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/127387
riders on th e same tir es." Allen quickl y ' informed Scott Russell and Miguel DuHamel of the problem and th e riders quickl y cha nged to a less-grip py, but safer tir e for th e second race. ' 'I'd like everyo ne of these guys to go home safe if I have anything to do with it ," Allen said si ncerely. " R ider safety has to be number one, coming up with a tire that gets Dunlop to win th e race is number two." With over 2000 tires at the tra ck and technical guidance provid ed by Dave Watkins, Dunlop's ch ief designer for motorcycle racing worldwide, coming up with a tir e to win th e Daytona 200 was not a problem . "The number of tires we b rought to Da ytona m a y impress you," All en said. " Bu t the tir es th ey tak e to a sta ndard Na tio na l in j apan would im press you even mo re. In j apan , we sell more tires a t one Na tional race th an we wo u ld ever dr eam o f sell ing in half a season in the US. T he re a re so man y ri ders rac ing is so healthy in j apan. " Dunlop 's racing tir es are produced almos t excl usively in Eng la nd and j a pan. Most o f th e ac tua l developme nt is do ne in Engla nd, because o f its . proxim it y to th e G P scene. With Am er ica p hysica lly removed from th ose manufacturing faci lities , how do th e tir es a vai lable for Am erican racin g com pare to th ose avai lable for World co mpe ti tio n? " For th e GPs a nd World Su perbike, tir es change o n a week-toweek basis," Alle n co ncedes . " I n America. because o f th e tim e lag , we may have o n ly two or th ree maj or cha nges for the season. That 's th e best we ca n do p hysically (beca use) most o f our su p p ly co mes fro m En gland." j apan also pr oduces race tires, bu t du e to th e overwhelmi ng dem and in th ei r o wn market , few a re exporte d for American and European co ns u m p tion . . Amon g hi s many responsi bi lities, Allen is co nsta n tly tryin g to spot new talent. Wh at do es he look fo r in a racer? " 1 like to see a rid er w ho wa nts to ra ce and th at 's all he wants to do," Allen said. " He doesn't ca re if he has a new tru ck or if he' s eating stea k. He doesn ' t care wh ere he stays, he j ust wants to race. That's th e o n ly thing th at 's going to sepa ra te (the winner s from th e others). You hav e to have a big heart. and yo u reall y hav e to want to do it." What advi ce would he give to th ose yearn ing for a rostrum posit ion? " Yo u hav e to pi ck th e people wh o a re going to help you. There's som e politics involved, we all hate it, but you have to realiz e that you' can 't make it by yourself. It goes ba ck to th e loyalty thing and you hav e to trea t people righ t. And you don't burn any bridges, ever. A professional a tt itude as far as presentation is important, but you have to be in a position where yo u' re organized. If yo ur priorities are to' polish yo ur fram e rather than bu y another set of wheels . .. in case it rains, then you have it wrong. You have to prioritize th ings if yo u don 't have all the resources. " After ta lkin g with jim Allen , it beco mes obvious that the thrill o f raci ng has never left hi s so ul. " Fo r a g uy who has raced, done it well a nd enjoyed it , there a re tim es I just da yd rea m awa y, " All en sa id in a nostalgic to ne. " I remember that time a t Ch arl otte wh en I was lead ing Greg Ha nsford a nd Ge ne Romero . Man, I ca n rem em ber that. T hat's a real p rivate th in g for me. I go back to tha t o ne some times and tha t was a real hi gh for me. We all (are involved in racing) because we like it and it's enjo ya ble. It gets to be a business and it 's so easy to lose tra ck of that sometimes, but I rea lly do like it." And it shows l cw • Jo e has stock wri tten all ov er his 'bik e, Stock Pipe, Stock Porting, Stock H£ad, Stock Carb , Stock SiI encer, Stock Reeds . Joe ' s b ike is production stock. Joe ' s f ri ends te11 hi m that all t he fast guys on th e tl"ilck are running PSI Pipes. They t£ll Joe that th e fast a t on es are also running PSI Porting and Engi ne Kits. Joe is eatin g a lo t of dust, wee k after wee k, and getting t ired of it. Joe wants to roost all ov er t he other guys. Joe wants th e performance to wi n. The answer is simpl... PSI. Th.. best performanc e available t o t urn any average Joe into a winn er . Now go do it . 1991 CATALOG Send $3.00 to cov er p o stage and hand ling for our all ne w color performance: catal og ! STOCK STOCK VISA / MASTERCARD ACCEPTED/SAME DA Y UPS PSI, IN C. 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