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/127545
EDITOR'S '----MEGAPHONE By Jack Ma ngus hile bench racing with Loyal "Mr. La Carrera" Truesdale the other day, I was reminded of an old friend, Gene Dorris of Opelika, Alabama. 1 haven't seen Gene in years. He used to be a fixture at race tracks aro und the southeast and was perhaps most notice able in the garage area 'of " Daytona International Speedway during Cycle Week. You see, Gene's a sign pa inter by trade, and no one, and 1 mean no one can letter a helmet, gas tank, truck, or what have you, faster or better than he can. " Y'all want what, now ?" was Gene 's first response to a customer's request for some " art work" to be ap p lie d to whatever he presented. "Y 'all want Cycle News on both sides 'n ' on the back of y'al l's van? Well, tell ya, tha t'll set y'all back $100 - and a fifth of scotch..Heah? " Gene and I ventured to the Bonneville Salt Flats back in the mid -seventies. "Think I should bring my paint?" Yep. We spent the first morning there putting our bike - a Noguchi-modified 125cc Yamaha MXer through tech. It still carried mud from the previous weekend's U.S. l25cc MX GP in Missouri. T he giggles we had watching tech inspector Earl Flanders shaking his head "while walking around the bik e were priceless. Gene liked nothing better than to go around awarding "sq ui rrel points" on a scale of one-to-IO. And as the Noguchi Yam aha's rider of record, Gene award ed me five squirrel points for putting the muddy bike through tech. "Well , lookie here. I think we've got a gen uine seven pointer," said Gen e later that day, look in g at a Corvair tha t had been tra ilered up to him to have numbers, the driver and spon sor's na mes, and miscellan eous other things pa inte d on it. "I'Il be da m ned. A twinturbo Corvair runnin ' on propane bein' towed by a Corvair van. Now why in hell 's creat ion would y'a ll bother to bring that th ing to Bonneville?" Gene asked the owner of the car who had just received seven squirrel points. Later that day, Gene told me that he'd " never ever" aw arded more than eigh t squirrel points. "I thought I seen a nine once, bu t wh en I reall y ch ecked the gu y out, he was just an eigh t. My goal is to find a 10, but I reckon I never will. " T he next morning at the Salt Flats, we sat in our van waiti ng for an ear ly morning drizzle to end. Sudden ly, Ge ne bolted upright. " A 101 Damn, I've done itl I've fou nd me a 101 T he biggest damn sq uirrel in the world," he screa med. There, directl y across the pit la ne fro m us was the owner of the pro panepo wered Corv air. H e ha d the hood of the rear- engine Nadarm ob ile open and he was cooking eggs and bacon in a frying pan that was sit ting on a stove burner he'd mounted on top of the mo tor! Gen e beat h is fist on the roof of th e Corva ir. " Y'all a 101 Damn, y'all a genuine no -doubt-abou t-it-y'all-canrun-but-ya'lI caint-hide 101" Gene had done it. He 'd found a 101 Ever fin d another one, Gene? "Nope, never come close." W Races En tered Races Won Finish ed Second Fin ish ed Third Finished Fifth Fin ish ed 20th Motos Finished : 126 103 14 6 2 1 252 ~ JANUARY Michael Blose (4 races) Michael York (3 races) Drey Dircks (2 races) Ron Heath (1 race) GP-7 RACING 2-CYCLE OIL Rex raced one 250cc bike and two 500cc bikes during the 1991 season. 100 WIN ERS: $400 $300 $200 $100 Rex Staten (3 races) Dave Burns (2 races) Jason T rub y (1 race) Bryan Jaram illo (1 race) $300 $200 $100 $100 Torco MTF manual tran smi ssion flu id provides these performance benefits: • Less friction and heat. • Superior wear protection. • Bener load carrying. • Easier shifting. • Bener cooling. • More power through-put. Ask for MTF at your local Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or Kawasakidealer 9916 Pioneer Blvd. Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Phone: (310) 942·8480 FAX: (310) 949.4211 ~ URBAN W RAP TEE WHT, L/XL Em!!I!I!J PUFF TEE BLACK S/XL W ORLD CHAMPIONSH I P 3 1 Torco MTF is a special low viscosity low friction manual transmission fluid with superior load carrying and wear protection properties. MTF reduces fluid friction and drag W hile it protects gears, bushings, bearings and clutches. MTF is used in 2-cycle motorcycle transmissions for racing and off road use. Torco GP-7 Racing 2-Cycle Oil provi des the se performance benefits: • High RPM protection. • Less friction and heal. • Extra clean performance. • Bener throttle response. • Quicker acceleration. • No gummy deposits. Ask for GP-7 at your local Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or Kawasakidealer . Pistons (1 pe r bike) Clutches MTFMANUAL TRANSMISSION FLUID Torco GP-7 Racing 2-Cycle Oil is a superior blend of smokeless base oils and Torco's special 2cycle additives. GP-7 is designed for high RPM aircooled two stroke engines featuring Torco's ' oiliness" additives to reduce friction and wear. GP-7 is treated with Torco's T-2000 detergenVdispersant additive that keeps the piston crown, head and spark plug clean-and piston rings and grooves free of gummy residue to maintian higher compression and prevent power loss. TORCO INTERNATIONAL CORP. REPLACEMENT PARTS ~WHT /ASH S/X L ~ISA -MC Im!m ACCEPTED NO C.O.D. USA SPORT WEAR 4901 W. VAN BUREN ST., STE 1, PHX,"AZ 85043 800 323 -7734 19