Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Iron BUll 'rou nd Am er ica ~ i ~, C eorge just didn 't know when to stop! The fir st to enter th is tru ly un ique even t, G eorg e had truck ed O U I from Pe nn sylva n ia to be a p a rt o f road ra cing hi story. A closed roa d fo r 145 m i les had g ot h is juices flowing ! H ell, this wa s j us t a sprint fo r h im. It was eit he r th e race o r stay h ome a nd mow the lawn . No co ntes t. Seco nd o u t wo u ld be m otorcycling 's interna ti o nal good wi ll a mbassador - Lo yal George Truesda le IV. Ex Cannon Baller , 12-hou r racer, Baja I000 original. Loya l wa s also H o ndam oun ted - co urtesy of h is ow n in nova tive customer-relations package. Lo yal had been wa iti ng wi th bai ted breath for this one! H a ve as m uch fu n as it wa s possible to ha ve. We'd go t sti ll and video cameras to record th is one. Loyal would add even more co lor to h is m ovie script this trip. His bigges t worry was being without a Cam el cigarette for two hours! If Loyal co u ld hav e coupled his turbo la ugh to the th e rea r wheel, we'd a ll be histo rv. Next \vas yours tru ly. Tha t's Cliff Carr - th e old tim er, not Ch ris Carr, rodav's hot shot! I li ked the n um bert hre~ slo t, a cha nce to catc h a coup le of guys u p a head a nd get a tow off of anyone be hind th at came along. I hadn ' t bee n o n a bike in m o nths, let alone in a race (t hat ha d been years). I was looki ng forwa rd to a ni ce cr uise back o n Tea m G ree n. I'd better get on wi th it th oug h , after a ll, I'd ga l m y fa cto ry lo aner a nd m y ma te Ca m , th e ace m ech ani c; m a ybe I'd better sta rt thi n king a bou t winn ing th is. St ra nger things h ad happen ed . It was time fo r a race, to clear the m in d . N umber four o u t o n th e highway wo u ld be Yamah a-m ou nted Sco tt Wa ters - or, as the Mex ican p ress ca lle d h i m, "Scoo t." H e had eq u ipm ent tha t was d efini tel y going to be in th e hunt . Sco tt ha d d eterm ina tion wri tte n a ll over h im and a real sana Ya maha th at had q ui te a few de velopmen t mil es o n it. He'd by-passed a local points-paying race to come down a n d go for the Mexica n Gold . H e lo oked real serio us; he was th e o n ly o ne with lockwir e p lie rs. I wi sh ed I had his lO-inch di sc a nd fla t bars and hoped I co u ld ca tch h is draft when he ca me a lo ng. Young G eoff.McCa rthy a nd his Vintag e-cl ass desm o Ducati wer e u p n u mber five. T he 17-year-old kid w ith th e eye of th e tiger looked h ot ; 120 p ound s soaki ng wet , o ne o f o n ly tw o or three to p re-run , a Duc set -u p i n real ro ad racin g sty le. His dad, fa mi ly a n d fri ends we re th ere to cheer him o n . If the o ld Bol ogna sew ing m ach in e would keep going, th ei r trek down from north ern Ca lifornia wou ld pa y off. A rea l lik eabl e yo u ng m an Loy al a n d I pegged as a defini te sta r o f to m o rr o w. N u mber si x o u t o f Sa n Fe lipe wa s h ard- ri d in g Ste ve Ball m er. H e had a ca ll from the to uris t bo a rd the week bef ore. Although o ffices in Mexi co City wer e d estroyed, th e race wa s still o n. What th e h ell , he'd go. fo r it. Ste ve left Kawasaki a t 5:00 p .rn , on Frida y, ki ssed hi s p regnant wife so lon g a nd head ed fo r a raci ng weeken d d oubl e header a t Sa n Fe lipe a nd Rosar ita Beach . Ste ve ca me knock in g a t th e camperdoor at I:OO a .m. Sa turda y m orning after riding his KL 600 from Costa Mesa to th e sta rt paddo ck . Wa s th er e ro om to ki p o n the floo r? I shou ld h av e sai d no ! R a ce day . A b r ight, clear d a y dawn ed a n d good n ew s o n the mou n tain sec tio ns - th er e was n o ra i n, as th e previous da y. T he flag went d own for m e a t 9:03, a nd I ga ssed i t o ut o f to w n through a tunnel o f very excited spec ta tors. All of San Felipe had turned out, it seemed . Once under starter's orders th e high-speed sh im my I'd h ad in practi ce blasts d isappeared . I wa s W 1"0 , clutching the fork leg like Sp ri n ger! In d ouble-quick time th e o n ly thing that wa s o n th e KL 600 speedo was the m aker' s namel l ran at 120 m ph (ind ica ted ) as I reeled in Lo yal; I cl osed o n h im a nd co uld see h e was i n a li tt le trouble. A who le, latta sha kin' was gain' a ni I ba cked off a n d indicated L oyal to duck in beh ind a nd see if I co u ld suck him a lo ng th e remainde r o f this first 30m il e drag-st r ip sect ion . We gave up after a co uple of miles , Loyal co uld o n ly go th e sa me speed; th is wobble co u ld not bed ri ven through . Economy got th e better o f stu pidity and Loyal ro de h is race, I rode mi ne. Back o n th e gas , I settled down to p ierci ng th e air efficient ly and find ing the 'smoothes t groove. A few mi les before El Chinero, " Sco tt " was alongside. Slip-streaming him was only do-able wi th his coopera tion (read slowing do wn !) and after a li tt le ca t and m o u se, Sco tt wa s on his wa y. At EI C hinero, the firs t big, flat-infourt h left -h and er, I was 200 yards down on number four and I couldn 't see getting it back. The terrain was wide-open through the San Ma tias regio n , a nd a llowed a person to see far ahead , to be ready for a ny Mexican road race surprises the odd dog, cow, u nexpected g u lly or moving chicane. Suddenly, there was someth i ng la rge u p ahead in th e road. I knew th e truc ks a nd cars we re to sta rt after th e bik es, but here was a truck. A large Mex ica n tru ck wit h a fam il y Q.f 14 a nd a li feti me o f possessions o n bo a rd . Nobod y was goi ng to stop th is g uy m o vin g ho u se Sa turday morni n g - road cl osed or not. H is dogs yapped as I zoomed by. I'd wondered a bo u t ro ad closi ng the ni ght before, a bo u t how closed the a u thorires co u ld get them, an d a fter passing th e truck, right th ere a nd th en , I de ter mined no t to lea ve the righ t side o f th e road u n less I co u ld see th ro ug h the turn . I fig u red I'd be thi rd n o w o n th e road, behind George a nd Sco tt, as I swooped in to the village o f Trin idad a t a ton p lus . T rinidad was o ur ha lfwa y gas stop . I was o n reserve; where was th e ca m per? I was thro ugh th e d amn village - no ca m per! I ha d to tu rn arou nd a n d there was Ca m fis h tai ling the Star Ship Ex p lorer a nd trai ler u p a d irt road to th e side of t he h ighwa y. T hey 'd had to go get ex tra gas to fu el th e m idnigh t ad di tio n to o ur team , Steve. I shoul da made hi m slee p under th e camper. Walt a nd Nuge had been at th e roads ide with m y gas ' - but I'd mi ssed them . Walt to ld m e he'd been wavi n g lik e crazy as I raced pas t. I to ld Walt, "everybody was bloodv wa vi ng for th e la st 75 m il esl I was lo ok in g for a blo ody ca m per!" T hese chaps h a ve got to rea lize w hen yo u're over 40, you need big ger braking mar kers! Eve n tua lly, I got m y gas a nd m y shot o f octane bo oster, a nd headed o ff fo r a 40-mil e sectio n o f real q ui ck swoops throug h ca ttle co untry. A fa st, grea t.steady clim b up to a 35mi le m ountain road ru n in ; that was as twis ty as it go t, a nd ende d at th e fin ish four m il es eas t o f Ense nada. No body h ad seen George a t the gas stop; loo ked like I was second o n th e , road . Just as I'm thinking all tha t, Geoff a nd th e yellow peril speed by - m ak e th at th ird o n the road, Yo u n g McCarthy was tu ck ed i n with not hing flapping in th e breeze. Wi th a thum bs up h e was go ne; I co u ld n't see ca tch ing h im , ei ther. H e wa s on th e gas, a nd by j us t ball-parking co rrected time, it lo oked to m e lik e h e was leadin g . Bu t not to be; a few miles o utfrom th e gas stop, I see G eoff Bo y Racer touring . The o ld "dime part " h ad let go, a valv e sh im had broken. G eoff th ough, I'm su re, will win m any other races. I g o t ready fo r the m ounta in sec- Rid ing a FT500 Honda Ascot. Loyal Truesdale pla ced fourth overall at the La Carrera road race. tions, reminded m yself n ot to ge t carried a way, recalled my ri ght-side-ofthe-road-on ly rule, a nd wondered how well th e KL600 wou ld road race. Well , I got carri ed a way o nce o n ly , go t into th e m arbles using all th e road exi ti ng a real quick third-g ear r ig ht-ha nde r, a nd looked ri ght o ver the edge! T ha t p u t m e righ t - I d id n' t ge t silly a ny m ore, with h ard rock to ru n into o n th e passes ca rve d th roug h the terrain , a nd th e g reat blue yo n de r to sa il into o n th e roads that were o n m ountain " vera nd a h" sec tions . Discr eti on go t the better part of valor. I was j us t co ngra tu la ting m yself on my det ermi natio n to cool it when I wa s in to th is grea t smooth , g rip p y flat- in-fourth left -hander. I wa s o n th e ce nter line a lready a nd need ed th e road on th e left . I co uld n' t see th rough , the turn, but I kn ew I h ad it dia led . It 'd be o kay , g o for it. I cou ld keep i t flat-out with more road. I' m j us t a bout read y to pi tch it in w hen god dam n it - there's a g uy on a beatu p m o p ed foll owed by a Mexican highwa y ca r - lights blazing. Again , wake- up tim e! Oka y, I'd had th e m essa ges spe lled o ut. Co o l it; and right side of th e road only. I'd m issed th e co p by a g na t's whi sker. The KL 600 d id n ' t miss a bea t. Once you ge t used to the di esel thump of th e e ngine flat o u t, th ere are no o ther su rp r ises . Grea t 'torq ue , good bra kes , sta ble, a nd changed di recti on rea l eas ily . I h ad a g rea t ri de into th e fi nish line a n d th e T ecate hosp i tality tent. Sco tt was a lready there , h e had been p la g ue d by a n o i l leak for th e la st 80 mil es a nd h ad ha d a co u p le of sto ps . Valua ble time was lost de-safetywiring a nd toppi ng up with oi l. Steve ca me roaring in next a n d ga ve th e fi n is h line crowd a thrill with a back br a ke, o ver-the- line slide a nd a d ead-sto p fro nt -w heel w heelie, T he mi d n ig h t cow boy hot shot I Rid es th ro ugh th e nigh t, sticks on some number s, d oesn't eve n cha nge h is ' o n /off-ro ad ti res , a nd p ut s a smooth win a t 9~mph ":p lu s a verage on he reco rd books. The Ri ght Stu ff, that Steve Ballmer. Loya l ca me wobbling in next. H e h ad gone as fa st as h e co u ld go o n h is " flex y fli er " a nd beaten th e tw o-hour mark easi ly. H e was happy, We snorted Ca mels an d Teca te. We'd sti ll got a ll d a y to wa r m up for the fies ta tonight ! Young McCarthy cru ised in kn owi ng o ne had just slipped through his fin ger s, a nd th er e wa s n ew s o f G eo rge. U n fort u na tely, th e m otor Cli ff Carr in 1973 ri ding a factory Kawasaki at Laguna Seca, had let go, a nd he' d d ropped th e p lo t a nd was kn ock ed o ut. H e was flown unconsci ous to a Sa n Di ego hospital , and ca me to as th e p la ne was bein g jump-started in T ijuana . O th er road warriors carne in la ter. So o ld " we -move-smoo th " Steve took th e win by a minute a nd 30 seconds . The Mexican papers next d a y h ad Scott a n d I tied , though a t the fi n is h timekeeping table we saw Scott was seconds a head o f m e, a nd Scott got second -p lace trophy a t th e a wa rds. We wer e a ll th ree in th e 90m p h-average b racket - it had been close. Sco tt cursed hi s oi l leak , a nd I ru ed th e minu te-plus co me d y of err ors at my ga s stop. We'd lots to remember a nd reli ve thi s da y - every bo dy had a good supply of " ifs," " ands " a nd " buts." We got our g rea t stories! Ov er the n ick el lobster lunch es, we a ll vo wed we'd be back agai n nex t year, Eduardo a n d h is p eople had o rga nized a g rea t eve nt with a g ood spir it in th e fin est traditi ons of racin g for th e sport. Lo ya l a nd I wer e signed u p th ere a n d th en to put to gether a ll America n a nd European en tries for ' 1986 . Bring o u t your singles! Mart in and I reck oned a fresh G50-Seel ey with Bugsy Mann a board co u ld be hard to beat. I see th e o ver-40 age grou p n ext year being a lot o f fun . I've a feelin g I'll see ·a lot o f o ld friends ther e. H ow long is it since th ey cl osed the ro ad for u s to race, bo ys? See ya th ere ! For m ore information o n th e 1986 La Carrera , co ntact Cliff Carr a t 4733 Conej o Ave., Woodland H ills, CA 91364, 8181703-5083. ' . 21

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