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/126633
d itch at 60 miles an hour. He saw the second car while he was in the air after a jump and only barely missed it thanks to some fancy evasive maneuvers after landing. ' Then with 12 mi les to go and the race well in hand. Johnson crashed th e bike at about 65 miles an hour when he waved to some spectators while he was jumping the bike. " I was in the air. saw some people and. just for a second. took my hand off the bar to wave at them. When I landed. the rear wheel was in one rut and the front was in another. I ate it big time," Johnson explained.Iaughing. Again he was lucky and was able to get underway with only a broken exhaust pipe to show after the get-off. When asked to give h is "secrets" for winning. Johnson said. " Hard work and experience. You have to get th in gs just right so nothing goes wrong. You have to know where to go fa st and where to slow down. You 've got to keep the bik e together. If you run into problems. stay at your pace a nd soon things will work themselves out. " Harden summed up the race this way. "Larry and I were faster when th e bike was faster. But I have to congratulate Johnson. He certainly deserved to win. he was the fastes t guy out there today. He rode by h imself. which is a real feat. and he used his head." Class 21 Scott Anderson and Tim Cauby overcame just about every problem in the book to place their Yamaha first in the 25lkc class. At one checkpoint, Anderson couldn ' t find his pit crew and had to borrow gas from another team. Both he and Cauby bailed off hard at least once and they had to change spark plugs five times during the race. losing a minute and a half each time. " We had a continuous problem with plug fouling ," Anderson said. "We had the lead after Mike's Sky Ran ch . but lost it when we had to stop to change plugs. I crashed pretty hard on some rocks. but man..ged to get it into the check. I gave it to Cauby, he was totally pumped and blew by everybody. But he go t off at abou t 60 miles an hour and might have a broken elbow. When h e came in to the finish . th e bars were bent back. totally against the tank. Aside from that, it was a fu n ride." Pre-race favorites Scott and Kent Pfeiffer were a head by five minutes at the first check. but Kent crashed their . Honda soon after and the team was forced to retire. Husky riders Dave Chase and Steve Zollinger were in the hunt until engine problems late in th e race slowed them down. Chase ended up pushing the bike across the finish line. Second place went to Husqvarnamounted Daryl Folks and Steve Webb. who expe rien ced problems with a balky choke mechanism. Folks thought the problem was with the bike's carburetor. so he leaned out the jetting. As a result the Husky seized three times as the race wore on. Luckily. they w ere able to free the piston each time and continue on. finishing 10 minutes behind Anderson and Cauby. Class 20 Honda riders Peter Postel and Kevin Hopkins started last. but finished fir st as they took the vic tory laurels in the 125cc class. Postel on ly rode the first 50 miles because of a wrist still on the mend from a previous accident. Even so. he gave the bike to Hopkins at the firs t check with the lead. Hopkins then rode out the rema ining 200 miles with no problems fin is h ing in just ov er five hours. 32 minutes.. . - . . 1· ·· ·· · Po stel' s ride was without inci dent. except for o ne near fall just after the dry lake. " I hit a roc k and was going so fast it knocked the front end up so far I hit the bars with my helmet and jammed my wrist," he said. "Kevin put in a great ride. he gets most of the credit. I think he's ready to go out and do it again ," Postel added. Oren Beck and Darin Cart w right. on a Husqvama, took second. while the Mexican team of Larry Duate and Miguel Espinoza. Honda-mounted. placed third. Early favorites in the class . Hondamounted Kurt Pfieffer and Donnie Morrison. went out soon after the start with engine problems. Talking about his non-muddied bike Pfieffer joked. " Ir's a lready prepped for the next race. all we h ave to do is put in a new top-end." Pfieffer probably had the best non-finisher story to tell . After the motor seized. some local residents tried to h elp him get the bi ke running again by push ing it with their Lincoln-Contine ntal. " O n e guy sat on the hood. sticking his foot out to push the bi ke," P fieffer said. But the car got going so fast it ra n over my bike. T he guys felt so sorry for me ; th ey left me a cooler fu ll of beer so I'd feel better." caught up in the exciting world of ATVs? su BE! Now Amera·. ATV enthusiaal CIInkeep up to date with hi. tlVee-whee'in' sportl Reading ATV News. Arneric8 '.onty Mtlonel AUTerrain Vehicle newspeper. you get immeciate news about th r....wheehn·. Odyssey and r8C8 tan.. New model impre ssi on • . t.ch lIf1icJes. natioNlend toeal rw:a cowrege. e complete national CIIlender of fWents. new products and more .re in each month'. issue . And if you Kt now . '5.00will get you 13 is.u.. of the moal Ktton pacted news of your favorite sport. Fill out the coupon be'ow and subscribe to ATV News today! Class 30 ATVlfellJs Michael Goodwin. 31. and Rick Shirey. 33. brought their Yamaha home first in the 30 years and over class. They beat the second-place entry of Bob Prickett and Ro n Treat by almost a half-hour and best ed the third-place Husqvarna team of Luis Farrell and Manuel Torres by almost an hour. AMERICA'S ONL Y MONTHL Y ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE NEWSPAPERI fo----·-----·-··-·····--··-------o Class 38 In the class for entrants 38 years and older. John " Smokebom b" Gaetz, 46. teamed with Dick Allen. 41, to la y claim to the first-place honors. They were closely followed by the Yamahamounted team of John Etchart a nd Dave Wood. four-minutes behind. •w ho in tum beat Honda riders Charlie Conway and Chuck Koistra by two minutes. The Class 30 and 38 entrants made up over a third of the total motorcycle entries. The most serious accident of the race was suffered by Class 21 rider Ra y Carter. who was pushed off a 30-foot embankment by a four-wheel competitor. According to SCORE Medical Director Dr. Bob McCul· lough, Carter has a probable broken right hip and knee. After the fall . Carter enlisted the aid of a boy tending cattle in a nearby pasture to help him get back on the bike. He th en rode 30 miles to the next checkpoint. where he was relieved by co-rider Glenn Campolla, who went on to place the team in an unofficial fifth in class . Carter was later air-lifted from San Felipe to San Diego. • YlSIIend me a ..... ...... (12 1 _ ) pi. . 1 _ _ ..... ClI A1V_loronly $S.bo l Charge C u ~ We must have complete account number 4 card exp lraUon dote I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NAME (prease Pitnt creaifY) ADDl1ESS CITY _ STATE __ ZIP PHONE Oo1'e~ or mis Older -r-r-_ _ Cord expires _ Signature . The ISSU8!'ot rne COfeJ .,.,nfllle<:lon fNllfem /I o~ to DOY IIW omounl l hOwn 01 T OTAl uoon ptOO8l'pI8aentotton I pomtIi8to pay --,-_ ~"~O~~~~:::=~~~J..~ ATV News Plea. . mall to: P.O. lox 1030 I ~ --....... CIt. 901011030 - "" .. • COO