Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

o 00 (j) ~ Roberts' new Yamaha has a little more straightaway speed than the opposing Suzukis. but rough track handling has hampered his efforts. the 750s. Unfortunately turn nine through tum five is pretty much the whole course. There's onl y a little bit downhill . It just depends on how good the 750s are running. I don't know who 's riding them yet , but , Schlachter of course will be hot. The reason I rode the 750 last year was because it has a bit more bottom power around 7-8000 rpm so when you go up through turn two and three you go almost in fifth or sixth gear -and it will pull strong all the way down that straight. I make up a lot of time after turn two in one gear. I go through . there in fifth and a lot of guys go through in fourth . So mine pulls all the way and I grab sixth and I'm two bikelengths ahead of them , The 500 is not going to be able to do that because there's nothing at 8000 rpm or nine , and at 10,000 you've got the power. So it's going to make it a little more difficult to ride. A little more diffi cult to pa ss then on a good 750 . Now , at Sears Point when I rode against the 750s , it was rough enough that they cou ld n' t use the torque that th ey had . so it worked out better. but for Laguna , I don 't know. It 's a smooth track, and so a 750 is going to be easier to ride. Whether th ey ca n throw it around that long. I don't know. The 500 for me is better because I'm really having a lot of problems with the suspension chatter. And we're going to use Laguna as a test track . Because, you know , when you run GP "They acknowledge the Professional Riders Association now and want to work with us. It's such a giant improvement, I can't believe it. " bikes - I've only ridden a GP bike five times this year. And in five races, when you get two hours of practice and it rains half of that , you just can't get any time on the bike. So you go out in the race and you don't know if it's go ing to work or not . And that's the thing that GP racing is - to help figure it out and then go racing. You don't have Daytona where you have three da ys of practice. . Practice is over and you' re standing there going "practice is over already? You know , I didn't even get to go out yet." And that's about th e way it is. So, Laguna is going to be good that I ride the 500 . The Japanese didn't want me to ride a 500, but we've got to have more time on this thing. We ju st can 't run them eight times a year and expect to have all the bugs sorted out. So for me, there's going to be disadvantages, but to win the world cha m pionship , I'll be able to go back to Silverstone with more progress on the chatter problem , than I would have if I d idn't ride my 500 , . You mentioned Schlacter being hot. Do you think if Freddie Spencer rides Kanemoto's 750 that he's going to be a handful for you? If Freddie rides the 750 Yamaha , he'll be the hottest rider th ere that I'll have to beat. It's hard to say which Am eri can is going to be the hottest because this is the shot they get at me. And so every American there is going to be doing 100%. Whether I do 100 % is going to remain to be seen . Cause 100% around Laguna is quite a bit and for me to go back and finish out two GP races , it's a little risky, So. it's going to be a race - there's no doubt about it. I think that if Freddy rides the Yamaha, it's going jo be a threat. The 750 of Erv's accelerates so quick that it would be really hard to beat on the 500. How about Wes Cooley and ... With a big four-stroke accelerating so quick also out of turn nine up the hill into turn two, along that straight then tum three up the hill the 500 is going to be straining itself. There's no doubt about it . It's going to be buzzing. Where I'll be turning 12,000, they 'll be turning short of 10 and th ey've got the torque to pull up the hills out of the comer, where I'll have to shift probably a couple of more times more than they will , Like I said there's a dis advantage to riding a 500 . To me it's an advantage cause I get another race on it . And I've got two more races left. I wish Laguna was last week, Then I would be a lot more confident going to Finland, One of the things you'll be going for is your 29th National win - setting a new record, How do you feel about that? Well. you know, it's something that's been popping up the last couple of years, but, it's not something I really thrived on. The biggest thing for me is being able to come back to a really good race track and having a really good race and one that people enjoy because you're there - and not just there because you have to go there. It 's kinda like a vacation for me cause every race that I do in Europe through the year is GP racing, and I do Internationals at the end of the year. And this is a break for me because at the World Championships it is very serious. You just don't get a chance to go out and play like I get to do at Laguna . For me it's a happening that I'd like togo to and every yea r I have more and more trouble get ting to Laguna Seca because of the situation; th ey don't want me to do it. 'T he problems I have getting there , bu t the race and American people being able to see a good race that's what it's all about. It's getting the sport built up a little bit so that they can see motorcycle racing and sorne day America will get a World Championship, and I'd like to see that at Laguna , So that's why I come back and race. The thing is, if I get a chance to get a breather and have some fun and Americans get the chance to have a really good race. It's certainly not money - I can tell you that. How does Laguna Seca compare as a race track to the GP circuits in Europe? Well , it's a good race track . It's really good, close racing. Europe has some really good race tracks. They often don't run on th em, it' s com plica ted - "It's not a great big advantage to have a little faster motorcycle at this point. It's making the motorcycle work around the race track that's the pro blem now. " but , often the best tracks don't get race on because the federation of that country has always had it before we're going to give it to this track. Like in Italy this year. they have really good race tracks but they give it to Mazanno, which is really not a good race track . The pits are twice as small as Laguna . You've got 400 riders - ir was terrible. But, for some reason. we're at Mazanno and not Imola or Monza or one of the good tracks. So, they 've got really good tracks , but often you don't get to run on them . And when you do , like I said , it's not like Laguna. it's not fun . It 's very serious. Laguna is probably one of the quickest long courses that could be a short course. It's fa irly long and the English version of a short course is fairly long, but it's as scrappy as a short circuit, so it's kind of an American circuit, long and you can really ride your balls off. Have you got any plans for next _yea r ? Are you going to go back and defend your title? Oh, no , I have no plans , I'm waiting ' for America to get their dirt races down to 500cc. If that happens will you try to go back and win the National Championship? Yeah , I think so. It sure would be something for me to look at. Right ' now it's just not feasible. r. •

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