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/128233
"I want it all, and I w ant it now." arguabl y t h e kin g of hi gh p erf or - Airborne Longtime WERA rac e starter " Ai rorne" AI Wil c ox , 84, suffered a heart t t ack on September 13 at home in renton, New Jersey. AI was taken to lo cal hospital and had em erg enc y urgery pe rformed . A ccording to h is aughter Julie Sm yers , "Daddy i s o in g p rett y go od and should be back ome in a week to recupera te . He is y bio nic fathe r. All the doctors say e loo k s like he is 60! " A I Wil c o x w as the AMA N at io n al # 49 Ha r l e y -D a vid so n f a c t or y fla t track racer in the 194 0s . He rac ed on th e beach at D ay t on a and at tracks all o ve r th e n at ion . A fter hi s rac in g c areer, A I worked as ra c e sta rte r fo r h e AMA for m an y yea rs th en m oved n t o st a r t i ng r aces fo r WERA i n 197 4 . Th e Mid -Atl anti c Roa d Racing lub, MARRC , hon or ed him as a life i me m emb er in 19 8 4 . AI ' s un iq ue tyl e of w avi ng th e c he c ke re d flag nd jumping three feet in th e air for he w inner earne d him the nam e "Airorne" AI Wilc o x . O ne o f A I' s pasions wa s ro lle r sk a ti ng. A I was a m aster at th e roll er rink an d coul d an ce and p erf orm tric ks like few ther s. After k nee and hip re p laceents along w ith doctor 's o rde rs, the ' u m p i n g an d r oll er sk ati n g had to st op. He r e c entl y sta r te d th e WERA National road races at Summ it Po int Raceway in West Vir g in ia , Au gu st 1-3 . Un fort un at ely , AI will not be able t o mak e th e WERA ra c e s at Summit Po int, Septe m ber 20 -21 . Loo k for him n e x t year. C a rd s and letters o f e n c o u ra ge me nt ca n b e se nt t o : AI Wilcox, 2 2 Verm on t St reet, T rent o n , N J 08648-4537 . Roger Lyle Wheaton.MD Superbike Rules I' ve been noting the c hatte r regard ing m o re ru le changes w ith Supe rb ike racing . It seems no one is ha ppy w ith he new restrict ion s on the four-c y lin der scoo ts . About th e onl y posi tive comme n t was that the new rules w ould slow d own th e co m pe ti tors, add t o safe ty and that the AMA had h e " b i g g er p i ctu re " in m ind wh en creating the new rules. First of all , let me say th at I don't like twi ns - it 's j ust a plai n ineffi cient ra c ing des ig n . T hat' s why th ey need suc h a hu ge d isp lacem ent (o r restric tions on ot her desig ns) advant age to be co m pet itive. It 's wh y special cl ass es need t o be c re at ed for th e tw ins, e tc . And l a st l y , i t ' s a m att e r o f physic s - all othe r things being eq ual , y ou just c an't create as m uch horsepow er w ith a twi n as with a h ig he r cylinder-count co nc ept. By th e wa y , mance twins (a .k .a. Duc ati) go t co m petitive aga in in Mot oGP with a V- fo ur is up to us (the m oto rcycling co m m u nity ) to p ro v e t o Speed t hat we d o c are and that we co unt. If enough of - not a twin. But we need t o look at the situa ti on fro m the "big ger pi cture" - other w is e kn own as th e manufactur er ' s us write them o n a con siste nt bas is and sho w that th ey made a mistake, poss ibl y we will get "our" night back. point of view. Your average 33 -p lus year- old (o r whatev er the ag e m ight ly basis t o Sp eed. Also , pl ease urge everyone yo u know to do the same, i.e : f r ie n d s , relativ es, c o -w o r k e r s, en emies . If e n o u g h of u s co n t a c t Sp eed , mayb e th ey will rec onsid er th eir de cision and pu t things back the way th ey we re. Plea se be as sp ecific b e) c u st o me r r id es o n th e stre et , rarely uses more th an 30 or 40 horsep ow er on th e bik e he o r sh e r id es, m ig ht love to watch the pros go fast and is curious ab out what they ride , bu t the p ro fessional r ac e r ' s m o t or te c hno logy has litt le effe ct on th e ir buying decisions . Now look at the cost of bu ild ing a fo ur cy linde r ver sus a tw in - the cost d ifferen ce is h u ge eve n if yo u ju st co ns ide r the cha nge in p arts co unt. So if you're the rep fo r o ne of the bi g fo ur and you' re m ak ing a decision about whe ther or not to give the twins more adva ntage against a hig her cost design ... we ll , you get the picture. M ark Weston Citrus Heights CA , The Two-Stroke I am very d isappo int ed that th e develo pment of the tw o -stroke is now st agn a t in g . Th e industry says that i t m ar ch es o n, but I have m y doubts . The poor little two - st ro k e is clea rly the underdog w hen it faces the fo ur stroke o f two times its disp lace ment. Let' s give it a cha nce - c ha nge the rul es to keep up with th e t echn ology that ha s b e en th r o w n at t he fo u r st roke . Su re, th e sim p le li tt l e t w o stroke is gon e, bu t so is t he unbreak ab le four-stroke. T he four- stroke has a m ainten an c e sch ed u l e t hat r iva ls the two - st rok e wh en it co mes to race eng ines . T he cl ass wh ich w a s th e " 12 5 cc " c lass sho u ld read: t wo -st roke of no m o re th an 200cc ; fo ur -stroke of no more than 250cc . T he cla ss wh ic h was th e " 2 5 0 c c " cl ass s ho ul d r ead : tw o - Please writ e and e-m ail on a week - as possible regarding what you wa nt t o see c h ange, o r use th e fo ll owing " fo rm lett er" : Dea r Spee d Channel: As a m em ber of th e m ot or cyclin g com m unit y , I am dis a p po inted a t t he rece nt fo r ma t c h a n ge s to Two Whe e l Tues day . I enjoy ed watchi ng the repl ay s o f th e week end 's rac es, especially the way they were ti ed i n wi t h "Greg 's Garage ." If c hanges are not made , I may be forced to can cel m y subsc rip- I wan t Tu e sd ay back fro m S peedv isio n. No truck s, no stock cars - j ust motorcycles . I want speedway , I wa nt flat t rack , I want trials, I w an t Pikes Peak , etc . I want it all, and I wa nt it now . Where 's D ave Despa in when you t ion to Sp ee d wit h m y lo cal cable/satellite provider. T h e address is S peed Channel , 9700 Southern Pines B lvd., Charlotte, NC 28273, attn : Rick Miner. Don Dah l via the In~met need him? Dan Henry Encfnltas, CA And Another Godspeed, Dave Emde Wh at ha s ha p pen ed to "T w o Whe el Tuesday " ? The one day of th e week tha t th e m ot orc y cl e wo rl d co uld c all its own has been partiall y reclaimed I've k nown of Dave Emde for a lon g time. I f in ally m et D ave a c o u ple a years ago wh ile he was selli ng bikes, and we h it it off right away . T ragi c al - by the fo ur -w heel world . A s a ki d , I woul d wait for the ope n ing cred its of A BC' s " Wid e World of Sp orts " every wee k for th e faint cha nce th at so me l y , on Sund ay , Se ptem ber 14 , D ave was k ill ed in a m otor cycl e ac cident. L a st y e ar I had th e pri v il eg e o f w renc h ing for him in the Toyota 20 0. He was a ver y ded ic at ed ri der w ho m ot o rc y cl e - rel at ed eve n t w ould be showcased . On ra re occas io ns yo u would see ice racing, o nly bec au se it w as so un ique. The thoug ht was th at it wou ld int erest even th ose who k ne w never took life too seriously . Th os e of us w ho knew him will k no w he d ied doing wh at he loved m ost - riding ! I will miss him ve ry muc h . God speed , Da ve. Joe Bruscefla vla the In~met o r cared li ttle about m ot orc y cl es. It was n 't until B ru c e Br o w n came aro un d th at we all go t th e f i x we stroke of no m ore th an 3 2 5cc; fo ur str oke of no m or e tha n 450cc . I don 't w ant to ru n on about this , bu t not all of us w ant to see the little needed . A BC ca me through aga in , eve n better this tim e, with the Superbi k ers eng ine that wr ote t he boo k o n hi g h since then, th ere ha s been a re al void as far as wa tc hi ng motorcycles in action , wi th the excepti on o f going to th e track , w hich isn 't p r acti c a l fo r performance d ie. Curt RInggenberg vla the In~met No Barber eve nt, a precursor to Supermot o. Bu t Wanting Two-Wheel Tuesday Back m o st p eopl e. "T w o Wheel T uesday " was the best thing to co me alo ng in a lo ng ti me. A lth ou gh t op h eavy w ith Re c e nt l y Sp e e d C h a n ne l a ll bu t dropped T wo Wh eel T uesday , cit ing " po o r Ni elsen rat ings" as the deciding ro ad raci ng, it pro vide s th e v iew ing w orld w it h an exc iti ng g limpse into ou r spo rt . Now I fear th at all we'll end up with is wh at we get on th e Di sc ov - fact or. As a racer/ enthus iast , I rea lly enj oy ed watching th e p revious wee k end' s rac es, as I am us ual ly o ut riding o r ra c in g o n Su nd a y, and Tu e sd a y was my favorite night of tel evisio n. It I was looking t hro ugh th e prog ramm ing guide o n Sp eed C h an ne l and noticed that the AMA race next week and t he W orld S up e rb ik e rac es the week afte r are not listed o n Su nday for ei the r ra ce . I do fi nd the m listed o n Tu e sd ay. Am I m i s s in g so me- ery Ch an nel - cho ppers. I c an apprecia te the art fo rm, but plea se.. . wh en yo u get rig ht down to it , it's all rep eti t i on . Po or h andli n g bikes built b y guys incapa ble of tu rn ing left o r right. cu e I e n thi ng ? I g ue ss w e ar e bei ng show n j u st how import ant m otorcyc le racin g is. Paul Trautman San Jose, CA A c c ord ing to Speed Chan nel' s web site , yo u are co rrec t ... Ed itor e _ S • S E PTE M B E R 2 4 , 2003 5