Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Linda Zierer Second in 0-37 but still numero uno in her field By Alan Paulsen Photo by Gordon V. Lewis While .accumulating enough points to finish second within her district at season's end , enduro rider Linda Zierer also managed to accumulate enough grade points to finish as the first female graduate of th e motorcycle repa ir p rogram a t Los Angeles-Tec h nic al College , where top notch racin g m a chine 18 b ui lde rs a n d t u ne rs h a ve be e n gra duating for the pa st d ozen years , Lith eso m e Lind a has the proportions of a jockey, so it's no wo nd er th e iro n hors es she rides respo nd like th oroughb reds. Soaking wet she ca n't we ig h m o re t h an "Hu rr ican e " H annah's leathers. Even so , sh e was a b.ll: .t9 .I1Qld her her . own aga inst a co m pe titive field unt il edged ou t by Ann Men ell who rul ed the powerpuff ci rc ui t in AMA District 37 o n a 36 0cc Husky. A lth o ug h o nly 102 lbs. at 5'5" in . he ight , Lin d a has m or e than adeq ua te ly proven her stam ina d uring th e sea son and by fin ish ing in events su ch as th e Greenhorn Enduro , Sh e sho ws u p a t eve ry d ist rict a nd n atio nal eve nt from Victo rville to Red Mo untain , Go rman to Ballinger Canyo n , Ca lifornia Cit y to Redl an d s, She has been riding with a group which j ust became an official club known as The P it C rew. . " I th ink that di rt bik e com pe tition probably is m ore st re n uo us fo r women than it is for men ." Linda co ncedes . " Bu t women are bett er at e nd ura nce running ," sh e qu alified , " beca use t heir bodies are a ble to m etabolize ca r bo hyd ra tes a t a m o re efficient rat e. So fo r end u ra nce spo rts , I feel wom en ca n ofte n p rove to be be tter . " 1 rid e end uros, wh ich co m b ine ph ysical strengt h wit h end ura nce a nd sta m ina , I feel th at I ca n compete wit h th e guys stami na -wise , but usu all y they ca n pu t u p with a lot m ore physica l abuse . I know two wome n right off the ba t wh o I wou ld sa y ca n co mpete with t he to p " B" riders in th e d ist rict. T hey're tha t good. " Lin da rides a Hon d a SLl25 board a nd stroked out to 175cc wit h m odifications that include a quick-re lease rear wheel for cha ngi ng ti res fa st , a swingi ng arm exte nd ed by two inches, a ngel-mo u nted sho cks fo r greater travel , a C RI2 5 fro nt end with a n extende r kit to g ive th e forks 8 ~" of tra vel , a n o il coo ler, an XLI25 head and a ddit iona l f in a rea o n t he cylinder. " It was co mpeti tive, bu t it didn't h a n d le wo rt h be a ns," L in d a lamented . " I d id n't d o the m od ifica tions to m y sus pension unt il the very end of t he season. so I really was n' t a ble to benefit fro m th em . Bu t I re ally needed it , beca use th ere we re some events where t he speeds were so h igh ove r th e fla t st uff t hat ' I woul d be bott om ing out every time I ca m e; d own . It re a lly slowed me down ." Linda services her own m ach in ery. Her interest in fra mes a nd suspe nsio n led her to learn weld ing, m etal fitt ing , swin ging arm m odification , and fr ame pat ching a ll o n her own . Yet to enhance her prospect s for a promising ca reer in t he m ot orcycle industry, she reached th e co ncl usion t hat some type of fo r mal t r aini ng wo u ld prove ben efici a l. " Person a lly," she says, " 1 feel it's bett er to have fo rma l training first , beca use if noth ing else , it tea ches you discipline . It also keep s you from fanning a lot of bad ha bits early. I know somebo dy who is a very good m ech anic , who is very ca refu l, and does very good work , a nd he's learned it all o n his ow n. W e've solved sim ilar problems, arrivi ng a t th e same co nc1usions going in th e sa me d irectio n , b ut o u r t heo ry w as co m p lete ly d ifferent ! In some cases , that co uld crea te a p ro b lem - maybe preventing you fro m solving the p ro bl em ea rlier - because an understanding of the prob lem isn't quite right. It could 1 m islead you ." Linda chose reputab le T rade-T ech Coll ege to p ursue her training. T radeTech began t he first two -yea r degree prog ram in m o t o r c ycl e r e p a ir m ech a n ics ever offered in th e United Sta tes , G o rd en R at ch et m ot ocro ss tuners Bill W est and Da ve Arnold , wh o tune fo r Rick Burgett and Marty Sm ith respecti vely, are prod uc ts of this cu rr icu lum . " I ha ve n um ero us friends wh o are m echa nics ." sai d Linda , " a nd they all sa id tha t Trade-T ech was the best place to go for traini ng . Everyt hing th at I've lea rn ed in th e course was a new discovery th a t I fou nd very int er e st ing a nd a c h a lle ng e . Th e inst ru ction is in -depth , and there's 'an excelle nt balance between theory and practi cal app lica t ion ." It was a boyfr ien d wh o prompted her o rigi nal interest in bikes. H er first m achine was an X L250 o n whi ch she did a lot of street riding , incl uding two ' exc ursions to San Fran cisco from Los Angeles and b ac k . H owever , Li nd a says her paren ts di d n't co nsider her past rim e a very ladylike endeavor . " My im pression was tha t t h ey wer en't te rribly fo nd of t he dam t hing s , an d it ce rt ai n ly wa s n 't femin ine . I th ink they reall y wanted me to d o somethi ng th ey th ought was m ore be fitt ing a you ng wom a n ," she recalled . Alm ost immediately upon gradua tion fr om Sylm ar H ig h School , Lind a became an elec tronics draftsm a n . Sh e worked at ot her jobs from time to time tha t req uir ed hard p hysica l labor, from ra nch wo rk to fen ce repair and clearing fields by hands. At o ne po int she d id kennel wo rk a t a cat she lter. Wh ile enrolled a t T rade-Tec h she bega n see ki ng wo rk as a m ech a nic. It ' was H a rid y Cycle of W est Los An geles t hat fin a lly took he r m o tivat ions ser iouslv , " I co" nsider m ysel f extremely luck y becau se I had go ne to a lmost every single m ot o rcycle shop in th e Los An geles area and as ked fo r a jo b . a nd I've actua lly been la ughed -ou t o f the

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