Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.vOICES ' Letters to the editor Daytona thanks I would like to take a moment to thank all of the racers who provided a great Dayton a 200 on March 16. It was a great race fro m the start, and no on e could have asked for a more exciting finish. H ats off to Miguel Du Hamel, who rightfully earned his victory. Kudos also to Scot t Russell, the best motorcycle racer in th e wo rld . I go t im mense pleasure from meeting this legen d and was surprised that he actually took a few m inu tes to speak w ith me an d to give me advice on how to ge t in to racing. Having always played wi th the idea of tryin g m y hand at racing, Saturday was th e d ay th a t rea lly sparked m e. Thank you, Scott, for really convincing me to start racing bikes - you were the final insp irati on to get me goi ng and to ge t off m y b utt. I am a hu ge fan a nd would love nothi ng m ore th an to race aga inst you so meday in Da ytona . By then you'll be trying to win your 10th Da yton a and I'll be tryin g to win m y first. See you ther e. Nann Via no Greenville, NC Helmets Recen tly I've noticed sev eral items con cerning helmet issu es in the "In The Wind " co lu m n. I consider those who live in areas without helmet law s to be fortunate that the y have the opportunity to make a choice. Wearing a helmet is a good idea an d I encou rage anyone who rides to wear one. However, I think hel. met laws are a very bad thing. We all weigh the risks and benefits of our varied activities on a dailv basis and on this issue we can easil y 'd ecid ed for ourselves those risks and benefits. Let' s us e education, not legislation. Mark Parsons parsonsm@mcb-emhl.okr.usmc.mil Oliversatility Cycle News' coverage o f the world of motorcycl e compet ition, products and politics allows me to see a wider view of the big picture. As a member of the Willow Springs Motor cycle Club, I am very fortunate to be a small part of this great sp ort. With that in mind, I was compelled to comment on "O liversatility" (Issue #11, March 20). During the tim e I have spent as a road racer at WSMC it has been m y p leasure to rub elbows America's weekly motorcycle newspaper with so me of the finest road ra cers in the world - Doug, Eddie, Freddie, Dave, Rich, Chuck, the list goes on. Rich Oliver, as well documented, is the class of the field while on the track. Rich, like many of the great racers, also seeks to give so mething back to the sport off the track. Just because he has reached the top, and there are very few who are with him, is not good reason to "penalize" the success of his efforts. This seems to say, "Do no t get too good" or we will "level the playing field" - a very harmfu l stat emen t to our sport. There are manv yo ung racers who are busti ng butt to become ano ther Rich or Scott. The m e ss ag e be in g sen t from w ithin th e walls of road racing is, " Bew are, you can be too good ." . The ra cers w ho h ave been on top a t o ne t im e o r a no the r h a ve b e en th e " class" o f th e fie ld, and by doing so h a ve b rought our sport up th e lad de r o ne m o r e n ot ch b y pr o v id in g new stan dards o f p e rf orm a n ce to a ttain . Thank s t o each an d everyone of the m . Terry Bulaski Bakersfi eld, CA Why go? Last weekend, a "loca l" pro rider and m yself traveled 300 miles to attend and race the AMA National Hare Scrambles in Co lumbus, Texas. My rider started 15th and by lap three was running fifth, the race was suddenly called on the fourth lap and we had to settle for fifth place. How much did he win? A whopping $50. You would think that with a $1500 - purse a nd a 100% p ay back, it would have been a little mo re. Aft er all, five percent for fifth would hav e been so mewhere around $140. Our races at home pay $50 for fifth .p la ce and th e purse is only $600. If one of the top five nati onal riders were to fin ish fifth place, would you ha ve handed h im $50 and th an k h im for coming? H e wo ul d n' t be back. I d on ' t know what the payout is at other nation al events, but I' m su re that of the top five finishers of this race, at least three went home in the red. So, get it together Hou ston Trail Rider s Association, or people might have a hard time finding their way to yo u r ra ces in th e future. Not every one can travel for free. Also, those were nice $60 plaques yo u ga ve to the amateurs. Wes Jordan Agnes, Texas Honda people As m v brother and I were returning to Texas' and Oklahoma from Cycle Week in Dayt ona and all the rain in Florida on our "Wings," my brother's 1983 Aspencad e sprung a radiator leak. As anyone knows who has had an '83 Wing, it's a major undertaking just to get to the radiator cap . After nursing the leaking Wing as far as Lafayette, Louisiana, we decided to hole up in a mot el and visit th e loca l Hond a shop in the morni ng. We were there first th in g in the morni ng an d Jimmy and his entire crew ha d us fixed an d on the road in abou t 30 m inutes w it h a smile. You m eet the nicest people on a H onda, or should I s ay, at the Ho nda sh op in La fayette, Louisiana. Bob and Dave Q ualls Sh awnee, OK Dirt track kudos Tha nk yo u fo r yo u r re ce n t series of . in terviews with today ' s d irt trackers. With y o u r coverage, and hopefully more races on TNN and ESPN, th es e guys and the sport will get it s much belated hurrahs. Your interview w ith Joe Kopp brought out the star quality that we saw in Joe a few years ago . Joe has dominated the Missoula Half Mile for the past two years and paying h im th at $2000 was easy b e ca u s e y ou knew it wa s going to a great young man. . . W ith Kenny Tolbert w orking hi s magic and Joe twisting the throttle, it' s go ing to be just how many rac es they will win - not if the y will win. For the rest of the story, there are a lo t of talented dirt trac kers and great people in the Northwest. Families like the Libertys, Kopps, Tribers, Yamamotos, Dietzs... the list goes on . The y are all a joy to work with and make promoting an easy job. Thanks again, Cycle News. You ' ve made m any old steel shoes sm ile with the dirt track articles. Ed Beckl ey Motorsports of America Brid gep ort, TX Letters to the editor sh o u l d be se n t to VOiCC5, Cycle New s. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 908060498, faxed to 310142i-6685 or e-mail, rdiforOcyclenews.com. Publis hed letters do not necessartly reflect the po sitio n of Cycle News, Inc. Lett ers shou ld not exceed 200 wo rd s and all lette rs are subj ect to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All le tters sho uld contain the wri te r's name, address an d daytime p ho ne numb er •.. Editor. SUPERCROSS Dallas Su pe rcross .4 SHOOTOUT Middlew eight off-roa d shootout.....l 0 PREVIEW World Motocross season preview...20 Gra nd Prix Road Race season preview 36 MOTOCROSS Lake Whi tney Grand National Championships.....26 INTERVIEW Mo tocrosser Scott Sheak 30 INSIDE LOOK Inside Hond a Racing Corporation ..32 Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associat Editor e Donn Maeda. Associat< Editor Scott Rousseau, Associat< Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush. Copy Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, NationalAcrounts Manag" Mark Mitchell, Eastern Acanmts Manag" Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western Sales Manag" Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesMiJnager Rick Matheny, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator LaurieSnow, 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 1.00, Production MiJnag" Dennis Greene, Lab Tech. . Stacey Guest, Graphi Artist c Amy Faught Graphic Artist Ad m inistration Judy Klinger, Coordinator . Leanne Sims, Adm inistrative Assistant AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond. NR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Grculation Rheba Smith. Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordina tor Carol Bego vic, Deal" Coordinator Service and Suppo rt Bridgett Bobrofsky, Recepti nist o Leonard Herring. Servia and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach. CA 90801-Q.l98 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310) 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@cydenews.com subscribe@cydenews.com advertising@cyclenews.com Internet http://www.cydenews.com INSIDE" . Issue#13,April3,1996 FEATURES V olu me XXXIII Sharon Gayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Cvde N~ (USPS tn·J.lO) is publ ished w eekly o=pl the laSt two weeks of the calendar ~ar for SSO.oo prr vea r by Cvde News-Inc. 2201 Owrry Avenue. Long Bead.. CA'10806. siaJnd dass postage paid a' LongBead\. CA anda' additional mailing offler. 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Cy New s welcomes unso licited ed ito~al ~atl"ri~1 including cle stor ies, cartoons. photos. etc,Such material If published, . beco mesthe exclus ive property of Cycle News . Reprinting in who le or part only by permi ssion of the publ isher . Advertising rates and d.rcu.Iation information will besent upon request. See5.R .D.s. '6 EVENTS...••....•...•...•••.••.......................................46 CALENDAR....•..............................................•..•.58 WANT ADS .........................................•...............64 IN THE TAPES 80 LOOKING BACK 80 ON THE FRONT COVER An d th e w inner is ? We compare the 250cc tw o-stroke off-readers. Photos by Kinney Jones. WBPA ~c\1ffTlON Printed in U .S .A. Co~yrigh Cycle News, Inc. I9%. Trademark Cycl. N. ... registered U.s. PatentOffice All rights reserved. . .... ...... ;..; P... -< 3

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