Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

NOVICE PAVEMENT MASTER one to practice on and one to race, he adds, "What Fisher really did at Bridgehampton was ride insanely in the comers. He rode on a level that I didn't want to that day, maybe some other day but - not that one. There were certain sections I though t I was better in than him and some that I though t we were equal in. But, I\ttle tricks you use to' deceive people or shake them with just didn't work on him." A few weeks after the Indy road race John ven tured to Canada to race at Mosport in what was billed as the Canadian Gran Prix. After going through a lengthy hassle getting his equipmen t across the border John got off heavily in a 125 heat race and said that after that he really didn't feel much like racing the other classes. But race he did with the final results showing a second in a 250 heat race behind Jim Dunn, a DNF in the 250 Main caused by his engine letting go while he was leading and a second', aboard a borrowed, ill.fitting 350 Yamaha, in the 500 class. The winner of the 500 race that day was the man John ranks along with Paul Smart as the best road racer competing in the AMA races - Yvon duHamel. John,when namingYvon and Smart as the best, gave as Teasons, "They just love road racing. They are out there road racing and scratching all the time. I don't flat track, motocross or T.T. so I really don't know if you can do all three or even five different ·things and'become . really proficien t in one. Dirt doesn't scare me. I'm just not comfortable there. Maybe if I had been brought up on it, but my legs just don't seem right sticking out there - I have enough problems just getting tucked in they're just too long. But with road racing - well, I remember getting all the British and European magazines and newspapers and reading them every MiI!III:II)I,Eiidlll:1 PRXLCTS • ~ O • (714)595-9100 ~ y;1~;J;~~r~rs l"~ Desert Tanks 20868 Currier Rd .. Walnut, Calif. 91789 YAMAHA INTERNATIONAL FACTORV RACING TEAM - - 1S28 PENTON ;.1 '.I'):?:! 1 ,2131 63G li1.1; w oJ U > U or poking. If you go about it right you can get away with it but I just don't think I could be that aware, you know, enough of the time. I know I'm aware in a car but you're hanging out so much more on a bike." While John opens up when discussing road racing he seems hesitant to delve deeply in to the problems he has had with what he calls "Yamaha politics." Besides the dealer hassle in February, John and his father also hassled with Yamaha after they ran ads saying things like "John Long wins Daytona on Yamaha." Long commented, "I didn't like their saying John Long won this and Long won that on a bike that they didn't even sell me. It irked me particularly at Daytona when I heard Kel Carruthers tell everyone listening to those nigh tly radio broadcasts that the Yamahas he rides were available to anyone through Yamaha dealers. I paid Dirty for everything I got from Daytona through the Indy and Mosport races the bike, the spare parts, everything. I just worked out something with them to get parts enough to rebuild my engine for Laguna Seca but still don't have anything defmite for next year. But I would have been 'out of it without them. They were instrumen tal in getting me a bike in the first place." John only shakes his head, looks at the ground and says, uNo," when asked if anyone has offered him a sponsored ride for next year. Incredible but truenot one soul has approached John Long - the winner of all four National weekend Novice road races; the man who at those four races soundly defeated a factory sponsored rider; the man who finished only a handful of seconds down on Yvon duHamel over 75 miles at Mosport. Maybe after Laguna Seca, Talladega and Ontario the score will be Long - 7; Opposition - 0, and then perhaps someone out there will recognize the talent that belongs to one John Long. IT 5OUNDCO.TROL 2 & 4 STROKE PIPES COMPETITION SILENCERS FRAME AND PIPE REPAIR HELl ARC AND MILLING I!tRDU[~t1\\l\~~\ it ~ .npRODYC1S 4366 E. LaPalma Anaheim, Ca. 92806 Tel. (714) 993-2602 Send $3.06 for Strokin' It T ~hlrt MAYBl JOll, BUGS, J.N., SYlVAIN AND Dl&OSTlR KNOW AflW THINGS YOU DON'T ... • I lAW ASAII CYcl~ MOTORCYCLES & PARTS lune-up --- -........... • lIIDer Cleaner IIr spark pluUS Iall electriC clmaCI points THIS IS THE ONE ... Designed, ManUfactured, Tested and Proven to meet the needs of moto-eross riders. This Authentic Copy of a C-Z European Grand Prix tank with its embossed C-Z emblem is constructed to PACIFIC JAWA's high Specifications and weighs 3 pounds. . ~LO BR£JfrH The BUFFALO BREATH name means it's good. Disrribu ting . 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You get most of it down pat and. then you work on each corner individually and then put it all together in your head and through the seat of your pants for the race." John tells how he used a 125 in AAMRR racing· to learn a circuit, "I used the smaller bike as a tool to help me learn the circuit, to find the right lines particularly through bumpy sections. I felt that I was one up on the other guys in the 250 races after having run the 125 around." When we infonned John that Dave Smith, who was injured in a postrace accident after Road Atlanta, was back racing at San Jose while Long was at Mosport he smiled and said, "Great, that's beautiful. You know, I thought that the Vesco-Smith team was the best relationship of all the American teams." John, who will be traveling to California for the Laguna Seca race with Conrad Urbanowski, is usually accompanied at the Nationals by his father. "He helps me with the bikes, the tuning and rebuilding, he helps with the morale thing - he's my best friend." When the subject of street riding was brough t up the fastest Novice road racer in the country got a little wide eyed and commented, "Scared to death of the street bikes - paranoia. I haven't ridden a street bike since I had a paper route. You have to have the head working for you to ride on the stre.er. I know people who really enjoy it. They ride every day to work and back home, every day and all night long, you know, just ride. But I get out there and I'm either road racing I - ~ THE PRIVATEER OF THE YEAR .OF THE YEAR OF THE' PRIVATEER ~ES fvOTO-oiW'll";\t lll:l'''''''~ ,~, ..... .1ICIl RACING FORK OIL -----~.. ,t:;J' 1'1 y "l,.c·· ., ,,J# If{~ 'XlooU"'J ... ·Il LUBRI-TECH M-13 PRODUCTS. Inc. 7106 Barr'y Avenue Rosemo .... t. 'llinois 60018

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