Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·/;TU'.,N nMaeda R JO R:·' U .' ;".:'':'..:: By ' -' s the resident mote-head in the Cycle News editorial offices, I have the pleasure o f riding, testing, thrashing and cr ashing almost every motocross bike man ufactured each year. Sure, I may not get to go on the cool dual sport rides and exotic third world country trail rides that the off-road editors get to, but hey - that's not my thing. Berms, jumps, whoops and ruts are my forte, and I have a beautifully decorated pair of forearms to prove it. Dirt biking runs in my family's blood. My father rode dirt bikes. My mother rode a trail SO. Both of my brothers raced motocross - as a matter of fact, one of them is one of the fastest 38-yearolds on the planet. My wife even has one motocross race under her kidney belt. Needless to say, dirt bikes are the toys of choice in the Maeda family. What's wrong with street bikes, you ask? Well, nothing really. It's just that there's a family rule that I grew up with: Dad would buy you as many dirt bikes as you want, as long as you promised never to ride on the street. I'm not exactly sure where the fear of street riding in our family originated (my father rode a Harley-Davidson in his 20s) but one thing's for sure - neither my brothers nor I have ever really broken "The Rule:' I tried to break "The Rule" a few years ago. Assigned to write a feature on the Harley-Davidson factory, I thought getting a first-hand feel for the "HarleyDavidson experience" would provide insight as I wrote my story. The factory was glad to provide me with a Dyna Glide Classic, and I was set - long hair, a leather jacket and myoId Doc Martens. Where's the chicks? Let me at 'em. As I expected, both my father and my eldest brother blew their respective head gaskets when they learned of the Hog sitting in my garage. " A re you crazy?" my dad pleaded. "You're gonna get hit by a car!" My brother echoed the same sentiments, and also reminded me of "The Rule:' . "But it's part of my job, " I argued, with little enthusiasm. Guilt, combined with the fear so recently insliIIed by my family, caused me to limit my cruising sessions to a minimum. I d idn't even run a full tank of gas through the bike. Approved ' by the Maeda family review board, my second-ever ride on a street bike came at Suzuki's 1994 GSXR750 introduction at Willow Springs Raceway. "You need to expand your A horizons," said Editor Paul Carruthers. "It's easy , you'll be fine:' Due to the controlled environ men t and lack of cars, my father gave his nod of approval and I was off - off the track, that is. While Carruthers zip ped past with his knee dragging - I found myself diving to the inside lines, lockin g up the rear brake and slipping the clutch as' if I were on an RM250. Once, as I raced into turn two, another moto-jou rnalis t zipped under me . "Yaaaa h h !" N o t expecting such a pass, I panicked and flew straight off the track and into the dirt. Funny - that's the most in-eontrol I had felt all day long. Later in the day, Team Suzuki Endurance rider David Stanton was kind enough to show me the correct lines around the track, and I was even able to temporarily overcome my motocross instincts. " En ter wide and come out tight? Don't touch the rear brake? Stick out my knee, no t my foot?" It was strange, but I adapted. At the end of the day, I was shot. Before I tried it myself, I would never have believed . that riding street bikes can take so much out of you. . In the months that followed, I passed on several other chances to ride on roadrace tracks. Once was enough for me. I did it. I lived. I was happy. Then it came - the phone call. "Hi, Donn, how would you and Paul like to attend one of our schools?" The voice on the other end of the line belonged to Suzuki's Diane Carter. "Team Suzuki Endurance is holding a road-race school at the Pomona Fairplex track, and since it's so close to your house, I figured you 'd want to try it:' I told Diane I'd think about it, but didn't mention the invitation to Edit or Carruthers. I wasn't so sure I wanted to risk life and limb at over 100 mph again - I had still barely reco vered from my Willow Springs adventure. I'll sti ck to the dirt, thank you . No such luck. A written invitation was mailed to the Cycle News offices, and slapped down on my desk. "You're going," said Carruthers, wi th a wide, you-know-what-eating grin on his face. "Only jf you go with me," I replied , and the deal was struck. In the days preceding the class, both of us began to fabrica te rather weak excuses for missing the class. My motiva tion was simple - I didn't wan t to crash. Paul's, however; was different: he . :. " ha d learned that the school's track sessions would be held in between the professi onal pract ice sessions . ("Man, I don 't wan t all those guys watching me!") Come class da y, though, both he and I we re there b right and early. Though m uch of the ins tr ucti on was nothing new to Paul, I was elated to find ea ch an d every one of my ignorant questions answered by instructor David Aldana. Onthe track, I felt more and more comfortable with each passing lap. Though I still managed to have two offtrack excursions in a particularly tight and tricky sectio n of the track, I never. felt completely out of con trol. Joined by Suzuki Sports Promotions' Cole Gress, I w as no t the only motocrosser in the bunch. Early in the da y, both Cole and I left several bl ack marks on the track from downshifti ng too much entering the comers. But as the day p rogressed, so d id we. "Yo u' re doing well," sa id Aldana. I was happy. Un til SHE came along, that is. Who? Well, SHE was an experienced female roa d racer and fellow moto-journalist who was using the riding school's track sessions to log extra laps around the course. SHE didn 't attend the classroom sessions, and SHE certainly wasn't there to be friendly . . At the conclu sion of one of our track ses sio n s, SH E p a rk ed her bike and ru shed toward s me, shaking a po inted finger. "You are so d angerous! You flew off the track while I was right behind you! You were all over the place! You better slow it down! I was afraid to pass you!" Nag nag nag, .. . Excuse me? In the months since my wed ding, m y w ife ha s done an admirable job of toning down my temper. I held my ton gue. ''I'm so rry," I repli ed. "This is only my third time on a street bike." No reply. SHE just glared at me and wal ke d aw ay, sh a ki n g her head . Hmmm. .. I wo nde r. As a racer, (I d o assume that SHE raced - SHE had custom lea the rs with her name on them, and her motorcycle sported a three-digit number) w hat wa s SHE doing on the track wi th a class full of beginners? Wh y couldn't SHE - like the racer/instructors - sim ply race pa st m e on a straightaway? Why didn't SHE share the track with the rest of the racers during their allotted track sessions? And most of all why take on su ch a bitchy attitude? - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - 25 YEARS AGO April 29, 1969... i d i n g a Shell R Thuert-prepared 500cc Royal Enfield, Sammy Tanner came out on top to win the weekly main event at Ascot Park. If Tanner topped Dan J:J Haaby and Tommy - - ..... . '. Rockwood . Other winners on the night included David Aldana and Don Emde.. .Gene Romero beat Eddie Wirth and Jim adorn to win the San Jose Half Mile. Don Castro won the Amateur main event...Cycle News Meet the Rider column featured Kenny Roberts; it said, in part: "Expert rider #9v Kenny Roberts of Modesto, California, is a student at Modesto High School. He is 17 years old is five-feet, one-inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. Roberts is on the wrestling team at Modesto High. This is Kenn y's third year of racing. He is sp on sored b y Cliff Aksland Motorcycles in Manteca, California. He rides a l 00cc Suzuki and has had tremendous success, winning over 100 trophies" ... 15 YEARS AGO April 25, 1979... o u n d fo ur of the AMA Grand National Championship/ Winston Pro Series was held in Sacramento, California, w ith the Sacto Mile being won by Army- sponsored Mike Kidd. Kidd beat Steve Eklund by two bike lengths at th e completion of the 25-mile race, with Jay Springsteen finishing third. Eklund's second-place finish gave him the lead in the Grand National Championship after four rounds. The 12-mile Trophy Final was R won by Steve Powell with Ronnie Jones and Edd ie Lawson rounding out the top three...Th e Tecat e 500 enduro was won by A.C. Bakkan...Expert Mini rider Ron Lechien won the Stock and Modified cla ss es a t Barona Oaks Speedway in Barona, Califomia...A interv iew w it h Danny "Magoo" Chandler wa s featured wi th a pull quote from Cha n dler that pretty much summed up his attitu de on racing: "You know, if you don't crash once in awhile, you're not going fast enough"...Kenny Roberts had his first rid e on a road racer since breaking his back during an off-season test in Japan. Roberts rode at Sears Point international Raceway and pronounced himself fit for the upc oming round in Austria... 5YEARS AGO April 19,1989... ycle News issue number 15 in 1989 featu red next-day coverage of the first-ever Australian Grana Prix at C -. : .. . Don '. ' _ .. .. - One of my closest motocross racing friends is an absolute wildman - a crash waiting to happen. His legs flail, hishands come off the grips, and he barely has enough control of his machine to hold a consistent line. I race with him regularly sometimes 1 beat h im, sometimes I don't. His love of speed and abundance of pure aggression overcome his lack of finesse - tha t's just his style. Never have I pulled off the track and pointed a finger at hirn. ilnstead, we share a few laughs and tell a few tales . Why couldn't SHE take on that same disposition? 1wonder. Make no mistake, 1 have no problem with being beaten by a woman - nor with women racers in general. I think that it's great for women to race - my wife has. There's no reason that motorcycle racing should be restricted to the male gender, and there's no reason that a female can't be just as fast or faster than most men . As a matter of fact, I've been beaten b y several women motocrossers. 'For some reason, I just can't picture multi-time Women's National Champion Mercedes Gonzales pointing her finger at me and saying, "You d idn't jump tha t double, you're dangerous!" "In such a male-dominated sport, we women have to remain extra -professional and s tay so mew ha t lo w-key if we want to gain an y respect," says Mercedes. 1 have sha re d th e track on several occasions with Mercedes . More than once, she has roosted past me while I rode over my head in an atlemptto stay ahead of her . In racing, one thing's usually for sure: a faster rider wi ll usually pa ss a slo we r on e, and it's the faster rider's responsibility to make th e pass cleanly - not the slower rider's responsibility to sta y out of the way. One time, Mercedes slid out in a corner in front of me. I was shocked, because 1 had never seen her fall before. Even though her crash was ha rmless, I was tempted to stop and check on her, but suddenly realized that she probably wouldn't want any special atten tion just because she was a woman. So what's my poin t? Well, I don't have one, really. But in parting, I hav e a little variation on an age-o ld cliche for my new-found SHE friend: If YOU can't stand the heat, get back in the kitchen.rx · 1:': l ()()i

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