Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(ill]]~. VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LETTERS TO T EE ITOR H D Volume XXXV Sharon Clayton. President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associ te Editor a Mark Hoyer. Managing Editor Keith Bush. Assistant Editor/CopyEditor Alan Cathcart, Europmn Editor David R. Holth er, CopyEditor Deborah Regiu s, Editorial Assistant Advertising Terry Pratt. National Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Center, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell. Eastern Accounts Manag,,, Jim Clark. Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford. West,,,n Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, £l stern Ad Coordinator Tina Farr, Assistant Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi, Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Developmen t Rick Matheny. Web",aster Step ha nie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Mandy Loo, Production Manager DennisGreene, Lab. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Sandi Gettys, Graphic Artist Paul Fisher, Graphic Artist Administration Judy Klinger. Coordinator Lea nne Sims, Administrative Assistant Accounting/Data Processing Donna Brvan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Rer.ass, Assistant Theresa MIlburn. Credit Circulation Alma Anguiano. Circulation Manager Carol Maggio. Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Joy lou. Dealer Coordinator JessicaSchroeder, Assistant Service and Support Shannon Clark. Receptionist Jim Olson. Seroice and Support N a ti o na l H eadquarters 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa M esa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084, Costa Mesa. CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FPlX ( 714 ) 75 1 ~ Easte rn Offic e 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805,Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail Say it isn 't so I would like to make a few suggestions about having 80s race a t the AMA Motocross Nationals . I think it would be better to have top-level 80cc riders hav e a race during the Supercross Series races. You could run them a t the break /halftime show instead of the KTM 50s. A lot of younger peo ple come w ith parents to the Supercross races and they could identify more with riders of their own age group. The ability of the top 80cc riders would amaz e ma ny of the parents and kids. Jus t run a six-to-eight lap race, with win ners getting merchand ise or savings bo nd s, for exa mple. These kids are the fu ture Pros and can motivat e others who are spectating to try racing - or just ridi ng . I also believe tha t dua l-sport b ikes sho uld become the next big th ing in offroad racing. Your article abo ut conve rting the Yama ha WR400 to a d ua l-spo rt lega l bike was excellent (Issue #32, August 15). I fee l that the manufacturers have overlooked this market. With land -use issu es becoming more difficult. why not give us street- legal dirt bikes? They can be ridden to ou r favorite places with ac cess to National Forest roads , jeep trails, etc. And they can also be raced in endures, hare scrambles and motocross. The advantage is that you can have access to any and all lands that everyone else has: If tru cks and cars have access, then so would w e. The bikes would also meet all emission-control regulations, so the greenies couldn't bitch. The bottom line : If vou bu ild it, thev will come and bu y. ' , Th omas Fros t Jackfro stb ites@w eb tv.n et The King and I Anthony Gobert makes more se nse tha n Kennv Roberts did in his interview. . Mike McGowan Brook lyn Park, MN Chica nery I ju st fin is hed re ad in g He n ny Ra y Abra ms' edito ria l o n Ca rry Andrew. I lau ghed so ha rd tha t beer came ou t of my nose. Is H en ny rela ted to Rick Sieman, Rondo Talbo t or Mr . Know-It-All? Kee p it up, Mr . Abrams, and yo u may just reac h the heights of the o the r g reat Am erican wri ter - Hunter S. Thompson. Dave Lorengo Kent, WA I recently saw an advertisement in Cycle News tha t listed that Honda di rt track parts are o n sale. What' s lead in g the Grand National Championship Series? The only Honda in it. Every Honda rider in the world who is also a dirt track fan wants to see that Honda beat all that Milwaukee iro n. Come on, American Honda, have a heart. Give the parts to the man. Bobby Whitehurst M acon , GA "The man" ill this case would be dirt tracker Rich King ... Editor. No respect I d on 't ge t no respect. Wh en I'm road rid in g , g uys o n Harleys, BMW s a n d Go ld Wings never wave at me becau se I'm rid ing a DR650. I'm used to tha t and it doesn' t bother me. Now I rea d that there is a guy w ho is riding a 400 Yama ha who's th umbin g his nose at me because I ride a DR650. That is ridiculous. Who does he think he is, anyhow? Ty Davis rides a 400 Yama ha ma ybe even a little bit better tha n Mr. Anal, an d I bet he doesn't thumb hi s nose at me. Even though it would be too focused to be a true general-purpose motorcycle suc h as a DR650, a facto ry, streetleg al WR400 would be very a ppealing. Of course, for the elite, it would no d oubt be too heavv, have too much ju n k o n it and , a bo ve all , la ck snob a p pe al. John Stanford Pocatells , 10 No joy in Joliet After re ading tha t the Jo lie t, Ill in o is, round o f the AMA Su perbike Series wou ld run as sche d uled (In The Wind, Issue #30) and co n firmi ng this w it h a mid week phone call to the track, a frie nd a n d I star te d o u t ea rly o n Sa tu rday morning to enjoy a weekend of racin g. To our su rprise, u pon arriving a t the ga te (l 00 m il es later), the riders had ca lled the rac e o n Frida y becau se o f sa fety issu es . I' m all fo r th e sa fety of t h e ri d ers, but s h o u ld n' t t h is b e addressed by th e rid ers, the AMA and th e track personnel before - well before race weekend? Maybe t h e AMA should u s e th e wo uld -be pu rse money to reimburse the weary fans who d rove th ere for nothing. AMA Superbike racing - not! Craig M ill er South Bend, IN Dave Coombs I can not begin to ex p ress the sa d ness I felt when I received the news tha t Dave Coombs had passed away. The motorcycle commu nity has suffered a grea t loss that w ill never be fulfilled . Dave's ability to put o n g reat eve nts is unmatched (High Poi nt , Loret ta Lyn n's, Blackwa ter, etc.), but it is Dave, the person w ho touched so ma ny people, that I will miss the most. Dave al w ays pu t th e riders fir st . It wa s a lway s, " My rid ers need thi s o r that," or "I'm doin g this for my riders." Not only d id he ta ke part in helping riders li ke Jeff Sta n to n, Jeff Ernig, Mike La Rocco, Sco tt Su m mers, Ed Lo ja k, Barry H aw k and m y s elf m a ke i t to cha m p io ns hip status, he also h elped Rita raise a wonderful family - Timmy, C]. and Davey. Th er e is a lo t of Da ve and Rita in these kids, and that 's a good thing . It would be great if more kids could grow up with parents who care as much as Dave and Rita . I am sorry he is gone, but I feel very blessed that while he wa s here I got to spend some g rea t times with him a nd the Racer Production fa mily - good times that happened because Dave had the vision and ability to make them happe n. Mark Hyd e Patas kala, OH _Mark Hyd e was the 1986 AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion ... Editor Letters to the ed it or sho uld be sen t to Voices, Cycl e N e ws, P.O. Box 5084 , Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751-6685 or e-mail, editor@cyclenews.corn. Published letters do not necessarily reflect th e position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are su b ject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters should contai n t h e writ er's n am e, ad dress and daytime phone number .. . Editor. editor@cyclenews.com subscribe@cyclenews .com ad vertis ing@cyclenews.com 2,1998 Internet http:/ / www.cydene ws.rom Cycle News (USPS141·340);'; published weekly exceptthe last two weeksof the calendar year for 550.00 per year by CycleNews, Inc JSa).MCadillacAvenue.CostaMe"od. CA .. 92628. Period icals Postage Paid .1 1Cos ta Mesa . CA and at additional mailin g office. Canada Post International Publications MaiI'5-I661S. POSTMAST£R: ~n d .ld dl"n8 dwlge to Cycle New s. P.O. M ~ CA 92628-5084. 80. 5084 Cosu , To determin e the expi ra tio n dale of your su bscri ption, ch eck th e fo ur numbers on the first line of yo ur add ress label. Th e fin t two d igim ind icilte th e lut issue number you 'U recei ve and Ihe las t two durilcters in d iCiie th e year of the I.lst issue. t Subscri ption rates : Rates for the United States and ito; possessions for one year (SO issues), $50.00; two ye.1r5000 issues) , $95.00;six months (25 i...."Ul"S) $26.00 trial sub <15 issues), . . ; $19.00. Canada a nd Foreign. one yea r (SOissues) . 590.00; two years 000 i"Sul'S). 5175 six months (25 is. ues), $45.00 trial .00; s ; .00. sub OS is...ues). S38 Cycle News welcomes unsolicited ed itorial material including stories. cartoo ns, photos. etc. Suc h material, if pu blish ed . becomes the exclusive prope of CycleNews. Reprinting in rty whole or pa rt only by permie..ion of the pc bhsher. Advernsing rates a nd circula tion information will be sen t upon request. See S.R.D.S. W/B0'A 'if -r~ AUDITED CIRCULATION Printed in U.S.A. 4 Co~yrigh Cycle News, Inc. 1998. Trademark CycleNews registered U.s. Patent Office. All rights reserved. FEATURES ROAD RACE Roun d 9 - World Ch am pio ns hip Road Race Series from the Czech Repu blic.....6 DIRT TRACK Round 13 - AMA /GNC Hagerstow n Half Mile 24 FIRST RIDE MV Agusta F4 14 20 MOTOCROSS Round 10 - World Ch ampionship 250cc 22 Mo tocross fro m Belgium 10 Round 8 - AMA Hotsh oe Na tional fro m Washingt on HILLCUMB Roun d 7 - AMA Na tiona l Hillcl imb Series from New York DEPARTMENTS IN THEWIND : DRAG RACE Round 5 - AM A /Prostar Drag Race from Indian a ENDURO Round 9 - AMA Ace rbis National End uro from Colorado 2 .39 ON THE FRONT COVER WANT ADS 46 INTHETAPES .18 27 CALENDAR 26 EVENTS 63 LOOKING BACK 63 Marlboro H onda' s Max Biaggi moved b a ck into th e World Champi onship Road Race Series point s lead following h is w in a t th e .Czech Republic Grand Pri x. Photo by Gold & Goose.

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