Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

and then he 'd work on the bikes at home in his basement from 3:30 to II o'clock at night. Then he'd go to bed and do it a ll again the next da y." Parker 's eq uip me nt is prepared a t the Iart o ry, whereas hi s teamma tes' hikes a re nOI. Is th ere mu ch difference now that his bik es co me directl y from within? . " Ru n n ing the team from in-house has its pros and cons," Pa rker said. " Harley-Davidson is in it for their reasons - for research and development and adv ertising, and stuff like that, 'Wor king in-house they wa nt us to give them all the information. So we do all our research and deve lopment and have to give it all away. When (Ch ris) Carr's bi ke starts working better than mi ne , a re they going to give us all the information? No way. So it' s one-sided. So' that 's the worst thi ng a bo u t doing it from in-house. There's just more pressure on yo u to gi ve all th e informa tion, and it's hard becau se we a re all in competi tio n: . Everyone's o ut for themselves, bu t when a guy 's at the top of the to tem pole - they wa nt all his information. The factory feels th a t those g uys should get our information , so we have to give it to them." f 'H've always enjoyed it (road racing) when I've done it. But what's the use in going out there and busting my ass for nothing when I can go to the dirt track on Saturday night and make $20,OOO?" Despite see i ng t he success road racing has broug h t to such former dirt trackers as Ken ny Robert s, Freddie Spencer, Bubba Shobert and Dou g Chandler, Pa rk er doesn't see himself gelling rid of his steel sh oe. " I'm 28-years-old, so to just go and do it (road race ) for th e fun of it , I don 't see it happening," he said. " T o go do it for money; sure I would like to do it. To do it successfu lly in the sta tes, I think it wou ld tak e me a co u p le of years to run as well as everybody else. But to go overseas, I just can 't see it at this age - and that's where all th e money is. I just don 't see it in my future right now - I'm pretty comfortable with what I'm doing. " Roa d racing is really neat, and I've always enjoyed it when I've done it in the past. But what's the use in going out there a nd busting my ass for nothing when I can go to the dirt track on Saturda y ni ght and mak e 20,OOO? I can get $10,000 from " the Camel Challenge, $5000 bonus from H arl eyDavidson and $5000 for the 'main event purse. Am I go ing to take a chance on going out there and road race for a cou p le of th ousand dollars o r what" ever a nd tak e the cha nce of gelling h urt? No. It doesn't make sense to me. There's' been a coup le of peop le offer me mo ney to go road raci ng, bu t I set my path way back when I started a nd it would be stu p id to risk that for no t ' a lot of money." So a t least for now, victory lane at Dayto na International Speedway can cont in ue to sound a lot like the loca l library in contrast to the dirt track winner's circles wh ere Parker's earsp litting screa m will certainl y be heard in 1990. 00' LAGUNASECA U.S.G.P. APRIL 8 • Complete Packages incl. Air, Car, Hotel. • Hotels also sold seporctelv • Optional Race Tickets (only with hotel booking) • Optlonol Helicopter Shuttle from Monterey to Laguna Seca CALL FOR PRICES NOW OFFERING HOTELS & DISCOUNTED AIRFARE FOR ALL MAJOR 1990 RACESI Official Travel Agent for Official Travel Agent for J?.!!e ~ 'The Loudon Classic * ~~ World Superbike Race June 10 June 17 Official Travel Agent for Official Travel Agent for .W=~p CALL FOR WILOW SPRINGS FOR INFORMATION & RESERVATIONSCALL: 800·541·1223 HUGE PARTS INVENTORY Kawasaki's #1 Dealer Western Region 1989 awasaki of Riverside Same Day UPS Service Toll Free '-800-442-3478 (714)781-5967 1605 University Avenue (714)683-8839 Riverside, CA 92507 KX • KDX • Jet Ski' AND ACCESSORIES .-.c Kawasaki II) ' [j] GENUINE .PARTS mA - . . . . . .~ . . . . "1~'ra~:l~"A' - ~ERICAN EXl'!RESS • Good Times • COD B.ELL Moto IV's Team Kawasaki (All Sizes) $99.95

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