Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

C<") I-< CIJ ..c o 4-l U o Woulcl you care to tell us about the accident at Lincoln? It happened in a practice session before the National. I broke my right leg in six places, broke the chest bone below my neck and also broke my neck. There was also some nerve damage in my neck and from that I lost the use of my left arm. I didn't use tbe arm for two years. I went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and they ran some tests and then operated on my neck. They told me to forget ever having use of the arm. I went back home to Texas and then went to Baylor University Medical Center in Houston. They also ran some tests and told me to for~t it. They couldn't find the damaged neryes. Two years later I began to get feeling in the arm and began to use it a bit. I took physical therapy and workouts to strengthen the arm and in the end I regained about 85% use of it. Was the decision to retire a hard one ro make? Considering the extent of my injuries, 0'0_ However, I wasn't really ready to leave racing 'and it was like taking away a pan of my life to quit. I had already made .uP my mind before the accident to quit motorcycle racing as Number One and move on into auto racing. But the accident changed all that. I was leading in points when it happened and it was almost two years before I was really healed. During that time all my deals went down the drain. I probably would have won the title despite getting hun if I had won the Springfield (Illinois) Mile. I was leading the race and had lapped everyone except Markel. I could see him ahead of me, but the gas tank split after another lap and that was that. What was the dealro go auro racing? I was working on a deal to race cars with Paul Goldsmith, who was a big name in NASCAR at the time. The deal would have hopefully involved a ride with the Ford factory. I had a sponsor, Paul Fisher, who wanted to buy me a car to race in 1962, but I wasn't finished racing bikes. I used to race some local din track late model (sponsman) events in Texas so I had a bit of background in auto racing. I was laid up so long after my accident that all the deals I had went away. That was just "bout the time the factories pulled out of stock car racing and left a lot of drivers sitting on the fence. I was two years too late. Had I. not been hun, I would have definitely gone into NASCAR Grand National racing. I think I could have done some good. If I didn't, I wouldn't have thought about quitting bikes. Is it possible .for a rider to llominate the sport today as you did in your day? I don't believe so. When I was racing, I used to make it a point to get an edge on everyone right from the stan of the season. I used to try harder the first few events to go as fast as I possibly could. That was my way of psychin/{ the riders into thinking that I was even Did you have a favorite event when faster than I was before. Even in prae-. you were racing? tice. I used to split from the pack and The Springfield Mile was probably my run alone. That was another psyche favorite. I used to get a thrill out of job. riding at Ascot, but we only raced It seemed that once a guy beat you there. once a year. Road racing was or thought he could, then at the next becoming another thing that I was getevent he would probably try to give ting the hang of. I won two in my final you trouble again. You had to make year and was getting pretty good. the riders think that they couldn't beat 1just liked to race. During the year, you. I would run at least two or three events How good was your equipment? a week; sometimes more. I think it was I think it was very good. I did all the an advantage for me. I could go to a chassis work which left my tuner, local track and try out a lot of dif· Ralph Burke, plenty of time to spend ferent things. Then, when I went to a on the engines. I had a pretty good National, I was really ready. Today, a combination going. lot of riders just race the Nationals. I . Was your chaMis and suspension can't say whether that is /{ood or not. knowledge a big plus in your racing? I would say so. I knew what I wanted How much money did you make as and what felt good to me when I Grand National Champion? raced. I set my bikes up a lot different The founh time I won the Grand than other riders. Once, when I was National Championship I made about hun, I let a couple of other riders use $18,000. To make that much I had to my bikes. It seemed like none of them win about 80% of the events I entered. could get the hang of it. My style was It was good money in those days, but to run full bore into the corners, and things have changed a bit since then. then bend it over with the throttle still What brought you back ro Harleywide open. You had to get the rear end Davidson? coming around or else you couldn't I spent almost 10 years back home in tum it. If you rolled off the gas before Port Arthur, Texas working in the it was turning you were in a lot of shipyards doing welding and working trouble. I liked it that way, but in machine shops. Then, in 1972, I nobody else did. was in Houston watching the Bart Markel was one penon you Nationals and (Ha.rley-Davidson rac:ed against that didn't like to lOR. racing honcho) Dick O'Brien· came Ban was the toughest competition l o v e r to talk to me. He had found out had. When we raced, we really raced. that I had gotten a divorce and figured We used to try and psyche each other since I had no strings attached that I out when we got to the track. If Ban might like to come work for him at showed up for an event, I knew that I Harley. had to work because he was always a Was it different when you got back? threat. A lot of other riders felt the I had been away from racing for 10 same. yean when I returned to Harley. I Markel was like a Kamikazie pilot staned going to the races, but it wasn't on the track. He was a charger who the same as bdore. Working on the didn't let anything get in his way. I bikes can never take the place o( being think that if he had slowed down he out there on the track. would have actually gone faster. He What do you do in the racing shop? was always charging and it got him in· A little bit of everything, but mainly to trouble at times. Sometimes he'd be welding, fabricating, a little suspen· trying so hard that he'd stuff it a little sion work and anything else that needs too hard into a comer and lose to be done. Awhile ago I was working whatever ground he had gained with Ron Alexander doing a lot of the before. dyno work, but Ron is gone now to I believe in my last two years I open his own shop. slowed down, in a sense, and because Do you think lay Springsteen has a of that I was actually going faster. chance to break your record of four . There was one other rider who gave consecutive AMA Grand National me a run for the money many a time. championship titles? George Roeder was always tough. I believe that his chances are as good as mine were when I won my four titles. Records are made to be broken and this one has held up for 17 seasons. Springsteen bas a helluva lot of competition. maybe as much or more than when I was racing. Things are so much different DOW. Everyone, to a cenain degree. is on equal equipment. It is really up to the individual. Years ago there were two or three riders who were going fast and they would split from the rest of the field. That still happens at times. However. when I was racing if a guy could come up with a trick chassis tbat would handie a little better. a rider could just about run away from the competition. Suspension and chassis are still the key words in racing, but at least a rider staning out is on a bike built to do the job he bought it for. In the old days you could pretty well predict who was going to be coming across the finish line first. Today, with equipment like it is, any number of riders could win. Is lay Springsteen's style lOIDewhat like youn? Springer has a lot of determination. I had a lot of determination when I rode also. He doesn't like to get beat and neither did I. His biggest plus is that he has a lot of natural talent and is capable of winning on any track at any time. Is the racing as good as it UJed ro be? I don't think that the spectator gets the show that they used to. I believe it is mainly because of chassis development and the new style tires. Years ago a rider would run it high into a comer, get on the gas and run it out. Today the bikes have brakes so a rider just tracks through the comers. Follow the leader racing isn't much of a show. New, wider tires with hard and soft compounds have changed racing a great deal. Until they came on the scene, there were a number of tracks which had lap and/or event records that had stood for many years. Now, it's a new record every time you race. What do yOll do ro relax? After work, I just wallr. across tbe street from the plant to a house which I recently bought. There is some fixing up to do and that takes a lot of time. When I'm nOl working on the bouse, I do a little work on my bikes and those of some friends. I've got a workshop actually a small scale machine shop in the basement. I just bought a (Harley) Low Rider and I'm having a good time changing it around a bit to suit me. I guess you could say that I'm just cruising a bit and enjoying things. Do you plan ro attend any even.. this year? I don't know. I doubt that it will be as a pan of the racing team since I'm not really a member of the crew as far as the traveling goes. Right now I'm planning to make a few races on my own and just be a spectator having a good time. I'll probably ride my bike to a couple of events like the Indianapolis Miles. If somebody comes up with a good offer, I might hit a couple of others. • I:.-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;;iiiiiiiii;;;;i;;i;;;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;i;i;;;;;;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil 21

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