Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ~ ~. VOICES America's wee kly motor cycle new spaper LETTER TO S T E ITOR HE D Volume XXXI V Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palm er, Associate Editor Sco tt Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark H oyer. MallaginK Editor Keith Bush , Assistant F.ditor/C01!Y Editor Ca meron Coatney , Assistant Editor AI."n Cathcart, European E~ito r David R. Hcl th er , Copy Editor Andy's grandfather Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Mauager I' m Andy Tressers grandfather a nd I wanted to thank Scott Rou sseau so mu ch fo r th e kind words in the piece abo u t Andy and h is rela tionship wit h him . Hi s fun eral w as yes terday and it was awesome - there were so man y people. We will miss him, and for a person to have so man y friends ma rks him as a very successful man . Thanks aga in, Steve . Joe Quinby Balboajq@aol.com Rick Matheny, Eastern Sales Managt'r Rho nda Cra wfo rd , Western Ad Coordinator Brid gett Bob rofsky, Assistant Carla Al len, Eastern Ad Coordinator No Amate ur DT Advertising Terry Pratt, National Acco unts Managa Mar k M itchell, Eas tern Accounts Manager Mark Th ome, Wcsh.'Tn Sales Manager Tho mas Genter. We;tmf Sales MQunger Forrest Hayas h i, Westem Sales Manager .Tina FaIT, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Tho me , Director Forr es t Hayashi , Manager Dealer Sales Kelly Branscome, Dealer Sales Representative New Me di a Development Ma rk Mitche ll, Director Rick Matheny, Webmast er Stepha nie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ad s LaurieTorstensen Graphics and Pro d uct ion Rce Johnson, Production Supervisor Ma ndy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab Tech. . Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Robyn Light , Graphic Artist Administratio n Judy ~ger, Coorqil,lator " . Leanne Suns, Administmtiise Assistant Accounting/Data Pro cessing Don na Bryan-Di a mond , AIR Coordinator Ge neva Repass, Assistant Herlan e Lewi s, Credit Circ u lation Rhe ba Smi th, ManagIT Alma Angu iano , Prucessing Coordinator Keshena Da wso n, Billing Coordinator Ca ro l Maggio, DealerCoordinator Se rvice and Su pport Susan Moreno, Receptionist Michael Sw edberg, Service and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave" Long Beach, CA 90806, r.o. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-<1498 (562) 427 -7433; (213) 636-8844. FAJ«562) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4188First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084; mai ling ad d ress P.O . Box M S, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (77 934-7850. FAX (770) 934-3112 0) Wh y was n' t there a stor y on the 1997 AMA Ama teu r Flat Track Nationa ls that were held in India na polis? . For as many yea rs as I can remem ber, Cycle Ne has covered it. We have a lot u» of Pro talen t that came fro m the yout h champio ns hips - Parker, Carr, Pegram , Chandler, and so on. With all the har d wo rk and expenses of the compe titors, th eir fam ilies, friends and sponso rs , it wo uld be nice to kn ow what' s goi ng o n . Mickey Lane Vallejo, CA Plain and simple, we screwed up and weren't able to obtain coverage of the event. It won't happen again... Editor. A fan To all those who write in an d com plain, go ride the couch. Life's full of good and bad, and Cycle News is pr et ty damn hard to beat. I've canceled all of my ma ga zine subscrip tions because I don 't need to see th e sa me stu ff twice, es pecia lly w hen th e first rim e w as a m on th ea r lie r in Cycle News. The way you guy s keep us informed is grea t. You let us outsid ers (who really wi sh we were insid ers) know what the latest bu zz is. I race mo tocross and fla t tra ck, and no one .has the motocross coverage you do. And to all those flat track crybabies, I agree that Cycle News d oesn 't cover it like mo tocr oss - bu t fla t track isn't as hea vil y ba cked as m o tocross . What other publication gives you eve n a pic- ture of flat track , let alone awesome full and a fron t-page beauty like the Aug ust 20th cover? That was classic flat tra ck po etry in motion . Who needs Picass o? Larry Harris Rochester, NY cov~ rage Not easy Looks can be deceiving, and pr omoting a raci ng eve nt is not as easy as 1-2-3. You do n't jus t in v it e th e fas tes t dirt track riders in the wo rld to yo ur town. You don 't just rent a race track. And you • don't just race. . Believe me, nothing is as easy as it looks. Th is is a than k-yo u not e to Don Camlin and everyone who played a part in the AMA Grand Nationa l Dirt Track race at East Moline, Illinois, on Aug ust 9. The facility was cons ta ntly kept clean of trash ; the inte rv iews co nd ucted by Larry Pegram were interes ting; the track was fast and perf ectl y m ain ta ined so that no matter what race you were in, or wha t lin e yo u were running, everyone had on equal chance of w inni ng. . Most im po rtantly, the track was sa fe - not like the rou gh and rutted Knoxville race last year, which in part caused Rich King's season-en ding cras h an d sever al other mishaps and tim e delays. May hat is off to the com petitors as well. Anyone who can do 100-plus mph on gravel has m y admira tio n. Tha nks again for some great races. Sieve McC oskey Ind epen d en ce, IA Head shake In th e Ju ly 30 issu e, Jeff Sha n k takes Suzuk i TU OOO o w ners to ta sk o ve r rep ort s of head-shaking pr oblems and sug ges ts that for $8999 it's still a go od deal. He also implies th at if you don't hav e th e balls to rid e it, you shou ld n' t ha ve bou gh t it. I d on 't kn ow what he expects for $9000, but I don 't expect to ge t tos sed o ff bec ause s o m e bean co u n t e r ref u sed to p u t a s t ee r ing d amper on a bike with rare-tr a ck specs . The p rob lem ap pears to be se rious e no ug h th a t Su zuki ha s recalled th e units to install a steeri ng damper. O ther publications report that the rear damper unit goes bad before the motor needs its first uil change. For $9000, I don' t expect to get a test mule. It's obvious that Suz uki ru shed this unit to p rod uction , and it's also obv ious that the mo tojoumalists w ho raved abo u t th e bike' s handling d id n'ttest it on real-world pavem ent. On e lawsuit wi ll pay for more steering dampers than Suz uki w ill ever need for the TUOOO. I' ll wai t an d see how it all sorts out before puttin g my mo ney down. Besides, I think both Suz uki and Ho n da missed th e po in t. A V-twin s ho u ld be narrow, simp le an d clea n, Bo th bikes look big and bu sy. Richa rd Raschk e Moraga,CA No apology needed I can' t believe that Kevi n At her ton wo ul d actua lly apo logize to the fans at the Rapid Ci ty Half Mile. There is certai nly no disgrace in losing to a be tter rider on a superior mo torcycle. Mr. Atherton nee ds to realize that if it we ren' t f OT the few Hondas, he wo uld be playin g to an eve n smaller au dience tha n he is now . (Ge tti ng sea ts was no p roblem at Ind y.) I. for one, wouldn't cross th e s treet for an all -Ha rley show, let alone pay for the privilege. NASCAR grows, open-wheeled ra cing grows, but than ks to the AMA an d th eir b e d fe ll o w s a t Ha rl e y , th e y ' ve tu rned American d irt track racin g into the bigg est joke in motors ports. 11,. new AMA five-year plan... I've been waiting for 35 yea rs for a level pl ayin g field now we have to wait ano ther five! I'm sorry, but it's too little, way too late. Al an Haggard LeRoy,IL Lellers to lh e edi tor sho ul d be sent to Voic es, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498, faxe d to 562/4276685 or e-m ai lv cditorsscyclcnews.com. Publi shed le tt ers do no t n eces saril y refl ect the pos iti on of Cycle News, Inc . Lellers s ho u ld n o t exceed 200 wo rds an d all lett ers ar e su bjeci to ed itin g. Ano nymous letters w ill not be consi dered for publication. All letters should contain th e writer's name, address a n d dayt ime phone number ... Editor. e-mail editor®cyclenews.co m .subscribefscyclenews.com advertisingfscyclenews .com In ternet http:/ / w ww ,cyd enews.cum CycleNews (USPS141 -340) i.. publishedwe . ekly except the last two weeksof the calendar year for$50.00per year by , Cycle News, lnc., 2201.Cht'ny Avenue Long Jkilch, CA 90H06. Periodicals Post.lge PaId at Long Beach, CA a~d a~ addltl ~nal mailing office. Canada Pest lntcrnctional Publications Mad #$46615. I'OSTMASU R:Send address changes to Cycle News, P.O. 80x 498, long Beach, CA 90801-0498. Tn determin e the expi ration dol te of yo ur subseri prie n. check the four numbers on the first line cf your address I... ~L The first two digits ind icate the l;a issue numberlou'U receive sl and the last two cha racters in dicate the yl;"H 0 the 1d!;1 iss ue. Subscnption rates: Rate for the United States and its ~ s slons for one year, (SO issues), $50.00; two yean; (100issues). ~5JK); ..ix month.., (25 i"'''lIps). $26.00; tri.al 'iUb (1 5 i.... u....l, $19.00. Canada and Foreign, one year (SO 1S..9UCS), $90.00: two veers (100 issues), $175.00; six month s (25 issues), $45.00;trial sub (15 issues),$38.00. Cycle News welcomes unsolicited t.'CI i to~1 ~tcrwJ including stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such mate rial, If pubhs~l~ , . becomes the exclusive propt'rty of Cycle News. Repnntin~ In whole or part unly b f'lt'~i.~lun . f t h~ publisher. Adw rh!Or u ing rate! and Circulation information will be sent upon rcqUl'St.&'1.' S.R. 5 . D W/BP'A 'if __ AUDITED CIRCULATION Printed in U.S.A. 4 Co~yrigh l~ Cycle Nt'ws, Inc. 1997. Trademark Cyril.' New" registered U.S. Patent Office. All righb reserved, RIDE Tuu ri ng the Sou th wes t o n full -bl o wn tourers 24 FEATURES MOTOCROSS Round 12 - AMA 125 / 250cc Na tional Motocross Cha mpionship from Bingham ton, Ne w York 6 DRAG RACING Round 4 - AMA /Prostar Drag Racing Series from Indi anapolis, Indiana ........32 Fina l Round - AMA 4-Stro ke National Motocross Cha mpions hip from Washou gal, Wash ingt on 40 VINTAGE AHRMA Nationa l Motocross and Dirt 34 Track from Honda Hills, O hio Rou nd 13 - Wor ld Champ ionship 250cc Motocross Cha mp ions hip from Poland .36 Round 11 - Wor ld Championship 125cc Motocro ss Cha mpio nship from , 37 Belgium DIRTTRACK Round 16 - AMA Grand National Cha mpionshi p Series from Hagerstown, New York 10 OFF ROAD The Colorado 300 14 HILLCLIMB Roun d 8 - AMA Na tiona l Hilld im b Championship from Dansville, Ne w York 38 DEPARTMENTS LEADERBOARD 0 EVENTS CALENDAR WANT ADS INSIDE THE TEXAS TORNADO LOOKING BACK : 23 42 .59 66 83 83 ONTHEFRONT COVER T he Cycle New s s taff h e a de d to t he Sou thwest to test the ir m ettle on the best tou ring bikes in the wo rld . Inset : Ricky Ca rm ichael and Jeff Emig - the Number On es. Photos by Kinney Jones .

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