Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

and don't forget to . rock and roll bike. I'm sure it will be competitive. If not, I 'll have to do some t hing else .•maybe ride the BeeEm in the big class . Definitely a Bee Em for . the production races , with more em phasis being p laced o n the prod uction class because of sales connected w it h advertising a nd stuff. T he prod uction races se ll a lo t of m o torc y cl es fo r BMW." A t Daytona it was su rprising to find Fish e r, w ho always goes we ll t h er e, w i th out a big b ik e rid e and a Harl ey -Davidson ride t hat w as ar ra nge d only at the last min u t e. We as k h ow he 'd been o verloo k ed . " How soon they fo rget," says Fisher. " At the t im e I st ill h ad b ikes o f m y ow n --Yamahas--b ut n eeded a b u nc h of bi ts. Yamaha wanted mo ney for . th e pi eces and deali ng w it h Ya maha gets to be a pain in the ass after abo ut five min utes. I j ust decided to go to Daytona and ge t a ride. If anything, I t hough t fo r sure I co uld get a standard TZ t o ride . But it see ms as though everybod y had given th em awa y to a bunch of nerds before I got there and got squared away . "I had asked Suzuki for a ride after Gary (Nix o n ) got h u rt . I talked to Suzuki several times and let them know th a t I would be quite interested in rid ing their b ikes. They were hoping Nix o n was going to b e able t o ride. Then wh en Barry (S h ee ne) crashed . they had an other b ike open. After the y de cided n ot to let Gary ride when he hurt h is a rm again, they still d idn't want me to ride . There 's only so many times yo u can ask someone for a ride. "I'm glad th e littl e b ik e ri de worked o u t. The little Harley w ould've been good if there wouldn't have b een th e same o ld thing--p olitics. Wh oever y ells the loudest and raises th e m os t hell gets the best bike. If we h ad go t a ll the b ike s tuned in properly o n Fri da y after th e heat race. . . "The sp are b ike. which I rode in the ra ce , w e ~ ot stra igh te ne d o ut immed ia tel y with ab out three o r four laps of p ract ice. We se l" ,·te d th e rig ht gear rat ios and int e rnal gea r rat io s, and t he bike worked reallv wel l. 1 think that if I'd h ad a litt le mo re l im e o n t he b ike I co uld ' ve be at Kenn y in the he at race, h eat and gone o n from th ere to prepare the b ike prop erly. When 1 showed up at t he race t rack o n Saturd ay . ( wa s j ust n oti fied th at my m ot orc y cle wo uld n' t b e ready fo r prac tice. I asked th em w hy , a n d n ob odv w ant ed t o te ll me w hy . Fin all y t he}' ca m e across and t o ld m e th at (Ga ry) Scot t raised a b it ch. Il l' wanted th e good ign it io n and th e gea rs and st u ff th at I had p ick ed out. Naturall y , th e y didn 't h ave more th a n o ne set, so th e y di sassembled m y motor cy cle t o m ak e h is good. " lI e got second in th e r ace with the good m o to rcy cle, a nd I co n ti n ue d t o drop b ack from the first lap b ecause th e mo torc ycle w as .. .ju nk. It j us t wouldn ' t run . Fin a lly , a bout three lap s from th e end, th e pin t ha t h olds the slid e from twis ting came out o f o ne carbure to r and ja m med the thro tt le wide ope n . I pulled into t h e pits and th ey co uld n' t fix it . T here was no point in going on any w a y. "The b ike d efi n ite ly has p o ten ti al if we can K thos e pe ople to leave their t:'t h ands o ff it, and if t hey would d o a few th ings t h at we know work on Ya mah as. T hey' re tryi ng t o do th ings we fou nd o u t ten years ago don't work o n Yam ah as, It 's a good p ro d uct, an d properly se t up , it wi ll be o k ay . I'm reall y a nx io us to K in to th at . c:t " If th ey d o n ' t want t o ~iVl' m e a c o n t r a c t or mone y t o r i d e the moto rc y cl e or sornct h ing , and if I c o uld find so meb ody to spon so r m e . I'd ~ o to Italy , buy th'" mot orcy cle ther have t here, b uy spare b its fo r the whole y ea r, and just go fro m there. I'm sure we ca n take t he moto rcycle t hat they p repa re in It a ly and not m ess it up . "We we re all quite amazed at how good the mo torcycle they sent over w as the first ti me Gary S cott rode it he re at Laconia. They too k it o u t of the b o x fro m It aly an d put gas in it. They didn' t have a chance to screw it up . If y o u check the progress t hey've m ad e fro m that point, you' ll fin d t hey've go n e steadily b ac kw ar d s about a step and a h al f every race . That's n ot the way to go . If yo u' re n ot go ing to m ak e the th ing bet te r, j ust leave it alone an d d o good wi th it . It's a good bik e t o start off w it h . Wh y fart wi th it ?" " What's the problem ?" w e w onder . " Are t he Harley -Da vidson people too tun ed into four - strokes?" " I think t ha t 's p robably a littl e b it of it. Harley-Davidso n h as a very se t way of d o in g t hings simply because Dick O 'Brien h as been there for 27 or 28 years. He rea lly knows his stuff. He reme mbers w hat gea r ratios to use at Terre Haute , or what gear ratios Freddy Nix used at every m ile. He' s really o n the ball. "Th e t hing is , th e w a y the o rga nizatio n works , guys might have an ide a o f th ei r o w n , but they're re ally not Open to d o much about it. They feel st ifled. Even tu ally they 'll get things sq uare d away themselves , but I could take the m otorc ycle an d within o ne race have it to where it could beat a ny of Kel 's bikes , no problem ." "You d on't think yo u 'll h ave any problem beating Kenny Roberts?" "No problem . I 've be at him before . He wa kes u p in the morning, just lik e everybody els e. He's really a great rider, a n d he' s m a t ured in t o a fa ntastic racer. But he 's no better than anyone else . He g e ts b e at occasionally t oo, _ and if so m ebody h ad the proper equip ment , . . " Eco n o mically, in the past two years no o ther co m p an ie s h ave m ade t he e ffo rt. Kawas aki and Su zuki have th eir h eads up t h e ir a sses, They cou ld n 't p ossibly wi n a rac e o n the ir o w n if the y . tried fo r a mi llion ve ars." As coc ky as ' F' isher sounds--and as a ng r y-- h e d o e sn 't under rat e th e co mpe ti t ion . "Everybody ha s a good ide a ab o ut wh o 's going to be righ t in there . Ni xo n 's a fan t as t ic ~ 5 0 rider . if h e' s w e ll. R on (Pierce} is just a dynam ite 2 5 0 rid er. lie rid es w it h h is h ~ad an d d oe sn 't mak e mis tak es . A 25 0 rider can't m ak e m ist ake s , a nd has to kn ow w h e re th e gas is. That 's very simp le. Jimm y E vans is a gr ea t 25 0 rid e r. DuH amel is a g rea t 2 50 rid e r . So Chain Conversion System Yamaha YZ 125C $49.95 m an y people are good ." Th e tim e arrives fo r Fishe r to m ake the long t rip to the neare st ho spit al t o ha ve h is b atte red sh oulder treat ed. li e is obvio usly fed inJ{ pain ed as he wr ap s up the co nve rsat io n. "I think e ver yb ody o ug h t to ~et th ei r thu mb o u t o f their ass and get down to it . And d on't Forget to ro ck and ro ll. And hell o,,!o al l my fan s o u t there. Ry e, y o u s.o.b. lie struggles to ~et o u t of his cha ir . "Oh , and I have something else to sa y f o r publ icat ion : These Japan es e man u fac t urers can take no te of the way a good o rgan iza tio n run s, like these p eopl e fro m BMW. T he y' re reall y on th e b a ll. In st e ad of having o ne mech ani c for three mo torcycles, th ey have' two me c hani cs for one m o t orc ycl e. w h ich is th e way t o do it. T hey t ry very h a rd , unli ke so me o f the o rgan izat io ns I've see n over the years: ' Ch risty Fisher pu lls up in Gar y 's D a t s u n 280Z, whic h someone had sideswiped during t he nigh t • On h is wa y to nurs e hi s w ounds, Gary Fisher turn s on ce more and lo o ks h ack . "Never say di e :' is all h{' says . • cO'::I~'ete Con sists o f ultra-reliable ON E P IE CE lighte ned. beat -t rea ted aluminu m alloy rea r sprocket . steel cou ntenh afl sprocket heat -treated . Sufficient No . 520 D IAMOND mo to rcyde chai n for you r appl i· cati on including master link . Spro ckets available : 12 . 13. & 14 to oth countersprockets ( 14 reo quires slight case trimmin g). ReM sp ro cket 42 to 55 tee th. ': '.~ '.:~ ~. :~':' ~. ':'!".':: . $49.95 Exhaust System (Do wn pipe on ly) YZ Chrome Moly replica handlebars Air Fo rk Valves $19.95 $12.95 , Available soon - Cyli nder head & swingarm bushings (Calif. re s. ad d 6% sal es tax) - products Mail Order: PO Bo x 361 Tw in Pe a ks , CA 92391 or contact : West Coast Distributor A & B Distributors 11624 E. Ga rvey Ave . EI Monte , CA 9 1731 213-443- 1977 13

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