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/126395
California's Can • Ian XCham • 10 ,'I grew up in the sport believing ~ i'n certain ideals ... " By Jim Gianatsis He's like a lot of th e better Pro MX ri ders on the AMA National circu it: . Good enough to p lace in the top 20 each weekend with regularity amid the heaviest of competition among the National stars. At home, in local races , he can win without too much problem . He will never be a National Champion in America because there is only so much room at the top, and it's reserved for the riders who possess the utmost in ability both natural and learned - and desire. Such is Jim Turner. But where Jim Turner differs from many other riders is that he is a thinker. He knows what he wants from motocross, why he rides it and what he wants to give back to the spo rt as well as take from it. It's this desire though to put something into the sport of motocross, particularly in America , to make it bett er that has branded Jim Turner as _ a radical among the riders, a sore spot to promoters, and a trouble-making in surrectionist by the American Motorcyclist Association. For years, top r iders have complained about everything in AMA m o toc r oss: track conditions and safety, the size of purses, and- proper representation on the rules committee and the scheduling of specific races in a series. The AMA has always countered the riders' complaints by saying the riders never use the lines of . communication open for them , like their AMA·selected rider representa tive or special complaint forms the referees are supposed to have at ea ch event. unresponsive to the riders , though , not listening to suggestions or complaints, let alone acting on them in a positive manner. Statements such as the following from a top AMA motocross official have become common. This one was given when it was suggested a riders' meeting be held to discuss problems during the Trans -AMA Series: "I don't want to waste my time listening to you riders bitch ." This past summer during the Nationals it was Jim Turner who tried to form the first professional riders' organization in American motocross . It was an attempt to provide a better relationship and liaison between the rid e rs and the AMA in solving problems together. Much could have evolved from such a union in the way of safety, sponsorship and race promotion. The first few meetings of the riders' organization went off well , but the AMA made it known they were not in favor of it which made some factory team managers afraid to have their riders involved in it. By the end of th e Nationals the riders' organization had fa iled , ~ in part because some riders felt the AMA still wouldn't respond to them as a group and in some way might retaliate, and because th e top factory riders who usually bitched th e loudest about things in private were really well-paid fat -cats. In order not to upset th e a Ie cart , they remained apathetic and didn't join. Without the top riders at · the Nationals, or the majority of privateers who never attend the Nationals, the riders' organization couldn't become a reality. But is Jim Turner really a troublemaker? No . He has certain ideals about what motocross is supposed to be ' like. Twenty -two years old and from Santa Cruz, CA , Turner has been racing Pro since he was 16. "I was going to be the best motocross racer ever. I got third overall in my first Pro race , and it was only going to' be a matter of weeks before I beat Brad Lackey and got a factory ride. Somehow, it d idn't work out that way, " he reminisces . Success came slow for Jim as it did for most Pro motocross riders who lack the natural abi lity of a Bob Hannah. He picked up semi -sponsored shop rides on bikes like Montesa and Buhaco and raced the Nationals and Trans·AMAs when they weren't too far from home. " I was in the process of I getting a really good support ride from Bultaco in 1975 , but like at the Superbowl ... That year I was do ing really well when the bike blew up under me. And then by the end of the year they were pulling out of motocross. Thanks to Bill Buchka I was able to get on the .support program at Yamaha . That didn't last too long though, and a possible.support ride at Suzuki similar to Bob Hannah's fell through at the last moment . "T he first half of the 1975 TransAMA I raced myoId Yamaha . Then at Lake Whitney , Brad Lackey loaned me his practice Husky and I finished ninth with it. The bike didn 't hold up as well the rest of the series, and I · didn't do as well , bu t at least I knew by th en I had som e potential. • " By the end /of the Trans-AMA Series , Brian Lunnis of U .S. Suzuki introduced me to Ikeda from Suzuki of Canada . That eventually led to my flying up to Canada to sign a contract with them to race th e 1976 season. I was given a pair of works bikes . and I raced the 250 and 500cc Nationals and won the Canadian Championship. "My contract with Suzuki of Canada was for just six months, but we had a verbal agreement that if I did well in the Nationals they would let mehave a works bike for the Trans·AMA Series . They d idn't follow through on it and I eventually had to ride the Trans-AMA Series that year on my own expenses with an RM production bike. Because of that I didn't go back up to Canada in 1977 to ride for them again ." The 1977 season proved to be a bad one for Jim . He broke his ankle at the Atlanta Supercross in the beginning of the season and was out of racing for six months . He . was able to line up a sponsorship to return to Canada la te -in the summer and defend his Ca nad ia n National champion title , but the bikes suffered breakdowns and the best he could place was fourth overall. After the Canadian Nationals, Jim dabbled bet ween local races at home and going to college, 'which he had been doing off and on all a long. During the 1978 season, he was abl e to pick up full support from Moto-X Fox to race the 500cc Nationals on an RM400 Suzuki . He was hardly spectacula r against the factory riders J nd their better works bikes . but Jim was one of th e top non -factory riders each week with rnoto finishes as high as seventh place . A co u p le 0 breakdowns though . eventuall y lef him in 18th place overall in th e fina sta nd ings. At the end of the 500c c National with cont in uing sponsorship fro