Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·.INTHEJAPES By Scott RousSeau· . To the American Honda Motor Company. Dear sirs: I am writing you to express my gratitude for your allowing Smokin' Joe's Honda team member Mike Hale to contest the Springfield Mile aboard your company's RS750. It was nice to see that Honda has a good enough relationship with Mr. Hale to grant him the wish of returning to his roots one more time. I would also like to let you know that his performance brought honor to your company, and that makes me wonder why you're not more involved. You see, since Honda left AMA Grand National racing, there have been several Honda riders who have continued to do just that - bring honor to the Honda marque - by -continuing to race Honda RS750s in the Grand National Championship Series ever since Honda officially ended its involvement in the sport at the end of 1988. And then here you come again, "unofficially" doing battle with Hale aboard your museum bike. It was like flashing us the bat signal. Now, I know too well that your company was angered by the AMA's decision to install the carburetor restrictors in all the motorcycles in order to "slow them down." This allowed HarleyDavidson to regain solid footing on ground which it had established but had seen shaken up by the likes of Team Honda's Bubba Shobert and Ricky Graham through the mid-'80s. It was perhaps an unfair rule, so Honda withdrew its factory team and disassociated itself from the sport completely. • I support the withdrawal of the factory team since 1 am not a proponent of direct factory involvement in racing (sorry, Harley). That may sound ridiculous in the face of the commitment that Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers have made to AMA motocross, supercross and road racing, and perhaps I am just a voice lost in the wilderness. But I'm a fan of racing, and I believe that factory teams are contradictory to basic racing philosophy, because factories never come to win, they come to dominate at all costs. And "at all costs" is the key phrase there, because when a factory isn't winning, its first rl\Course is to spend more money, which ,intturn forces the other teams to spend more money, and thus drives those who can't afford to spend more money right 25 YEARS AGO... SEPTEMBER 22, 1970 " COOl-headed" and consistent" were the words to describe Gene Romero as he crushed -the other competitors at the AMA National Dirt --,,--_...1 Track Mile Championship in Sacramento. Romero clinched the 1971 number-one plate with the fastest qualifying time, a heat-race victory, and wire-towire domination of the 50-lap main. Although two nationals remained in the season, Romero's 57-point lead put him out of reach of his nearest competitor, Jim Rice...New Zealander Ivan Mauger became the first man to win the Speedway Championship of the World three years in succession. The Kiwi clinched the title in Wroclaw, Poland, which happened to be the first final to be held "behind the Iron Curtain." Mauger scored every point available before 50,000 spectators ...The Pine Ridge Enduro in Chadron, Nebraska, began 1/ out of racing. Thinking of it this way, does the reasoning for the AMA ruling "against" Honda become any more clear? Sure, your American-based competition probably put the same amount of money into its program, but over the course of 25 years - not just five. Still, I'm not a dyedin-the-wool Harley proponent and that's not why I am writing you, SO I'll move on. It is the second step that Honda took its abstinence from support of dirt track racing in any manner, that bothers me the most. I fail to understand how Honda could officially ignore the fact that four of the top 10 teams in the 1995 AMA Grand National Championship Series are Hondas, to-year-old Hondas, and why no contingency or parts credit support of any kind is in place to help those teams or the others like them. There are currently as many as 12 active teams that ride Honda RS750s in Grand National competition - roughly one-fourth of any given field - and of these teams approximately half of them bring more than just one RS750 to the race track. Ask the guys you sent to Springfield and they'll proudly report to you that six of the motorcycles in the main event were RS750s. Like it or not, Honda still maintains a presence in dirt track racing, and I know that I may be a raving optimist, but I hope that your decision to race the Springfield, Sacramento and Del Mar miles with Hale will mark some sort of a return to the sport on a more permanent basis. Along those lines I have some ideas where you can stay involved without spending the loads of cash that a factory effort requires. Why not help the teams who bear your name with some sort of a performance incentive or parts credit award? What will it take to convince you that they are still a positive marketing tool for your great company? How about a testimonial, or four? Listen to what the team owners of these Hondas are saying. After all, they're the ones who need the help in the first place. Craig Rogers would be a good person to talk to. His rider, Will Davis, currently sits fourth in the AMA points race, and because of the lack of support, Davis is considering selling his equipment and switching to HarleyDavidsons in 1996 because he can no longer afford to maintain his Hondas. "I just think that we're beating our heads against the wall with these Hondas," Rogers said. "We hardly ever break down, but when we do, the parts are incredibly expensive. We broke an ignition box at Indy. It cost us $405. When you break a crank it costs $4000. A Honda piston is $275. Heads with valves are $3000. A set of cases is $1500. Any kind of a break on parts or a contingency program like the one Harley-Davidson has would be very workable. "I'm not in this to make a bunch of money," Rogers added. '1 just want the program to pay for itself. If we even had the same contingency deal that they had back in 1985. They've really left us hanging. A contingency deal would be about all that it would take to keep us on Hondas. Now, anyone with $20,000 can have mine. We've heard through the grapevine that Honda doesn't want us riding their bikes anyway - because they say they're obsolete." Davis is currently fourth in the points, and he and Rogers are feeling the heat. But what about the second-placed team, which is another Honda squad? George Garvis and Rich King have been the hallmark of consistency on the Grand National trail this year, and Garvis - a Honda dealer himself - is quick to credit the team's success with his choice of equipment. But even so, the team has been struggling to make ends meet. 'The Hondas have been really good to us, that's a fact," Garvis said. "And mine are essentially stock, though I do run aftermarket valve springs. I've figured it out, and I would have about $10,000 more in my pocket today if they had the Dash for Cash that they had back in 1987. "I know that the AMA really crapped on Honda when Bubba Shobert was around," Garvis said. "But I don't understand why Honda didn't hang in there. I wish that they'd just give us a contingency program - the same one that they had in 1987. Even if they brought it back with the same amounts, that would be about all that it would take to keep me in it." "Actually, we're stupid to be out there running them," said Al Bergstrom, , the owner of the Loral Lake Racing Hondas on which Ronnie Jones competes. "But they are what I choose to run. They're an outstanding motorcycle. I collect Harleys, but I race these. It's unfortunate that Honda won't even give us a little hope. Right now it's a dead-end road. If Honda would just step up with something, that would make me want to . keep going, maybe build another bike. I'd have Honda banners all over my truck, all over my pit, everywhere. I don't know how much longer I can go. I don't know how much longer George can go. Craig has given up. We definitely need the help. We've written them letters and we've talked to them about it." Hey, Honda, still not convinced that getting involved in the sport again would be a noble gesture? Then listen to one more Honda proponent. Certainly you remember Johnny Goad. He tuned one of those "obsolete" RS750s on which his rider Ricky Graham raced to as convincing a Grand National Championship in '93 as Honda has ever seen with or without direct involvement. Currently, Goad's USC Racing team fields both Kevin Varnes and Terry Poovey, and Goad owns and maintains some six RS750s for the team. "I like the Hondas," Goad said. "When they break, they cost a lot of money. But they hardly ever break. A contingency deal like Harley-Davidson has would be would be good. Because if 1 win, then 1 make more money, and if I don't that's my tough luck. Someone has talked to us about building HarleyDavidsons, but if I did that, I could only have one rider because of the extra amount of work involved. '1 don't know," Goad added. "Putting Mike (Hale) out there like they did, maybe Honda is just testing the water. Somebody had to say okay to that." So who decided to let Hale take that old monument for a spin? Maybe we'll never know. But whoever it was, thanks, Honda. How about having the same guy okay a contingency deal for the privateers as well? That would be a good thing, because the way things are going, Hondas may be extinct in the next few years. As unbelievable as it sounds, I've heard reports that the RS750 parts supply is running low and that some parts are no longer made. I really hope this isn't true. Because the day that the last Honda leaves the Grand National Championship arena for good will be a sad day indeed. The only thing worse than two-brand racing is one-brand racing. Please don't let it come to that. Dirt track racing needs you back, Honda. Here's hoping that we'll see you again - in one way or another - real soon.~ with 170 riders and ended with over 120 land Whaley topped rounds three and 900 roadster. The photo was accompaDNFs as Lloyd Thomsen bested the four of the AMA/NATC National nied by an article about Triumph's other survivors for the overall win. The Championship Observed Trials in Newreturn to busin.ess after an absence of a 10-hour event featured sections without comerstonwn, Ohio, and Morgan City, decade and a half... Scott Parker moved trails, streams over two-feet deep and Alabama... Bernie Schreiber won the into the GNC series points lead with a holes "large enough to bury a jeep." World Trials round in Finland, but Ulf win at the Springfield Mile. Parker Riders averaged a stately 12.3 Karlsson all but wrapped up the series edged out Ronnie Jones and Jay mph. ~flr:n~~_ title with a second-place finish ... OonSpringsteen. Steve Rasmussen won the nie Hansen won the 250cc Pro class at Junior National... Mike Kiedrowski and 15 YEARS AGO... Saturday Saddleback MX... Luis Jeff Stanton starred at the BroomeSEPTEMBER 17, 1980 McKey, the Phantom Duck of the Tioga National MX in Binghamton, New amaha's new 750cc vDesert, announced plans to organize a York. Kiedrowski won both motos in twin, shaft-drive, demonstration ride at the start site of the the 125cc class over Larry Ward, while Virago graced the cancelled Barstow-to-Vegas Stanton and Jeff Ward traded moto cover IS years ago. It was desert race. ~7iTln~i,.,.,_ wins in the 500cc class... Kurt Hall one of many new 1981 topped the WERA Pro Series road Y Yamafhastudebdutedthin ~s vegrnasEthat d were ea re ill e Issue... nglan , Honda unveiled its new CBllOOR street bike that produced a claimed 115 horsepower and weighed in at under 515 pounds. The price? Just over $7000... Gary Scott sailed to victory at the KRW Helmets Syracuse Gold Cup Mile in New York. It was Scott's first National win since 1978. Randy Goss and Ted Boody finished second and third, respectively... Lane Leavitt and Mar- 5YEARS AGO... SEPTEMBER 12, 1990 A photo of a victorious Wayne Rainey was featured on the cover five years ago. Rainey clinched his first 500cc World Championship Road Race title after winning the Czech GP ahead of Wayne Gardner and Eddie Lawson... Also on the cover was a studio shot of the new Triumph ,~nacpeeantnPsOyclovnaonrn"aternoaotiuOngalcRhaaCnedwlaeYr ... went 3-1 to score the overall victory at the World Championship Superbike round in Sugo, Japan. Raymond Roche, though, extended his series lead over Stephane Mertens... Alessandro puzar won the final round of the 250cc MX GP series in Germany. puzar had already wrapped up the tiUe. Five years later, in 1995, Puzar won his second title, this time in the 125cc class. ~ If) 0\ 0\ ..... e-r) ..... 1-0 Q) ] fr CJ) 75

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