Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Gross i won races on a Husky, Tim Har t wen t p re tty la st on a Ma ico and john De-Soto, the Flyin' Hawaiian , w ho was never a cham p io n (vb u t every bod y knew he was th e lastest g uy in tow n"), was the first Am erican sele cted to rid e an exo tic works Su z u ki. Newcome r s Do ug Gra nt (on his AjS) and Tom Rapp (on his Bu ltaco) ma tch ed u p e venly a nd were, toget her, q u ic kly catc hing th e key role in the develop ment 01 the inlamou s Scott USA motocross boot, which was made 01 plastic. In 1978, he helped out his old friend Ma rk Blackwell, w ho was se rving as Team Suzuk i manager, by wrenc hi ng lo r a ne w Suzu ki rid er na med Mark Barne tt. Grant rem em bers Barnett as a fu ll-throttle charger. "Nobod y ever told th at guy how to go slow !" Grand sa id 01 Barnett. But Grant wasn ' t going to race. Those days were long past. And then the vintage moto cross movem ent took all, and one day he recei ved a call from Dick Mann himself. There was an AjS owner who remembered Grant and wa nted to kn ow il he would be in teres ted in rid ing the bike at an upcom ing vintage eve nt. It wo ul d be lor fun , ju st li ke the old da ys. G ra n t too k him up on the offer and even tua lly wound up buyin g the bike. He no w has three classic Alber t j o h n S tevens r a cers i n h is garage, along side his origi nal Alls tate mo ped. "1 lo u n d it o n th e s tr eet, an d t h e owner traded it to me for a poster of a girl in a bikini stre tched ove r a Ferrari!" Tod ay, Doug Gran t is a mechanical eng ineer lor a compa ny called Micro fro nt- ru nners. "11 there had been a legi tima te 250cc National Cha m pionship Series that season, I prob ab ly wo uld've won it. But it wasn' t rea lly orga nized yet and besides, il was still abo ut having a good time. I have fond me mories o f si tting in ho tel room s w ith Brad Lackey as jim Weiner t sa ng s o ngs he ha d m ad e up a bo u t mo tocross. No one w as training and the d a y en ded w i th e ve ry body r id i n g m ini bik es up and d own the hallways a nd ha vi ng lig h ts w ith th e lire ex ting uishe rs." The 7 1 Trans-AMA Series was a pivotal po int in the history 01 the sport in the United States. joel Robert, Roger DeCoster and series winne r Ake [onsso n made the trip overseas, b r ing i ng their exo tic works bikes with them . It was al so one 01 th e li rs t record ed in cidents o f a manu facturer's chicanery in orde r to wi n a cham pi- "There I was, a 20year-old kid, 9000 miles from home, leg in traction and tim e to move out 01 with lots of time to my paren ts' onship. home a n d think about what ·I "Tim Hart and I were b u ild my having a really good battIe in o w ho . was doing with my s p e nnt m yu seav-I the Support class 01 the Trans s , Se ri e s . [ co u ld've wo n, but in gs d o in g th a t .life." and then it hit me: I Maico bro ught in a rid er from ~ Ge r ma ny and e n te red h im in o u r class. He linished between Hart and [ a co uple o f times , and Tim and Ma ico wound up winning the champio nship. But [ didn't m ake a ny noise, beca u se winning still wa sn't really important to m e." Success in the United States mean t th at Gra n t m ight be read y to join th e rea l w o rld o f mo to cros s , wh ic h o f course w a s located in Eu rope. In th e su m me r 011 972 , AjS w anted h im to co me to Eng la nd lo r track-t esting 01 a new prot otype SODec modeL . "I had m y tick et in my pocket , but wa s first sched uled to ride a Na tiona l in Ari zo na. I wa s on my way to wi nning it, wa s even beating john DeSoto a nd hi s Suz uki until a tank-slapper pitched me all and I broke my leg. I hobbled ar ound in a cas t for six weeks , and then, like any good racer, cut it a ll prematurely. I wore a thin pla stic cas t, whi ch essentially made my ank le rig id ." Still healing and re ally not ready to rid e at speed, Grant w ent to England a n d began testing the ne w AjS 500 Stormer: "1 wa s ridi ng by my self and crashed pretty ha rd . I went over the bars and my foot , which didn't flex because 01 th e p lastic cas t, hooked th e sh ift er and 1 broke m y lem ur. I lay there lo r three ho urs and bl ed internally, losing lo u r pints 01 blood . I w as in trac tio n in an Englis h hospital lor a month belore they finally operated and put a pin in my leg. "There I was, a 20-year -old kid, 9000 miles from home, leg in tracti on and . with lots of tim e to think about what I , wa s doing with my life. I didn't kn ow it ., a t th e moment, but I had really begun ; the process 01quitting." r At least, th at's wha t he tho ught he was doi ng. " I told AjS I was d one, that I jus t did n' t wa nt to race anymore. I came back from England and ligured it wa s 1 had no job. I need ed to do som ethi ng, and [ rea lized there was one thing I. w as good at." He placed a call to some contacts in the ind ustry and lou nd that his reputation wa s still intact; Grant would join his lriend Tom Rapp rid ing Bultacos lor the 1973 season. In the six months he was awa y from the spo rt. motocros s had und ergon e a me tamorphosis . America n Honda, the w o rld 's largest mot o rcycl e co mpany, w as now heavil y in v ol ved . Yama ha hired Pierre Karsmakers, a Dutch rider who could rid e at Gran d Prix speed, to race in America. Winnin g wa sn't co ming eas ily lor anyone rid er . Grant saw quickly that the stakes were high er and the atmosphere was heavier. "The lun was s ta r ting to go away . Aga in, I just w anted to ride, and now g uys wanted to make a living. It was go ing to become a job." Still, it wa s a good season lor the new combo. "The Bultaco was more so p his ticated and more relined, altho ugh it may not ha ve lit my style as well as the AjS. But I won some races, including Mammoth Mou ntain, which is where I had my $500 payd ay." The summer sea son ended and the fall meant it wa s tim e fo r the Trans AMA Series . Roger De C ost er , Ado[ 1 Weil, Hakan Andersson and other Eur opean supe rs tars were on thei r w ay to race, mostly aga inst each other, but perhaps joined by an American or two wh o might be able to stay with them. Doug Grant, rid ing a Bultaco wrenched by his Irie nd But ch johnson, was in th e Suppo rt class, still working his way back up to intern atio nal-l evel co mpetition. He remembe rs Butch as "an enthus iastic guy, a friend , a compani on , some body to share the driving from race to race . He lo ve d ra ci ng, a nd lo r th e price 01 din ner , he w o u ld change a pl u g a nd d ean my gogg les." The se ries began in Springville, Ne w York , and then headed to Philadelphia, w he r e h e would s h o w th e bi g-city crowd of 15,000 wh at a mot ocross racer is all ab out. "At th e end 01 the race , I pulled 011 and the cro wd was standing and cheerin g . I rod e in to th e pits, hit th e kill button and we head ed "My o u t lo r Ca n a d a . Alter th a t, everyt hing is pretty m u ch a b lan k page. "My mind was prett y mu ch blown away by everything that had happened . It was too much to think abo u t lor a 21-year-Old g u y , ju s t too h e a v y . T he do cto r to ld m e , 'When yo u br eak yo ur leg, we ca n fix it, but your noggin - welt tha t' s not so bl ack-andwhi te. I can't guarantee that you won't blac k ou t again, and I can' t guarantee that it wo n' t happen while you're going over a big jum p.:" Gra nt flirted briefly with th e sp or t ov er the next se veral years . He pla yed a Encod er. '1 race five or six times a year and also teach a few vintage motocross schools, which is a lot 01 fun . Als o, it helps pick up the tab lor my new hobby, whi ch I clearly can' t alford while try ing to raise three children . "I miss those early days of ra ci n g . Th e lond es t memories of my life are there. But wh en I rid e now, I have no problem .seeing where I a m a nd w hat I am doin g. At a Vintage Iron N ational , I was stuck in third pla ce behind a guy I jus t could n't get around. He went w ide, I saw a hole and I sta rted to st ick it in ther e, and I knew, I just knew I wou ld have it, but there was no wa y h e was g on na s to p in time; he wa s go nna go a ll the track. I don't get paid and I do n't need ano ther plaque. Twenty-live years ago, I would've don e i t, bu t at that m om en t, I e vo lve d . I locked up and let him hav e it. "At that point in time, [ reme mbered the d illerence between making a living and having fun. And I do have fun!" L'" mind was pretty much blown away by everything that had happened." I:'-.. 0\ 0\ .... N N ... OJ B u o 35

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