Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VOICES ' Letters to the editor Am erica's weekly motorcycle newspaper V olu me XXXIII Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, AssociateEditor Scott Rousseau, AssociateEditor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/Cvpy Editor Cameron Coatney, Assistant Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts MafUlger Mark Mitchell, EasternAccounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western SalesManager Forrest Havashi, Western SalesManager Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesManager Rick Matheny, Eastem SalesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Laurie Snow , Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mar k Tho me, Manager New M edi a Development Mark Mitchell, Director Rick Matheny, Operations Classified Ads Sharon Van Hazelen Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Superrisor Mandy Loa, Production Manager DennisGreene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest, Graphic Artist Track preparation I attended the 125/25Occ National MX at Glen Helen this past weekend as well as the Amateur races the dav before. My basic question is why w as th e track better prepared for the Am ateur races th an for the professiona l races. When I posed this question to Glen Helen management on Tuesday, their response was the AMA wouldn't let them water it. I heard Duke Finch on the public address system on Sunday say that he realized the track was a little dry, but it was better to h ave a dry tr ack th an a slip pery o ne . Well, even if it had been overwa tered, it doesn't take very long to dry ou t in 105degree heat. I appreciate everything the AMA does for the sport, particularly Duke Finch and his wife, but to have a professional event ru n on a such a l' oorly prepped track is inexcusable, not to menti on dan gerou s. Final comment to the AMA on things that shou ld n' t be chan ged : Please, please, please don 't do away with the region al 125cc East /West Series. If the class ge ts consolida ted it will have a negative effect, particularly to the privateers. Dana March Hermosa Beach, CA Ad ministra tio n Judy Klinger, Coordinator Two-strokes Leanne Sims, Adm inistrative Ass istant AccounlinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, N R Coordinator Geneva Rep ass, As sistant Herla ne Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Carol Begovic, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Bridgett Bobrofsky, Receptionist National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave. , LongBeach, CA 90806; P.O. Box 498 Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 , (310)427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310)427-6685 Eastern Office 4188 FirstAve., Tucker, GA,30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 3008>0805. (770) 934-7850. FAX (770) 934-3112 After reading many articles in all sorts of magazin es and this fine publication on the poss ible banning of two-strokes from California and probably the rest of the s ta tes , I a m rather d isturbed a t th e thought of having some politicians takin g my right to ride my motorcycle. Four-strokes will not cut it - no matter what - compared to a two-stroke. Let' s face it guys, we cannot expect the AMA and some of the other Japanese manufacturer-run associa tions to fight for our rights. Let's use the most powerful weapon we have - the righ t to vote. Let's all write to the politicians in California no matter wh ich state you live in as this will have an effect on all of us na tio nwide . Let's then vote to get these politicians out of the way . We the people run this country - no t the politicians. Richard Soto ricso1@aol.com Not so Prime e-mail editorfscyclenews.corn subscribefscyc lenews.com advertising@cyde news.com Internet http:/ / www.cydenews.com Cycle News (USPS 141·340) is published weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year fer S50.ooper year by Cycle News. loc, 2201 Olen')' Avenue. long Beach. CA 908Otl. Second class postage paid at Long Beach.CA and at additional mailing office. Canada Post International PublicationsMail #>16615. POSTMASTER: Send addrese changes to Cycle News , P.O. Box 498. Long Be.illch, CA 90801-0498. To determine the expiration da te of your subscription, check the four nu mbers on the firs t line of your address label . The first two digits indicate Iht"last iss ue number yo u'll receive issue. and the last two characters in dicate the yeM of the wt On Thursday night, May 2nd, I sat down to watch the Cycle World/Prime Sports airing of the support classes from the L.A. Superbike Championships. Thi s would be the first 1996 coverage of the support classes from Prime, due to the Daytona round being covered by 1NN. FEATURES ROADRACE Homestead AMA National 6 14 Cycle News welcomes unsolicited editorial material includ ing stories. cartoon s, photos, etc. Such material, if pub lished. becomes the exclusive property of Cycle News. Reprinting in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. See S.R.OS . PREVIEW World Speedway Preview 24 ISDE and Qu alifier Series Preview.28 AUDITED Printed in U.S,A. Co~yrigh Cycle News, Inc.1996.Tradenwk Cyd e News registeredU.S. Patent Offi ce. All rights rese rved. Bill Hotchkiss stated in his letter (Issue #17, May 1) that "some of the best fun at past National races was seeing your fav o rite brand lin e up for the feature event and beat you r buddy's favorites. " Bill, this is 1996 - what bike made by any of the manufacturers could you modify for use to compete in the 750cc besides and XR or RS750? Everything has a driveshaft. You also stated that "motocross and road racing sells motorcycles, bu t try to come up with something that looks like an XR750 or RS750." Someone has, it's called an 883 Harley Sportster. R.L. Polk reports that as of October of last yea r, the H-D 883, in all its various mod els, wa s the best-selling motorcycle in the U.S., havin g sold 11,000 units. In fact, Harl ey had six out of the top 10 sellers . The onl y sportbike to be listed was the Honda CBR600 F-3, which placed fifth, and the Honda Gold Wing that placed second. How much longe r will Gr and National racing be around? Check the schedule - it's full. If promoters cou ld n' t fill th e sta n ds , th en the sport would die. You also sta ted that yo u went to the bathroom during the running of the 883s. I was probably standi ng next to you. I feel that the 883s do a fine job of putting on a show a lo ng with th e 600cc class. The main problem is all the natural delays in d irt track racing - bikes crash, b rea k, unexpected rain showe rs, a d ry track, etc, To make the show the best for everyone, I' d recommend th e following change in format in Grand N ational ra cing: Run 750, 883 and 600cc practice, qu alifying heats, 600 and 883 heat races and semis on Saturday. On Sunday everybody gets two practice sessions, races start at 2 p.m. with 750cc heats, semis, intermission (So Bill and I can go to the can). We then have 600, 883 and 750cc finals. It's now 5 p.m and the show is over. The best dirt trackers in the world were showcased in the Nationa l on every avai lab le size an d brand made for dirt track racing. This is win / w in in every situa tion. I almos t forgot, there is still a loser in thi s sto ry . It' s th e m an u factu rers who can' t break th e R.L. Po lk to p 10 list because thev fail to make and back prod ucts to compete in Grand National racing. Peter Lewandowski Mo sinee, WI Letters to t he e d itor should be sent to Voices, Cy cle News, P.O . Box 498, Long Beach, CA 9O&J6.0498 faxed , to 3101427-6685 or e-mail, ediloriilcycleneww..com. Published letters d o not necessarily ~fled the pos ition of Cycle News. Inc . Letters s hould not exceed 200 words and all letters art" subject 10 editing. Anonymous letters will no t be considered for publication. All lellrrs should contain the writer's name, a dd ress a nd d.lyti me phene n um be r ••• Editor. Issue#21, May 29,1996 SUPERCROSS Denver Supercross CIRCULATION M iller is a top-leoel 750" 5upersport rider... Editor. Dirt track blues IN ID S E.. Subscription rates: Rates for the United States and its possessian'> for one year, (50issues), $5().OO; two years (100issues], $95.1)); six months, (25issues), $26.00 trial sub (15issues), ; $19.00. Canada and Foreign, one year (SO issues), $lX).l)); two years (100issues], $175 six months (25 issues). $45.00; trial .00; sub (15 issues], $38.00. W/Bn'A V ..r~ Much to my surprise, the entire hour was dedicated to the 600cc Supersport class. They failed to mention or show one item abou t the 250cc Grand Prix, 750cc Supersport, Harley 883 or SuperTeams classes. Last year, Prime would show about on e half hour of recaps from the other classes, and one half hour of just the 600cc Supersport clas s. Thi s would, at least, allow a complete synopsis of all the racing taking pl ace at an AMA Pro Road Racing National. With th is n e w fo rm at , Pr ime wa s clearl y tryin g to stretch the who le hour ou t, tryi ng to fill up time. It got to the poin t wh ere I was simp ly bored with the 600s. I can get a whole hour of Migu el DuHamel watchin g th e Superbike race, the week prior on Cycle World. Not that Migu el isn 't w orthy of all the press he gets, but some variety of other ride rs and other classes would be nice. I, person ally, have a unique opportunity to follow the whole AMA National circu it in per son, focusing pri marily on th e 750cc. Supers port ca m pa ig n . But I know of several int er estin g story lin es d evel o p ing in 1996 in all th e su pport classes. Most of which are very wo rthy of equal TV cove rage . Just to nam e a few, the 250cc GP class has some new, very a d mirable compon ent s in Kenn y Roberts' son (Kurtis), Randy Renfrow's new Honda effort, consis tent Mike Sullivan, an d the new PM Wheels 250cc GP team partnership, all cap able of breaking down the Rich Oliver steamroller. In the 883 class, the young blood in Matt Wait and Ben Bo strom co n ti n ue to p ut on grea t exhibitions against vetera ns in the likes of Scott Zampach and Dave Estok. The brand new Su zuki GSXR7 50 has proven its dominating int enti on s in the 750cc Supersport clas s, but at the same time is in s tiga tin g a g re a t display of adversity and hunger in the Kawasaki rides of Doug Cha ndler and Jason Pridmore. There is some grea t racing to be seen here. If Prime Sports conti nues to show on ly 600cc Supersport ra cing under the "AMA Su ppo rt" headi ng, the Ame rican road racing viewe rs are really going to be missing ou t on a substantia l amount of qual ity motorcycle racing in the U.S. If you would like to express you r opinion on this issue, the programming directors at Prime Sports can be reached at 516/921-3724, ext. 2036. I spoke to Mike Seller at this number and he seemed genuinely interested in input from the viewers of the Cycle World program. Ma rk Mill er Long Beach, CA Brainerd F-USA/NASB OFF·ROAD Brownsville GNCC 20 26 New Jersey ECEA Enduro 32 New York CATRA HS 36 MOTOCROSS World MX Report Glen He len Four-Stroke Nat'l... 30 .38 TRIALS Scottish Six Days Trial 34 VIN TAGE Putnam Park AHRMA Nat'ls ..40 DEPARTMENTS EVENTS LEADERBOARD CALENDAR WANT ADS IN THEPADDOCK LOOKING BACK 44 51 52 60 75 .75 ON THE FRONT COVER Miguel DuHam el (l ) leads Dou g Chandl er (10 ) in the first -ever AMA Super bike Na tional h eld at th e H omest ea d Moto rspo rls Complex. Photo by Henny Ray Abra ms . Inset: Ezra Lusk, Jeremy McGrat h and Jeff Emig share the podium at th e fi nal ro u n d of th e AMA Su percross Series in Denver. Photo by Kinney Jones .

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