Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

By Jody Weisel outhern California motocrossers are racers of convenience. Almost everything comes too easy for them; the tracks are close, the factory sponsorships are nearby, the motorcycle press is always watching and stars are born by w iring one specific piece of real estate. Too many SoCal motocrossers have gotten factory rides because they were able to drive 30 minutes out to Saddleback twice a week and look like Superman. Then on the National circuit where the tracks are rough, the dirt is soft, the distances long and the competition fast they quickly fade. Imagine how much dedication it would take if the nearest local track was a 12 hour round trip and you had to leave Saturday night to get to the races. How many of the current crop of SoCal high-flyers ~ould be flying so high? How many would take up surfing or skateboarding inst ead? _ Steve Wise lives at the edge of the civilized world on the tip of the great iceberg called Texas. To drive from McAllen, Texas to California means that when you get to the Texas border you are more than halfway to L.A., add to these facts the undeniable reality th~t Steve Wise is one of the fastest 125cc motocrossers In the United States (and thus world). Steve is the only privateer to have won a National motocross since Tony DiStefano did it in 1973. In the year of the factory mega-buck magicians that is some feat. Add a fifth place at the USGP in Lexingt!?n, Ohio on his .own motorcycle, National number 14 this year and National number 12 next year and you have one hell of a f!10torcycleracer. . Now you're asking yourself if he's so great why haven't! heard of him? That is an honest inquiry , but you have probably heard of the people who fin ished behind him in the National standings this year; Gaylon Mosier, Billy Grossi, Pierre Karsmakers, Tommy Croft, Broc Glover, Jimmy Ellis. The reason you haven't heard of Steve Wise is that he doesn't come from magazine-land. " I think that Texas is the second best place to be from if you are a motocrosser," says Steve, "California is definitely the best. We have some bitchin' tracks in Texas - Rio Bravo and Mosier Valley - The California tracks are not very well prepared and they don't care about their riders as much. But this is where all the local racing is if you want to make super good money. . "You don't get not iced very much in Texas, because all the factories are in California. The head guys can come out to Saddleback and watch all the racers. McAllen, Texas is not on the racing department heads travel agenda. It is 500 miles South of Dallas, six miles from Mexico. The nearest track is 300 miles away in Austin. Every weekend for three years my dad Jimmy Strait and I would get · up Saturday mo;ning and drive to the races. Racing against Howerton, Stackable and Wyman Priddy is probably what helped me get good ." Texas has always been a hotbed of serious racing and this was due in part to the late great Tex-AMA series. Tex-AMA was a series of races throughout the state (not unlike the Florida series) where all the big factory guns would come down to train. In 1974 Steve Wise was a pudgy, baby-faced 17 year old riding a stock CR250 Honda out of his father's shop. National Champions Gary Jones and Jimmy Weinert were down to run the 250 class, and they were quite confident and pretty smug that victory was at hand. Even the knowledgeable Texans had never really heard of Steve Wise, but when the gate dropped for the first moto it was Weinert and Wise going at it at the old Lockhart Motocross Park. Weinert took the first moto in a close dice and then Wise came storming back to lead the second round all the way. "I remember it totally, " says Steve w ith a smile," Weinert came up to me before the second moto and he tried to psych me out. It was so funny. He had never seen me before and he was looking at me and laughing . Then he leaned over and said, 'Now don' t 14 fall off and kill yourselfl ' In Whitney the next week I won overall when Weinert's throttle stuck and Jones tired from trying to ride two classes. I got a fourth at Houston and won the Tex-AMA 250 tit le. " I got a rude awakening after that. I thought it was going to be bitchin'. I went to the Nationals thinking I could handle these guys, and I got smoked so bad! I crashed a bunch of times. Jones just blew by wi th no problems . It wasn't like that in Tex-A!"1A, fro~ the!"! on it was different. You look down the hne and If you Just see Weinert that's one thing, but when you look down the line and you see Weinert, Karsmakers, Howerton and DiStefano it's different." . Steve began to get the knack of riding the Nationals and finished out the 250 National series with a couple top ten results and got set for the next year when the phone rang. He was sitting at home in McAllen and Steve Stackable was on the other end of the line. Steve said, "Kawasaki is looking for a 250 rider and they will call you in a minute:' It was an instant factory ride as Steve signed with Kawasaki for 1975. "I got Torlief Hansen's old bike for 1975. I didn't like it very much. It was real fast, but it didn't have any torque. The first moto in Texas Stadium I got fourth. I was so stoked . I got sixth overall in Dallas. In Daytona I got tenth and at the Astrodome I got a fourth one moto and then I broke down." Steve and Kawasaki got ·along well in 1975 and when they suggested that they might be interested in 125 racing Wise jumped at the chance. The prototype 125 Kawasaki was an almost totally handmade sandcast machine. It bore little or no resemblance to the KX125 that was on the market at the time. The little 125 Kawa was slow , especially comp ared to the RC125 Honda that Marty Smith was using to run aw with his second National Championship. Steve go two machines sent over from Japan and after a onl one National with full-factory support Kawasaki slice their racing program to nothing. Again the telepho rang and Kawasaki said that Steve could keep th bikes and some expense money, but he would have t take care of everything else by himself. The bike was still in a prototype stage and withou the factory input to keep updating or to make i competitive Steve decided one week before the S Antonio 125 National to ride his own Honda. Aft switching to his privatebike Steve caught on fire an gave Marty one of the few struggles he had on th way to his 12 straight moto wins. Steve finishe second behind Smith. "I gave Marty a pretty good race that day, but wasn't capable of running with him because I wasn' in shape. Sm itty was in the best shape, he was th best rider and he had the best bike. It was the ultimat combination." 1976 was perhaps Steve's most difficult year. At th start of the season he had spent all winter preparing private Honda CR125 to compete on. Stev~ fel comfortable with the bike and knew he could Win 0 it. Things got complicated when Kawasaki called u just before Hangtown and as.ked if Steve would Ii~e t go back to being a factory rider, Team Kawasaki ~a all the faith in the world in Steve, but Steve had htt faith at all in the revised Kawasaki 125 prototype. Afta much soul-searching about whether to ride his prov private bike or the unproven factory bike he was 0 Kawasaki at Hangtovim. The new proto wasn't an better than the old one and immediately seized which hampered its already obvious lack of speed Steve quickly got off of his Kawasaki and back ont his own Honda. American Honda was extremel helpful to Steve as was Donny Emler of FMF.. With the support of a trusty-worthy Honda and Donny Emler FMF motor Steve Wise showed up a the fourth 125 National of the year with the feeling tha he was going to win . To date the year had been a Bo Hannah rout. In Maryland W ise not only stopped th Hannah sweep, but he became the first privateer t win a 125 National in the history of AMA motocross Steve also became the first privateer to win any kin of National in over two years. When the season was over Steve Wise foun 'himself in fourth place in the 125 National standings Amazingly enough he could have been second excep for a freak accident in San Antonio when his moto seized during a false start in the first moto '-and whil running in the top three in the second moto he slid int a nylon fence. It was the last lap and no matter ho. hard he tried the nylon fence would not let go of hi bike. Eventually scissors had to be taken down and t bike removed. It cost him a lot of points. At the USGP Steve finished fifth overall even afte a giant ground-sky number in the first moto. " Velk (number two in the world) and I had a good dice. Tha guy tried to cut me off so bad. We locked bars at leas four times. I was going 'you Russian, you Russian I' going to get you l' He's a Czech, but I came into corner and I had the line, but I could hear that h hadn't shut off . I went "Oh Nol" and drove over t berm and he hit it wide open. If I hadn't' over-run to berm he would have gotten me. I got him towards end of the moto. I stuffed him good," says Steve w · all the accompanying hand movements to symboliz the race. . For next year Steve Wise plans to run the 125 an 250 classes. The 125 class is going to be reall competitive in 1977 and the racing will be betwee Bob Hannah of Team Yamaha, Danny LaPorte 0 Team Suzuki, Marty Smith of Team Honda, Bro Glover of Team Yamaha and Steve Wise the highes ranking privateer in motocross. " Luckily, I have a neat dad," says Stev~, "and h helped me a lot. Honda helped me a lot this year an FMF has made my bikes as fast as anyones. I had th best 125 production bike of anybody; I defin itely thin a privateer can wi n the championship and next yea • will be my year."

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