Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127760
Bill Werner was '. - and is - one of the best. ., ] kind of just fell into the . . deal with him, you know - 1 never .: knew him and he never knew me. But . we worked together real well. He keeps a . lot of notes. He keeps track of stuff, and it .' all means a lot. I wish that [ would have kept notes like that. He knows the chassis and how to set the motorcycle up for the rider. He watches everything. He's a slick, sly fox. And he never put any pressure on me at all. [ rode a lot - he made me practice and test a lot of stuff. I think it helped him, too. He's one of the best, he's a master at what he does, and when I was with him, I was the master at what I did. It takes a combination of mechanic/rider relations to make things work. That's what it takes (io win the championship). l look back now and I can remember how great it was. . '. The life of n priva teer. After I left the factory, I thought about quilling. I thought, . "Hey, this (racing) is what's causing it . (the illness). I'm all stressed out." Scotty . (parker) kind of took over there when I went ....,..----:-.........-="'-.-,..--,.--"'--''--1 out. But I rode for a few other people, and th.en I ended up finding a better deal with Bartels. . Well, not a better deal, but just as good. I don't have a salary, but me and BiU get along great. He's really cool. I have Jim Kelly building my motors . . He's 70 years old, and he's a super guy. He does a good job. It meant a lot for me to win for them this year. It puinped me up. It felt great. The biggest difference is that when I was with the factory, I didn't have anything to do with the motorcycles. They did everything - right down to mounting the tires. But now, I work on everything from mounting tires to cleaning the bikes to putting pistons in backwards (laughs). It really keeps me involved, and I know a lot more about what's going on with the bikes. 1 look at so,,,,, of tl,e kids, and 1 see myself I'd say Mike Hacker is one of those kids like that. He's a young kid coming up who's kind of a natural and has no big pressure, really. He seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders, so l think he's going to do real good. This new kid from Washington, Joe Kopp, is real smooth, and doesn't look all "banzai." There's potential there if they've got the right people behind them like I did when l was at the factory, where things just ~:-~~.,.---=',.--:--...,..------,-,.----,,.--\ togethe r fa r fell me. Being sick sucks. I just twist under stress, r guess. That's what they found out was happening.] just get light-headed and nauseous. I start vomiting. and] . just can't stop. My vision gets screwed up too, and that's why sometimes when I would feel bad I wouldn't ride. I wasn't so sick that I couldn't ride, but I thought that if I rode then] might . endanger someone else because my vision was so blurry. Sometimes .- it lasts a day, sometimes it's only like five or six hours, and then I'm .., all right again. Now, most of the stress problems are gone, but I stiU . get nerved up sometimes, and it slill happens every now and then but not like before. [ guess I'm more at ease ~nd more relaxed now. I just go as fast as] can and try to be safe as I can. I don't take as many chances . as I used to. I've had my crashes, but I've been pretty lucky. . Before, I guess I was young and dumb. I didn't care, it was like I had no fear. Now I think about what's . happenin' out there. But I stin enjoy riding. I . think it's a riot. 47