Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Chris And re ws , who works at Cycle New s went to Indian Du nes last week to meet with Teresa Martin , professional motorcycle rider . T he re were tw o reasons fo r goi ng . First, t o talk with T er esa ab o ut t he all-girl riding classes she has been h olding. Second, so Chris co uld enroll for th a t day's class. I w ent alo ng wi th Chris for " moral suppor t:' and because I've always been curious abou t bike-riding sch ools an d th e girl rid er s who attend. Chris has b een r iding fo r j ust a sho rt time. I've be en riding for abou t six years, three of the m in d esert co m p eti tion . I had learned to ride pretty much by . m yself the "trial and error me thod. You can sure get hurt a lot tha t way. Te resa Martin is quite a girl - a cut e 23 y e a r -o ld b l ond e who loves motorcycl e ri ding. About eigh t ye ars ago she obtaine d an o ld Yamaha 80. " I t was a real disaster," she says, but she tinkered with th e bike until. she got it runnin g. Before long she w as ridin g Trials. She clai ms Trials is go od becau se it teac hes balance, co o rd ination , and tim ing. A fri end gave T eresa a chanc e to ride a Pursang o ne day. She was so th rilled at the sp eed it would go, th at b efore long sh e was riding TT's . Within a y ear sh e wa s riding flat t rack and short tr ack. Bein g pretty aggress ive , it didn 't take her long to get in to sp eed way . Sh e was probably th e fir st girl spe ed wa y racer. Later, after sus taining some serious inju ries, she turned to stunt work in the mov ie in du stry. T hat 's where sh e is today : st un t .wo rk and teaching o th er girls to rid e. Frie nds t old her she had a kn ack for teach ing; she was ab le to rel a te to other people w ell. She got a lo t o f id eas on how to run a class from Ru ss Darnell , who co n d u cts m ot ocross schools him sel f. Teresa no w holds classes during the wee k, o n Saturdays, and durin g hol iday seasons like Easter week. She uses Indian Dunes or Sa ddleback Park. These classes are fo r gir ls who do not wan t to sit in the pits talking about babies or th e P.T. A ., fo r gi rls who want to get o ut and ride wit h their husb an ds and kids an d not have to ride fast to enjoy thems elves. T he classes co st 5 20 a day, with or wi thout your ow n b ike. T er esa has a Bult aco Alpi na an d helmet fo r t hose who don 't own bi kes. T he Alp in a is gea red low eno ugh so t he girl isn't afra id o f it . Mik e Hannon, a represen tative o f Bultaco , maintain s t he bike for her so she is sure it is a lways in good running con di t ion. She scree ns all girls wanting to get ' in to the classes by th eir ability and experien ce in ridin g into tw o ca te gories: tho se with so me experienc e and th ose wi th little o r non e at all. Beginners fa tigue fas ter th an th ose wh o have been riding a while. When th e girls get tired, th ey don 't learn as well . She d oes no t as k the m to do anything d ifficu lt . So me are ul trafem inine an d she do es a lo t of extra talking to b uil d the ir confi dence. A lo t of gir ls wh o have co m e t o the classes c o m e becaus e thei r hu sb ands have been pus hi ng t he m to lea rn bu t don't want to ta ke th e ti me to teach t he m. Bu t they never were girls so they can no t p u t t he mselve s in the place of a female. T he m ale is m o re aggressive an d not wo rr ied about falli ng and ski nning his ar ms or breaking off his fingernails. Teresa stressed t he fact that he r 's is no t j ust a rid ing school. T he girls also ge t to know their bikes and under st and wh at m ak es the m "tick. " So me st udents want to co me bac k fo r more lesson s. She encourages the m no t to co m e back fo r a few wee ks be cause she feels that th ey n eed a wh ile to abso rb wha t they have learned . Teresa likes to keep her b eginning classes down to five st uden ts. Th is way she is better ab le to dem onstr ate to them as well as give eac h of th em m ore individual ized a tte ntio n. T he class Chris 1 a ttende d was co mposed o f th ree young married lad ies. Every m o ving part o f th e bik e, such as th e chain, levers, cab les , e tc. sh ould be g iven a good sho t of lu bri cant after each cle a ning . Foam air fil ters sho uld be rem o ved an d cleaned with gas or solven t afte r every race or trai1ride . Every rid er , m ale or female, sho uld clea n and m ain tain their own bike as mu ch as possible. If y o u rely o n so meone else to m ain tain it fo r y ou, the wo r k may no t get d one an d yo u are th e U By Patsy Matus one wh o gets stranded out on th e trail hav ing to wa lk back to the p it s w hen t he bike q uits runnin g. Protec t ive ridi ng eq uipment is very im p ortant and Teresa stressed that a helm et should alw ay s be worn - a good, Sne ll Founda t io n-approved helmet. A ride r sho uld have good st urdy ridi ng boots and keep t hei r pan ts o r leathe rs tu c ked in sid e. She recommended th e girls purch ase the padded den im pan ts to start w ith . If they wanted to ge t into racin g lat er. o r if they were go ing to d o a lot of ridi ng , t he y should then con sid er buying leathers. Gloves w ith th e rub ber weltin g o n the ba ck of t he hand are by far the best. ~ To m y , surp rise , she even sugges te d th at gir ls wear padded bras to protect the ir breast s from bu sh es and fly ing ro ck s. If a girl has lo ng ha ir, she sho uld wear it in braid s or a pony ta il. Befor e th e b ikes wer e st arted , Teresa we n t ove r the tool s contai ned in the utility tool ki ts t ha t co me wi th m ost b ik es. She recommen ded th at eac h ride r carry so me t ype o f kit m ad e u p of a scre w driver. wi re. maste r lin k, pli ers. a wren ch or two of the m o st c om m on size used o n t he bike , a spare spark p lug or two, an d a spar k p lug wrench. No w, wh at hap pens wh en th e bi ke won' t start ? Teresa sh owed the gir ls step-by-step h ow to che ck o u t all the a reas . First, is there gas in the ta n k? Is the pet-co ck on? Can yo u see th e fuel in the pl astic line? Is this clogged? Rem ove the clip holding it t o the carb ure to r. If it runs out , it is clear . Next , check th e spark plug. Blow t he loose di rt fro m aro und t he plug and rem ove it . If it is we t, you are flooded . Pu t in a new one or blow and wipe th e old o ne d ry . If it is wh itish, th e bik e is runn ing lean and yo u b e tie r check wit h a m o re experie n ce d person before takin g the bike o ut agai n . T he plug m ay be "wh iskered. " T he "whisk er" fo rms across th e gap of th e plug. Either cha nge it or clean th e " w h iske r " off with a fingernail o r a pen kn ife . T his most o fte n happens while th e b ike is movin g. The bike sta rts co ugh ing and event ual ly sto ps run ning. If t he plug is o kay and t he bik e still will no t run, it m ay be that the re is no spa rk. T his ca n be determin ed by fitting th e pl ug back into th e plug cap and holding t he plug end against the cylind er of t he engine and cran ki ng the engine to see if t here is a spark across th e p lug ' gap. If there is no spark , try a new plug. If a new plu g d ocs not give yo u spark, it co u ld be a number of things. The kill button could be shorting out, it could be loose wiring or a short. Another way to get the bike going is to bump start it. Teresa tea ches th e girls how to do this. There are some dudes in th e desert who will try to help the girls with their bike by trying to dismantle the en gin e. Beware. Don 't let any dude mess with your bike.out on the trail. Teresa told the girl s that the bike is a machine, no t a body (She refers to her bike as a boy. I refer to min e as a girl , or Bessie.}. When you b reak a fing ernail, it will grow b ack. If a spoke breaks on y o ur bike, you have to buy another one. Once yo u have learned how to start and ride th e bike, T eresa says you'd b etter know how t o st op it . When ap plying th e brakes it is important to apply eq ual pressu re to b oth the fron t and back brak e simult aneously. If the front starts acting up , release the fro n t brake and reappl y it. This should - straighten it out. T er esa also teache s the girls to shift standi ng up. This is neces sary when riding th e rough c r o s s-c ou n tr y whoop-de-doos o r through ro cks. While standing on the pegs, th e rider can better maneuver t he bike by shifting the we ight of her body. The thighs work like shock ab sorbers. When riding the pegs in the rough, it can b e difficult to use the clu t ch to shift. Teresa explained that most bikes can be sh ifted at cert ain RPM without the clutch . T his makes it easier t o shi ft standing; only the foot has t o do any work. She had all th e girls run up and down the flat ar ea to see if th ey were shifting properly in the st an di ng position and if they we re standing up with good form. When class resumed afte r lunch , we rode out to th e wh oop-de-do o sect ion. She exp lai ned how th e sunlight can distort th e ground. Fro m a short d istance o ff th e wh oop-de-d ocs may not eve n b e seen an d the first o ne may pi tc h th e rider off. She sho uld rem ain stand ing through t he wh oop-d e-do c s un til sh e is ba ck on smoother ground . The girls we re sent back and fo rth t hr oug h th e secti on at various speeds . T he group m o ved on to d eep er san d and, after m ore lec turin g. the girls each t ook a try at it. Teresa exp lained that san d can teach a rid er a lot. You get a lo t of react ion in it. It m akes you w or k . Wh e n they became more experie nce d , they would be go ing through at higher sp eeds so the fro nt wh eel of th e bi ke would pl ane ac ro ss the top of the san d making th e b ik e easier to co n t rol. She dem on strated th e technique of getting the bike going af ter stalling in deep sand . In a st an d ing position, push the bike along with the feet while appl ying the t hro ttle . With th e wei ght off the rear wh eel , the bike will start movin g easier. The water c rossing was ne xt. It was abo ut 20 feet across an d loo ked deep. Tere sa expl ained what to look fo r when ap proachi ng water. No ro ck s and sm o oth water co uld m ean qu icksand. Whitecap s or rippl es indicate rock s below the surface. Look o ver t he area before en ter ing th e wa t er. Once in th e wat er , keep movin g t ill you are through . Be sure t o check your brakes on the other side . T hey will be wet and yo u have to d ry the m o ut the same as yo u would a car. We moved on thro ugh a sandy wash and, after more lecture, t he girls took t urns at an uphill. Durin g the lect ure, Teresa explaine d ho w so me h ills have better trac tion th an othe rs. One shou ld try to examine the hill as y ou ap proach it . p ick ing o ut the eas iest w ay to go up . If th e hill is steep , don't let it ps y ch you o ut. It's j ust a hill. The girls, tried the hill up o n th e pe gs: t hen, sitting . They wen t up and do wn th e hill in ea ch po sition. Th ey are als o in stru c ted o n how t o handle th e b ik e should it st all before they reach the top. They lear n how t o turn it aroun d , get it sta rte d, and try again. It was hard t o believe Te res a had co vered so much by th e end o f the day. Chris wa s really impres sed with it and anxi ou s to ge t ou t riding more so she co u ld ap p ly th e lessons she had learned . Ter esa demonstrated exce lle n t teachin g methods and I recommend her highl y to any girl wanting to learn t o rid e a motorcy cle - particulary off-road. T er esa can be reach ed at home (7 14) 64 9 ·207 8, or by writing P.O. Box 38, Si lv er ado, CA 9267 6, if you ' r e • in t ere sted. 33

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