Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TEARDOWN By Paul 'Carruthers or one day last week I was a biker. Maybe not your stereotypical biker, but a biker nonetheless. With an upcoming issue of Cycle News scheduled to feature Cruisers, we have been inundated of late with Fat Boys, Royal Stars, Vulcans, etc., in our test fleet. The bikes - in all their chrome and leather glory - have been ridden to and from work by a host of different staffers, but last week was my turn to try my hand at being really cool. With some prodding from Personal Watercraft 11lustrated associate editor Jeff Hain, I decided to see what all this Cruiser hype was about - firsthand. Sure 1'd spent some time riding Cruisers, but I'd never really taken part in that true Cruiser lore, otherwise known as riding to some hangout in really cool biker attire to eat and drink with other "bik... ers." My first problem was the biker attire. I don't own any. Okay, I've got a leather jacket or two, but they were at home. There are leathers hanging in my office, but I didn't think I'd be accepted as part of the Cruiser fraternity if I showed up wearing full road racing leathers. Ditto for my boots. As for a helmet, my office cabinet is full of them, but none are of the really cool, black half-headed-witha-spike-on-top-to-hold-dinner-receiptsor-phone-messages variety. I was left wondering how my Norifurni Abe replica Shoei was going to go over with the Harley crowd. As for my attire... well, I was sort of stuck with what I had on. A pair of faded jeans, a collared shirt and a pair of Airwalks. I would be about as incon- F spicuous as Pee Wee Herman in a Gold's Gym. Throw in the fact that I would be riding a Royal Star and not a Harley, and I was a little worried. Luckily, I wasn't exactly headed to the Boot Hill Saloon. Instead we were off to Cook's Comer, an Orange County, California, version of "Bikerville" (every Wednesday, spaghetti is served at Cook's and the $1 all-you-can-eat price tag virtually guarantees that every doctor and dentist with a Cruiser will make the trip). After a last-minute helmet change - I went with the Luca Cadalora replica Arai, thinking that it at least went with the fare being served - we were off. Jeff was riding the Vulcan, I was aboard our tricked-out Royal Star. (Tricked-out, in this case, meant more leather and chrome than normal. Our aftermarket exhaust system hadn't been installed yet, but this was a good thing because I was sure I wasn't ready to be that cool, yet.) Jeff rationalized that by taking the Pacific Coast Highway through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach his best chance of "pulling chicks" would be realized, so that was the route we took to Cook's. Jeff had also somehow got his hands on a really cool black, half-helmet (unfortunately, spikeless) from someone in the office, though I noticed it was in his saddlebag and not on his head. As it turns out, he would stop about fOUI miles from Cook's Comer, put his full-face helmet in the saddlebag and replace it with the cooler version and, naturally, wraparound sunglasses. I was stuck with Luca and no sunglasses. On the cool scale, upon arrival at least, Jeff was much cooler than I. We were traveling along PCH rather unnoticed until we reached Huntington Beach. At that point, I heard the guy in the car next to me at the stoplight yelling, "Sixteen-five, sixteen-five." I was absolutely clueless as to what he was yelling about, so I ignored him. "Sixteen-five, sixteen-five," he continued. Finally, I decided to look over at him. "You paid sixteen-five for that thing," he declared, frowning at the Royal Star. I wanted to scream back at him: "Two-five, two-five," in reference to the approximate worth of his three-year-old Hyundai, but I decided not to stoop to his level and I carried on when the light turned green. I had just been ridiculed by a guy in a Hyundai and it took me three lights to fully recover my level of cool. Until we reached Newport Beach, we were the coolest two guys on PCH. Then we stopped and put our sweatshirts on. Still we were cool. Way cool, actually. Throughout oUr 35-or-so-miJe ride, nearly every driver who pulled up next to us stared at our bikes - or quite possibly my Airwalks - giving us the thumbs up while smiling those smiles of envy. We were out cooled, however, upon arrival in Laguna Beach. That's when a guy on a completely restored BMW R69 pulled up next to us at a stop light. The bike was cool. The guy was cool. And his attire was cool in an unpretentious way. But even he took a liking to the Royal Star. OUI conversation was brief (two stoplights) and since he wouldn't trade his black half-helmet for my Luca, we carried on toward our different destinations. After stopping for Jeff's helmet change, we finally arrived at Cook's Comer - too late for spaghetti, but not too late to see what the attraction was in . the hills behind Lake Forest and Rancho Santa Margarita. Even though I figured that $1 spaghetti would attract a few people, I was still surprised at just how many motorcycles and motorcyclists had assembled there. Since I live only five or so miles down the road from Cook's, I've seen the seemingly endless parade of motorcycles that head up and down EI Toro Road on the weekends. But I'd only ever driven or ridden by the place, never stopping to see what it was all about. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought. We pulled in safely, no one glared at Luca, no one made fun. of me for being on a Yamaha. No girls ran to Jeff wanting to hold his really cool helmet. Except for my shoes and my lack of either a degree in medicine or law, I fit in pretty well at Cook's Corner and we had a good time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Airwalks become the rage with bikers everywhere. Hey, they come in black. Jeff says we're going back to Cook's this week. I'm even thinking about taking the Harley. This time, Luca stays home. a LOOKING· SACK.. ~ 25 YEARS AGO... JULY 13, 1971 G e n e Romero raced to his first national win of the season at the fifth annual San Jose Half Mile, giv- r . _ ing Tri-" •. umph its first win ":-' _of the sea- l:f,~._ j son a £ter =--~. taking I .. • first~ _-= through ~.. third in the time trials. Eddie Mulder, also on a Triumph, finished second and Jim Rice rounded out the top three... Husky-mounted J.N. Roberts took both 500cc Expert wins, just ahead of Rich Thorwaldson on his Suzuki, at the Dual European Scrambles in California City, California. Larry Pfutzenreuter won the 250cc Expert class on a Bultaco... Cycle News continued its ongoing story on the ins and outs of enduros and the ongoing maintenance of your end'uro mount. 15 YEARS AGO... JULY 8, 1981 ickey Fay won the Santa Fe TT National and became the 12th different winner out of 13 Nationals... Hank Scott joked about being paid twice after winning the inaugural Smokey Mountain Half Mile after lead- M ing most of r;:j17'ilT~~~"","",,,_ the' race, II only to have it restarted after a pileup ... Suzuki's Mark Barnett and Honda's Ch u ck Sun disciplined the 125 c c and 500cc classes, respectively, wi th overall ~7;r~:'II~,.. wins in the ational MX series at the BroomeTioga Sports Center. Both had won the event the previous year... Cycle News ran an interview with Kenney Roberts, who was trying to win his fourth consecutive 500cc World Championship. He was not successful. Mile...Vance and Hines Yamaha's Jamie James survived the war of attrition at the Road America National, as early race leaders Scott Russell and Miguel DuHamel had mechanical problems. Thomas Stevens finished second and Rich Arnaiz finished in third... Cycle News did an interview on newly crowned AMA Supercross Champion Jean-Michel Bayle entitled: "This Frenchman is no joke" ... Mike Healy scored his first-ever 250cc World GP victory in Baldasserona, San Marino, with a . fN 1-2 mota score. 4 .._. 5YEARS AGO... JULY 2, 1991 hris Carr beat Harley-Davidson teammate Scott Parker and George Roeder at the Lima Half C Bruce Ogilvie on his Harley-Davidson race bike during a 0-37 desert race In California In 1971. Photo from the Cycle News Archives. 63

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