Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The AMA ' s r idiculous propo s e d numbering sy ste m is a perfect example. . If I was fortunate enough to finish second in a National Motocross Series and had to run nu m b er 37 the follow in g yea r, I'd be more th an a littl e miffed . The fans m ade NAsCAR wh a t it is , pla in and simple. Beasley' s main objective in bringing back the U.s. GP is so he can one day host the Motocross Des Nations as well, but it looks like th at littl e d rea m is flving right out the window. Thousands of fans w ho ha ve been fo llow ing the spo rt since it firs t came to America (like mv d ad and I for inst an ce), have never seen thi s grea t even t o n TV, much less in person . A nd n o w it looks li ke we ne ver w ill. It's abou ttime for " the po wers that be " to s ta rt recognizing the desires of th e fans in th e world 's lar gest m arket. Market - yo u know, where pe opl e bu y thin g s ... lik e b ottl e s o f Yama lu be , Ge n u ine H onda Pa rts an d KX250s. And w hy d o the riders put up w ith th is crap? If I were Kevin Windham or Ezra Lus k, I'd ju mp. in the ca b of the Honda se mi w ith a da mn big gun, and in form th e driver tha t "we' re go ing to Bud ds Creek and we 're going with bells on! " Wha t cou ld be mo re rew ard ing and p resti giou s than competing for your country? Su re, th ere are a lot of races in the course of a vear, but the Ll.S, GP s ho u ld be as im portant as an y. Sure, th e riders and crew might be a little worn o u t at this tim e of yea r, bu t so what - suc k it u p and go kick so me for eign ass! Hell, th ey're p robably tired , too ! I'm tired of workin g 50 weeks a year, bu t I d on't see that cha ngi ng any time soo n. I ju st wi sh I had a fra cti on of yo ur talent so I di d n' t struggle through every other tum. If I actuall y got paid to race a motorcycle, Mark Mcc'u ire co u ld n ' t knock the smile off my face with a sixfoo t tw o-b y-fo u r . When yo u r racing career is over, yo u'll have p len ty of tim e to d o beer bon gs at Lak e H ava su - but for no w, ma ke us p ro ud . Bring tear s to our eyes and go win the gos h darn u.s. GP. Roger DeCoster an d Joel Robert (and o the rs) a nd Su zuki were ve ry ins trumental in po pularizing motocross in the U.S., and her e they are today still su pporting the sport. Witho u t their help w e probably wouldn't kn ow wha t a NacN ac is. Hats off to Suzu ki. Ron Poc her Yucca Valley, CA Gagg ing out loud When Harley-Davidson and Ford Motor Company an nounced th eir partnership, the optimist in me envisioned a download of technical innovation from Ford to H-D - especially aiding Harley's ailing Superbike venture. Ins tead we get a limited edition (i.e;, ov erpriced) Ford picku p truck wi th a factory-installed Harley-Davidson sticker in the rear wi ndow (may be the factory can even get it centered and straight ). How long befo re we get a Taurus Fat Boy - com plete with chrome door hand les, leather fri nge, and those oh-soim po rtant staggere d duals? Excuse me while I gag. Paul Turek Coalinga, CA Sorry, bad track We at Su nri se Motor Sports Park would like to a po logize for th e cond ition of ou r race.track on August 23. We keep saying it is no t the sa me old Sunrise an d it rea lly isn't. The water tru ck w ent d own lat e Sa tu rday and we co uld n 't get the m ech an ic t h ere u nti l ea rly Sunda y . Wh ile the mechanic ha d the water tru ck fixed by 11 a.rn. or so, anybody familiar wi th Su nrise knows vou ne ed water from 6 a .m . to keep th e tra ck in go od shape. We fee l terrib le that so many rid er s Could a Fat Boy be in Ford's future? had to see the tra ck so dry and dust y. Our goal is for Sunrise to become a lead ing com pe tito r with the o ther tracks in th e a rea . That m eans a we ll-g roo m ed tra ck that's w ell wa tered . Unfortu na tely, th ese things do occas ionally happen . We ho pe any new rid ers w ho we re out there on Su nd ay will pl ease come back a nd g ive u s a no ther tr y . We a re sure you wo n't be sorry. " Again, we wou ld like to a po logize. We w orked as q u ickl y as possible to remed y the situa tion, but it just didn 't happen in time to save a great day of riding. Andy and Ch ri stina Kyler Sunrise Motor Sports Park Adelanto, CA The pleasure of Ben Team Vance & Hines Ducati's Ben Bostrum: Just one of the guys. I just wanted to let you know tha t I had th e p leasu re of m eetin g Ben Bostrom this we ekend at th e g ra nd o peni ng of Du cati Seattle. He was , to say the least, the perfect example of what and how a professional racer should be. He kind ly and g racious ly signed autogra phs for more tha n tw o a nd a half h o urs and nev er took a break . On ce all the au tog raphs we re sig ned, a few of u s we n t to h im and bega n a co nversation tha t lasted a good h our, and not once d id he make us feel that. he was"be t te r th an a nyo ne of u s - like ma ny professi onal racers seem to d o . Mr. Bostro m impressed everyone at the ope ning and we we re able to leave w ith a w ho le new respect fo r tlie m an th a t h a s th e number- on e pl at e in A MA Superbike racing. My hat is off to yo u, Ben . Good lu ck at Pikes Peak. We'll be roo ting for yo u . M ario Alvarez Seattle, WA Put a lid on it In res ponse to Mr. Kurk's letter regar d ing th e AMA and its new rul e regarding racers taking victory laps without their helmets, I have to say th at it's not hypocri t ica l. Th ere is a b ig d ifferen ce between th e government telling us wha t to d o in la w and a sa ncti o nin g bo dy enfo rcing th e rul es d esig ned for the safety of racers and promoters concerns abo ut liability. Riding a m ot orcycl e w itho u t a helmet is riskv in anv forum - but on a race track it's fooli sh , even if it' s on a victory lap. I'm a mot ocross racer and most ~f th e tracks I go to enforce not onl y th e helmet rul es, bu t also don 't allow sho rt sleeves, and I see no probl em w ith that. I a lways wear a helm et , hut if yo u w an t to ri d e th e o pen roa d w ith th e .wind in yo ur hai r, more power to you. But if yo u want to compete on a privately ow n e d faci lity, you d on 't w hi ne about the rul es - even if yo u're the winner. M ark McGowan Bakersfield, CA Letters to the ed ito r shoul d be sent to Vo ices, Cycle News, P.O . Box 5084, Cos ta Mesa, CA 92628 -5084, faxed to 714/751 -6685 o r e-mailed to editor@ cyclen ews.com. Pu bli shed letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle N e ws, I nc . Letters sh o u ld not exceed 200 wo rds a nd all letters are su bj ect to editing. Ano nymous letters will no t be considered for pu blication. All letters sho u ld co nta in the writer's n a me, a ddress -an d day ti me pho n e numbe r. .. Edi to r, en en en ~ 7

• Cover