Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kevin can go ridi ng, Jet Skiing and water skiing ri ght from the f ront yard of hi s th ree- bedroom ho use . One week follo wi ng th e fi nal ro und of the Nati onal enduro seaso n in New J ersey. I packed up my bag s and head ed to Boston to spe nd three days wit h H in es a t h is Wa reham . Massach usetts. ho me. I arrived on a T h ursday eveni ng at Logan Air po rt in Boston. wh ere I was gree ted by Kevin . Although I kn o w Kevin Iairlv well as a race r. I ha d no idea wh~1 Kevin was lik e a t home or wh at he liked to do wh en he's not zeroing chec ks. T ha t's wh a t I wanted to find o u t. After sho wing me som e of the sights in do wnto wn Boston , we clim bed into his well- used but clean f984 J eep Grand Wago neer and headed so uth. We dro ve for nearl y a n hou r before reaching his house, located in the wood s far from any major city. As we pu lled off Highway 495. aiming tow ard · Cape Cod, Kevin sai d, "This highway used 1 end 0 rig ht here; they've finally co mpleted it. .It now ru ns all the way to Cape Cod. It 's reall y a sh am e, 100, beca use they destroyed some of m y best trai ls. Progress!:' Kevin 's house is loca ted a t the end of a dirt road. Hi s fairl y new, 198i Ford van with 460 cu bic in ch engine and Pro-Trak trailer were parked o u t fron t. It 's th e sa me ,van he drives to most of th e Nationals, and it 's built for traveling. as was immediately evide nt 10 me by th e 10 stereo speakers in th e front cab alo ne. Just a few yards away from the house is a moderatel y sized bod y of water ca lled Spectacle La ke. "They call it that because from the air it 's sha ped like a pair of glasses," explained Kevin. " I really like it here because I ca n go J et Skiing, wa ter skiing, trail riding and mountain bik e rid ing right from my house." The ho use itself isn 't a ny thing spec tacu lar from th e ou tside but it's very comforta ble on th e inside. It 's a three-bedroom arra ngement with a living room . den, large kit ch en , one bathroo m a nd a basem ent , wh ere Kevi n keeps most of h is "toys." T he re's a go ld min e of goodies down there. " T he house used to be our family 's summer getaway house wh en I was growing up in Weston," sai d Hines. " ow I live here ." " But a lo t of ti mes, us ually in th e winter months, I stay in Georgi a wit h Bar ry a nd Pa tti Hi ggins. They own H & H Cycle. a nd th ey both help me out a wh ole bun ch in my raci ng. Barry does mos t of the wo rk o n my KTM s and Pa tti gives me a lo t of mora l su pport. I attribute much of my success to the m . They are grea t peo pl e." Wh en Frida y m o rn i n g ca me aro und, the temperature was approxim ately 10· below zero , includin g the wind-chill factor. and Kevin wan ted to take me riding and show me so me o f th e trail s aro u nd hi s hou se. Despite the co ld weather , we sui ted , u p a nd too k off right from h is garage. Kevin tho ught the cool air wa s p erfec t for r idi n g . I wa s shivering. In a few shon minutes of ridi ng, I was shaking but it wasn 't from the cold any more. It was from having the throttle sti ck wide open o n th e KTM 250 I was rid ing as we motored along a skinny dirt trail alongside High way 495. I q uickly go t the bike under cont ro l and killed the motor. Kevin turned around and rode back to wh ere I had sto pped. " Wha t happen ed? Did th e th rottl e stick?" Either th a t was a da m n lu cky guess, or he kn ew somethi ng I didn 't. " Yea h , how did you kn ow?" I said. " Well, I ch anged carburetors o n it, a nd th e th rottle stuck wide o pen on me twice yesterday, " he sa id. " I th ought I had fixed it." Kevin played around with the throttle cable, hoping to fix th e problem. We switched bikes - Kevin handed me his 350, and we cont in ued on o ur way, As I was getting used to the awesome power of his big-bore KTM , and trying to keep Kevin in sight, we cam e to th e next turn. I go t my seco nd adrena line ru sh when I hit the rear brake a nd found non e. I oversho t the turn, pl owed through a cou ple of rocks, flatten ed a few bu sh es and rejo ined the tra il. Wh ew ! " Oh , yeah." he said, " the pa ds are a little worn and you need to pump th e brake pedal twi ce before th ey work. I kind of let my bikes go af ter th e Nati onals." Back u nde rway, Kevi n led me th ro ugh some tig ht trails around trees a nd over roc ks. I was busy d ucki ng undern ea th tree bra nches, th e type that'll grab your neck an d rip you off th e back of you r bike if you don't pay a ttent io n. There were wet , gr eas y-slick bra nches lay ing across th e trails, tryin g 1 spit me 0 o n the gro und. Kevin was long gone by now. I was fi~ h ti ng the trees, and th e trees were winning. Event ua lly, Kevin stopped and wa ited for me 10 catch up. I caugh t up to hi m , he smiled at me a nd said, "J ust wa it unt il we get into the woods." . I co uld hardl y wai t. We finall y got o ut of wh at I thought was th e woods (silly me) an d rode do wn some mo re wid e open ,mil"S. Kevin sudde nly stopped when th e throttle on the 250 stuck wid e ope n aga in. H opefull y fixing the problem for th e last time, Kevin took me to his " ou tdoo r supercross track . I do a lo t of my practicing here, some times wit h J o J o Keller," wh o is a popula r upercross a nd Nationa l mot ocross racer fro m Massach usetts. In fact, our final destina tion of this journey was to meet J o J o at a no ther one of Kevin 's p rac tice tracks abo ut 15 mil es away , but we never ma de it. . Wh ile he was sh ow in g me around a nother of hi s MX trac ks, Kevin was setti ng himself up for a steep jump when the th ro ttl e stuc k wid e open d ur ing hi s approach. I was right behi nd Kevin. a nd the next thing I knew. he an d his bike were sail in g ' th ro ugh th e air. Kevin h it the eject _ bu tto n and let hi s ·b ike fly, while making.a perfect two -poi nt la nding on hi s feet. T he bi ke hi t theground and ca rtwheeled th ree or four times before it ca me to a screaming stop. T he throttl e was sti ll st uck a nd we gOI it sh ut off before th motor blew up . It was a spectac u lar get-off. I was impressed. "T ha t's it, " said Kevin laughing. " It' s tim e to head back. Th is bike is tryin g to kill me." Back at the house. Kevin decided to th rash .me on a mountain bike rid e. " Bu t it's cold ou t," I whined. " No way, it's perfe ct." sa id Kevin , "a nd beside that , you 'll warm up in a hurry." H e wasn 't lyin g. Kevin took me o u t o n a 40-minute rid e through th e woods aro und hi s house. There was Cooking is one of Kevin 's enjoyments. Like most serious motorcycle - racers, Kev in keeps a close eye on his d iet.

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