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/839188
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "In hindsight, it makes sense that he [Rick Johnson] demonstrated such bravado." What Might've Been Jeff Buchanan's guest column regarding the 1982 Castle Rock AMA 250 National was excellent. It's neat to hear an inside account of that day. Back then if you weren't there, you relied on Cycle News East (or West) for the details. We are so spoiled today with live viewing/tweeting/pod- casts etc. I remember expecting that issue to have RJ on the cover as the champ. In hindsight, it makes sense that he [Rick Johnson] demon- strated such bravado. He was always fueled by an insatiable desire to win. Even when his wrist was shot! Bet- ting that he would have had a similar number of titles even if he had won that day. Great read, nonethe- less. Josh Heintz Safety And Yellow Flags It's 2017 and the carnage continues in U.S. supercross and motocross racing. The "it's a danger- ous sport, nothing you can do it about so calm down Francis" logic doesn't work for me. There is still no manda- tory upper body pro- tection in AMA SX and MX like they have in MXGP and bull riding. I wish I had the time to investigate how the bull riders' vest companies get around the "oh the lawyers...oh the liabili- ties" responses that our industry accepts as gospel for why we can't have mandatory upper-body protection in the U.S. Yellow flags are close to being useless regarding reduction in riders' speed. What about a first-gear flag or a yellow with a big red "one" on it? Before you think that would be impossible to enforce, there is a lot of informa- tion provided by the ECUs the factory and top race teams use. If not in place already, with cooperation of the ECU companies, it would be techni- cally possible. After the event, if there was any question the officials could look at the data to confirm if the ma- chine was in first gear with GPS and engine information. Some of the top teams are al- ready doing this type of data collection now so this isn't pie in the sky. Not saying that this is a perfect concept, but the way it has been going for decades with yellow flags isn't work- ing either. Michael Rigdon You Are Welcome! To the good folks at Cycle News: I'm a recent sub- scriber to your stellar online magazine. Thank you! Each issue is pure enjoyment and a gift in my email inbox. Daniel Carson Alta Gets Funding The electric Alta is new and much of it is cool. Seductive, let's say. But losing the in-your- gut roar of 20 bikes blasting off the line—I'll miss it. And I will prob- ably long for its return. Bill Scully Kind of like two- strokes. John Pugliese Can't wait to see big- bore all-electric [MX bikes]. If the perfor- mance sizes up to a Tesla then we are go- ing to have a very quiet Supercross race. Brian Philippsen 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