Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Open Expert Chuck M iller describes his second-overall f in ish . Honda pilot Bill Hisey claimed first overall in the Beg inner classes . Barstow-to-Vega s run o n a fourstro ke? "T he weigh ts o n four-strokes a re gettin g lighter a nd th ey ge t m ore mi leage tha n a two -stroke ," said Roeseler, who wo n h is ISDE med al on a Husqvarna four-stroke. " I' ve been riding fou r-strokes a lot, a nd I wi ll be riding th em a lot in 1986. " T he race was won o n a H usq varna, " he said a t the Nevada fin ish line. " Even finishing third is a good sh ow ing fo r me a n d th e bike. Randy (Mo ra les) fini sh ed fifth on 'a H onda , so three o f th e to p five rid ers were o n H usqvarnas." H a rden, 29, th e final member of H u sq va rna 's top-finishing tri o , is a district sa les manager and co ntracted racer for th e Swedi sh motorcycle co m pany. H e fin ished seco nd o vera ll at last yea r's Barstow -to- Vegas co mpetiti on, and clai med firs t overa ll in this year's Baj a 500. " I had a real good ride - no p roblems," said H arden after th e race. " I had a chai n gu ide come off a nd I had to stop a nd fix th a t. I never saw Dan Smith, but I was third or fo urth mos t o f th e way . " T h e race wa s pr etty fast th e first half a nd pre tty ro ug h the seco nd half," H arden sai d . " T he la st 60 miles were the tou ghest o f th e race. T h e last 43 miles were very p hys ica lly de ma ndi ng - th at 's wh en the bes tco ndi tio ned riders came to th e front ." H arden is becoming a fixture at District 37's a nn ua l Ba rstow- to-Vega s classic. In add itio n to th is seaso n 's race, he ran Bar stow-to-Vegas in 1972, 1973,1 974, a nd 1984. Will h e be back next year? " O h yea h ," he sa id wi th a smi le. " Yo u bet. I' ve a lways been in th e top four overall in thi s ra ce, and I've fin ished it every year I've ridden it. " Mora les, the 21-year-o ld rider who took fifth in th e 500cc Expert class, sa id he was lu cky to fini sh th e race after taking a tumble in th e unmarked rain dit ch . " I got a bad sta rt a nd wa s running about 50th at th e bomb," Moral es said. " I moved up to third , but a wa ter line ca me off and I d ropped to sixth. " T he n I got o ff hard in a ditch - the sa me ditch Dan Sm ith got of f in . At least I wa s able to keep running. Brett Howell got o ff in th e same ditch - he got off hard - a nd th ey took him to the h o sp i ta l ," Moral es sai d . . Mora les seem ed leth ar gi c aft er the race , and a large red bump had formed on hi s forehead , testimony to th e impact o f hi s cra sh. H e sa id th e impact did not render him unconscious, but added he was down a t least two minutes. " It was a fter p it three at State Line," Morales said . "We were run - ning in ro lling terrain, parallel to Highwa y 15. T h e terra in leveled out wh ere yo u co u ld ope n it up a nd go fa ster , th en , a ll o f a sudde n , the re was a 10 to 12-foot d itch . I launch ed into th e a ir, closed m y eyes, a nd hit th e o th er side . I wa s d own for two m in ut es th en I looked up and asked m yself, ' is this marked?' It wasn 't marked . I was ch asin g Roeseler, Roeseier mad e it , I didn' t. I co u ld hav e th ought o f bett er ways to ge t to Vega s." Most o f th e Barstow-to- Vegas rid ers, in cluding th e top fini shers, would have preferred to bypass th e unmarked \vash ou t. "I crashed once," Smith sa id. " I hi t abo u t a IS-foot rain ditch th at wa sn 't marked. I tri ed to jump it, but I didn't mak e it. Wh en I hi t th e o the r side I think it tried to sp it me to th e moon. " " It wa s a to ta l wash out wh ere Da n bailed ," sa id Mill er. "A lo t o f fo lk s fel t there sho u ld have been danger markers. I kind o f wi sh ed th ey would have mar ked th at one - three g uys wo u ld n't have go t off. But I gues s they ca n ' t mark the who le co ur se. " No o ne rode the co urse before we went through ," Mill er added . "You j ust got go ing up to spee d , th en th ere was th e ditch ," sa id Mik e Fren ch , a 19-yea r-o ld 125cc Novice from Los Angeles. " It had vertical sides ; th ey were straig ht u p a nd down ," he said. " It wa s abou t fo ur-feet deep , I thin k. You ca n ' t ma rk everyth ing, but th at d itch sure wasn' t marked ver y good. " Fren ch made hi s co m me nts whil e resting in a la wn cha ir nea r th e finish line. H is left foot wa s p ropped up a nd enclosed in a mak esh ift cast . H e sa id he th ou ght he had a brok en a rch. Severa l rid ers who went down in th e unmarked wa shout co m p la ined to District 37 offi cia ls, and at lea st two other riders were injured in th e ditch . " Whe re Dan went down was su p pos ed to be well -ma rked ," said D-37 presid ent J Ot' Bilotta. " We had pre-rider s o u t thi s m ornin g wh o sai d it was marked . We had up six stakes with three o range day gl o markers on each stake. Th ere was no wa y Dan co u ld have m issed th ose. It a ppea rs as if so meone ca me down H igh wa y 161 , walked down th e co urse a n d pulled th e da nger m ark ers o ff del iberately. We know th ey were th ere because th e whole co urse was ridden earl y this morn in g ." Bilotta sai d he was aware of th ree serio us injuries resulting from crashes in th e d itch . H e verified o ne rider su ffered a fractured femur; a nothe r broke h is clav icle; a nd a third su ffered a broken a rch. " Fo r someo n e to do this deli ber a tely is bizarre," Bilotta sa id . "T he wind did not blow those stakes down ." Scot Harden. (below). who f inished fourth overall. was joined in the finish line chute by his young son. (Above) Expert James McGrath on the gas . Bilotta placed the locat ion of th e " I didn' t know what I was rununmarked washout a s one mile south ning, " he said. "but I figured it was o f Highwa y 161, near chec k 12. Check in th e top three. I never saw Christ12 was loc at ed in Nevada , n ear the man ." J ean a n d G oodsprings offra m p on G orgone wa s sa ved from th e unI-I S. m arked ditch by a n injured rider who The top rid ers in th e 250cc Expert waved him down as he ap p roac h ed th e wa shout , cl a ss included winn er Christman, second p lace finis he r P hi l Gorgone , " It was just past ga s three," h e said. 25, of Hacienda Heights, Ca lifornia, " A guy cra shed th ere in front of me a nd third pl ace fin ish er Sean Brada nd broke hi s co lla rbone . H e was from the Viewfinders (M.C.) and he ley, IS, o f Ridgecrest , Cal ifornia. T he top 250cc trio d iced with Roewa s wav ing me down . It was a na sty seier d uring portions o f th e co urse, ditch. I g uess the danger ma rkers a nd eac h o f th e three 250cc Experts blew down o r someone knocked th em managed to fin ish in th e top 10, down . Ov erall the co u rse wa s marked overall. fantasti c." Bradley lost second pl ace in th e Gorgone said he wa s running about 15th a t th e sta rt o f th e race wi th onl y 250cc Expert class to Gorgone when Ch ristman a nd Open class bikes in he wa s forced to repa ir a flat tire right front o f him , After taking it easy a fter the th ird gas stop . A few miles through th e ope n in g loop (a sa ndy a fter th e sto p, he, too, was warned o f area wh ere Gorgone seized hi s eng ine the unmarked wa shout by a downed rider. in the 1984 Bar stow-to -Vegas race), he was approxima tely fo ur minutes " A guy on a C R500 bailed there behind Christman. - - • • • •. - , •• •. , • , - • • • •• ••.• (C on tin ued to -page 31) ' . . ' - 7

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