Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

FINALChris Jonnum · MOTO . . By "Pta'fI«t.u4 U44e4 t6 ~ a.~~~tt tdu tt4dI e- ~"'. Tom Robbins Even Cowgirls get the Blues hy do you r ide motorcycles? Why do you attend professional m otorcycle races? Wh y do you a d Cycle News and other motorcycle ublica tions? Wh y do yo u religio usly n e in to MotoWorld , Mo toWorid 2 nd any race covera ge that happens to ake its wa y onto the tu be (when you find it)? . Well if you're anything at all like me, en you do it for fun . For as long as I can remember, riding nd wa tching motorcycles were the two . ost fun things I co uld think of to do ith my time. The sport of motorcyclin g as one of the most important things in Y life, and it u sually dominated a ealthy chunk of my waking (and some.mes slee ping) thoughts. More often not, I couldn't get enough. Needless to say, getting a job at Cycle ews was a dream come true. Not onl y ould I be routinely trav eling to the orld's most im portan t races and hobobbing with the world's most talented .ders, but I'd be getting pa id to do so. d also be rid ing the absolute latest and ught-after models from all the manucturers, and the more often I rode, the appier my bosses were. And w hen in e office, I'd be expected to wri te anying an d everythin g I could think of bout motorcycles. "A t last," I though t, Perhaps even I will get enough motory cli n g to sa ti s fy m y m o torcycling ones." As th e y sa y, b e carefu l w ha t yo u . h for... Believ e it or not, it is possible to ge t 00 much of a good thing - even motorcyles. Over the past tw o and a half years, I have gotten enough exposure to the sport to satisfy even the most die-hard fan. It is n ot a t all u ncommon fo r Cycle N ews employees to work seven days a week on stories about motorcycles, or to pull an alI-nighter in a hotel room writing about a race. I'd be lyin g if I said I didn't experience periodic bouts of bu rn-out. Tru e, several of m y workmates have been at this for far lon ger than I; heck, Kit Palmer is now working on his 12th yea r with the compan y. I respect these gu ys for thei r ability t o reta in th e ir fanat ici sm for motorcycles, but the fact is, I'm starting to reach my saturatio n point. Over the past several months, I have noticed that I'm not so eager to fly off to Minneapolis to cover a supercross, and even my anticipation for a da y of testing isn't nearly as intense as it once was. Does that mean I am now sick of motorcycles? Hardly. My enthusiasm has just begun to wane, and rather than continue until I do get burned out, I'm ready to concentrate on something else now. So I've decided to tum in my Cycle News badge and gun. But don't worry, I won't be living on the streets, at least not for a while. I'm not so idealistic that I would step down from my job if I didn't have some thin g else lined up already. Where am I moving? Across the hallway, to the offices of Personal Watercraft Illustrated, sister publication to Cycle News . Da ve Kelley, an editor at that magazine, recently d ecided to become a free- lance journalist. I volunteered to fill the vacancy, and was able to talk m y su periors in to thinking it was a good idea. In h is PWI farew ell column, Dave joked tha t I had "big eyes ." I admit that the op portunity for career advancem en t did cross m y mind when I vo lun teered fo r the posi tion, but it was more an afte rthoug ht than anything else. I was honestl y ready for a cha nge of pace, and I expect that having a monthly deadline will give m e a cha nce to be a little mo re creative. What's more, I think I'll enjoy the different subject matter . But in the meantime, I've got a lot to learn. While I've enjoyed personal watercraft in the pa st, I have no t followed the sport with the same devotion I've given to motorcycling. Now that I've go t a new cha llenge ahead of me , I' m excited about the prospect of learning all I can about my new field and doing my best to do a good job. I'd like to say that I'll miss myoid workmates - Paul Carruthers, Kit, Donn Maed a, Scott Rousseau and Mark Hoyer - but I'd be lying. No, w e di dn't have a big blow-out, it's jus t that I'll still get the op portu n ity to see these guys almost every day. Paul is also the senior editor for PWI, and the other guys ' desks are so close that the y can answer when I yell out, "How do yo u s p e ll 'impeller?'" (Though th ey probably won't know ho w to spell it either). Besides, they'll be busy doing th eir own thing. Donn, who ha s d evoted most of his atten tion to d irt track in the past , will be helping out more wi th the motocross and supercross coverage. A veritab le "Jack of all trades," Donn is no stranger to those arenas, and he'll also keep his foot in the door of the trials and road ra ce scenes. Kit will continue to cover su perc ross, motocross a n d offroa d ; h e has a lo n g hi story with a ll th ree, an d I d oubt that there's a m or e qualified reporte r on the bea t. Scott will be stepping up to help Donn out with the d irt tra ck coverage, and judging by the way he can quo te trivia on the sport, I don 't think he should ha ve any trouble at all. Mark, on the other hand, has my comp lete sym pathy. Don ' t get m e w rong, he was th e most overqualified copy editor in the worl d , bu t I d on' t know of anyon e who could pull off the assignmen t he 's been handed. You see, Ma rk will n ow b e worki ng a s Cycle News' managin g ed itor, whi ch gives him th e unenviabl e ta sk of ke eping these guys organ ized . Go o d luck, Mark. What about Pa ul? His job as "boss" will basically rem ain the same, only now he'll be yellin g at me for d ifferent reaso ns than before. As far as testing the new bikes goes , the Cycle News ed ito rs will share th a t #task." . Me? Well, fo r a while an yway, I' ll ha ve m y hands full tr y ing to b ecome more familiar wi th perso nal wa tercraft. Instea d of headin g to a track a t Glen Helen to tes t a bike, or a field in Unadilla to cover a race, I' ll be testing watercraft at Lake Ha vasu and covering races in the Florida surf. I guess they're really not that different when you think about it. I'll still attend press introductions for the new models, and will continue to interview the top riders. Despite the simila rities, though, I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous. But the important thing is that I'm looking forward to the new job. And what's more, I actu ally think that the change in employment will boost m y ebullience for the various forms of two-wheeled racing . Even after I ge t the hang of thi ngs, PWI will ha ve to rem ain m y numberone priority, but I still plan to atten d the bigger motorcycle races around California , and I'll probably help out the Cycle News guys by periodically coverin g a race (if the y' ll ha ve me). And there's a goo d chance that this won ' t be Fin al Mote's fina l moto. When I get the urge to tell a story or get something off my chest, I'm fa irly certa in my forme r cohorts will give me the opportunity to p en another column (afte r all, it will mean one less for them to write). So a s you can see, m y change in em ploym ent will not likely see me slowing d own much. But wh at abo ut when it's tim e to play? Wh at will I d o then? Well, among oth er things, probably rid e my motorcycle. Or read Cycle News. CN .INTHE WIND· ..:. Continuedfrompage 3 . eesb u rg in Leesb urg, Flo r id a , on arch 4 fro m 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Team onda's Scott Summers is scheduled to ppear. OSTPONED: Th e Hilltoppers M.C:s boba Gra n Prix un til 1996. For mo re nfo rma tion call 310 / 428-4971 or 14/898-4557. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At th e Cy cl e Sh ac k in S taffo r d , Te xas, on Ma rch 24 from 6:00 p. m. to 9:00 p.m . Team N ol een /Siz zler' s La rry Ward , La rry Broo ks and Ky le Le wi s are scheduled to appear along w ith Team NCY/Primal Instinct's Pedro Gonz alez and Mike Metzger, Team DGY's Ma tt Ma ximoff and Jo nathan Bla in , Team FMF's Corey Keen ey and Team KTM' s Jeff Dement. For more information call 713/530-9337. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Da ytona Fun Machines in Dayt ona Beach, Florida, on March 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m . Team Honda's Scott Su m mers is scheduled to appear. AUTOGRAPH S IGN ING : At Bloomington Po wersports in Bloo ming ton, Ind ia n a , on Ma rch 17 fr om 6:00 p .m . to 9:00 p .m. Team 1/800Co ll ec t /Hon da 's, t wo-tim e Superc ro ss Champ ion Jerem y McGra th , Doug Henry and Ste ve Lamson a re sc h ed u led to app ea r. For more informa tion call 812/339-0199 . a I ·LOOKING·BACK... .·1 annual Fuel & Gas Motorcycle Nationals at Irw indale Raceway ...American Eagle too k out a full -page ad showing o ff some of th e ir p rodu cts including motorcy cles, sn owm obiles an d sport buggies as well as a d irect ory of so me 200 d is tributors nati on wide. 15 YEARS AGO... March 12, 1980 h u ck Sun won his first AMA supercross, the Coca Cola Superbowl of Motocross South, in Atlanta Stadium...Dick Bu rleson topped the Stone Mountain National Enduro...Our D ay to n a 200 previe w was a whopping six pages C and featured rider picks and profiles of the machinery to be ridden in the prestigious event...There was also an interv iew with 1979 Day t on a 200 win ne r Dale Singleton. The li kable " pig fa r mer" ~~r'I'!'... later lost his life in a ii==~~~~~ tra g ic plane n~lI'Oio cr ash ...Team Suzuki ' s Marty Smith w a s also interv i e wed .. Dale Bro wn au thored a rid ing im p ressio n of the Yam aha XS850 G . .. Edd ie Lawso n rode the Moriwaki Kawasaki the AFM Open GP cla ss at Ontari o M otor Speedway...A TTSOO KR Replica short tracker was on the block in the Classified section. The sell er? Rob Muzzy. .,..-L 5YEARSAGO... M 7, 1990 arch abled engine tuner Tom Sifton and b illiona ire pub lish in g m a gnat e Malcolm Forbes were eulogized in th e " In The Wind sec tion" ...Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ward scored the win in a fiercely contes t ed Atlanta Supercross...Our preview section for the 49th running of the Daytona 200 featured the usual picks and profiles as well as an interview of AMA National Superbike Champion Ja mie James, a technical look at Randy Renfrow's Honda RS750-powered Commonwealth Pro Twins racer and the Vance & Hines OWOl Superbike, and a behind-the-scenes look at Daytona comer workers...Wayne Gardner was among the top 500cc Grand Prix riders te sting at Laguna Sec a ...CycIe News tested the 1990 Honda CR125. a F

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