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/128352
"Randy Holden's ramblings were just plain garbage." lellers to Iheeditor should be senlto Voices, Cycle News, POBox 5084, Cosio Meso, CA92628-5084; foxed 10714-751-6685 or emoiled to editorilcydenews.com. Published leiters do notnecessority reRect theposition of CycleNews, Inc. Letters should notexceed 200 words, and allare subject to editing. Anonymous letters will nol be considered for publication. I A1lleners should conloin the writer's nome, acldre.. and daytime phone number... Editor. Pastrana Fan I'd like to level a sort of rebuttal against a reader who wrote the " N o Pastrana Fan" letter in the November 10 issue . I w on' t use his nam e since it's not pe rson al; I'd just like to co mment o n it as follows. Ho w can you no t be a Pastrana fan? In my mind he is the pa ntheon of motorsp ort ido ls. It seems really simp le to me how he is probably in the top 20 racers of all time . He is tale nted. Just like when I look at Ricky Carmichael and see pure adre naline, or Rossi an d see ice-water ca lm, Pastrana is una d ulterated tale nt . Th e re are few pe o ple ever able to ex cel in so ma ny different disciplines. T he guy is a to p-five motocrosser, t he world's best fre esty le rider (just having the guts to think of t hrowing a double bac k fli p gives you a crazy ticket), a to p-seven supermoto rider o n a modified en duro bike , an d a pretty sick supercros s rider. Not to mention his instant success in regional rally races and Porsche series racing . T hat' s all I can recall offhand . My point is, the guy is good and he's only, what - 21? What he does on his free time is really no one's concern but his, his sp onsors and his factory. Because truth be told , anyone with a love for speed, an add iction to race fumes and a need to spend time on the edge of a t ire would give anything to have the talent and live the life this guy has. So he gets bus ted up? He has more fun getting hurt than the rest of us do in everyday safety. Phillip Taylor via t he Int ernet Maybe a Pastrana Fan Just a little note to Travis Pastra na. Hey, Trav, I've always liked to watch yo u, ho ping you 'd w in more motocross titles. He re 's a little advice fro m someone a little older and wise r: To finish first, yo u must first finish and so me times slower is faster, especially when you're not picking your bike up fro m the terra firma. "W in or crash" is not t he best motto for yo u. Lynette Wosick M orga n Hill, CA Congrats, Randy I would like to take th is chance to send a big congratulation to our new National Enduro C hampion and my personal friend, Randy Hawkins. I can't think of another rider w ho is more deserving than he . Randy is a true champion in every sense of the wo rd. In the six or so years that I have known him, I don't know of anyone who has done more for the sport At t han Randy. From answering eve ry questio n asked of him, to signing posters, to handing ou t junior en du ro t rophies at a loca l eve nt, he is a true cham pion . Randy and his crew ar e all t hat way. Last yea r a frien d, David Wild ne r, and I rode in t he Nati onal Enduro he ld in Texas, and we were privileged to park with Randy an d his mechanic, Dale. Dale was kind enough to pit for us and even carried my sister (a photographer fro m Houston) and her so n along with them so they coul d se e the act ion . It was a time they w ill not soon forget. Randy do n't st o p yet - yo u inspire me and ma ny ot hers as well as he lping to keep the sport alive. Ca ry Hun t Clearwater, FL If It Ain't Broke... Politics It's be en a fascinat ing Moto GP season even more so in the 250 and I25cc classes . I've always ap preciate d the logic of using the lower classes as a t rain ing grou nd for the premier class. Ho w eve r, as MotoGP bikes In regards to the letters from Mr. Seitz and Mr. Grabe r in th e No ve mber 24 issue , my d iagnosis is that they are bo th suffering from po st-e lect ion st ress d isorde r. O bviously, they are e nviron mentalist liberals who may or may not ride motorcycles. I'm sure t hat they w ould both be much happier liVing in a world where Jo hn Kerry was preside nt, and Gray Davis was still governor of Californ ia. Just think of the great air we could be breathing while driving o ur electric cars w ith the w indo ws do wn . And instead of motorcycles, we could ride o ur electric Segway sco oters in the desert - but yo u might wa nt to stay o ut of the w hoo ps! Dave Earll Valencia, CA Only One Anthem Didn't Agree I have been a Cycfe News subscriber fo r about 25 years. Over the years, I have written several letters to the ed itor about articles, cover photos, etc. Up until now, every one of them has been to commend you on an outstanding piece. That said, you should know what's coming. The guest editorial by Randy Holden has to be the biggest waste o f space to ever appear in Cycle News . I really don't think that political ranting by a right -w ing extremist belongs in a superb pub licat ion like Cycle News . In my o pinion , you could have re -run a past article by Henny Ray Abrams or Scott Ro usseau and don e the moto rcycling community a better service. Randy Hold e n's ram blings were just plain garbage. I hope yo u w ill think twice about goi ng that far to the right again, otherwise you co uld be losing a longtime su bscriber. John Hagan Mount Airy, NC Where's Nitro? Where in the world is Noriyuki Haga? Easily the savior of World Superbike this past season, yet denied the title he so trul y deserved again. I can't believe he doesn't have a full factory ride yet! Igor Pelse via the Inte rne t Haga is expec te d to be a member of Yamaha's World Superbike team in 1005... Editor 6 DECEMBER 1,2004 • CY CLE NEWS evolve, there appears to be a performance gap to th e 250cc class, sparking discussions about Dani Pedrosa's ab ility to ride in Moto GP. To close this gap, I suggest the follow ing to the FIM: Create a fourth class to fill this gap. Leave MotoGP as is, but reshuffle the lower classes to take advantage of cu rrent engine tec hnology, as MXGP has done. T he new class, GP2, wo uld include 600cc inline fo urs, 750cc twins and twostrokes up to 400cc. GP3 would have current 250s, 450cc singles and 350cc twins. GP4 has current 125s and 250cc singles . Using these engines would make the change attractive to manufacturers yet allow chassis and suspension freedom of design that would retain the technical cachet that is the hallmark of MotoGP. This freedom would prevent the GP2 class from becoming a clone of World Superspo rt . I could have suggested this to the AMA, but I do n't have a Harley, o r live in Ohio, so t his clearly invalidates my opinion. Dave Dieh l San Jose, CA 40th Anniversary I was bothered by Andrea Evan's recent letter in support of playing the national anthe m of the winning rider's home country. Our nat ional anthem is played at these events because these events take place on our soil!Th is anthem is played at hund reds of sporting events all over th is great courttry of ours every w ee kend - from major National Championships to local Little League games fo r this very reason. The racers, not us, should be the ones embracing the fact that they are rac ing in th is great country of ours and probably making a nice living from it. I would tend to be lieve that most foreign racers like Mat Mladin are here because to be the best, you must race against the best in the best cham pionship se ries there are. In no way am I knocking the many great countries of this w orld, but most racers come here because the pre st ige and mo ney are not in their countr ies' series. Pet e Nonemon Orefield, PA Honda Blues I see Honda never learns from their mistakes. Twenty years ago, Eddie Lawson beat all the Ho ndas (fo ur?) in 500cc Grand Prix. Last year, Honda retaliated against Valentino Rossi leaving by saying he would be humiliated in 2004 by their sheer num bers. Hah! No w they are trying the same scenario against Ricky Carmichael in motoc ross racing and Ricky is go ing to show Honda tha t th ere is a difference between quality and qu ant ity. Honda has become an embarrassment in professional bike racing. Randy Dawes Yuba City, CA