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/126332
"Since then Suzuki has been giving a bike away at every GP and that makes it more difficult. On top of that , Suzuki has been giving their team men orders, Yam aha hasn't , and that · has made life more di fficult! "For th e fin al race at Nu rburgring it would hav e been nice if Yamaha ha d issued som e instructions to eit he r Cecouo or Takazumi Johnny Kat ayam a in case they had been behind Ba rry a nd ahead of me and so jeopardized my chances, but t hey didn't. In fact Yamaha in J a pan has always wa nted Johnny Cecotro to win "the series. " In Ven ezuela a t the start of the Season I had the same 500 that I have now , except that it didn't have the sepa ra te cylinde rs. I didn't know Cecotto ha d a special bike unti l the second d ay of practice , and th en I think it was Barry who to ld me . The J apanese wer e being ra the r secr et ive about it. T ha t mad e me a littl e ups et. We had pulled th e money together to come over to ' Europe. I d idn't want anything better than an yone else, but I wanted at least the same . " My bike seized on the first lap because of some p ro blems we had been ha ving in practice. But I feel if th e bike had hung together I would have been running with Ba rry in the rac e. T he heat was th e biggest problem, not th e opposition. But I think I could have coped with that. " After th a t we were given the good stuff by th e fac tory an d went to Spain . We had some proble ms with throttl es stic king ope n a nd Pat Hennen bea t me. At t ha t time I felt that Pa t was goi ng to be th e big threa t, anyw ay. His form in Englan d a t Easter was good and I wasn't too worried ab ou t Ba rry . T he rac es at Austria and Fran ce confirm ed that. " Pal was faster th is 'yea r tha n Barry and was re ad y to beat him . I'm no t saying he would ha ve been World Champion , but if it had n' t been for his cr ash in t he TT he would ha ve been higher up in the cham pio nshi p points than Barry. It's ha rd to say. perhaps he could ha ve been cham pion . Cert ainly, at the time he was hu n , he was rid ing bett er tha n Barry. , " In France th ings work ed out well. I like th e tr ack , th e tires were good and they lasted the distance . I t might ha ve looked easy. but it's never easy. On a good rac e tr ack I th ink I ca n be com peti tive with a nyone. " I liked Mugello in Italy. Everything was work ing good th er e. W hen th e bike is right a nd th e tires worki ng good it mak es it a lot easie r on me. All I had to do was ride it and Pa t Henn en was again th e onl y threat. " Pa t' s and my bike were abou t dead even , but he ha d a lit tle bit ext ra ' on acceleration. But after Assen the Suzukis wer e a bit qu icker. "At the Dut ch TT my bike was running a bit rich , beca use of th e lack of time in p ract ice , so Cecouo's bike was going a bit better. But when a slower guy pu t me on t he gr ass on the last lap I lost the on ly cha nce I had of passi ng h im . " I kn ew whe re I had to pass him . Ther e's a hard b ra king. right hand comer after th e esses. I was going to draft him goi ng in , pull out and outb ra ke him , and th er e was no place left for him to rep ass me. Three corn ers before that . th ough , th e slower gu y pu t me on th e grass. " I didn't like th e Belgian GP at all. One problem was that I only had a bou t seven laps practice alt ogether, a nd of them , only five wer e in th e d ry. I didn't hate it · I just thought th e track was stu pid. It didn't m ake sense to have to go th at fast with the gu ar d rails all the way round .the cir cu it. It would n't ha ve " a tt ered wher e I m finished . Even [Continued if I had won I would '. . . • t ~ ~ I{ e . ~ 7 ) . Vetter Superbike Team Reg Pridmore AMA # 163, 1976-77 Superbike Champ The People: Craig Vetter Enth usiast and Sponsor Pierre des Roches Builder and T uner The Bike : . Yoshimura R&D, racing pistons, cam & chain and close ratio gear box Axtel mod if ied head with oversized intake valves Stock carbs , bored and str eamlined (flow 85% more than stock ) Ignition .: Accel co ils Champ ion Plugs Lockha rt Oil Cooler Engine Output: 130 plus HP at 10,000 RPM (Reasonably flat power output with 90 HP at 6,000 RPM) With help from our friends at: Bates Racing Leathers f o r your free tr uc k decal t o : Bell Helmets V et1 er Superb ike Kawasaki Motor Corp. RantOU l, I II. 61866 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000 A·2 Unnecessary brackets removed, frame braced Laid-down S&W rear shocks Morris Cast Magnesium Wheels Rear - WM7 -18 Front -WM4-19 Goodyear and/or Dunlop Tires Harry Hunt Discs. Alum inum , drilled, plasma coated Weight: 430 Ibs. ( Th e AMA minimum ) Engine Work: Kawasaki 21 1015 cc Bassani SuperbikeExhaust System Send • • - - -= - Reg Pridmore w ins 3rd straight A MA Superbike Product ion title Reggie Pridmore is recognized internatio nally as one of motorcycle racing 's Superstars. Reg , as three time Champion, draws upon his vast knowledge and experience to select and even design those accessories and performance products that make him a w inner . TSUBAKI SUPER CHAIN is one of those products the Vetter team relies on for consistent record w inning performance. Ask for TSUBAKI SUPER CHAIN at your dealers . SUDCD INTERNATIONAL 1824 E. 22nd St . Los Angeles, CA 90058 213-747·5173 • 15