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/127857
V IC S
O E
LETTERS TO
T EDITOR
HE
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Ame rica's weekly motorcycle newspa per
Vo lu me XXXIV
Sharo n Clayton , President
Michael Klinger, Publisher
Grand Tourismo
Hagerstown and Ric ky G.
Wh at in "Sa m Hill " are we tes ting here?
Is it m oto rcycles o r st e reo sys te ms?
Wha t a lame ro ad test of some of the
best names in motorcycling.
May I make a suggestion here? Go all
the way back. Start with a motorbike or
a scoote r, adva nce to a 125 or 250. Then
move o n to a bigger b ike . Ma ybe by
th e n yo u w ill learn the tru e fu n of a
motorcycle: the sig hts , sme lls, and unencumbered freedo m. just possibly tha t's
wh y you r ch o p per frien d ye lled , " It
d oesn't ge t an y bet ter than this ."
Richard Mac k
Lombard,IL
The Grand Nati~nal race at Hagers town
was s u perb: th e tra ck, the racing a nd
Ricky Grah am . After heari ng his testimon y of accepting the Lord as his savior, he went ou t on the track and backed
up his wo rd s wi th action.
•
After falling in his heat race, he could
have stayed d own and caused a res tart
o f t he race. Tha t way, he would mos t
likely ha ve qualified fr o m th e h eat
rat her than having to ride the semi. ThIs
would have given him a better star ting
position in th e National. He wa s runnin g a s fast a s th e lead ers a nd mi ght
have won had this been the case.
Althou gh I am a Scott Parker fan, I
ga i ned a lot o f re spect fo r Ricky and
wish him the best of luck.
jerry Mason
Branchville, NJ
Grand Tourismo II
Let me see if I've go t thi s straight: The
two BMWs are uncomfortable, the Hog
won't go uphill, the Kawasaki wa nders
a bit an d th e Win g ' shimmies and
sha kes. And the cheapest of these offerings is 12.5K. Why wou ld I sell my oid
1974 BMW R900S (wo rth about $3(00) to
acquire any of these.bi kes? It's go t ea sily
as m an y bad habits, but at a mu ch,
much lower price.
Fred erick W. Sm ith
bro 73@in reach.com
For the stereo?... Editor.
There's no dowding John
Probab ly the best rid er bes ides jerem y
McGra th to b ri n g the s port to a new
level has to be john Dow d - a 32-vearold Vet Pro! H e is seven yea rs ~ l d er
tha n hi s speci fic co mpetition, with th e
speed of jeff Em ig and the relentlessness
of Do ug Hen ry . Dowd has shown th at
m ot ocross is a sport for p eople of all
ages and their fam ilies.
Dave Matson
Roseville, CA
Syracuse and Ricky G.
Dir t track raci ng is a live an d well in
New York . Even wit h the Syra cuse Mile
being rained out , the enth usiasti c atmospher e was fantastic.
Even though most people had tra veled from many miles a wa y to a tt end
the ra ce (no t to mention wearin g rain
gea r just to ge t there), the crowd awaited the news tha t the race had been canceled .
But alive and well und er the grands ta nds sa t Ricky G ra ha m . The fo rmer
Grand National Champion greeted fans
from nea r and far, signing autographs to
a nyone who w anted o ne . This is w ha t
the sport needs.
My hat is off to Ricky and I wish him
the bes t of luck for the rest of the season.
john Fitch
Hyde Park, NY
Locked out
Th ere was so mething d ifferent abou t the
Steel City Nation al Motocross rig ht from
th e start. In s tea d of a ni ce so uven ir
bad ge to s how that yo u had plun ked
down $20 to get In , they gave us w hat
was basically an illeg ible piece of paper .
The riders, however, m ad e u p fo r
this by putting on a grea t show. In spite
of th e fact th at the Na tio na l titl es had
alrea dy bee n decided, the rid ers d idn't
hold any thing back and rod e th e way
that pleases the fans who watch them .
The promoters, though, did the hold ing back. One of the highlights of being
at a National race is goi ng into the pits
o nce th e T
act: is ove r . T he rid e rs g racio u sly sig n a ut og ra phs , pos e fo r p ictures and, a t th is particular race, gi ve
awa y a lot of th eir equipment because
it' s th e la st ra ce of the yea r. This fan
ac cessibility is w hat u sed to se pa ra te
m otocross fr om o the r profess io n a l
sports. However, that changed at Steel
City.
Some idiot s tole the license p la tes
fro m th e H ond a a n d Suz u ki tr ans porters . Wha t val ue these have as souveni rs only the m oron w ho took th e m
und erstand s. In re talia tio n for this, th e
20,000 or so fans wh o di d n' t s teal anythi ng we re ba nn ed from th e pit s after
th e rac e. An d if they kee p th eir wo rd,
the fans will be locked ou t from now on
at High Point and Steel City. Will I be
back next year? I'll have to think about
that one.
Ken Ca rtwrig h t
Co lu mbiana, OH
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INSIDE
Issue #37September 17, 1997
TIME REMEMBERED
Motocr osser George Hollan d
ROAD RACE
Round 6 - Form ula USA Seri es from
Long Pond, Pennsylva nia
Ma rk Th o me, Wts l rm Salt'SMarzaga
Thomas Ce nte r. Western Sales Manager
Forres t Hayash i, We;trrn Sales Manager
G r~ Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manns"
Rick: Math eny, Ea
stern SalesManager
Rhonda Cra wfo rd , Western Ad Coordinator
Brid gett Bobrofsky, Assistant
Carla Allen, Eastern A d Coordinator
Tina Fc1rT, A