Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

A few people imported them privately. It was one tough machine, a bear in any gear. Jeff Smith showed a gorgeous one on a Carlsbad GP tele vision show, comparing it with the sleeker motocrossers of today - th e ones you need a stepladder to get on. Well , it ir's a BSA, Feets will have one and he finall y got a GP, th e one on TV is his and sits happily in th e sh op next to th e BSA triple Jim Rice rode o n the mile. He bought it from me, and I would have buried it at sea next to the Queen Ma ry rather than have it go to undeser ving h ands wh en it came time.fo r me to let it go. BSA enth us ias ts ar e a little str ange but we understand eac h o ther. In the Minert house is a BSA Room. I entered it almost wi thout breathing. No, it's not loaded with trophies or . photogr aphs - tha t's not Minerr's style - but th ere are little good ies in a displ ay case th ere th at wouldn 't mean much unless you speak Beezer or are Feets himself: cans o f BSA oi l, a special tie , and th e piece de resistanc e, a glass topped coffee ta ble, th e base of which is a fully restored and ready to run 500cc Goldstar engine. There is o n e heck of a lo t to Charles Minert, the man. I've known him a good 18 years, yet there is a delightful sense of privacy about him a kin to wh at Dick Mann has . Feets will give- you his time for a n interview ; visit comfortably a t a race or special gathering but you know there are things - and rightly so - he won 't get into. You can 't get him to co m m ent on anything he doesn't want to. After a good and healthy lunch , I asked about his physical regime. Of course fire department req uires top fitness of their. men, but as always, there's more to what Feets does. "When I'm wo rking, I'll leave here at 4:30 a.m., get to work 'a bo u t 6:00 and warm up. There are th ree o f us an d we've go t a 7.6 mile co u rse measu red o u t a n d we run it in 64 minutes." There's more. He 's run in and fini shed so me 10k run s a nd two years ago in San Diego , he ran a nd finished a marathon. H e was 48 years o ld a t th e time! We am bled back down th e hill to that big workshop a nd a ll the treasures in it. There wer e bikes I had to say goodbye to, a nd I had to force myself to tak e another look at so mething standing there by the bench...I'd tried to ignore it earlier but du ty called. "Aw, you're really not go ing to say anything about that, are yo u?" as ked Feets. Well yes, I'm afrai d so. There, nicely muddy, stood.a H onda 480cc mot ocrosser , a two-stroke. "It's reall y OK for me to have it ," said Minert, a bit anxiousl y. " LeBard sells 'e m. It's a ni ce mot orbike but I'll never sell m y BSAs. Still, it' s n ice to go racing and kn ow th at if something breaks th ere are parts everywhere wh en yo u need th em. I'm ha vi ng fun with it." Yeah , I kn ow , a ll th ose big box es o f th ings he brough t back from Birm in gh am co u ldn ' t last forever, but he'd better watch it. O ne of the Beezers whispered to me th at so me n ight when the m oon is d ow n, a certa in bik e is go in g to be done in . T hey're go ing to p u t tea in th e gas tank a lo ng with m ilk , and p lenty of sugar. I still th in k he may possibly be the Jack th e Bear , bu t if he is n' t mar k him well. Wat ch h im rid e, for he h as much to teach yo u an d ask hi m ho w to go down hill s fa st, espec ia lly if yo u' re a bi t chic ken like me . He and a few o the rs sta nd head a nd shoulders a bove the hundreds a nd hu ndreds of di rt bi ke riders I' ve met over the years . H e's no press-crea ted hero , h e's done it all and is still doing it. It 's a privilege to know hi m. • c-r 00 0") ...... MI. Mo;rls, Pennsylvan ia Is one tough stop on the National Motocross circuit. And Yamaha's " T Hlpp " Kid , oo Rick Johnson, was there on a buslness trip. He flew to a 1· 1 finish In the NatJonal 250 Matos, putting himself and Simpson on top . Rick Is a young ri der with a goal. He knows what he wants. So he switched to wearing Simpson Helmets a few races back beciJuse of the fit, feel and Ultra -light comfort Not to mentJon Snell '80 CertJflcatJon and the Simpson " Hot Ucks" Contingency that made him $250 richer at Mt. Morris. So while Rick Is in the 250 points lead, head down to your dealer and try on the new Simpson Mod el 52 yourself. You'll see why Rick made the move to Simpso n! And send today for a fr ee full-c olor catalog . Simpson Sports · 22630 S. Normandle Ave.. Torrance, CA 90502 (213) 320-2204 21

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