Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 03 08

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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often, the pairing ended up on the ground in an untidy heap. .' "Everyone wants me to blame the bike for last year, but that isn 't entirely fair," Bilbao said. "To begin with, I was injured at the start of the season. I broke my shoulder in two places following a practice crash" At this point in th e in te rview, the famous Bilbao grin breaks out, but this time it is a bit sheepish. "I crashed while trying a supercross double jump...on my trials bike. "This cos t me 45 days a way fro m bikes," said Bilbao. "When I came back Montesa had the new machine waiting. I wasn't anywhere near really fit, and the new machine wasn't righ t - it was too early to be riding it in competition, but this is what we had to do. "Look, the bike was not perfect, but yo u ca n m a ke any machine okay by altering it and changing parts," said Bilbao. "This is what we should have been doing, but there never seemed to be any time. We were having big problems with the bike - the chassis kep t breaking, every time I rode the bike the fram e broke and we had to rep air it. This was the problem, we spen t too mu ch time rep airin g the bike and not enough time making it better. "I have many big crashes from th is bike and I did not want this, so I lost my confidence," Bilbao said . "Then I hear that maybe Colomer will be coming back to Montesa, so I think it is best if I get out. "I know that what I have to do is get my confidence back quickly, and the way to do that is on a machine that I know is right and on which I feel good. This is why I hav e chosen the Beta. We will see. "It won't affect my atti tude. I will rid e just the same. I like to ride fast, to entertain. People like to see me attack the sections and this is good. I think that trials should retu rn to the rule that says no stopping in sections. It is much more exciting this way. " Bilbao, unfortunate ly, refuses to be drawn int o d iscussing any of h is epic crazy stunts - not for publication anyway. "When I was young, I d id everything full gas - in my car, it was 125 m ph everywhere. Now I have slowed down a little. My best friend on the World Championship Series is Diego Basis because he is as crazy as I am and we wind each other up ." Themost fam ous Bilbao stun t in an event was during the Gerona Indoor Trial at the end of the '93 season. At the peak of a high jump obstacle, Amos lost control and ju mped off the ba ck of his Gas Gas a good 15 feet in the air. As he dropped back to earth, he saw that his . bike had landed and carried on upright, so he chased it down and jumped back into the sa d d le cowboy fash ion. It brought the house d own. ."1 didn't mean to do that," said Bilbao. '1 lost control and jumped off, but as I did this I thou ght that the world would thin k it w as a s tatement - that I was throw ing the Gas Gas away in my last ride before I sw itched to Montesa. So it was okay when I jumped back on." And what does Bilbao think of Ame ri- THENCORKSCREVr AT lAGUNA SECARAt:.EWAY HIGHWAY ONE SOUTH ON T HE MONTEREY COAST Get ready for a weekend ofexciting bike- wherehe~on~. ~ . ~ AMA Supe rbike Ser ies motorcycle racing ® . . ; on the M onterey "" l'OOOP _ Peninsula then get out and discover a c,lI M e t., few curves of your SUPERBIKES own. Come for the BBlD6ESTOOE races and experience one ofthe BOSCH® most beautiful For Tickets Ca l l " motorcycling areas , <-" A A AMA® 1-800-327-SECA of the world. S AN CT ION ED P.O. Box 2078 • Mon terey.CA 93942 • Tel 408-64 8-511 1· Fax 408-373-0533 .. PHOTOGRAPHS: GRE~ WUTKE I MIKE DORAN ., 51 ca? "I like the American way of life a lot," said Bilbao. "I hav e ridden there a few times and hav e made some good friends. I try to make friends everyw here I go - I think that is important. Also, I won a World Round in America, so it is a special place for me." So, Amos Bilbao remains one of the most naturally gifted, and popular trials talents in the world. And his many fans everywhere will be urging him back onto th e pod ium - and back on to a facto ry TOVOTA® THE TOYOTA CHALLENGE OF LAGUNA SECA AMA Coalinga CA . AMI Hat'l Hare . . U.s. Su~rcross Serlts, •• Se • Hat'llnduro .Scrambles, Hollister, CA 125cc final, San DI~O{stCA fI~ DAVIS . 1st' 1Y DAVIS· 1st . RODNEY SMrTH - 2nd S1M HATCH - 3rd DAMON HUFFMAN 2nd CRAIG DECKER • rd RYAN HUGHES · 3 lEI RANDY HAWKINS - 2nd STEVE HATCH · 4th RODNEY SMITH . 5th . BEL-RAY COMPANY, INC. P.O. Box 526, Farm ingdale, NJ 07727 re and 2 Bel-Ray shckers, contact: I brochu For4-coor ~lIf ... ~ • . . . •. . :. .

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