Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VOICES · : to the editor America's weekly motorcycle newspaper L.e~ers Volume XXXII Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carru thers , Editor Kit Palmer, Associate EdUor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Robene Boggs, Proofreader Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Mana ger Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mar k Thome, Western Sales Manager Thom as Ge nter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, East rn Sales Manager e Rick Mathen y, Eastern Sales Manager Rhond a Crawford , Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Laurie Snow , Ass istant Marketin g & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager Ne w Media Develo pme n t Mar k Mitchell, Manager . Classified Ads laurie Snow Grap h ics an d Production Ree Johnso n, Production Supcroisor Mandy Loa, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest , Graphic Artist . Amy Faug ht, Graphic Artist Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Peggy Rivera, Secr etary to the Publisher AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Dia mo nd, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass , Assistant Herla ne Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Angu iano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billin Coordinator g Caro l Begovic, Dealer Coordinator Servi ce and Su pport Bridgett Bobrofsky, Receptionist Leonard Herring, Seroice and Support National Headquarters 2201 Che rry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806 , P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 908OHJ498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844 . FAX (310) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tu cker, GA, 30084 ; mailing ad d ress P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850 . FAX (404) 934-3112 e-mail edi tor@cydenews.com subscribe®cyclenews.com advertisi ng@cyclene ws.com A message from the Hamels Th e Danny Hamel family w ishes to express their heartfelt tha nks to all their frien ds and acquaintances in the racing community. Thank you for all the generosity, kindness, love and su pport that yo u have shown. Love , Roger, Marcia and David. Roger, Ma rcia and David Hamel Bou lder City, NV Differing opinions ( am writing to voice my disappointm ent in Team H onda and Te a m Kawasaki. After driving four hours to attend the final round of the U.S. Supercross Series in Las Vegas, I left disheart. ened and disgu sted. Th e ev ent suffe red a pow er ou tage just before the 250cc LCQ . Aft er wa iting for one hour, the promoters and the track officials came through for the fans by using auxi liary flood lights to lig ht the track. As the riders lined up for the 250cc main, the gate was missing Jeremy McGra th , Doug Henry and Mike Kiedrowski. In a sport that is sta rving for outside corpora te sponsors this is un acceptable and could be detrimental. I wo uld like to rem in d these rid ers that they are not major leagu e baseball players . You are where you are because of the fans . Please don't ever forget it. David Ruddocks Mission Viejo, CA While I am sure that the riders in question have thei r own sp in on the why an d w he refo re of the situa tio n, there are a few inescapable realities that defy whateve r rationale they ma y offer regarding the lack of poin ts fu nd, disagreements . with the p romoter or less than perfect lighting conditions. First and forem ost, the y let do wn the fans without whom they wo u ld all be un employed. They let d own th e factories tha t th ey represent, w hich spend mill ions of d ollar s a yea r p rom oti ng a positiv e cor po ra te image. They let th e promoters d own wh o ca n ha rdl y be held responsible for the integrity of the electrica l com ponents of th e sta dium. They even let do wn thei r fellow racers w hen you consider that had they decided not to race the semi s, five other race rs w ould h a v e h ad a pa y che ck a t nigh t' s end. Last but not least , they let dow n th e s po r t itself. After a ll the . upheaval that su pe rcros s we n t through in the off-season, this is the last thing it needed . If there was a lesson to the baseba ll strike it was th at th e fan s are th e big losers and they remember th a t fact when the opposing parties kiss and m a ke up . Baseba ll s tadi ums all over the country are recording some of the lowest a tt e n d a n ce rates in years . Supercross can not afford a s imilar backlash. Rick Doughty Fresno, CA I am totally outraged at w ha t took place in Las Vegas . I have ne ver in all my years as an avid supercross fan seen such a poor display.of what is supposed to be a professional eve nt. It was a joke, and I want my money back. I work in sa les on a commission-o n ly ba sis, and for this weekend forfeited my opportunity to make any wages. What I got was a bad track, blurry announcements that could not be heard, lots of time sitti ng in a dark; actionless, college football field drinking warm beer. Then in the end, I found that all of this effort was for nothin g . Th e track r em a in e d dark, and unsaf e to race; th er efore, the athletes who I had come so far to se e, did not compete, I am comp letely ashamed to admit that I am a supercross fan, and that this is a professional sport. I'm also sorry for the riders, all of them. Their destiny is in the hands of peo ple who do n't care. Not. about the spo rt, nor the fans . Larry Barrett Del Mar, CA I am no t a racer. I only have a love of mo torcycles that takes me dirt bike riding every week. When th e su percross comes to town it's a big dea l. I mark my calendar an d order tickets early. I also bring as ma ny non-enthusiasts with me as I can. This yea r my wife and I took eight extra people to the Las Vegas SX. N one of those eight will be returning to the races next year. The track and show MTEG put on last year was so much better. But that's not what ruin ed th e-race, It was Jeremy McGrath, Doug Henry, Mike Kied row ski, Mike Craig and Brian Swink. Some 25,000 people ca me to see a ra ce . H alf o f th ose ' ca me to se e McGrath. While the power was out, the aud ien ce waited. It wa s late , we were tired a nd bored, bu t w e wait ed . We wa ited to 's ee the people w ho are ou r heroes . McGrath and the boys will tell you it wasn' t sa fe to race. An yone w ho sa w (Damon) Huffman cha rge through the pack in the 125cc main kn ows that isn' t tru e. The truth is that this wa s the last race of the season, and the racers we re going on a mini-strike against the promo ters and the AMA. We love you guys, but re member, you have to love us . We pay the bills so that you can be ou r heroes. Doug Greig Las Vegas, NV I would like to give a special thanks to Tea m Ya ma ha , Team Noleen, Tea m Suz uki, Team KTM an d all the other rid ers who put on the great show. These riders took a practice lap, raced , and are the true heroes of supercross. In my opi nion, Emig's victory should be more prestigious than beating Jere my McGrath. After all this track wa s supposed to be so dangerous tha t McGra th and Co. were scared to eve n do a prac tice lap. Lee Barnes Wildomar, CA On any weekend, anyw here in the country, racers race at night under conditions far worse than wh at Las Veg as had to offer. Racers with less tale nt and mo ney than the facto ry stars, d o it withou t excuses and without sniveling . At the e n d o f the ni ght th eir fans don't go home feeling ripped off by a bunch of . factory prima donnas. Thank you Jeff Emig, Team Yamaha, Team Suzuki and the rest of the ride rs who did compete, for a great show. Kurt H, Lemke Highland, CA First of all, as a rider, I wa nt to say to all of the fans who attended how sorry I am that they di d not get to see the race they paid to watch. No one was to' blam e for th e power ou tage, not th e promot er s and not the riders. However, some fans who comp lained after the race said that the prom oters and the AMA told them to bla me th e rid er s. What ca n we be blamed for? For having an in terest in our own safety? All of the rid ers agreed, at first , that the ligh ting conditions on th e track were just too dangerous to risk racing on . It is safe to say that the few factory riders w ho raced did so aga ins t th eir own better ju d gment. The privat eers had to compe te at least one lap in order . to receive a minimum of $1000 which they need and w oul d normally receive for qualifyin g. In fact, several of the privateers p ulled off because of the track conditions. Unfortunat ely, the fans suffe r ed th e m o st a n d , aga in, we were sorry to d isappoint th em, but we feIt th e circums tances w ere beyond a ny one's contro l. Brian Swink Team Honda of Troy Linden, MI - -,..- - - ....,...- - Continued on page 49 Cycle News(uSPS141·340) is published weekly exce 'he pt last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per year by CycleNews. Inc.•2201Cherry Avenue, Long Be ach. CA 90806. Secondclass postage paid at LongBeach, CA and at additional mailing office. Canada POSI International PublicationsMaiL 11546615. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801~98. To de termin e the exp iration da te of your sa becription, check th e four numbers on the fint line of your address label. The first two digit!!! indi ate the last issue number you'U receive and the last two characters indica te the year of th e Lui issue. Subscription rates: Rates for the United States and its possessions for one year, (50 is. ues), $5Q.OO; two years 000 issur-s), s .. $95.00 six months, (25issues), 526.00; trial sub 0 5 issues). ; $19.00. Canada and Foreign, one year (SO issues), S9 ().OO; two years (100 issues) $175 ; six months (25 issues>. 545.00 tria1 , .00 ; sub (IS issues), $38,00. Cycle News welcomes unsolicited editorial material including s stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Suchmaterial, if publi.bed, becomes the exclusive propertyof CycleNews. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will besent upon request. SeeS.R.D5 . W!!P.8 &~\JffnoN Printed in U.S .A . 4 Cn~yright· Cvcle News, 1/1<.1995. Trademark Cyd e New. registered US. Patent Office. All rights reserved. INSIDE '·.. Issue #25,June28, 1995 FEATURES ROAD RACING Loudo n Superbike Na tional 6 Monza World Superbike 14 DIRTTRACK ' Dallas Ha lf Mile 3'O Parker rul es Peoria 600 .40 MOTOCROSS Budds Creek Nationa l MX : 18 44 World MX GP WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Bruce Penhall and Dennis Sigalos ..24 TEST . Riding a legend - CCM C25 34 ROAD RIDE Riding with NASCAR's Kyle Petty .38 NEWBIKES 1996 Yama ha YZ MXers OFF·ROAD Lone Wolf Two-Day Qu alifier Ely Gran Prix : Bushkill Valley Na t'! Hillclimb 39' .42 .46 .48 DEPARTMENTS EVENTS NEW PRODUCTS RESULTS CALENDAR LEADERBOARD WANT ADS INTHE PADDOCK 50 63 , : 64 65 71 .; 72 87 ON THE FRONT COVER We get a look at the 1996 YZS on page 39, two different Worl d Superbike winners riding the same brand on page 14, and a ride aboard the CCM C25 on page 34 . Photos by Don n, Mae d a , Go ld & 'Goose an d Kinney Jon es.

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