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/127596
Turn to Prime Network' Everything ha d altered. His old BSA angels had joined with Triumph in a calamitous bid to put an end to HarleyDavidson dominance once and for all , and this had led to the financial ruin of BSA and Triumph themse lves . Ironicall y, H-D's d ynasty temporarily di ed too; all of Milwaukee's old glad iato rs became aged or in jured, and monster two-stro ke Kawa sa kis, Suz ukis, an d Yam ahas of astou nding firepowe r ended fou r-stroke rule. And a whole new sty le of road racing was evolving, too, one that Nicholas at first despised. Stangely, it too, had evolved from Europe. The East German communist Degner had been among the first to help make a motorcycle tum by flexing his knees. Then the Briton Paul Smart was one of man y to begin hanging h is right and lef t buttocks off the saddle w h ile ov erhanging a track and rippling his knees across the pa vement an affectation so on picke d up by the d oomed Finn [a rn o Saarinen, then taken to outra g e ou s len gth s b y Kenn y Roberts. Nicholas was quietly appalled. In h is poli te, p urest way, he com pared all the lurid new gy mn astics to tha t of a monkey commi tting an act o f sex ual conquest on a footba ll. But once he signed a contract with Suzuki to race the fa cto ry's overpowered and letha l equipmen t, he well understood the new demand for force and muscle. A big Suzuki behaved with an evilness that made the old KR Harley seem like a Ferrari in comparison. They bit almost everybody who rode them, including Art Baumann who unloaded at Talladega while going 170 mph, and Ron Grant, who got run over on the starting lane while attempting to pushstart a 250cc version. Nicholas still had the purest style of anyone, but deploying it on the unbalanced Suzuki juggernauts d idn't save him from assorted broken collarbones, punctured lungs, even one d isq ualification. Eventually he discovered a n other calli ng, and reinven ted himself as a stylis h fla t- tr ac k joc key r immin g Asco t Park . Most of the ico noclasts fro m th e BSA W recking Cr ew had d isap pea red . On a fam ous Nor ton , Nicholas se t off on a lo ng skein of Friday night triumphs, only to ge t d efeated in the really importa nt mat ch , th e Eig h ty- Mile Na tional, which he led for 16 or 20 laps. The following yea r, he accep ted an invitation to come to Col or ado and race one of the new XR Harley-Dav id sons; somebody plunged him into the hayba les, and he su ffered the serious effects of a concussion . With both good a nd bad results, he con tin ued racing th rough 1979, until thinkin g be tter of it after another really hard fall. This was a t a minor club meeting at so u the rn Ca liforni a 's Riverside International Raceway, and h e wasn't on a full-blown Grand Prix motor at all, but a modes t 125. Tha t was the same season that.Kenny Rob ert s was overseas, bus il y wrapping u p his secon d consecutiv e World Championship crown for the U.S. ]ody Nicholas proponents who had watched him a t his prearmed forces peak, could only ru efu lly wond er "What if?" "I never wanted to race like a b ig orc hestra , p laying with a lo t of bombast," explained Nicholas rece n tly , sti ll talking like a m us ician. He remains the most immacu late stylist Am erican road ra cing has had . And co nsidering h is p ast h istory w ith tha t marque, it is no s m a ll irony tha t in the Ni neties he ' s em p loyed by a d istrib utor of H a rleyDavid son components. It was insightful of Nicholas to pick Thalia and Melpo mene as com panions. Comed y and folly invariably travel in £N pairs, especially in racing. .... \0 ~ Q) ..0 o ..... u o Where one good turn deserves another Sept. 30 AMAMotocross · M illville,M N O 14 AMA Road Race · M O ct. id hio ~how #2) Oct. 7 AMARoadrace•Mid·Ohio (Show #j·Superbike) O 21 AMA Motocross· Delmon ct. t,PA Check theregional sports networkin yourareafor exact dates and times Prime Sports Midwest . Prime Sports Intermountain West Prime Sports Northwest Home Sports Entertainment SportSouth Prime Sports Upper Midwest Prime Sports Rocky Mountain KBL Sports Network Sunshine Network Madison Square Garden Home video versions available fo r $29.95 # HONDA Prime Ticket Home Team Sports Empire Sports Network New England Sports Network Pro Am Sports Systems Call 1-800-292-5551 YAMAHA Corne ride 'With US. r---------- -- - --- - ----- ----------------- --------, Attach label Here ,.. ... For FASTEST service attach ma iling label. Please allow 3 weeks for change to take effect. If label is not available print yo ur name and old add ress in this box . Print you r NEW add ress here. NAME Mail to: Circulation Dept. ADDRESS CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ STATE _ _ ZIP _ Cycle News, Inc. 2201 Cherry Ave nue , Long Beach, CA 90806 ~---------------- ---- ~--------------------------~ 23