Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Carnegie Cycle Park thing wide open to make up time. I hit the corner at full power, stood it on end and railed the whole corner with the front wheel in the air. , think' rode a wheelie for nearly 300 feet and around the comer." Loomis was probably wishing he hadn't done quite such a good job on Beer's motor. Loomis nailed second in Exhibition and fourth in the Altered class (for bikes with production rear tires and no paddles). Whitlock, Mike Reesor and Kenny Kimball were also fast and consistent in both Open classes. Beer carried his strategy and momentum into the 700cc Unlimited class. On his KTM 550, he was the only one in the 12-second range. "Loomis went through the bike and ported it and added a Lectron Powerjet carburetor," he revelaed. "' was able to pull huge 15/46 gearing that allowed me to make time at the top, but the engine has so much torque that I could still get through the rough at the bottom without shifting." STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREL KRAMER TRACY, CA, APR. 7-8 he North American Hillclimber's Association's season begins and ends at The Skip's at Carnegie-promoted events at Carnegie Cycle Park. Just last October, the perennial Dusty Beer/Travis Whitlock rivalry left Carnegie with Whitlock once again earning the number-one plate. Montana's Dusty Beer had a rough season, with a blown engine and a blown knee costing him, and he surrendered the number-one plate he'd held for two straight years. But that was then. Over the winter break, Beer built six new KX500-based chassis to house Kawasaki KZI000 engines in his home shop. One of those chassis was destined to be his personal mount as well as a home to the 200horsepower engine he first ran in 2001. "I streamlined the new bike," Beer explained. "I changed all the little things that I wanted to do on the other bike, and laid some KX250 body parts on it so it looks nicer and feels smaller. The 1425cc engine broke last year, but it wasn't put together right. Pete Loomis put it together right. It has so much more power than myoid motor. It's just ballistic, but the new chassis feels good." Beer used the bike to good effect, winning Saturday's Pro Altered Open class and Sunday morning's Open Exhibition class. The hill was carpeted with green weeds; the lower half of the hill aimed across the face to the right off-camber and crossing old hillclimb ruts and dips. Midhill, the driven by an external toothed belt very trick, and very fast, with more than 100 horsepower. It turned in very quick rides for both brothers. What was more unusual (though slowly becoming less so) was the number of very serious and talented Eastern hillclimb competitors. They have their own series, with speed hills with megajumps, and they are not accustomed to the rougher Western hills, with turns and natural terrain. Western hills are generally longer as well. Former champ David Watson and current AMA 540cc champ Jeff Thomas were joined by Kurt Koester, Harold Waddel and Todd Cipala, to name a few. The two former champs have already brought new ideas that have the Western regulars thinking hard. Both run 21-inch rear paddle tires - Model A Ford reproduction tires with the tread machined off and paddles vulcanized on - that seem to hook up very well. Koester (pronounced "Kester") put up with a weekend of being called Armed with a new-version Kawasaki, Dusty Beer topped two classes in Tracy, and backed the perfonnance up with another victory on a KTM. course made a nearly gO-degree left turn. Beer was the first rider out, and he blazed to a time that would prove unbeatable. "I wish the big bike would have cleaned out completely during that run," Beer lamented later. "I could have lowered that time. The engine didn't clean out on the bottom of the hill, and when something like that goes wrong, I don't really get mad, but' get more intense and crank the (Above) David Watson, who was the runner-up In the 250cc Exhibition class, rips up the grassy hill. (Left) Western hillclimbs these days are starting to resemble vertical motocross races. Jeff Thomas shreds a comer on his way up. As usual, there was a challenge from Whitlock and his modified Honda CR500R, but the speed-friendly hill made for some very close competition. Some of that came from Western regulars such as Loomis, on an RM250 with a CR500R Honda engine in it, and the Smith brothers from Utah, on their Rotax 670/Rocket Science special. The former snowmobile engine has been grafted into the Rocket Science frame with Kawasaki KX suspension and body parts. The engine is stripped of its variable belt-drive auto trans and equipped with a billet primary case with a clutch eye I .. "Keester" by the announcer, but he went ahead and kicked some keester in the 600cc Modified class (normal tires, no paddles, but counts toward the NAHA number-one plate). His KX500 looked and sounded monsterfast. It definitely isn't shaping up to be the same old year! CN Carnegie Cycle Park Tracy, Califomia Resuhs:ApriI7-8,2002 EXHIB 0-250: 1. Robie Peterson (Hon); 2. David Watson (Hon); 3. Harold Waddell (Hon); 4. Travis Whitlock (Hon); 5. Kenny Kimbell (KTM); 6. Pete Loomis (Yam): 7. Keith Thom8s (Hon); 8. Jl!Ison Smith (Kaw); 9. Dusty ~r (KTM); 10. Darren Morris (Hon). EXHIB 25 J. 700: I. Dusty Beer (KTM): 2. Trovis Whitlock (Hon); 3. Pete Loomis (Suz); 4. Jon Smith (Rtx): 5. Jeff Thomos (Yom); 6. Mel Kimboll (Hon): 7. Jason Smith (Rtx); 6. Bret Peterson (lab): 9. Kenny Kimball (Hon): 10. Pat Uscum (Hon). EXHIB OPEN: 1. Dusty Beer (Kow); 2. Pete Loomis (Yam); 3. Travis Whitlock (Yam); 4. Kenny Kimball (Yam); 5. Mike Reesor (K!lw); 6. Jason Smith (Rtx); 7. Brandon Whitlock (Yam); 8. Mel Kimball (Hon): 9. Tom Johnson (SU2); 10. Jon Smith (Yam). PRO ALTRD 0·600: 1. Kurt Koester (Kaw): 2. Mel Kimball (Hon); 3. Dusty Beer (KTM): 4. Pete Loomis (Rtx); 5. Mike Reesor (Kaw); 6. Travis Whitlock (Hon); 7. Jason Smith (Kaw); 8. Jon Smith (Kaw); 9. Harold Waddell (Hon); J O. Pete Krunich (Hon). PRO ALTRD OPEN: 1. Dusty Beer (Kaw): 2. Travis Whitlock (Yam); 3. Kenny Kimball (Yam); 4. Pete Loomis (Yam); 5. H8rold Waddell (Suz); 6. Todd Cipala (H·D): 7. Mike Reesor (Kaw); 8. Pat Liscum (Su,): 9. Robie Peterson (H-D): 10. Jon Smith (Yom). n .. _ S • MAY 1. 2002 59