Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VOICES · Letters to theednor America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXXIII Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assoeiate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush. Assistant Editor/Copy Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Mitchell. Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Salt'S Manager Thomas Gonter, Western SalesManager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manager Rick Matheny. Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, EasternAd Coordinator La uri e Sn ow, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Manager New Media Development Mark Mitchell, Director RickMatheny, Operations Classified Ads Sharon Van Hazelen Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loa, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest. Graphic Artist Amy Faught, Graphic Artist Ad m in ist ration Judy Klinger. Coordinator Lea nn e Sims, Administrative Assistant Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond. A/R Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circu la tion Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein. Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Bridgett Bobrofsky, Receptionist Leonard Herring, Seroice and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long B each, CA 90801-0498 (310) 427-7433; (213)~. FAX (310) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker. GA, 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 3008S-0805. (i70) 934-7850. FAX (i70) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com su bscr ibcfscyclene w s.com adve rtisingfscyc lenews.com Internet http:/ / www.cyclenews.com ~. Cycle New' (USPS 141-340) is published weekly e~Cl1'1 the last two weeksof the calendar year for $50.00per year by CycleNews. Inc.•2201 Cherry Avenue, long Beach.CA 9OR06. Second class postage paid at Long Beach, CAand at additional mailing office. Canada Post International Publications Mail #546615. Husky man I am ab solutely dumbfounded by you r "so called" 1996 Middlew eight Off-Road Compari son (Issue #13, April 3). As the prou d owner of a 1996 Husqvarna WXC 250, one cannot help but w ond er how much tim e and effort was put into your shootout. I'd be willi ng to bet yo u didn't log enough tim e to wear th e pa int on the sides of the frame. As for the Husky's "pipy motor that won't w ow you in any pa rticu lar area," I'd put big m on ey on th e fact it w ould w al k o n any t h ing el se in th e t e st (bes id es the WR and pe rh aps th e CR, I'm sorry, CRE). And wha t about the CRE, a bik e th at wo n such high praise. A bike tha t cos ts $6500 - let m e 'repeat, six thousand, five h undred dollars and has a I9-in ch rear w heel. Put an ex tr a $1500 into an yone of the o th er bi kes and see ho w much m ore detailed they beco me . Again, one can only wonder . As for th e Husky' s "he avy stee ring, h igh -effort clutch an d big feeling," you need to find some test ers w ho m easu re over 5' 4" and hav e an ass . Tha t brin g s m e to m y next p oi nt. Wh ere do you guys test these m achines. Let me guess... California. But I' m sure y o u hit so m e ti ght a nd slop py trails, right? Sure you did. Go East! Put these machines in their elemen t. I must admit, m y opini on is v e ry b ia sed , but th e Husky is a finely de ta iled machine th at, when in th e right h and s, is one of the fines t m achin e s o ff -road k n o w n t o mankind . An opi nio n you tes ter s wo u ld h a ve certainl y re al ized by sp en d in g m o re th an five minutes o n it b e fore passi ng it to th e nex t gu y. But as I flipped th rou gh the res t of yo ur publication in d isgust and viewed a plethora of various Japanese ad vertisements, it all started becoming clear why the Husky may h av e rated so p oorl y and the other bik es rat ed so we ll. Vested interes t? Hmmmm... one can only w onder. Lee Presgrave Aldie, VA Our Off-Road Shootout was conducted oVer several weeks in both dry and wet conditions and We stand by the results of our test. Beli eve it or not , Lee, it does rain here... Editor. Another Husky man In yo ur 1996 250cc O ff-Road Com p arison, th e 250 Husk y got the short end of < 4 Aga in Ron Wood is d ead w rong on 883s. He stated, "Watching 883s is like w atching pai n t d r y ." H e s ho u ld h a v e sai d, " Watch in g 883s is like watchi ng p aint never d ry." I had a w orn-out 1952 Triumph 500 tha t would go faster th an an 883. . Wh ile at th e De vils Bowl 883 race, I listened to the m ale fan next to me try in vain to exp lain to his wi fe abou t the 883 race . Both of th ese fans we re at th eir firs t m ot orcycle race. H er com ment o n the fourth lap of the seco nd he at was interesting: "Wh en are th ey going to start ra cing?" she said . Letters to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 908 06-0498 , faxed to 310/427-6685 or email, editor@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be consid- ered for publica tion. All letters should conta in the writer's name, address and d ayti m e phone number ... Editor. . FEATURES ROAD RACE Indonesian Grand Prix Subscription rates: Rates for the United States and its posc;e5sion for one year. (50 issues), $50.00 two years (100 issues), s ; $95.00; six months. (25 issues], $26.00; trial sub (15 issues). $19.00. Canada and Foreign. one year (SO issues), $90.00; two ye.u s (100issues),$175.00;six months (25issues), $45.00; trial sub (15 issues). $38.00. 0.. Great job by Sco tt Rous se au (In the Ta pes, Issue #13, April 3). M r. Agajan ian, like his father, has been involved in prom oting dirt tr ack racing fo r m any years. I woul d th ink Chris w ould kn ow w ha t the fans want. As a dirt track fan for so me 35 ye ars, I fe e l AM A / H -D rul es on th e 750s have reduced that class to o ne brand . N ow w it h th e 883s , di rt track fans only ge t to see one brand of motorcycle race. Mr . Hu tchins is right, "everybody is screami ng abou t ge tti ng back to grassroo ts r a cin g." But Mr. H ut chins is wrong. Th e one-bran d 883 class is not gra ssr oots Class C raci ng . Class C racing is a bou t d iffere n t br and s on th e ra ce track. If it is so important for AMA /H-D to have a n all-H -D show , go ahead, but don ' t take grassro o ts Cl as s C raci ng aw ay from us " non-Hog fans ." Mel Joos Washington,IL And more... I am not anti- Harl ey- Davi dson, bu t I wou ld n o t own o ne a g a in. In 1989 I bought a new 883 Sportster, ro de it for five yea rs, m aint ain ed it w ell and kept it looking good, I sold it in 1994 for $500 more than I paid for it . Yea, H arleyDa vidson. The 883 is a fine weapon for putting fro m ba r to bar, pi cking up ch icks and taking sh ort road trips, but please keep that 883 o n the pavem ent and a w ay from professional dirt tra ck racin g. I am a true flat track fan dat ing w ay back to th e early ' 60s and ha ve attended some 30- p lu s Grand N ational s an d am still going. I w as si cke ned when Harl eyDa vidson a n d the AMA fo rced their way in to di r t tracking wi th the 883 . Th eir reasons for do ing so are obv ious an d the sa me as Ron Wood - H arley and Ron Wood both have a p rod uc t to se ll and I can't find any fault with th at: Th e 600c c class is p ure d ir t track lean and m ean and fu n to watch. Wood pu t it well when he sai d : "Watching an 883 race is like w a tchi ng pain t d ry ." Gra nte d, 600cc raci ng is expensive but what form of Pro racing isn't? My hat goes off to Ron Wood for hi s e ffor ts to re viv e the 60 0cc clas s an d es pecially to Ch r is Agajan ia n for his g u tsy m o ve to ban the 883s from his races. It's about time som eone with balls has steppe d forwa rd; hi s dad had balls, too . What do the 600s ha ve now, three Nationals a year - shame on the AMA . P.S. I su re would like to see the Castle Rock IT back on the Grand Nati ona l tour. Don Jourdan Taft, CA INSIDE . To determine the expiration date of your subscription. check the fou r numbers on the first line of you r address lab el The first two digits Indicate th e last issue number you'll receive and the last two characters indicate the year of the l. st issue. a l-< 8835 and 6005 Come on AMA and promoters, let's get into the '90s, not the '50s. I d o know two peopl e w ho like th e 883s - the new spaper sa les peop le and th e concession people. P.S. I kno w one sure wa y to kill the 883s - H onda, plea se build one. Bill Ridinger Topeka, KS Issue#15,April 17,1996 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach CA 90801-04.98. . .... - the stick. If I relied strictly on your evalu at ion, I probab ly would n' t purchase this bike. I ow n a '96 and mine performs m u ch better than you r riding impression leads us to believe. Why don 't yo u do it again in tight eastern riding conditions? What do es it take to "wow " you ? The bike's ne ith er pipy nor sho rt on pow er an ywhere in th e rpm range. Maybe East Coast hills are not as diffi cult as yours no t! If the rear brake is just "there," how abo u t the ATK, KTM and TM? I believe they all have 220m m Brembo units on the rear. I d id ha ve to m odify my right peg to st op th e kick lever from han gin g. Fina lly, how can a bik e that foul s plugs at the star t o f eve ry ride p o ssibl y be ra ted h igher th an th e Husky? B- indeed ! Steve Blackman Greenwood, SC Cycle News welcomes unsolicitededitorial material including stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such material. if published. becomes theexclusive property of Cycle News. Reprinting in whole or part only by permissionof the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon R request. See S. .DS. W~P,8 ~Y?cITt~T10N 6 SUPERCROSS Tampa Supercross l0 MOTOCROSS Italian 500cc GP Dutch 250cc GP All-Jap an Nationa l MX 14 15 28 IN THEPITS Four-Stroke Nat 'l MXer s 26 RIDING IMPRESSION Triumph Ad ven tu rer 30 DEPARTMEN TS LEADERBOARD RESULTS 16 : 29 EVENTS 18 Pri nted in U.S .A. Co~yright* Cycle News, Inc.1996. Trademark CycleNews registered U.S. Patent Office. All rights r~serve .f. ENDURO Texas Nat'I Enduro OFF·ROAD Las Vegas-to-Ren o point-to-point...22 .32 CALENDAR .42 WANTADS 48 LAST PAGE 63 LOOKINGBACK 63 ONTHE FRONT COVER Mich ael Doohan (1) leads Alex Barr os (7) in th ei r b a ttle fo r v ic t o r y in the Indonesian Grand Prix; Doohan (inset) w on, but Barros leads the champ ionship p oint standings . Phot o s b y Go ld & G oose. Inset: Ty Da vi s te amed with Paul Krause to win th e Las Vegas-toRen o. Ph oto by Tom Van Beveren.

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