Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

and it only mad e sense to allow that for the Sportsters. Th e other thing was that Harley-David son does not sell a 1000cc Spo rts ter, so the guys ru nni ng Ha rleys had to do significant engine development (sp ecial pistons fo r example) to mak e 1000cc H-Ds. They do, how ever , have a production 1200, which ge ts back to m or e production-based, off-the-she lf parts available (less expensive, far less hassle). Nobody involved with the SuperTrackers wants to bump Harley out of dirt track racing, and they d efinitely have supported dirt trac k racing in ways not many people know . The fan ba s e is also mostly Ha rley fans, and alienating them wo uld be a h uge s te p backwa rds. The good news is that for 2000, we can expect to see mo re b rand s and better ra ce s (although it would be ha rd to beat the ' SuperTr ack er race a t Lim a this year, wi th Mo rehead winning in fro nt of the home crowd). My hope is th at we wiII get to see several multi-brand podiums in 2000. See you at the races. Alex Rossborou gh Cleveland, OH Rossborougl, is the race support coordinator of SuperTrapp Industries/Kerker Exhaust Products... Editor Helping Toby We wo uld like to thank all the people at the AFM Thunderhill ra ce on Sunday, October 24, who s to p ped what they were doing to donate money for the late Toby Jorgensen' s m edical expenses . Beca use of everyone's generosity, we were able to collect o ver $1700 that was graciously acc epted by Tob y's father, Kim Jorgensen. Toby will be missed, but certainly not forgotten, by the mo torcycle commu nity and alI who knew him . Our th ou ghts and p ray e rs go out to the Jorgensen fam ily. Brian and Maureen Turfrey Salida, CA News God The o nly time Mike Cecc hi ni ge ts any press ou tside his little magazin e is w hen he writes to Cycle News to tell them what is fit to print. Mike, stick to yo ur newspaper, and those that think like you will read it. The rest of us wiII rea d Cycl e News and en jo y what yo u think is not news. Matt Hachen mhach en581@aoI.com News Go.d II In my view, M r. Cecchini is guilty of th e sa me si n of which he accuses others that is, reporting sensational news at the expense of a public person's private life. Wo rse yet , he has been allowed to state an a llega tion which is wholIy unsu pported b y fact w hen he says we "a re about to elect (a p residen t) w ho ha s done cocaine." [ would ask Mr . Cecchini what proof he or others may have of this vicious and unsubstantia ted rumor. I would also submit that even if it were true that pre s ident ial front-runner George W. Bush was guil ty, it would not absolve Cecchini's friend Kurt liebmann of his crime of child endangerment. Jim Bensberg Colorado Springs, CO The last News God My congratulations to Mike Cecchini for s ta n d in g u p to "defend" Kurt Liebmann, Jeff Emig and apparently an yone else who co m m its a crime and su ffers public sha me . In so doing, Cecchini has revealed just how far on the fringe fro m society his views reall y are. It is sa d tha t a ci vies le s s on is requ ir e d o n the page s of wh a t is a motorcycle publicat ion . Mike, both liebmann a n d Em ig w ere co n v ic te d of crimes. C hild endangerm en t a nd p ossession of mari juan a ar e crimes because the Congress and the various state legislatures ha ve, a t th e will of th e people, en acted them as such. What [ find particu larly dumbfounding is your blind ad herence to a "defense" which Emig a nd even Liebmann, if h is attorney ' s sta tem ent is correct - does not see k to advance. You see k to excuse their conduct as simply a mistak e that shou ld not bear on th eir professional associations within the s po rt of motorcycle racing . What you fail to understand is tha t thei r transgressions are my business, as well as thei r sponsors' and their sponsors' cus to mers' - because t heir co nduct directl y impacts th e image by w hich those entities are pe rceived. I should not even have to state that th eir criminal beh avi or is an ab horre nce to the rules w hich we, as a society, have set for our m embers - howev er, you obvi ou sly missed t h is les son back in middle school. Sinc e you read my submission regarding Emi g with such scrutiny, Mike, [ am sure yo u recall the passage that sta ted , " Histo ry wiII judge Em ig for how he responds and, if he stays true to his cha mp ion roo ts, will forgive him." Judging from w ha t th e last month has borne for Jeff Emig, he is sho wi ng the world w ha t a true champion he is. Emig is setting an example through his statements and his actions th a t prove the strength of his character. Liebmann wiII be punished for his act ions and histo ry w ill ju dge hi m, too, fo r h is res ponse. If you cannot live with that, Mike, then I am sure there are pla ces in this world with systems of order better tailored to your apparent disdain for authority. Wade WalIace Greenwood, IN One-tire racing I just rea d tha t the AMA is co nsidering going to one tire bra nd in dirt track racing for nex t year. Grea t move, guys. Th e field is already on one brand of motorcycle and almost everyone is no w using the sa me frame and shock. Wasn' t Project 2000 supposed to bri ng different m anu fa cturers into the arena? Motorcycling in th e U.s. is growi ng at a ra te no o ne ever ex pected - a t la st co u n t, • some 6.5 mi llio n p e opl e are rid in g today; th at' s acco rd ing to yo u r figu re. Yet th e o nly way yo u see to fu nd th e Grand National Championsh ip is to hold the tire manufacturers hostage for th e most cash ? Great marketing . I was at the Volusia half mil e during Bike Week this past spring. I was pitted n e xt to the C ontinental tire rep . I wa tc hed the g uy change 18 tires for o the r people. I watched him groove tires for o the r people, and then go out and make th e 600cc Expert main event. It see ms to me you need all the people like that you can get. Instea d, you ma ke a silly-ass rule to kee p these people out of racing. I just hope Mike Kidd can bring PACE or whoever to the table and show th em how great dirt track raci ng can realIy be without all the screw-ups from theAMA. Pat BelIanca Atlanta, GA Mladin , again In re sponse to Our le t ter about t h e AMA Su perbike Na tiona l Championship (Issue #4 2, October 27), y o u said, "co mparing Mladin's ac tions with a blatant a c t of violence is a bit extreme." While the w hacking of knees by Tanya Harding's goons was a blatant ac t of violence, what Mat Mlad in did in placing himself a nd hi s bike in fro nt of a rider w ho was attempting to go 126 m ph w as an invitatio n to violence - one which the blocker assumes wi II not be accepted , because rid ers instinctively try to miss hitting th ings. Su ppose Ben Bostrom had run in to Mat and th en said, "Oh, sorry, cou ld n' t sto p in time." We believe that Mat's actio ns wou ld have been th e initia tio n of violence. You r second statem ent was that "d esp it e the co n tro ve rsy of the final qualifying session of th e season, we'Ilsti ll argue th at Mladin's title was welldeserved." Perhaps you are forgetting the races, includ in g the last one, in which Mlad in was not truly competing, but merely trying to finish (trying not to lose, ins tea d of trying to win)? What happened to competing in every race and tryi ng to win? Imagine the hoopla tha t wou ld ensue in a track-a nd-field race if a runner were to p uII up a nd allow o ther ru nners to pass. We wo uld lik e to co ngratu late and th ank Ben Bostrom fo r being a stro ng competitor w hil e m aintaining hi s s p o r ts m a ns h ip. C on gratul ati ons o n being picked fo r th e World Su pe rbi ke Series, Ben, and bes t of luck. Jim Rob inson Sa n Rafael, CA Since I' ve already responded once to the rather silly comparison of Mat Mladin and Tanya Harding , I'll skip right to the second part of y our letter. I'm not sure exactl y which races you are referring to when you ment ion the races in which "M ladin was not truly competi ng," but it bears repeating that he had a season worthy of a champion. Ml adi n wo n one race an d finished second five times en route to the title. He also fini shed each and every race - and his worst fi nish was fifth . For him to race for the win at Pikes Peak - and risk throwing away a tit le - would have been ludicrous... Editor Letters to the editor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News , P.O. Box 5084, Costa Mesa, ·CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751-6685 or e-ma iled to editor@ cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessaril y reflect the position o f Cycle News, Inc. Letters s h o ul d not exceed 200 word s and all [ett ers are subject to editing. Anonymous [etters will not be considered for publication. All letters sho uld con tain the writer's na me, addre s s and da yt ime phone number... Editor. 5

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