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/126997
_ a third overa ll finish on his - KTM 350. . . . .. . Kev in Hines has a monsterous co llection of t rophies and plaques (on ly a few are shown), as well as five Team USA Six -Days helmets. Hangin' out with 1987 Enduro National Champion Kevin Hines Zeroing checks to zero degrees By Kit Palmer " I have a wide range of musical tastes " said Kevin, as he carefully selected a record from his rather large collection of albums. " I like anything from jazz to punk. I don 't reall y l i k e h ard r o ck too mu ch . H e r e 's one I know you 'II like, K i t, The D ea d Mi l kmen." The D ea d Milkmen? That reall y was n ' t wh at I th ough t a Endu~o !,,!ational Champion wou ld hav e In his record co llection, but in a way I wasn' t surprised , either. I said, " Yea h , sure Kevin , that would be fin e." I was lying. " You have a cho ice," said Kevin. " Do you want to hea r Big Lizard in My Back. Yard, or T he T h ing T ha t Eats O nly H ippies?" " Yo u got any o ther choices? " : ' O h. w~i t, here, I go t one for yo u," sa id Kevi n. " It 's ca lle d Bit ch in ' Camaro. You 'll like this o ne." There was no way o u t. " Yeah , th at sounds good," I said. ••••• Enduro rid ers in general are a ~nique breed of motorcycle com petu ors . They aren't lookin g for fame and th ey certain ly aren 't loo kine for fortune, They just have a n incred ibly str~ng desir e to win a nd excel in th eir hobby. In !987, Kevin !:fines h~d the most desir e, a n~ It pa id off w.lth th.e 1987 AMA r:'! atl onal Cha~~lOnslllp Enduro. titl e.. It . was his fir st-ever ~ha m plOnsh l p In seven , .. . years of trying. :-ot on.!y was cllnc:lllng .th e t~tle a sweet .v l~tory . for Hines, In doing so he s~tl s f~ed his own personal 9ue~t of puttlll~ an end to Husq varna s 1, year domination of t~e sport. 'Two years !1go, ~lnes left !ear:n Husqvarna ":lth a biller taste In Ius m ou.th, Iee ting tha~ Husk y was p laying fav?r.lllsm with ot her team nde~s, a nd JOin ed K~M in ho pes of getu ng revenge on his former team. He succeeded on Octob er I , 1987, in Lu cern e Valley, California, th e 10th ro u nd of th e 12-round National Enduro Series, wh en he officiall y wrapped up th e championship wi th Kevin John H ines was bor n O Clnbcl 17, 1960 , in Wa ltham, Iassach useus . H e spe nt his childhood years in Weston, Massachusetts, wit h hi s par ents Paul a nd Ma ry, a nd hi s three brothers: Ronnie (30), Ralph (40) a nd Paul (41). , H ines first got th e itch to go racing Ill' 1973 wh e!! he started racing goka rts, and did so quite su ccessfu lly for three years . H e was also act ive in ~lig? school .spo!ts, spending th e ma jorrty of Ius time pl a yin g ice ' h~ ckey . Foll o win g hi gh sc hool , Hines a ttended co llege at th e New H am psh ire Tech nical In stitute for two-and-a-h alf years before puttin g th e book s aside in order to cha llen ge the Na tio nal end uro circui t. Hines com pe ted in his first enduro in 1974, after wh ich he took home h is first tro p hy. He fini sh ed fifth in the 125cc B class during one of th e New Eng la nd junior Enduro Ser ies events. Hines went o n to win th e 2.50cc Ju nior Cha m pio ns h ip three tim es. , Hi nes was l7-years-old whe n he rod e his first Interna tio nal Six- Days Enduro (IS OE), U.S . Qual ifier . in Tex ~s: th.en followed up with a q ual ifier In Alab am a. He finished neith er event . " I basi ca lly just wan ted to see whai th ey were a ll abou t," said Kevin . Four yea rs lat er (1982), Hines rode h is next ISDE Qualifier and wo n th e 250cc cla ss, H ines event ually qualified that yea r to rep resent the U.S. Silv er Vase team in Czechoslovakia and fini hed the six-day event with a bronze medal. Hines rode th e sixdays ~our times after tha t, o nce o n th e SIlver Vase tea m (1983, Wal es, bro nze meda l), tw ice o n the T rophy tea m ('84, H olland, bronze medal and '87, Pol and, go ld medal ) and once on a club team ('85 Spain, silver medal ). I lilies started ridi ng th e National End u.ro. Seri es in 1982 on a Husky a nd fini sh ed 13th overall; in 1983 he broke the top 10. At th e beginnin g o f the 1984 seaso n. Hines got off to a perfect st an , winnin g th e fir st three N.a tional s, but it was also th e year hi s fath er died. Kevin a nd hi s dad were very close, a nd his fa ther's sudden death was a serious blow to Kevin and hi s drive toward th e National Champions hip. Kevin sat o ut th e last couple of Nat ional s an d wound up fin ishing sevent h overa ll. " My dad was very in volv ed in my racing," said Kevin. " He went to 90 pe rcent o f a ll m y races, a nd he wanted me to win th e cham pions h ip, so I p ursued it after he died. I dedicate my cha mp ions hip to him, " Kevin 's father, Pa ul , was a very suc cess fu ll designer/ bus iness ma n. H e invented a n d patented a n elec trical, va riabl e resistor device u sed in auto mo b i les, a irc ra ft, tractor s, etc., ca lled the Resistofilm. Event ua lly, Kevin s's dad comp letely so ld o u t hi s h ighl y profi ta ble bu sin ess befo re reti r in g , P au l' s eno rm o us profits (wh ich Kevin 's mother no w co ntro ls) is Kevin 's main so urce of revenue, ena bling Kevin to conce n trate entirely o n hi s raci n~ <;:areer, incl ud ing training and pracucmg. In 1!l1l5, his last yeat:w lth :'Fearn Husq va rn a, Kevin fin ished th ird' hi s first year with KT M in 1986, K~vi n ca p tu red second , and he fi na lly reac hed his goal in 1987 with the cha mpions h ip. From 1982 10 1985, H in es also fin ish ed in the top four in the AMA N ati onal C ha m p io ns h i p H are Scrambles Series, win ni ng th e 500cc class in 1983 and '84. .. . ... . Kev in 's second hobby to mot~rcy ing is mountain biking . Even in sub.cl zero degree temperatures. KeVin hits the woodsy trails of Massachusetts.