Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Howard Pinkstaff ta kes a breather from working on his race bike. (Above) Pinkstaff and son Keith set up for a day at the races. (Below) The elder Pinkstaff at speed on his SR500. He was third in OMRRA Open Single GP points. Aroad racing recovery for heart attacks! By Russ Cazier What do you do if you are 57 years old and recovering from a near-fatal heart attack? Howard Pinkstaff took up road racing. Aha! Decided to go ahead and get it over with, you say? Let momma collect the insurance? No so, according to Pinkstaff, tall (6' I" ), slim (165 Ibs.) and silver haired. 22 " No, there wasn' t any sort of 'hell with it ' attitude on m y part," says Pinkstaff. " So rt of the other wa y around. I just decided to tr y to ge t in good h ealth and do some of th e things I' ve a lways wanted to do . " I' ve been riding motorcycles for a long tim e, though I'd never done any ra ci ng. M y son, Keith, was reall y getting ac tive in road racing, a n d I was gett ing in teres ted m yself whe n I had the heart a ttack." Howard a nd Kei th had bee n setti ng u p Howa rd 's Ya maha TT500 for th e O pen Si ngle GP class in cl ub races a t P o rt la nd Intern a tion a l Raceway a nd Sea ttle Intern at ional Racewa y. Tha t was when th e ticker slipped a cog a nd put p" nkstaff in the hosp ita l, th en at h ome co n valesci n for three months. Pinkstaff credits his enrollment in a course for cardiac patients at the Portland YMCA as th e main turning point in his health . " It' s a pretty excl us ive club, " P inks taff said. "The initiation req uirernern is to have a heart attack , bu t to have any real sta tus yo u have to have had open heart surgery . It 's a carefu lly monitored exercise program, a nd o f co urse th ey ta l k about diet and o th er things. I go three times a week . " I had to make so me major cha nges in th e 01' lifestyle. I u sed to th ink a real meal co nsisted o f stea k a n d fried po tat oes, but no w it' s fish and ch icken a nd sa la ds. And th e la st tim e I'd done an y exercise. I had a dri ll sergean t brea th ing do wn my neck. T hat's been . a wh ile." P inkstaf fal so decided it wa s time to really retir e from his h igh pressure job. H e had ow ned General Sheet Metal i n Port land. O R, a bu siness employing 50 - 150 people. H e so ld the business in 1972, b u t with a con- diti on that he continue as job supervisor in cha rge of a ll o perat io ns fo r two yea rs. H e co nt in ue d in that capaci ty for a noth er three yea rs, until th e heart attack. " My wife, Virginia , and I h ave worked hard a ll our liv es . I guess we fig ured we'd ea rned so me recreation, especially since th e kids (the Pinksta ffs have four children ) are grown. " Wh ile I was in the hospital , the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association set up a promotional display in Washington Square Mall , a nd Keith had gone ahead with preparing th e TT500. The idea was to sh o w how somebody could get involved in road racing on a low budget," So when Pinkstaff recovered from the heart attack, th ere wa s a raceready ma chin e in his basement. H e made th e last race of th e 1978 season a t PIR a nd has not m issed a race a t ei ther track since, except fo r o ne date whe n th e tw o tr acks had a sche d u li ng con flict. " I get so me specia l tr eatment some ti mes . Our head sco rer fo r th e Po rtl and six -hour in 1980 wa s a n u rse, a nd she p u t a n o xygen tank in o ur p its a nd had a n as p hygmo me ter (a device for m easurin g blood press ure) in th e tower." The emergency procedures wer e no t needed , h o wever , and Pin kstaff p ut i n a 50-m inute sti nt o n a GSIOOO th a t fin ish ed th ird overa ll. . . Mot orcy cl es a n d ra cin g have become a n important part of Pinksta ff's lif e. In add ition to ac tive participation in road racing and OMRRA cIub activi ties, h e has put 26,000 mil es on a Yamaha XSII , i n cl udi n g a 1980 trip to Daytona Speedweek , and he rides occasionall y in th e Tillamook Burn a rea west of Portland on a dirt bike. Pinkstaff finds ways to put his sheet metal experience to good use in his " retirement. " He made a light but ' strong monocoque-framed trail er which hauls two bikes easily behind his Honda car, and at th e track converts to a canopied viewing sta nd for th e ladies. H e also designed a nd built a gasoline quick-fill for u se at en d u rance races. It looks entirely d ifferent from a nyone else' s and works perfectl y. " Yo u do get hooked on this stu ff. I started with th e TT500, th en last year I had an SR500 . Now, for th e '82 sea so n, I bo ugh t R oss Gifford 's 500 si ng le th at Gene Bro wn was clean ing up with. I'll run 'er in th e thumper class, a nd I g uess Keith wiII ride it in 600cc Cafe." H o w is Ho wa rd P inkstaff regarded by h is fellow racers? As reported in the J an ua ry 20, 1982 issu e of Cycle News, he got a sta ndi ng ova tio n a t the 1981 OMRRA awa rds banquet when he picked u p his third-p lace trophy for season points in Open • Si ngle GP.

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