Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

to that. There are a lo t of things th at add up. Winning ra ces, bonuses fro m your appar el co mpanies, championship bonuses. It cou ld get up that high. " Rainey is a man who knows his limi ts, both on the m otorcycle and off, and in December he cut off th e interview requests and started putting his efforts towards defending his crown. " I 'm go ing to be pretty busy because everybody wa nts to ta lk to the World Champion at the race tra ck," he sai d. " I' ve never carried the number o ne plate befor e. I've wo n i t twice in th e past, but I'v e never go tte n to carry it. It kn ow it will look good o n m y bi ke, but I' m rid ing it so I ca n' t see it. The o n ly th ing I ca n t hin k abo u t is winning races , and th a t's what keeps you mo tivated. It 's goi ng ou t there a nd bea ting everyb od y. I look a t this seaso n th e same I way I'v e looked a t all th ese years - o ne race a t a time. I'll do th e best I ca n a nd see what happens." One th ing is alm ost a give n . If Rai ney doesn 't come home again nex t winter with the title, it wo n ' t be because he beat him self. " I' m th e type of gu y who rides within my li mi ts," he said. "The bike's movin g around and sliding q ui te a bit, bu t I don 't tak e it to where I' m almost h ighsid in g a ll the time. That's ho w you fall down. If you go to the h ig hside li m i t, you ei the r crash or you don 't. You ca n ride a 500 without ha vin g to go to th e highside limit - and win races. T hat's what I try to do ." T he " h ig hside" has become the cu rse o f th e 500cc class. V-fours with mega horsepower combined with th e pr essu re to win has led to increased rider inj uries, and thus sparse 500cc grids. An d negative publicit y. Rainey gets steamed at the su bjec t. " Som e of these guys get on th e throttle wher e th ey shoul dn 't even be thinking of it - and they get in trouble tha t way," he said. "That's wh y th e 500s have go tten so much bad press this year - it's beca use th e riders screw up. It 's not because the bik es are too fast." Rainey is angered again when th e subject o f La gu na Seca is brought up: " Laguna gets suc h a shi ny rap and it really pi sses m e o ff," he says in ra ther stro ng language for suc h a poli te man. " I do n 't defend it because I' ve won there and because my family is there a nd it 's m y home GP. Sure there ma y be bett er p laces to have an Am erica n GP, but nobody ca n do it yet. We race a t wo rse tracks th en Laguna Seca, yet it ge ts a bad rap because of th e inj uries we've had there. As we all kn ow, those injuries were not ca used by La guna Seca - th ey were ca used by the riders' rig h t wrists. Everyo ne of th ose cra shes were ca used by th e riders, excep t for Eddie La wson's, a nd if th at hap pen ed at Spa (Belg iu m) , Edd ie m ig ht not be wi th us tod a y." Wh il e th e U.S. G P has brought Rainey gr ea t joy, it has also ca used him to g ri eve. His bes t fri en d , Bu bb a Sho bert , was th e victim in a cras h a t Laguna Seca in 1989. The rest o f that seaso n was a difficu lt one for Wayne a nd Shae, a nd they venture d ho me mo re tha n usual in order to visit th eir rehab ili tating fri en d: "It was j us t a sha me how it hap pen ed," he said. " I'm just glad he's alright. That was pretty to ugh on us; it was tough o n a lot o f peo p le. I think the only one it wasn 't to ug h on was probably Bub ba. He says he ne ver fel t any pain ." Rain ey has h is own ideas on im proving safety. But th ey don 't include racing su perbikes, 375s or 250s. "I know nobody will come to the races to wat ch 250s or su pe rbikes," he said, m atter of factl y. "Un less th e 500 gu ys ar e riding th e bikes, but th e 500 g uys don 't want to ride th ose bikes. They want to ride fast bikes. The 500cc clas s has go t to stay because that's what people want to see. It 's no t just the raci ng - it's watching th ose bikes go arou nd a race trac k. It 's j us t a shame th at more guys can 't ride 'em. If it means slowing th em down to get more guys on th em , I' m all for that. But I'm not for rid in g superbi kes, 250s o r 375s." Alth ou gh R a in e y credits h is Mich el in tires as a maj or part of his World Ch ampi o nship-winning seaso n, he raises th e point th at th e tires may just be too good. " If everyo ne used the Dunlops it would be safer, " he sai d. "The re just wouldn 't be th e h ighsides. I think I' m th e best g uy to judge that beca use I' ve used th em both. T he Mich elins are more d ifficu lt to use because th ey have so m uch grip and a lo t of pressu re is p ut on th e tires beca use o f all th e gr ip . Wh en the Mich elins let go it's just W HAMO I. You thi n k: 'where di d th a t co me fro m?" Wi th th e Dunl ops there's less p ressu re on the tires because they spi n, so you alwa ys kn o w wh ere you 're a t. Wi th the Dunlo p it's tractio n , tractio n , trac tio n , sp i n . Wi th the Michelin it's tractio n, tra ction, tra ctio n , traction, spi t." Ra in ey was only " sp it" once in 1990, at th e Nurbu rgr in g durin g p ractice for the West German G P. H e describes th e accide nt: " I j u mped o n a bike tha t we were testing some reeds in a nd the bike wasn 't set up th e way I wanted it, a nd I tri ed to make it do something that it wasn 't going to do. And it pi tched me of£. It was like a 120 mph cras h, but I never th ought ab out get ting hurt. I knew the re was a lot of runoff in that corner. I looked down and saw my finger was screwed up, but you can ge t hurt go ing 5 mph." At season 's end, th e Raineys trav eled to Paris for th e Guidon d'Or Superbiker - an on! o ff road ra ce wo n last year by Eddie Law son. This yea r, though, was Rain ey's year and Wayne and Shae left Paris with the trophy an d recogni tion that co mes with win ning th e televised event. They th en journeyed sou th for a short vaca tion in Sitges, a resort town on th e Medit errean coas t of Spain. T hey didn't stay in a ho tel, but instead in th e Spanish vill a they p urchase d a year ago. And to th ink th is all began thousa nds o f m iles a way at so me du sty dir t track in so u thern Ca lifo rnia. eN " Way ne Ra in ey-the road to fa m e and fortune" is just one of man y features yo u'll fin d in th e 1991 Mo torcycle Roa d Racer Illustra ted Yearbook. Th e yearboo k showcases over 120 phot os, m ost in fu ll -color, from the wo rld's top professional m otorcycle racin g phot ograp hers, plus facts and fi gures, and m or e en joya ble read ing lik e th is featur e on Wo rld Champio n Way ne Ra in ey. It's availab le at dealers na tio nwide fo r 13.95, or direct from CN Publish ing, Mot orcycle R oad R acer Ye arboo k, P.O . Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498, or by call in g 213/ 4277433 (Visa or Mastercard) fo r 13.95, sh ip p in g an d handling included. YAMAHA. Motorcycles with built-in' insurance. Sounds like apretty radical idea. Doesn't it? Well , it's real. Every 1991 street-legal motorcycle we sell comes with insurance built right in! All you have to do is grab the one that grabs you, show us your valid driver's license, and you 're fully covered * for ayear. Looking for the catch? Sorry, there isn't one. Considering the availability and cost of insurance, it's asmart idea. And ,with our financing program, owning aYamaha is easier than ever. So , get on the one motorcycle that's like no other inthe world .Yamaha. A r((fft~YAMAHA 6?~~~ . license required. tlnsuranceP rogramisoptional and not avai lable in all states.Ask your local dealer for availability.

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