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/126512
in the Natio...la? Yes, certainly, it's just unbelievable. But Marland rides well, too. Bernie was very ludty to be -ooated with Comerfords (the British Bultaco importer). They're a very stabling influence. H I was put in the poIition to IOn of loolt after Marland I'm sure that the both of them could get nearly the same results. For any sport, be it baseball or soccer or moto· crag or swimming, it', not eoough just being good. You have to be good men· tally, liave good organization. For a motor aport you have to have the me· chanical ability to set the thing up and understand what', going on under you. You have to know exactly what's going wrong, exactly what to do. You have to be good under adverse condi· tions. Many young riders thinlr. that as long as they can ride a bike, they're there. That's only one ponion of be· . coming a world champion. Does Bernie have the potential to clmninate the apon .. long .. you did? Eleven straight yean .. British champion, It's very difficult. It's a mental thing. Like I still enjoy riding. It keeps me fit. I enjoy practicing. I don't practice as much as I used to with the pressures of business and everything, but I'm fonunate to have a practice area near the shop. How much of you ,ua:aa do you feel grew out of your technical akilIa? I always had the best bike in the trial. You alwa,. went in knowing that. The other riders were always brain piclting me for my ideas. High boy frames, the bottom chopped off. Every bike in trials today has vinually the same head geometry as myoid Ariel 63 degrees, a degree and a half offset. They all have highboy frames and super slim tanks. It's harder to come up with ideas now, but I was always able to have a nice bike set up. Crystal hailing future bike development, what do you lee? Suspension is definitely the first area that needs attention. Half of the bikes are just ping pong balls. The engines are not too bad. I think you'll also see the physical size of the bicycles reduced as much as possible. You watch the light little Fantics in the sections. The guys have a neater ride on them. How would lon~r travel affect the handling? I think it would be a vicious circle where the good damping control would have to be soned out to get a nice easy ride going off roclts. The motocross guys have done it, there's no reason why we can't. What about fluid drive? That all depends on how much money you want to 'spend for the trials market. Obviously, if you went fluid drive or front wheel drive or a limited front wheel drive, you're talking about million dollar projects for a peanut market. One has to be realistic. You can ~t many way out ideas and they're so way out they're not practical. Always, in the motorcycle industry, a basic good bike is better than a wayout futuristic fickle bike. H you have a good basic bike that will perform well, handle well and last a long time, you can be a winner. What about the future of the aport? It's always been my ambition and wish that trials would catch on and son of ovenake the other branches of the sport. But it's disappointing with areas like Australia and America that still haven't taken off. It worries me that trials is getting top heavy with what we have. World championships that are costing very much to contest. the market just doesn't justify the expenditure. The market must grow with the spon. I think the spon is growing quicker than the market right now. • * St AMA Stadium Supercross Daytona, Fl Darrell Shultz Suzuki on Dunlop (front & rear) 3rd - Jim Gibson Honda on Dunlop (front & rear) plus 8 of top 10 finishers on Dunlop K88. _ ... cycI•• rWeon DunIop ..... ~oIh.r tlrelrithe ....... ~ DUN.£OP P.O- 8oll11Oi.1IuItaIo, NY 1Q4() 39