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/125645
• - 1.. • ~-~~ ************************~ : Barry Higgins • ~ DE COSTER PUTS • .*************************~************ By Paul Cosner wbat's your motorcycling IMckcrouad? A. I was born in Paterson. New Jersy. I am 23 years old and have beenrac!pg 9 years. My father bought my first bike, a 125 BSA Bantam. wben I graduated from grammar school. I rode it every day and 6 months later I started racing a 175 Bantam in scrambles. I won the first ten races I entered in the Amateur Class. Later I was riding a 200cc ZundaPP. After Hurned sportsman EJqleJ"t. I got a C15. 250Cc BSA. With that bike I won the first three races I entered. I was lucky. I guess. I rode it one year then got a BSA Gold Star. Q. Barry, Q. Do you 1M ve lIllY preferences reprdIng courses?' How muell do you prac· tice? A. I like Eastern courses better, prImarIly because tbey have more cballeng1ng terrain. I race every Sunday and practice twice a week. Q. Is tbe Int.e... Am proving proUtable for you? A. in the first four Inter-Am races that I won I made $1.200. Q. You've been linked romantically In the past to girl motocross racer Ken:y Kleid. Does she give you lIllY trouble on the tracks? A. I used to go out with Kerry back in New York. And of course we practiced every night. As a rIder she Is good~ She used to win Open Amateur on a 360Cc C-Z, wb1le riding two classes. (She also had a 250Cc C- Z). Q. What's in store for the future? Eu... ope? A. I hope to go to Europe to race next summer. Possibly I will go with Rober and DeCoster to ride local races so I can get enough points to earn starts for 500cc Grands Prix. Q. How did you gel interested in moto- cross, Barry? A. I rode scrambles until Pepperell in 1965, when Torsten Hallman came over for the first time. lstayedahead of Hallman for 9 out of 10 laps of the first Inter-Am on my BSA Victor. I always Uked rough tracks in scrambles so I think that helped me. I switched to a BSA Hornet In the Open Class, and also rode a250Cc twin pipe C-Z and took a lot of double wins. I eventually dropped the Hornet and got a single pipe 360cc C- Z. I rode in both classes and won them both often enough to keep me happy. Q. lIho do you think are your toughest American competitors? A. Gary Bailey has beaten me once or twice, and Tim Hart stays close most of the time, but Bruce Maguire (a New York Bultaco rider) Is the toughest. Q. Which Inte... Am course have you liked the best, so far? A. WisconSin (Elkhorn) Is the closest to a European Grand Prix-type course. The best course I've ever ridden Is at Unadilla, New York. I'd like to see an Inter-Am there next year. Q. Have you ridden other motorcycles prior to the C-Z, and what is your impression of your present machine? A. The C- Z Is superior. It runs longer, never breaks, and handles better. I don't like Husqvarnasbecausethey're difficult to shift. You've got to have a mecban1c for the Inter-Am and my mechanic Is a Czech. It's impossible to do a good job when you have to drive a 1000 miles a week, race three motos and practice and also do all your own maintenance. Vic Allan,.len, t.II. hi. troubl.. to Gre.... DI.trlbutor Nick Nlchol.on. Q. Are you independendy wealthy Barry, or do you have a sponsor? A. Ghost Motorcycle Shop has been my sponsor for the last four years. Sal DeFeo, the owner, sent his son Sonny, who Is a very promising young rider. with me to Europe for the summer. While we were there we visited the major motorcycle factories and got to take in the British 250 Championship. Q. Is anyone else in your family a motorcycle enthusiast? A. Yes, my father used to race cinder tracks on JAP's in the East (Morristown, Paterson, and Trenton· New Jersey) but retired and didn't start aga1n until I got a bike. Then he started riding enduros and scrambles and was one of the top enduro riders in the East. In scrambles he used to come in second to me. He kind of slowed down though, when he reached 491 Q. l1tIo are you predicting will win the Int.e... Am series? A. Well, that all depends•••• Abov.: HIUln. In action at Golden Gat•• H. hal cllnch.d Top American spot In the 1969 Inter· Am S.rl...