Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

V IC S OE America's weekly moto~cle newspaper LmERSTO THE EDITOR Volume XXXIV Sh aron Clayton, President Micha el Klinger , Publisher ber 1). First of all, I have stron g feelings for the Mo tocros s des Nations, since the first motocross race I ever attended was the '87 race at Unadilla. I also have a lot of respect for riders like Jeff Emig who take the event so seriously for the love of sport and country. I totally ag ree with Eric th at every coun try in th e w orld wants to see us lose and lose badly. That is because we a re the best a nd we shou ld n' t forget it. I wasn' t at the race in Belgium, but I can't imagine it being more of a mudfest tha n Unadilla in 1987. The point I want to make is that Eric's attitude toward this race is discouraging. Everybody is going to have a bad race at one time or another and jus t beca use we have one is no reason not to attend the des Nations. Ou r mai n focus should be next year's race and how we can win it. I think John Dowd said it best wi th "M an , I wou ld love to co me back next year and give it ano ther shot... all we ca n d o is loo k forward to ne xt year." I hope I S<.'C him there. R.J. Negro Farm ington, CT Famous? "...the most famo us ma rque in rnotorcycling hist ory: MV Agusta ." Surely Mr . Cathcart' s s ta temen t in his October 8 revi ew of the Milan Show is the result of too man y free lun ches at Cas tiglio ni's table. G ra nted , MV w on lo ts of GP s but against wh om? A bun ch of pre-war d esi gned singles a n d th e o cca s io n a l m ult i fie lde d b y p oo r ly o rga n ized and / or fun d ed com p a ni es like Mot o Gu zzi or Gilera. Let' s not forget tha t MV • rolled ov er just like the English as soon as the Japanese figu red out how to build sus pensio n and engines. Let' s also not forge t that the trul y great manu factu rers like Honda, Ha rley-Davidson and BMW have won cham pionships in many arenas: dirt , sid ecar , trials, desert , as well as pavement. Like Ferrari stree t ca rs, a mystique su rro unds MV - an un earn ed mystique. Their street machin es were dogs u nsu ited for com pe tition, the only true thoro u ghbred MVs bein g th e factory-only team bikes - not unlik e tod ay's Du catis. Just as Ferrari stree t cars are not su bjected to co mpetition of even the most in form al type, s uc h a s One Lap o f Ame rica, th e decal-engineered MV will never put a rid er o n the box in World Su perbik e . lt is a corpora te dildo fo r wealthy collectors and is undeserving of all the hype Cat hca rt and the press will soon give it . I'll bet the Japanese a re laughing themselves silly . Bruce Armstrong Santa Barbara, CA And again.•. 1 wa nt to persona lly thank Emig, Dowd and Lamso n for representing ou r country in the Motocross des Nations. Not man y Americans ge t an opportunity to patriotically re p resen t thei r count ry . They should be proud for the opportunity. No one likes to have a bad day at the races, especially in an important event. I broke myself up badly in the '70s and though t I w oul d never be abl e to race again. I am 38 years old and I am racing again. I am gra teful for any opportunity to co m p ete with my Irtends at a ny level. Sometimes we d on't appreciate what we have until we lose it. I would like to congratulate James Dobb on his good finish. His attitude is appalling. I am su re tha t his comments will help him net another great opportunity wi th a professional team. I will no t m iss his lac kluster rid es aboard a Pr o Circuit Kawasaki. He should have been gra tefu l tha t he was given a great ride in the Sta tes, and take res ponsibility for his own actio ns. If the AM A a nd FIM w ou ld spend mo re concen tration on the welfare of the race r s, th e p as s ions o f th e fans , th e sch ed u les o f th e te ams , th e li mi ted re so urces o f th e private ers, and th e im age to th e public, o u r s port would flourish . Do ug Ho It Nas hville, TN Saeto, for reqular guys Recen tly, the rest of us got to do somethi ng th a t only the sta rs of G r and National dirt track racing normally get to experience: ride the Sacramento Mile. A full day of AHRMA Amate ur a nd 600cc Professional racing allowed those of us on the West Coast the opportunity to race on one of the legendary tracks of AMA Class C raci ng . Eddie Mulder , Ge ne Romero and crew p ut on a wellrun a nd exciti ng pro gram o n a fast, smooth race tra ck . Nothi ng today matc hes the so u nds of a pa ck of Tr'iumphs, o r the scre am o f a 250cc twin blasti ng do wn th e long back s tra ights. Then th e 600cc Pros p u t o n a ra ce to rival th e Nationa l the nig ht before ( I hop e someone fro m th e AMA wa s still on hand ). Elliott Iverson Riverside, CA > MX des Nations Duteh treat Th is is i n r espo nse to Eric Jo hnso n' s "View fro m the Fen ce" (Issue #39, Octo- Tha nks so m u ch 'for the g rea t a r ticle abo u t George Holland. It' s nice to see tha t he is still in the mind s of the people who aTC in teres ted enough to see k him out. George was one of the rid ers in the '80s that many of us tried to pa ttern our racing sty les around. Sometimes it seems as if that "era" of riders has just fallen by the wayside and everyo ne has fo rgotten about th em. I. for one, never want tha t to happen and ' a m glad th a t so meo ne a t Cycle News feels the same way. Th ere are so man y rider s w ho have d ro pped out of s ight o ver the pas t 10 to 15 years and none of the yo ung riders kno w anyt hing abo u t them. 1 think it is important to educate these youngsters abo ut the peo ple who we re ins trumen tal in making this wond er ful sport what it is to da y. George Hollan d was d efinitely one of th ose riders. Keep up the good wo rk, Cycle News and give us m ore! Donald Beal Woodland, CA Is it really about drugs? In a recent le tt er to the edi to r, Mar k Hanso n wrote that "it wa s refres hing to hear abo ut Suz uk i firin g Anthon y Gobert" on failing a drug test. Mark says it sends a message that "d rugs will not be tolera te d " in m o to rcycl e raci ng . Th e only message it sent to me is tha t so me . people will believe anythi ng they read without asking some im po rta nt q uestions - like w ha t intolerable drugs d id Anthony test positive for? Suz u ki won't tell us. Was the test valid? Who knowsit was a test conducted bv Suzuki and not the AM. Gobert passed a d rug tes t conducted by the F1M after the Czech GPin Brno. Ant hony Gobert migh t be a rrogan t, impetuous and have green hair, bu t the last time I chec ked, the job of a racer was to ride hard . Judging by his rookie res ults, he's well on his way to beco ming a top rid er. Given his positi o n o n drugs, Ma r k s hould be p reac h ing to Team Lucky Strike Suz uki ins tea d of ju dgi ng A n t hony Gober t g u ilty of unsu bstanti ated cha rges . Gene Co ok Gcook@ea.com. Le tt e rs to the e d i to r s ho uld b e s e n t to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498, faxed to 562/4276685 or e-mail.edito r@cycl en ews.com . Publish ed l etters do n ot necess ari ly reflect the position of Cycle N ews, Inc. Leiters should no t exceed 200 words and all letters are su bject to edili n);. Ano nym ous letters will no t be co nsidered for publication. All letters sh o u ld contain the writ er's name , address and d a ytime phon e number ... Ed i to r. Editorial Pau l Ca rru thers, Editor Kit Palmer, Aseociete Editor Scott Rousseau. Associate Editor Mark Hoyer. Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant EditorIC01!Y EdItor Ca meron Coatney, Assistant Editor Alan Ca thcart. Eur opean Editor David R. Ho lthe r. Copy Editor Ad vertising Terrv Pratt, NationalAccounts Monagu Ma rk Mit chell. Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Th o ma s Genter, WC'Stern Sales Manager Forrest Ha yas hi, Western SalesManager G reg Mitchell , Eastern Sales Manager Rick Ma theny, Eastern Sales MatUlger Rhonda Cra wford , Western Ad COOrdinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen. Enslern Ad Coordinator Tina Parr, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Ma rk Thom e, Direct r o Forrest Hayas hi. Managu Dealer Sa les . Kelly Bran scome, Dealer Snles Rtpresen tativr New Media Development Ma rk Mitchell, Director Rick Ma the ny. Webmaster Stepha nie Leamo n, Assistant Cla ssified Ad s Laurie To rste nsen Gra phics and Production Rec johnson, Production Supervisor Mand y Leo, Production Manager Den nis Gn.'t!ne.l.Jlb. Tech. Am anda Wollny, Graphic Artist Robyn Light , Graphic Artist Administra tio n Judy Klinger. Coordinator Leanne Sims. Administrotiz'f Assistant Accounting/Data Processin g Donna Bryan-Diamond. AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass. Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circulation RhebaSmith, Manager Alma Anguiano. Processing Coor dinator Keshona Da .....son, Billing Coordinator Carol Maggio, DealerCoordinator Service and Support Doris Rice, Receptionist Michael Swedberg, Sertnceand Support Natio na l Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, LongBeach, CA 90801-Q498 (562)427 -7433: (213) 636-8844. FAX (562) 427-<>685 Eastern Office 41AA First Ave .• Tuc ker, GA 30084; mail ing add ress P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-{)805. (770) 934-7850. FAX (770) 934-311 2 e-mail ed itor@cyc1enews.com subscribeiscyclenews.com ad vcrt isin gfseyclenews.com Int ernet http:/ /www.eyclenews.com CycleNt'W'I (lIST'S 141 1i5 publi!lhN W ·340 E'elJy elt~ the la:-lt two wttks of the calcnd. f vear for $50.00 per veer bv 1 INSIDE Cvcle News, Inc.• 2201 Cht-rry AVlmue, long IkoKh, CA \,10806. P~iOIbo I\Ndge raid 011 Lcog Bt-ach. CA and at add itional . ' m.1iing office Canada Post Intem.1tional Publication.l Mail l Issue #41O ctober 15, 1997 ~1 5. ROAD RACE Round 11 - World Superbike Championship Series from Japan 6 Round 10 - AMA Superbike Na tional Championship Series from Las Vegas, . Nevada l0 Round 15 - Wo rld Championship Road Race Series fro m Australia 22 DRAG RACE NHRA Heartland ka, Kansas 32 ationals from Tope35 NEW BIKES 1998 Honda street bikes 1998 Suzuki street bikes 1998 Kawasaki street bikes . 26 28 OBSERVED TRIALS 1997 Trials des Nations fro m the Isle of Man 36 DIRT TRACK Rou nd 21 - AMA Gra nd Nationa l Champions hip Series from Las Vegas, Nevada 18 SPEEDWAY U.s. Nati onal Cha mpionship from Costa Mesa, California : DEPARTMENTS SHOW • Paris Motorcycle Show Milari Show: Part II FEATURES POSTMASTER: Ynd .idd~ cltan gn 10Cyclf' Nf'w," P.O. Boli 04qs, lons lkoKh.CA 90801-o.t9ti. : .38 40 42 VINTAGE Cal-Ex£o Vintage Mile from Sacram en46 to, Ca lifornia LEADERBOARD RESULTS EVENTS CALENDAR WANT ADS GUEST EDITORIAL LOOKING BACK 21 44 48 64 70 87 87 ON THE FRONT COVER Ne w bikes and cha mpio ns: Show-stoppers fro m the Milan a nd Pa ris Sh ows along wit h th e cha m pi ons w ho were crowned o n th e weekend . To drif'rmiM ~ f'l piution d.1t ' of you r !OuNription,. cltf'Ck f thf' four n umbf'n on lM fir..! line ofyout

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