Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126247
Yamaha, I ask ed fo r some final thoughts (> 11 t he matter. A lat e year-end m eeting b)' th e AMA rules committee has mo difie d th e claim ing rulef or 1977, raising by 11,000 th e claim ing price for romplete mot orcycles in AMA Professional com petition . Prices are now $3,000 f or 125cc, $3,500 f or 250cc, and 14,000 for 500cc class bik es bringing th e claiming price just a little abo ve what it would probably cost to build a competitive pr oduct ion bike for National motocross competition. Bill - "Maybe that's why Yamaha signed H eik ki Mikkola for Europe, because the,claiming rul e th is past year almost forced us to switch to production bikes, and that means all deve lopment work would have to be done in Europe . The whole thing gave me ulcers this last year and I . don't want to go through it again in 1977. It was torture all summer long with that 125. You can ask any of the other factory mechani cs what it was like. It was tota l nonsense to go through what we did each week switching bikes, engines, and trying to avoid losing bikes to claims. The who le thing was ridiculous." Bob - "The whole I25cc scene was ridiculous . Going to a 125cc race, me and Bill used to laugh . Yah , we're going to go play with the kids this week. He'd laugh. Yah. next week we're going to go play with the men. It seems like when you go to a 250cc or 500cc race you 're going to race men who want to win . Going to the 125s, I think they're in a d ayd rea m ." Bill- "T he I25sare a party, except for one or two or three guys. " Bob - "The rest of the guys say they know you can be a t me so I'm not gonna try. They don't even try. n a 250 or 500cc race you don't ever say that . No body there says you can beat me soI'm not gonna try . Boy, when it comes to the last lap and you're in front of someone, he's gonna knock you right out of the way and go on by . And I like that a lot more. Pla ying with th e men . " All those kids out th ere on 125s.. . Bill never worked on a 125c c bike before and he didn't know wh at to expect. He brought a b ig bag full of baby rattles to the races ." Bill - "I used to hand those out between motos ." Bob - "I got my pick of the batch ." Bill - "I don't see any solution to the claiming rule, otlier than the factories all using production bikes. The' claiming rule shouldn't exist for National Championship racing. We race for the development of bikes, It doesn't matter whether I'm a tuner o~ a mechanic or parts changer, I still have to report back to the factory what's going on with ~ the motorcycles, We have to race prototype stuff to see what's going on, to see if ideas will work for production. Even the companies that claim they use stock production - bikes for racing really don't, Everyone is a year ahead of what they're selling. The highest placing all year by a rider on a stock bike was Arlo Englund on his 125cc Husky with a third , And that bike was box stock ," Bob - "Even bikes like Steve Wise's FMF Honda are far from stock, You know it when it's as fast as my works Yamaha and fifteen pounds lighter, They should call my bike stock the way it goes , If anyone has prototypes it's the privateers." The last question, of course, was what were their plans for 1977 and thefuture beyond. . Bob - " I've signed with Yamaha again. but for only one year. You never know what can 'ha p pen . I should be racing all 'th ree 'National Championships because as things stand now, there's only one conflicting date . The Japanese want me to go over to Europe for two 125cc races , but I don't know when. " Bill . " It doesn't seem' to get any easier. I've looked at the 1977 schedule and counted something like 48 races that Bob could ride. No one seems to ask the mechanics what they think, though they have to travel by land vehicle to all these events and maintain three different class bikes during the _ week . Although, I must be an exception since Bob is one of the few riders who races all three classes . . " I've been at this a long time now and I've been doing some serious thinking. I'm tired of following the races all the time now . I'm going. to take some time off over the winter and really think about th ings. I haven't made any decisions yet , but I will. "That one goal that's always been up there like the shining North Star is the Grand Prix circuit. It's always been in the back of my mind. Everything is confused right now , so I'm going to go down to Baja and do a little riding with Julle Hagland , Lackey's mechanic. Then I'm going over to Sweden for a few weeks . I should have things sorted out in a few weeks ." Two weeks , after our interview, word was out t hat Bill Buchka was no longer wilh Yamaha . After jour years of turning wrenches jar three oJ the fastest riders in A merica, the glamour, excitement and satisfaction of it had finally worn thin. I knew Bill would be headed for Europe. I tried to come up with some sort of ending for this interview, but a few days before the inteview was due to go to press, Bill phoned up and supplied what had to be the best ofall possible endings. He-uas going to Europe to work for the Swedish Yamaha importer, Torsten Hallman /Enegvist Mota AB,.'where he would be mechanic for their newly signed rider, Bengt A berg, on the 500cc Grand Prix -circuit and, in addition, assist in the development of Yamaha's 500cc fC?,ur-stroke for motocross. Bill was highly excited as he talked about the present prototype models -which were super lightweights with Pro-Fab frames, Fox Airshoxs and Yamaha forks. Production models were to become available later. But even if Bengt A berg and the 500cc Yamaha don't prove to be the winners that Bill usually associates himself with, I won't mind, and -Bill probably won 't either. Just as long as he's over in Europe on the Grand Prix circuit where he wants to be. Where motocross is still natural terrain racing and takes gUts and skill to ride . Where the competition is fierce and ' demanding, yet everyone shar es a certain comradeship. That's what's important. . . . And for Bob Hannah, .the fastest rider in American motocross during 1976, the new racing 'season finds him starting off with twice the experien ce he had over last year. How much of an in fluence Bill Buchka was in his career will probably become apparent with the first few races of the 1977 Florida Wint er~AMA Series. Hopefully, Bill will be right, and any good mechanic will be able to take his place . Because you can only tighten a bolt one way, and you can only put one size jet inthe carburetor so the engine doesn't load -up or seize. What do es matter is that the rider has the desire and th e 'skill to win, 'and with Bob Hannah that's • one qu estion that doesn't, need an answer. 7 ••• • ••• •••