ck for the evening. The next morning, the bike was gone. For the record, I do not know the owner of the bike who that w a s stolen. I can only re late to him abo ut this terrible event on an emotional le vel; feelings of anger and betra yal ,p uls ing through my veins as I w rite this. Ste aling from ano the r race r is a kin to stealing from fam ily. I cou ld no t have felt more violated if someone had broken in to my mother's house and stolen her wed d ing ring. Wh at is p rofound ly distu rbi ng abou t th is is tha t the bike stolen was a for-racing-only motorcycle, so its p arts will; unwittingly or other- wise, end up in the han ds of other racers. H in d sigh t is 20/20 and it's all too eas y to say that the victim sho uld have locked his bike or takenit with him, etc. Wha t we all need to do is watch ou t for each other's interests. Wh ether or not you perso nally know the victim is irre velant. This theft does affect you , directly or in dir ectly. Someone has stolen a motorcycle from our fam il y . Ju st remember that. Brian Summers MARRC Board of Directors Summit Point, WV Lambasting Laguna Seca I would like to respond to the lette r by Jose Obando (Issue #44, N ovember 9 1994). I feel it's a sh ame tha t after going to the motorcycle races at Laguna Seca for the past 10 years , I must pay $60 a night to camp on a 12-foot-by-12-foot piece of dirt without an ything. There' s a sound system you can ' t hear, the security and the sheriff roam like storm troopers, and yo u can't ge t in to the pits to see the bikes and riders up close. If it takes milking each fan ou t of $300 to make a successful (read profitable) event of this magnitud e, th ey can keep it. Give me back the old July AMA Superbike even t where you can see more than two races, and camping and tickets are at p rices we can afford. I guess tha t if the mo torcycle crowd in Cali fornia is a p a the tic we (un like moneybags Jose) have a rea son to be. I'dratherbe a squid than a sucker! Ted Elswick Lompoc,CA Please, WERA If yo u ha ve been racing a Kawa saki EXSOO in WERA Na tional competition, unless your bike has a much larger d isplacement an d you ar e a very talented rid er , the EX is relega ted to no t being competitive by WERA's c1ass structures. In Unlimited Twins, the EX is grossly mismatched by any new Ducati or megabuck Hond a H awk; in Lightwe ight Superbike or Sup erstock, the EX is not equal to the incredible Yarnaha FZR400 so why not change the rule in the Clubman class to allow us to run an air-cooled 500cc engine, bu t not a water-cooled one? My suggestion is to change the Clubman rule to limit a twin to a maximum d isp lacement of 55Occ. This would also accomod a te the Yam ah a Vision and is ea sy to enforce and under stand, and would elim inate mega-buck engines. It would keep it fair for a class that allows unlimited displacement for singles, w ith any choice of frame. I have been in close com p e tit ion w it h ' the u lt r a-t r ic k Phoenix /SRX 600,of Bill Cardell, and he agreed to sign a petition I circula ted to change the Clubman ru les as proposed . But the WERA officials at the time told me the EX was competitive in the lightweigh t classes. Well , a survey of this past seaso n's results did not reflect tha t the EX is com pe titive in Lightweight Superbike or Superstock. The addition of th e EX to Clubma n wo uld allow an avenue for an entry-level rider to race at a reasonabl e expense, ,in a class where people respect each other and that is never overcrowded. And the ad dition of the EX would give some new life to the dwindling Clubman grids. . AMA / CCS allows th e EX to run along w ith Unlimited Sil')gles in the Sportsman class: So if the rule is going to change, then I appeal to all EX racers we need to do it now before th e rul e book goes to print for 1995. Call, write, fax or otherwise communicate to WERA and request the rules be changed as proposed. We should not be exclu ded because our cylinders have water jackets. As far ,\S th e performance aspect, ask Bill Card ell how oft en an EX has bea ten him - I know he would s mile because it rarely happens. Dave Back New Castle, DE Letters to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806·0498 or fa xe d to 310/427-6685. Published letters d o not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should no t exceed 200 words and all letters are sub ject to ed iting. Anonymous letters w ill not be consi d ered for publication . All letters should co n ta i n the writer' s name, address and daytime phone n umber ... Editor. THE BMW SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST SALE. T END O HE FTHE YEAR IS ATIME FOR GIVING. SO WE'R EGIVING Y USOME GREAT SAVINGS. O Annou ncing the very first BMW Moto rcycle Save The Bes t For Last Sale! This is the traditional time for giving generous ly...and that's just what your BMW dealer will be doing. With an array of special savings that'll give you good reasons to celebrate the end of the year. Need another great reason to visit? Come see the exciting, all new BMW R1100R. 0 1994 BMW of North America FOR TH ORLD AHE ('~ EW AD.

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