Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wes Cooley rode for Cycle Tech Racing to debut the GSXR750 in U.S . competition. finishing second in an endurance race April 13. ' Works Honda NS500 V -3s now have larger 37mm carbs. new cylinders and pipes for more power. Production RS500s aren't as fast. "We have to win the chamllionship-" Wes Cooley and Starfire Racing. . By John Ulrich T wo-time , U.S. Superbike Champion Wes Cooley has sjgned with Starfire Racing and wi ll co n test the 1985 AMA Superbike Series on a Honda fo r the team. Cooley, who rode a Su pe r T eam Honda VF750F to . . lead much o f - a n d flJ:ush secon d in - th e Da ytona 200 . M h ' d ith Starfire In a rc , signe WI (Above) The new works Suzuki frame; head angle is adjustable w ith different bearing seat offsets. (Below ) The carbon-fiber Skoal Bandit Suzuki. S.A. Review (Con tinued from page 11) 14 th e cyli nde r an d h ead . T his operates in th e sa me wa y as H onda 's AT AC system and increases th e vo lume o f th e ex ha us t at lower revs. T he Suzuki uses a cylin drica l va lve to regu la te th e flow o f gases into th e cham ber. T he engi nes u sed by th e Gallina and H eron tea ms are not th e sa me , th ough , an d while th e Heron is littIe cha nged from the'83 p ow er p lant the co mplete bik es su p p lied to th e Ita lia n team h ave mu ch m ore develo ped engi nes . Ex terna lly th ere arc few di fferen ces, amou nti ng to so me d ifferent web s cas t into th e cases to make th em stronger. Ins ide, the cylinders, h eads, pistons, cases an d cran ks a rc d ifferent eno ug h to mak e a t least five a nd p robab ly 10 bhp difference. Th e British sq ua d was n ot at a ll impressed by bei ng passed over in favor of th e Ita lians. They did no t want the co m p le te m a chin es but expected to ge t equal treatment as Iar as the pow er p lants were co nc ern ed . At th e moment it is u p to Kiwi Mi ke S in cla ir to get the m ost from th e British team eng in es that R o b McElnea has to use. H e kn ows wha t h e is doin g , havin g wo rked wi th the square fo urs as th ey were ridden by Pa t H ennen , Wil H artog and R andy Mamo la . H e n eeds m ore lu ck than h e had a t Kyal am i, though, wh ere the ig n itio n system packed up on th e warm -up lap. T o p speed wi ll co un t for lillie a t th e nex t ro und, the Spanish G P at j ararn a , wh ere accelera tio n and cornering a re a ll im portan t. One o f the tr iples co u ld w in th ere and it will p ro ve a real test o f j ust how rida ble th e lat est Yamaha a nd H onda Y_ fou rs arc . three days before h e left for Daytona , which h e had alrea dy agreed to rid e for th e Su pe r Tea m . Since return in g from Da ytona. Coo ley, 28. has a lso signed to rid e a Cycle Tech R acing Suzu ki G SXR750 in WERA Na tiona l En du ra nce Series even ts, partnered by Da vid Ald a na - Coo ley a nd Alda na finis hed second in th e team 's first ra ce, a six -ho ur a t Indiana polis Raceway Park o n Ap ril 13. . " It will be . a litt le co n fu sing to -peo p le." says Coo ley, wh en as ked if h is multipl e rides wi ll co n fuse fans a nd specta to rs. " Bu t th ey'r e d iffere n t events , even thoug h they still ha ve ma n y of th e same peop le in th em . I don't see a ny p roblem . Peo pl e ide nti fy wi th m e. If it 's end u ra nce racin g , they know it 's m e, a n d if it's Superbik e I'm a lready doing -that . " I want to ride, " said Coo ley. " I th ink th e more I ride the better prepared I a m . I won't have to sit aro un d two weeks and th en try to get -it . together three da ys befor e a n even t. And th ere's m oney, I have a new kid (Wcster Sco tt , born March 29), a nd I need th e mon ey. I sti ll have to bu y ba by food and pay for th e h ouse so it was ne cess a ry for me to do the end ura nce series fo r Cycle Tech a nd a lso th e YI P T rack Series with BMW . T he dea l wi th BMW is where th ey invi te people wh o o wn big J a panese bikes to ride BMW s at various track s - th e fir st o ne is in Ma y. I got ho ok ed up wi th the m th rough David Emde, wh o did the m last year wit h Don Green e. T h e respo nse las t year wa s so great th at the BMW peop le felt they need ed th ree p rofessional ' riders th is year i ns tea d o f tw o, so i t wi ll be Ernde, G reene a nd my self. " Prio r to sig ni ng Cool ey, Starfire Ra cin g was a one- ride r tea m . a nd th at ri der wa s up-and-com in g T odd Brubak er , 22. As Brubaker expla ins it, Sta rfire Racin g was formed by T om Lew is, th e fa th er o f o ne 0 1Brubaker 's fri ends an d h imself a stree trid ing enth usias t. and La rry Dod ge, a fina ncier. It was Lew is who decided two yea rs ago that yo u ng Brubak er migh i have ra cing p ot ential, after seei ng him ride in south ern Ca lif or n ia ca nyon s. (Before taking up stree t r idi ng a t age 18, Brubak er 's o n ly fo rm of m otorized co m pe titio n was two yea rs o f racing snow mobiles in th e cas t, wh en h e was 14 a nd \5.) U n der Lewi s' g u ida nce, Brubak er started racing a stoc k G Pz550 Kaw a sa ki and did well in 1983, sign ed with Starfire Racin g as organi zed by Dodge in 1984, and bega n ridi ng a Cha m pio n Mo riwaki Su perstreet -class GPz550. On th at mach in e, Brubaker set new ' class lap records a t Willow Sp rings a n d Scars Po int, a nd won every race he en tered unti l he cras hed in Au gust , 1984 a nd mi ssed severa l event s whi le hosp ita lized for skin graf ts on an inj u red foo t. In No vem ber, 1984, Brubaker clim bcd on to a Supcrbike p ut tog ethe r fo r Sta rfi re Racin g - now expa nded to i ncl ude a tota l o f fo ur inves to rs - by Ken Fu n kh ouser. T h e bi ke had a works H RC engine fro m th e sta rt, bu t lacked works chassis parts, notably fro n t forks , a nd Brubaker en co un tered p ro blems fig uri ng o ut what th e bike needed a nd wh at he needed to tell his mecha ni c to gett he ma chine set up corr ectly. Brubak er's perfor ma nce at Daytona a nd h is lo ss in three Will ow Springs races to Yosh imura R &D's n ew pi lo t Kevin Sch wa ntz brou ght hi s young ca ree r to a p latea u . " I thin k Larr y (Dodge) was worried a bo u t m y p erf orman ce a nd how h ig h I'd be a ble to p lace by th e en d o f the year, " says Brubak er. " I wasn 't doi ng any thi ng, and he wa s ques- · tion ing m y a bili ty." . ' It was a t tha t point that Dod ge ca lled ra ce prom ot er J im Moore a nd as ked hi s advice, accordi n g to l'10o!e. And Moor e says. " He want ed advice o n h ow to push h is team a lo ng. I kn ew Wes need ed a ride, a nd I fel t th e team needed so meo ne like Wes to push i t a lo ng, to develop th e team ." M o or e ar ra nged m e et in g s w i t h Coo ley a nd Dodge, th e result bein g Coo ley's sig n ing. " La rr y h as a different racing effor t ph il osoph y," says Cooley, " trying to br ing i n m ana gem ent a nd bu sin ess like the Pen ske a nd H a ll tea ms. R ight no w the re a re three rea sons wh y pea(Co ntinued to pag« 22 )

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