Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Calvin Rayborn III is out to garner some contingency money from the 1987 club racing circuit, Interview: Road racer Colvin Raybom III The second time around By Paul Carruthers In the early '70s a young Calvin "Buddy" Rayborn spent his s,ummers following the National road race circuit and beating the likes of Gary Nixon, David Aldana and Gary • Fisher in minibike pit races from Daytona to Laguna Seca, In 1987 a now matured Calvin 'III 'II ... Ray bo rn .WI. return to Ulose venues, bUL Lhls lime around hiS racing will be done on Lbe track. The young Rayborn waLched many a road race from a fence-side posiLion or atop a mOLOrhome roof as his late father Cal did battle with the same riders "Buddy" had earlier beaten in Lhe pits. The names will be different Litis year as the 27-year-old Rayborn goes head-Lo-head wiLh the Doug Polens, Doug Tolens, Scott Grays and Earl Roloffs of the road racing world, but he is hoping the resulLs will be the same as his pit racing quests of the '70s. Racing is in R,ayborn's blood. His faLher Cal was arguably the besL rider Lo never win the AMA Grand National Championship and is still regarded as one of the finest road racers Lo come OUL of Lbe UniLed States. His potential was never really Lapped as Rayborn was killed while Lesting a Suzuki in New Zealand in 1973. The third generation alvin Rayborn star~d racing aL Speedway 117 near his former sLomping grounds in Spring Va~ley, California (a s.uburb of San Diego). From there Jl was weekly dirt Lrack racing in Corona, California, and finally Lhree years ago the road race bug set in. "Don Vesco had thaL liLLle(Yamaha) TR2 and he Look thaL ouL to Riveride and leL me ride iL out there," Rayborn, who now lives in Elsinore, California, said. "I went oULand won the Novice class and gOLeighLh in the Expert and it sLarted from there; I rode the TR2therestof the year and I rode that until it died. Then Cycle CiLy (an accessory shop in Santa Ana, California) started pULting me on a couple of their bikes and I sLarted doing 'really good. I've been geLting rides every since then." Rayborn and tarmac seemed LO geL along and the dirt track scene soon became only a memory. The Champion-framed Yamaha 250 and 750 were puL into storage and road racing became the number one priority. "There's not enough money in iL (dirt tracking)," he said. "It co Lme Loo much money LO run the bike and I wasn't gelling anything back from it. I still have them, but Lhey're just siLling in my storage. I'll put Lhem back together one of these days." Rarborn may not be an up-and- oming 19-year-old. InsLead he' an up-and-coming 27-year-old, bUL he doesn'tfeel his age will bea problem. His resume states LhaL Rayborn is 24, bUL when you grow up WiLh the peron doi ng the in Lerview, a mallliLtle Iie is soon deLecLed. "We've gOL to keep the young image up," Rayborn said. "A 10L of people ay, and I've been told myself many Limes, LhaL older racers don'L get rides, and I don'L believe in Lhat. NOL aL all. If you're good enough to do it Lhen you should geL a chance, so I've never told anybody how old 1 really was. Nobody ever knew. I knew we weren 'L going to be able LO pull iL out in Lhis interview, bUL iL wa worth a Lry." One would think LhaL Rayborn would have progressed from his Yamaha Mini Enduro; LO dirt Lrack racing, and finally to road racing in a much quicker time span, bUL, suprisingly enough, growing up as the Calvin Rayborn's son may have made LhaL process a lillIe slower than u ual. There was a lot to prove. "I've had'to do iL myself," he said. "I had to show myself that 1 could do it by myself and I've found out thaL I could. It took me a long Lime to get up Lhere and get some people behind me. Vesco ha been behind me all the way, bUL he's jusL so busy that he just never has the Lime Lo really 100% stand behind me. Now he's geLting a lillie biL more Lime LO himself, 0 he's Larting to help me ouLa 10L more. He wanted Lo find out if I really wanted it or nOL and I think LhaL's whaL he's been wai Ling foT. "I think it'S been more difficult (being the son of a famous racer) because people want to find out if I've gOL it in me. I think LhaL was the mOSL difficult Lhing LO geL through. Proving to them thaL 1 can do itand I have the talent LO go out Lhere and race the bike and win. But after I did that the name kind of helped me along a litLle bit." Rayborn, however, will always have fond memories of those days of pit racing. "We watched quite a few races along wiLh racing the mini bikes in the pits," he said. "I Lhink we were more interested in where we were going LO get a minibike so we could race againsL the guys. I remember they (AMA officials - aL the time the scariesL people aL the track) would come down and yell at us, or firsL Lhey would yell at the racers and then our dads would yell at u ." This year, Rayborn will return to a lot of track that he visited as a kid. As a racer, Rayborn has only raced Outside of California once. "I ran a race in Las Vegas on the TR2, but other Lhan thaL I haven'L raced outside of California," he said. "Besides Lhat it's jusL been River ide and Willow Springs. 0 the tracks will be new excepL for what I can remember from when I was young." Rayborn will campaign the Suzuki GSXR Series and the new Honda Hurricane erie. ''I'm working on buying an 1100 so we can run all Lhree ofthem." he said. "I'm going to try and go for number one Lhis year in all the series race. 0 we'll see whaL happens. " Who does Rayborn see as being the main compeLition in 19B7? "The main man LO beaL will be Doug Polen," he said. "I hear he' getting a Hurricane and he's gOt the LWO Suzukis." Rayborn has Lurned 1.33s aL Willow Springs International Raceway in souLhern California, on a Kawaaki 600 inja, while Polen has Lurned times in the 1.30-range. "WiLh the uzuki we hould be Lurning some real fasL Lime ," Rayborn said. "BUL I've gOL to drop anoLher three seconds on iL LO be compeLiLive. I can do iL, mOSL definiLely. We're jusL working OUi the bugs on the uzuki now." Rayborn, along wiLh his manager Eric GieLI (the son of Honda road race team manager Udo GieLI), has PUL Logether a sLrong sponsor hip package for 19B7 and will receive his major assisLance from CyeIe CiLY (an accessory shop in anta Ana, California) and Dunlop Tires. Now there is j USL the waiLing period. A race here and a race there, bUL Rayborn is looking forward - to DayLona. "Everything is preuy much there," he sail. "We're working on getting a trailer; the van's geLting a little small for four bikes. We're going LO hit as many as we can. They'll all be weekend races excepL for Daytona. "I already informed my employer (Rayborn is a mechanic) thaL I'm gone. 1 gave them a fair warning when I sLarted LhaL I was going Lo DayLOna and thaL was my dream; I'm going and nothing is going LO SLOp me. It's someLhing Lhat I've been wanting to do for quite a few years. Ever since I can remember, but I didn'L want to go there to waLch. I wanted LO go to race. It's no fun watching when you know you could be out there." In addiLion LO the Suzuki and Honda series, Rayborn al 0 plans to contest a few endurance races, the Formula USA Series at Willow Springs. and maybe even a National. "Vesco and Billy Tally are building a (Yamaha) FZ750 and I Lhink.I'1I run Lhat in the Superbike class up aL Laguna Seca," he said. "It's getting pretty close to being done, but they won't have iL finished for Daytona. Weare going to run it in the Formula USA Series this year too." Rayborn's future plans include a ride on a Formula One bike or possibly a 250cc Grand Prix machine. Who knows, Europe may even be in the cards. A single statement says iL all. "I've been around racing since I was four and that's been my life. It's what I love to do and it's what I'm going LO keep on doin ." •

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