Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(jJill~ VOICES America's weekly mo torcycle n ew sp aper LmERSTO THEEDITO R Volume XXXIV Sharon Clayton. President Michael Klinger, Publish" Glad Ricky's back Althoug h d irt track .ra ci ng is alwa ys exciti ng, ha vin g Ricky Graham on the grid enhances the coverage gre atl y. It's great to see Ricky back on .the racing scene. With the continued support from Johnny Goad, I th ink Ricky can beat those in ternal g remlins a nd whip th e factory boys again. Thanks for having the greatest publication in the industry. I look forward to receiving every issue in the mail. Could you pl ea se pri nt G ra h a m ' s add res s again so I can get a T-shirt? Donald Marinello dmarinel@nennal.santaro sa.edu T-shirts can be purchased by contacting Graham at; Ricky Graham Racing, 23154 Parker Rd., Salinas, CA 93908 .... Editor. The return of mox I'm wo ndering how grea t Dou g Henry a nd everyo n e else thi nks Ya ma ha's bl ue-smoke-puking, backfiri n g fo urstroke trail bike is now? His teammate Ezra Lusk d id n't have a problem with his tw o -st ro ke backfiring a nd th en dyi ng while trying to clea r dangerous doubles. mox 48@gte.ne t Lodi I would like to tha nk all the racers and fine people who contributed to my Lod i Cycle Bowl article last month. I am sorry tha t Mr. Bartman wa s disappointed tha t Fred Mer kel was left ou t of my story. An attempt to contact Mr. Merkel was mad e, but to no avail. To wri te about all the famous racer s who started at Lodi wo uld take an entire issu e of Cycle News. We ca nno t be a ll th in gs to a ll people. Just wait unti l next yea r for Lodi II - the sequel! Mike Law Sacramen to, CA Just wait Why ca n' t the AMA selec t the Motocross d es atio ns team in August? Then we 'd know about Lammy's thumb and Jeremy' s heart. Mike Ebe rly stretch.katarina@Woridnet.att.net MX des Nati on s I enjoyed Eric Johnson's column on who to pick for the Motocross d es Nations team (NA View From The Fence," Issu e #25 , June 25). I vote to send Em ig, McGrath and Carmichael. If we had to send a 500cc rider , then Hughes would repla ce McGrath . I thi nk Carmichael should go for the experience. We ne e d to bring i n a ne w r id er every year (if they are good enough) so there a re always experie nced r id ers ava ila ble when so meo ne gets hu r t. I believe McGra th will have hi s bike dialed in by then. To m Wimberly Lub boc k, TX He li kes it I wa n ted to write a n d ex p res s how much I en joy yo ur newspaper, wi th its professional an d accu rate coverage of all the different aspects of motorcycle racing. I es pecially enjoyed the inte rviews over the last several mo nths - from Steve Wise to Dou g C ha n d le r and Mi ke Kiedrowski. I am a 32-yea r-old weekend warrior, wh o only dreams of racing professionall y. I live vica rio usly through your newspaper. Th e p ersonal in ter vie ws show th e ups and downs of being a profession al racer. The Lodi Cycle Bowl feature was also fantast ic. It is am azing, the names that have risen from the facility. I loved the nostalgia , from King Ken ny to the present-day Matt Wait. I have a lwa ys been a 250cc GP fan a nd u se d to foll ow jimmy Fili ce an d Nick lenatsch's careers. Last year I started following Mar k Foster. I was able to attend Lag u na Seca th is yea r and was very su rprised to see Mark a t the race since I had heard about his cras h at Daytona. I had the pleasure of meeting him and he is a true working man's racer . I th ink h e re p r e se n ts m an y of yo u r "wanna-be " racer readers. The Lodi article inspired me to write because, in talking to Fost er , I learned th at he did n't even own his first motorcycl e. until he was 18. He did n't start racing until he wa s 20, and he works hard five to six days a week just to go to the Nationals. I would lov e to read an article on Mark and his caree r. He is a true representative of th e privateer and the weekend warrior with a dream - just like me and a thousand others of your readers. George Moore Spokane, WA Not eno ug h dirt track Having been a Cycle News subscriber sin ce 1982, and ha vi n g sa ve d every issue, I have seen the decline of cover age of AMA dirt track racing. I have one issue that has a BMW roa d test before coverage of a Grand Nationa l Di r t Track. And now the June 25th issue has no thin g o n the cover abo u t the Terre Hau te National - not even a headline. Thes e guys work an d rid e hard . They at least deserve a headline. Fra n k Sammis York, PA I beg to differ, but dirt track racing has never - in the history of Cycle News received more coverage than what we curreTltly provide. You may want to check those 1982 issues again. I a/so believe that every National- and World Championship-caliber race, interview, test, etc., deserves mention on the cover. To accommodate all those the cooerlines, however, we'd have to eliminate the photography . Now, wOllldn't that be goodfor generating mail... Editor. Edi torial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palme r, Assodat~ Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Ma1Ulging Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editur/0!T:'I Editor Ca meron Coa tne y, A<;sLc;tant Edrtor Alan Cathcart, EurCJ'flln Editor David R. Holther, Copy Editor Ad verti sing Terry Pratt , Natw1Ul1 AccountsMJznager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western SalesManag" Thoma s Ga nter, WesternSalesManager Forrest Ha yashi, Westt'Tn Sales Manas" Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sates Manager Rick Matheny, Eastern Sales Manas" Rho nda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, £astern Ali Coordinator Tina FaIT Assistant , Ma rketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayas hi, Manager New Media Developmen t Ma rk Mitchell, Director Rick Matheny, Webmastcr Classifi ed Ad s Laurie Torsten....en Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Gues t, Graphic Artist Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims, Administrative Assistant Accou ntingfData Processing Donna Bryan -Diamon d , AIR Coordinator Geneva Repa ss, Assistarrt Hcrlane Lewis . Credit Circu lation Rheba Smit h, Marrager Letters to th e e dito r s ho ul d b e sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498, faxed to 562/4276685 or e-ma il.edito r@cydenews.com. Published letters d o no t necessar ily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should no t exceed 200 wo rds a nd all letters are subject to editing. Anony m o u s lett ers will not be co nsi de red fo r publicati on. All letters should contain the wriler's n a m e, addres s and d a y t im e phone number .. . Editor. Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinatur Keshena Dawson, Billing Coordinator Carol Maggio, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Susan Moreno, Rereptiorrist Michael Swedberg. Sertnce and Support National Headquarters 2201 Ch erry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 908ll1-{}498 (562) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (5621427-M85 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084; IN ID S E Issue#27July 9, 1997 maili ng ad dress P.O. 80)(805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (77 0)934-7850. FAX (770) 934-3112 OBSERVEDTRIALS Rou nd 6 - World Championship Trials Series from ltaly 40 Round 5 - World Cha mpionship Trials Series fro m Fran ce .41 FEATURES ROADRACE Round 6 - AMA Superhike Na tiona l Cha mpions hip Series from Brainerd, Minnesota 4 Roun d 7 - Wo rld Championship Road Racing Series from Assen, Holland 20 DIRTTRACK Round 7 - AMA Grand National Dirt Track Series from Lima , Ohio 14 WORLD SUPERBIKE PREVIEW Preview Intervi ew: Colin Edwards 11 Interview: Carl Foga rty Tech: Honda 's RC45 Superbike 24 .26 28 30 NEW BIKES 1998 Kawasaki Motocrossers and Off-Readers .32 ARST RIDE Laverda 7505 34 RIDINGIMPRESSION 1997 Kawasaki ZX7R 38 FIRST LOOK Polaris Victory V92C Cruiser.. 42 MOTOCROSS Roun d 9 - Worl d Championship 250cc Motocros s Series from Belgium .44 Round 8 - World Championship 125ee Mot ocros s Series from Germany ..46 DEPARMENTS EVENTS CALENDAR RESULTS WANT ADS LEADERBOARD INSIDETHE TEXAS TORNADO LOOKING BACK 56 70 78 79 95 96 96 OFF-ROAD Round 3 · Best in the Desert Silver State 300 from Ely, Nev ad a 54 Cycle Nt-w<;(USPS 141 ·340) l'l published weekly ~ the la.~ two w~·k..'1 of thr calmda r year for $50.00 per year by CycleNews.Ire.. 2201 Chmy Avenue, Long Beach.CA 90S06. PcnodicaJsPost.:agc Paid 011Long 8c.::lch. CA and at additional mailingoffice. Dnada Posllntemational Publicati ns Mail o POSTMASTER: Seed addrn.\ cha ng" 10 Cycle Stwi, P.O. Bell 4CJ8. Long Beech, CA 9OIlO1-ot98. To determine the npiration dal. of your subscription. check th. four nu mbl'ft on th. first lin. of your addrn~ label . The first two dlgib ind icat.. th. Ia.o.t i~ ..ee number you'l receive and th. la..t two mar.actf1'!!o indicate Ihe y.ar of IlK la ~ is.\u•. Subicnptwn rates: Rates for the L ruted States and its ~ sions for one nat". (50 b6\k'S), S50.oo; two vea rs (100 isliuesl. 595.1)0; six mOnthto. US Wou S2b triai sub (15 isstJeo§.). t'!i.). .OO; 519.00. U n.ld.l and Foreign. 0 0l' yt'M 1.50 e.~). S90.00; two yt!aD 0 00 i.....un). $115-00 ..i.. IOOrltho< (25 L,,'illeo;). $.15.00; trial ; ..ub OS i....ut"'i). S.H.00. 1 Cvcle I':cws wclc:omc5 unsolicited ed itorial material including stOnes, cartoons,ph0t06 etc, Such matl'riaL if publislwd, , bt!conws the t'UIU5ivt' propmy of Cycle News, Reprinting in wholeor part only by ~..ion oI lht-pubfuiht-r. Advt"ft"l!;. ing ralt .'!> and circuLttioninform.tlion will be \eIl1upo n noq~_ See5.R.DS. .50 DRAG RACING Round 3 • AMA/ ProStar Dixie Na tionals from Dinwiddie, Virginia ...52 Internet http :/ /www.cyc1enews.com '5460 15. CROSS COUNTRY Round 8 - AMA Grand National Cross Country Series from Elizabeth, West Virgini a , .48 SPEEDWAY Ov ersea s Final from England e-mail Ni to r@cyden ew s.com subscribc@cyclcncws.com ad vert ising@cyd enews.com The me n of the Wo rld Superbike Series come to Laguna Seca. Fo r th e ins ide scoo p on the championship to date see th e special preview section starting on page page 24. Phot os by Gold & Goose. W!!P~ ~ik"C\}"SnoN Printed in U. S.A. COfyrightf/CycleNews, Inc, 1997. TrademarkCycle New' registered U.S. Patent Office. All rightl reservrd. 3

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