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/128312
"Side-by-side racing beats block-passing and brake-checking any day!" letters to the editor s hould be sent to Voices, CycleNews, PO Box 5084 , Costo Mesa, CA92628-5084; faxed to 714-751-6685 or emoiled 10editor@cydenews_com. Published letters do not necessarily reAect theposition of Cycle News, Inc. letters should notexceed 200 to editing . Anonymous letters will nol be considered for publication. words and all ore , Allleners should contai n thewriter's nome, address and daytime phone number... Editor. ... subject "",.--:r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -" Helmet Laws The AMA:s agenda to reverse existing helmet laws state by state is beyond belief. This is the analogy of AAA (Auto Club) lobbying to turn back the child-restraint and seat-belt laws. What is simply amazing about this is that one of its big efforts is to end discrimination from health insurance companies in regard to motorcyclists - yet on the other hand it works hard to overturn safe, sane and in-place helmet laws. Every sport in the world that involves substantial risk of head injury is moving toward helmet use, and we're moving the other way... How do you figure that? The AMA recently touted its successful efforts to overturn Pennsylvania's mandat ory helmet law as one of its greatest victo ries ever. Wow! Some victory. It has been work ing behind the scenes in Californ ia in support of AB 1200 (which is a helmet-repeal law). Can anyone seriously imagine riding in Southern California urban tra ffic without any head protectio n? The AMA:s posit ion o n this is obvious. It has litt le to do with "cho ice" because it' s all about special-interest money in its lobbying coffers from big groups like ABATE (an antihelmet group) and others . It has so ld out in my opinion. I, for one, will not be re newing my memb ership next time. The AMA has to tally lost its way. Doug Newberry Escondido. CA Supercross Blues I'm curious as to what ESPN2 is thinking when it cuts to a com mercia l in the middle of the supercross mains then comes back and tells us what we missed during the break. This isn't live te levision. Why do we have to miss key passes only to see it on a slow-motio n re play? The last cou ple of races this happened many t imes - it's ridiculous how it messes up t he flow of the race. It's like going to the bathr oo m just as RC makes the race-winning move on someone. I do n't get it. Also, can someo ne please tell me how Grant Langston got docked for dirty riding with Michael Byrne? I race , and that was not a takeo ut move . Langston simply cut underneath Bryne. This is called getting "st uffed," and it's a way of racing life. Let the racers class, I never bellyached when I got parked . If that situation between Langston and Byrne was reversed , I'm sure Byrne wo uldn't have shut off. C'mon, AMA, hire some people who know motocross. Learn what dirty riding rea lly is. The fact that Kevin Windham got docked 10 points is ludicro us as well... Yuillemin left the door open , and that's it - end of sto ry. I know that if I get pushed aroun d o n the first lap, I'll do what I can to get in the lead. And if the guy in front leaves the door open, I'll co me right in. I hope the AMA can figure out the difference between epic raci ng and dirty rid ing because, as it sta nds, one could argue the fact as to who the real champio n might be if points get shuffled around in a tight points chase . It's like getting a preside nt the majority of t he country didn't vote for. Steve Foster Telluride, CO As you probably know by now, Windham got his points bock... Editor Supercross Fans I may be w riting to the wrong grou p of peo ple . What happened to real supercross fans? W e we re tr eated to some great heat-race battles and some pred ictable main events in San Francisco if you could see the actio n. Between the young kids ru nning up and dow n the aisles and the up-and-down, outof-their-seat-for-whatever-reas on fans, it was tough to enjoy the show. When you spend 12 hours at the park and $40 on a great seat in lower box, it would be nice to be able to watch the action. "Fans" should wait for a break in the act ion to go get a beer or hot dog. Have some re spect for real supercross fans who go to watch the action. Is it just me, or did the rea l supe rcross fans stay home? Dave Hill Son Freneisee, CA Four-Strokes Tom Hockett was 100-percent correct in issue # S when he wrote about these supposedly great four-strokes! No t only was he co rrect in allthat he said, but he also left out a few more (like t here needed to be more). The main reason they give for pushing these converters and all the other (car) fourstroke fluff! To get an idea of what an emissions-friendly four-stroke is like, just ride a box-stock W R450 with the throttle stop and the pipe and airbo x choked off. You think this is scary, just wait until the Y-twins arrive. Just multiply all of Tom's letter by two . Glen Goodell Douglas, WY The Return Of Anthony Wow! What a bombshell! Anthony Gobert has inked another one-year dea l to burn yet another bridge - and just when we thought he had run out of race gas and matches! Let me guess, he's been train ing hard, riding his bike and has reno unced "H ippy Lettuce." The big story here is how his agent is able to pitch Anthony's ta lents to Mr. Erion. I'll bet t he contract is back filled with, "If you miss a flight, er, w reck a re ntal car, er, get lost on your way to the track, er, forget whe re you left you r ea rplugs, er, park the bike on the back str etch in anger because the cate rer didn't remove the brown M&Ms from the hospitality tent, you're done... again!" Anthony, a note from your fans: get it do ne this time, quit wasting everyone's time while we sit and watch your career get roto-rootered o ut of the sewer only to watc h you spiral do wn the comm ode once again. It's painful to watch . M, Norton Cam pbell. CA No Points Loss I was glad to see t hat Kevi n Windham wo n't lose points for t he co ntact with David Yuillemin. The appea l resu lted in the correct and fair decision. But at the same time , I must say that Steve Wh iteloc k's decision to watc h the riders care fully and to crack down on rough riding has resulted in better racing. Instead of seeing the to p riders take each other out with som e nasty block-passing, we are instead seeing a lot of side-byside racing, and not just in one or two cor- race. Th is is professional supercross - not sions issue. What they don't te ll you is that these co mpet ition-only four-stro kes are not ners . The racing has been awesome, and I think it has a lot to do with the riders' being aware that ro ugh riding may cause them to be penalized. Side-by-side racing beats block-passing and brake-checking any day! Thanks to Steve and all the pro riders, the racing has the vet class. I race the vet class because I can't affor d to get stuffed too hard anymore - but, trust me , when I was racing the Pro even remotely close to passing future em is- been exciting. sions rules, o r that it will be easier for the powers that be to tell you to add catalytic rYr,~ four-strokes down our throats is the emis- N~WC Tony Schummel via t he Internet In Support Of Whitelock I hope you will print this because there are two sides to everythi ng, and the re are people who are t ired of hearing that Kevin Windham is such a good person. Mr. Steve White lock is a good person, and he is just trying to make sure no o ne else falls victim to the same fate as poor Jason Ciarletta . Wh itelock has bee n taking a lot of crap lately, but I just wa nted to thank him for what he tried to do. It is good to know there is someone w ho is more w orried about the riders than TV rat ings. There is a way to have good racing but still have these guys going home to their families and children in o ne piece. The racing had not been affected since he sta rte d. In fact, it's gotten bette r. If you watch the racing since his ruling, there has been exce llent, close racing with no contact . The ride rs and families had a litt le peace of mind know ing that guys we re going to t hink twice befo re doing something stupid. These guys will crash enough on their own they don't nee d help. It makes me very sad and sick that there are peopl e who think that riders sending other riders to the cheap seats is okay, or entertaining for that matter. This is what they are showing kids and upand-coming riders that is okay. Windham gave the best exam ple when he tried to exc use himself from the incident, citing that this is the kind of racing he grew up watc hing so it should still be okay. Well, Kevin, it's not okay! You are setting a terrible exam ple fo r our kids. As a mother of a young boy wanting to ride, all I can say is that I hope you are not som eone he looks up to . You have talent but no class. I'm glad Steve Whitelock saw that, and I'm sorry that he caught an ea rful for it. I guess people th ink supercross/motocross is an exce ption to other pro sports . Every other pro spo rt has penalties for unnecessary roughness. At least now whe n injuries occur because of rider s' crashing into each other, Whitelock can have a little peace of mind knowing that he trie d to make the sport a little safer fo r our guys and can pass the buck to the geniuses who decided to let it happen . Again, I just wanted to thank Mr. White lock fo r trying to make a difference. At least there is o ne pers on out there who is trying to do his job - eve n if others wo n't let him. Sue Langers via th e Internet