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/127536
power takes over, th ey wo n't be able to keep up, usually. What was th e main reason that you di d so well last season? Last year mad e m y six th year, a nd I' ve got a lo t of experience riding each hill in the seri es a nd that helps out a lo t. T he people who hel p me prepare my . bi ke, m y fath er Dick Frazier a nd Gary Bowlby, we reall y had a good bik e. It ran really good all last year. We didn ' t have one br eakdown. I had good luck a nd som e o ther riders d id n' t a nd that all helped to put me o n top. Last year, you said you would lik ely do anot her season in the 540cc class before moving up to the 800cc class. Is th a t sti ll yo ur pla n, · and is it necessary for a rid er to move u p? In th e 540cc cla ss right now , you hav e the top 10 riders or so wh o ca n win , but the ma in com petitio n co mes from the top five. In th e SO class, a ny of Occ th e top 10 can win o n an y da y. They run so close. T hey run within hun dr edths of a second of each ot her. In my class, you normall y o n ly find that in the first a nd second p lace, the n it drops off. T here's j ust a lo t mor e co m petition. We won the 540cc class cha mpionship in 'SS, '90 a nd '9 1, a nd we' re starting to feel tha t it's time to . mo ve u p. We p la n on mov ing up for the 1993 season. I want to br ing my new bike into th e SOOcc class; my Suzuki GSX R750. T h is year I' ll be riding two bikes, my (old) BSA a nd a new BSA with a lot of modifications. What kind of ch anges are yo u seei ng and want to see for hi llclimbing? Like motocross, more of the riders are wearing the sharp racing suits and custom helmets. It helps promote the professionalism of the sport. MJ USA supplies my outfits a nd keeps me looking good. I j ust worked out a dea l wi th Ke it h McGrath o f McGra t h G ra phics and he'll provide a custom pai nt job on my helmet. I have a lo t of reall y hel pful sponsors . My mom a nd da d help wit h my tra vel expenses . Dia mond helps wi th chai n and Barn ett wi th clutches. And my wife L isa is certainly a sponsor. We hope to expand the seaso n to 15 events (this year 's series has 10 ro unds). Tha t wo uld be a reall y full sched u le. We are always looking for new, good h ill s to climb! We would like to see more pa rt icipation from West Coast riders . T hey ru n their program q u ite a bit diffe rent tha n we do. Our hi lls are st raight, and scored based o n time. Their hills have a lot more turns and switc hbacks, obs tacles lik e deep ruts. They have a good program, but I feel we are more organized. I do understand the problem beca use of the travel involved. Bu t maybe one day we ' ll meet in the mi dd le. But that's just talk. And I would like to see some of the East Coast professiona ls get invited to the French In vita tio na l. I th ink we could hol d u p o ur end , but we haven 't yet been in vited. T o wrap things up, take us o n a climb and tell us what it takes to turn in a winning run. Com ing off th e line stra ig h t. One of the biggest parts to h illclimbing is th a t to go fast you 've go t to sta y straight and on th e grou nd. I lik e getting in the air. It look s good bu t you are slowing down wh en yo u 're in th e air. If you co me off the lin e a little cro o ked you m igh t have to sh u t down to ge t it ba ck stra ig h t. One little bo bble o ne wa y or the other can cost you th e race in a few th ou sandths of a second. You want to co me off th e lin e ni ce a nd stra igh t with full th rottle and sta y on the ground. Then yo u 'll ha ve a fast ride. A fast ride is when you get to the top of the hi ll and you ca n' t reme mber wh at you just did! If yo u have mem ories of coming off a j um p wro ng or not doing some th ing ri ght, you d idn 't pu t in a fast rid e. Finally, we've heard that th e lege nda ry Earl Bowlby has retired. Is he really going to quit hillclimbing? He's been saying he p la ns o n bu ilding a 500cc Suzuki a nd running in that class . T hat would really bring a lo t to th e 540cc class - Earl Bo wlb y, 10· Occ time Na tio na l Ch ampion in the SO class, racin g again . That wo u ld bri ng ou t hi s fan s. We planned on hon orin g him a t the an n ual banquet, bu t we said (jo kingly) we'd give him o ne more year to mak e sure tha t he was do ne. But eN you never know wit h Earl. T o th e victors go the sp oils: Tim Frazier (left), th e 540cc class champ, is joined by Lou Gerencer Jr., the SOOcc class title holder : (Left) Frazier and his title-winning BSA. 9