Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LETTERS TO THE EDITOR V olume XXXV Sharon Clavton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/Copy Editor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holt her, Copy Editor Deborah Regius, Editorial Assistant Advertising Terry Pratt. National Accounts Manager Mark Thome. Westem Sales Manager Thomas Ge nter, West rn Sales Manager e Forrest Hayashi. Westem Sales MatUiger Greg Mitchell. Eastern Accounts Manager Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford. Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen. Eastern Ad Coordinator Tina Farr, Assistaut Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome. Dire ctor Forrest Hayashi. Ma nager Kory Klinger. Dealer Representative New Media Development Rick Matheny. Web",aster Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Mandy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Greene. Lab. Tech. Amanda Wollny. GraphicArtist Sandi Gettys, Graphic Artist Paul Fisher. GraphicArtist Admini s tra tion Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sim s, Admi nistrative Assistant Accounti ngIDa ta Proces sing Donna Bryan-Diamond, A/R Coordinator Geneva Rep ass, Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit • Circu lation Alma Anguiano, Circulation Manager Ca rol Maggi o, Pro cessing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Jov Lau, Dealer Coordinator Iessica Schroeder, Assistant Service and Support Shannon Clark. Re ceptionist Jim Olson. Serviceand Support National Headqumm 3505-M CadillacAve., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084. Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FAX(714)751-6685 Eas te rn O ff ice 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 1'. 0. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX (770)934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com Despain says... Th e inau gural Dirt Track Hall of Fame race and ind uction is history - and a glorio us piece of history it was. There are so many people to thank, it would tak e a s pecia l issue of Cycle News to name them all. Pioneer contribu tors , ind ividua l d onors and corpora te sponso rs paid the bills; Hall of Fame inductees came from every com er of the country; fans turned out in record numbers; a nd the Grand National riders rewarded us with some of th e best raci ng in th e history of the Springfield Mile . In every way, we sa w d irt track at its best. To everyon e invol ved in this wonderf u l weeke n d, I ex tend m y since re ap precia t io n . More im p o rt ant ly , I extend to yo u this cha llenge: Let' s rnake it bigger and better next year. The Hall of Fame weekend succeed ed becau se the dirt track family se t aside our di fferen ces, pulled toge the r, and di d someth ing positive for th e sport. But now is not the time to sit back and bas k in the g lory of our accomplishmen t. Now is the tim e to get to work. Togeth er we have started so me thing big and important - we got a ball rolling . How far and how fas t it roll s depends enti rely on w hat we do next. If you love d irt t ra ck racing, find a wa y to get involved in the Dirt Track Hall of Fame project. We need volunteers, ideas and s u g g es t io n s. W e ne ed th e nam es of potential su ppo rters, po tential spo nsors a nd indivi d ual dirt track lovers . We need positive energy and "we ca n do it" a ttitudes . And we need money. If yo u love d irt track racing, now is the time to join the team. Dave Despain Watkinsville, GA Despain is the man behind the event. and it was his tireless effort that made the race. and the induction such a huge success. For more information on the Dirt Track Hall of Fame and its futur e projects, or to become involved in helping the dirt track racing cause, write to Dirt Track Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 313 , Bishop. GA 30621, or email Despain at davedes@negia.net... Editor And Bubba says... Over th e La bo r Da y weeke nd, I was given the honor of bei ng inducted int o the Dir t Trac k Hall of Fame in Spring- fie ld , Ill in o is , pu t tog ethe r b y Da v e Despain . Over th e weeke nd , w ith so much going on, I was no t able to extend my than ks and gra titu de to all the pe0ple who have helped me and tha t have been a part of my caree r in mot orcycle raci ng . All my thanks go out to my famil y, who have been behind me thro ugh thick and thin , a n d to th e man y friend s , m echani cs and s pons ors who stood behind me early in my career. My gratitude goes out to Am e rican Ho nda, w hich took me on in 1984 and su pplied me with firs t-class spo nsorship an d a team of great mechanics - with w hom I won the 1985, '86 and '87 Gran d National Championshi ps. The list of peop le who have been a part of my caree r is lon g, and it would be impossible to name them all. Ins tead, I wo uld just like to say thanks to everyone . Bubba Shobert Lubbock, TX Where's the cover? Dirt track racing just had its biggest day ever with th e runni ng of th e Ha ll of Fame race and the Sp ri ng fie ld M il e G ra n d Na tio na l. A nd yo u put a motocross bike on the cover. I don' t ge t it. Doug Stewart Ram ah ,CO r m going to explain this for the umpteenth time. When we print a cOVer on coated stock (glossy paper), that cover has to be sent to the printer on the Wednesday prior to our Monday deadline. That means we can't use a cOVer that features coverage from any of the races held the day before we print - as we do on our usual, newsprint covers. Ten of our 50 issues now feature coated-stock covers. and sometimes thClj arrive at inopportune times. Unfortunately, if Kenny Roberts would have shown up at the Sp ringfield Mile on an old air-cooled XS650 Yamaha and won the race with Bart Markel riding sidesaddle - well, you still would have seena motocross bike a ll the cover... Editor Doug Henry - the man Doug Henry is the man. He sho uld most ce r ta inly get th e AM A' s Rid er o f the Year award . In fact, they sho uld crea te a new award just for him - "Rider of th e Decad e ." H is s to ry o f triumph ove r ad versity is as to ni s hing . Lesser m en . wo u ld have qu it a long time ago. Dou g, you' re an ins piration. I h ave heard tha t some people are co mp lai ni ng t ha t he had an u nfai r advan tage b e cau s e h is four-st rok e engine d ispl aced 400cc. I haven 't a clue w hat the so ur-grape squeezers w'ill pr essure th e rule maker s to do abou t th is, bu t I hope Dou g is allowed to keep his well-earned title. I d oubt that the resu lts would have been any d ifferent ha d he> bee n ridi ng a twa-stroke. It's p robably not necessary to poin t ou t th at Dou g had his winning season astride w hat most of my friends wo uld ca ll a n "Open" bike. Maybe the AMA should co nsider havi ng a racing class for mo tocrossers over 250cc. They could call it the Open class. " Hey," you sa y. "Tha t' s not a bad idea. Did n' t they h ave so me thi ng lik e that back in the good old da ys?" Se riousl y, Henry ha s pro ved , once an d for a ll, th a t Op en b ikes a re not slower around a race track than 250s. I" th ink it's tim e for a revival of the O pen class. This w o u ld put u s back in s te p with the rest of the wo rld and re-es tablish the big-bores as the prem ier class of outdoor racing. I propose a mi ni mu m di sp la cem ent of 350cc with no restriction on eng in type. Four-st ro kes, two-strokes , direct in je ct ed Wanke l ro ta r ies. 900cc cra n kcase superc ha rged, pu sh r od , three-s troke si ngles - w ha tever. This woul d be a tru e form u la fo r th e next millennium, a s howcase of d ivers itv th atwould encou rage th e indu stry ' s best and b righ tes t to provide spectators wit h grea t raci ng and th e bu yin g p u b lic with th e n e x t ge ne ra tio n of product. Ron Coffin To psfield , MA Letters to th e ed it or should b e sent to Vo ice s, Cycle N ews, P.O . Box 508 4, Costa M esa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751 -6685 or e-mail, edito r@cyclenews.co m . Publi shed le tte rs do not necessarily reflect the po sition of Cycle News, In c. Le tters sh o u ld n ot exceed 200 words and all le tters ar e subject to editi ng . Ano nymous le tters will not be considered for p ublication. All letters s h o u l d conta in t h e w rit e r ' s n ame, ad d ress and da ytime phone number .. . Ed itor. subscribe@CJclenews.com ad \'ertising~clenews.com Int ern et http:/ /www.cydenews.com Cyck> Nev.'S(USP5141-340) is publisbed weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per yt'ar by Cvde N~, Inc, ~M Cadillac Avenue, Costa Mesa. CA 92628. Periodicals Postage Paid at Costa Mesa, CA and at additional mailing office Canada Post International Publica. tions Mail #546615. POST",1ASTER: Send .ddresli changes to Cycle News, P.O. Box 5084 Costa Mesa. CA 92628-5084. , To determlne tbe expiration d il l~ of your subscription, check the four numbers on the first line of your ad dres s la bel. 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Trademark Cycle News registered U.S, Patent Office. All rights reserved. FEATURES ROAD RACING . Round 12 - SOOcc road race GP from Ca talu nya, Spa in 6 Rou nd 4 - Bol d'Or Wo rld Endurance Champions hip 26 PREVIEW Showdown in Las Vegas - Superbike Nationa l fina le 10 SPEEDWAY World Team Cu p Fina ls from Denm ark NEW BIKES 1999 Honda CBR600F4 and CBRI I00XX 12 16 MOTOCROSS Fina l roun d - Wo rld 250cc MX GP from Greece 18 Final rou nd - Lake Whit ney Western 34 Four-Stro ke Series CMMC Mini MX from Barona Oaks ....39 Rou nd 1 - CMC Trans-Ca l Nationa l North from Marysville 40 Round 1 - CMC Trans-Cal Nationa l .42 Sou th from Glen Helen TRIALS BIKE COMPARISON Beta vs. Montesa vs. Gas Gas vs . Scarpa 22 CROSS COUNTRY Rou nd 10 - Burr Oak s GN CC. Round 9 - Bunner Ridge GNCC 28 38 HARE AND HOUND Rou nd 5 - Wells-to-w endover Na tional. 30 DRAG RACE Rou nd 6 - Pro star Orient Exp ress Ll.S, Na tiona ls from Atco Racew ay 32 HILLCLIMB Round 9 - Bus hkill Valley AMA Na tional HC · .36 ENDURO Round 14 - NETRA Beehive Enduro ...41 DEPARTMENTS INTHE WIND .2 EVENTS .43 RESULTS : 60 LEADERBOAAD ...................•......................62 CALENDAR 63 WANT ADS ~ 70 GUEST EDITORIAL 87 LOOKING BACK 87 ON THE FRONT COVER Mick Dooh an took a gia n t step toward winning a fifth conse cu tive 500cc World C h a m pio ns h ip wh en he wo n the Ca talu nya n Grand Prix. Pho to by Gold & G oo s e . I n s et: T h e 1999 H on d a CBR600 F4. Photo courtesy of Am erican Ho nd a.

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