Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128156
By BLAI(E CONNER .,Ia TALES FROM THE H'6HS'DE c ....., r.keD 30 YEARS AGO••• JUNE 6, 1972 An unidentified rider competing in the Greenhorn Enduro was photographed for the cover of Issue #21. Taking place on Memorial Day weekend, the Greenhorn was known to be one of the toughest enduros of the year - so tough, in fact, that at least one of the competitors completed the two-day event for the first time in 14 tries in 1972... Mert Lawwill (H-D) was hitting the comeback trail at Ascot's Friday nJght races, and he earned his fll'st win of the season there beating Dave Aldana (Nor), who won both of the previous two events ... Kawasaki teammates Brad Lackey and John DeSoto rode Open-class prototypes to a one-two finish at the openJng round of the U.S. Cup Motocross at Carlsbad Raceway in Southem California. Gary Jones (Yam) won the 250cc event handily over Mike Runyard (Mon) and Rich Eierstedt (Mai) ... Russian 19·year-old Vladimir Kavinov (CZ) won the Czech 250cc MX GP. Defending champ Joel Robert (SUl) finished second. 20 YEARS AGO••• JUNE 9, 1982 Honda's new CR480R was hopped across the cover of Issue #21 after growing in displacement from 450cc in 1981. The 480's assets were listed as horsepower, horsepower and more horsepower. .. Rick Johnson (Yam) used perfect 1-1 moto scores to win round six of the AMA 250cc National Motocross Series in Mount Morris, PennsylvanJa. Honda's David Bailey finished second overall with 3-3 scores. The win extended Johnson's points lead to 40 with two rounds left. Darrell Schultz (Han) topped round two of the 500cc Championship with 2-1 scores over the 1-3 scores of teammate Danny Chandler. Kent Howerton (Suz) still led the 500cc points after his fourth overall ... Round seven of the AMA One-Day Qualifier Enduro Series was won by Chip Howell (Yam), with a score of 912. Kevin Hines (Hus) finished second overall with a score of 915... Frenchman Jean-Jacques Bruno (Suz) topped round four of the 500cc World MX Championship in Finland. Brad Lac~ey (Suz) retained the points lead... Rolf Dieffenbach (Hon) topped the Czech 250cc GP, ahead of Danny laPorte (Yam). 10 YEARS AGO.•. JUNE 3, 1992 An unnamed hillclimber goes into orbit on the cover of Issue #21 at the Iron Horsemen Hillclimb in Middlebury, Indiana round one of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series. Charles Casey (Yam) won the 800cc class, while Tim Frazier (BSA) topped the 540cc event... Defending Grand National Champion Scott Parker (H-D) won the Springfield Mile in front of 13,182 fans. Ricky Graham (Hon) tried to draft Parker at the finish but came up just a wheel short... Mike LaRocco (Kaw) swept both 125cc motos at round three of the AMA National Championship MX Series, and Damon Bradshaw did likewise in the 250cc class in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania. LaRocco and Jeff Stanton (Han) led their respective championships after the event... Mike Young (Hus) won the White Brothers Four-Stroke World Championship at Southern California's Perris Raceway in dominating fashion ... Scott Summers (Hon) won the Boyers J 00, round six of the AMA ONCC series, in Pennsylvania. recently had my cast removed following six weeks of postcrash healing. I had broken my thumb pretty badly in a Supermotard race in midApril and had a full-on cast until a week ago. The funny thing is that living with a broken thumb wasn't that bad. I mean, sure, there were times that it really sucked, like wrapping it in a plastic bag every time I took a shower. But to be honest, it was a million times better than having a broken leg, ankle, foot, or anything else below the belt. When you get hurt riding a motorcycle, sympathy seems difficult to come by. I mean, when you get hurt playing football, baseball, soccer or any other mainstream sport, everyone says that it was a "freak accident," but crash a motorcycle and everyone says that you had it coming. That's kind of jacked up, isn't it? I've come up with a list of the pros and cons of wearing a cast and the effects of broken bones, in no particular order. I Pro: I can't begin to tell you how long I got away with not doing the dishes. If you have a broken hand, thumb or wrist, you can try these lines: "I can't get my cast wet." Or: "I'm right-handed, and if I try to put all those dishes away with my left hand, I'm bound to drop a couple." It's smart to quietly insist that every night you eat with the best china you have. Another good one is: "I can't do those pots and pans because I can't scrub worth a damn one-handed," and then add; "You burned dinner in the first place - you scrub them." That always goes over well. Con: This is the number-one "neg_ ative" that I can think of if you've broken your dominant hand: postbathroom clean-up. Let's just say I became ambidextrous real qUick like, the day the cast was put on. Which brings up a funny memory. I remember sitting behind Jeff Emig at the Anaheim Supercross a couple of years back after he had broken both of his arms. He had casts that went above his elbows on both, and after watching his girlfriend hold his cell phone while he talked, I started to wonder: That's not all that poor girl was doing for 'Fro; unless he had recently purchased a bidet, I think she must have been doing some dirty work as well, if you know what I mean. What a drag. I wonder if they're still dating. Pro: I could still go running, which was cool; 1 mean, I had a broken thumb - not a broken leg. No excuse there. Con: Damn, that thing gets to stinking after running four miles a day, four to five days a week! Sometimes I would be sitting down to eat and would wonder what that monthold, old-motocross-socks smell was, and then I would remember: Oh, yeah, that's me and my sweaty, rotten cast. Good diet plan, however. Con: Having to take photos at the Superbike National at Fontana with a giant $10,000 lens, a cast, and a real fear of dropping the thing. Then having to worry about actually getting something in focus. Pro: Realizing that I'm so "money" that I could have shot the Fontana National with two broken thumbs and a freaking blindfold. Con: Driving on the busy 405 freeway to work while talking on the cell phone, drinking Starbucks, and trying to find my Blink 182 CD that just rolled under the seat on the passenger side of my truck, one-armed, is hard. I was the freaking idiot who 1 scream at every morning on the way to work, who swerves into motorcyclists unknowingly and then wonders why the Hell's Angels are waiting for them when they get out of the car at the office. How do people do this every day? Pro: After my fiancee, Karen, rode in my truck with me a couple of times, I didn't have to drive very often. She gladly took the helm. Can you say "designated drinker"? Con: Typin g was really begin ning to suc k because ever y couple of wo rds had space s in them wher e my cast waul d acciden tally hit the spa ce bar whil e I typed. I swea r it took tw ice as Ion g as usual to type or edi t a star y. Pro: Figuring out how to ride a street bike with the cast on only took a few weeks. When I went into the doctor's office for a new cast, my doctor stupidly left his cast guy alone in the room with me. I, of course, had Pro: For six weeks, I wouldn't have to work on editor Carruthers' pet YZ250F, despite the fact that he purchased new tools at Sears for his remodeled garage - he obviously didn't take after the more senior Carruthers, Kel, in the mechanical-competency department. Nor would I have to help change tires for Cycle News ad sales guy and "Professional" motocross rider Dana (a.k.a. the "Tempster," or "Parrot Top"), who must have had the ultimate motocross dad growing up and didn't have to lift a finger. Just kidding, guys... not really. the guy make the cast to my personal specifications - meaning it fit a handlebar grip perfectly and was at the absolute minimum thickness he was willing to go to without compromising my thumb. I should buy that guy a six-pack. I came to the conclusion that the best bike to ride was an Open-class bike like a GSX-R1000 or The final score is six pros and six cons, so I guess living with a broken thumb and a cast for six weeks wasn't that bad after all. After getting off the phone with my friend Rich Oliver recently, and pondering his condition after he sustained a compound fracture to his forearm while Con: Not being able to ride a motorcycle for six weeks. Well, at least for a couple of weeks (street bikes, see below). I'm still not ready to ride motocross, but I rode Dumont Dunes with a brace on two days after getting my cast off, and it was fine, but I need to ride mota soon. an Rl. I could only turn the throttle a little and was using my fingers more that my wrist due to the cast immobilizing my wrist, so I needed torque. Always go big - none of this deathrevving to get the bike moving. 1 got pretty good at it, and even had my fiancee convinced it was safe. That was just good salesmanship on my part. Coming up In Cye/eNews also losing the tips of a couple of toes in 250cc Grand Prix qualifying at Sears Point Raceway, and listening to him describe the complications that crept up, I feel pretty damned lucky about my stupid little thumb. It was nothing. I'd break it again tomorrow in the name of good motorcycle fun. Well, maybe not tomorrow. eN • Silverstone WSBK • Mt. Morris National MX • Springfield AMA Dirt Track • italian MX GP • Utah WORCS cue I • n e _ os • MAY 29, 2002 91