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/126801
that most people don't expect him to do. To the general audience, Domokos is presenting something that's technically interesting and exciting to watch. but without the mayhem that usually results from having failed to clear 20 buses. ••••• It's Saturday. night at Oakland Stadium, and Doug Domokos is ready to do his half-time show. The night air is chilly; moisture has formed both on the cars and on the high-wire setup that Doug will wheelie over, making them slick. As Doug gets ready to go into his act on his $60,000 Honda ATC200, somebody goes over to the high-wire to tear it down. The fans, it seems, want to see more supercross. Doug takes the ATC out and performs a series of wheelies and other maneuvers on it. The creation of Am~rican Honda's Special Projects Department, this ATC200 is the only one of its kind in the world. It has a basically stock motor, but there have' been extensive changes made to the machine's running gear. They incl ude two disc brakes on the rear axle and a differential which allows Doug to spin a tight donut and wheelie at the same time. There are many other special changes which allow Doug to wheelie the ATC on the high-wire. After his on-track performance, Domokos moves to the wire on the three-wheeler. The wire gets another rub-down. Doug carefully positions himself and then begins his ascent up the wire, a part of his act that took months to develop, design and train for. And it's a good trick, too: The rear wheels on the ATC are of a low enough pressure that their carcasses fold into the rims when they roll onto the thick steel cables. As an added safety precaution, a pair of outriggers are mounted to the front frame downtube ahead of the engine. If Doug backs off the throttle, or the bike stalls, the outriggers would prevent everything from falling through the cables. Also, they're painted black; from a distance they're almost invisible. Likewise, for the tires, from a distance they look as if they're rolling on top of the high-wire .cables. So, even though it looks as if the Wheelie King was literally riding the ragged edge, everything's totally under control. Halfway across the wire, Domokos stopS, front wheel stilI in the air. He then shows off his balancing skills as he carefully stands up on the seat, stretching a leg out behind him. The fans dig it. . Next corpes the part of the act which started Doug out on his way to wheelicing fame and fortune. Like every track. Oakland is no differentDoug plans to wheelie all the way around it, and he's sincere about his goal. Domokos fires up his CR250 and begins his trek down the starting straight, through the turns and over the whoops. Then disaster strikes: As he passes over the start/finish line, Doug makes a donut, but the ground is slick and he drops the front wheel. The crowd is bummed out. So is Doug. After making it around the track, Domokos prepares to wheelie over a pair of derelict cars that have been brought in for the occasion. Even after wipi'ng them down repeatedly, Doug just can't make it over them; each time he does, he slips and drops the front wheel. Usually, the first two attempts over the cars are purposely fumbled, just to add some drama to the act. This time. however, it's no act; Doug's in trouble. The crowd is booing. Finally. one more shot at the cars, and Doug makes it. The crowd cheers; theY love him. It was a hard-fought battle. , . . against the variables. . . . • which c.:& I I .; . 51