Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

"Kawasaki says that this year IS just for development, that these bikes are too new to try to WIn races. But I don't like it. I enjoy development because you're always learning something new, but then again; I like to win races," I: III P ;u.. e RilED ~ SHOCKS cJ ....-I the industry stan lIrp , . . . . . . . I••• IIImI fir IlPI .....t . . .lIlt1l1fiMH ftslp fir _ _• teve e ftSOft _11111. ..,...licllIJ ,'lIIlI· MIl iIIlIn.IIJ II IiI ,.lililllL AccIJIIl st'. 1,..111' I,.. TI, 1M Ilol1lml _1Iti1l knl ,.....1 busIIllll. By John Ulrich era rl In eea r BIKONlllMITED 150 erlllI St, HocklllllCk NJ. D76Dl PERSONALIZED HELAtETS Be identified with your name "Built in" right at the factory Regular $44.95 Full Face $69.95 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED New marir. of dist inct ion! You r name, club nam e. or girl' s nam e bui lt into th e original design in bold letters one inch high, iden t ify you qu ickly, helps to prevent lou or theft of a qua lity helmet . " Custom Helmets " are fiberglass lam · inated he4me u . D.C .T. approv ed , in your cho ice of fou r ar tistic co lon. It you are no t detig,ted wit h yo ur helmet, 'ret urn it and t he fu ll price will be refu nd ed Immed iate ly. ---------- CUSTOM HELMETS P. O. Box 5 132 Klamat h Falls. Orego n 97601 Send tr ee f ull -co lor broc hu re t I Please send one helmet : Full Face $69 .95 I I 5<,,, XS [ Regular $44.95 ( 1 I SM I I MEO [ I LG I I XCG I I Color : Blue [ I Red I I Gold Imprint (Maximum 17 letters! I I Green ( I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Enclose Cashier's Check I 1 Money Orde r I Sh ip Via Parce·' Post I I U.P.5 . [ I -======= = = === Address . Citv Name Street 10 _ Zip T he greasy young man in the Getty gas station uniform hobbles over on his walking case. He joins the tech inspector, poking and prodding the Kawasaki factory 250cc road racer. "This guy doesn't know how to safety wire," the Getty boy authontatively allows. " The radiator cap isn't even wired!" A photographer overhears. "Do you realize," he asks, "that the man. who prepared that motorcycle used to tune for Phil Read? He helped win a world championship." "What's that mean?" growls the filthy gas pump jockey and club racer. "T h at doesn't mean he knows how to safety wire." If Steve Johnson , 23 , has heard the exchange, he doesn't show it. But it makes onlookers wonder wh y Johnson, the man responsible for developing Kawasaki's new 250, .puts up with the stupidity he is facing at an AAMRR club event at Loudon, New Hampshire mid-way through June. ' In even to nes, he explains. "Kawasaki says that th is year is just for development, that these bikes are too new to try to win races. But I don't like it. I enjoy development because you're always learning something new, but then again, I like to win races. Working' on the b ike all the time is no good. You've got to win ra ces , because it pumps y ou up. If y o u sit in th e shop for six months and work for one race, and then y o u get to the track and things go bad, when you get back to the shop y o u don' t want to do an ything. " And so Johnson, along with a KR 250 , a sp are engine, a toolbox, several sets o f exhaust p ipes, and rider Ron Pierce has flown out from Santa Ana, California to test development ideas on the tigh t Loudon track. Johnson's . credentials for the job of preparing 250s fo r Team Kawasaki riders Pierce, Jim Evans, and Yvon DuHamel ar e impressive. Besides t u ning for Phil Read's successful 19 71 World Championship bid, his victories include Brad Lackey's 1972 500 MX National Champio nship , Lackey 's 1973 13th·in ·the-world GP finish , and Jim We inert 's 1974 500 MX National Championship. Steve Johnson knows how to safety wire. The tech inspection example of what Pierce terms " t h at mo to rcycle racing p ettiness," still nags Johnson hours later. But that doesn' t keep him from talking about his difficult and often misunderstood job, on e that saw him put in over 70 0 hours o f overtime, make 40 cross-co untry fligh ts, and take home $18 ,000 last year. " Yo u'r e a lways thin king ' Oh God, I've go t to take th e wheel off Yvo n's b ike , and change t he sp arkp lugs in Ron 's bike , and j im's seat , I've got to fix th at and · mo ve it .' It really get s yo u going somet imes. Yo u've got to reall y think ab o ut what y ou 'r e d oin g, and take y our time and do it. A lo t of guys will get in th at sit uat io n , j ust go 'Oh , no ,' and it's all over. They ca n 't d o it. They just go crazy , have a ne rvo us breakdown, fall ap a rt. You've go t t o forget about everything else an d just do y o ur job. " The bigge st help for a tuner is to have t he rid er work w ith y o u , not against you. The more he helps , and the m ore he makes you feel like he 's helping, the more you're gonna put out, and the better the whole thing's going to be. If the rider doesn't care, y o u 're gonna be mad all the time , and grumpy, and y o u're not gonna wann a work on the bike even though you do. " !t's much better when the rider goes along with you and all of it 's done together, instead of him coming in and saying 'Well, the carburetion's a little lean, and I'll see you this afternoon. I'm gonna go play go lf.' That type of thing is very bad. " Ro n (Pierce) is probably the most knowledgeable of the 250 because he's spent so much of his racing career on a 250. Yvon h as concen trated on the fact ory's effort. He 's been ridin g a 75 0, which was our main co nc ern. Until th is year w e nev er had a 25 0 , so it's a little hard for Yvon to rel at e this new 250 to

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