Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXXII Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Assoc Editor iate Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, M/Jnaging Editor Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loa , ProductionManager Dennis Greene, u.b. Tech. StaceyGuest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graphic Artist Ad ministration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Peggy Rivera, Secr etaryto the Publisher Advertising Terry Pra tt, National AccountsManager Mark Mitchell, EasternAccounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Ganter, Western SalesManager Forrest Hayashi, Western SalesManager Greg Mitchell, EasternSales Manager Rick Matheny, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Want Ads LaurieSnow, Want Ad Sales Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager Dealer Sales KellyBranscome, Dealer Representative AccountingfDau Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Sharon Each, HeadquartersReceptionist Leonard Herring, Service and Support National Headquarters . 220 Cherry Ave., LongBeach, CA 90806, 1 P.O. Box 498, LongBeach, CA 90801-0498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310) 427~S . Eastern Office 4188 First Ave. , Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 80S, Tucker,GA 3008S-{)805. (404)934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112 CycleNews (USPS 141·340) is publishedweeklyexceptthe last two weeks of thecalendaryear for $50.00per year by CycleNews. lee, 2201 Cherry Avenue.Long Beach CA . 90806. Secondclass postage paid at LongBeach CA and at . additional m.1iling office. Canada PostInternational Publications Mail1546615. POSThI A~ Send add.... changes'" Cyd . News, P.O. Box 498. Long Boa CA 908O1-l1498. ch, Nick fan . Graham's troubles My brother and I read the article on Ricky Graham (Turn Four, Issue #13, April 5) written by Donn Maeda. It is sad to hear about the physical and financial burdens on one of the greatest dirt trackers since the days of Kenny Roberts. . We have to admit that ove r the years we have lost interest in di rt track racing, but when Graham came back on the scene in '93 he brought so mething else back - competition between manufacturers, namely Ha rley- Davidson and Honda. We know that Graha m wasn't a factory rider in '93 but he mad e Honda, no t to mention Tea m Undo, a name to be reckoned w ith . All th e mon ey that Honda put out in the early '80s to ha ve a bike that competed with Harley finally paid off in '93 - thanks to Ricky Graham. We think Honda and the sport itself owes a lot more to this man than he 's received. The Harris Broth ers North Holl yw ood, CA More on Graham Growing up around motorcycles, I started rid ing at the age of seven. My parents wouldn't allow me to even sit on a motor cycle without a helmet. Whether I was testing my mo torcycle by riding it up the street or riding it over to sign up at the race track - I always wore my helmet. Now I need to get something off my chest . I ha ve been a fan of all types of motorcycle racing for 25 years and no thing upsets me. mo re th an seeing di r t track racers doing clu tch starts on the b a ck s traigh t - with no h elm ets; mot ocross racers riding around a supercross track or back to the p its - wi th no he lm e ts; a nd sp eed w ay rid ers rid in g a ro und the tracks - with no helmets. I was upset to hear about Ricky Gra ha m's unfortunate accident. My firs t thou gh t was if Ricky was wearing his helmet at th e time. Now I' ve found out th at he was not. Okay, AMA - it's time to do something for racing . Require all competitors to wear a helmet whe n they are riding mot orcycles. Many impressionable children attend these events and if they s.ee their heroes wearing helmets they might just wear their own. I hope Ricky Graham's accident will serve as a reminder to everyone. Please wear your helmet. John Foster Long Beach, CA Paul Carruthers - mo tojouma list - be fair. In your Briefly sid ebar to your Daytona 200 article (Iss ue #11, Ma rch 22), yo~ put down motojourna lists who took part in Dayt ona '95 in a very d erogatory manner as if crashing was their sole contribution. Under "Racing motojournalist dept:" you say..."and earlier this week, Sport Rider editor Nic k lenatsch (no t in bold type, contrary to all th e other na mes except Kent Kunitisugu ) cras hed when the Britten's steering dam per failed in the chicane. Motorcyclist Magazin e editor Mitch Boehm was the most successful of the journa lists, finishing third in a vintage race on Tu esd a y; Am eri can Roadracing's Brian Catterson rode to an 11 th -p lace fi nish in the SuperTeams endurance race w it h teammat e Ma rk Cruz," Big d eal. In the very same race, Nick Ienatsch finished first wi th teammate Fritz Kling . Is this fair or not? Nick lenatsch also finished first in the Championship Cup Se ries Sprints in Expert Heavyweight SuperTwins, third in the Battle of the Twins Open and fourth in the superlatively competitive AMA 250cc Gra nd Prix. Ve ry sincere congratulations to Nick and best wishes for a speedy recovery to Jason and Lance, all editors of Spo rt Rider Magazine. Also congra tulations to Yvo n, Miguel and Mario DuHame l and best wishes for a speedy recovery to Pascal Picotte. Bob Ch arb onneau Montreal, Quebec, Can ada And to think we didn't know that Nick had family in Canada. Seriously, to say that I was derogatory toward Nick or any other motojournaiist is - as you would say - "not fair." The reason I f ocused on the other editors was because lenatsch's heroics were well covered elsewhere in the issue. As for me focusing on their crashes - well, that's exactly what they did. [ have respect for each and every one of them as both racers and motojoumalists, but we all crash and unfortunately we also usually have to read about it...Editor. TNN's the worst? In my opinion (and in th e op in io n of many of my friends) the TNN coverage of the Daytona 200 was the w orst that we have see n on TV. O ut of 80 riders, Scott Russell is the only rider that was covered. Take nothin g away from Russell because he is a brill iant rider, but the other riders were also risking their lives, and I' m sure they would have enjoyed a glim pse of themselves on National TV. I have followed some of these riders for five years, an d they are some of the top riders in the na tion, bu t the y we re never shown or spoken of. Ho pefully, someone else covered th e race so that the other riders who were competitive could be viewed . I' m a disappointed race fan. G.A. Black Oakman,GA Kudos To all the good folks at Cycle News. The Da y to n a coverage was th e finest. Th anks .for th e bes t mot orcycle news there is to read on the p lanet. Keep up the great wo rk. ' Andy Smith longmont, CO Don 't thank us I just wa nte d to tha nk you for the fullp a ge ad that you h ave b een running wit h the air times an d dates of the racing to be featured on ESPN. This is just one more great dimension of an already great publication. I hope you keep running the air times. William Ston er New Haven, cr God speed, John ' l on g ti m e motorcycle en thus iast and AMA Member Joh n Ju ds on Andrews died tragically in a mo torcycle accid en t in the Daytona ar ea d urin g Bike Week '95. The sing le-vehicle accident occured w h e n John ' s wi nt e r s ui t, wh ich w as bein g ca rried under a cargo net, came unsecured and was trapped in his rear wh eel. John was struck by his motorcycle in the crash . John w as a good motorcycli s t. He never drank and rode. He alwa ys wore a helmet, lea th er jac ke t, b oo ts a nd gloves, and he was informed about the la test in sa fe ty issu es and rider techniques. Every thing w as in place to save him except divine interve ntion. John is survived by h is wi fe Angie and three-year-old dau gh ter Jessica. We will all miss him terri bly. M ichael A. Morley Jacks onville, NC Letters to th e ed it o r s h ou ld b e sen t to Voices, Cycle Ne ws, P.O. Box 498, long Beach, CA 9080~ 0498 or faxed to 3101427-6685. Published le tters do no t necessarily reflect the posi tio n of Cycle News, In c. Le tt ers shoul d not exceed 200 words a n d .J.1I . letters are subject to editing. An on ymous letters will not be considered for publication . All letters sh o uld contain the w rite r's nam e, ad d ress and da yt ime phone number •.• Edito r. To determin e the expiration d~le of your subscriptio n, check the four numbers on the first line of your address labe l, The first two digits indicate the IliStiss ue nu mber you'll receive and the lui two chMacten india te the yeu of the lui: issue. .INSIDE 12, 1995 Issue#14 ,April Subscription rates: Ratesfor the UnitedStatesand its ~ sessionsforone year, (SO issues) SSflOO; two years(100 , issues). 595.00;six months.(25 issues). 526.00; trial sub (IS issues), 519.00. Canada and Foreign. ere y.ar (SO issues). 00.00; two y.a", (100issues). 5175.00; six monthS(25 issues) S45.oo; trial sub (IS issues). 538.00. . CycleNews welcomes unsolicited editorial material includingstories,cartoons. photos. etc. Such material it published. . becomesthe exclusive propertyofCycle News.Such accept. eel materialis subjectto revisiO;n as is necessary in the sole discretion ofCycleNews. Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. Allunsolicitedmaterial will behandled with reasona blecare,however, CycleNews assumes no responsibility for the safety,lossor damageto suchmaterial. Reprinting in wholeor part only by pennission of the publisher. Advertising ratesand circulation information will be sent upon request See SR.D5. W / B p'11l V _ ,!:! AUDITED CIRCULATION Printed in U.S.A. Cofyrighl" (yd. N.w., Inc.1995. Trail.mark Cycle N.... r

• Cover