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/786372
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "All I can say is what a class act the entire field of competitors is, especially Colton Haaker, for stopping to render aid to his fellow competitor." Taylor Robert Crash I have attended every year of the King of the Motos to spec- tate and this year was the best. I just read this week's Cycle News to find out what had hap- pened to Taylor Robert, and all I can say is what a class act the entire field of competitors is, especially Colton Haaker, for stopping to render aid to his fellow competitor. The fact that the entire field behind the fallen Robert would all voluntarily wait until he was safely off the course before they resumed the race and actually retain their order shows true sports- manship. Colton winning the event shows that good guys do finish first. There is no doubt that Rob- ert is one of the all-time best, having captained the winning ISDE team this past summer and winning overall. I know that Kurt Caselli was looking down on them all. Finally, major kudos to King of the Motos organizer Jimmy Lewis who, along with a team of volunteers, ran another amazing event. To watch Jimmy ride into the maelstrom of the moto-one night-race start at Chocolate Thunder and help the last rider get over the top drew cheers from the crowd. Paul Golde Archives: Henry's Four-Stroke Larry Lawrence must have caught the spirit of the times. His article on 20 years of four-strokes is full of alternative facts. Like, Yoshihanu Nakaya- ma bringing back four-strokes because its "power character- istics could be competitive." I guess they were somehow unlike the power characteris- tics of the four-strokes of Jeff Smith and Les Archer that had been driven from the field by faster, lighter two-strokes? In Lawrence's alternative reality, the fact that four-strokes were given an almost 2:1 displace- ment advantage is apparently a detail not worth mentioning. It couldn't possibly have had anything to do with their "power characteristics." In the reality I lived through, it was purely politics. Manufac- turers thought they could avoid government restrictions on dirt bikes by making them cleaner and it was easier to make four-strokes cleaner, because they could borrow technology from cars. Of course that only worked for a while—you can't take your supercrosser into the woods now even if it is a four-stroke. But you can pay a whole lot more to maintain it for racing. Where there are no arti- ficial displacement advantages; two-strokes are still faster and easier to ride. Just watch the Erzberg Rodeo. Brent Meeker I was there on the stadium floor. It was a beautiful moment in history. Now bring back the two-strokes. Matt Hall The commercial game-changer was the Yamaha, but the real mind-changer was three years earlier when Jacky Martens won the 1993 500cc World Championship on the Husqvar- na (four-stroke). Luc Verbeke Arlington (Dallas) Supercross When the track was fresh, Ryan Dungey was tearing it up. As it got sketchy, he spent over nine minutes looking at Dean Wilson's rear wheel. Not that it's not to be expected, but I'm thinking he's still a little gun shy when things remind him of his season-ending crash from last year. As Jeff Emig pointed out, he's the best at managing a season. He seems to have an innate ability to know when to push and when to back off. You can argue whether X or Y is faster than him, but I'm sure that there isn't a racer that doesn't wish they had his re- sults with so few costly errors. Gregory Edinger Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor P6