Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1991 International Six Da Enduro team, then switched to KTM in '87 and clinched hi s fir st and on ly Nat ional Enduro Championship ti tle, ending Husq varna's 16-year stranglehold o n the series . Since th en , H ines has had hi s share of ups and downs, mostl y ups, though. At the end of the 1990 seaso n, H ines left KTM and sign ed with Suzuki. Unfortu nately, he su ffered a broken hip ear ly this year, caus ing him to miss the entire Qualifier Series and a co up le of ro unds of the National Enduro Series, as well . Despite the in jury, Hines still ha s an outs ide cha nce at th e 1991 title. ' make it to the last chec k, and he usually does so with a top five score. His ma in priority is th e Qual ifier Ser ies, ultima tely th e Six Days. Nothin g seems to faze Bert ram and he doesn 't get exci ted easily. Hi s bike cou ld break do wn in an en du ro and for ce him to have to carry it o n his back for th e last five mi les, and if yo u asked him if he ha d any prob lems, he would th ink ab out it for a second the n answer, "No, not rea lly." H e's a methodical rider who usua lly passes on taking chances; he's quick on the trail and gives it his a ll 100% of the time. Bertram will rid e a modified Suzuki RMX250 in the 500cc class. His main rival will be former ISDE ove ra ll Krvin Hines - Can't resist a challenge. Ask Minnesota's Matt Stavish if last year's Swedish Six Days was tough. His answer would be obvious. The ISDE in Ceecho promises to be just as brutal, if not more. In Czecho , Hines will ride a Suzuki RMX250 in the 250cc class, going heads up against some of the best ISDE riders in the world, such as last year's overall winner, Swede Dick Wicksell, Finland's recently crowned World Two Day Enduro Champion, Kari Tiainen, and France's Alain Olivier and Gilles Lalay. Certainly a tough row to hoe , but there's perhaps no better man for the job. While most of the top enduro riders in the U.S. hail from the East, Californian Dave Bertram is the pride of the West . The defending National Reliability Enduro Series Champion is another rider who many consider as a finisher. Rarely does Bertram fail to 18 Dave Bertram - "No problems," . winner Stephane Peterhansel of France. Off the track, Bertram is devoted to the U.S. effort at the Six Days. He is instrumental in the Ride to Win program, a non-profit effort that helps raise money to support the U.S . Trophy and Junior World riders at the Six Days. While many people have given up on the U.S. at the Six Days , Bertram definitely has not. Fred Hoess is another finisher. More than once he's started a Six Days with an injury and finished on gold. He's ridden on the U.S. Junior World team since 1986 and ha s returned to his New J ersey hom e with a total of five gold medals to hi s credit. In 1988, when he was a member of Kawasaki Team Gr een , he was the T op American at the Fren ch Six Days. Last year, Hoess sat out th e Six Days for dom estic reasons, but he returns this year for the first tim e as a Trophy team member, riding a Husqvarna WXE360 in th e Open class. Hoes s is an extremely aggressive rider who thrives on the gnarliest of trail co n di tio ns . He has excellent co ndition ing and has the know-how to keep a bike running for six days, especially a Husky. Hoess spent most More than 400 riders will go for the gold at the Czechoslovakian Six Days. of h is earl ier years riding for Team Husqvarna. If there's one rider who has proven that he can take pressure, it' s Colorado 's Kelby Pepper. Last year , as an 'ISDE rookie, he qualified for the Swedish Six Days as a club team rider. But at the last moment, Pepper was asked to replace injured teammate Jeff Fredette on the Trophy team. Not only did Pepper claim a gold medal in what was one of the toughest ISDEs in recent history, he was one of only three Americans (alo ng with Hines and Jimmy Lewis ) to do so. Impressive, to say the least. Pepper's incredible ride in Sweden basically landed him a spot on this year's T rophy team, via th e injury cla use. Earl y in the year , he injured h is kn ee th en wa s str ic ke n w ith mononucleosis, resu lting in his sitting ou t the entire Qualifier Series . . In Sweden , Pep per rode a Kawasaki KXI25 , this year he'll rid e a KTM in the 250cc class.

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