Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper V olu meXXXV Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publi her s Jusfsa rio'io'1000s . y Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor ' . Scot t Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, ManaginKEditor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/COT!!! Editor Cameron Coatney, Associat Editor e Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holth er , Copy Editor Advertising Terry Prall, National Accol/nts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, WesternAd Coordinator Bridgett Bobr ofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Tina Farr, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Fo rres t I-layashi,~anager . Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Development Rick Matheny, Webmaster Stephani e Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Mandy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Randy S. Hess, Graphic Artist Sandi Cettys, Graphic Artist Ad m in ist rat ion Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims, Adminlstratite Assis tant Accounting/Da ta Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit Circu lat ion Alma Anguiano, Circulation Manager Carol Maggio, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, BillingCoordinator joy Lau, Dealer Coordinator jessica Schroeder, Assistant Service and Support Shannon Clark, Receptionist Jim Olson, Serviceand Support National He adq uarters 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 41 88 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX (770) 934-31 12 e-mail ed ito r@cvc1enews.com subscribedcyclenews. com ad ver tising@cyclenews.com News that he is an off-road mo torcyclist concerned abou t enviro nmen tal issu es. No on e with any real knowledge of the enviro nment, our country's forest industr ie s, o r th e Blue Rib bon C oali tion would spea k so ign oran tly. With all of the good w or k th e Blue Ribbon Coali tion has done for Ame rica, I would like to see more race promoters an d motorcycle-industry lead ers donate to this ou ts ta nd ing orga n izatio n . Th e Blu e Ribbon Coalition is d ed icated to sp read ing truth and fighting the misinfo rma tio n bein g put ou t by so-ca lle d env iro nmen tal gro ups . Mark Parson s Newark, OH Please see the Guest Edit orial on the last page of this issue for more injormation all the Blue Ribbon Coalition... Editor. Better conditions T his is in res po nse t o t h e lett e r b y Steven Schwen k (Issue #22, June 10). With th e d istortion s and misinformati on p resented in Mr. Sc hw enk' s le tter , it appears th at he is an enviro n me n talis t w acko try in g to p o se as a n off-ro ad motorcyclist. He has no credibility at all and tries to convince the reader s of Cycle Upon returnin g fro m th e So u t hwick Mo toc ross Na tio na l, I'd li ke to s hare so me o bservatio ns. While th ose w ho don' t u nd erst and m ight have th ought th e 10,000-plu s in a tte nd a nce "a re n' t playi ng with a full deck" after standing around in pouring rai n and th e su bsequent m ud all d ay, I'd like to say that this was ju st the typ e of eve nt that makes motocross a tru ly uni qu e spo rt. Not only will pa trons rem ember great racing an th e triump hant performances of homeboys John Dowd an d Dou g He nry, but they will talk abou t experiencing Southwick '98 for yea rs to come. Fo r those of us who would ra ther slosh thr ou gh the mud than confine ourselves within a sterile stru ctu re of s teel an d ce m ent to wa tch n early identical jump-and- tu rn affa irs, it' s satisfy ing to see th e recent growth of outd oor motocross. Now it's tim e, however, for certain promoters to realize that facilities need to be updated to keep pace with this grow th - Southwic k's MX338 is a perfe t example. Let' s start by cleari ng some trees; forge t th e " p rivileged p ar ties" viewi ng areas ; and how abou t so me traffic d irectio n w hen it co mes tim e to lea ve t he facility ? As a hard -c ore m otocr os s fa n, I' ll a lways find a way to m ak e it to the ra ces, enjoy myself and ge t ba ck hom e. But w e still need to think a little mo re about the folk s w ho pa y the bills. Steve Farenell Saratoga Springs, NY DIRT TRACK Round 4 - AMA Grand Na tiona l Cha mpionship Series fro m Mineralwells, West Virginia .26 HILLCLIMB Round 2 - AMA Na tio na l Champions hip Hillclimb Series from Yor k, Pennsylvania INTERVIEW Max Biaggi 30 Blue Ribbon Coalition Issue#25 July 1, 1998 Cycle News (uS PS 141·34D) is pub lished we y except the ekl last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per year by Cycle News. Inc.,3505-M Cadillac Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92628. Periodi cals Postage Paid at Costa Me a, CAand at s additi onal mailing office. Canada Post Interna tiona l Publications Maillt546615. POSTMASTER: Sen d address changes to Cycle News, P.O. Ba ll: 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-50 84. To de term ine the expiration date of your subscrip tion, check the four numbers on the first line of your address labe l. The firs t two dig its indicate the las t issue numb er you 'll receive and the last two cha racters indicate the yea r of the last issue. Subscription rates : Rates for the United States and its pl:Js!'ot'S· sions for one year (SO issues), $50.00; two years (100issues), $95.00; six months (25 issue , $26.00; trial sub 0 5 issues), s) s $19.00. Canada and Foreign, one year (50 issue ), $90.00; two yea rs 000 issues ), $175.00 six mon ths (25 issues), $45JX trial ; ); sub 0 5 issues}, $38.00. Cvcle News welcomes unso licited edi torial material includin g stories. cartoons, ph otos, etc. Such material, if publbh~, becomes the exclusive propertv of CycleNl?W5. Repri ntlO ~ in whole or part only by pe rm ission of the publi sher. Advertising r ate and circulation informat ion will be sent upon s requ e SeeS.R.o.S. st. 'A UDITED • O RCULATION Printed in U.S.A. 4 I to tall y d isagree with Stev e Whitelock an d o thers wh o beli eve th at ch a nging Grand Prix racing to 1000cc four-strokes will result in faster bikes and bett er racing. His es tima tion of 240-250 horsepower is so mew ha t sus p ect by current tech nological sta ndar ds. If 750cc su perbi kes cu r re n tly m a k e a p p r ox ima te ly 213 horsepo wer p er lit er , w here w ill th e a d dit io n a l 15 p er cent (w it h la r g e r eng ines giving lower ho rse po wer/ liter) come fro m? Wh at will the powerbands be like? If curren t Pro-Stock d ra g bik es need 1500cc-p lu s to ge t 250 horsepowe r , what te chn ol o g y i s b e in g h e ld secre t? Why no t turbos, nitros ... sixcy li nd er, 275 ho rsepo w er 750 cc tw ostro kes? Even if it were possible to ge t the mere 200 horsepo wer that Dennis Noyes prop oses, tod ay' s 190 horsepower 500s are at fu ll throttle less than 20 pe rcent a lap on some tra ck s : How w ill mo re horsepow er , m ore w eight, fra me- fle xing, tire-spinn ing and less tractability be faster ? _Whitel ock co n ve nien tly overlooks the reason for 500cc lap -time stagnation - the 130-kilo (286-pou nd) weigh t limi t. Before this ru le the bikes weighed 240 pou nd s. So w hy not drop th is req uirem ent if fas ter la p times a re th e go al? Close r racing? Unlikely. Whitelock also believes th is new techn ology will spawn 350-pound streetbikes . Did Yamaha forget something w ith their underpowered , overweight R-l , or di d they mis read the dema nd for $50,000 production bikes ? Some argu e that the 500s are not relevan t to stree t bikes. Exactly - that ' s th e po in t! The fact that they don't look like produc tion bikes is why they 're so exciting to see ridden on th e edge. Formula One and Indy cars figured this out yea rs ago and this anomoly of street to race doesn't s to p billions fr om wa tchin g th ese ca rs . W hy? Becau se they so u nd g re a t, co rner a t four Gs, go fa s t and eve rybody ad mires the talent it takes to drive one. Th ere are alrea dy World Su perbikes, num erou s Na tio na l-level superb ike , Su pers po r t, Fo r m ula USA / Xtreme , Twins, Supermono, 50S, Th under , Prod uc tion and His tori c four-stro ke class es (ta lk abo u t s po nsor diluti on ). Do we rea lly need anothe r four-stroke class? What w ill happen to World Su pe rbik e? Wh y would anyone go to see glo- rified (restricted) 750cc stree tbikes w he n th ey can watch u nfettered 250 horsepo wer, tir e-smok in g 1000 s doing 180 mph w heelies that only tw o gu ys in the world can rid e? Wha t a bou t cos t? Does a nyo ne believ e a n u n li m ited pn euma ti call y valved , com pu ter-co ntrolled, fuel-injected, Beryllium four-stro ke w o u ld b e cheaper to build, develop and run than a si m p le two-stroke? Perh a p s in th e defense dep artment. What will hap pen to Du cati, Bimota, Ap r ilia, BMW, MV , M ot o-Gu z z i, Ha rley- Davi dson, th e Austra lian bikes, Norton, and any others who can' t affo rd multi-billion -dollar budgets yet? Racing will rev ert to eight-to-lO-Japanese-factory-w ork-ri der p rocessions . It wo ul d be team domination - jus t wha t GP racing is tr y in g to ge t away fro m (no di srespect, Mick), W e need loo k no furth er tha n the Formula USA /Xtre me pa radigm to see of the future of 1000cc GP racing. Where a re 180- ho rse power -pl us b ikes fa ster than th e superbikes ? Nowhere. Wh er e do they put on a be tter show? Desp ite th e bes t effor ts to p ro mote this se ries, they h a ve engendered li ttle rider or spe cta tor support. More om inously, the cu r r en t n umber-o ne te a m (w i th the b igge st bu d get) d omin ation portends the uncompetitive future for u nr estric ted GP racing. Ju s t be ca us e Mick Doohan d oesn ' t like more tractable bi kes negatin g his s kill advantage, d oes that wa rra nt a change ? Will the NBA go to a 12-foot basket w hen Jordan says it will showcase his awe some talents be tter? The current trend to ward more co mpetitive rac es (did you see Madrid?) and "lo t Doohan runaways, with more riders di cin g for the lead and more diversitv (two- and four-c ylinder Hond as , - Ya m a h as , Suzukis, Mod ena s and MuZs ), makes for grea t spectacles - and tha t is what GP racing is all abou t. Four-stro ke 1000s - wh y? Howard Jaco bs White Pla ins, NY INSIDE Internet http:/ / www.eyclenews.com W/BD'A. V . .£n:... LEITERS TO THE EDITOR Copy rightC Cycle News, Inc. 1998. Trademark Cycle News registere d U.S. Pate nt Office. All righ ts reserved. FEATURES MOTOCROSS Round 5 - AMA / Maz da Tru cks 125/250cc N ational Cha m pio ns hip Motocross Serie s from Budds Creek, Maryland 6 Round 8 - 250cc Wo rld Champion ship MX Series from the Czech Republic ....42 NEW BIKES 1998 Yam ah a YZs Round 6 - 125cc World Cha mpion ship MX Series fro m San Mari no 43 DRAG RACE NHRA Winston Dra g Race Series from Colum bus, Ohio ;34 ROAD RACE Round 9 - AMA / M BNA Su pe rbike Nationa l Champion ship Series from Loudo n, New Hampshire 12 Round 6 - World"Superbike Cha mpi onship Series from San Marino 22 Isle of Man IT .38 .32 .46 DEPARTMENTS EVENTS LEADERBOARD CALENDAR WANTADS GUEST EDITORIAL LOOKINGBACK .49 72 73 82 99 99 ON THE FRONT COVER ENDURO Round 6 - AMA / Acerbis N ationa l Championship Enduro Series from Bellingham, Washington .40 SPEEDWAY Overseas Fina l from England .44 Dou g He nry r e turn ed to the plac e where he su ffere d serious injury - and wo n . Ph ot o b y Karl O ck er t. A aro n Sli ght won twi ce in It a ly; Will Davis won in West Virgini a; and Aaron Slight topped the AMA Superbikes in Loudo

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