Words of wisdom f low freely from
hot shoe w izard Ken Maely (above).
(Below) Correct lines are only a
sma ll facet of Bast's course.
The acts of life,
s eedways Ie
Mike Bast tells all in a two-day
seminar at Ken Maely's goose ranch
By Charles Morey
Photos by Melissa Mclaughlin and Morey
It happens about halfway through the Costa Mesa program. Sitting on
the perimeter of Harry Oxley's tiny oval at the Orange County Fairgrounds among the unlikely mixture of partying motorcycle industry
people, local teenagers involved in their pre-adult singles game training,
and other assorted crazies, the motorcycle rider m akes a decision: He's
20 got to try riding speedway.
Usu all y , on e of t he stars has just
done his th ing . Perhaps it was Bru ce
"T he Fox" Penhall , resplendent in his
new Bel -Ra y leathers. who 's jus t
passed all three riders in fro nt of him
in th e last tum of th e last lap in a wild
outside slide that's left tire tr ead marks
on Harry's white wall . Or maybe it was
Alan " C r a zy" Christian whose
incred ible slid ing style has him looking
over his right shoulder to see where
he's going as he literally backs into the
turns. Bu t more than likely , it was sixtime National Champion Mike Bast
who 's just pulled off one of his supersmooth and absolutely untouchable
rides to victory.
When Bast needs to win - and
usually he does - no one ca n top him .
No one in the world , particularly on
Costa Mesa 's mini -oval.
A speedw ay bik e - this one 's a
Ma ely - f eels like no other motorcycle . Can't get comfortable on it . T he
seat's to o low, too narrow, and th e
only [ootpeg, which is on th e righ t
side, drops down so low you can use it
f or a sidestan d. The handlebars aren 't
even st raight: Th e lef t side pulls back
while th e throttle side is alm ost flat .
T he fu el tan k is so tiny and the front
f orks and wheel so spindly that it f eels
