Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

..... ... 0- -e By Karel Kramer What's it like to be a newly-risen motocross star? Then still have a fa th er nearly as famous as yo u are anyway? To sh are a class a nd team with th e quin tessential motohero? David Bailey knows and the answers may surprise yo u. "Gary's son" became nationally-known when he won the AMA Amateur MX National Championship while nearing the end of a 1973 to '79 famil y-like association with the thumbs-up people, Bu ltaco . After that high point, Bailey's Bu ltacos became a liability. They told him not to feel bad if he had to switch, but he stayed until the bike was so slow and unreliable, in comparison to the newer machines, that it was difficult to muster finishes good enough to attract another ride. David's mother Darleen suggested a call to ex- Bultaco employee Ray Bru mb cloe , who wo rked for Kawasaki in Atlanta. David and dad made the move to Kawasaki at a time when the lime-replica racers were at the motocross forefront with their new Uni-Track suspension. From there things have go ne up in plateaus for this li kable young man from Axton , Va. His initial rides with Honda were marked with promise and injuries. He fought back from these injuries to become a serious. read healthy, threat at the end of '82. His second year with Honda started well. He was fast, smooth and tenacious about showing new teammate Bob Hannah that this was not 1978. He might win, but he was going to have to work for it . The thrill of his previous fall's ride on the Wor ld Championship American des Nations team was joined by another - standing on the Anaheim Stadium victory rostrum, with Johnny O 'Mara, and Broc Glover, as the winner. 28 " When I first rode the Kawasaki I rode rea lly well; it was the best I had done in the last couple of years , and I continued to do a little bit better all year lon g. I got on that bike and went through the gea rs in a field and loved it. At the end of the yea r I won the Trans-USA Support class, but the whole time I was with Kawasaki I was on the verge of being a factory rider. I always had a few thi ngs that were "works" on my bike. I was juggling around works shocks and stuff, but I didn't haw' the experience. I wish I knew then what I know now, because I wou ld have just stayed with the stock bike and not fooled around trying to make it better. "T hey offered me the works bike a couple of times, but I was having more trouble than gains. I would ride the stocker all week , then jump on the factory bike to race. I wasn 't comfortable and some things broke because I was getting hand-me-down parts. It was my own fault for choosing to ride with it. People don't know it , but, wit h the contracts I had with Bultacoand Goodyear, I took acutin money to ride Kawasakis.' Kawasaki w as not interested in expanding their team, but an old racing -i rien d and racing foe of Gary Bailey - R oger DeCoster - was interested. David signed a Honda contract at the Houston roun d of the Trans-USA . T hat was the start of the first big p lateau . "You can't make it on riding abi lity alone. You have to have a little luck - I think that you make your own - and you have to have a bike. As soon as I signed with Honda, it was apparent tha t they had a lot more desire to put in what they needed to put in to win races . It 's visible to anyone at the races that Honda is the effort. Honda has made a big turn; I got in at the right time. Their bikes are the best this year and they were last year. That's made the most difference in my riding." Inju ries were his constant companion that first year. He broke his hand before the season and lost the WinterAMA Series title as a result. A broken foot was next before Anaheim . He got feeling good again and broke the bones in his lower leg. It was painful and prevented him from training, yet he came back at Lake Whitney and soon finished in the top three for five races In a row . , "That was my third injury in a row , and on the alternate suicide list I was near the top. Honda's trainer Jeff . Spencer and my parents kept me from really gett ing depressed. It made me train harder , at least, everything I could tra in besides my leg . I'm glad in a way that I did break it. I got to sit out and think a bout racing and how badly I wanted to win. I learned to deal with problems and not get bummed out. I was for a few days, but after that I just learned to get out there and get hungry." Being a co-World Champion is given credit by Bailey '[or so m e of his late '82 motivation. " I got the phone call for the Trophee motocrosses because Don n ie Hansen had just crashed and they realized he wasn't going to be ready for the first race. Dave Arnold called me up and said to get over there right then. I got a night a n hour later. "When I was on the plane I had no idea that Donnie was hurt that badly. I just thought that he broke his hand or something; I didn't even know if I would be riding or if he would be all right by the time I got there. " I got there and I was really bummed to find out how serious he was. They wouldn't even let anyone see him. Johnny and I stayed in the same room, and I think the nea test thing that h ap pened while I was over there was when Lisa called and said that Donnie woke up. Johnny told me and I was so happy I couldn't believe it. He yelled, 'Damn, Hansen woke up l,' and went out on the balcony screaming at one in the morning. It was great news a nd it made everyone feel good. "The race was an experience. I don 't care what anyone says about the Europeans, about them being slow, those guys were good. Really good! It was good for me to be exposed to that and to be able to travel like that. I got an eighth, a sixth, a fourth and a second, better each time. And, of course, when we won it was a great feeling. I think it helped me to come back and ride better in the Trans-Cal Series . I hope I get to go this year. Hopefully. if I keep riding like I do, I'll get picked. It depends on whether they take one guy from each company; if they do, they'll probably take Hannah." Hannah isa person that is very much on Bai ley's mind. He was a hero for him as a younger rider . He says that the biggest thing th at he has learned from w atching him is that he always tries . He was a help and motivation to him before his Amateur Championship. "A long time a go , down in Florida, H annah was running a couple of races and he saw me crash. He came over la ter and said, 'Hey, don' t ever give up. If this is what you want to do. just keep trying. J ust give 100% and you'll get it back, I've used that. One of the times it came in handy was at the Amateur Championships. At the last race I fell in the second turn. I got up and straightened the . levers and stuff and too k off about 20 seconds in last . I told myself that I wasn't going to give up, I was going to try.l didn 't work all year to co me down, fall and give up. I said, 'I'm gonna' win this thing.' I did by a lot ." David still respects Bob, but now he is in volved in learning his strengths and Hannah's weaknesses. H e doesn 't think he'll have to wait till Hannah retires to see the checkered flag first. "My guess is that Hannah has a style that can't be improved on. The only wa y that I think that he can go faster is to go more wide-open and more out of control , so to speak. The thing that keeps him on two wheels is his incredible balance and the ability to make his mind up in a millisecond. When he goes into a turn and there are 10 guys piled up with no way through , he gets through, somehow. If he has to run beside his bike, he gets through and doesn't lose time. He's so good at that. I think it comes from riding in the desert since he was a kid and having to make decisions quickly. He really feels like he has to prove something. He wants to walk out of this sport a hero, the greatest rider tha t ever lived ." Bailey speaks realistically of his own strengths. He is a thinking rider. H e gives much of the credit for that to his father. "My dad has trained me vo think for myself and figure out and analyze things. The biggest thing that is hurting me right now is that I'm too conservative. I don't hang it out like Hannah and (R icky) Johnson. The only good thing about that, is that I'll last longer than some of the guys. My career has been really steady. Every now and then it goes up. I don't think I will be able to take another leap like th e one between last fall and this spring until about threequarters of the way through this year. " Bu t because of my style, my ability to understand the motorcycle and how it works , how I work, how other riders work and the ability to adapt new things into m y style will help me. I don 't think anyone concentrates and thinks about that as much as I do . They think about holding it wide open more, or training harder. ' That's important, but learnin g how to ride a motorcycle well is important. I don 't think there is an end to learning. It's a never-ending game, and I th ink that I'm learning faster than anybody out there right now. My guess, and my goa l, is that I' ll be ab le to run away with races an d still be smooth and conservative. It is hard to imagine, but I can visualize it." Since he really does study the competition, David knows that Hannah will be no pushover. Hethinks that he has his work cut out since Hannah seems to rise to the occasion and

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