Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

John Kocinski leads t he f i el d t h ro ug h the esses at d usk; Z- P Racing ' s Gregg Zizza (2) and H.S .C . Racing (2 5) follow. (Below) Heavyweight Production w .in ners M&M Racing (4) get lap ped by Speed Bo ys . (A bov e) A Cycle Tech pit st o p at night. N ote John Kocinsk i's radio w ire and plug . (Below ) Th e Fab ulous Speed Boys in vict ory. th e stoc k h eadlight a nd tw o runnin g li ghts: ' sa id J ohn Yurejefcic. Heschimura Racing had two entries in th e race: a H onda 500 Intercept o r and 1000 Interceptor. The Hesch im ur a I entry (1000 Inter cep to r) wa s doing ex tre mely well throughout th e first half and was consist entl y in th e top 10 despit e having a few handl ing probl ems. Th e rear shock di ed in th e fir st hou r. "The rear shock j ust was n't the re," sa id ri der Fr ank Sega. "The bike would p ogo a ll arou n d th e bumpy track. I almost crashe d three times." The bik e' s su spension was set up fo r light er riders Dan Chivi ngton and Larry Shorts w ho weigh around 150 to 160 pounds; Sega chec ks in at 225 pounds. Nobody is faster at night a t Nelson than Ch ivin g ton or Shorts . Their la p tim es we re just a few cli cks off th eir daylight p ac e. but th e Nort hga te H o n da -su p p o rt ed Interce pt o r wa s re tired a t 2:30 a .m . " We sp u n a bea ri ng in th e en gi ne," said mech an ic Kei th Mar sha ll. "There was no in dica tio n th at th e rod was goi ng 10 blow. It 's disappointi ng beca use th e engine was rea lly strong." Later in the morning sour exha us t notes would h it th e H esch imura II entry. Du rin g practi ce th e original motor had blown a nd was replaced , but d uring th e fir st hour o f th e race the 500 bega n 10 ru n hal. "We o nly had 45 m inu tes in practice o n the ne w m ot o r. We did n 't rea lly ha ve eno ug h time to brea k it in ," exp la ined Marsh al l. While run n ing second in class a nd 10th overa ll , a head gaske t blew an d H esch II beca m e another en d uran ce cas ua lty . Raci n g Otta wa 's Yamaha RZ500 was the one 10 ca tch in th e Mediumweight Su perbike.class. At o ne poin t, th ey wer e lea d ing th e class by 20-la ps and en ded up fini shin g fourth o vera ll. T he Da ro tun e/Silkol en e/Cha mpi on / Ca pital Cit y C ycle/P irelli-su p po rt ed team encou ntered o n ly bri ef trouble in th e fir st h o ur wh en a n exha ust pipe stin ger fell o ff. The rid ing was handl ed by Dan Witmer, Frank Dinardo an d Bug s Green . Late in th e race Witmer sa id. " As long as th e bike stays together for th e rest of the tim e thi ngs will be fine ." It did . fo r 968 laps, Cycle Speed R aci n g r ider s Bob Eva n, Bob Fran ce. Jeff McM ill an a nd G lenn Wh ilsmith pi lot ed th e Ontario Honda /Cycl e Speed So ft wa re ba cked Yamaha RZ350 10 th e finish des pi te a leaking water pump with bad sea ls. With tw o hours to go. th e team th ought th ey might have to replace the motor, but th ey de cid ed to let it go until th e end. They covered 914 laps a n d won th e Lightweight Superbike class. Goi ng u n noticed th ro ug ho u t all th is co m m otio n was H .S.C. (Ha le's Sports Cen ter ) Racin g . R iders Mike Garrett. Scott Evans, Bill R ice a nd Ch ris Tho mas were quietly ch urni ng out lap a fter lap aft er la p o n a Ya maha FJ 1100 wh ich was built 10days before the event fro m a to taled mo tor cycle a t th e shop . Warren Sandel boosted th e st o ck FJ en gi ne w ith a Ya ma ha Power -Up Kit wh ich in cl uded fir st over pisto ns, mi ld ca ms, ca r bs a nd a h ead er. " We ran th e wh ol e race on p ump gas which wa s given to u s by Mi ke Taylor. We used a bo u t 90 ga ll ons:' Sandel sai d . " We used three and onehalf quarts of oil a nd th ree sets of tir es, Th e on ly othe r p roblems we en co u ntered were a fter a crash wh ich ru ined th e ri gh t foot pe g and sh ifter. ,We wer e also breakin g ~ he ,bracke ts (Belo w) Team Ham m er charged out to a two-lap lead in one hour. then broke. ret ired f ro m the race and started t o regroup for Will ow Springs. I holdi ng th e ligh ts on a n d had 10 duct ta pe th em 10 th e frame." The team lost36 m in u tes repa ir i ng th ose pro blem s. The drama in the fina l hours centered o n wh ether Cycl e T ech co u ld co me back from th eir n earl y o ne hour engi ne cha nge - wit h j u st o ver three hours to go - a nd ge t back into contenti on for the ove rall w in. The tea m 's race en g ine wa s replaced w ith o ne wh ich was qu ite st ock an d m at ed 10 the carbure tio n system fro m th e race en g ine. T he je tting difference was a problem . " I' m surprised the bik e is o u t th er e an d ru nning as well as it is: ' sa id Cvcle Tech 's Bill Foster. Koci n ski was th e first rider o ut a fter the engi ne change a nd irn media tely began 10 tu rn hOI la ps . In the hou r he rode, Kocinsk i cu t into the margin of both Speed Boys and second pl a ce H .S. C . , R aci n g . H o w ever, Kocinski then p itted an d liter all y had to be ca rr ied from the bike. " H is kn ees locked up, " said Fos ter. " I g uess we wo r ked him 100 h ard." Al da na qu ickl y took ov er , bu t the m om en tum ha d been lost . " It 's pretty d isa ppoi nt ing. Both muscles j ust got bad cra mps in th em ," sa id Kocin ski. The heat a nd 24-h ours o f raci ng had caught u p wi th the 17year-ol d j u st as Cy cle Tech fail ed to ca tch winner Speed Bo ys and H.S.C. Results • OVERALL: 1. Speed Boys (Vam); 2. H.S.C. Racing (Yam ); 3 . Cycle Tech Racing (Suz); 4 . Racing On aw a (Yam ); 5 . Ho rn Brot h er s Rac in g (Yam ); 6. Team W anker (Ka w) ; 7 . Tea m Leon ar d (Yam); 8 . M &M Raci ng ; 9 . Twi n K Yamah a (Yam); 10 . Cardina l Sport Cycl e (Vom); 11. Cycle Spoed Racing (Yam); 12. Royale Racing (Vam); 13. Z-P Racing (Yam); 14 . Steel Cit y Roadracing (Hon); 15 . M &R Raci ng (Suz); 16 . Rising S un Racing (Yam); 17. Sol max Racing USA (Yam ); 18 . Ge ner ic Racing (Yam ~; 19 . Tea m Hor izon (Honl; 20 . Local Mot io n Racing (Yam~. Average sPeedl 113.20\ mph, I ; • I r I I r I I I

• Cover