Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127821
TEARDOWN BY PAUL CARRUTHERS inally a Monday with meaning. After what was basically a two- • week shutdown, we're back in the news-gathering business here at Cycle News and boy does it feel good. Although the two weeks are met with great anticipation by the staff (especially after what feels like childbirth with our year-end issue), not printing an issue on two consecutive Mondays feels a bit... well, strange. There's no haste to get things accomplished. No screaming over office walls. No badgering between the editorial and prod uction departments. No squabbles between editors and advertising salesmen. Everybody gets along. We eat together, drink together... it's altogether too merry. There's just too much of that holiday spirit and I've had enough of it. I much prefer the ambiance of a good battle. If the Boomtown Rats didn't like Mondays, then I'm the Rat antidote. r live for 'em. Haste. Screaming. Squabbles. Badgering. Right up my alley. I'll take a good deadline Monday any day. After all, nothing makes the blood boil like a Monday at Cycle News. Don't believe me, ask somebody who's lived through a few. What really makes life without a newspaper miserable is when big news occurs·during our down time. Such was the case this time around. And r thought we'd nailed it all down perfectly. Our timing with Issue #50 was impeccable. California's two-stroke ban was decided pon just prior to publication; Terry Vance signed a three-year deal with Ducati, again just prior to deadline; ditto for John Kocinski, who carted to announce that he had a new deal with Honda; and word also came down from Suzuki that it had pulled the plug on its Enduro effort and that six-time National F Champion Randy Hawkins was out in the cold. All in all, not a bad little week for breaking-news stories. So we send it all off in a nice little bundJe to the printer. Wheew! We then go about our business of kicking our feet up on our newly cleaned desks. We congratulate each other when the weighty issue gets thrown on our desks on Tuesday morning, and we lowly begin our two weeks of merriment. Life is good. And then the biggest news story of the year breaks right in front of our noses and we have nowhere to print it. No newspaper for two weeks. Instead we get bombarded with phone calls from people trying to tell us what's happening - and we're in the uncharacteristic position of having no way of proving to them that we already know. r speak, of course, of McGrathgate. Naturally we got word that Jeremy McGrath was leaving Honda fairly soon after the story (or stories) beg!UI to leak. The phone started ringing, everyone from valued contributors to the anonymous caller from his car phone knew eVe~~:~~as~~~~~e~~t~~ e-mail (an invention r am starting to believe may in fact be the work of the antichrist), some of the stories were pretty crazy while others were fairly close to being accurate. McGrath was going to Yamaha. McGrath was going to Kawasaki. McGrath was going to Suzuki. What about KTM? Then there was the Honda of Troy story (pretty close, actually). The 1-800-COLLECT angle. The Snickers candy-bar story. Most of us love to come up with a good conspiracy theory when the need arises, so naturally there were more than a few fairly tall stories of why McGrath was leaving Honda. Some were absurd and I'll offer up a few examples just to keep the story juicy and conspiracy-filled. How's this (overheard from a spectator at the recent motocross at Glen Helen)? McGrath left Honda because they wouldn't pay him his $2 million a year on a two-year contract and they were balking on the part of the deal that said he'cj be guaranteed Honda engines for his Indy car program after retirement. Wow! There were also stories that Jeremy didn't sign a new contract because Honda wouldn't allow him to go to Lake Havasu on his offweekends. r would bet that neither is true. If McGrath is indeed leaving Honda and it now appears as though it's definite - he's probably doing so for the same reasons the rest of us leave jobs and start others. Conspiracy theorists beware: It is probably nothing more than a simple business decision. Even so, it's a big story. Huge, considering the subject. Jeremy McGrath is arguably the most popular motorcycle racer in the world right now. Case in point: My 5-year-old son recently turned his back and walked away from ESP's coverage of a Japanese Supercross because when he asked, "Where's Jeremy?" r told him that McGrath wasn't racing in this particular race. He didn't ask about ~ry Ward, he didn't want to see Jeff Emig... he wanted Jeremy. When he found out that Jeremy wasn't on TV, he returned to his bicycle to continue his recent practice of jumping off the curb on his bicycle while performing a nac-nac. When my 7-year-old daughter overheard me explaining McGrathgate to my wife, she chirped in with, "Will he still have number one on his bike?" Enough said. Trust me on this - McGrath's popularity reaches much farther than my family room. What result McGrath's leaving ends up having on his career, or on Konda's future racing success, remains to be seen. What I am excited about, though, is what the McGrath change does to the AMA Supercross Series. It has filled the series with a breath of fresh air, adding some suspense to a series that seemingly wasn't carrying a lot of momentum heading into the 1997 season. People were groaning pre-McGrathgate at the thought of the series beginning with back-to-back rounds at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Now there may not be enough seats to house the amount of curious posteriors waiting in line to find some answers. Can McGrath win on a Suzuki? Can Honda win without him? The answers to those questions will come quickly. One thing, however, is certain ·right now: Supercross will win big this time around. After all, curiosity may have killed the cat, but it has never been accused of killing a crowd. And so it is with the McGrath story that we bring you the first issue of Cycle News for 1997. It is a year that brings Wlth it much promise for motorcycle sport.a(ld motorcycli.i>g in general. Each and every series - both here and abroad - seems to be growing daily with intrigue as people start to look toward the beginning of a new racing season. The industry, too, seems to be on more solid footing as motorcycle and aftermarket sales continue to rise. We're happy to be back, doing what we do best - bringing you a weekly dose of news. And fortunately, we get to do it 49 ·more times before that dreaded twoweek hiatus. {N LOOKING BACK... 30 YEARS AGO... JANUARY 12, 1967 District 36 off-road race was advertised in the Calendar section of Cycle News that read: "Scrambles: A winter scrambles on a sandy track for men who like fun, rain or shine. No machine under 200cc allowed!" ... Pasadena MC had a Hare Chase near Gorman, California, and Bud Ekins brought his Triumph Metisse across the line first. Malcolm Smith charged across the line on a Husky in second overall with a flat tire, Deb Smith got third overall and first Novice on a 250cc Husky, Rod Pack brought his Triumph across the line for fourth overall and first Amateur and Bob Belt rounded out the top five overall on his 250cc Greeves...Ninety motorcycles fought two-foot-deep snow drifts and 40 mph A winds as they raced up MX of the year in Trabuco Canyon, CaliPike's Peak in Col- 1~~~FI~~~~~f~o~r;n'ia Yamaha International trans... orado, and after 21 ' -; ferred its motorized business to minutes and about Yamaha Motor Corporation USA eight miles later, and named Seisuke Ueshima as Gary Meyers finpresident of the new company. ished first on a 175cc Bultaco. Bob 10 YEARS Webster took secAGO... ond overall and first in the Open JANUARY 14, A class on his 1987 Triumph. awasaki' Ron 20 YEARS AGO... Leehien survived two JANUARY 12, hard get-offs 1m and a brawl· ycle ews ran a with Rick bike test of some potent 250 and Johnson to 400cc CZs put together by Gran win the openPrix Specialties. The bikes featured porting round in ing, pipes, laydown shocks and Marzocthe 250cc Pro chi, Ceriani or Maleo forks... Cycle News class at the finished part II of its huge street tire CMC/Golden State Nationals comparison that concentrated on pricin Adelanto, California. Teammate Jeff ing, wear, and lap times ... Cycle News Ward finished second and Suzuki's Eric ran an interview with President Jimmy Kehoe held on for third...Team YamaCarter's biker sister, Gloria Carter ha's Keith Bowen won the 250cc Pro Spann ...Tom Brooks took his 400cc class at round one of the Florida Winter KTM to the overall win at the 20 Mille AM MX Series in Gainesville, Florida, Team Parkway 200, held in Califorrtia followed by Bob Hannah on a Suzuki City, California. Larry Roeseler finished and teammate Jeff Stanton. Stanton second on a Husky, Bob Bale.ntine got won the Open class, with David third on a KTM and Scot Harden took McLean and Kevin Foley taking second fourth ... "Radical" Ron Turner won and third, respectively, on Hondas. Honda privateer Fred Andrews won the every Expert class on his FMF-tuned 125cc Pro class, followed by Suzuki's Suzukis and Hondas at the ECRNs last Ron Tichenor and Chris Coleman on a Kawasaki ...Cycle News went to France to get the scoop on the new 1987 Yamaha Sportbikes, ranging from the YSR50 to the FZRl000... Cycle News ran a test on the Kawasaki KLR650, entitled "The Paris-to-Dakar Alternative." {N K C Three-time SOOcc World MX Champion Helkkl Mikkola at speed during the 19n GP season. Photo by Cycle News Archives.