Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.. Privateer's' . progress: <.0 ~ I-< Cl.I .c S Cl.I > o By Charles Morey echanics, riders and hangers-on scu rri ed from tarp to tarp , crossing the pit area in a seri es of chipmunk-like dashes a nd pauses to avoid th e first raindrops of tile '77 Trans-AMA series. Huddled on top of the Unadilla hill like an encampment of refugees from a flood area , vans, motorhomes and factory -owned trucks of varyi ng sizes and shapes provided shelter for their busy occupants. In sp ite of the ea rly hour, ot her Unadilla hillsides were filling with yellow and red raingear-clad spectators; still more rested their elbows on the pit fence watching th e nervous prerace hustling within. Off in one corner, two yellow Husqvarna t ru cks established the boundaries of a large enough area for two rider/mechanic/bike triads to settle in and d o business. A broad tarp formed a roof between them , and it was there that Er ic Crippa added the last minute touches to Kent Howerton's Number One plate D earing Husky and the im port ed Swedi sh tea m of Hakan Carlqvist and mechanic Pelle Persson p repared for Carlqvisr's first Trans·AMA event. The Carlqvist/Persson duo's pre sen ce no doubt accou n ted for th e number of Husky hon ch os who'd a rr ived from the Ohio a nd California offices, most of them to wit ness their first Trans-AMA race of the '77 series. There was a third Husqvarna ride r under the tarp , a 21 yea r-old MX er from Sh erwood , Oregon. wh o .. wedged between his cycle and the truck he'd driven the re with his knees against th e engine cases a nd his back against th e truck .. work ed quietl y changing the ne edle setting on his carburetor. Ch arl es Lai Sun , "Chuck" to a growi ng nu m ber of friends and fa ns, sto p ped wor king to share a m om ent with a n inquisitive newspape r reporter who wanted to se t up a tim e for a n int erview. "Where're you stay ing?" th e reporter asked. "Do you na ve a room at th e AMA Headquarters motel? I'll meet you after the race and we'll do the interview." "W ell.. .I got a floor last night. .. " Sun replied thought fully. apparently unsure whether he should use the borrowed shelter as a meeting place. The reporter was taken b y surprise. He'd made the sam e mistake that so many people do when thinking about so-called "factory riders." He 'd assumed that Sun. the newest member of Team Husqvarna , was operating on a company expense account, that he was being paid a salary and that of course the rider who had established himself as the man to beat in the Trans·AMA National/Support class series must certainly have been offered a bed in one of Husky's motel rooms on the night before a race . He was wrong on all three counts. The man who crouched working before him , wearing a Husky hat, wearing a Husky jacket, driving a Husky truck and being his own mechanic on a Husqvarna that he'd ridden into the winner's circle at the Mid -Ohio and Lake Sugar Tree ra ces, was a p rivateer. It took a minute to sink in. And then , even after considering that the big buck Japanese teams have blown race budget figures far out of proportion , it seemed unfair. . "O K." he answered finally , "No problem. I'll catch up with you later , and we'll work it out. " If Chuck Sun objects to his life on the motocross circuit, he doesn't admit it. Driving a truck furnished by Hu sqvarna .. they also proyide bikes, parts and the same win money given to any Husky rid er ($100 for first . $7S for second) -- Sun logg ed 4S,O m iles this OO season competing in any championship cal iber event he could find . He bought th e gas. He bought th e food. He either slept in the truck. bummed a pla ce to sleep, or paid for a room out of his own po cket. depending often tim es on how he 'd pl aced on the previous Sunday. And he fin ished seventh in the 1977 overall National standings. Bob Hannah. Marty ~mith . Dan- Z M ny LaPorte , Tony DiStefano. Kent Howerton and Tommy Croft will have lower numbers in '78. Name an y other factory rider; he'Il have a National Number larger than Sun's number ~ht. Ask him a bo u t th e bike; he says it's grea t. Ask him why he tunes it himself; he has an answer for tha t on e, too . "When I work on my own bike, everything's there. I'm my own tuner -- it helps if I can get into my bike -a few pounds of air in the forks ... you know. It keeps me busy during the week , too . Gives me som ething to d o. " H is present race machine (Sun also has a 2S0cc practice bike ) is constructed around an old frame of Kent Howerton's. Husky forks and a set of shocks were bummed from Eric Crippa, Howerton's tuner, who also gave him one of the new 2S0cc cylinders that had undergone some improvements from Eric 's port grinde r. Sun gathered pieces from a 390CR. his 2S0cc Na tional machine and the basi c motor from his Supercross cycle, and blended them into th e bik e that's winning the Trans-AMA National/Support class series . Chuck Sun approaches motocross in the same way a small businessman approaches his chosen means of. earning a living . He invests a lot of hard work and long hours , and he does so willingly because he values two . th ings : he likes what he 's doing and he takes pride in his independenc e. Those ar e two traits that he come s by na tu ra lly. Chuck is one of five children born to Roger and Carolyn Sun. His fa ther is a n independent businessman, and that's wher e Chuck seems to have picked up his ability and willingness to succeed . "He likes to !:Un his own bus iness ," Chuck said of his father , then explained that he'd been involved in data processing until about five yea rs ago when he 'd bought a gas station. "H e's just a real good businessman. He employs th ree mechanics a nd people to pump gas. My brothers Ron. Mark and Kenny work for him . And if you mention anything about my brothers. you better mention my siste r Suzie , too . She does gymnastics," Chuck smiled sitting in a New York restaurant thinking about his family on the other side of the country. Sun got into .wha t he calls a healthfood binge a couple months ago , and he consumes "handfuls of vitamins" every day to attain a nutritional balance, It all started with a tr ip to his dentist where the doctor told him he'd been eating too many carbohydrates and sent him to a specia list to have a ha ir analysis , Hair clippings were analyzed , a nd from the data obtained (" It had ab out five pages of graphs and charts!" Sun reca lled) vitam ins wer e prescribed to overcome ' any deficiencies, " O nce everythi ng's balanced out, I'll just take a mu lti-vitamin ," Chuck exp lained . Good eating, to Chuck Sun. me a ns "Gra ndm a's Chinese homecooking," bu t while on the road he just tries to maintain a balance of the good basic foods and sta y awa y .. as mu ch as possible .. from junk food. Exercise. including running, skiing, bicycling and dirt bike rid ing, keeps his S'9" a t a tr im l S0·pounds year round. Charlie Halcomb , a Husky rider from- California, travels with Sun " the two form a m in i-con voy with their box-vans .. an d a more agreeable pai r would be hard to find , Good natured teasing. naturally , is part of the deal. "Don' t forget to tell them about his Naki," Charlie grinned when th e con versati on hit a lull. " It's his blanket ., mostly pink l" "Heyl" Chuck was defensive , yet ready to joke. "That's Grandma's blanket. Don 't make funl '' "H e never washes it ," Halcomb continued gleefully , "W e even taught that blanket to drive so we could sleepl" . "G irls like it ," smiled Chuck, looking at the floor . "No, not reallyl" he added quickly, probably won dering what Grandma would think when she read the interview, Sun says he has no steady girlfriend. He tried it last year; he , his girlfriend and mechanic Rocky Coursen traveled the circuit together in a pickup truck. Bu t they broke up , she married another pro motocrosser and Chuck seems too invol ved right now in building his career to handle a fulltime relationship . Roger DeCoster was the name that popped up when Sun was asked who was his most respected rival. then he qualified the statement. "H e's not really a rival , I guess. I don't really race against him, but he's the most respected rider. Mark Barnett. I guess, is my most respected rival in this series ." "My goal for this yea r was to place in the top ten in everything. I missed it in the SOOcc Nationals." With one event left in the AMA Supercross Series . Sun holds eleventh place, six points behind Tommy Croft. He earned ninth place in the 12Scc National Series and eighth in the 2S0cc National standings. Next year will be an especially important one for Chuck Sun. He's shown steady improvement for the past three seasons,and 1978 will be the one where he'll be trying hard for a National title. ''I'm goin' for the 2S0cc Nationals -- see if I can get that big Number One." he says. . And unlike many of the young pros, he'd like to race Europe in World Championship competition. " One more year in th e U.S ., " Sun concedes. "would be necessary. I'm not ready yet, but I will be. " Do you hope to do it on a Husky? "Yes." • 19

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