Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

kn ow - not only was I able to literally find pa rking righ t in front of the ticket bo x a nd was a ble to pu rch ase tic ke ts with ou t ha vi ng to sta n d in lin e, b u t there was abso lu tely no traffic. I thought thi s w as g rea t a nd tha t maybe th ere wou ld be a mad ru sh within the ho ur wrong! So aro u nd 1 p .m ., I leav e for my 2mile journey to the Rose Bowl. I again think to myself - "where's the traffic?" Once I was in th e stadi um, I had my answer to the pa rking, pit pass and traffic qu es tion s - it wasn ' t looking goo d . An d I can 't comment on the race or the rac e format becau se m y budd ies and I are still trying to figure it ou t. And last, but no t leas t, the commercial. I have a un iqu e concept tha t maybe th e p romo ter s can kick aro und abou t how to use the giant scree ns to let the public know what th e hell is go ing on (i.e., lap number s, rid ers and their nu mber s, laps remaining, etc.). Oh , but then the y w ouldn't be able to pla y their pretend races to th e fa ns. Go d forbid w e actu all y go to a real race and actu ally get to watch and enjoy it. One thing that was very clear to me was that the promoters we re doing a mu ch bett er job of making sure that all 386 people in a ttendance would leave kn owing that ther e was a new vid eo ga me ava ilable. Wha t isn ' t clear is if th e tw o dancing "cowgir ls" w ere part of th e commercial or not. Was a choreogra pher hired ? I'm ju s t gla d tha t th e 2000-sea son AMA Su percross Series isn't spo nso red by a video ga me gia nt - or is it? Also, cong ra tu la tions and thanks to Travis Pastrana for w inni ng the 125cc race an d ass uming the responsibility for th e "one-man ex tre me air show" over the finish-line jump. Alex Sokolov agsokolov@earthlink.net The kids liked it I would like to thank you both for providing the op portu nity for Geoffrey to participate in the Wor ld Supercross Kids Race. The day was filled wi th excitement for Geoffrey and it gave him a feel for what it would be like for a Pro on race da y. This is a memo ry that will last him a lifetime. He was thrilled to meet su persta rs like Jer emy McGr at h, Ezra Lu sk, Jeff Em ig and h is fav o rit e, Travis Pastrana, to men tion a few . And all of them sig ned his ches t p rotector. To make the main was a dream come tru e for Geof frey" as he has set goals to one day make it into the ranks of Supercross. We ha v e d on e a lo t of r a ci n g in Sou thern Californ ia a nd felt that you guys were p ro fession al way above the rest. You guys are a first-class effort and I wo u ld like to say thank yo u. Geoffrey L. Lock ley, Sr. Camar ill o, CA The above letter was sen t to American Supercamp 's Dan and Joa nne Walker, the pair responsible for putting on the kids race that w as held in co nju nction with the Wo rld Su percross round at the Rose Bowl... Editor Let it rest After read in g th e letters to the ed itor regard ing the lon g mota deba te and the s ugges tio n th at su pe rc ross is n ot as d emanding as motocross and is boring I ju st h ad to w rite and ob ject to th is lunac y. An y "rea l" mot or cycl e-racin g fan kn ow s that it takes tremendous skill and gu ts to race Super cross. The rid er s race at a blisterin g speed on very tigh t tracks tha t have takeoffs and landin gs the shape of Mayan pyramid s. Anot her le t te r re ferred to su pe rcross as "rea lly bo ring ." ow th is is rea lly a dumb sta te men t. Su p ercross a ttendan ce is se lling new records each ye a r and the raci ng has been tre mend ou s. N oth in g ca n match th e exc itement of the Las Veg as crowd the year t hat Jerem y McGrath ca u g h t Doug H e nry la te in t he m a in even t - wit h both of th em go ing ove r a jump a nd lo okin g a t each other . T he so ld -ou t Sam Boyd Stadi um crowd went ou t of co n t r o l. Yeah , I'm s u re some fl a t , straig h t secti ons would ha v e rea ll y improved the ambiance at that race . If you th in k Supercross is b ori n g, th en you need to have your blood pressure ch e ck e d , be cau s e y o u ' r e probabl y already d ead. Anot her poi nt. Don't forget that Jerem y McGrath a nd Jeff Emig won b oth Supercross and ou td oor N ati on al titles in the same season - so the re ar e no specialists . As far as the 40-min u te mo te s, extend them if you wa nt - it won ' t make an y difference. Lastly, let the old- time genera tiona l bias rest. The rid ers of tod ay are bett er an d fas ter and they wo u ld d estro y the Bob H ann ah s a n d Jeff Ward s o f th e world . It is a d ifferent game now a nd we should just appreciate it for what it is: Simply the best motor racing on the plan et. Jeff Pollard Newhall, CA Stupid Pastrana tricks Tra vi s Pa strana o n Da v id Letterman was g reat. All hail t h e n ew m ot o l freesty le media king! Hey, Suz u ki, are you go ing to send Dave a bike? Mark Sanders Ashe bo ro, N C X-Wing this In the No vember 10 issu e you say that Hond a's X-Wing show bike "bridges the gap bet ween the CBRll00XX a nd th e Gold Win g - a ma rk et ni ch e th at has kept BMW and M o ta Gu z z i goi ng strong for years: high-speed , lon g-di stan ce touri ng..." Think again, gu ys . Tha t isn' t a gap. My ST1 100 fi ts that d escr iption to a n (S)T. Alan Maclachlan New Orleans, LA Y eah, but can yo u check your Qualcomm stocks while riding it? .. Editor Say it isn't so Ma rk Hy de lea vi ng Suz u ki for KTM? You r In the W ind a n nou nce ment of Ma rk ' s cha nge of employment wasn' t exactly good news for me. You see, as trail boss of the New Hampshire Cla ssic AMA Nati onal Dual Sport Ride for the la st couple of yea rs, I ha ve come to depend on Mar k for all he brin gs to ou r trail rid e . An d what he brings is far mo re than the sum off the parts in his Suzuki su ppo rt truck. Ma rk is truly one of a ki n d in th e world of motorcycling (a world w here grea t folks are almost commonplace). The mere fact th at he would show u p , given his GNCC responsibilities, would have been e nough . Bu t Mark a lwa ys had a grin on his face and a cheerfu l ou tloo k, even in the midst of the twoda y flood in 1998. This past June, Mark brought Steve and Denis e Hatch alo ng to join in on the a ction and the three of the m wer e instrumen tal in raising the Classic to a n e w level of fun and gen e ros ity . Through th e e ffor ts of Mark and t he Suzuki Du a l Sport team, over $40,000 was raised to benefit the Cys tic Fibro sis Fou nd a tio n, ele va ting th e Merrim ack Va ll ey Tra il Rid ers in to th e top 10 nationally of AM A clubs in cha ritable club raising (and the only off-road club to make the top 10). O n behalf of CF's Lisa Baba ian and all the CF families, MVTR and the New Eng la nd Trail Rid ers Association , w e wou ld like to tha nk Mark Hyde or all that he has done to make this rid e a suc cess. Mar k, we hope yo ur new job wo rks ou t we ll. If you ha ppen to be free the weeke nd of Jun e 11, yo ur o ld bud d y Rupe Da nce of Freedom Cycle Suz u ki / KTM ca n hook you up for a lit tle 250-m ile trail ride - an d yo u can leav e yo ur wre nches at home. John M. O'Connor jocon no r@worldpa th. net TToo much? Can Sco tt Ro u ssea u ex p la in h ow h e a voided spen ding the "a r m a nd leg " that he d idn' t have whe n build in g his Yamaha 540 dirt track er? If one ad ds the prices for the parts and services listed in the su p pliers ' sec tion, the total is over $6100, and there are other costs impli ed that aren' t included. Thirty-fiv e bu cks for a kill sw itch? Give me a br eak. Ma ybe if these item s we re purchased on the "give-them- tot h e - rna ga zi n e-c a u s e- w e ' ll-g et- f r ee ad vertis ing plan" then he got a deal, bu t the res t of us poor folks would be better o ff bu y in g on e o f th e rea dy- to - ride $5500 fla t tr acke rs advertised in th e sa me issu e. Th e J&M-fra med KTM 600 on page 60 will probably blow Scott's IT into the weed s, and it has fron t br ak es as well. So meo ne co u ld buy it no w and s tar t havi ng fu n, or d ro p a no the r $600 a nd wa it a cou ple of yea rs . John Come john ny bgone@hotmail.com John , you need to start usi ng a calculator instead of your crayo n. 50 far, ju st a tick over $39 00 has been spent on th e bike nowh ere near yo ur calculations of $6 100. The labor cost thus far is $400, which you could subtract (use the calculator this time) if you did the work yourself... Editor Lellers to th e editor sh ou ld be sent to Voi ces, Cycle N ews, P.O. Box 5084, Co sta Mesa , CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751-6685 or e- mail e d to editor@ cycl ene ws.com . P u b lis he d letters d o not nec essarily refl ect th e position of Cycle News, Inc. Le tters sho uld not exceed 200 wo rds and all are su bj ect to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters shoul d co n tain the write r 's name, ad dress and daytime phone number.. . Editor. 5

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