Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eFEATURE e Aday with tuner Bill Werner With 19 years of experience, Bill Werner knows every nut and bolt on the HarleyDavidson XR750s that he prepares for his present rider, Scott Parker. By Donn Maeda hey say that behind every 'good man is il good woman, and in the sport of AMA Grand National Championship racing, it's a given that behind every successful racer is a good tuner. With 52 National wins to his credit, four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker is undoubtedly the mostsuccessful rider in the history of the sport. But how did he get there? Surely, he couldn't have done it alone. That's where Bill Werner, Parker's tuner, comes in. Employed by the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., the 42year-old racing veteran seems to have achieved "legend" status himself in racing circles. In the past 19 years, Werner's riders have amassed 88 National wins and eight Grand National Championships with the titles being won by Gary Scott, Jay Springsteen and Parker. Werner is, undoubtedly, the sport's most successful tuner. At many races - especially mile events - Parker always has as much or more power than the rest of the field. But what is it that Werner does to Parker's factory Harley-Davidson XR750s that makes them run so well? Does Werner have an ancient book full of magic tricks? Or rather, is it an unlimited budget and a never-ending supply . of trick, one-off parts that gives the Werner/Parker team an advantage? Three days after the Sacramento Mile, we had a chance to spend a day with Werner as he prepared Parker's XRs for the following weekend's Pomona Half Mile. And judging by the reaction that we got from some of the other Grand National competi-tors before that day, we were in for a real treat. "Hey, take a lot of pictures when he pulls the heads off," said more than one rider. "We wan~ to see what he's got in T 16 there!" Sorry, guys, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it? And besides, we came to find that the secret to Werner's success as a tuner isn't magic, special parts or lots of money, but a painstakingly thorough rundown of each bike between races. ''I'd say that 99% of the time, all of the things that 1 check are fine," said Werner before unloading the two 75Os. "But it's that one percent that can cost you a race and keep you up at night." Unlike the box vans and semis commonly seen in road race and motocross circles, the all-white Ford van that the pair of factory XR750s travel in gives no indication as to what might be inside. Only a sharp-eyed dirt track fan would notice the Michigan plates and small #1 Scott Parker sticker in the comer of the rear window, and guess that the van was Parker's. "We've had some things stolen in the past, and decided that it was better not to have our vans be rolling HarleyDavidson billboards," explained Werner. "Our advertising is done on the track when we win." And unlike the factory-supplied road race and motocross transporters, this van belongs to Parker, as part of his factory contract states that he must supply his own transportation. Parker and Werner fly to most of the distant races, leaving the van-driving chores to Petey Polasky, a stone mason by trade from Consolia, Wisconsin, who works parttime for Parker. "I'll drive to most of the races in the • Midwest myself," said Werner. "But I'd like to think that I have more productive things to do with my time. People don't realize how debilitating travel is. Harley-Davidson of Sacramento is just one of the dealerships across the nation that welcomes Werner when he can't return to the factory to prepare his bikes. There's no question that you can perform better at the races if you have the chance to fly." For the three-round stint in California (San Jose, Sacramento and Pomona), Polasky did the driving, but instead of flying to and from the HarleyDavidson factory in Milwaukee each week, Werner stayed in California and performed his tuning chores at local Harley-Davidson dealerships. "When I can't take the bikes back to the factory each week, 111 usually work on them at various dealerships," said .Werner. "I have a pretty well-established chain of dealerships that allow me to work in their shops." On this day, Werner performed his "magic" at Harley-Davidson of Sacramento, California. A special section of the shop is prepared especially for Werner, complete with a brightorange sign that reads: "Bill Werner's western race shop." Watching Werner and Polasky unload the van was like watching workers on a production line - it's obvious that they have done it a million times before. An amazing amount of equipment; including six wheels, two exhaust systems, a spare motor, sprockets, and box after box of other §pares, fills the van. "I've been accused of carrying too many spare parts," said Werner. "But I'd rather be accused of that, than of not carrying enough." Luckily, Werner has never had to use the spare motor that he carries. "I've been real fortunate. It's mostly there for emergencies only, but it's completely built up (modified) and ready to go." When questioned about the three extra pairs of wheels that he carries, Werner replied, "I don't like to have anyone but myself mount our tires. I'm . not saying that the guys at the track aren't competent, it's just that I wouldn't want something like an out-ofbalance tire effect our performance. lf something is gonna throw us off, it's going to be my fault, not someone else's. You'll probably never see me at a race standing in line to get a tire mounted." Werner begins with the machine that Parker had just ridden to a second-place finish at Sacramento, as the other bike is already in basic half-mile configuration. "It makes things a lot easier having two machines to work with," said Werner. "And I'd say that most of the well-funded teams do have two. It can be done with only one bike, but it's an incredible amount of work." Werner began with the transmission. Though he did end up changing the primary gear ratio, his journey into the gearbox was originally for the sake of preventative maintenance. After cleaning and carefully inspecting each gear cluster, Werner reassembled the transmission and turned his attention to the clutch. "I just like to check all of the gears to make sure that everything is working okay, no cracks or broken teeth," Werner said. "I guess you'd call it 'being sure maintenance: Hell, if you have the time you migh t as well check everything. If you don't, you're just setting yourself up for a heartache." While going through the clutch assembly, Werner finds a friction plate with a dark streak and decides to replace it with a new one. But before plopping in the new piece, Werner carefully files each spline to make sure that it would float freely on the clutch hub. "Over the years, you learn little things like this that will keep your bike running well," said Werner. "When working with a motor' that hasn't

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