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/143900
~tc., etc. They all have huge advertismg budgets yet they could not find a few dollars to send to the Duck and his ba~~ers. Don't these highly paid advertIsmg executives realize where their products are being used? If we lose our riding ground we won't need motorcy~les and accessories that go along WIth them. What will they do then? In my opinion Louis McKey is the greatest rider of all times. This man has. given of himself beyond imaginatIon. Let's back the Duck. WIST OREGON DUCK BAKER Sweet Home, OR . America's weekly motorcycle newspaper' Road race safety Sharon Clayton, Publisher Caroline Gemiry, Executive Secretary'to the Publisher Lisa Schorr. Advertising/Editorial Assistant. . Editorial Dale Br~wn, Senior Editor. Lance Bryson, Ednor. Karel Kramer; Editor. Jim Bowman, Editor. Advertising Skip Johrison, National Sales Manager. Terry Pratt, Sales Manager. Duane Johnson, Sales Manager. Steve Wilson Sales Manager. Linda Brown Adver: vising Coordinator. Nancy Danger Advertising Assistant. ' Graphics and Production Kristin Cooper, Graphic Artist. Rona Kramer, Assistant. Marion Hatashita Typography. Dennis Greene, Labor: atory. Accounting/Data Processing Mike Klinger, Co~ltroller. Donna Bryan, Accounts Recelvable COQrdinator. Geneva Repass, Assistant. Terry Dailey Credit Manager. . ' Circulation Rheba Smith. Manager. Michelle Hanna. Sarah Taylor, Debbie Walker Lyna Hood, Assistants. ' Want Acts Nancy Danger. Want Ad Sales. Dealer Sales and Service Nancy Emde Brogger, Dealer Sales Manager. '. S~rvice and Support Chris Aiteheson, Receptionist. Gregory Hanson, S8cS. West. 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA P.O. Box 498, Long Beach CA 908010498 ' (213) 427-7433; L.A. Line 636-8844. East 4190 First Ave., Tucker, GA. P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30084.()805. (404) 934-7850. Cycl~ News/West (USPS 141-340) is pubhshed weekly except the rirst and last week or the calendar year ror $20 per year by Cycle News. Inc., 2201 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Second class postage paid at Long Beach, CA. POSTMASTER: Send form 3679 to Cycle News. P.O. Box 498. Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. Subscrip~ion rates: One year, second cla~s mal!, $20; two years, secohd class mall, $35; three'years, second class mail . $53; 25 weeks, $11. Foreign rates avail: able on request. Cycle News welcomes unsolicited editorial material including stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such material ir published, becomes the exclusive pr~p e~ty ~r Cy~le News. Such accepted mate~lalls subject to revision as is necessary in the. s?le discretion or Cycle News. Unsohcned material which is not used, will be returned ir accompanied by a sel£ addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, however, Cycle News 4ssumes no responsibility ror the safety, loss or darrtage to such material. Repr~nt.ing in whole or part only by permiSSIOn or the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation inrormation will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. Copyright Cycle News. Inc. 1982. Trademark Cycle News regiamred U.S. PetentOffice. AllrightareMl'Wd. ON THE FRONT PAGE: Santa'scheckin' usout. Santa's hand was by the talented hands of G~ne Bennett. 4 Unsung heroes This letter is just a thank you to all the unsung heroes of our sport that operate a motocross track and one in particular, Marv Hendricks of Saddl~back Park in Orange, CA. I think thIS park rates a number one in my book! Perhaps you have never stopped·to look what is around you when you are at Saddleback. Did you ever stop to think of what an investment it took to make it possible and all the work and effort that is put into it everyday? . The restrooms are always clean, the tracks are prepared by the best of equipment, all the litter that is thrown around one day is gone the next day the in roads are clean and smooth, th~ fences are all kept up to protect the spectators and theriders, picnic areas, plenty of trash barrels, ambulances emergency vehicles, medical room: parts room and on very crowded days, there are park patrols for everyone's safety. In the few years that Mr. Hend:ricks has operated the park it seems hke there has been new improvements every week. If you have ever been to a National ~v~nt at Saddleback you already know it IS prepared to the fullest, whether it be for m?tocross, Baja Cross, threewheel, tnals or whatever. - So the next time you are at a track, look around and be thankful for these unsung heroes of our sport. And the next time you are at Saddleback and you see Marv Hendricks or one of his employees, stop and say hello and let them know you appreciate their efforts. GALE "MOTOCROSS MOM" WEBB Santa Ana, CA Tunis to Dakar fan . Though~ yOU! readers might be mterested m thIS 36oo-mile "tour" froI? Tunis to Dakar, retracing the Afncan leg of the famous Paris to Dakar race route. The Guilde Eruopeene is sponsoring this trek half of ~hich is "off-road" on terrain varymg from the Sahara desert to dark African jungle. Honda XR500s or Yamaha XT550s are well-suited for this kind of tour. I was the only American to make the similar 3000-mile desert trip with the G.uilde last year. It was quite an expenence. The Guilde supplies gas, food, water, and technical, medical and mecha~cal aid throughout the tOUT. Many mghts are spent camping out under the stars, but some are spent in local hotels: The cost is $2400 to the Gu~lde and $1000 spending money ~hIle you travel. If any of you are mt~restedcontact J ean-Marc Cognot, GuIlde Europeene du Raid II Rue de Vaugirard, Paris, Fran~e 75006 ~elephon~ (I) 326-97-52. Request th~ mformatIon in English (unless you read French) and hurry, you'll have lots to do before you depart! THOMAS R. SCHAEF Bradenton, FL T~e br~chure Mr. Schaef i';'cluded WIth hIS letter outlines the 1983 Tunis to Dakar trip, which is scheduledforMar. 22 toApr.15, 1983. The costs not mentioned include transportation to and from Paris for rider and machine...Editor. Dear big bU~ks... _ I would like to take this time to publicly say thanks a lot to the pepple who donated to the fourth annual C-rcle News Barstow to Vegas Road RIde and Poker Run. It is refreshing to see the people who make their livingoff of motorcycles give back to the sport. I hope the people who ride motorcycles cut out the sponsor acknowledgement card in the Dec. 8 issue of Cycle News on p. 5 and use it as a guide the next time they buy merchandise. I just wonder why American Honda, Yamaha Motor Corp., KTM USA, Husqvarna, and Maico USA could not find a few dollars to contribu te to the defense funds. American' Honda had a total of 26 pages of color ads in the December issues of Dirt Bike and MOtOCTOSS Action Magazines; Yamaha had 14 and KTM two pages. They also had ads in countless other magazines and pa.pers. Yet they could not find a few dollars for the Duck! . The accessory people should not be forgotten either: JT Racing and Moto-X Fox had a total of 10 pages of color ads between them in these same issues. And what about Bell Helmets, Oakley Goggles, DG, Smith Goggles, Answer Products, Dunlop Tires, Rhys Howard is right in his letter to Cycle News last week. Something must be done about road race track safety, something more than writing letters. . But the biggest problem is the riders. Before I hit a steel barrier just off the racing line at Elkhart Lake, I shr:ugged off suggesti9ns that the track was unsafe, and so did Rhys and everybody else. While I was still in the hospital, Rhys wanted to ride my endurance bike at Elkhart Lake! Before Eddie Lawson broke his neck and Jon Woo died at baguna Seca, they shrugged oH suggestions that Laguna was unsafe, and, when I was racing, so did I. Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola were leaders in the rider strike for better. track safety in Europe, yet both happIly show up each year to ride at Laguna Seca, a very unsafe-track. I am a quadraplegic because of unsafe conditions at Elkhart Lake. I knew and liked Jon Woo -and know and like a lot of other r~cers and I don't want to read about any more road racers dying or turning into wheelchair pilots due to unsafe tracks. But changing things will take a strike, starting with Elkhart Lake and Laguna Seca. Anybody riding any sort of motorcycle race or test session at these tracks is voting for unsafe conditions and is stacking the odds against himself and other racers. I will work hard to help organize and ~un a rider's union, but only if th~ nders - all the riders, including p~Ivateers like the late Jon Woo Will support the strike. This includes boycotting AMA, AFM and WERA events at Laguna Seca and Elkhart Lake. . The strike must continue until both tracks make changes to improve safety, change~ which I have already started to desIgn, such as making Armco barriers removable for motorcycle races, bi.dldozing back cliffs next to the track and lining barriers and cliffs with hayhales and foam pads wrapped in waterproof plastic. I woul~ be happy to talk to any repre~tatIve from the race tracks in questIOn. Riders who will support the strike should contact me by writing a note to !eaJ,ll Hammer headquarters, 3044 SamtAn~ewsDr.,Ontario,CA91761 or by calhng our phone machine at 714/947-6202. The name of this effort, should it ~appen, will be the Jon Woo MemorIal Safety Project. Jon Woo was too good a man for his needless death to pass un-noticed. If we succeed in ~a~ing road racing safer, it will be a fIttmg monument to Jon's memory. BRUCE HAMMER Team Hammer Ontario, CA Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Send letters to Voices, Box 498, Long . Beach, CA 90801.·