Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

([lID0Elj VOICES Ameri ca's weekly motorcycle newspaper Lm ERSTO THEE ITO D R Volume XXXIV Sha ron Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Hard Luck Kid Editorial Paul Ca rru the rs, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau. Associate Editor Mark HOyE"c, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Ass~ tan t Edjtor/~ EditQ r Ca meron Coatney. Assistant Edt/or Alan Ca thcart. EU"!JWn Editor David R. Hol ther, Copy Editor Ad vertising Terry Pratt, NationalAccounts Manager Ma rk Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, West"" Salt'S Manag" Thomas Center . Western St1les Manager Forrest Hayashi. Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manag« Rick Matheny, Eastrot Salcs Manag..Rhonda Crawford. Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky , Assistant Ca rla A llen, Eastern Ad Coordinator T rna Farr , Assistllnt Marketing & Pro motion Mark Tho me, Director Forre Hayash i, Manager st Dealer Sa les Kelly Branscome, Dealer Sales Representative Ne w Media Dev elopmen t Mark Mi tchell, Director Rick Matheny. Webmastcr Stephanie Leamon, Assistatll Kent Taylor'S " Ha rd Lu ck Kid " s to ry about Doug G rant (Issue #42, Oct ober 22) reminded me of many other talented rid ers during the 70s w ho, but for timing and ci rcumstances, could also h av e ac hieved greatness raci ng motocross. Doug Grant was indeed a talented rider and, like most of the mo tocrosse rs at that time, couldn' t co nceive of mak- ing the kind of mon ey that factory rid ers ea rn today. Like Doug, th ey di d it because th ey loved racin g motocross ... but did n' t we all? Billy Payn e and GayIon Mosier are two mo re, and I' m su re, depending on whom yo u talk to, oth ers will come to m ind. Tim ing and circumstances! Doug men tions "Peter Starr's movie, 'O n Any Sunday:" but tha t was actua lly mad e by Bruce Brown. Peter's movie was "Take lt to the Limit : ' also a good m o vie that is s till available in vid eo stores or from Peter. Di ck M iller Encino, CA Classified Ads Laurie Tors tensen Graphics and Production 'The White family Mandy too, Production Manager Dennis Grccne.l.J1b. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Robyn Light, Graphic Art ist Many motorcycli ng fan s have inquired about the co nd i tio n of our s o n, Bra d White. Brad, now 19, w as seve r e ly injured while test riding a m otorcycle. He s truc k an unmarked cha in barrier ncar th e White Brother s R&D faci lity, cr us h i ng h is lar yn x, voice box a n d wi nd p ipe. Th ough his neck wa s not bro ken, th e lack of oxygen caus ed his heart to s to p and th e resu lt in g b rai nstem damage left him blind and a quadripl egic. We feel it is importa nt to no te that this accident could easily hav e happened o n a bi cycl e o r ska teboard, as in vestiga to rs de te r m i ned tha t h is ap proxi ma te s peed was o nly 10 to 15 mph. Aft er th e accident, th e neurol ogist gave the fa m ily no hope for his s u rvi val , let a lo n e a ny pro spect fo r improvem en t. The neurolog ist wh o wa s called in for a seco nd o pi nion went as fa r a s to recommend th e family take him uff all nu tri tion, including water, so he wo uld di e quicker. Don 't e ve r li ste n to do ct ors who wan t to play God. Brad has bee n ho me almost five mo nt hs now an d is irnproving eve ry day. His cognitive and memory skills we re unaffected by the accident and, with int ensive the rapy seven days Ret' Johnson, Prod uction Supen.oisor A d m in is tr atio n Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims, Administrative Assistant AccountingID,ata Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, A/ ff Coordinator Geneva Repass. Assistant Herlane Lewi s. Credit Circulation Rheba Sm it h. Managcr Alma Anguiano. Processing Coordinator Kesbo na Dawson. Billing Coordinator Carol Magg io, Dt."rllcr Coordinaor Service and Support Doris Rice, Receptionist Michael Swedberg, Seroice and Support National Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Bead>, CA 90801-V498 (562) 427·7433: (213) 636-884-1. FAX (562) 427-<>685 Eastern Office 4188 First Av e ., Tucker, G A 30084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (770) 934-7850. FA X (77Ul 934·311 2 e-mail edi to~c1 enew s.com subscrioc .o@cyclt..'llcws.com a week , he is now able to move every part of his body, We have hope that he ma y be abl e to walk and take care o f himself in th e future . He is lea r ning how to make sounds again a nd ca n co m m u n ica te "ves" and "no" with a ha nd squeeze. We ha ve a lot of work a head of us, but he has the will of a champion. Brad and his dad like to work on motorcycles in the garage. While d ad works away, he d escribes everythi ng he is doin g and Brad loves it. Fo r the White fa mily, the heali ng started th e day Brad ca me home. We a re very fort una te th at th e mo torcycle indus try has allowed us an income so we ca n afford home he al th ca re. Tom and Dan pled ge to wo rk vigorously in the futu re to fix a broke n ins ura nce and fed e r a l / s ta te M ed ica re sys te m tha t do es n't begin to tak e care of seriou sly injured people. Unfortunately, the pr esent sy stem puts in jured yo u ng ad u lts in state-fund ed rest hom es with no ther apy and offe rs no aid for home health ca re - which for mo st peo ple is financia lly out of reach. Check yo ur insurance. Ou r poli cy is with Foun da tio n Heal th, the nation ' s fourth-largest carrier, and it only covered 60 days of hospital rehabilitation - a nd then we were kicked out. We promise to continue wo rking hard on Brad's recovery and can assure you tha t joy and happin ess has returned to our hom e. Th ank you for yo u r thoughts and pr ayers. The White fam ily Yorba Linda, CA Dowd and his 125 I wa s ve ry disappointed to see that Yamaha is planning to put John Dowd in the 12Sec class. I believe this move is based solel y on his age. If a 20-something rider finished second in the 250cc Nationa ls , repeatedly beat Jeremy McGrath, Mike Lakocco, Greg AIbertyn and even waxed Jeff Emig a few times, he would be touted as "The N ex t Big Thing." A rid er in his 20. would be cu ltiva ted a n d put back in the premier class to hopefully bri ng Yamaha its first 250cc title in at leas t a decade. Because Joh n Dowd is over 30 (rea d "over the hill"), he has been releg ated to wa rming their 1255 u n til so me new wunderkind can be fouod to fill tha t spot. The tr uth is, John Dow d is stronge r and rid es wi t h more en thusiasm and desire than most o f his yo unger competitors. He deserves to ride where he excels - in the 250cc class. As fa r as 125cc Supercross is concern ed , th e AMA ru les th at allow him to ride in the "p rep- sch oo l class" a re simply ludicrou s. John Dowd has had a factory rid e for at leas t three years, has bea ten everybody in tha t cla ss more tha n once, and has had years of sing ledigit numbers plates . Th is class is supposed to encourage teams to cul tivate new talent - not to go cherry-picking . I'm su re John will r id e w here he ' s paid to rid e and make the ve ry best of it. I jus t hope Yam aha sees the erro r of its prejud ice and puts him in the 250cc class so we can see more of the fan tasti c action he ga ve us in 1997. Dan Radlau er Rad lauerl @ao l.com Defending the MV M r. Bruce Arms tro ng (Vo ices, Iss u e #41, October 15) states that MV Agusta a nd Ferra ri have un earned m yst iqu e. Th ey "we re dogs unsui ted for competitio n:' Wher e are hi s beloved Porsches (he ow ns o ne) in Formula One a nd World Supercar? Wh ere is H ar le y in raci ng? Porsche had to buil d a spec race ca r to be at th e s tree t Ferraris a nd Cob ras. The Japanese had to build twos tr okes, Ha rley has ru les e xcl u d i ng modem technology in flat-track racing, and their su perbike is street-legal only in Poland . And it sucks anyway. He .r e m ind s me of th e p orcu p ine, because > unlike a Porsche - the pri cks are o n the ou tsid e. . Vi va co m p e ti tio ne ! Seventy -Fiv e champions hips in 25 year s. MV Agusta, welcom e back. D an Vignau Kel Largo, FL Letters to the ed itor should be sent to Voices, Cycl e News, P.O . Bo x 498, Loog Beach, CA 90806-0498, faxed to 562/427-668 5 or e-m ail, ed it or@cyclenews.com, P ubli s hed ·le tt ers d o n o t ne cessari ly ref lec t the po siti on o f Cycle Ne w s, In c. Le tt ers s ho u ld no t exce ed 200 word s and a ll letters are su b ject to editi ng. Ano nym ous le tters will not be cons idered for publicatio n. All letters sho uld co n tain the wri ter's name, address a n d dayti me phon e number ... Ed itor. ad vcrtisingfscyclcncw s.com INSIDE 29, 1997 Issue 143 October Internet • http:/ /www.cyclcnews.com Cydt· N_..(USPS 141-340) if; rub1il'iohN W f'f'ldy f'xnopt tM ~ two W D of the Cilknda r year for 550 per year by t'l' .00 Cycle News-Inc.. 2201 Chmy Avert\!('. Lon 'Beach,CA 9(Il()b. g Pfriodkals P<5taRf' Paid.t Long8f'.rn.. CA;and at .dditiorW lIldiling offin.. C.UWclPll!ol lntl1llottiuf1cl1 Puhlicalion.. MiI;l . tSWt15. POSTMASTER: Smd . dd m., dunR" to CyclE' News, 8mlollJ8, LonZ Rco_h. CA 4O!m -OolctR. r.o. TodE'l 'rminr th r rx p intion cUt. of your!iiabw:ription, ch«k E tbr four num~ on th~ fin l lUtr of yo llt .lld~ ~l 1M two ditib indiatf the W ~Uf numbft you' l receive .nd th E'I~t two CNractn"'5 indicate the yeM of the b51 iss ue. fj", Sub!lcriprionrallt"'l: R.t~ fur tht> Unilt"d51.,,1 """"00 illi. poor.!Won.o; lor OM V~. (50 ~" 5SO.OO; two ~

• Cover