Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128110
"Come on, let's bring back the big-bore class." Wa tching Jeremy eremy McGrath is racing Open Pro, 50 cc Pro and the 125cc Pro Cla sses t the Mammoth Mountain Motocross n J un e 22 - 2 4 . Da v id Vui lle mi n aced last year, but not agai nst the op ride rs th a t will be th e re th is ye ar. rav is Pa strana also raced Mammoth n 1999. Grant La ngston, Damon Bradshaw, pu d Wa lters an d Ty Da vis will all be aci ng again s t J er emy in the 12 5 c c lass . Da v is , Dub a ch , B ra d sh a w, hae Be ntle y, Langston and Wa lte rs ill ra c e h im in t h e 250cc cl ass . arry Ro es e le r, on a KX500 , Davis , u ba ch , Langston and Walters will es t McGrath in the Open Class. Will ng ston ride a 520SX in th is race? We have a ll seen Jeremy ra ce a 125 and 250c c two -stroke - wou ldn 't t be great to see h im ride a YZ2 50F in the 12 5cc cl ass, a YZ2 5 0 in t he 5 0 c c cla s s and a YZ4 2 6 F in the pen Cl a ss? S in c e I can't e-mail eremy at his nacnac.com site, I hought I would se nd you an e-mail to see if you can contact him and prese n t t h is idea , not that he hasn't already thoug ht of it. On his nacnac s ite he confirms he is entered in all th re e classes and says he is racing Mammoth just for fun. What fun he and a ll of us could have watchi ng him ride four -strokes . It would also be a chance fo r h im to show us what he ca n do on the YZFs. Doug Henr y has shown what can be done on a four -stroke . Tim Ferry is having one of his best outdoor sea sons on th e 426 and Ryan Hughes went up Glen Helen's new Yamaha Mountain and preceding step up better than anyone on a two -stroke. We have seen what all these riders can do on a four-stroke, but we have yet to see what the winning est Supercross racer of all time can do on one. Can a YZ426F -mounted McGrath, with his g reat ability to holeshot, be at a KX500- mounted Roeseler up to the first turn at Mammoth? What odds would Vegas give that one? Jim Dueck VIa the Internet Wanting Open Class Warfare Here I go again , I asked the AMA and Cycle News via e-mail about testing t h e wate rs (sanctioning bodies , mot orcyc le ma nufacture rs , racers a nd fans) about re-establishing the 500cc class in amateur and professional motoc ro ss here in the Sta tes. Now, after seeing quite a few 400cc and larger bikes in the 250cc class, I think it's t ime for the AMA to look into bringing the 500/0pen class back. What I've seen in the last couple of years in Euro pean motocross is a strong s how ing in their O pe n class. Bring ing ba c k th e Open class would also open up th e door for the to p ride rs in the 250s to move to a ne w chal lenge. Look at the numbers across th e country of ra cers in th e 250cc class . More a mate urs and pros woul d ha ve another class to s how the ir stuff (plus open up to more contingencies) . Th is wo u ld a lso help th e ma nufa c turers . Why ha ve two bikes of d ifferen t sizes be in the same class fighti ng for the top ru ng? Bo y, I still re m e m be r th e years we went to motocross rac es in Southern Ca liforn ia and watched the 12 5/2 5 0/5 0 0 cc c la s s es ra ce. Ma n , those we re fa nta stic weekends . It wa s grea t see ing the racers move in those d iffe ren t classes over a pe riod of t im e . Come on, let's bring back the bigbore class! Gene Schoeneman VIa the Internet The Numbers Game Oh, Boy , Doug Henry can race in one race and keep his (?) number 19 for one more year. Yippee! Hooray for him. But what's the point? With the new system, a to p -20 number means exactly squat! Come on peop le, wake up and s me ll the premix. How long before we have four- and five-digi t riders? Dump the permanent numbers - NASCAR, SCHMASCAR! BII/Bo uman San aemen~, CA. More Stupid Than Normal More than the usual just stupid, I find this week's online poll offens ive. Don 't even compare in any way shape or form ba ll games with racing. I call t hem gam es and not s p o rt s because that's what they are. Also, I just finished reading your article on the Italian Stallion bikes teste d at Laguna Seca, and it occurs to me that maybe "nameless" should stick to old TT 500 flat- track project bikes, and leave the $19,000 purebred road -race bikes to road racers . M ox 48K VIa the In~met Take It To The Limit I wanted to thank everyone that made the recent screening of 'T ake it to the Limit ' possible. I'm not sure to what degree the movie was promoted, but I think it was a successful turnout. As riders of both sportbikes and cruisers, my wife and I regula rly participate in benefit rides and events. Many times we see the same riders again and again. We fe el tha t the su pport and generos ity of th e motorcycling com m un ity is one that is cons ta nt. With promotio n and ba c k ing from Hond a and other cor p or ate s po ns o rs, we believe th e movie wou ld be ve ry well rece ived , with in the U.S . and worl d wid e. Bene fiting not onl y Honda a nd motorcycl ists e ve rywhere , b ut pa rtic u la rly The Pe d iatric Bra in Tumor Fo undat ion. I wo uld tell o t h e rs t h a t se e ing "Take it t o th e Li mi t" o n vi d eo do esn 't c om pa re to seeing it on th e b ig scre e n. Seeing it fro m the ride r' s p e rsp e ct ive in th e la rge fo rmat make s you fe el like you are p a rt of t h e action - partic ularly the Isle of Man racing sequence. It' s thrillingl The movie ap peals to all ages from 8 to 80 and covers just about all facets of the sport. Fro m drag racing and road racing , to hill climbing and motocross . Simply put, if you enjoy motorcycling , you'll enjoy this movie. Tracy N. Koemel VIa the In~met A Classic The Classic Photo of th e Week sectio n is a wesome! Kevin Decker VIa the In~met The Classic Photo of the Week is featured on cy clenew s.com .... Editor Formula Xtreme After watching the AMA's Formula Extreme race on TV, I felt compelled to write a letter regarding the Graves Motorsports team's usage of Yamaha R I stickers on their R7 /R I hybrid racebikes. For several years, my broth e r and I, both avid sportbike enthus ias ts a nd owners of Yamaha Rl s , ha ve flown to Atlanta for the a n nu a l AMA road races at Road Atlanta . When visiting the Graves Yama ha pit on Saturday we were impressed by the large contingent of R6 and what appe a re d to be RI racebikes under the tent. But, after a closer look, we were surprised to find the big bikes were ac tually R7s with "R I" stickers on the m . Huh? When asked if the tea m was in fact using R7s, one of the Graves mechanics just kind of laughed and said with a grin , "They're modified Rls ... " cue I e After a lo n g er look , m y b roth e r an d I cou ld see noth ing on the b ig Gra ves bikes even remotel y resembl ing a n R I; not th e fram e , no t the swingarm, the tank, or the bodywork. As we walked ba ck to ou r campsite we couldn 't help but discuss how Yamaha must have concluded o u r RI s were simply not competitive for the racetrack . As a big fan of my Yamaha Rl, I was again a litt le insulted whi le watching the Atlanta Extreme race on TV last night whe n Graves Yamaha 's lead rid er Da m o n Buckmaster was q uoted as calli ng his ra ce b ike an RI, all while the camera is panning le ft a nd right a ll ove r his b ike - a nd the thing was clea rly an R7. If little m or e than the cylinder head is actually off an R I , is the whole motorcycle now considered an RI? I called the AMA and asked what the rules were on this subject. The AMA's stand was that R7s or R7/ RI hybrids are legal in Formula Extreme and they did know that the Graves team was using R7s with R I logos. The AMA also stated it has minimal power to police "pa int schemes," if only in cases of obscenities, etc. I can understand that. I can also understand a marketing p o lic y wh ere a m a n u fa c t u re r , like Yamaha, seeks positive na me recogni tion fro m a ch ie v em e n t s e a rned through rac ing hy brid Yamaha motorcycles in this c ou nt ry . But whe n Yamaha s upports Gra ves Motorspo rts in competing with limited-production R7 S u p e rb ik e s (with o n ly a fe w RI engine pieces at best), stickered up and advertised as RI sportbi kes, th is is misleading and deceptive. Tony M artinez Los 6atDs, CA AMA rules allow the team to run an R 1 motor in an R7 chass is... Editor n ... _ S • J UNE 27 , 2001 5