Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

==- - - - -, w Vl w w a: X w a: >CD Vl ~ o J: Q. Craig Hamilton (above) went 3·4 in the 125cc Jr. first division. (Belo w ) Jeff Healy (Hon) was the 500cc Jr. victor with a 1-2 ride . CMC/Skoal Bandits Golden State Amateur MX Nationals: Round 5 Miller, Matiasevich, Gaddis score amateur wins By Rex Reese H UR ON . CA. FEB. 2-3 Almost 200 amateur-class riders h ad to endure two days of ch illy tempera tures, a challenging race track, and even a few raindrops as the Continenta l Motosport C lub (CMC) Sk oal Bandit G olden State MX National s rea ched th e fifth round of racing at Huron Motorcycle Park . 28 first victory o f the series. One o f tl{e hi gh light s o fSa tur day's a ma teur racing was wa tch in g .I im m y G add is tak in g o n the p ack in th e 80cc 12-16 Intermed iat es. T he first moto had G addis in th e lead o n th e first Sarurdav' s ac tio n saw 250cc In terlap. w ith Chris Youn g (Ya m) seco nd med iat e seco nd divi sion points leader and Darren Ga llaghe r (Han) third. Jdf Mati a sevich (Kaw) streng the n At th e en d of th e first lap Youn g was hi s lead with a I-I sweep 'o ver class in hot pursuit and Gaddis was trying to riv al J eff Maber y (Ka w), wh o wen t 2-2. On Su nday . j on "The G en eral " sha ke h im off . but 10 no avai l. T he n. w hi le goin g over a do uble j um p, Mill er (Yam) thrash ed th e Vet MasYoung a lmos t looped o ut, a llowi ng ters in both mot os 10 overta ke series G allagher 10 move in ro seco nd . O n leader, former 250cc Nati onal MX the white-fla g la p. Gaddis rode unCha m p ion G ar y j ones (H us ). Up cha lle nged, bu t Gallagh er had to un til now J ones had won every Vet Ma ster, m oto I:4n ;. t!li .~·a ~ Mil) er:S • AefC:I]q -,!g-d.i !1 ~ t. ,Swa nso n w ho was •• moving up fast. On th e last lap. Swanson passed Gallagh er for seco nd with th e H onda rid er takin g third . T he seco nd moto had Ga dd is once a ga in in the lead, followed by Swa nson , Bitner a n d To m my C lo we rs (I·lon ). Gaddis soo n opened up a big lead, but it was cu t dow n o n lap five wh en he experienced a ge t-off , p utti ng Swa n son w ith in stri king distance. But as th e moto wou nd down , Swanson was ou t of anion , a nd Bitn er moved u p to fill in . At the fin ish it was Gaddis bv five seco nds over secon d-p lacer Bitn er for seco nd OWl'a ll ; th ird was C lo wers w ith thi rd overa ll. T h e firs t 250cc Int erm edi a te division two ro u nd sa w Ma iiasevich lead in g, with Mabery a nd P ierce fol low ing. It soon becam e a no -contest si tuation as :\l at ia sevich p u lled o u t th e stops a nd smoked it to th e chec kered flag befor e a ny body else co u ld fig u re o u t what had happen ed. Ma ybery fini sh ed th e firsl moro in seco nd with P ierce th ird a nd Mick Elsberry (Ya rn) fourth . " 'hen th e seco nd mot o launch ed, Ala n Pi erce (Kaw) took 11 l(~ lead , followed by :\Ial iasevich , Pal Spar ks (H on) a nd Mabery, Mabery go t by Mat iasevi ch 10 lak e third, but Ihey reversed posi tion s shortl y after rluu . A co u p le o f la ps la ter :\101 1iasevir h was in second and began brea th ing down P ierce's neck fo r th e lead. H alf a lap later, as th ey went thro ug h a sweeper. Matia sevich wen t into the lead . At this point ;\Iabery slip ped ba ck 10 sixth behind Frankie Bru nda ge (Ka w), but he overtook Brun dage and Sparks for third. On th e lasl la p , Ma riascvirh rod e con se-rva t ivelv 10 th e win with P ier r r- hatt ling ;\Iaberv for second. On th e last tu rn bd iJre the finis h. Ma berv roosted bv to Iin a llv tak e ,,"cond , ' a nd P i erc~' ended up third. S unda y's amat eur rompct it io n was lillie more tha n a trail rid e for :\I ill er as h r cusilv blast ed into tlie lead of the Vet ;\Ias t ~rs bo th mo to s. :\I il ler was a ble to handle th e dou bles an d o th er diffi cult terrai n a lmos t as well as rhe young g uys . a nd he finished eac h ro und with su bsu uuia l mar g in s. Ridin g in seco nd both ro u nds wa s Paul Hu ebert (Ya rn) w ho ma int ained a co nsisten t pace all da y. Steve Ferro n i (Ya rn) was a lso sleady o n th e ga s wit h • 3-3 for third overa ll, Results 60 0 -B: 1. Jeff Willoh (Kawl: 2 . Brad Sh ultz (Kaw): 3 . James Reyes (Kawl· 60 9 -1 1: 1. Jesse James (Han ); 2. Pete Pten tan idan (Kaw ); 3. Jacob Sw ain (Kaw) . 80 BEG: 1. Jeremy A lbrech t (Kaw); 2. Scan Connelly (Kaw); 3: David Parker (Yam) . 80 J R 9 -11 : 1. Tit us Smit h (Vaml; 2. Torey Rol land IKaw l: 3 . M ike Corry (Suzl . SOJ R 12- 16 : 1. Dou g Huston (Yam); 2. PatWe ide (Yam); 3 . Guy Deckert (Kawl. 80 INT 9 - 11 : 1. Ji mmy Butt on (Honl: 2 . Bud dy Atunez (Sul): 3 . Butch Sm it h (Suzl . 80 INT 12 - 16 : 1. J im m y Gadd is (Kaw ): 2. Mike Bit ner (Yam); 3. Tommy Clower s (Han). 125 BEG: 1. Br ian Yorton( Hon); 2. M ichael Loftus (Kaw); 3. A lex Jeno (Suzl . 125 JR OIV 1: 1. Kevin McCrory (Kawl; 2. Jimmy Taylor (Honl; 3. Craig Hamilton IKaw ). 125 J R DIV 2: 1. Todd Saylors (Kaw); 2 . J im my Lewis (Kaw) ; 3. Dax Billings (Yam ). 1251NT: 1. M ike Kiedrows ki (Kaw); 2. Jeff M ati· asevich (Kaw) ; 3. Tv Davis (Honl . 250 BEG: 1. Chuck Hagema n (Hon); 2 . Scott Hyde (Suz); 3 . Robert Lee Chew (Vam). 250 J R: 1. Greg Sm ith (Kaw) ; 2. Darr in Hoeft (Han ); 3 . Stacy Ma gar ian (Hen). 25 0 INT DIV 1: 1. Jeff Reynol ds (Suz) , 2. r im Whitlock (Hon); 3 . Brad Tom s (Kaw) . 25 0 INT DIV 2 : 1. Jeff M ati asev ich (Kaw) ; 2 . J eff Mabery (Kaw l; 3 . Alan Pierce (Kawl. 500 BEG : 1. Jeff Brag ia (Hon): 2. Jess Och oa (Hon); 3. Dav id Gen try (Honl . 500 JR : 1. Jeff Heal ey (Hon l: 2. J immy Tayl or (Hon); 3. Ed Hami lton (Kaw). 500 INT: 1. Eric M ar noch (Han); 2 . Mike Elsberry (Suz); 3 . Ton y Seibert (Hon). VeT J R: 1. Kar el Kr am er (Yam); 2. Pat Gra ham (Honl; 3 . Ray McC askey (Hon l. VeT INT: 1. Ke n Yarn ell (Hen) ; 2. Denni s Davi s (Yam); 3 . Layn e Castn er (Han). VET MSTR : 1. Jon Moller (Vam l: 2 . Paul Hu ebert (Han): 3. St eve Fer ron i (Yam) . a T JR : 1. Gar y Trower (Hen) : 2 . Gar y M elv in (KTM) : 3 Marsh Run yon (Yam l. a T INT: 1. J im M cCrack en (Kew) ; 2. Ken Feulner (Hon): 3 . M ax Goode (Vam) OT MS TR: 1. Richard Sch ,lhng (Hon); 2. Ca rl Nel son (Vaml; 3. Russ Ray (Vam ). SIDECARS : 1. P. Palfr eym an /V . Palfreyman (Vaml : 2. P. Wh itney/S o Wh itney (Vam): 3 . T. Lind / D. M cDoweli tEML). GSXR7S0 I p it and try to ad just th e sus pe n sion. I'm to ld th at the suspension is set o n maximum seni ngs: ir's clea r th a t the tech n icians aren 't irue resred in ma ki ng cha nges. I look a t th e front fo rk s and see th at th e a nti -di ve (of sorts ) is set o n positio n #1. 1 turn ..ac h side up 10 posi tion #3. and go ou t agai n. T he bike doesn ' t seem any better, a lthough I ha ve less troubl e liftin g a nd locking th e rear wh eel in to ha rd-bra kin g corners - and that may be because I'v e adap ted to th e front brak es. • • • T he mood in th e p its is a m ixture o f su rprise and disap point me nt , th e stre ng th of th e react ion seem ing to d.e pend upon whi ch bik e any given rid er had . Malt Oxley o f En gl and's Mot o rcvcle News finis hed second in th e 1984 Lel\l an s 2·I-hour in Fran ce; h e thinks th e GSXR's suspe ns ion is sim p ly too soft a nd advoca tes in creasin g preload at bo th en ds. H e co rw in ces th e techni cians 10 a llo w him to do so , goes o ut for an other sessio n, an d says il helped. An Itali an wh o wat ch ed me wobbl e past in th e first turn co mes up to me w it h wide eves a nd descr ibes with bot h han ds wh'at the bi ke I rode was doi ng . H is was th e same. he sai d. an d it was side wa ys every lime he tried to a ccel erate o ff a co rn er. The insta n t th e p egs touch ed the grou nd , h is bik e sl id . T ha i surprised me, because m v bike never carn e close III dragging t1{e pegs , but ma ny of th e Europea ns, ~ his Ita lian in clu ded . d idn ' t ha ng off I II co rners. Mv next session had me sch edu led for ;; Ca nadian model. wi th rou n d , stream lin ed -mirrors a nd black-an dred paint. Severa l engineers had as ked me how I liked th e firs t bike, a n d I th in k th ey read more in my face th an I sa id in mv words. Mr. Yok ou chi , th e to p ma n on th e scene, im media tely exam ined the bi ke I was to ride a nd decla red tha t I must wa il fo r new tir es to be insta lled . No way di d I want 10 be scuffi ng-in new stree t Iires on th e frigid pav ement, I sai d , Don 't cha nge th e tir es. No . replied Yokouchi . We must rep lace th e ti res. You mu st wail. I wa iled . ••• It tak es 15 m inutes for th e bik e to rea p pea r in th e pits with new tir es m ounted fro n t a nd rea r. They'r e already lightly scru bbed-in ; Suzuki testers must hav e pre-scru bbed a bunch of tires moun ted on spare wh eels. I kn ew before I was through th e first co rner th at this rnororcvcl e wa s nothing like th e last. It wa s sta ble , ran straigh t. d idn 't wobble. On th e stra igh ta way it pulled right up to 11 ,000 rpm in sixth gea r on every lap, indica ting 245 kph (152 mph ) a t a calcu la ted 147 mph (ra dar set up part-wa y down th e stra ig h t ca ug h t th e bik e a t 138 mph , I'd be told later), Th e bik e sti ll demanded a light touch and went th rough th e fast left pa st th e pits best wh en I staye d under th e bubbl e a nd warked o n being smooth. But with thi s on e, th e pe na lty for a n abrupt move or wa yward knee in th e windstrearn was a quick twitch , nOI a series o f twitch es a nd wobbles, a nd th e bik e Ielt much m ore solid. And entering th e fir st turn at th e end of th e gi ant stra igh t, silting up a nd braking a n d downshifting and then driving through th e corner. the bike didn 't wobbl e or wall ow a nd th e rear end didn ' I osc illa te up and down, With out wobbles to worry about. I co u ld pay a ueruion to how the bike worked ge tting into a nd out o f earner s, Cornerin g clea rance was fantasti c, sla bility under either trailing

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