Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

any th ing he's ridde n b efo re. T he last 250 twin he rode was a Ya maha in 1969-70 . That's a long time ago. "Evans is good. He and Ron are very capable of telling exactly what the motorcycle is doing. They can both divvy out things to me that nee d to be changed. J im is really easy to work with, j ust like Ron. "I thin k we've got a really go od team. I do n 't think we could ask fo r a bunch o f be tter guys . "On ou r te am, everyt hing is equal. All the b ikes are identical. No b ody 's got spe cial p ist ons or a special cylind er with different porting--a11 my machines are identical. So , it 's up to the rider. I don't believe in that stuff where 'This guy is O Uf n umbe r one rider and we 're going to give him this ,' and stuff like that. "Same with the 750s. Yvon's 750 is identical to Evans' . Evans gets the same treatment. There's no favoritism at all , and I t hink that 's rea lly good in a team . All teams aren't like that. " T o get the 250 to where it's at n ow , basically I've done it all on my own. I gather thoughts from everybody. I go around and I'll talk to Ran d y (Hall), and maybe I'll talk to Jeff (Shetl er) about certain stuff, and I'll talk to other p eop le . Then I'll think ab out what everybody said , think ab o ut what I think, an d take a direction on what I'm going to do. " It 's good to ask people what they think of something, because you're only human . You can't be right all the time . especiall y with a new b ike. It's really hard . If th is bike was three years old , or had' been the same fo r the las t tw o years, like a Yamaha-they 've go t t he m dialed in so perfect they don't have to worry about it . This t hing, there's so many different things , an d it 's a whole new hike. "The riders are really good at that. A rider will sometimes think of things that a m echanic won 't , be cause a mechanic is too busy thinking ab ou t somet hing else. Sometimes y o u' ll think you have th e bi ke all d one , y o u'll b e looking around an d ever y thing looks perfect, and a rider e a n walk rig ht up and pick out somet hing th at isn't quite righ t y et. You didn't see it yours elf, beca use y o u're so con cerned abo ut eve ry other little thing. You just ca n ' t th in k ahout every t h in g. " Th e devel op men t of th e bike is coming alo ng real we ll. It takes a long time. I' ve spen t prob ab ly fo ur or five da ys o n the d yno b y myself, j u st working. Fo r instance, whe n I wa s wo rking with exha ust p ipes I' d call up Ron with t he res ul ts. He'd say 'May be we ought to try this, and maybe we o ugh t to try th at .' So I'd go back and figure o u t th e pipe dimensions and see if it was feasible to do it . T hen I'd put it all together . run it once, and see if it wa s an y better . "We 've run a lo t of te sts t ha t were no good , t hat m ad e t h e bi ke co mple tely wo rse . But we 've run some t h at made it b etter , too . It 's all t ri al and erro r. I think that's t he o nly way yo u can d o it . "Everything's ge tting be tter all the time. It makes m e feel better , and I know it makes the riders feel a lo t be tter. Esp eci ally Ron , because we ' ve had so much contact lately w it h each othe r, and with t his bike. It makes hi m feel b etter all the tim e, and fo r sure it's go nna improve his rid ing and his spe ed. He 's going to feel more confident in the bike. That's the biggest thing. The rider has to feel co nfiden t in his bike . mo re than his mechanic, even . He 's go t to get o n t he b ike and it's got to feel go od. "The more the rid er rides i t, th e better it 's go ing to feel. He 's going to get going with it . and everything's gonna work out pe rfec tly. " Besides being a d ed ica ted tuner , Steve Johnson is also an avid motorcyclist. He's raced half mile against Dav id Aldana, raced and won amateur road races in England on Phil Re ad 's Yamahas in 19 71 , and often commutes t o wo rk o n a Z vl , He held the professional racer's off-dut y New Year's Day 12 -m il e minibike ra c e ch amp io nsh ip until last New Year's , whe n a rock flattened his XR·75 's front wh eel, forcing him into second pl ace . behin d J im Weinert. With t he help of hi s d y n o and his ride rs, St eve J oh nson figu res th at t he ne xt few ye ar s with t he KR 250 will be very productive . As he sees it, " That 's good." • For Immed iate Delivery Phone 216 • 232-9030 THE LESTER TIRE & WHEEL CO., 26881 Cannon Rd., Bedford HIs., Ohio 44146 A div ision of Lester Industries Inc. , WHITTIER HONDA (7 14 ) 894·2623 Penton, .Monark & T yran & Rupp Fun Machines Mot or cycle Trai lers Bell Helmets Full Bore Products Sales Service Part s Accessor ies 14324 E. Whittier Blvd. 12131698.Q 065 Comp let e stock of parts and accessories f or street and dirt. D&R Cycles 7 18 1 West mi nster Ave. Westmi nster , CA 92 68 3 Bul UICO Heavy Du ty Spring Set I n c l . 6 chrome sili c on e clutch spr ings. 15% st ro nger . 6 month guar. 1 heavy duty detent spr ing. e c se Sh ift. 3 ~1~~On~ab~~rl~::v~ordU~ro~~~ra~llt'i Pursan g. Send $7.95 (Ca lif. res. add 6 %) to : Steve Scott 's Machine Works, 13150 Chase St •• Arleta, CA 9133l. (2 13 ) 896-6209. cao-am s t:"c!u'u, ' .'X . .\11 m.x. e ts In s to c k competition service, inc. 12 44 N . G a ff e y , San P~d r o . CA90731 2 13 -83 1127 9 DSS~ & Cerla" 1 . " tra vel fron t for k . ..... Lenctnens f or k travel I'". A must f or In st all. Instru ct ion s In c. send $6.00 rC A res. add 6 %) t o : St eve Scou ts Mach ine Works , 13150 Chase S t., .2334 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA ® CA 91 331 . (213) 896 · 6 20 9. BAY AREA BULTACO Sales Servi ce A ccessories 1352 Centinela, W.L.A. 213·826·7856 "T~~ I ...I,rJ.'09 ID ( .... ~ '\.~ <~../o' . ~ '--~ .~ Coast Mota Cycle all forward mo un ted b ikes . Easy to Arleta, C~~ @ ~Be tor t (714) 645~008 Mike Patrick @ ~ YAMAHA al CORONA 110 1 E. 6th Street , Corona , CA ~ ( 714) 735·7721 \~~, 11

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