We ride Mike Kiedrowski's Yoshimura Suzuki DR-Z430
and Destry Abbott's Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250
W
hat better venue for testing works bikes than in a WORCS race? That's what Cycle News editors
Kit Palmer and Chris Jonnum decided before heading to the recent penultimate round of the Parts
Unlimited World Off-Road Championship Series in Roseburg, Oregon, where they had arranged to tryout the
bikes of the top two points-sitters - Mike Kiedrowski and Destry Abbott - in Saturday's Vet Amateur contest.
By CHRIS JONNUM
any off-roaders are specialists,
but like Shane Watts (and Ty
Davis), Abbott is somewhat of a
renaissance man, striving to master
varying segments of his chosen
realm. This year, he repeated as
National Hare & Hound Champion,
and he had a great chance at also
winning this year's Parts Unlimited
WORCS title until he separated his
shoulder while practicing three days
before this round. Since I really
respect versatility, I was bummed to
see Abbott's shot ·at the crown go up
in smoke . at least I was until I discovered it meant I'd get to campaign
his actual race bike (and not just his
practice bike).
Like Abbott, his Pro Circuit KX250
does a lot of stuff well - starts, for
example. After tooling around the
course for two laps during the
Unclassified race, I lined up for my
start, putting the running bike in gear
and standing on the right side with
the clutch in (as rules stipulate). Not
a big fan of mass starts, I told Kit seconds before the flag fell, "I think I'm
going to take it easy on the start" and J meant itl However, when I
jumped on and dropped the clutch, I
found myself near the front of the
pack, so I figured, "What the heck;
let's see what I can do with this."
Thankful for a bit of throttle, the
Kawi surged ahead and carried my
surprised self into what I'm pretty
sure is the first legitimate holeshot of
my life. The thing's got motor, but the
power built smoothly and the front
end never lifted (the forward-biased
triple clamp didn't hurt either, as it let
me stay up on the tank). Unfamiliar
with such a scenario, I was quickly
passed by a Yamaha rider and Kit,
and when Mr. Yamaha overshot a
turn as we exited the moto track, that
M
continued on polO
18
NOVEMBER 14, 2001
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