Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

e~n~lliW~~~ _h _~_R_~_eS_m_'~_:F_~_~_~ _n_d _ m N o rto n rider Beno Rodi (I K) leads Indian-m ounted Butch Baer (49) in the P re-40 cl ass. Baer fin ished seco n d wi th Rodi fourth . spirited riding of McLean had the northern Californian not run out of laps. The from row consisted of po lesitter Roper, with Marq uardt, the '68 Ducati Desrno of Don Fromm and McLean on the outside. By the end of the first lap, Roper held a commanding 13-second lead, over a battling trio composed of the remainder of the from ro w. Lap three found a hungry McLean gobbling up the distance to Ro per, but he was left with too mu ch gound to ~over and not enough tim e to cover it in. • The "race track " at Steamboat Springs runs through the public streets of the famous Colorado ski resort town . ' Flory, Moroney duel in Steamboat Springs streets By Da vid Lucas STEAM T SPRINGS, CO, SEPT. 1 BOA 5 he riders of the American Hi stori c Racin g Mot or cycle Associat ion (AH RMA) Hi stori c Cup Road Race Series came west across the Great Plain s from Topeka, Kansas, for the final round of the series in one of Colorado 's most sceni c vacat ion spots, Steamboa t Springs. It was Eng land against Germa ny with some Itali an emigrants thrown in , whi le the American " H BAR D" brand tried to fend them all off in a Westernstyle shoo t-ou t in the streets: Dave Roper had several of his classes rounded up an d tied when he pulled into town from the previous round of . the series at Heartland Park Topeka. The T eam Obso lete/ Bell/ Lou 's Leathers/ Castrol-spo nso red rider on his 1959 Match less G50 has been almost matc hless in his performa nces since the season opener at Dayton a Beach, Florida. A cha llenge for ho nor was mou nted by T ho mas Marquard t in the Premier 500 class, but Marq uardt 's '62 Honda CR77 T 24 had been mathematicall yeliminated the pr evious weekend wh en mechanical gre mlins prevent ed him from making a serious run at Roper's grip on the top position . Saturday's Premier 500 race was a reflection of the sp irit of vintage .road racing . T he class titl e ' was alread y decided, bu t by the time the checkered nag closed the season, two riders had dem on stra ted , th at 1991 ma y a dd another verse. T he '67 Aerma cchi/ Ha rley-Davidso n of Cra ig Mcl.ean and th e West Coast Brit ish Ra cin g '68 Duca ti of Mike Green had come from the second and thi rd rows of the gri d, respecti vely, to finis h in those positions. Gr een 's size and expertise with the DU J ti powerplant ma ke him a factor C in any class he enters; his stab le of Ducat is brought hi m home in first pla ce in the 200cc GP, 250cc G P and 500cc Spo rtsma n categories. Roper 's win in the 350cc GP race may have co me under serious threa t from the Eron Flory and his '72 BMW R75/ ,5 had wrapped up the 750cc Sportsman cla ss Ch ampionship prior to th eir arriv al in Colorado, in spite of an admirableeffort on the pan of Michael Eiland and his '73 Yamaha XS650. The m il e-h igh eleva tio n of St eamboat Springs mu st have suited the BMWs, for the Germ an hori zontally opposed twins decima ted the 750cc Spo rtsma n class. Eron Flory led a BMW parade that after some struggle settled down in to Flo ry lead in g Randy Brad esku and Greg Frazier, all similarly mounted, Flory's ' BMW displays the son of performa nce that has been a seasonlong am azement to his fellow com petitors. Add th is to his co nsiderableskill as a rider and a potent ial headache exists for Pat Morone y in the 750cc GP class. T he poi nt difference between them was on ly 652 po ints coming into the final round (a win is worth 1000 points in AHRMA competition), and any miscue on Moroney's pan wou ld result in a new class cha mpion - a very unpleasam prospect for the Team Obso lete rider. T he gri d resembled a BMW sandwich between two slices of Harley-Davidson - Moron ey's T eam O bso lete/RK Chai n/ Spec tra l Avon /Bell/Moroney's H-D XR750 to Flory 's left, an other XR 750 ridden by Eiland to Flory 's right. T he sq ueeze cont inued through the first . two turns, with the straigh t toward turn three allowing Flory io position himself for an attack on first pla ce. By the close of the lap, Flory had the cha llenge in hand, but a determined Moron ey made the rema in ing four laps a war. T he battl e was won in convincing manner as Flory crossed the finish lin e in first place. Moroney's second-p lace fini sh guara nteed the 1990 750cc G P Cha mpionship was his. . TI le race was a treat to the spectators and many found the speed of Flory's BMW difficult to believe. Mo ron ey was more than incredulous - he want ed a peek inside the heart of Flory's bike and a protest was lodged. Post-race disassem bly esta blishe d th at Flo ry was indeed lega l. Flory then revealed that his " race bike" was obta ined for $200 and a trade -out of work for its former owner. "Two weeks after I bought it I started racing it with the help of CC Prod ucts (an aftermarket BMW pans supplier) and raced every race after that, " Flory said, adding that a trai ler provided by Russ Carpet Cleaners and Meueler Tire cont ingencies have mad e it possible for him to do the ent ire season competitively. " I will conti nue to race this current bike next year , but we're also considering putting together a 1000cc bike to ca m pa ig n as we ll ," h e concluded. The Classic Sixti es class saw a new champ io n after Tim Stanchill's BSA Gold Star was follow ed across the line by Bob Bulmer' s BSA B34 and Beno Rodi o n an other Gold Star. If Rodi had pulled off a second-place finish he would have earned the class cha mp ionsh ip. However, Rodi 's seco nd-place fini sh in Class C was sufficient to maintain his cha mp ionship in that division. The Pre-1 940 class provides more than a nostalgic glimpse at the early days of motorcycling as the action is ju st as heated amo ng these grandfath ers of today's motorcycles. Today's race was no excep tion , as Rodi's race to retain hi s number one position in the class was lost throu gh the fine riding of Ozzie Auer on his '39 BMW R51. Rodi's Nort on Manx was beset by mechanical ills and and the hard-charging of Butch Baer on hi s '26 Indian Scout and a determined Al Knapp on hi s '40 H-D. The final fini shing po sitions put Auer, Baer a n d Kn app in th e top-th ree champ ionship positions. Not only do these men ride mach ines that represent a significant segment of American motorcycling history, bu t all of them have individually pla yed a role in con tribu ting to that history. f :li Results SOO P RE.\l: I. Da ve Ro per (Mal); 2. Crai~ Me-Lean (I-J·D ); 3. Mike G reen (Due); 4. J oh n Scott (T ri); 5. Cra ig Breckow (RSA ). 750 GP: 1. Ero n Flory (BMW); 2. Pat Moron ey (H· D); 3. Da ve Waldl'n (T ri); 1. Mik t' Eila nd (Ya m ); 5. Greg Frazier (BMW). 750 SPTSMN: I. Eron Flory (BM W ); 2. Randy Bradesku (BMW); 3. Greg Frazu'r (BM W) ; 'I. Ety Schiess (BMW); S, Da ve Crome r (BMW). 350 GP: I. Dave Roper (AJ Sj; 2. Cr..lig Md. r .. m (1~ · D ) ; 3. T om Marquardt (Ho u); 1. Bill Anderson (H- D): 5. Srou Borem (Due). e 250 CP: 1. Mikt: G re n (Dur) : 2. Barry Mt's~ 'n g-l'l (Mon ): 3. C ha rles Sex to n (Bul]: 'I. J ohn Macombe-r (n ue); 5. John C cnwan (D ue). ~W CP: I. M ike Crt"C11 (D ue): 2, Byron Bland t Hou) : 3. Ma rk Ha llock (Hem) : 4, Paul H igg in .. (H on) ; .~. Robert Shudi ck (Due). 2-STRK GP: I. J t'rry Casciero (Ya m ): 2. Charles Sexton (Bu l); 3. J ohn Lo uc k (j l\.fL); 1. Joh n T ur ner (Sur): ; , John Hj el m (H od ), Cl.SSC 60s: I. T im Stancil l (BSA): 2. Bob Bulmer (BSA); 3. lk-no Rod i (BSA): 4, Ji m H olb roo k ( Ma l ). CL C: I. Norm l':d ..o n (BSA); 2. Beno Rolli (R: E); 3. Fred MOIl (Nor); 1. BUICh Ra~r (Ind): 5. Qu i Au er (BMW ). PRE~.jO : I. Ou it· Aue r (BI\IW): 2, Butch Barr (Ind ): 3. Al Knap p (H -D ); ·1. Beno Rodi (No r ): 5. Cfrg f-r;u it'l lind). '

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