Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126501
No, the new bikes are not built yet. 1 don't test the new bikes till the end of February. 1 won't race a GP until the 29th of April in Austria so we have plenty of time to get the new bikes sorted out. We still have some testing to do on last year's equipment. That will be done, shortly, 1 don't know when. We'll test some suspension, some frames, and stuff like that to try and make next year's bike better. 1 think that next year the bike will be a little bit more to my specifications and my testing than they ever have been. Last year they built the bike for me but I really didn't test it. The problems that we ran into last year were that the bike was so light that we developed some more chatter problems - the bike was skidding around more than it did in 1979. So we have to work on that, change the geometry, play with engines, stuff like that, to get the bike to react like it did in 1979 - with the weight - without the weight. So we're gonna be working on that. 1 think it can be done. What engine and what powerband and what change and all that stuff I don't know yet. Who do you think will be your top challenger next year? R.a.ndy Mamola again? Yeah, Randy will be the biggest threat. There's abo been quite a bit of rumor and speculation about a teammate for you, a Yamaha teammate. Has there been anything? Well to my knowledge they have given Barry Sheene a works bike and parts, exactly the same as I got when 1 first went over. I don't know if they signed Barry as an official teammate or just from what I understand it was an English run team. Whether or not he's my official teammate I'm not sure, because no one has told me. So I have to get that clear. "Next year the bike is going to be more to my specification and my testz"ng than they ever have been. " What would be Y9Ur feelings about having Barry as an official Yamaha teammate? I have no problem with Barry being a teammate, if he is a teammate. Naturally I'm the number one rider at Yamaha. I don't know if Barry would be put in the number two position or not, that's one of the things that probably uncenain at this time. It's very difficult to stan out with a teammate and then halfway through the year someone gets upset because they have to be put in the number two spot. That's why Yamaha I think was a little reluctant in hiring a teammate was because of this problem. In Europe it's a big problem to say "you have to run second." They want to be sure that they can get a guy when they say, "Hey, now you have to.run second because we need the points," that he will run second and not be constantly thinking about it. The problem in motorcycle racing is that mOlt of the guys aren't professional eno.ugh to say, "Hey you can't win the world championship but we'd like you to help our main man." Well most of the time, especially the Italians, they throw a big fit because they think they can win the race. But that's a new position problem since the last three years. When they stan giving some orders, half the people take them and ha.lf the people don't. So when you 0" .t-... _..i \:1 ~ t ~ ...~ _ really don't want to get into this kind of political problem; when they sign a guy to be on the Yamaha team they really want the right guy. "I can run 11 races in Eu.rope and win the World Championship or I can come back to Amenca and run 30 races, sometimes twice a week. " How is the relationship now between your group, the Professional R.iders Aasociation, and the flM? Right now we have one problem and that's Spa Francorchamps. We understand that they have given Spa the GP back for '81, the race will be held ill Spa. From what I understand talking on the phone and we have our riders' representative from the PRA that was supposed to go and see the Spa circuit 'and find out if we had this fIXed to OUT satisfaction. And I have not heard yet whether it has or has not. The relationship now with the FIM is OK. We have a riders' organization who wants a say before, and they, so far, have listened to it. Whether this will be a big conflict we don't know. The sanctioning body still has not set big strides in coming to our requests, although the Spanish races are out as far as the 5005 are concerned, they're a waste of time. We don't know about the other classes. We have a good race track in Sweden now at Anstop, a good race track. Finland is still in the streets so we still have .ome work to do. But they are listening to us, at least. Whether we're getting anything done it's very hard to say because we've only been doing it a half a year. And . trying to make a big improvement in half a year is impossible with a sanctioning body it has to have everything tied up with a year, year and a half advance. We won't really see if we're making any improvements until next year. We give you a very good chance of winning a fourth straight world championship. Would you go back to Europe for another year, or would you stay in the U.S.? It's very difficult to turn down the racing in Europe, if you're the World Champion. It would be very difficult to turn down the money that's offered in Europe just to go there and race. But when you've had yOUT fill of it, if you've been there for three times, and let's say next year I'm not the World Champion or I am the World Champion and I'm tired of racing Europe, I probably will not go back. It just depends on how my feeling is at the end of next year. Whether I'm World Champion or not really doesn't, I don't think, put the pressure on you to go back to Europe. It's whether you enjoy racing in Europe or not. Whether you're number one or number two or number three doesn't really make any difference if you want to go back and race. I don'.t win any more money being the World Champion than I do being number three. What would you say the chances are that we'll see you back on the dirt track circuit in the next couple of years? Well, one of the steps toward getting me back on the dirt is running the race team with Men. Right now you're looking at a pure business standpoint. 1 can run 11 races in Europe and win "',. to =.. .. ~ J ,~ • • Look at the smile, the form or the license plate of his yellow ferrari. KR knows who's King. So don everybody eIae. the World Championship or I can come back to America and run 30 races, sometimes twice a week. Racing isn't hard, it's been what I've done all my life, but to be honest it's kind of silly to run 30 races with the amount of awards that you get out of the AMA circuit. R.ight now I could say, "Yeah I'm gonna race in America." We're talking about a three and a half year job, just to get through one year. Another thing I would like to get done in this racing team with Mert is to son of feel that I'm doing something as far as the AMA and the rule changes they are about to make. 'Cause it has a lot to do with whether I'm coming back or not. If they continue to make the kind of rule changes that they have been making and if the sport .keeps dropping like it has been dropping, there's no way you'll see me come back and race. What specifically about the rule changes bothers you? Well they're not doing anything to help the guy, the privateer rider. They think they're helping him by keeping Harleys in there and they're not, they're killing him. Nobody makes any money now. Get the factories involved with some more equipment and it builds up a lot more interest so you got 40 factory riders. At least with some sponsorships going around where a guy can make some money so he doesn't have to buy a Harley and spend all the money he's saved to put the program together. I just read your Cycle News article on Ricky Graham and remembering how dead set he and Tex Peel were against the &OOs because their Harleys are competitive and the next damn sentence they say, "We spent all"the money we have and all the money we made on our Harleys so we're broke." That doesn't make any sense to me. Unless they drum up some kind of outside interest from other factories and get competition back in the sport they're all gonna take it in the shons. They've got to have competition. Those who think that they can race around on these dirt tracks forever with Harley-Davidsons are out of the hunt. We've got to have competition. There's no sport in the world that doesn't have competition, lind in motor spons, the competition not only pertains to the people that are riding, but also to the motorcycles an9 the cars, or whatever. Ull!ess they make some kind of changes to get this done, this sport's going to be going continually down. 1 don't want to come back and race when it's going down. One of the -things that we've done now is Men and I have eommitted the Yamaha street bike to run on the dirt track because we feel that we drastically need another brand racing. We haven't got an engine yet or a motorcycle, but if someone doesn't do something pretty soon in spite of the AMA it's all gonna die. So we're doing this in order to help the spon out. When they had a chance three years ago to go to the &00s they've blown it, they've blown it right out the tub. They're gonna have to make some rule changes here pretty soon, otherwise, boy, it's going to be grim. One final question. Are you making any New Year's resolutions? Yeah, I'm gonna be in better condition, better shape next year. Last year I kind of coasted and I didn't feel it would be that hard of a year. Next year I think will be much tougher so I have to be in better shape. Have you been working out with a trainer orI will be. Right now I'm on vacation. I've been home for two and a half weeks since the meeting in Japan and that's really not enough time after you've been going continually. I hear that. OK then Kenny thanks for talking to us. • 7