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/128642
he was above all one of the great thinkers and doers of w ha t could be called the "rnotorcycttsts" greatest gene ration/I II ••• Gordon Jennings I got to know Gord on Jennings intimately over fiv e years wh en we bot h worked at Cy cl e ma gazin e together. He w as pro bably was t he smartest person I ever k new and certainly the most entert aining. On e t ime in the mid- '7 0s before an elec t ion I ask ed him , "Who ar e y ou g oi ng to vo te for? " " D a le, " h e sai d sag el y , " do n' t eve r vote. " Horrified that suc h a wi se m ind w ?uld di sp arag e our ci v ic duty , I look ed at h im inc red u lou s ly and asked , "Wh y ?" H e c alm ly repli ed , "Da le, do n' t eve r vo te. I t o nl y enc o urages the m ." IT race Festival in the Isl e of Man in J une of 2000. F rom F erry T er m inal th r oug h t he ir h oli day a n d back t o the F er ry T ermina l, t h os e 40,000 vi sito rs sp end an averag e of $ 1062 each and t hat eq uals $43 mi ll ion . Add t o this t h e m on ey sp en t by the IT rac ers, the teams an d th e big n am es - Ben elli sp en t ove r $ 550,0 00 on j ust t he ir Parade Lap of Hon or, so add it all up an d it co m e s to a spend on t he Isle o f Ma n of over $7 0 million . If that is a sh adow of its fo rm er self, th en I sti ll weigh 110 pounds and c an rac e a 5 0c c m otorcycle . Please ac cept the fact th at th e IT is - like D ay to n a a unique festi v al , w he re th os e wh o ex am p le. Raci ng production -based bi k es m ak es th e bik es better fo r all of us now, not later as is the c ase w it h one -off w orks bik es. Th e d eclin e o f G P is ma in ly b ec a us e o nl y Suzu ki , Ho n d a an d Ya ma ha have suppo rt ed it wh i l e W orl d Superbike ha s att racted so man y more m anufacture rs. We s ho u l d all re membe r ho w AMA and Worl d Su p erbike go t their st art in the fi rst pl ace and co nti nue our support. It is in m y opin io n that AM A a nd Wo rl d Su p erbi k e is t h e m o st exciti n g raci n g in the w o rld, a nd w i ll co nti n ue to b e i n th e futu re. . Joe Shepherd Via the Internet d o wn a ll t h e tr ees . I r i d e in t h e N ation al Forests an d woods here in t he N ort h w es t a nd wo rk l o c a ll y wi th th e Cen t ra l Cas ca des Alli ance (ou r loca l tr ee-hugger organization, of w hi ch I am a m ember ) to work ou r di ffe rences o ut - and yes there are issues to be add ressed . Eac h side points the finger th at A I Go re will lock up the forests and Geo rge Bush will chop down all the t rees when realistically noth ing so d ra matic wi ll happen from either side. N oth in g can h ap pen with out Co n g re ss approval , if ou r dem oc rat i c p rocess works t he way i t shou ld , an d since '94 Cong ress has been in Rep ub lican control. If you th in k about it, if Al Gore an d h is eart h- frie n dly p o li ci es were to t ake p la ce , m oto rc ycl es wo u ld be more p op u la r. T h ey ge t better gas mile age th an the ego-e x ten der pic ku ps an d SU Vs every o ne th in ks we n eed. Drill for o il in t he A rcti c Na t iona l W il d li f e Refuge ? I don 't t hi n k we'd need to - if m o re p eople ro de m oto rc y cles. Dale Boller Englewood, CO Je nnings di ed after los ing h is bout with cancer on Saturday, November 11. He was 69... Editor The Haga Saga Now that the World Superbike Cham pionsh ip has been dec id ed and Colin Edwards has been procla imed champio n, I'm still pert urbed on the subjec t of Noriy uk i Haga and hi s lost cham pionshi p effort. Since th e FIM reli es st ric tl y on th e Inte rna tional Ol ym pic Comm ittee' s (IO C) B an ned Dru g s and Sub st ances Li st , ther e arises a qu agmire of interpretations th at co uld redefine the future of th e sport. F or exa mp le , Mr. H a g a was de te rmin ed to have in gested som e e p h e dr ine , a co m mon st imul a nt found in many so -ca lled d ie t p ills. Being a stimulant, it is cla ssified in the c ategory of circulat o ry en h an c ing chemica ls th at c an ai d an ath lete in r e a ch ing hi g her p hysica l 0 p erforman ce - th us the 1 C ban . However, Mr . Haga should h ave coun te r-filed against th e en t ir ety of th e W orld Sup erb ik e c o m p etition by en forci n g ac t ion against th e u se of a not h er well kn ow n a n d u s ed stim ula nt - ca ffe in e! T his is also a ba n ne d su bs ta nce as p er t he 10C, an d I b e li e v e that e v en M r. Ed w ards has bee n guilty o f in gest i n g s ome f o rm o r ot he r o f so da po p , c offee or tea . After all, fai r is fai r. ste ven Holt Anffoch, CA The Isle of Man In y our Oc tober 4 report on the Bol d'Or it states th at th e Isle of Man TT is a shadow of its fo rmer self. Not so , oh cl ever clog s! T he IT is p retty so lid as evi dent by j u st o ver 40,000 v isi to rs fo r th e Just a few of the mot or cycles that took part in t he Benelli Lap of Honor at th is year's Isle of Man TT. race d o so bec au se they w an t to , and th e rest of us go to enjoy th e ambie n ce an d t he total acce p tanc e of moto rcycl in g as a pl easure. Ame ricans are esp ec i a ll y wel co me June 1-9 in 200 1. Allan RobInson Via the Internet Robi nson is a form er IT ra cer wh o is now the h onorary secreta ry of the IT Ri ders A ssoci ati on ... Editor No Demise Th er e see ms to be a g row ing co ncern th at , wi th the Grand Prix Series set to allow fou r-strokes, it wi ll me an th e dem ise of World Superb ike. I disagree . I thin k tha t World Superbike is as po p u la r as it is b ec ause , like NA SCA R, peo ple wa nt to see a bi k e li k e t hei rs competi ng aga ins t t heir frien d's bik e. Gran d Prix raci ng will host a variety of unobt ain abl e bi k es th at were used in the ' 70s . I thi nk AMA m otocross is a good Taking Exception stephen Curley Hood Rlver, OR As a dirt and stre et bike rider for 28 yea rs, I ta ke offense to A dena Cook 's Elect ion 2000 guest editori al. I guess Cycle News a nd t he Blu e Ribb o n Co alit ion ( B RC) fi gure t hat my self and half of t he ot her America ns out here are dumb asses and need to be to ld how to vo te ( un less ev eryo n e who ri des motorc ycles is a right -wing Repub lic an ) . I don 't need t he BRC, Cycle News or th e AM A to t ell m e how to vote - I have a brain an d can figure the issues out for m ys elf. I j us t qui t th e AMA ( a ft e r 19 yea rs a s a m emb er ) ov er th i s iss ue, alo ng with its h and ling' of t he Roger Edm o ndson issue. BRC gets m os t o f i t s fu nd in g fro m t he oil, gas, m in ing and tim ber industr ies. I fi gured th is o ut a cou p le of y ears ag o afte r joining th ei r or g a n iz a tio n a nd r ead in g som e of their editor ia ls in reg ard to k eep in g t he w o ods o pe n to ch o p cue I e More on Jennings In add iti on to being , as you reported, t he long -tim e technic al wr it er for th e now defunct Cycle magazine, Gord on J enni ngs was still writ ing right up th e end . His persp ect ives pag e in Mot orcy cl ist ma ga zine every m on th was al w a y s t h o ught - p ro v o k i n g , g o od readin g, and some of his fairly rece nt c ol u m n s d ep i ct in g the E PA a n d CAR B in his words as smo g na zis were genuine cl assics. A t r ue inno va to r , a noted road racer and early ex perimenter w ith sp ec ia ll y fram ed Harl ey- Davidson K R racers , he was above all o ne of t he grea t th in k e r s and doe rs o f what could be ca lled the " m otorcyclists" greatest ge ne ration. Ken Newfon Newhalt CA n e _ S • D EC EMBER 6 . 2000 5