Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"The next pre sld e ntlcl election will have a greater effect on the future of offroad ing tha n a ny election before it." A Contin en ta l Ba n was surprised to say the least when I ea d t h e side b a r a n no uncing t he MA's int e ntion to ban Continen ta l ire s from Gran d Nation a l d irt tra ck a ci ng aft er S cott Parker experie nce d ela mi nation of one of th e Milestone ires at Springfield. Wh en Ben Bo s trom g ro u n d h is hand down on th e Dayton a asphalt in estin g last year, was th er e e ve r any ta lk of bann ing Dunlop ti re s fr om ro a d ra cing?"When num erou s other Dunlo p tires h av e chun k ed o r se lfdestructed , wa s th e tire company made a sc apego at? No. Racing is dangerous, a n d so meti me s s t u ff blows up . Springfield, much like Day tona , is a track that pu ts th e ultimate stress on e quip me nt. What other dirt tra ck tire manufa cturer has a chem ist and an e ng ine e r present at th e r a c e , let a lon e a a t ional sale s m an ag er who rid es some of the GNC rac e s and pro vides se rvice to a ll the ride rs ? How m uch involv ement ca n one ask fo r? I a m a s h a med of the AMA. Th e knee-jerk rea ction to ban Con tinental is, in my humble op inio n, a blatantly political a genda centered a ro und th e vic ti ms of th e t ire fa ilur e - Harl e y Davidson. I ha ve nothing against HD , but favoritism for th e sa ke o f ma inta ining the good-old -b oy sy stem is une thi cal, un fai r, and j u s t pla in em ba rra ss ing for the AMA and all its members. RickMatheny UlbumGA ers. anyone who likes be ing outside . I have met a few from the other g roups tha t don't seem to get this po int. Be courteo us on the tra il. We all stand to loose our American public la nds . I h a ve lo ng be en a non -po lit ic a l person , bu t I ha ve found that now is th e t im e to try to make a difference . Find a group to support and make a d ifference . Dan R. Stephens VIa the Intemet Motocross des Natio ns I just want to say t h a n k s to Ric ky , Ryno and Travis for giv ing it their all in Fr a nc e . And thanks also to Roger DeC oster , all th e mechani cs, a nd eve ryo ne e ls e who supported th e te am. USA # 1! Way to go! JIm Devereux London.AR are a . PacBell Park would do nicel y. Greg Colyer VIa the Intem et Wo rld Sup erbik e will b e ba ck at Lagun a Seca n ext y ear. A s for th e Gran ds Prix, wh o kn ows ?...Editor Olympics? Whil e wa t ch ing the o pe n ing cere m oni e s of th e 2000 Summer Olympic s in Sydn ey, Aust ral ia, I could n't help but wonder why some th in g as popular as mot o rcycl es a ren 't incorporate d into the games in some fa shi on or another. The Interna t ional Olympic Committee a nd medi a have stated more than once that this wa s th e la rges t-e ver gathering for th e O lympics. Apparently, these offic ials ha ve no idea just how popu lar motorcycles h av e become all ov er th e wo rld . I tru ly believe they could ha ve at least fit a c ouple of th ings in . like swimming and track - wait until they s ee us on motorcycles . nmmle Leque San Quentin. CA I do ubt yo u w ill ev er see motorized sp o r t s in th e O lym p i cs ... Ed i tor The Older I Get... Way ba c k in th e year-end issue with Kenny Roberts on the cove r, Malcolm Sm ith said to the o ld gu ys th a t you shou ld "r id e your age ." Do e s thi s m ean that I can incr ea se m y av e rage speed b y one mil e a n h our e ac h birthda y? Steve Tyson San Frandsco, CA NO...Editor The Dustbin Theory That Old Husky And More Like Mr. Beaum ont ( Vo ic e s , Is s u e #38, August 20 ), I too ha ve seen the Hus ky and all he s ays is tr ue. I a lso fee l this is th e place to m en tion th at the la nd which holds this monument is un d e r immediate attack fro m a n organization called S ou th we s t Bio dive rsity something , s ometh ing . As I under stand it , th is group ha s filed a la ws u it agai ns t the B LM t o close d own th is d e s e rt da mn nea r all the way to Las Ve ga s! Th e state of Tenne s se e has re cently ba nn ed a ll motorize d o ff -road a ctivity on sta te-owned la nd . Th is is AI Gor e 's home state - yo ur state is next! T he ne xt pr e s identia l election will ha ve a gr eater effect on th e future o f off - roadi ng t ha n a ny e lec tion be fore it. Co n ta ct the AMA o r th e Southe rn Ca liforni a Off-Road Associ a t ion for a list of ca nd idates wh ich a re non ag gressi ve to ou r c auses . Also , rem emb er we are a ll in th is t o g e t her , m ot orc yc lists , m o un t ain bikers , horse pe ople , ca mpe rs, h ik- W a nting Indy Any news about a possi ble Grand Prix o r World Superbike race a t the Ne w Ind y fa cilit y? I was watc hing th e Fo rm u la 1 ra c e today a nd the t ra c k looks aweso me - like a E u rop e a n track with to n s of runoff an d grass and a ll. Lets bring Worl d Su perb ike and th e Grands Prix to Ind y in 2001! And wh ile we ar e at it h o w abo u t allow ing Du c a ti 74 8 s in th e AMA 600cc Sup e rs p o rt class? Wa k e up AMA! And PACE - plea se bring a S uper . ross ba c k to the S an Fra nc isc o Ba y c I want to second th e p roposal that the FIM re m ove the ban on dustbin fair ings on Grand Prix bik es. It would be a grea t way to di st inguish th e GP bikes fro m World Superbikes. S ince it woul d a ls o resu lt in a p erfo rmance increase , I propos e that it be accom pan ied by a decrease in d isplace m ent. With no aero restrictions , the engi ne di s p la ce ments would b e 600cc four- stroke , 250 cc two-stroke. With fa irings the se bikes would be as fast as c urrent 500c c GP bikes. These are two dis p lace ments that ma nufac tu re rs still s e ll a lot o f, so raci n g c ou ld ser v e t o im prove t he ro a d bike s . As it is no w, ve ry little of GP bike techno logy gets into road bikes. T he o rigi nal re a s on for restric ting the fa ir ings w a s t hat th e y we re thought to be re s pons ib le fo r so me cra shes in cr osswind s . With designer s us ing wind tu nnels a nd computa tio nal fluid dy na m ics as is co m mon in Fl ca r raci ng , crosswind sta b ility s ho uld not be a serious pr oblem. Brent M eeker Camarillo CA 93070 s pee d w a y or trials - s o m e p la c e between badminton and ice carving . A nd wha t a bo ut Super cr o s s ? I th ink having t ha t in t he O ly m pics would escalate the te lev isio n vie wing a udience. If th at's not a m ajor incentive , th e se officia ls are e ither m e nta lly d e ad or so fi nancia lly se cu re that th e y do n 't ne ed a dditional revenue . Someone ne eds to invest ig ate th is is s ue so we c a n pos s ibly get m oto rc ycles into the next Oly mpics . Don 't tell me that Jeremy McG ra th wouldn 't ad mi re a go ld m ed a l h angi n g from his ne ck. On a closi ng note , if the re st of the worl d feels t hat we do m inated cu e I Ie n e vv s O C TO B E R 4 , 2000 5

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