Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Newly acquired Team Husqvarna rider Kevin Hines was third on a 350cc four-stroke. burning a ch eck at the end of the first loop. " A lot of people had problems at that chec k," said Hawkins. " I came up on this hill and stopped to set my stuff (timekeep ing eq u ipme nt) and before I kn ew wh at .was going o n, some guy is hollering, 'Come on in ,' and he took o ur numbers down! " H in es was a lso a victim of th at check. " I stopped to check my m ileage o n the hill and, I gu ess, th e chec kers coul d spot us at tha t point," said H in es. " I had no idea ; I didn 't see the check a t all, it was pretty faraway. I rolled down the hill an d there it (the check) was. He (the checker) said he saw me three minutes earlier." After many complai nts by th e riders, the check was eventually thrown out. " It was j ust a misunderstanding. The check wasn't placed very well ," said Hawki ns. "Other th a n that , everything went great. It was a great enduro. I ju st wish my mechanic Dale Segal was here. He's having his knee operated on today ." While Hawkins celebrated in the Suzuki pits, Russell cleaned up his gear at the KTM camp, content with his second -place fin ish. " I was hanging in there, I guess," said Russell , who rode an EIXC250 KTM. "The enduro was a lot of fun , but I did n 't ri de as well as I wanted to. I guess it was th e first one in a wh ile and I was a littl e ru sty. I'v e been doing a lot of PR stuff latel y and haven 't been riding a lot. My riding is just a littl e bit off; .just a sp lit second off my decision making. I mad e a lot of mistakes, lik e not chec king my mileage in the chec ks. Little stuff like th at can make a difference." As far as the co urse, Ru ssell said , " It wasn't all that bad, but it sure was cold up on top of the mountains. It was raining and vision wa s a problem, especially in the fog." Finishing o ne Point behi nd Ru ssell in th ird was Hi nes, who finished two po ints ahea d of fourth-p lace Ha tch . Hat ch was an other rider conte nt with hi s ride. " I mi ssed a few checks by a few seco nds, and a few sections I'd have a good rid e goi ng but end up upsi de down three or four ti mes, or stuck o n a hill or in a mud hole," said Hatch . " O ne tim e I put it all toget her after I got used to the terrain. At firs t I didn 't know how aggressive to be, but in the second loop, I decided to na il it, and it made ita lot easier, just lean back and keep the front wheel in the air." After spending almost the ent ire day riding wi th Hatch , Hawkins said, "Steve is just not used to racing in California and the different terrain . He (Hatch) was on the minute ahea d of me; I'd ca tch him , he 'd let me by, a nd he would sta y with me." "The who le last loop, I didn ' t have my com pu ter programmed rig h t," added Hatch . " In th e last section, I caught Russell who was two minutes ahead of me. I didn 't want to burn th e last check, so I slowed down and wai ted for Randy, so I would dr op o n ly one point instead of four." Hatch ended up with two points to spare over fifth overall Nielsen , 28-30. Four points behind Suzuki-mounted Nie lsen was KT M's Kelby Pepper, who got off to a rocky start. " I fouled a spark plug on the start li ne a nd I was three minutes down," said Pepper. "I had to work my way back up, then righ t befor e the last two secti ons , the front axle n ut came off a nd I lost a no the r three mi n utes. L uckily, I was carry ing an extra axle nut with me." Pepper added that he thought the muddy course was, " Not too bad." " It was ridea ble," said Pep per. " But bottl en eck s o n th e hill s we re a problem." ISDE rider J ohn King fin ished two Steve Hatch's first rid e as an official Team Suzuki rider net ted him fourth overall. points be hind Pepper fo r sevent h overall. " I had a pretty good ride ," said King. "T here were some bike -eati ng ru ts out th ere. On the second loo p , there were C ride rs stuck all over the p lace, so you had to find ways around them. It was rea lly slippery, bu t big fun." Local favorite Dave Bertram had a top-five rid e going befor e he ran into probl em s late in the ride and ende d u p finis hi ng eigh th overa ll. " In the second loop, I got stuck on a hill and just got thrashed," said Bertram, wh o dropped 46 po ints. " I just couldn't pi ck the pace back up." Alan Gravit of Georgi a had a day he would just as soo n forget. "Oh , I mad e severa l mistakes, " said the factory KTM rider. "T he first was rig ht at th e start . At 1. 7 miles, th ere was a pie -p late that had an arrow on it and read 'To 2.9 mi les.' I just figured th at was the mil eag e check, so I reset my odo meter and sat there and wai ted - -- - - - Continued on page 19 Hines and H usgvarna together aga in F ive years and two learns later, 1987 National Enduro Champion Kevin Hines is back wit h Husqvarna. Hines, who first made a name for himself as a Team Husqvama rider in the late 1970s and early '80s, alongside such teamma tes as four- time National Enduro Champion Terry Cunn ingham, Ed Lojak, Mark Hy de and Mi ke Melton, marked his return as a factory-backed Husqvarna rider at the Qu icksilver Na tio na l. "I am really happy to be back with Husqvarn a," said Hines, who resides in Massachuse tts. " I basical ly broke into racing riding Huskys a nd it just feels great riding them again." H ines left Husqvarna after the 1986 season, joined the KTM team and proceeded to win hi s first and only Nationa l Enduro Cha mpionshi p title in 1987, which iro n ically ended Husq varna's l 6-year reign on the Nat ional End uro circuit. Followi ng the 1990 seaso n, H ines joined T eam Suzuk i for a o neyear stint. Hines in ked the deal wi th Cagiva North America, the Husqvarna distributor, just a few days befor e head in g to California for the open ing ro u nd of the '92 series.' "I picked u p my bike (WXE350 four-stroke ) from Geor ge Earl a t Up-T ite Husqvarna on Thursday, rod e it 30 miles on Friday, and that's all the experience I had with it before the National ," said H in es, who finished third at the Quicksilver End uro. " All that was done to it was change the exhaust pi pe. Other than that , it's .totally stock, ri ght o ut of the cra te. " I do n ' t ha ve any real four -stroke experience to speak of, but I loved the bike. I carne here to be in the top 10, that was my goal ," said Hines. "My deal with Husky is help with the development of the four-stroke and ride it in all the events. Results are secondary. But after I get a few events on it, I'll be real competitive." 7

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