Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HEADSHAKE BY CAMERON COATNEY n 1993, my clapped-out, fully scrapped '85 Toyota 4x4 with 170,000 miles was at the end of its reliable life. Perhaps I shouldn't have pre-run so many SCORE races with it or scrapped it through the wash on the way to Glen Helen Speedway so many times. It rattled like an old Maico and the transmission made more whirring sounds than a modern RM 250's internal water pump. I had already been taken by some low-life sleaze-bag on a bogus tranny rebuild and I just couldn't stand to drive it any longer. Luckily, I stumbled upon a guy who was willing to trade me, straight across, an '88 Ford Econoline E-150 van with 93,000 miles on it for my truck. I was in heaven and he thought he was, too, until I saw him chasing me down the street as I drove away when my truck wouldn't start after the deal was done. So sorry, but I'm sure he got the last laugh when he thought about what I was going to have to pay to register the van. Anyway, it was just the vehicle I was looking for because everybody knows vans are the ultimate for dirt biking. Vans are great for dirt bike riding because you can carry two to three bikes in a heartbeat, and four or five bikes are not out of the question if you take pegs off and use a hitch hauler like a Moto Jack Rack. When the weather turns ugly, vans make an even better place to get dressed and stay dry - if your buddies haven't infiltrated it first while you were unloading. You can sleep in them (among. other things), have lunch in them and you can even work on your bike in them if it's windy and dusty out in the real world. Your bikes and gear are in less danger of being stolen locked inside and your chest protector or gas can will never fly out traveling down a highway at 70 mph (I'll tell you about that another time). The real beauty of my van is how un-carefully you can treat it because of how marginal it looks. It doesn't look like a total beater, but it can be confused with one when it's really dirty (which is actually most of the time. In fact, right I now I don't think the thing has been washed since we bombed it up to the Mammoth MX in June). My van is an ever-fading shade of navy blue that (Ubs off on your hands if you touch it. umerous cartoons and nice words that people have traced into the dirty paint like "Coatney sucks," "Does your right wrist work?" and "BuzzKill" have become permanent fixtures in the paint. Thanks, guys. A fairly large dent scars the passenger-side door and warns other drivers to beware. In this condition, you can drive the van through the skinniest of trails getting to your favorite riding spot without giving a damn as branches and bushes have you cringing as they scrape down the side leaving seismographic-like scratches. You can also lean bikes against it without a thought, which becomes especially handy when you need to visit the nearest bush after a long ride and an empty Camelbak. People often assume that driving a van around is somewhat difficult due to its size, but this is actually quite the opposite. Sure they're big, but because of this fact people rarely pull out in front of you, and when they do, you get a good laugh from seeing their scared, bulging eyes in their rear-view mirror. People usually make room for you when you need to get into a line of traffic unless their vehicle is more of a beater or the driver is a few spokes short of a laced wheel. You can also tailgate with the best of 'em since you can see everything up there in the cab (including those convertibles and short skirts). I will admit that checking your blind spot and changing lanes to the right are somewhat of a challenge, but I've learned, dare I say it, a good way to deal with this problem. You simply click the right turn signal on, start to ease over in to the lane and wait for a honk or a thud. It's not rocket science, but it's worked so far. When I got th,e van it was in pretty sound mechanical condition, or so I pre- tend, but now some 60,OOO'miles, a et of tires, and several oil changes later rve got some gremlins to deal with (or not to deal with, which has been my policy thus far). At about the 100,000-mile mark the van developed a cracked exhaust manifold and a dead miss and thus became a V-7 (probably valve troubles). I did replace the exhaust manifold, which was one of the worst things I've ever done in my life, but I think the task soured me on ever working on the motor again. Shortly thereafter, the drive train started shaking violently at lower rpm, so you've got to rev it like a four-banger when it drops to the lower revs to stop the shaking (probably a bad torque-converter or tranny). At about 130,000 miles I noticed puddles of radiator fluid beneath it after long hauls and traced it to the water pump. I knew that I wasn't going to replace it and if you've ever tried to work on any part of the motor on a van you know why. You can't get your hands to fit anywhere unless you're Plastic Man. I somehow got the idea to snug up the bolts on the water pump and actually con toned my arms through the fan; hoses and belts to put a wrench on most of them. The leak stopped but has come back at the 150,OOO-mile mark. I've tried to get my hands in there again, but can't remember how I did it before so I carry around a jug of coolant now. Typical of Ford Twin'I Beam front suspension (which Ford thankfully dumped a few years ago), the van cups front tires horribly if you don't rotate the tires every three to four thousand miles and keep up on the alignment (which I don't). But it still keeps chuggin' away (literally). Throughout the years my trusty old riding partner has picked up a few notable names - BuzzKill (after the popular MTV show's van), Buzzard Kill after someone altered the BuzzKilI scraped into the paint, and the Lovemabile in appreciation of the beautifully muraled and decorated vans of the '70s (Yuck!). Most notable is the 'ASVAN. You may have heard of the NASCAR or NASTRUCK racing series, but the ASVAN acronym came about when a fellow employee at the last motorcycle shop I worked at saw me blazing down the freeway late for work one morning. Okay, most mornings. He came in claiming that I was crazy and he would always be on time so he didn't have to be on the road with me at the same time. He even started waiting for me to leave work before he did. He thought I was crazy. I wasn't crazy - I was late. Now I just call it the aluminum-block V-7 tech, NASVAN special. Somewhere along the ,line my genes got swirled because I'm not at all like my father or brother when it comes to taking care of vehicles and fixing them when there's a problem. While both of them wash their vehicles weekly, love polishing them, and take care of problems right away, I, on the other hand, rarely wash my vehicles, even more rarely do I polish them and only deal with mechanical problems if it's likely to cause me trouble while trying to get out to my favorite riding areas. I guess I don't take the best care of my vehicles, but you can bet that my bikes have the latest and greatest parts, have fresh oil and are always ready to ride. Hey, I know I can get to a call box on the road, but how many have you seen at the bottom of a gnarly, secluded canyon? What it all boils down to is that 1'm at a crossroads - I'm about due for a new or newer van or a new motor and transmission for this one, among other things. Maybe I'll even fix the door if I 'keep the NASVAN. I just haven't had to pay a car payment or fix this thing in so long that I don't know if I could stand it. Maybe it'll just die one day and I'll be forced to make some sort of decision. Until then - look for it at a race near you and don't drive in my blind spot unless you want a blue pinstripe down the side of your vehicle. (N 30 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 2, 1967 Ralp~ Pohl was runner-up on a Triumph with a 12.29 ET and Fred Merkel won the E Street class on a Yamaha with a time of 14.27... Reed Price won the Open class on a Triumph at the Hill Toppers MC Hare and Hound in Lucerne, California. Lon Peterson finished second on a Triumph and Larry Bergquist rounded out the top three on a BSA... Desert riders Bud Ekins, J.N. Roberts, Larry Krizman, Steve McQueen, Frank Wheeler and many other riders and clubs were praised for their search efforts in trying to locate a lost LA County fireman, Stan Woods, who was later found deceased near his snow-covered vehicle. Hound in Lucerne, California, followed by Husky's Larry Roeseler and Marc Cartwright...Bob Balentine rode his KTM to first place in a ORA hare scrambles in Adelanto, California. Bultacomounted Cordis Brooks finished second and Novice Riley Duncan got third on a Suzuki...CN ran its annual Camel Pro Grand National Dirt Track Series Preview... Eddie Lawson won the Half-mile and IT portions of the racing program held at Corona Raceway in California. Don Grigsby finished second to Lawson in both races, bu t won the Short Track event, followed by Wayne Rainey and Scott Pearson. Sue Fish topped the 125cc Intermediates at an AMC-sanctioned Motocross at DeAnza Cycle Park in Southern California. Jimmy Gaddis won the 80cc Expert class over Jeff Emig, Jimmy Button, Chad Pederson, Buddy Antunez and Phil Lawrence...Steve Walker powered his Open-class Honda to the win at District 38's fourth annual Banzai Run at Ancient Dry Lake in California. Mark Vanscourt finished second, Robert Nolin finished third and Tom Moen got fourth overall...CN tested Beta's new TR34 - a bike built around and for World Trials Champion Jordi Tarres. Beta's record in America n trials at the time was 18straight National wins and two years without a loss in the hands of Scott Head (17 wins) and Ryan Young (1 wiN. l~ ax Switzer brought his Greeves to the finish line first in the Silver Cities Hare Scrambles in Nevada. Casey Folks came in second on a CZ and Red VanBuskirk took third place, also on a Greeves. Nick Ritchin won the Trailbike class on a Honda. followed by Ward Olson and Danny Darland on Hodakas... Harley Davidson-mounted Sonny Raslawski won the Top Fuel class at the Irwindale Drags in California with a 10.63 ET. M 64 20 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY,2,1977 e N Editor John Ulrich tested an American Turbo-Pak GS750 dragbike at frwindale Raceway in California and went 131.57 mph...CN also took a look at the Husqvarna 360 Automatic Enduro with the help of threetime National Enduro champ Dick Burleson and came away quite impressed...CN went along on Penton and Hi-Point's test of Lectron Carburetors...KTM's Tom Brooks won the San Berdoo MC old-fashioned Hare and 10 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 4, 1987 am Suzuki's Eric Kehoe won the 250cc Pro class at round four of the CMC Golden State Nationals in Marysville, California, 'followed by teammate George Holland and Tommy Watts. Honda-mounted Rick Ryan won the 125cc Pro class with A.J. Whiting and Tyson VohIand closing out the top three. Bryan Myerscough won the Open class, Rex Staten won the Vet Pro class and TI

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