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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126466
season riding for Honda.· I just wantedthe same bike I had been riding in
Supercross all year. my good bike, and
the supplies and pans I needed. Honda
said no, they wouldn't give me anything
because of what happened and they
didn't even want me to ride the race.
I asked why wouldn't they just
release me from the contract. Honda
said I ha'd to honor my contract till the
end of the year but I couldn't ride
Anaheim because when I signed last
year it wasn't in the contract for them
to supply me with bikes for Anaheim. I
don't even think they wanted to hire
me for '79 'cause they had different
management when I signed, and the
only reason they kept me on was because I won the Trans-AMA Support
class and they were paying me such a
small salary they could get by cheap.
What bike did you finally ride at
Anaheim?
My practice bike. It had: about the
same frame as the stadium bikes but it
was pretty thrashed. I called up Cliff
Lett from Toomey Racing and asked
him if he would help me work on my
bike and make it a little faster. One of
the guys at Kawasalti lent me some
KYB shocks he had built but they
didn't work right and I wound up
using the stock shocks.
Are there hard feelings between you
and Honda?
Not between me and (race director)
Dennis McKay because I think he
undentands why I changed but I know
he's kinda disappointed in the way it
had to happen. But he knows I was
having trouble with the bikes and I
just wanted to race and not have to
worry about tbe bikes.
I don't know bow the people higher
up at Honda feel but they threatened
to sue me if I rode the Superbiken at
Carlsbad. and somebody told tbe L.A.
Times that I had been dropped and
that kinda bothen me. I'm not really
mad at them but I didn't get paid for
November and that's one of the reasons
I rode the Superbikers. My contract
said I would be paid ten thousand
dollars for the year and I was supposed
to get it in regular payments. Maybe
tbe payment is late but it's never been
this late before. (Reid received the
money after this interoiew was con·
. ducted . .. Editor.)
What happened at the Superbikers?
Well I really wanted to ride the Kawasaki and start racing on it to feel what
it's like in competition. Honda came to
me and said they would sue if I rode
the race on a Kawasaki but I figured I
wasn't paid for the whole year and I
was only contracted to Honda to ride
the 125s. Besides. it says in the
contracts that when they ask for the
bikes back it's a notification that you're
done with your job.
Anyway I'm glad I rode the Superbikers - the Kawasakis were really fast
and it was kinda fun riding on the
pavement. I really wanted to win but I
just ran out of tread when I pitched
the bike sideways trying to pass Howerton. After I fell I was trying to get back
in the race and everyone was pulling
me off the track and being all concerned. I didn't really get hun except
my tailbone burt for a couple days.
What do you think will be lOme of
the differences in 1980 with Kawasaki?
Well the Kawasakis are working pretty
well rigbt now and we won't bave to do
m.uch but just get everything dialed in
and set up right. Maybe test some new
tires and small stuff like that. Those
guys at Honda are going to be doing a
lot of work to develop them all year.
Honda is always working on big stuff
like complete shock absorben. frame
geometry and other major things.
Last year we would get tbe bikes
maybe a week before we had to be
someplace like Ohio. We'd drive all
(Continued to page 23)
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