Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TIME REMEMBERED 1972 AMA Grand National Champion Mark Brelsford By Scott Rousseau Photos by Dan Mah ony e burst o n to th e scene at the heigh t of the AMA Grand Nationa l Champions hip Series, starred in the mos t famous motorcycle movie of all time, erupted into a huge fireball and the n disappeared. At least that's what di rt track's bench racer s of yore wo u ld have you believe about Mark Brelsford. Like most racing legends, however, some of what you hea r is tru e and some false . And, in Brelsford's case, a lot was missing for 22 vea rs, as he seemed to seclude himself in the Alaskan wi lde rness before finally reapp earin g for the 1996 BMW Battle of the Legends Series. These days, you can almost expect to see the 49-yea r-old exCalifornian, ex-ho tshoe ta k in g h is deserved p lace w he rever moto rcycle racing's lege nds of the '50s, '60s an d 70s are gathered. It was actually in the late '60s tha t Brelsford, a talent ed ama teur scra mbles and flat-track race r, gained the atte ntion of Harle y-D a v id s on d ea ler Dudle y Perkins Sr. Wh en the Harley-Da vid son H 34 facto ry racing team wen t shopping for riders for the 1969 season, Pe rkins felt that Brelsford would be a good additio n to the team, and so he lobbied the factory in to guiding Brelsford toward the factory even before he turned Expert. Brelsfo rd actuallv slid into the dea l in a very backward fashion during the 1968 season, aboard one of Mert Lawwill's back u p KRs. "T he fi rs t ti me I'd ever rid de n a Harley was when I wen t to my first mile National," Brelsford reca lls. "It was in Po rtla nd, O regon . I was riding for a local BSA d ealer ou t of San Jose, California, an d he had an old Gold Star tha t his brother used to race. Prior to the Portland race, I'd wo n four or five Ascot half miles in a rowan it. We got there, and I wen t out for pr actic e. I felt fast, bu t I was two secon ds off the pace. Then my mechanic, Sonny Kenyon , told me that the Gold Star was tearing up the cra nkshaft, so I jumped on that Ha rley. I rea lly di dn't wa nt to rid e it, because it was a no the r 25 p ounds h ea vie r th a n the BSA, and I was all of abo u t 122 pounds, so I d idn 't care to thro w th at ex tra weight around . I went over to Mert and This classic shot from the 1970 Sac ramento Mile showcase' the brilliance that Mark Brelsford brought to motorcycle racing during an all-too-brief career that included an AMA Grand National Championsh ip. asked him how to ride it. You have to remember that back in those days, we had no bra kes, so I asked him, 'How do vou slow it down?' He told me that it ~ould feel like it was going nowhere because of the low rp m that it was turning, but tha t I'd be reall y cooking because the bike was as good as any Expert rig . He jus t said, 'When in doubt, give it a lot of thro ttle : "So I took the Ha rley out, and it felt like I was d rivi ng a tractor because it did n't tum any rp m," Brelsford says. "I took it easy d own the back chute an d then I pegged it coming down the fro nt chute. I we n t by the flag ma n so quick that it scared me, and I thou gh t, 'Man, I' m in over m y head bi g-t im e!' I was hauling ass! I rode it into the tum wit h the throttl e off, and it tucked the front end, a nd I remembered Mert' s word s a nd jus t p inned it wid e open. And i straightened up and just wen t sideway and skid ded into the corner in a perfect ly contro lled slide. It was so easy, p ro vided that you used the throt tle. Afte making two more laps, I was hooked ." Brelsfo rd comp leted the 1968 seaso aboa rd Lawwill's eq ui pmen t, winni n four of the five races tha t he en tered with it and coming aw"y wit h Amateu of th e Year honors af ter a battle w ith a nother up-an d-co mi ng Nor Ca l hotshoe, Jim Rice. Yet, as he recalls, there neve r really was any talk of him joining the tea m. "When I was riding in my amateu r yea r in 1968, I rea lly had no idea tha t I would be offered a facto ry rid e," Brelsfo rd recall s . " Bu t Dick O' Bri en approached me after the last race of the season in '68 at Ascot Park and asked me if I would be in teres ted in join ing th e Harley-Da vidson race team . I said, 'I'd love to, but I d on' t know how to work on the Harl ey: beca use I knew that all the factory guys either had to wo rk on their own dirt tracke rs or hire a mecha nic. But Dick told me not to worry about that. He said, 'Dud ley Perkins, Mert an d myself have go tten toge the r, and we'll send all of the equipment to Dud ley's Ha rley shop, and Mert will build it for you . You'll travel with Mert to all the dirt tracks, so you 're going to have to become good friends, because he's going to be your mechanic.' They gave me the bikes and they gave me a salary of, I think it was 52500... for the whole season." Brelsford traveled wi th Lawwill, who became his mechanic as well as his com petitor, and also gave Lawwill between 30 and 50 percent of the take. "See, I rea ll v wasn't in te res te d in (working on) the Harleys." Brelsford says. "I liked Triu mphs, and I'd owned Triumphs and Hondas. But the Harl ey' was wa v over mv h ea d . There we re eig h t or' u s o n th e team that yea r, a ll wit h the same-colored motorcycles and lea th ers - a t lea st on the ro ad racers:' Brelsford sa ys. "The facto ry built a nd maintained the road racer s themselves in the factory race shop. All we had to do was get our fannies to the track wi th ou r leathers and helmet s. Th e Harley d eal w a s th at th e y g ave u s th e dirt trackers and we cou ld build them ourselves or hir e a mechan ic - it was up to us. But the roa d racers were buil t and mai ntained by them , and we go t to keep anything and every thi ng that we wo n on them." In light of the fact that Brelsford was such a presence on the Harley-David son fac to ry tea m duri ng his short tenure there, it may surprise you to learn how close he came to tu rning dow n th e whole deal altogether when he was first app roached by O 'B rien . Joini ng th e tea m mi ght seem like a dream shot for anvone, but Brelsford had two reservations. First, he was in the envious position of havi ng to choose a caree r path for his talent, and a ride with the factory Bultaco motocross team was a verv real possi bility. . "My love was motocross - actua lly, we called it rough scrambles - and then in 1965 Dick Mann went to Euro pe and came back and go t with a fella, and they sta rte d pu tting on motocrosses," Brelsford recollects. "I could really ride well, and I wo uld always d o ou tsta ndi ng on the mo tocross circuit in No rthern Californ ia, w hich was the only place that I ever rode. And Bul taco approached me and as ked me to ride their extra factory bike at the local Tra ns-AMA race. Tha t' s w he n DeCoster , Robert, Bengt Abe rg and the who le European ga ng came up to Santa Cruz, California.

• Cover