Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Voices America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXXVI Sharon C1avton, Preside nt Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editur/CVf!Y Editor Matt Freeman, Associate Editor Chris jonnum, Managing Editor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holther, Assistant Editor jennifer j. Dutcher, Proofreader Advertising Western States (714) 751-7433 Terry Pratt, NationalAccounts Milnager Mark Thome, Western Sales Milnager Forrest Hayashi, Western SalesManager Dan Legere, Western Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Advertising Eastern States (770) 934-7850 Greg Mitchell, Ea stern Accounts Manager jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Carla Allen, Ad Coordinator Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi, Manager Shannon Clark, Dealer Representative New Media Development Kory Klinger, Site Manager Classified Ads Melissa Parker Graphics and Production . Mandy Loo, Art Director Amanda Wollny, Lead Grap Artist hic Paul Fisher, Gra phicArtist Lynda Vu, Graphic Artist . Administration judy Klinger, Coordinator Pam Klein, Administrative Assistant Accounting!Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, A/R Coordinator Ge neva Rep ass, A ssistant Theresa Milburn, CreditManager Circulation Alma Anguiano, Circulation Manag,,, Carol Maggio, Processing Coordinator Donna Sharp, Billing Coordinator Ashleigh Klein, Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Amber Hill, Receptionist jim Olson, Service and Support National Headquarters 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 (71 4) 751-7433FAX (714) 751-6685 Eastern O ffic e 41 88 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX(770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com subscribe@cvc lene ws .com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Toby Jorgensen First and fo re most, let m e ex te nd my family' s deepes t condolences for the loss of so me one wh o had a very p rom ising fu tu re a hea d of him , and has tou ched m any peopl e. [It was ! a futu re that per haps he wa sn 't read y for. I believe we all have a deep cu riosity as to w hy th e AMAwouJd let a 17-yearold boy - and I d o mean boy, race th e Gra nd N ationa l circuit aga inst riders 10 to 15 y ears h is senio r . To by s im p ly wasn't ready and d idn't belon g there a t thi s s tage o f h is life . H e n eed ed far more seasoning in o rd er to prepare hi ms elf for th e likes of such individuals as the Scotty Parker of th e sport of mile racing. We need to nurture our up-andcoming sta rs of this sport a little longer. This [Dallas Mile1wa s light years ahead of th e Lodi Cycle Bo wl w he re th is a ll began . I d eeply feel that his fat her knew better, h a ving b een down tha t roa d himself , ju st what kind of skill it tak es to run a t 140 mph, chasing g uys th at ha ve been d oin g th is fa r lo nger th an Tob y ha s b e en al iv e . It is a cryi n g shame, to put it mildly, that he had to di e in thi s fashion. I'd eve n bet that there are d ays on th e mil e when g u ys like Parker , Carr and eve n lon gtime veteran Jay Sprin g.stee n ge t into si tu atio ns at th at speed w he re the y wond er if th ey even belon g ou t th ere, let alone a 17-year-old kid from Modesto. I wa s always under the impres si on that you need ed to be at le a st 18 yea rs o ld . Has t he A M A chan ged thi s ru le, or wi th th e rig ht cred entials, can it be waived ? An d would a no t her yea r of age h a v e r e all y cha nged any th ing? Only " He" kn ow s th at. , However, I do want to applaud Toby for placing seco nd, behind his idol Chris Carr, at the Peoria IT. Timmie Leque timmiel@inmate.com Off-road outlaws I just wanted to let readers know tha t a popular Southern California riding area has been closed. Hon d a Valley is now off limits to mot orcyclists. We we re rid in g th ere o n Novem ber 14 a nd were a p proached by s heriffs on KLX300s . Th ey gave u s maps to g reen-s tic ker a reas fu rther in th e d esert, but as of November 20, citation s will be issu ed to anyone riding at Honda Valley. Riding area s are becoming harder and hard er to find . You o n ly have to look back on the rid ing areas yo u used to have to kn ow w ha t the future hold s. Maybe we have no cho ice but to becom e o ff- roa d o u tla ws . Wr it e le tters and speak ou t. Join the AM A. But keep on rid ing, this cou ntry used to be th e land of the free. Steve He ck Lake Forest, CA AMA-Davidson? Wha t? Th e AMA and Harl ey-David son joined at the hip? No way. I agree with Jim Bailey (Voices, Issue #45). Never has the AMA done any thi ng in the least that could be seen as favoritism toward Harley-David son . We ll, th ere was th at o ne time th a t Harley was running th eir 750cc sid evalve engines aga ins t th e competi tion's 500cc overhea d-valve engines, but th at was lon g ago, and just o ne time . Okay, well, there was o the r time in the m id'70s when a few people thought th at a four-cylinder TZ750 Yam aha or a threecylin de r Kaw asaki eng ine (no t to mention thre e- cyli nd er BSA s a n d Tri umphs) might make a good d irt track engine. In 1975, in what w as arguably one of the m ost exciting dirt tr ack races ever, Kenny Rob erts ac tua lly w o n the Indy Mile on a TZ . Th en , shortly thereafte r, th e AMA prohibited engines with m ore tha n two cylinders. I am su re the AMA had good reasons, w hateve r they were. And those are the only two tim es that th e AMA has ev er slan ted the ru les to help Harley-D avidson. That is, until th e ea rly '80s, when Honda sho wed up with a 750cc V-twin with ov erhead cams. Th e AMA ruled th at bikes w ith engines with ove rhea d ca ms h ad to have a high er minimu m weigh t. That was only fair, rig h t? Becau se, you know those overhea d cams, th at' s like adding ni tro us oxide. Okay, th ose are th e only three tim e s th at th e AMA ha s eve r shown any b ias towar d Harley-Da vidson. Just those three times. Although, there is that other ser ies, the Su per Tracker Series, where the AMA d ecid ed to get a fresh start, level th e p laying field with an engine d isp lacem ent maxim um of 1000cc. Great, well, exce p t one lit t le p r o b le m . Th e g uys u s in g th e Suzu ki TL1000 engines w ere d oin g all of th e w in ni ng. Well this ju st wasn ' t fair for the, uh , well, it ju st wa sn't fair. So the AMA sa id .th a t if yo u weren't winning an d weren't u sing a Su zuki en gin e , yo u could help y o u rself t o another 200cc, 'ca u se that wou ld b e fai r, right? Okay, th ose are the only four times that the AMA has d one anything to he! Harley-Davi ds on. Hey, that tari ff ha nothing to d o wi th the AMA. Kerry Talb Potter Valley, C Humorous his tory lesson aside, keel' i mind that the SUl'erTral'p SuperTrack, Series curren tly has zero involvel/letJ t frO J the Harley-Davidson factory. A big factor i the rule change WilS that it allows Harl teams to use certain off-the-shelf aftermark parts that fit the Sportster 1200 engin! keeping them from being forced to manuja ture special one-off parts for a 1000. Eve with the change, Suzukis still swept t series... Editor Pucker up Is it just me, or did others no tice som th ing a bit cont ra dictory in Ala n Ca t cart's review and acco mpa nying ph ot of the new Honda XI I [Issu e #421? Th e fir st photo o n pa ge 6 cl ear! sho ws a rider (Mr. Ca thcart, I presum li ghting up th e r ear wheel with fe firmly p lanted on the gro u nd and th front brake fully engaged . The sm ok being sent up by th e rear tire appears t be an obvious signa l to Michelin to sen in reinforcements. And yet the captid to a ph ot ograph on pa ge 8 indicates th Xl l is eq u ip ped with th e sa me Iinke braking sys tem as th e Honda XX. Whil I do not cons ider myself a rider of M Ca th cart' s ca li be r, I h a v e r idd en ' Honda XX, and the linked braking sy tern would see m to discourage suc h a act as d em onstrated in said photo. Or i it that the Xl ls en gi ne is pow erfu eno ugh to overco me th e rear brake, an the smoke emana ting in the photo wa tire and brak e pads? I am curio us ho the "bu rno ut" was ac h ieved and a ls how ma ny o the rs noticed the appa re co n trad ic tion. Tha n ks for yo ur ti m and keep the grea t m ot orcy cl e n ew coming . Dirt track potpourri Dirt track fan ? I use race gas in m y la tra ctor just to ge t me by between races! Th e Hall of Fame race is not just race, it's a happening fo r dirt track fan Whatever Dav e Despain's pitch is to ge th e mon ey, it' s worth eve ry dollar . W eithe r continue with efforts like this on or the sport is gone. Nick y Hayden sai it all when asked about whether he wa g o in g to rid e d irt tr a ck in 2000 . N advertising@cyclenews.com Internet www.cyclenews .com Weekly Web site Password: competition Cycle News (USPS 141·340) is pub lished weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year for $58,00 per year by Cycle News, Inc..3S05-MCadillac Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Periodicals Postage Paid at Costa Mesa, CA and at . TEST Muzzy Kawasaki ZRX1400 8 Round 6 - AMA District 37 Gra nd Prix Series fro m Gorman, Ca lifornia 36 PROJECT BIKE Yamaha 540 dirt tracker, Part 2 FEATURES 3.0 DRAG RACING Round 14 - NH RA Win ston Drag Racing Series from Pomo na, Ca lifornia 40 ad d itio nal ma iling office. Ca nada Post Interna tional Pub lica- tions Mail #54661 5. POSTMASTER: Se nd address changes to Cycle New s, P.O. 80x 5084 Costa Mesa. 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W~.P 8 ~NP m:~TION . c Printed in U .S.A. 6 CopyrighrC CycleNews, Inc.1999. Trademark Cycle News regis tere d U.S. Patent O ffi ce. All rights reserved. SUPERCROSS Round 2 - FlM World Supercro ss Championship Series from Pasadena, California Paris Bercy Supe rcross fro m Par is, Fran ce ARENACROSS Rounds 3 & 4 - Na tion al Arena cross Series from Alb an y, New York MOTOCROSS West Coast Youth Nationals from Perris, California OFF-ROAD Elsinore Grand Prix from Elsinore, California l0 18 22 24 26 DEPARTMENTS EURO FILE EVENTS CALENDAR .: LEADERBOARD WANTADS GUEST EDITORIAL LOOKING BACK : .4 42 56 60 62 79 79 ON THEFRONT COVER Team Honda's Ezra Lusk scored a wi re-to wire wi n at the Toyota Wo rld Su pe rcross a the Rose Bow !' Pho to by Kinney Jones.

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