Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 0') Rod Bush: 12S·cc thunder in the trees By Tom Mueller When KTM's white box van pulls into the Cycle News parking lot and we see Rod Bush is behind the wheel, everyone knows good conversation and fun times ar.e in store. The outgoing and congenial KTM National Service Manager always has a story to tell about the last event he rode, or some other tale involving a National level woods n'der that usually has us in stitches waitingfor more. . But Bush' produces more than fun and games, namely results. In six Six Days Tides, Bush has racked up one bronze, one silver and three gold medals. His biggest accomplishment to date, according to him, was tieing with National Enduro Champion Dick Burleson for the 125cc class win in the Oklahoma Two-Day Qualifier on March 21-22. Other than that, "Keeping up in the National Enduros on a one-two-five, " is Bush's main goal. The compact and agile naer is known for his hard-to-beat pace through long stretches oftight woods. and Bush aims to keep his reputation strong. The last time Bush stopped by our offices to drop off a test bike. we puUed him aside and threw a few pertinent questions his way. A lways quick with a reply, Bush gets to the point in a casual manner, usually wilh a cup of coffee and cigarette in hand. Some racers display talent only when Tiding. Bush can carry his talent out of the woods and into a conversation. Here's what's instae the head of one of the Nation's fastest woods n·ders. 28 You're already considered a Six Days veteran ;u :l relatively young age. How old are you and what prompted you to run in ISDE competition:' I'm %5 yean old and jack Penton developed my ftnt interest in Six Day riding because we used to go ride a lot of hare scrambles. jack was a bunch faster tban anybody else and I couldn't ftgure out why. We sat down and talIted to jaclt one day after the race and he told us all about Six Days, what it was, and what it would take to do something like that. joe Parker and I went out and staned riding in Two· Day qualifiers in 1971 and we got our stan that way. . You'ft ridden in six ISDE's but you misled the '79 round beaux you didn't qualify. What happened that year? It was 1979 for Germany. I rode the first two qualifters and won my class both times. I was then misinformed. I was told that if I had enough points I qualifte4. When it came around to selection time they said you had to have ridden in three events. I had two wins. which put me second in class, but not enough events. So you just accepted it? It's all I could do. I went over in the capacity of a team support manager (for KTM) helping Bob Hill out. MOlt riden train to be fast and have a bunch of stamina. You carry cigaretta in your fanny pack and smoke at a gas stop, II training something you don't need, or do you train or work out in any way? I do train some. I need to train more . than what I do, and I cenainly need to quit smoking, there's no doubt about that. If I ever plan to be a champion, that's something that's got to go. Do you ever feel it sloWi you down? Oh, it does, I mean ten seconds a mile. How did you work into being KTM's National Service Manager? I staned working for Penton in 1977 as a salesman and at that time they had some retrofitting that needed to be done on their motorcycles. I came off the road and helped do th.e retrofitting, and then I went to work in the service area and ended up being the service manager. When KTM split with Penton, Jack Lehto asked me to become the service manager, and I very gladly accepted because I wanted to stick with KTM. Since the reward in ISDE and enduro riding isn't monetary, what keeps you in the spon? That's a hard question to answer. ( enjoy riding and ( can get the most amount of riding in by riding endur05, Two·Day qualifiers and the ISDT. I'd like to ride six days a week if ( could, but that's not possible. ( enjoy riding and ( can get the most riding in by riding the long distance events. I used to ride a lot of motocross. In 1975, I rode all.the U5cc Nationals. The peak of that was when I was leading my heat in the Pontiac (Michigan) Supercross. I took a real tight inside line right around a post and held it wide open. ( ended up crashing a bunch of people out. ( remember Hannah trying to get by without getting kilIedl Then I switched to the longer distance woods events. What do you do in Ohio during the off-season? Woodwork, I like to do a lot of woodwork when ( can. That's what I spend most of my spare time doing. It's a diversion. Something different than motorcycles. KTM has taken a different stance concerning promotions than other companies, A bunch of dirt bike companies are putting almOlt all their suppon into MX, and KTM puts ailDOIt all their IUppon in woods riding. Why? WelI, for KTM to get a lot of exposure in motocross we'd have to spend five times what we spend for enduro. We don't spend a lot of money for enduro .md we can still make ourselves a good name with less money. II woods riding the best market for you? II that where things are headed in the future with KTM? I don't know. Our future is in motocross. we are doing some motocross promotion, but we do it on a regional basis. Like we did with Jim Meenan (a New England rider). And the New England series (NESC), we'll have more of diat coming I'm sure. But motocross is in the future for us and we're doing our best in enduro and crOll· country competition now. You've achieved lUa:eII at woods riding and remained on a 125a: bike through the yean. Why.haven't you moved up to a bigger motorcycle? At times I've ridden a %50. Two of the Six Days I've ridden were on 2505. but I feel that when I compare my riding style from one motorcycle to another. I actualIy do better against other 125s when I'm ridinlt a U5. I'll take second or third in a %50cc cia.., but yet I can win the U5cc class hands down. What's imide your head that makes you a winner? What keeps you going and keeps you out front in a race? Desire, just the desire to win. It feels good to win, ( like to win, and when you finish the day, if you're first, it feels a lot better. That's what makes it fun. Does the lack of publicity you and other woods rider receive bother you? I think the lack of publicity KTM riders get bothers me more than anything else, I saw that last year when we had, what I would consider. a banner year. We didn't have the big names and ultra hot shoes, and yet we still came out with good success. Four riders on KTMs came out to be- AA riders. They weren't big megabuck factory sponsored riders either. We came out well, and yet I see where a lot of the other tearns got a lot of press and spent a lot of money and had less results than what we did. Your parents back you 100 per cent. Was your father a racer, and how did your mother get 10 _strongly involved? My father was a stock car racer at one time, but he never realIy rode motorcycles. ( had 'three brothers, so my parents got involved in whatever each one of us had done and they're just wide open, just great. You've seen a bunch of changes in machinery since you staned riding. Are machines state of the an now? WelI, there's a lot to come in the future. Weight distribution -- moving the- gas tank around under the seat and different suspension, there is still a lot to be done on that. And nobody has realIY built an engine yet that's the ultimate maxed out trick thing. There's variable timing ports, exhaust ports, and a lot of other things that are going to be coming along too. Are you married? Do you have a howe in Ohio? I'm married to Cheri and we've got a house in Vermillion. We've had it for about a year and a half now. What's in the future for you in racing? Are you going to become a married man with kids? ('11 probably become a married man with kids, but I'm going to stay racing too. That seems to be the state of the art for the enduro rider. There hasn't been an enduro champ yet that wasn't over 25 and married. So that seems to be the way to go. If I'm going to be an enduro champion that's pan of the game, but that's not why ( got married. . Who is hacking you? Who are your spoDlOn? WelI, my main sponsor is definitely KTM. Then comes Hi·Point, KalGard Lubricants, Duralube Oils and of course my mother, father and wife are big sponsors. •

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