Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(EID~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LmERSTO THEE ITOR D Thanks from the Grahams The family of Ricky Graham wishes to thank Cycle News for its wonderful articl es (both p a st a nd p r esen t) a nd fo r t h eir co m fo r t a nd s u p por t. This has b een a di ffi cul t tim e for u s, but the e n co ura g e m e n t w e h a v e recei ved nati onwide is helping us cope. It is comforti ng to kno w th at Ricky had so man y friends. We wou ld a lso li ke to exp ress o u r gra titu de for th e ma ny d onati ons mad e to the tru st fun d, for the ma ny fans who se n t flower s, cards and let ter s, and for the m any tel ephone ca ll s . All o f th e d onations will be gi ven to Su n Street , a reh abilitation center in Ricky' s hometown of Salinas, who helped Ricky ou t during a difficult tim e. Thank you for all your unwavering love and support. Cherish your memories as w e will. Bill and Pat Graham Barbara an d M ik e Hom en and fam ily Seaside , CA Three-time AMA Grand Nat ional Champion Ricky Graham was killed by a fire in his Salinas, California , home on January 22... Editor. Getting subjective J I Yikes! Mr. Williams, I ju st rea d yo u r G uest Column (Iss ue #6, February 18) a nd I am compelled to a sk yo u th is: H ow a bo u t a little s u b s ta n tia tio n to so me of yo u r theories and opin ions ? Espou sing yo u r feeli ng s and beli efs is one th ing, but when opinion is framed (especia lly when it is in direct cont ra st to reali ty, and uses my "View From th e Fence " co lu m n as cannon fo d der), it makes me just a tad defensive. I'm a marketing executive by trade, and I'm used to ba cking u p m y ideas with we ll-thought-out, factu al information. While I can appreciate your feelings towa rd the sport, I can ' t really say I a g ree w ith so me of yo u r half-b aked logic. Let's leave it at that. I've go tta go d ye m y .hair g reen . Eric Johnson Torrance, CA Ride like the Greek? As a former Cycle Netos editor and contr ibutor fro m 1969 to 1980, I always read th e cu rre nt "Looking Back..." sect ion in the pa pe r to see what fea tu re articles I produced are now being remem bered . V o lu m e XXXV Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Together w it h tw o former Cycl e N eios e d ito r s a n d m o toj ourn a li s ts , [ od y We isel and Charles Morey, the thr ee of us helped elevate the spo rt of motocro ss in ' Amer ica t o the s u ccess it e n joys tod ay. We exploited the outs poken perso n ali ties o f rid ers like Bob H a nnah, Tony DiStefan o a nd Marty Tripes; we cr ea ted co n tr o vers y a n d ex ci te men t where there might ha ve bee n none; and w e helped ma ke American m ot ocross th e m ost exciting form of m o torcycle racing in th e w orld at that tim e. Beca use o u r con tributions were sig ni fica n t, I wou ld think tha t Cycle Neuis would not be ash amed of our contribu tions to the spo rt by purposely deleting our bylines and credits wi th the feature articles, bu t instead w ould be proud to not e our contributions to the hist ory of the spo rt. . Recently, particularly in the past four w ee ks, Cycl e News has looked back a t the feature series "Ride like th e H u rricane" w ith Bob Hannah , crediting him for the article - when in 'fact I conce ived , wrote, photographed and produced it in its entire ty, and m y bylin e a p pea rs on eac h ins ta llment. I lived, tra veled and atte nd ed races wi th Bob across America throu gh out the '78 s ea so n an d p roduced th e article based o n much ha rd w ork, resea rch an d p h o to gra p hy . O f course, Bob's part icip a tion was significant and he sho uld receive eq ual credit but no t without me. As for othe r articles like bike test s, I w as the o nly m ot ocro ss journalis t in Ameri ca allowe d to rid e, test and ev aluate the exotic w orks bikes of the '70s . As an AMA Pro Na tio nal-lev el ri der, m y sk ill and experie nce w as respect ed by the factory teams, and m y in p u t from testing wa s even u s ed to set u p th e works bikes for th e tea ms' less ex perienced younger rid ers. For Cycle Netos to say in "Looking Back..." things like " we tested ," o r "Cycle Neun tested ..." is tak ing credit from where credit is due, both historically and factually - particularly if I was a free lancer and not a sta ffer at the tim e I tested the bike or wrote the race repo rt . Among my contrib utions to th e sport w ere the nickn ames for most of the top riders, includ ing " Hu rrica ne" Ha nna h, "Ty p hoo n " Tr ip es a n d "[a m m in" Jim my Wein er t. Even if m y years as a m otoj o urnal ist weren' t fin anci a ll y rewarding, I hope my contribu tio ns to th e s port will be r eme m b ered with res pect. Please a lways cre d it the work an d effo rts of myself an d fello w rna tojou rnalists. Jimmy "The Greek" Gianatsis Woodland Hills, CA Although he is too modest to admit it, we've since learned tha t Jimmy " The Greek" Gianatsis - in additio n to now gett ing his financial rewards by shooting photographs of scantily clad women standing by motorcycles - now works for the weather sertnce and has come up with such nicknames as "EI Nino" ... Editor. More anger Reading Geoff Meyers' colu m n "Across th e Atlantic" (Issu e #5, February 11), t he o ne where h e ca lls th e 19 9 7 M otocros s d es Natio n s " a co m p lete joke" and d escribes the track as "la ughable," it m ade m e wonder: Is this th e sa me guy from Holl and w ho crucified yo u r Cycl e NroJS reporter s for writing those same things ab ou t the event? Actua lly, I ha ve no p rob lem with his turnabo ut because he's rig ht th e secon d tim e, bu t th er e was another arg u men t he made in his co lu m n th at m ade me rai se m y eyebro ws. Meyers is und er stand ably stoked that the Action Group promot ers are g iving away comp limenta ry m eal s and offer ing fax a nd tel ephone lin es to th e press, but w hen he sa ys, "These th in gs make a journa list ha ppy - a nd yo u are therefore su re to ge t a better re po rt w rit te n about yo ur event," he is not spea king for me. In fac t, I completely d isagree w ith that line of th inkin g, and so sho u ld any other responsible, objec tive reporter. A race report sho uld be ba sed on the quality of th e ev en t and th e ac tio n o n the tra ck, amo ng other thi ng s, and cer tainly no t th e press-t ent buffet. Ju st because they gave me a free ham sandwich and a cu p of coffee in Belgium didn't change my take on that race. And it should not change his, eit he r. . Da vey Coombs M organ town, WV That about wraps up this week's edition of " Com plain t s f rom fo rmer and cu rre nt Cycle News contributors"... Editor. DAYTONA BIKE WEEK PREVIEW SECTION The stra tegy of the Daytona 200 24 Short Track Previe w 28 . Supercross Preview/ GNCC Preview ..3O .32 , Interview: Scott Rus seIl... i Forrest Hayashi, Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Development Mark Mitchell, Director Rick Matheny, Webmaster Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classifi ed Ads Cherie Collie Graphi cs and Production Mandy Lao, Production Manager Dennis Greene, wb. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Robyn Li!5ht, Graphic Artist Terra Whitmeyer, Graphic Artist • Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims, Administrative Assistant AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, A/R Coordinator Gene va Repass, Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit Circ u lation Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Carol Maggio, DealerCoordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Joy Lau, Assistant Service an d S upport Shannon Clark, Receptionist Jim Olson, S6TViee and Support 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084 Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 , (714) 751-7433 FAX (714) 751-6685 Eastern Office 4188First Ave., Tucker, Gi\ 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (n O} 934-7850 FAX (n O 934-3112 l e-mail editor@cyclenews.com su bscribe@,],clenews.com ad vertisingfeJcyclen ews.com Cycle News (USPS141 340) is published weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar.year for $50.00 pt'l' yeMby 4 FEATURES -r Ma rketing & Promot ion Mark Th ome, Director Internet http:/ / www.cyclenews.com INSIDE SUPERCROSS - Rou nd 6 - Toyota Tru cks / Th or / Parts . Unli mited AMA Su pe rcross Series from Indianapolis, Ind iana 18 Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, WesternSalesManager Thomas Ganter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, WesteTll SalesManager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Sales Mana ger Rick Matheny, Eastern SalesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, EasternAd Coordinator Tina Farr , Assistant Nation al H e ad q u arte rs Letters to th e editor sh ould be sent to Voi ces, C y cl e N ews, P.O. Bo x 5084, Co s ta Mesa, CA 92628- 5084, fax ed to 714 /751 -6685 or e-mail, ed ito r@cycl enews.com. Publi sh ed le tters do no t necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters shou ld n ot exceed 200 words an d all letters are su bj ect to ed iting. Ano n ymo us lett er s will not be consi dered fo r p ubli cation. All letters s h o u l d cont ai n t h e write r 's n am e , address and da ytime ph one number ... Editor. Issue#7February 25, 1998 ROADRACE Round 1 - AMA / MBN A Su pe rbike National Championship Series fro m Phoenix , Arizona 8 Wo rld Superbike Winter Test Session fro m Malaysia : 44 Editorial Paul Carruthers, Edi or t Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/Cory Editor Cameron Coatney, Associate Editor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holth er, Copy Editor Cycle News , Inc., 350~M Cadillac Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92628. Periodica ls Postage Paid at Costa Mesa, CA and at add itional maili ng office. Ca nada Post International Publica- DEPARTMENTS Racer Test : Sco tt Russell 's YZF750 1998 AMA Grand Nati onal Cham pionship Series Prediction Dayt ona Bike Week sched ule 36 38 40 ARENACROSS Round 17 & 18 - AL'v1A/ PJI Nationa l Aren across Series fro m Winst on-Salem, North Caro lina 46 FIRST RIDE 1998 Suzuki TLI 00R 1998 Kawasaki ZX6R RIDING IMPRESSI N O 1998 Yamaha WR400F 48 .52 54 EVENTS CALENDAR WANT ADS IN THEPADDOCK LOOKINGBACK tions Mailll'546615. : : .56 :.68 75 92 92 ON THE FRONTCOVER Sco tt Russell vs . the b est o f th e res t. Th at ' s no r ma lly th e s t o ry in the . Daytona 200. Th is year likely w on' t ,~ be a ny differ ent. Ph ot os by H enny Ray Abrams. Insets: Firs t rid es o n the Kawasa ki ZX-6R, the Ya m aha WR400 and th e Suzuki TI. I 0ooR. POSTMASTER: Send address chan ges to Cycle Ne ws, r .o . 84. Box 50Sl Costa Mes4 CA 92628-50 To determine the expiration date of your su bscrip tion, check the four numbers on the first line of your add ress L1be L Th e first two d igits ind icate the w t iss ue number you'll receive and th e last two ch.al'ileten indi cate the-year of the lasf issu e. tes Subscription rates: Ra for the United States and its possessions for one yea.r(SO is... es), $50-00; two year.; 0 00 i...ues), u .. $95.00;six mon ths (25 issues), S26JX); trial sub OS issues), $19.00. Canada and Foreign. one year (50 issues ), $90.00; two years 000 Issues), $175.00; six mon ths (25 issues ), $45.00; trial sub OS issues), $38.00. Cycle News welcomes unso licited ed itorial materia l includ ing sto ries, cartoons , photos, d e. Such material, if pu blished, becomes the exclusive property of Cyde News . Repri nting in whole or pert only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation informati on will be sent upon request. 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