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/128242
IIBuild a street Ducati with screwadjust valves and 11 m therel" Everts The M an? I don't want ta ke anything awa y from the great year Stefan Everts has had (I' d definitely lo ve to be able to ride at his level), but to answer the ques tion from y our rec ent c overline : "What can 't th is gu y do? " He can' t win in th e States! JamIe Foste r Dall as,1X Everts The Man II? Beat Ricky Carmicha el. T hat is the answer to the question you ask of Stefan Everts "What ca n 't this guy do?" on last week's cover. Do I win a prize? Scott Dan Iels Fremont; CA No... Editor Everts The Man III Tha t' s th e reco gn it ion Stefan Everts deserv es! Front page! Awesome job! GaMnHoyer via the Intem et Supercross Entry Fees Did anyone else notice that the entry fees for supercross and motocross riders increased 25 percent from $ 100 per event to $ 125 per event! T han k goodness they increased the p u r se thi s year by a whopp ing .05 p erc ent from $70,000 to $73 ,500. No w J am es Stewart will make $2500 for a w in in a 125cc Supe rcross instead of the measly $2250 he m ad e per win la st year. It's a good thing he collects a paycheck from Kawasaki! What about those guys who have to pay the $ 125 entry fee out of their own pockets? If they don 't win , they get their entry fee ba ck plus $ 105 to get them to the next race! Good luck, privateers! By the way, I'm look ing into what it cost to rent the stadium. BIll Abrlgo via the Internet Green Stickers Where are all the Green stickers for the new four -strokes? I just rece ived th e latest notice from the California D M V tha t Green stickers will no long er be given for the most recent models of off-road machines, which comes as no surprise since we have all been informed about th is develop ment in t he Californ ia Air Regulations. Then I open my lat est Cycle News to read a rev iew o f the latest four -st roke 250cc ma chines , and I could not find even one refe rence as to whe ther these new machines will be eligible fo r Green stic k ers, whic h means they p robably do not pass the em issi on requ irements. Correc t m e i f I am w ro n g , but I th ought one of the primary reason for developing four-stroke dirt bikes was so Ca lifornia riders , wh o represen t a very large market and tend to b e industry trendsetters , could continu e to ride qua lity dirt bikes with th e new em ission requirements . And yet non e of the current crop of four-strok es appear to meet t h e requirem ent s, rendering them to closed courses or to red stickers with limitations. I am shocked an d appalled that no on e seems to care abo ut this issue. Further more, I think Cycle New s is remiss in its ob ligation to report thi s very significant news and would even suggest it use its bully pulpit to represent consumers ' int erest by call ing the manufacturers to task for failing to meet these new requirements. (By the way , I support the new em ission requireme nts and noise requirements for my own benefit as well as the ben efit of others) . It looks like I will be holding on to my older bikes for a while longer. Bren t Lorschelder Arca dIa,. CA Old-School Ducatls I was thrilled by Ducati's introduction of modern versions of its 1970s masterpieces: the GT , Sport and SuperSport. If it is true to its '70s history, the GT will be a spring-valve engine, dropping the needlessly complex and expensive desmo feature from what sho uld be a simpl e-to-maintain streetb ike. Desmo valves were key to Ducati 's early racing success, but advances in design hav e mad e d esmo va lves on stre et b ik e s an adve rtising feature rath er t h a n a necess ity. Bu ild a street Ducati with screw adjust va lves and I' m there! Bruce Armstrong Santa Barbara,. CA The Rossi Challenge Just a thought to ponder: If Valentino Rossi r eall y wan ts a c h a ll e n g e, shouldn 't he be rid ing a Kawa-zuk i next year ? BryanS~ Prescott; AI No Jeremy Fan Now I know that some people will say that this is blasphemy , but what the hell is the deal with Jeremy McGrath? M cGrath was my all -time favo r ite rider throughout his career, but some of th e stuff he has been pulling lately has turn ed my stomach . What the hell am I talking about? First , McGrath decides that he can't win on his KTM and that leaving Yamaha was a m i stak e. In ste ad of fu lfilling his co m m itme nts and do ing the best he can with what he had, he decided to reti re. Sixt een slow parade l aps later an d b am ! He d ec id es t o bl ow off KTM and it s Supermot o p ro g r a m t o r a c e H ondas . Th in k th a t didn 't m ak e KTM look bad? Th ink again. Th e least McGrath could ha ve don e is pay KTM bac k for believin g in hi m was to rid e a KTM in Supermot o. And a s if his riding a Hond a in Sup erm oto wasn 't bad enough, he starts ra c ing o n e i n moto cross as wel l. Hell, he even raced a 250 Honda in Sheffield and beat a wash ed -up field . Whatever happened to McGrath hating Honda for trying to cont rol his private life? I guess t ime heals all wounds . What about his deal with Red Bull? That's fine if he wants to ride for it , but in the announce ment from Red Bull, it was said that McGrath loves Red Bull and has been drin k ing the stuff for y ears. What abo ut his spon sor fo r years - Hansens? I'll bet it's stoked on that. The same goes for Vans, who even invested in making a M cGrath show ! I j u st saw th e n ew One Industries catalog and saw that McGrath is now a DC shoes guy with his own DC graphics. For a guy who wa lked awa y from th e sport he loves because he is no longer competitive, he sure ha s no prob lem signing contracts and collecting paychecks and taking money away from riders who are still giving it 100 percent. Th e last thing I heard that got me to write th is letter is that M cG rath m ight be riding some supercross events in 2004. While I wou ld love to see .h irn throw one more ne e-ne e, I th ink that would be a slap in th e face to all his 2003 sponsors. Je rem y McGrath, if you are read i ng th is , p lease don 't tarnish y our great image by milking the sport. You have en ough money. Try giv ing back to the sport instead of taking . to the fans ' attention that a portion of each ticket sold went to sup po rt the team, the positi ve publ ic rel at i on s would be a boost for the p romoters. Every body wins - the fa ns, t he promoters and especially the te am who puts it all on the line for national pride. Erlch Essweln Steamboat Springs, CO Dear Eric Bostrom Although it i s impossible to understand why your former employe r could not find its most talented rider, in the world , a ride in any premier class is beyond comprehension. Politi cs , country of or igin, sponsorship be damned, what a sham the sport of Superb ike raci ng has become when a rid er with yo ur integrity , determinati on and talent is left without a ride due to some meathead decision makers in Japan, USA or wherever. Clearly just taking an agi ng Superbik e and grinding away at the competi ti on was not enough; riding your ass off and n o t tos sing your mu seum p iece in the dirt and giving 100 perce nt even wh en yo u r setup wasn 't "j ust right" obviousl y didn 't buy you any con sid erat io n either. When you didn 't win, you blam ed yourself, not the team or the bike , wh ile most of your competitors shot their mouths o ff or rod e back in th e crash truck. Personally , I hav e been a Kawasaki fan f rom da y o ne, y es from way back, and now ma ny of us are proud to say we have become Eric Bostrom fans . Good lu ck, Eric, and thanks for racing your ass off for us . Whe reve r you land, give 'em hell as we know you will. Yes, even Team Green. Brad le y Layton via the Intem et Fundin g M otocross des Nations In response to Broc Glover's editori al concern ing funding for the Motocross des Nations team , here 's a thought: Clear Chann el and the outdo or pro moters could contribute $ .05 or $.10 per ticket sold at supercross and outdo or nationals. This amounts to less than .00 2 5 percent of a t icket sold , yet when mu ltiplied out by 900,000 fan s attending events, it adds up to $5 0,000-100,000. This would bring a new source of funding to th e table . Also if brought cu e I e n MIchael Norton Campbel~ CA Er ic Bostrom a nd Kawasaki parted wa y s on Novemb er 14. For more information, see In th e Wind... Editor e _ S • NOVEMB ER 2 6 , 2003 5