Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper . Letters to the editor Volu me XXXIII Sharon Gayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor KitPalmer, AsSociJ2te Editor Donn Maeda, Assodate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assodate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor KeithBush, Copy Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Acrounts Matu/ger Mark Thorne, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, EasternSales Matu/ger RickMatheny, Eastern SalesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coord inator Carla Allen. Eastern Ad Coordinator Laurie Snow, AssistarJt Marketi ng & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager New Media Development Mark Mit chell, Director Rid: Matheny, Operations Classified Ads Sharon Van Hazelen Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, Production Sup ervisor Mandy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graphic Artist Ad ministration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Acco un ting/D ata Processing Don na Bryan-Diamond, N R Coordinator Ge neva 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, Recepti nist o Leonard Herring. Service and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 80S, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (770) 934-7850. FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com subscribe@cyclenews.com advertising@cyclenews.com Internet http:/ /www. cyclenews.com Cycle News (USPS141·34() is published weeklyexceptthe ) last two weeksof the calendar year for 150.00per year by Cycle News. Inc.•2201 Cherry Avenue. Long Beach.. CA90806. Second class postage paid at Long Beach. CA and at additional mailingoffice Canada Post Interna tional PublicationsMail . '546615. POSTMASTER: Send ad dress chan ges to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Bn eh, CA 908QHW98. To determ ine the expiration dat e of your subscription, che-ck the four manbera on the first line of your add ress label . Th e firs t two digits indicate the Last issue number you11receive and the last two characters in dicate the yrat of the I.lst Issue, Subscription ratC" Rates for the United Statesand its p0sses: sions for one year, (50 issues), $50.00; two years (100 issues), ; 595.00 six months. (25 issues), $26.00 trial sub (IS issues). ; $19.00. Canada and Foreign,one year (SO issues), 590.00; two yean (100 issues). $175 six months (25 issues), $45.00; trial .00; sub (15issues), $38.00. CycleNews welcomes unsolicitededitorial material including stories, cartoons. photos. etc. Such material, if published, becomes the exclus ive property of Cycle News. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertis ing rates and circulation informa tion will be sent upon request. St-e S.ROS. W' BD 'A V ...r~ AUDITEO CIRCULATION Printed in U.S.A. 4 C0k'yright" Cycle News. Inc. 1996. Trademark Cycle News registere U.S. P.llent Office AU rights reserved. d . All rewed up I just received the Ja nuary 31 edition (lssue #4), with its historical perspective of the modem sportbike. I was pleased and su rprised - to see two of my favorite bikes featured. Th e article on the Wa ter Buffalo was sho rt, but accurate. The GT750Le Mans was big, relatively fast, mad e a long ride a short ride, and was absolutely bull et-proof. I still own a 74 w hich has been cafed-ou t, crashed, and covered ... but still runs 22 years after being built. Colin Fraser was also correct in m en tion ing th e K-Bike se ries (KlOO/K75) as sign ifica n t also. Al though BMW s have always been abo ut lo ngevity, 12 years after its introduction the K-series still sets standards by which other sport-touring m od el s a re judged. Be in g the p rou d owner of an '85 K100RS, whic h is rath er pristine, I m ay be a bit one-sided in my choices. But choice is wh at motorcycling is all abo ut. An d, according to Fraser, I'v e made two correct ones so far. Keep the excellent articles co m ing. Reading and riding are the tw o things I look forward to each week. Da vid M. How ell Burb ank,CA All rewed up II What an excellent article ("A ll Revved Up," Issue #4, January 31). When I sa w the cover I had a difficult tim e resisting th e urge to bypass everything else and read Colin Fraser's historical perspective of the modem sportbike. When I finally go t to it, I wa sn 't disappointed. It mad e me remember some of the cool bikes I had and a lot of the ones I wanted. One note though, the RZSOO does not have a rubber-mounted engi ne. I still have one of those. I also love your Web page. Good wo rk, guys! Rob Covington Placentia, CA Donny Schmit I w as sad de ned this p ast week when I h eard of the tragic death of tw o- time World Champion Donny Schmit. I can' t believe seeing him at Mammoth last year for the Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke MX Championships where he did so well, and now hearing of his tragi c death. . No t only was the motocross community st u nned by th e tragic d ea th of J.D . Collins, but now we have lost another g reat person. Schm it was not on ly a world-class motocross compe titor, he was so much more. He was what so many young motocross racers like me dream of - m aking it successfully in the sport of motocross. Godspeed, Donny. Jeff Martin sm allblock@msn.com It shocked me to hear that Donny Schmit had passed on to that motocross heaven. I had watched his career since he rod e for Suzuki in 125cc AM A m ot o cros s. We we re all glad to see Donny return from Grand Prix m ot ocross wi th tw o World Championships. I was excited to see him ride in the Millville 250cc National and finish fourth. Wh at a grea t accom p lishm e n t for a semiretired p rofessio n a l motocrosser. And to back that up by winning the 1995 Sou nd of Thu nder Fou rStroke Championship . As m otorcyclist s, we suffered m an y great losses in 1995. And to begin with two in the first month of the new year is devastati ng. However, all of th ese new racers in the sky are not lost bu t merely a part of every one of us w ho kne w them or knew of them. Le t all of us remem ber them and he lp continue li ving their dreams. I wis h I had the oppo rt unity to have known Donny personally. My heart goes out to the Schmit family, because I too lost my sister tragically. Godspeed, Donny. Bryan L. Peckinpaugh motoduro®cw-fl.umd.umich.edu We went back to Minnesota for the second su pe rcros s of the ye ar expecting to see our frie nd Donny Schmit, to spend some time with him and his wife came, catch up on alI his latest ad ventures, talk abou t his upcoming sch ools, and laugh abou t old times. Old times like when he got taken in by the Highway Patrol on his way to a Natio nal when h e stood his ground after they accused him of doing something he didn't think he di d . They gave him one ph one call and ins tea d of calling for help, he called to check on his suspension for the weekend. - We never had th at m eet in g in Min neapolis as Donny passed away that Friday, Janu ary 19;from complications resulting from a rare blood disorder that was discovered only days earlier. If yo u were lu ck y en ou gh to know Donny, you kn ew that he w as a caring person and very fun to be around. Donny was very ap pre cia tive of any th ing th at was done for him and alwa ys went out of his way to show his gra titude. One night bef ore a Na ti o n a l, some of Donny' s friends tracke d him d own at his ho tel. They had m ade a pl aque for him and wanted to delive r it personally. Instead of taking the plaque, saying thanks arid closing the door to go to sleep, Donny invited INSIDE" . . Issue# 5, February 7,1996 FEATURES SUPERCROSS An aheim Supercross CMC Golden Sta te Nation al 6 GRAND PRIX Oasis Gran Prix 10 TEST 1996 TMl25 Cross 12 ARENACROSS Niagar a Falls Super Arenacross ......14 RACER TEST Colin Edwards II's Yamah a YZF750 16 MOTOCROSS GFI Winter Series Florida Winter-Am 22 20 24 DEPARTMENTS EVENTS CALENDAR. NEW PRODUCTS WANTADS GUEST EDITORIAL.. LOOKING BACK .26 .31 .35 36 .51 : 51 ON THE FRONT COVER Wh o e ls e? : Te am H o nd a /1-800-C ollect/ Fox's Jeremy McGrath (1) ge ts th e h oleshot over Mike Brown (9) and th e rest of the field en route to winning th e Anaheim Supercross. Pho to by Kinney Jon es . In s et photo: Te am Yamaha 's Kevin Windham w on th e 125cc m ain. Photo by Scott Hoffman. See pa ge 6 for the complete sto ry. them in to talk, take pictures and show his appreciation for their support. This was Donny Schmit. Donny will be missed by all and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, but we know th at Donny would want people to cherish their m emories of him, laugh about them wi th other friends and continue on. Donny, we'll miss you. You'll never be forgo tten and we will continue on. Your friends at Pro Circuit Anaheim,CA The Minn esota m otorcycle racing commun it y as w e ll as the enti re w orl d of motocross jus t lost a tru e amb assador of the spo rt wh en two-time World Champion Donny Schmit passed away recently. My first en counter with Donny came when I was reporting on a local motocross race for this very publi cation a few yea rs ago. I discovered that he was competing during the off-season of the World MX Championships just for fun. After he won his first moto of the day, I stopped by to see what he was up to. Needless to say, I was incredibly nervous. After all, it's not every day you get to interview a Wo rld Champion. While signing au tographs for a string 'of kids lined up at his van, he took the time to explain to me in detail what plans he had for the following season, and at the same time the personable champ made me feel righ t at home. I guess he just had a wa y with peopl e. After learning of his passing, I was truly shocked. All I can say is that he will be missed by many. My sincere condolences go out to the entire Schmit family. Tim McBride Shoreview, MN Wise guy, eh? Your January 13 issu e lists our company as "the official travel agency of the AMA." Thi s is an error. In pa st or present, w e have been the official travel agen cy of the Ll.S, Grand Pri x, Daytona 200, WERA, IOBA, Prostar, and the Easyriders Invitational Custom Bike Show. But never have we been affilia ted with th e American Medical Association. Randy Warren General Mana ger, TravelCraff Corte Ma dera, CA Letters to th e editor sh ould be aent to Voice s, Cycl e New s, f.O. 80.498, Long Bueh, CA 90806-0498, taxed to 310/4276685 or e- molil, editor@cyclnle'W!I.com. Publ ish ed letten do not necessarily reflect the po sition of Cy cle New s. Inc. lette rs sho u ld not exceed 200 words a nd al l le tte rs a re l ubjrd to editing. Anonymou s lett ers will hoi be cons ide~ d for publication . All lette rs should contai n th e wri te r's nam e, address .an d daytirn e pho ne nu mber .•. Editor.

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