Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Edwards) moving on to World Superb ike w ith the factory, it created a spot w ith th e Yamah a people here. Lu ckil y, they picked me to fill that spot. I have always bee n close to so me of the people at Yamaha: To m H alverson and Terr y Vance and Jim Leonard. Not to m en tion Jamie and Ramo na (lames), Jam ie an d I ha ve always been close; I've spe nt so me time wi th him d ow n there on the Bayou screaming along in h is jet boat at a h und red miles pe r hour. Big fun. I'm ge tting off the su bject, but yeah, this deal wi th Yamaha has come al on g jus t at th e correct tim e for me, and hopefully for Yama ha as we ll. I hope that w e win plen ty of races together. Will you do the Suzuka 8-Hour this July? Well, th ere ar e no plan s righ t now that I am aw are of, but ye ah , I'd like to d o it. I'v e d one a sa tisfactory job over th ere in th e past for th e team s th at w e w ork ed with and I'm su re I cou ld do the same again . In fact, in my firs t few m om ents on th e YZF Superbi ke at Th u nder hill I thought to m yself, "Yeah, I wa nt to rid e this thing through the Spo on at Suzuka, it'd be a blast." Plus, I'm really loo king forward to riding the World Super bike race at Laguna. There are plenty of stories about you at Suzuka. Care to share an y of them? About the funniest th ing that happened to me a t Suz u ka - and it wasn 't to o funny when it ha ppen ed - is from th e second o r thi rd tim e I d id th e 8-Hour, 1990. I have a sma ll p rob lem wi th allergies th at my docto r h as never been ab le to pin down. But it only lasts a day or SO no bi g d e al, ri g h t? Well, th a t yea r a t Suzuka we had so me p rob lem s w ith the bike in qualifying; just could n't ge t th e bike se t u p correctly to ge t it qua lified . On the eve of the last day of qua lifying my ey es sta rted get ti ng swollen an d wa tery, prob abl y from the rice pillow or d own blan ket in my ho tel room . I was jamming my sprayer in my mouth every 15 minutes to keep my lungs working. It s ta r te d to g e t rea ll y b a d la te r th a t eve n ing a n d th e Jap anes ge n tle ma n from th e team tha Qrking w ith m e and my dad ctin g as our in te rpreter and ge tti u s ar ou n d , sa id he khew a good doc r who cou ld help me . Ab out five th next mornin g, on the last da y of qu ali ng, I de cid e to go see thi,<; do ctor. He's the m iddle of some sm all town near uzuka City, down all th ese narrow str ts and fa r, fa r away from hat I or an y ther American probably ever a business tri til The d octor' s office IS an 0 stone buildin g, p retty primitive . We take off o u r shoes once we ge t in th e d oor and this in terp re ter guy, w ho we ca lled H arry , explains to the doc that I have to qualify for the Suzuka 8-Hour in a few hours. The docto r gets rea l concerned at th is point because Su zu ka is like the Super Bowl o ve r there. H e takes me into h is office and loo ks at me for a few seconds; as king m e quest ion s in Japan ese, none of which I can answer as I don't speak th e language . A nd all of a su d d en h e pulls o ut th is hu ge hy po dermic needl e! It was like someth ing yo u'd kni t a blanket w ith, and he sticks it in this goop in a s m a ll bo wl. Th en h e co mes for m e with th at thi ng, the w ho le time babbling in Japanese. ' I'm like, no w ay can this be happen ing. I hat e needles, hat e 'em, m an! I lose com plete control, scre ami ng for my dad and th is interpreter guy to rescue me, " Help! Dad ! H aar r reeel!" And in just a flash, th e d oc g rab s m e a n d jam s that need le in my arm an d pus hes the plunger . He pulls the needle ou t and by th at tim e my dad is in th ere, blood is jus t pouring out of my arm . But, alm ost ins tan tly, th e all erg y attack clears up. No id ea w ha t th e s tu ff w as h e sho t in me, prob abl y don 't w ant to know. We put ou r shoes back on, and I was a litt le w oo zy and Har ry ha iled a cab. The cab sto ps and H ar ry tells this cabbie, a young Japanese guy, that I am an American racer w ho has to get to Suzuka Circuit as fast as possible to qua lify a m ot o rcycl e for th e race; if I d on' t get there fast the team wi ll not q ualify . Wha tever happens, Harry says he' ll fix it ticke ts, accide nts , whateve r. I' ve been around, seen a lot of au to abuse and cra zy driving in my time, but no thing to ever compare with w hat happe ne d th at d ay. Th at kid was possesse d . H e dro ve o n the si dewalk - fas t, th e w ro ng w a y o n o ne-lane, one-wa y s treets, he s peed -s hifted th ro u gh red lig hts! I, fran k ly, was terrifie d a nd looked at my dad in the seat nex t to me a nd h e was just w hite. A n d m y dad used to race off-sho re powerboats. I seri o usly thought we we re going to di e. By some grace of God , we get to the circu it, unharmed . I'm pret ty relieved . But th is kid refuses to lift ! I re member d istin ct ly loo ki n g th rou gh the wi nd shie ld at the uniformed guard checking pa sses and credenti als at the gate. As we wer e com ing towards hi m he looked at u s a t fi r s t li ke, h o h um, h e re co mes ano ther ca r. Th en he we n t comple tely: bi g -e yea an a slac -ja w e a a s he r a lized .. . this car wa s not goin 0 o w n, let a lone sto p ! H e b ar Iy sp u n o u of the way and ju st kin of rolled do n th e s ide o f th e ca r a th is cab scr a m ed in to th e p add oc - d u ring qua ifyin g! he cab bie guy bl ew throug h every ate w e encoun tered and he d ves right ou t onto the pit lan e. jam m in ears. I tho ugh t . I p . I'm th in kin g, well. here goes my in ternational (raci ng) license . We get close to w here our team wa s pi tte d an d H ar ry says someth ing like, we'll get o u t h er e pa l, and the ca bb ie nails the brak es for the first tim e since we go t in the car. We qu ickly piled out of the car and I closed th e d oo r quick. Th e cabbie loo ked at me with this hu ge grin - maniacal reall y - on h is face . He nails the gas, jam m ing gears do wn th e pit lan e and is go ne before a nybody has a chance to react. I ge t on th e bike, go ou t and start ridin g . Fo r a bo u t th e fi r st three lap s I looked at ou r pit every tim e by, thinking, w ell, no cops yet. Nobody sai d anythin g to m e abo u t it a n d I ce rtain ly w asn't go ing to brin g it up th e rest of my tim e there. ,A li I kn o w is there is a ca b b ie in Japa n w h o co u ld ea sily w in a Worl d Rally car champion s hip fo r a ny a u to ma n ufacturer, han ds down. The guy is a phenomenal dri ver . As long as we are confessing here, why do the Vance & Hines guys call yo u Cyclone? in Me ntor, Ohio) that lends itself to racing p retty easily. It's probably an eighthmile track - asphalt. I just sli p o n my leathers and helmet. stick o u t mv left foot and go. It helps me a lot in the"areas of throttle control and obv ious ly, lighting up the tir e. It also helps you tune the fund amentals of your riding, a lot of that crosses over into road racing. You ta lked to Honda a bo ut riding for th em again in 1995. Just not able to put som eth ing toge ther o r w hat. ..? Right after Atlanta, I drove to Louisville and spent a couple of days with Martin Ada ms, at his invitation . We talke d some abo u t me d oin g som e rid ingfor them in 1995, but it was pr et ty obvious to m e th at they h ad so me pl a ns th a t You can't as k me that! Oh man , I knew th ey wou ld enact before they cou ld eve r this was goi ng to get ou t, I knew it. • do a ny thi ng with m e. Do ug Cha nd le r Well.. . for one, and Migu el DuHamel for ano thO kay, th is is th e accu ra te s tory too, er. remem ber th at. We tes ted the Yama has The reasons I wou ld have go ne to a t Th u n derh ill in, w ha t, Novem ber? Honda were Merlyn Plumlee, AI LudYeah , November, and I was ridi ng the ing ton and the boys from R.J. Reyn old s. YZF600 Su pers po rt m ach ine for one of I have a very comfortable re la tionshi p with myoid mechan ic, Ludington, and th e firs t tim es, an d it h ad been some time since [ was On a 600 and I was ge twi th Ma rk Reeves from Camel. We w on ting back into the g roove of thi ngs. a serious n u mbe r of Supersport races Thunderhill is a neat little track an d it together back in 1992, the 600 champihas one section that is al most like the onship as well. Merlyn is just a master at Co rkscrew a t Laguna Seca, only you setting u p Honda Superbikes. And with rid e it b a ck w ar d s as yo u would th e h im o n th e team over th ere, I expect Screw. It's called the Cyclone. Anyway, them to be much more competitive tha n [ wa s on the 600, enjoying the ride - it's a the y were in 1994. pretty decent bike with great low-end What w ere you r first impressions upon power in Su pers port trim - and I getti ng on the Yamaha fo r the firs t time sc r ea m e d up the Cyclo ne jamming at Daytona? through th e gears and really enjoying Stability and horsepower. I guess the myself. I cres ted the top of that hill and closest thing I have to compare it with is I d idn' t even pu ll on the ba rs, but the the Suzu ki, w hich wasn' t a ba d Superfront w heel lofted at a bo ut 80 m ph ! bike, but it had so me stability problems. Way , way up - like vertical. And jus t at Especially at Dayto na . Last March (at th at moment, w ith the bike standi ng on Daytona), I co uldn' t hold the throttle th e rea r w heel, a to rn ad o li ke g ust of wide o pen on th e ban king anywhere , wind ca me th rou gh an d k nocked u s the bike w oul d just do so me seriously over - a hu ge gust of w in d ca me u p ba d th in gs th at I was not comfortable with, like almost shaking th e clip -o ris from the side and knocked the bike right ou t fro m und er m e. I w en t to th e left o ut of my hands. And we we nt throu gh and the bike skid de d out from under me the ent ire ga m ut of suspe ns ion chan ges to the ri ght, th en it b o u n ce d b a ck and it really got no better. Stevens, havu pri gh t. [ wa s hangin g onto the side of ing been on the team longer, was able to th e.bike, checkin g o u t the se ria l n umge t them to stre ngthe n the fram e on his bers o n the engi ne case and stu ff; com ik e, an d some o ther th in gs chass ispletely Mam o a. Finally, I had to let it go w ise, but hi s bike w as n' t that much betand it ghost-r d e fo r abou t 200 ya rds ter th an m ine. So I ad that in my recen t be fore co m in to a so ft s to p ri ght in me mory upon ge~ on the Yama ha . fr on t of the Yam aha transpo rte r. Ve ry The Yamaha: ve stable and p len ty embarrassing. . was christened Cycl on e 4Il'!-'6fimlfS~6'Wl!~II'''''~ really amazed at after that. how much pow er the bike had at DayThe bike w fine, I think it brok e the tona, es pecially u to p . I was telli ng clutch lever . ego r w hateve r, took Yamaha 's Tom Hal erson abou t it and more of a be ati ng than th e b he said, "Yea t by midseason you'll the wor . h at you will n ot Fi4l: m ore ." I don't see how that th e 6 uperspo rt class in 1995 , but cou d be the case, because that YZF just th e 750 Supersport class. Wh y? rips. Dayt ona isn' t one of my favori te Yamaha has never won a 750 Supersport tracks, I seem to go better on gnarly race Cha mpionship, and that is a nice chaltracks like Loud on, Pomona and Midlenge for both the company and myself. Ohio, but even so, I we nt over a second I'll tell yo u righ t now the bike is goi ng quicker than I ever had before at Dayto be a ru nner, and I haven't even sat on tona. Da le Rat hwell, who worked with me ' it yet. I have ridden the Superbike, obviously, and I know th e YZF is going to in m y privat ee r days, ha s the suspenlen d itself to. Supers por t raci n g very sion d ialed. To m Housworth in Superwell. sport, and Mitch Leonard in Superbike, J a s o n P ri d m o re h ad s eve ra l decent wi ll b e h andlin g my tu ni ng cho res . They' re both great wrenches. I feel like ri de s on th e Kinko's Yam aha last season in 5upersport racing. I've w on th e lottery . Yea h, h e d id . A n d I ca n tell yo u just 50 your goal is to win your fi rst Superfrom m y p erspecti ve - of a g uy wh o b ike race in 1995? Yeah, win my first one, and maybe more raced aga ins t that bik e - it has so me defthan that. The 750 Super sport Champiinite ad va n tages o ve r the Su z u ki and th e Kaw asak i. Stability, fo r one, a nd it o n shi p is pretty im p o rta n t, too, so I reall y see med to h av e some m id range wan t to u se th e m omentum from m y gru nt in pr oduction form . So, I'm pr etty champions hi p last yea r and tum it into enthused abo u t the w ho le d eal. a champ ions hip in 1995. What kind of tra in ing do you do to preAs for th e big bi kes, I' m thinking I pare yours elf for ridi ng 5uperbikes? wa nt to win a couple of Su pe rbike races Dirt tracking the 500 in my p arking lot. th is yea r a n d be a co n tend e r fo r th e W e h a ve a n ic e p ar kin g lo t h ere a t Supe rbike Championship ne xt year. Ad van ced Slee ve (Kip p is co-o w ner of But, I w on 't complain too loudly if it an aftermarket-eylinder-sleeve compa ny happens sooner. ' l~ 17

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