Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VOICES America'sweekly motorcycle newspaper . Leiters totheeditor Volume XXXIII Sharon Clayton, President. Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, A'sociate Editor Scott Rousseau. Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush. Copy Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manager RickMatheny, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Lauri e Snow, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager New Media Development Mark Mitchell, Director Rick Matheny, Operations Classified Ads Sharon Van Hazelen Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loa, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graphi Artist c Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Acco untingfData P roces sin g Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovi c, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Bridgett Bobrofsky, Receptionist Leonard Herring. Service and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-Q498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX(31 0) 427 -6685 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (770) 934-7850. FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com su bscribedcyclenews.com advertising@cyclenews.com Internet http:/ /www.cyclenews.com ·ew. Cycle (USPS141-340)is published weekly except th. last two weeksof tlw calendar rear for 550.00 per y~ar by Cycle News. fnc.. 2201 Cherry Avenue. Long Beach. CA 908J6. Second cla~~ postage paid at LongBeech, CAand at addition. al mailing cefice Canada Post International Pubhcations Mail ' 546615. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Box498. Long Beach. CA 90801..o.a98. To determine the expiration date of your subscription, check the four nwnben on the first line of your addl'r!o5 label The first two digits indicate the Lut issue number you'll receive .151two characters indicate the yen of the Lut issue. and the 1 Subsctipnoe rates: Ratesfor the United States and its possessionr for one yl"ar, (SO issues), $50.00; two year.; (100issues). issues), $26.00; trial sub (15Issues), S95.00;six months. S19.00.Canad.t and Foreign. one year (SO issues), $91),00; two yl'ars (100issues1 5175.00; six months (25 issues), $45.00 trial ; sub (15 issut"S), 538.00. r-s Cycle Nt>~s welcomes unsolicited editorial material including stor es. cartoons, photos, etc. Such material. if publishe . i d becomes the exclusive property of CycleNews. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. SeeS.R.D.S. W~ ~lfcUffll0N .8 Printed in U.S.A. 4 Co~yrigh Cycle News, Inc. 1996.Trademark Cycle News registered U.s. P..tent Office. All rights reserved, Loves it Unbelievable, it's Sunday morning and I have a craving for pan cakes an d supercro ss results. As the little w oman flip s flapjacks in the kitchen, my com pu ter is cookin' up sizzlin' su percross results from Orlando on the Cycle Netos Web page. If you ever needed a reason to bu y a computer and surf the net. this is it. We really appreciate th e efforts of Team Cycle News. We will see you eve ry Sunday morning on the Ne t and every Wednesday on my desk. Lee and Ryan Chapin Santa Clarita, CA Th e AMA responds I a m wri tin g in response to D an Ca ther's letter (Issue #50, Janu ary 1) in Cycle News. Mr. Cather crit icizes the use of the AMA ' s resources in support o f vo luntary helmet use and questions the tan gible ben efits of repeal ing the federal pena lt ies p la ced on states witho u t mand atory helmet laws. Th e AM A is fi rst and for emost a me mbershi p organization. Our position in su p port of vol untary helmet use reflects this an d has been overwhelmingly su pported by our members since the issue first arose in the late 196Os. In representing our mem bers, the AMA makes no d istinct ion b etwee n "bikers" and "mo torcyclists," all have an equal voice. The AMA position in su pport of voluntary helm et use is b ased on a lon gstanding fundamental belief that ad ults sho uld continue to ha ve the righ t to voluntari ly decide when to wear a helmet. However, the thr eat of fed era l sanctions combined with th e "socia l burden " argu ment reduces thi s issu e to on e of simple dollars and cents. Mot orcyclin g, whether helmeted or not, is increasin gly portrayed as a financial drain on society. This same rationale is frequentl y cited in su p p ort of other public policy issues which are pote ntiall y detrim ental to motorcycling. A "domino theory"? Yes. But are you willing to take the chance? The AMA is no t; we know better. In addition to retu rn ing the decision on mandatory helmet laws to the states, repealing the federal penalties has an oth er "tangible" benefit . App roximately $200 million was return ed to highway constru ction fund s in those 25 states that refused to be bu llied by the fede ral government. The use of these funds for highway construction and improvement will result in safer roads for all users. Furthermore, this same piece of legislation pro- vides $30 million in fu n di ng over the next tw o years for th e l ational Trails Recreation Fund, a "tangible" Mr. Cather apparently overlooked. The resou rces used in obtaining these two sig nifi ca n t v ict o r ies were well spent. Sta tes have reasserted the ir au tho ri ty over transportation issues wi thin their borders, all road users benefit from the restored highway construction funds and off-road enthusiast s benefit from the trail s funding. Due to the stre ngth, di versity and continued supp ort of o u r m embership, the AMA played a stro ng role in all of these suecesses. Sean M. Maher Legislative Affairs Specialist Government Relations Dep artment, AM A Westerville,OH And again... I a m writ ing in res po nse to Rob e r t Bourne's letter (Issue #2, Jan uary 17) in Cycle Nell'S. Mr. Bourne asks if AMA members have been po lled to determine their opinio ns on the u se of AMA resources in support of vol untary helmet use. The answer is yes. Once every two years the AMA Gov ernmen t Relations Department polls the Ass ociation's members to assist in setting our government relations priorities. Separa te su rve ys for street and trail issues appear in American Motorcyclist, which is distributed to all AM A mem bers. The subject of man d atory helmet laws appears in the stree t su rvey. Acco rd in g to th e 1994 AMA Road Rider survey, 60 percent either oppose or stro ng ly oppose mandatory helmet laws for all ride rs and eight percent have no op inio n. Fu rthermore, 69 per cent favor or stro ngly favor the continued C Ommitment of AMA resources to preserve voluntary he lm et u se for ad u lt motorcyclists; 11 percent had no opinion. The next AMA Road Rider su rvey is sche d u led to appear in th e Ju ne 1996 ed ition of American Motor cyclist magazine. The Off-Road survey is scheduled for May 1996. Sea n M. Maher Legislative Affairs Specialist Govennen t Relations Department, AMA West erville,OH Godspeed, J.D. I was deep ly saddened by th e recent passing o f our friend J.D. Collins. My famil y and I have h ad the privilege of growing up and racing with J.D. and his famil y. J.D. was a tough competitor on the track and a great person off the track. IN ID S E· SUPERCROSS Orlando Supercross DEPA TMENTS R 16 MOTOCROSS GFI Winter Series Florid a Winter AMA Series CMC Winter Series 18 20 22 OFF-ROAD Californ ia City Grand Prix 23 ARENACROSS Da llas Arenacross 24 26 .28 RESULTS .31 WANT ADS INTERVIEW Team Suzuki's Pasca l Picolle EVENTS CALENDAR 6 .32 RACER X ..47 LOOKING BACK Back to the lake Jeremy McGrath Superstar. Who the he ll do y o u think you are? A house in Can yon Lake, c'mon , I believe an yone who gets paid to ride shou ld su ppo rt all the little guys and gals who pay to ride, buy tickets to events, clothing. etc. These people have a h and in making su percross and all forms of mo torcycle racing w hat it is today. If we want it to continue to grow an d p rosper, we must s ta n d tog eth er. M a ybe it's ti me for Showtime to get down off his ped estal and rem ember whe re he came from. If . he doesn't, r hop e that his sponsors, his fans, the medi a, and the spo rt will hold him accountable for his act ions . I'm also disa ppointed that CycleNews di dn't bring this to our atte ntion. To m Hernesman Grand Rapids, MI God sp eed, Rog er On December 22, 1995, WERA Northeast region competitor, fast guy and friend to all, Roger Rush, lost his life - 18 months after being diagnosed wi th cancer. I'm sure mos t, if not all, of his competitors didn't hav e a clue as to how he struggled for enough energy jus t to get to Summ it Poin t o r Nel son Le d ge s . Wh en we got to the track and he su ited up, he was focused on his favorite thing in life. Rog er' s ta le n t a n d d etermination earned him second- pl ace finishes in D Superbike an d Formula II ovice for 1995. He had a ttained his goal which was to have eno ugh points to make the Grand N at iona l Final. Unfortunately, his health would not allow it. He was a well-liked person with enough su pport to take his white number plate as far as his talent would go. All we can do now is wonder what might have been. Thanks Roger for the me mori es. Life will never be the same. Dennis Bieber Sk ippack, PA Letters to the editor shoul d be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, long Beach, CA 90806-0498, faxed to 3101427-6685 or e-mail, edi- Issue# 3,January 24,1 996 FEATURES He will be greatly missed, but never forgotten in the world of motocross. Marcus Sellards New Philadelphia, OH 47 ON THE FRONT COVER Jeremy McGrath won the season-opening Orlando Supercross for the thi rd straight time . Photo by Kinney Jones. to r@eyc1enews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle New s, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are sub ject to editing. Anonym ou s letters will not be cons idered for publicat ion. All l ett ers sh o u l d co n tai n the writ er' s n ame, address and daytime phone number ... Editor.

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