The dual-purpose
.; way to have fun
By Kit Palmer
Photos by Kinney Jones
The Californ ia license p late on a brigh t red,'
$21,000, Audi 40005 Q ua ttro sports car read
- 4 MT N RDS. It was fighting its way
around slower traffic down a tigh t, twisty,
two -la ne highwa y in th e San
Bern ardino Mountains. Ri ding a few ca rs behind the
K· ·
d I I
.
Quattro, lnne):' an
a so
sea rched for clear lines around th e
s!ow er ca~s on o u r $1,800, 250cc,
smgle.cy l! nder; four. st~oke dualpurpose ~lkes . ~t t~at p~)lnt, we had
o~ l y o ne mtentron III mind, a.nd th a t
was to c~ tch up to th at exo uc ~ou r.
wh eel drive ~pons car a nd pa~s It.
A few mil es dow.n th e hil l, th e
Quauro slip ped by ItS last o bs. acle,
t
a nd a couple o f tU~~lS lat er, !'-mney
a.n.d.I had done th e same. ! t w.as.clea r
sdIl.ll1g a hea d - Ju st us aga m st th e
Quallro:
Holdm~ th e th ro ttl.e ope n 100
!ger
a nd braking hard er lilt '? th e u ght
Cl:rves a nd leaning th e bik es farther
mer tl~rough the corners th an ~e
had , Kmn e.~ a nd I slow ly reeled in
th e . expens ive German -':! ad ; ca r. .
unu! we. cou ld see th e driv er s eyes
peenng mto her rear-vi ew mirror.
T he du el was on.
T u r n a fte r turn , th e Quattro
p icked up its pa ce but cou ld n ' t shake
us loose a nd was n 't a bo u t to let us
pa ss, ei the r. Miles la ter , Kinney
decided h~ had eno ugh o f th is a nd
was th e first to mak e a move. H e
pulled to the ou tside in a sh ort
stra ig h t a nd mad e a clean pass on
the Quattro befor e hau lin g hi s bik e
in for a 'sweep ing .left hand turn.
Once a head of the Quattro ,' Kinney
wa ved goodbye a nd p u lled a way.
I had it eas ier, becau se a few turns
lat er, the two-l an e roa d wid en ed in to
a twisty four-lan e hi gh way. About
a mile and a half later, I went for
it a nd motored a lo ng side th e Quat tro' s ri ght side through a left turn.
We stayed side-by-side th rough the
nex t sho rt stra ig h t unti l I went for
the kill in th e next right hander,
wh ere I clean ly pu lled ahead of the
racey red sports car. I even tua lly
ca ug h t up to Kinn ey, wh o was
waitin g for me down th e hill. I came
riding up next to Kinney, we gave
eac h o the r thumb s up, a n d' we
contin ued down the mountain as if
nothing had happen ed .
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