Voices
America's weekly motorcycle newspaper
V ol u me XXXVI
Sharon Clayton. Pres ident
Michael Klinger. Publisher
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Here we go aga in?
Editorial
Paul Carruthers, Editor
Kit Palmer, A
en Prin ted in U.S.A.
E
oS!
Q.
6
I would like to th ank Dave Despai n,
his s taff and family for making our tr ip
to the Sp ringfi e ld Mile an enjoyable
on e. It was such an hon or for all of us
to be part of Hank getting indu cted
in to the Hall of Fame. We're so proud
of his a ccom p lishmen ts tha t were
m ade by being a privateer, with the
exception of the one year he rod e for
th e Honda fact ory. It to ok Hank 10
years to win 17 ati onal events, with
onl y one of those events on the fact ory
Honda, and that's an accomplishment.
H e wor ked on his own equipmen t
week in and week out in order to ge t
read y for his next race.
As [ look at several of the factory riders who got the number-one plate, the
majority of them were factory-backed .
We missed the number-one plate by one
point as a priva teer and Hank wo n five
ationals that yea r - and it wasn' t by
si tting back and havi ng someone else
get his motorcycles read y for the next
race. He wo rked very hard on his racing
program .
Hank d idn't ge t a cha nce to tha n k
some very special people for helpi ng us
ou t over the yea rs, so here goes: Tha nks
to Pe te Pi s ton e , Ga ry Scott , Pat e s
Harle y-D a vid s on , Shell Thu e t, Jo hn
Reed, Bill Ken ned y, Ca rl Pa tric k, Sal
Acos ta, Jerry G riffith, Dan Th ompson,
Bob Don a b ed ian, Je rry Bra nc h , Jack
Sisemore, Larry Dickey, Bill Cro ft, Louie
Moniz, Tom Cum mi ngs, Chuc k Pa lmgren, Tex a nd Ga ry Peel, Howard an d
Pat Barnes, KK Motorcycle Supply, Dick
O'Brien and Clvde 'Denzer. You have all
contribu ted to' his success as a professional motorcycle racer.
We had a great time seeing old faces
as well as new ones, along with the fans
who showed us old progra ms and memorabilia they had collected. The fans are
great and we send a big than k you to all
of you who we talked to at the Sp ringfield Mile. Seeing friends that we hadn't
seen in years and the fans, pu t the finishing touches on our trip. We d idn't get
the chance to go aro u nd and visit much
with the riders, but it was fun watching
all of you ou t there.
Susa n Scott
Co nco urse, NC
Su san S cali is th e wife of former Grand
National dirt tracker Hank Scott ... Editor
Gary Scott and how it
should be
Come on, Cycle News, you r racing cove rage is great, but th ere is more to th e
motorcycle ind ustry tha n jus t ra cing.
Motorcycle ent hus iasts wou ld like to see
mo re articles on bike pre para tion, trail
rides, training, road rallies, celebrity
interviews, etc. Wh at abo u t so me thing
wit h the motorcycle dealers? How abo ut
spec tator foru ms? Tha t's the message.
We all like mo to rcycle racin g, bu t
so me of us (ex- racers includ ed ) wa n t
so me thing we can use besid es mem ories
of old . [ ha ve kn own yo u for 36 yea rs,
don' t fail me now. Tru st me when I sav
that ther e is more to life than just m otorcycle racing.
Gary Scott
Goodyea r, AZ
Gary Scali , brothe r of Hank S cott , wa s
AMA Grand National Champion in 1975 ...
Editor
For the record, Hartev-Da oidson is neither
officially nor unofficially involved in SuperTracker racing, thereby throwing a wre1Jch
in your conspiracy theory... Editor
Terrible traeks
I wo u ld firs t like to ex tend my prayers
for severely injured d irt track racer Toby
Jorgen sen , his family, friends, and fellow racers. Hope, especi ally co llective
hope, has perform ed a nd con tinu e to
s
perform miracles eve ry da y.
As an Amateur dirt tra ck racer and
AMA member, I have be en to quite a
few G rand N a tion al d irt tr ack races .
Only a few of the tracks were of the caliber tha t you would expect to put Professio na l racers, or any le ve l of di rt
trackers, on to race . Bad tr ack condi-
INSID E: ISSUE #38 SEPTEMBER 29. 1999
www.cyclenews .com
Cvdc
Hank Scott and the Hall
The SuperTracker s Series is su p posed
to be about gelling more manufacturers involved in dirt tra ck racing by taking stock 1000cc motors, putting th em
in fram e s and going racing . Now ,
remember, the eng ines are supposed to
b e up to 1000cc. H ow ev er, Harl e yDavidson can' t keep up with everyone
e lse 's 1000cc e ng ines, so th e AM A
steps in and allows the Harleys to have
1200cc so the y can a tte m p t to keep up
with ever yone else. If thi s d oesn 't work
then th e AMA will keep on cha nging
the rules so that Harley can be competitive. Where is th is go ing to take d irt
track racing? I'll tell you: right back to
a one-bike show - just like the 750cc
class.
I th in k it' s time tha t th e AMA a nd
Harley-Da vid son go t ou t of bed togeth er an d tri ed to mak e th e s po rt grow .
Loo k at mot ocro ss a nd ro ad raci ng they both have between nine and 12 factory rid er s and every ma jor b ra nd of
mot or cycle involved . Dirt track racing
has one factory rider - Scott Parker. And
one major bra~d of mo torcycle - HarleyDavidson.
lf Harley wants to go racing, mo re
power to them - but quit relying on the
AMA to help you out, and concentrate
on making your prehistoric bikes competitive. Ma ybe it's time to keep those
slugs on the road instead of on the track
if they can' t play by the same ru les as
everybody else,
Oh , yeah, if any one from Ford is
reading this, you lost two more customers for gelling involved with
Harley-Davidson.
Donnie Harrell
Visalia , CA
CoJ?yrish Cycle Ne ws, Inc. 1 . Trademark Cycle News
m
registered U.s. Palent Office.All righb reserved.
FEATURES
VINTAGE
AHRMA Honda Hills
vintage weekend
DEPARTMENTS
ROAD RACING
Round 11 - AMA /MBNA Superbike
Series from
Foun tain , Co lorado
8
Round 12 - FL'v1 World Championship
Road Race Series
22
OFF-ROAD
24 Hou rs of Glen He len fro m
San Berna rdi no, California
DlRTTRACK
Round 17 - AMA Grand
Track Series from
Sacra men to, California
TRIAL
Rounds 19 & 20 - FIM World Championship Observed Tria ls Series from
Lavaro ne, Italy
.40
34
EUROFlLE
.4
PRODUCT EVALUATIONS
EVENTS
36
43
;
RESULTS
39, 63, 64,65
LEADERBOARD:
FIRST LOOK
2000 Yama ha stree tbikes
ational Dirt
CALENDAR
44
66
:......................................•..67
28
RACERTEST
lain Macf'herson's Kawasaki ZX-6R
World Superspo rt racer
.30
INTERVIEW
AMA 250cc National MX Champion
Greg Albertyn
32
HILLCLIMB
Round 9 - AMA National Cha mpi onship Hilld imb Series from
Freerna nsbu rg, Pennsylvania
41
DRAGRACING
Roun d 7 - AMA / Pros tar
Drag Racing Series from
Atco, New Jersey
.42
WANT ADS
74
FINAL MOTO
91
LOOKING BACK
16
91
ON THE FRONT COVER
Aus tralia n Mat Mlad in gave Suz u ki its
first AMA Su perbike ti tle in 10 ye ars
wit h his fourth-place finish in the final
round of the series at Pikes Peak. Pho to
by Henny Ray Abrams. Inset: Chri s Ca rr
- 1999 AMA Grand ationa l Champ ion.
Photos by Flat Trak Photos.
