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/125987
, , • The Good Ship Cycle News leaves the Port of Long Beach every Tuesday m orn ing for excitement on t he cy ling seas. Travel with the Cycle News crew, led by Captain " H. B." Creed , to the Mys te rious Far East, ho me of t he legen dary Big Four. Or, maybe you woul d prefer o ur Yu rpin Tour featuri ng stopovers in the Fa therland and the Mother Coun try . While th ere , o ur expert guides will escort you to command performances given at the fa mour In ternati onal Grand Prix Circus. If you care to travel in the fall of the year, our guides have prepared a special excu rsion to th e renowed ISD T Extravaganza, the once a year event which attracts the best performers from around the world for six days of continuous entertainment. But, perhaps the lure of foreign lands has yet to attract your in terest. In that case we highly recommend our Grand National Tour, an extended jaunt across the United States, from coast to coast and border to border. This year's Grand National Tour has already begun, so ma ke p lans now to board at Sa n Jose if you wish to continue on. Are yo u energy co nscious and wish to stay close t o home ? No problem. Cycle News pioneered local tours and have regula r ro utes to su ch places as Ascot , Cor o na , Saddlebac k, Costa Mesa , and hundreds of othe r lo cati ons for th e week end traveler. If you seek enjoymen t in the great o utdoors , away fro m the co nfines of fe nci ng and st arting gates Cycle News, o nce again is the way to go . Special ove rland voyages to the Dese rt are arra nged nearly every weekend of the year . And don't forge the continuous entertainment aboard such DEPT. SUB. P.O. BOX 498 L01l:C BEACH, CALIFORNIA 90801 CYCLE NEWS WEST (1 yr.) CYCL E NEWS WEST (2 yrs.l CYCLE NEWS WEST (3 yrs.1 . . $12.50 22.00 30 .00 0 0 0 Via 1st class mail for one year 40.00 0 Via air mail for one year , , , . 50.00 0 This is a Renewal , .. .. ... . .. . . .. . . . .. . . 0 Please bill me .. , , ..... .. .. .. . 0 I enclose check or money order .. . . . , . . ,.. 0 Nilmll {Please print legiblvl Add ress City 1 2 Stat. Zop - as "Dodging the D.O.T:' and "Bopping with the BLM." For the more studious enthusiast, sem inars on "Tuning for Terror, " "A Rider's Guide to X-ray " and " Per fect ing Your Pucker Power" are scheduled regularly. So, "Welcome aboard, mate!" Just fill o ut the handy order form below fo r your ticket to fifty enjoyable, exciting voyages a year with the Good Ship Cycle Ne ws. CN: Ho w d o you feel abou t Yamah a not givi ng yo u a fact ory rid e for th e dirt t his year? GR : T hey Rave me part s and t he quipm en t , and I feel really good about it because I can hire the right people to build and maintain it. They will be able to ma ke 'e m much faster than they were last year. Also a frame shop, C & J, will do my chassis , And I feel thei r frame is far superior to anybody's at this time, So I'm actually quite happy that it worked out that way . There's no bad taste in my mouth about me not being a factory rider on dirt . I'm riding Yamaha on everything, and Yamaha has really been good to me. They're really a great company. In fact , they're the best company I've ever raced for . CN : The AMA Grand National C h ampionship /Camcl Pro Series provides a lot of money . T he FIM World Championship provides glory and fame , but in most ca ses little money . How do you feel about the two different scenes? GR : Next year I'd like to race for Ya maha in Europe for t he 750 cc Wor ld Championship, and I a lso want to race t he 500 class. I don 't think I could go over th e first year and set t he world on fire, b ut I do feel t hat after one seaso n over t he re - you kn ow - th e following year , I'd d o real wel l. I do n't t hi n k th er e are t ha t ma ny good racers ove r th er e. T here's only a han dful t hat can operate these big fast motorcycles. I'm no t speaking disrespectful or anyt hing, but Barry Sheene and I talked abo ut it a nd we agree that there are only about five to six real fast riders . From Phil Read to Agostini to Boncra to .. . CN: Lansivuori ? GR: Yeah. Lansivuori, Kanaya and Bar ry Sheene. And maybe I missed some other rid ers, but you know what I'm saying. It's like in the United States we have twenty rea lly fast riders. So I t hink that I could do OK over there against the handful of really fast guys. CN : Do you think you could make good mo ney over there? G R: I think that I can draw people to the races to watch me race. And I think th at if everything works right - well - I want to race fo r the Yamaha factory over there next year , And I'd appreciate you p utting that d o wn so that maybe they'll get t he message. I'd like to have so me wo rk with Ro d Gould, and I'd like t o race in France, It aly , and in Hol lan d at Ossen or Asse n - wherever t hat p lace is - yo u k now . CN: You r father is wi th yo u m ost of the time wh en yo u race . Is th at importan t to you? GR : Yea h. Mo st fathers see m to get in a lot of ot her riders ' way. My fat he r has n ever raced a mo t orcycle , but he is th e kind of guy that can stand up and watch me race, and then tell me what mist akes I'm making, and what to do. And I pick up speed! lie knows a b unch! He 's a heavy booster - you know - an ego booster. Like he'll say, "Hey , you can blow all those guys off'!" When I left Los Angeles to go to Daytona, I had it in my mind that I was going to win the race. And dad had it in his mi nd. We never said anything to anybody, and that's why I wasn't my normal self. Last year at Daytona everything was brand new, and I was learning. After Ontario I k new I had pro ven myself, and I thought that I knew how to race that motorcycle as hard as I could . T hat was my attitude. And plus I was up se t because I wasn't going to Im o la, and plus I was upset because everybody had a monoshock except Castro and myself. CN : In closing, I ' ll throw one at yo u. What's money mean to you? G R : As far as I'm co ncerned, if I have 5200 in my pocket, a ro of o ver m y head , a shower, a clean bed to sleep in , and food in m y sto mach , I'm satisfied . I don't need fan cy ca rs, fa ncy houses o r any thi ng like a Cadillac . All I wa nt in life is t o be ab le to go o ut and win races and enjoy m yself and have a good t im e. Like a lot of people, whe n t hey sta rt m ak ing mo ney , t hey change thei r image. I changed mine somewhat, but I'm st ill a t-shirt and Levi guy, where everybody else is getting kind of d ressed up more . But me - I love my Levis! •