Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126952
Eddie Lawson's World Championship winning Yamaha VZR500 in action at Riverside International Raceway without The -ulti_ate fear By Paul Carruthers RIVERSIDE, CA, MARCH 13 The left side of the zipper tugged violently at the right side as my leathers struggled •to stay together with every breath. The sweat had now filled·my eyes, but it didn't matter, they were closed anyway. With my heart beating in my throat, I shifted the Yamaha YZR500 into second gear. . The fear reminded me of that first day of my parochial school career the dreaded kindergarten. As I pulled out of pit lane, the esses approached like the nuns at Our Lady Queen of Peace. The last advice I received before getting on the bike was really confidence building. "It shifts opposite to anything you've ever ridden," they told me. "Okay, shift up to go faster and down to go slower, no it's up to go slower down to go faster, or is it. .. " As I shifLed into third, I started to wish they had done what I had told them. I begged that two spark plugs be removed, but they wouldn't listen. The front end was getting light and with all the guts of a fighter pilot, I shut off and prayed. "Where's the photographer," I thought to myself as I approached the almost-hairpin-like turn six. I knew this would be a spot that just maybe I could make myself look semi-respectable on film (after viewing the proof sheets, I soon realized that this too was a mistake). Ah, there he is, now hang off, keep your feet . on the pegs and smile. All this as I coasted through the turn at 20 mph. "I had better keep this thing revving," I thought. The only thing more embarrasing than bringing Eddie Lawson's 1986 500cc, V-four The YZR500 and its-V-fo~r World Championship winning bike back to the pits in a wad, would be them coming out to replace fouled spark plugs. I was one of a handful of journalists at Riverside International Raceway in southern California that had the 0Rportunity to ride the Y.amaha YZRSOO. If there is any such thing as a journalist qualified to ride a 150 horsepower motorcycle that is designed to win G~nds Prix unde:r the careful hand of Eddie Lawson, I wasn't it. I remember Lawson himself telling me what a crock the whole idea of journalist evaluations on Grand -Prix bikes were. Well at least he wasn't going to fret over my evaluations - I didn't have any. Unless you count fear as an evaluation of· a motorcycle. La~son. What was I going to do, go badt to the office and write about how anybody could win championships on Lawson's bike. Or how the rebound damping was a little harsh, or the Michelin radials went away after three laps. I could, however, say that the bike ·didn't carburate well at 30 mph in third gear. . The other journalists on hand at Riverside maybe didn't have any fear of crashing Lawson's bike, but I'm sure the thought crossed their minds. What would happe·n if they crashed it anyway? Sure, they would feel like idiots and their editors might bet embarrassed, but they would all get over it. Kel Carruthers (Lawson's tuner and my father) mi~ht get upset that he drove up from his home in San Die~o to witness some journalist throw hIS YZR baby down the road powerplant dominated the 1986 500cc World Championship.