Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

RAHIERIN An informal lunch with Suzuki's uncrowned 125cc World Champ By Lane Campbell lr uri ng th e lull be tu-ern the U. S. and Can adian rounds uf th e Fl.\ 1 J25 cc moto cro ss chompionship, U.S. S u zu Iii fleu: Gast o w Rattie r to thr U't".'il Coast t o give marzy of th e mo ta -press fra terni ty their firs t look at th e mati uih osr 13 m ot o victories in 16 sta rts hare rirtu all y Jew" up th e 125 cc wo rld champ ionship . [Xo tablr excep tio n : OUT Eu ro pean co rresponden t [ nhn l l ue t tcr , uih o has srcn Gast on ma n y tim es in Europe. and kep; a running pa l te r of Frrnrli going, scrring as im p ro m p tu in tc rp ret er uihen Ga.iC u H·S English bogged down. occasionullv.} ' Rah icr, th ou gh a Belgian nat io nal, disp la ys man )' of th c exp ress io ns and man nerisms that no n-E ur op eans charac te riz e as " Fre nch: " o r "Gallic:" H e 's a smal/, p o werfully -built lIlall whale off- truck dem ea nor (esp ec ially wh en accompanied b y wine an d plent if ul fo od) is lo ose , eas ygoing, wi th a kind of droll, st raiglufaced wit. His En glish, th o ugh accent ed , actually se izes up lJery seldom. lie's q uite articu lat e in either mo ther Frenclt or b orroused Engl ish . S omewhere b etur een t h e uiine an d coffee, th e lu nrli r o n ga th er in g was thrown open in to an inform al "press co nfrrcnce. ", S ome of th e highlig lits - HERCULES DEALERSHIPS AVAILABLE All mac hines made in West Ge rmany and equipped with wo rld famo us Sachs eng ines. 1st Wankel Rotary Engined Street Bike - W2000 HERCULES 125cc MOTOCROSS - 5 Speed Transmission 125cc ENDURO GS - 6 Speed Transmiss ion 175cc ENDURO GS - 6 Speed Transmission 47cc MOPED - Fully Automatic I DEALERS : Send for free bro ch ure on our co mp lete line of I .-----~----------------~ Hercules motorcycles fo r 1975 . I I I I Name I Add ress I I I I City State Zip I I ROTARY Cycles of U.S.A. II , :!O:!:: W. 2l!th sr., C le vela n d , r-r. (2 16) 651-0469 ~--------------------, BAYAREA ~ 'attsL~~~ m..}"",,~o r 12 O. ·H I I:1 ,\,.L.A.~·~ 0 ' . > ~/ A ccessortes 1352 Ce n t ine la , 2 13 -826-785 6 ~ "' '' ssa-tsaa , , -, e WEST 8026 Free st on e Ave n ue Sant a Fe Springs. CA 90670 Q : Wh a t is th e d if fe re nc e be twee n -sa y125 c lass an d 250 o r Opcn ? G R : Th e difference . . . is the te chnica l. yo u kn ow. For driving is m ore difficu lt . Yo u need very good (hod y ) co nd it io n because is ve ry hard . Yo u stay always wide open . yo u know. And a lso [he se ll ing is very d iffi cul t fo r yo ur bike. In a t oo hard co m p e ti t io n. e very b ike is s im il ar . . . [e xc ha nge in Fre nch) . JII : Gaston is sa ying that with th e 2 50 b i k cs , th ere is m ore: ro om for co m p ro m ise . It loan he a little o ff onc way or th e o the r, an d y o u ca n h ave a lillie la ti t u de fo r yo u rse lf. too . But the I :!5s ha ve to be spo t on all th e time. an d yo u h ave to h ave y o u r body sp ot o n . _. Although Gaston is tou modest 10 say it. I thin k he 's WO I1 every 250 international he 's been in this y ear. G I<. : Then this year I have very hard tra in in g. M uch m o re t h an 250 and I th ink 5 0 0 . . . 1 go to the do ct or, special doc to r for the sport. you know, a nd he sa y h e must c he c k m y body . (lau gh ter) . . . and he say yo u h ave n orma l body. sa me as eve rybody . Good heart . is n o r m a l, yo u kn ow, abo u t 75 wo rk in g. An d h e say is n ot goo d fo r ride r. And h e say okay I wo r ki n g for yo u so me special sc he d u le . y ou know. No w 1 tra in in g, I go ev ery wee k to t h e doc tor. eve ry wee k t o th e tra ini ng . , . No w m y c o n d itio n is much be tter be ca use I h ave 52 (h e art rate ) no rm ally . An d if I d rive , I try b icy cl e. very ha rd . and after u ne m inut e I h ave may b e 10 5 . One m inute after. 1 h ave same. 52 . T hat's very im portant fo r co n d it ion. for m oto cross. for eve ry class. Sp eaking abo ut the USG I' in Ohio : I co m in g he re Friday n igh t . and I receive new bike. The co m p a ny say 1 give to y ou very good b ike, new o ne. :\laybe to o go o d, Because is every th iug new. And the feeling, 1 go just one lap an d I st op. I say, '1 don 't know , it's n ot m y m otorcycle. it's co m p le tel y diffe rent: You know. tank is very sm all. foo trest different, I don't kn ow. Try every th ing , then it 's not so bad. Train ing ti me (p rac t ice) I h a ve best lu ck. 'Then rider meeti ng, I go . . . sit with my fr iend De Roever, And the m an ask, okay this an d it is then worki ng flag. Th ai 's th e n ag for the start. and that flag is for this .. . Dc Ro e ver say to m e , 'Y ou und erstand every th ing ? ' 1 say ' I do n 't kno w . I do n' t kn ow about th is.' Then I go to t he sta r t and I sta rt not so bad, m ay b e five or six po sit ion. a n d a fter two h ill I am th ird p o sit io n . An d the o ne m an wo rk in g flag, gree n . I sto p .. . a n d fo ur or five rid er p ass m c. Wha t it is? N o, 1 t ry a gai n , is too lat e. A n d sa m e like th a t . t wo , th ree I h ave tw o . three m istakes p rob le m . like that Q : Besides the problems yo u have in Ohio, w hat d id you th in k o f th e Ame rican riders, and d o you think they ca n be com pe tit ive in th e w o rl d class in the 125s? GR : I d on'[ kn ow. I h ave ra ced j u st one ti me with th e Am erica n rider. 1 think [ha t in th at type ra ce (Ga sto n h ad ea rlier c ha rac te rized th e Mid -Ohio trac k as a to o -sm o o t h , o ne groove truc k, ""111is n ot m o to cro ss. " ), Am eri can rider was ve ry good. Ve ry good. In th e European trac k . in the World Cha m pion tra ck . is c o m p le tel y di ffe ren t. because is much m ore techn ica l c o u rse. '11 1e p rohlem I have: n ow in Un ited States . .. th e: American rider co me in have this one in Eu ro pe . . . If ~1art y Smith corn ing Europe . m aybe he nee d o ne year ex p e rie nce For ge t good resul ts. b ecause n ow I se e him. he have good co n d itio n. you know , is ver y stro ng h o y. drive very goo d . Q: Wo u ld you like to ex pla in the recept ion th e 125 cl ass ha s gotten in Europe ? G R: 1 am very surprised ... th e first time 1 thin ki ng . okay 1 go to th e 125 , may be is n ot so impo rtant .. . (but) m an y yo ung p e ople com ing a nd is very in te res ti ng a lso fo r marke t and fo r tele visio n . 111e y h ave every race 20. 25 thousand peop le com ing . . . I race in Y u go slavia we h ave 45 tho u sa nd p eop le . . . i n Czec ho slovakia 35 th o u sand pe ople. Is very in te res ti n g fo r, in E u ro pe . .. (C Z, o the rs) n o t en te rin g 50 0s , go j u st in the 125 be cause is more b et ter fo r m arket, is yo u ng peop le like t his, yes? \ Q : As far as m a r ke t app ea l. isn 't eve ry bike b igger th an 12 5c c so h eavily ta x ed tha t o n ly t he rich can affo rd th e b igger m ac h inery ? G R : (nods) and a lso in Eu ro p e yo u no need Iice nsc for 12 Sec, yo u kn ow. everybody d ri ve. Yo u have 16 year , you possib ly using 12 5e c. You h ave 18 year old . 20 year. you buy car. Q : Wh at 's th e speed o f a 12 5 on th e fas test trac k ? G R : I do n' t kn o w, I th in k m aybe m y bi ke 100. 10 5 , 110 kilometers . . . .You know I ra ce last Gran d Pr ix in Sweden . .. the tim e was seve n seconds more fast in the 12 5 (than) the 5 0 0 class. That 's good, h uh? An d a lso in 1I0U and , w e have n a t ional class, in te rna tio nal cl ass in 25 0 and we h ave every good rider . .. 25 0 en try . . . a lso L a c k e y . Ever t s. P om er o y , Br a d Bau er •. . Wol sin k also . An d Wolsink winning an d h e wa s fo u r sec onds slowly the 125 . Q: Wo lsink was fou r second slower? G R: Four secon ds . TIt an m e and De Ro e ver. That 's sa nd track. Jim (Po m eroy) co ming a nd sayi ng that 's no p o ssible. sure 25 0 go m or e fa st. And a fte r ne x t time Jim go b ack fro m Euro p e and y o u as k him, h e say ' I n o underst a n d t h is th in g.' Q : No w y o u ' v e w on the 12 5 c ha m p io n sh ip. will yo u change t o 25 0 or what? GR : 1 want to go t o 2 50 , then 5 0 0. The problem is th e Compa ny . Su zuki. you know (chuc k les. a ll a ro u n d ). 1 ask last time. the b o ss h e sa y h e don 't kn ow abou t thi s . . . if 1 go 25 0 he h ave no th in g in 12 5 , is n ot good a lso. A kira (also a 12 5e e fact o ry rider. and test rider) m ay b e ne x t year m ust stay in

• Cover