Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Very . qu A has soammuch aahhelasptotoRicheh tablite frankly brings lot th e. He e insig t w at he does (on the tra ck), and he can communicat e those well. Like I sa id, th e challenge for us to ad apt and do the b e s t that w e can for h im . H e h a s already d one a lot for himself, and if worse comes to w orst we can always say, "H ere's th e shit, go do it you rself," an d I know that he can su rvive in th a t environmen t. The be st thing fo r u s to d o will be to build him a bike th at is si m ila r to w ha t he has had , and then build him another bik e tha t is like a "wha t if" w here w e try some d ifferent thin gs tha t maybe he isn' t us ed to. SILL WIERNIER So let's talk about your new life with Rich King. Yo u've been with Scott Par er for 15 years, so this has got to fee l kind of weird when' you think about it no w. it' s different, no qu esti on about it. It' s a real unusual feeling . But, yo u kn ow, I guess it would have been a lot d iffer ent if he (Parker) had got ten shit-eanned and yo u got anot her guy. In th is case, he just cho se to retire. It' s not like, 'W ell, yo u 've go t to w ork with this guy because we're going to get rid of that guy: Tha t's an entirely differen t feeling . You obviously have feelings of loyal ty tow ard th e rider. Then again, in m os t cases, mecha nics a re g lad to see a rid er go. Th at wasn't th e case her e. Like I've said befo re, I'm ha ppy for him beca use he go t out in one piece and he's got some money in the bank. The whole experience was h o p e fu ll y a positive one fo r him because it was for me. I'm just really happy for him. And it's not like he's go ing to go to tally away . He's go ing to race maybe a couple of tim es next year, an d we ' ll have a bike for him . g T h i r t e en ch a m p i o n s h i p s for you, and 129 wins . Does th is fee li ke this is "s tarti n g over" fo r yo u? N ot reall y, becau se I kn ow a lot m ore than I did 129 wins ago. It's n ot like I' m sta r ti ng from g ro u nd zero . Th e challenge is go ing to be to und erstand a no the r p ers on an d ano ther pe rson' s per sonality, and to kn ow when he is havin g a good day A Bef ore th is deal w as signed, you obviousl y had the ch ance to observe Ric h. Wh at were y o u r impressi ons of him fro m that outside perspective? Well, obvious ly he has done so me very impressive things o n the tra ck, and he has a demeanor off the track that is eq uall y pro fessio nal. You wa tch guys over the yea rs, a nd th is yea r I was es pecia lly observan t because it w asn't a m atter of "Wh at if?" It was a m atter of "Whe n?" So you w atch how people co nd uct themse lves a nd y o u w a tch h ow th ey ra ce. H e ha s bee n im pressive in bo th arenas . Q A Yo u' ve already had your first series of meetings with h im with regard to next year's program. What if any differences have you noticed about th eir desired setu ps or approaches? Actu all y , my initial impression is th at th ey ha ve d is s im il a r riding pre fe re n ces , so I g uess it' s just going to become a q u estio n of how soo n I can ad apt to him. Our role is not to bui ld bikes and have the guys adapt to us. Our role is to ad a pt to the riders and try and compliment what th ey're trying to d o. So I've go t so me challe nges in being able to understan d w ha the's trying . to d o and com pliment it and Craig (Lager) for th at m atter too . We're here to try to mak e him d o the best he can . But certa inly meeting wi th him and evalua tin g w ha t hi s prefer en ces are goes a long wa y toward starling that d ialogue. I think that w e have alread y made so me significant ga ins in tha t regard, and I think that we under stand his prefere nces . It's going to be in te resti ng because they d o ha ve d ifferent rid ing styles'and preferen ces. Q A (Top) King (80) batt les with friend - and now teammate - Scott Parker (1) at Knoxville, Iowa, In 1995. In King' s first full s easo n as a pro, he finished second to Parker in the title race. (Right) With King used to preparing his own equipment, both he and Werner have no worries of devel opin g a dialogue. (Below) Werner needs both hands and one foot to count his 13 series titles as a tuner, but the re are two more little piggies on the right foot , waiting to be used. He is confident that he and King can earn another title in 2000. A Yo u ment ion the di alog ue b etw een th e tw o of you . Obviously at's different, because with you and Parker th at dialogue was sometimes reduced to grunts and whistles (Werner laughs), but you still knew where each other was coming from, and you we re u suall y s u cce s s f u l. Rich, on the other hand, has been setting up his own motorcycles for a very long ti me, and he probably has some very ~--.;;;:: :::~~!!!~~~ definite ideas on how they should be set up. Do you see that as being a help or a h indrance in the long ..;;;:::::~~!!~~!!~ run? or a bad d ay and how yo u can help fro m th ere. The nu ts and bolts of it are pretty easy; it' s the pys cho logica l stu ff tha t I th ink that wil l be the lea rn ing curve for Craig and myself. I really don't think that it's going to be a Her cu lean cha llenge . It' s probabl y go ing to be a lot of fun . Rich and Scott get along ...ith eac h o the r, so I think that v they wi ll int eract well w hen Scott d oes come and rid e. A n d th er e is s till a chance that t here w ill be ano ther full-time ri d er join ing the team, correct? A.That is sti ll a clearcut possibility . Q So in terms of the championsh ip next year, ar e you going to treat th is as a learning year with Ric ? Absolu tely not. We are goi ng to go out and try and wi n the cham pions hip . That 's why we do this. That "lea rn ing year" stuff is nice, but Rich w an ts to win the cha mpionship and so do w e here at Harley-Da vidson. There is go ing to be a lot of toug h compe tition - Chri s Carr is go ing to be really tough - but w e're no t going to approach th is as a case of, "Let's go to schoo l and do the best w e can d o." Th e bes t w e ca n d o is wi n, and that's w ha t we're going to do. CIII A 25

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