Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ucati 93 9071E, chip, Stalntunes, Corbin, bar risers, ro tail lite, plus more, $7,500, (707) 446-1432, A. (344-45) TEARDOWN By Paul Carruthers 993 YZ250 xcellent conditon, new plastic. Pro-Tapers, glide ate, top' end. chain and sprocket. $2,500. (818) 5-0441. CA. (344-45) R80 Four-Stroke Rao with XR100 four stroke conversion. Every ece new, '95 plastic. stroked 121cc motor. Fast. t easy to ride. Must seel $2,200. (714) 998-4663. A. (144) '.: , -~=- . '.. . ".J / " . . " ~ • iIIet Aluminum Ignition Covers Ight sealing, eNC machined with a grove to fit the EM gasket and will not warp. Custom lettering allable. Models for late Honda CR 125, 250, 500. (244-50/EOI/P) 9.95. (818) 998-0852. CA. lazzura ull bodywork for sale and other asso~ed pa~s. Call odd (310) 376-8392. CA. (144-45) RX600 MOTOR with Keihlns, Carrillo, Megacycle, ,seco, pipe, electrics, spares. $1,500 or trade for R400/600 motor. (206) 441-4832. WA. (144-45) 976 Z1 Kawasaki 900 verything rebuilt. 200 miles on rebuilt engine. ,200/0bo. (209) 928-1052. CA. (144) 994-KX125, excellent condillon, many eXlras, must ,$2,500. (619) 375-9358. CA. (144) 979 Honda CBX (6 cyl.) ad, all stock, excellen! original condlton, 21,000 I. $3,700. (707) 224-7659. CA. (144) 250 Enduro Stuff 5 3.7 gal tank with petcock $100. Boyesen RAD e 560, Answer sneaker 560. Like new. (217) 6474. IL. (144) 995 Ducati 900SS SP how quality, 6,000 miles. $12,000. Call Peggy for ales portfolio. (800) 828-8665 days, (702) 782· 762 eve. NV. (344-45/P) hampion Yamaha 250 '75 xtra nlcel Fresh engine. $1,750. Looking for hamplon Honda XL350. (903) 768-2415. TX. (144) dge Sports Modified 50 ery fast. new tires, Jemco pipe, Motoplat ignition, esh top end. Many spares parts. $3,200 or best r. (510) 449-7597. CA. (144) 992 HUSaVARNA WXC 250 2 stroke new chain, prockets and light kit. Excellent shape. $2,500. var raced. (217) 835-4006. IL. (144) 995 Husaberg FE 501 Iectric sla~. Raced six times. Had baby, must sell. ,BOO. Ask for Keith (314) 431-3690. MO. (144-46) emember the one classmate we all made fun of in school. The one who didn't understand the question, let alone the answer. The one who was always picked on by the teacher. The one who more often than not ended up sitting in a comer with a dunce cap on. Last week, I was that kid. And my dunce cap was a motocross helmet. "Paul, there's only two months until the Christmas Grand Prix - it's time to go riding." associate editor Donn Maeda told me last week. "Sneak out of here on Wednesday and we'll go to the motocr track." "Sounds good, just you and I?" I inqillred. "Well, Gary Bailey's going to be there. But he's just checldng the place out for a chool he's going to do the next day," Donn Ued. "If you want to ask him anything, he's available. Other than that, we'll just be able to ride." The last flung I wanted to do after not throwing a leg over a motocross bike in the last 10 months was to do so in front of a man known simply as "The Professor." Teachers teach. And Gary Bailey is a teacher. The chances of h.im kicking back for the day while a bunch of us "just went riding" right in front of him were sUm. I knew tlUs going in. I just wasn't smart enough to stay home. I knew I was in trouble when Bailey held an impromptu, non-riding session prior to our first laps on the track. 0 big deal, I thought. He's just showing us how he would do it if we were actually taking a class with h.im. A Uttle sales pitch, for those who may someday want to take his class. He didn't mean anytlUng by it. Hey, we were just guys getting ready to go out riding. Bailey eventually finjshed his session and we went riding. For a lap. During that time I kept seeing Bailey out of the corner of my eye. But I did my best to ignore him. Hey, T was just cruising around, cursing Donn under my breath as I rolled over big jumps that I knew I'd later be expected to jump. My day of "just going riding" lasted \ for that one full lap. Then I noticed that Bailey was calling us over to hiln as he parked next to a set of whoop-de-doos. No problem. He probably wants to say goodbye. Maybe he was heading out for an early lunch... "You didn't touch your clutch for that entire lap:' Bailey growled. In this case, "you" was me. '1 don't want to see you without a finger on that clutch for the rest of the day:' Mr. Professor said. it uddenly occurred to me that Bailey didn't have plans for an early lunch. In fact, I'm not so sure tlUs guy even eats. R He wasn't going anywhere. There was one definite that came out of that first exchange - we weren't "just going riding." The clutch thing I could bve with. I know that I need to use the clutch more, but·l still fight with the notion of using the clutch like a hand exerciser in every comer. Psychologists often tell us that,rno t of our problems stem from how we were raised; that our problems in adulthood are often just by-products of our childhood. I guess it's no different when you ctis<:tJ:;s riding a motorcycle. When I first learned how to ride, clutches were actually used for gear hiIts - and Uttle else. Okay, so my finger would never leave the clutch again. But my problems didn't end there. I was being chastised for nearly everything. it didn't take long for me to realize that I really didn't know how to ride a motorcycle. My legs weren't straight enough. My body was too far back. Apparently, I was a complete mess. Our teadling session soon moved to a big tabletop jump. And it didn't take long for me to again take my place in the corner - dunce helmet firmly in place. We did the jump once, we did the jump twice. Bailey told us we were too (ar back on the motorcycle. He told us our legs weren't straight enough. He wanted our helmets out over the front of the motorcycle. It all made sense when he showed us how it worked. The body needs to be out over the handlebars. We could fix any problem from right there, with just small corrections in body positioning. We did the jump three times. Everyone else had learned. I guess I hadn't. "You are having the most trouble doing this correctly," Bailey said at nobody but me. He was right, again. But I needed a tiedown strap going from my face mask to the crossbar to keep me as forward on the motorcycle as he wanted me to be. , Again. I'm \;llaming this on my childhood. If I'd ridden my Yamaha Mini Enduro this far forward, I'd have never seen junior high. I know that landing on the front wheel these days is no big deal. In fact, there are many times when you want to land on the front wheel. When I was young, if you landed on the front wheel one thing usually happened. You lost your front teeth. That was back when long travel was the drive between home in San Diego and Disneyland in Los Angeles. By now it was getting close to lunch time. I figured that the jumping lesson was Bailey's last hurrah for the day. Twas going to be off the hook. I could "just go riding." My red face could return to its normal color, I could begin to relax and try to have some fun. "Let's go over to those whoops over there:' Bailey insisted. Oh, no. Not the whoops. Please, God, not the whoops. I was a dead man. The whoops Bailey had in mind were those sicko kind of whoops. Sharp peaks separated by deep canyon. I needed a trials bike. These were the kind of whoops that define the word: As in, "Whoops, I shouldn't have gone through there." We rode through the whoops once, We rode through the whoops twice, "You guys park over here," Bailey said to everybody but me. "You go ahead and ride through here while we watch," he said to nobody but me. I suddenly hated this man. What exactly had I done ta him? I'd met h.im years ago, but I was a kid. I couldn't have pissed him off that badly. Okay, so there I was, stumbling my way through the whoops. aturally, I was too far back, and my legs weren't straight enough. I was a mess. Again. The misery lasted for three runs through the nightmare known as whoops, but it could have been 20. The more I rode, the worse I got. Again, I can blame it on my youth. I'd learned that the fastest way from one corner to the next was to avoid obstacles like these. When we saw bumps in the track. we tried to find away around them. Putting them in the middle of the track with no way around them was nothing less than masochistic. My horror ended when someone else's began. One of the fast guys in our group crashed while flying through those very same whoops, separating his shoulder and bringing an end to the session. A ick part of me found some satisfaction in all of this. Despite the fact that I was too far back on the motorcycle, my legs weren't straight enough, and I probably wasn't using the clutch correctly, both of my arms could still be raised above my head when I got back to the truck. And if I had wanted to, I could still drive the truck. As disgruntled as I was at this point, I did go back out and do a few more laps before heading home. I concentrated as much as I could on what Bailey had taught me. My finger was on the clutch, my leg were semistraight and I was as close to the handlebars as I'll ever get off a jump. "Dude, at the end of the day you looked pretty good out there:' Donn said. Liar. ddle Lawson Replica _LO_O_KIN_GB_AC_KI_"I eI tank. Brand new In box. 525010bo. Contact MO 10) 427-2n9. CA. (244) cati, Motto Guzzi 165, AIlz.650ss, F1Ss In crates. Guzzi Lane 650, 9005. In Slock, ship anywhere. Call (800) BIKES. Will take classic or antique bikes on ada. OH. (244) arting Out ZX9 motor, mise body, forks, wheels. '90 ZX7 arne, clean title, motor, rr. rim, misc. parts. '94 F900 frame, clean tilte, motor 136 miles, bodywork omplete, wheels, forks. '93 F2 salv. title frame, tor, wheels, mlsc. bodywork. (219) 482-7620. IN. (244) hris TaylorsID. Sadowskis -USA champ bike. Honda 900RR 1000cc kit. MVR ipe, Ohlins Ironl forks, TI rods, Brembo brakes, archesini wheels, carbon fiber body work, custom ir box, and intake 185 hp. (dyno tested), Fox rear k. $3O.ooo/obo. Ask for Bruce (406) 752-1699. A. (144-50) OADRACE LEATHERS, brand new, blue/white, '6" 1501160 Ibs, 34-42, 2 piece zipper waist, also lue boots. $25O/obo. (334) 264-7470. (344) 25 YEARS AGO.., NOVEMBER 17, 1970 15 YEARS AGO.., ORRA presented the Mexican 1000 off-road race and Mike Patrick and Phil Bowers took their bigbore Yamaha to the motorcycle win. Whitey Martino and Malcolm Smith recovered from their Husqvarna's broken chain to complete the journey from Ensenada to La Paz in second place, eight minutes behind the leaders... The Dirt Diggers' annual two-day motocross extravaganza at Hopetown, California, saw a special exhibition-class race for a $2500 purse, with Preston Petty taking home the winner's share, edging out Russ Darnell, Billy Clements and Bryar Holcomb... espite the loss of a rear disc in the final at the second annual running of The Superbikers race at Carlsbad (California) Raceway, Team Honda motocrosser Steve Wise, shown on the cover, led 500cc Motocross World Champion Andre Malherbe across the finish line. Kawasaki-moUnted road racer Eddie Lawson was third, while defending Superbikers Champion Kent Howerton finished fourth on an engineseizure-plagued Suzuki... Scott Head did some trick riding and was treated to the Expert-class win at the fifth annual VOTE Trick or Treat Trial in Littlerock, California. N NOVEMBER 12, 1980 D 5YEARS AGO.., NOVEMBER 7, 1990 awasaki's Jeff Matiasevich raced his way across the cover and to victory in the 500cc Expert Class at the Kawasaki Race of Champions at New Jersey's Raceway Park. John Dowd was the runner-up in the class, as well as the winner in the 2.5Occ Expert competition. Ron Tichenor, second in that class, was the top. 125cc Expert... Factory Suzuki rider Randy Hawkins wrapped up his third consecutive National Enduro Championship with a third-overall finish at the final round of the series in Redding. California. Marty Walden, from nearby Woodland, took top honors on the day, edging out fellow I'S orthern Californian Dan Nielsen. K 9 I l!') 0'\ 0'\ ,...-l 00' 1-< (1) "S (I) > o z 51

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