Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Ilill~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LEITERS TO THE EDITOR Volu m eXXXV Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carru thers, Editor Kit Palm er, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, M1l,wging Editor Keith Bush, Assistant EditorlCoTY Editor Cameron Coatnev, AssociateEditor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holth er, CoT'!! Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Acrounts M1lnager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Cen ter, Western Sales M1lnagtT Forrest Hayashi, Westml Sales M1lnager Greg Mitchell, EasternAccounts M1l,wger Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobr ofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Tina Farr, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi. Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representatioc New Media Development Rick Matheny, Webmaster Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Mandy Loa, Production M1lnager Dennis Greene, lA b. Tech. Amanda Wollny, GraphicArtist Randv S. Hess, 'Graphic Artist SandI Gettys, Graphic Artist Ad minis tration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims. Administrative Assistant Accoun tingfDa ta Process ing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit Circ ula tion Alma Ang uiano, Circulation Manager Ca rol Maggio, ProcessiuS'Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coord inator joy Lau, Dealer Coordinator Jessica Schroeder, Assistarzl Service and Support eptionist Shannon Clark. Rec Jim Olson, Service and Support ----- Natio na l Headqua rt ers 3505-M Cad illacAve., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084. Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 (714) 75J-7433 FAX (714) 751-6685 Eas te rn O ffice 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 80S Tucker, GA 30085-0 , 805 (770) 934-7850 FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com subscribe@<}'c)enews.com advertisingfsc yclenews.com Abbott 'says thanks How many professio na l athletes can say they' ve ex perienced tru e s po r tsmanship? On Ju ne 27th, durin g th e Mesquite Best in the Des ert race, I ex perienced this firs tha nd , Ver y few people kn o w th at d urin g th e race, wi th 40 mi les to go, I crashed and was kn ocked unco nscio us . I don' t remember much of that d ay, bu t o ne thing tha t was brought to my a ttention was th e w illingness of fell ow com petitors to giv e up their race to assist me. Th e rid ers I w ould like to recognize a re Bri an Brow n , N ick Pe ars on a n d Donnie Boo k I w ould also like to than k everyone else w ho stopped - the Best in the Desert officials, Team Green, all of the pit crews, and spectators. I w o u ld like to b e ab le to th ank everyo ne by n ame, bu t th ere a re too man y to list. Th e m ai n p oi n t o f th is le tt er is to m ak e rid ers awa re that ther e are m ore im portant things than wi nning, as these ri ders s howed . We all need to rea lize that we're no t jus t competitors, we 're a fa m ily, a n d tha t' s w hat racing is a ll about. Destry Abbott Kawasaki Team Green Peoria, AZ Thanks, Team Green I want to publicly thank Reid o rd in of Kawasaki's Team Green for givi ng us permission to use 'Destry Abbott, one of Kawasaki's star off-road rid er s, a t th e recent Pikes Peak Hill climb, July 4. Abbo tt rod e for us in 1996 a nd '97 prior to his signing w it h Kawasaki for the '98 se ason. Our o rig inal 250cc rider had jus t started a new job an d couldn't make the event. I called Reid an d asked him if ther e was an y chance we could use Destry for this event. He called me back a cou ple of days late r and said yes. Agai n, w e thank Reid and Kawasaki for th eir generosity . Tha t' s what I ca ll good spo rtsmans hip. Incid en ta lly, Destry wo n the 250cc class (at Pike 's Peak ). Gary Vosburg Vosberg Raci ng Las Vega s, NV . Incredibly stupid In response to re cent letters in Cycle News, first let me sav the fact that airquality iss ues are even a factor in GP racing, or d irt bikes for that matter, is so incredi bly stu p id it bogg les th e m ind , The amount of bikes, and the amount of ra cing being d on e with th em, co ntribute suc h a minuscule amo u nt of smog when co m pare d to everythi ng else the t it's im measurable and insignificant. Se co nd, the exoticness o f th e m ach ines, and the level of racing they are capable of, are exa ctly w ha t mak es GP raci ng so exciti ng , Th e fact tha t little relat es to w hat is sol d to th e pub li c means noth ing. Little about Funny Ca rs relat e to w ha t is sold to the public, bu t people sti ll enjoy wa tchi ng them, d on 't they? Regardless that these (GP) bik es are two-strokes, as mu ch , if not m ore, of th is technology still finds its way to producti on, Aerodyna mics, w ei gh t-saving techn iqu es, chassis, igni tion techno logy, w hee ls, tires, suspe ns ion, and so on, are all still applicab le. Two-stroke tech nology is o n ly th ou ght to b e a t a n e n d because of all the people who take it for gra nted that nothing can be done. Bimota m akes a s treet- lega l 500cc V-twin tw o-st ro ke th at is smog-legal in every country in the world, includ ing California . \ Everyo ne thou g ht s treet-legal twos tro kes were dead before, but Yam aha continued to make them years lo nger up until the last RZ5OO. If evervone threw a fit over the demise of two-strokes ra ther than rolling over and playing dead, the facto ri es co u ld a n d w ould do wha t needs to be done to make them. Fourstro kes a re hea vier , more com plica ted, h ave m ore m ov ing parts , are more ex pensi ve, m ore diffi cult , a n d m ore ti me-co nsu mi ng to rebuild o r repa ir. Mos t importantly, they're slowe r. Tha t's why it takes a four-stroke tw ice th e di splacement to be competitive wi th a twostroke. . I fo r o n e wou ld ge t noth ing fro m wa tchi ng Mick Doohan race my street bi ke, or anything resem bli ng my stree t bike. Four-st rok es suc k, and I'm tired of having pen cil-pushing execu tive s from the factories and old m en from sa nctioning bod ies wh o do n't even ride and only ca re abo u t money ramming unwanted ru les d own my throa t w itho ut me ha ving an y say in it. L. Greer Upland,CA Always a professional Trying to put true heartfelt feelings into a few short words is a very tou gh tas k to ma nage, so I w ill si m p ly say t ha t o n April 24 , 1998 , Bru ce Z imm er man pas sed away fro m a heart attack w hile tr a in in g a t hi s ho me in Manaha wkin, New Jers ey, In his 37 years, Bruce spe nt over 25 of them sitting o n one kind of moto rcycle o r a n o th er . N e x t to h is famil v a nd fr ie n ds, hi s p a s si on for the spo r t of m o tocross was unsur p assed . Ra in or shine, first place or last, on tw o w heels o r o n h is h ea d , t he sa me h a ppy-golucky yet true professional alw ays came shining through. My d eepest sym pathy goe s o ut to his family and loved ones during this time of great loss. I hope so me comfo rt can be found in kno w in g tha t each life Bru ce touch ed, the same feelings ha ve been felt by all. Bru ce was an d always w ill be the nicest guy I ever met. Go d spe ed , Bru ce, you w ill be tru ly missed bu t never for go tten. Tom Mulva ney Bricktown, NJ We found him It' s now almost halfw ay th rough Ju ly, and I feel I've been most pati ent. I've read all the cove rage on the 1998 G C Dirt Track Series, bu t I have seen no me ntion of him. What happened to the career of one of the bes t and brightest of th e last few years? Where the hell is Kevin At he rton? G regory Sau lter Edi so n, NJ We [eatured all irueroieu: unth Kevin AtherIon in lasl week's issue (Issue #27, JlIly 15). In that interview , A llterton reveals iclmt he IUlS been doing and why he has not bem raeing. ln a nut shell, Alltaton says he's tired of racing and is 01 home in Charlotte, Nort h Carolina, jus t relaxin' , hanging alii wit h his friends and being a nOnl/al glly ...Editor. Lette rs to the editor s hou ld be sen t to Voices, Cycl e News, P.O. Bo x 50 84, Co sta M esa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751 -6685 o r e-m a il, edi to r@cyc1 en ew s .co m . P u b li sh e d le tters do n o t necessarily reflect th e position of Cycle N ews, Inc. Letters s ho uld not exceed 200 wo rd s and all letters are s u b ject to ed iting. Anonymous letters will not be consid ered fo r publicati on . All lett ers s h o u l d cont a in th e writ er' s name, address and da ytime phone number ... Editor. Internet http:/ / www.cyclenews.com Cycle News CUSPS 141 ~340) is published weeklv except the Ia.t tv.'~ weeks of t~ calendar.year forSSO.OO Per year by .. C~df' l\:t"W!'o. lnc.• ~M Cadillac Avenue. Costa Mesa.CA ~. Periodical PO!'J.lSf' Pa~ at Costa Mesa. CA and .11 s additional mailing office. Canada Post International Publica - tion... Mail1546615. A 8 ~ N' N ~ POSTMASTER: Send address cha nges to Cycle News. P.O. Box 5084. Costa M ~ CA 92628-S08A. 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AUDITED O RCULATION E., Printed in U,S.A. 4 regLStend Co~yrigh Cyelo News, Inc.1998.TrademarkCycle Now, us.Patent Office . All righ ts reserved, FEATURES NEW BIKES 1999 Su zuki RM MXers ROAD RACE Roun d 8 - World Superbike Series fro m Laguna Seca , NAS B from Button willow WERA RR from Indian apolis 6 28 30 DIRT TRACK Rou nd 7 - GNC DuQuoin Mile 14 TEST Husqvarna Supermono 18 MOTOCROSS Mammo th Mountain Mo tocross GFI Team Green Youth World Cha mpionship 20 31 ENDURO Round - AMA National Enduro fro m Minnesota 24 26 HILLCLIMB Pikes Peak " 27 TRIALS Round 6 - World Tria ls from Fra nce ....29 HARE SCRAMBLES ETRA Co nn State HS 32 DEPARTMENTS INTHEWIND EVENTS LEADERBOARD CALENDAR : WANT ADS CHICANERY " " , ; _ ,,2 33 46 47 54 71 ON THE FRONT COVER Du cat i's Troy Corser and Yamaha 's Noriyuki Ha ga each came away with a vic tory in the Lagu na Seca ro und of th e World Superbike Cha mpionship . Photos by H enny Ray Ab rams and Gold & Goose.

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