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/128182
By very once in a while, I or one of my colleagues will write a story that, no matter how well-intentioned, will always get up someone's dander, either rightfully so or simply because said offendee has no friggin' clue as to the intended purpose of the story in the first place. Such was the case back in July, when I whipped up an innocuous piece of prose in our Issue #31, discussing my misadventures aboard Mark Underwood's Patrick Racing Road Star Warrior, a bike built for AMA/Prostar's Hot Rod Cruiser class. Most people took it for what it was - a feature that, in a nutshell, explained Yamaha's official participation in the class via Patrick Racing, and how factory participation was a really good thing for the sport of drag racing. But one guy didn't get it, and in this case it just so happened to be a fellow by the name of Rick McWaters, a Hot Rod Cruiser rider who had rung up a rather impressive string of four consecutive National event wins in the class during the first four rounds of the 2002 AMA/Prostar series. Feeling quite good about his bad old self, McWaters wrote in to voice his absolute disgust for my story, accusing me of being "lazy" with respect to fact that he and his "shoestring budget" Harley were kicking the crap out of Patrick Racing, Yamaha and Mark Underwood. He then made some offcomment about my lack of ability as a rider and ... well, here, read it for yourself, as taken verbatim from the Voices section of our Issue #33: "I am writing in regard to Scott Rousseau's article "Warrior Dressed in Drag" (Issue 31, August 7). In the article, Rousseau reports that '[Nigel] Patrick has made a habit out of building horsepower and winning races. That's something that this Warrior does well - race and win in AMA Prostar's Hot Rod Cruiser clas·s. With Coshocton, Ohio, rider Mark Underwood aboard, it has already accomplished more than that, not only winning but also nailing down the class e.t. record at 9.86 seconds.' "I suggest, Mr. Editor, that you send Rousseau back to journalism school to re-Iearn the part about the fact-checking. Because, in fact that Patrick Racing Yamaha Warrior has not any races in the AMA Prostar Hot Rod Cruiser class. How do I know this? Because I have won every final event (as of this writing) in Hot Rod Cruiser this season, aboard my Cycle Tech/Reed Racing Engines HarleyDavidson Super Glide! The only "winning" the Yamaha has done is in the elimination rounds, not in the finals. "I do not know if Mr. Rousseau is too lazy to check facts, or was misled by the publicity mill at Yamaha (or E Scooter Man; SCOTT ROUSSEAU both)? I suspect Yamaha is a little sore that they have spent a ton of money in the class, only to get shut out by a shoestring-budget Harley at every race so far this season. Hence they feel the need to 'spin' a story in order to bolster their corporate egos. "Fact: The Yamaha does hold the national e.t. record - after taking it away from me, and then just barely. "Fact: I still hold the national mph record in the class. "Fact: I have won every final round in Hot Rod Cruiser. "Fact: Scott Rousseau probably couldn't ride my Harley worth a damn either, but he's more than welcome to try it and write about it. "I have nothing against Nigel Patrick or Mark Underwood, but it does irritate me that Rousseau's article makes it sound as though the Yamaha has been dominating the class, when clearly it has not. Check the results, Scott." At the time, I was certainly angry at the implication that I was lazy and inaccurate and that 1 couldn't ride a motorcycle. But hey, apparently the oh-so-studly McWaters had a point. After all, he had in fact won every race at the time of his self-righteous diatribe, and as the summer went on, 01' McWaters continued to win round after round, National after National. You simply couldn't argue with his success. But then a funny little happened on the way to Rick McWaters becoming drag racing's version of Ricky Carmichael. I think it in the best interest of this lazy, incompetent journalist to take the most important parts of the AMA/Prostar press release verbatim, as I want to be certain that 1 get the facts straight. "Immediately following a win by AMA/Prostar Hot Rod Cruiser rider Rick McWaters at the AMA/Prostar Schnitz Fall Nationals in Montgomery, Alabama on October 13, AMA/Prostar tech officials performed an unannounced teardown of the top Hot Rod Cruiser machines. Series points leader and E.T. record holder McWaters, and points runner-up Mark Underwood along with Underwood's Yamaha team member Michael Ray were monitored while they removed cylinder heads and miscellaneous parts for an inspection. "Chief technical inspector, Brian Chambers performed initial evaluations of the parts on-site and determined McWaters' parts were suspect of being illegal and should be given a further detailed inspection by AMA. Although the Yamaha parts were determined to be legal, all parts were shipped to AMA Technical services where extensive, calibrated equipment and experienced staff evaluated the specifications compared to the AMA/Prostar rules. "AMA/Prostar Rules do not permit modification of the valve angles in the Hot Rod Cruiser V-twin engines. Reason being that changing valve angles would allow larger valves to fit within the combustion chamber area. Although larger valves are permitted, they must fit the confines of the stock valve angle. McWaters' heads had the valve angles modified enough to permit larger valves inside the cylinder head, therefore allowing more fuel/air to enter and more exhaust to escape. This resulted in a 20hp advantage. "AMA/Prostar had to come to a conclusion as to how to handle the rules violation, as well as the season's points, records, and more importantly season's championship that was ready to be handed down to McWaters at the upcoming AMA/ Prostar World Finals in Gainesville FL, Nov 8-10. "After careful consideration, McWaters was disqualified from the Montgomery event, issued a threemonth suspension and had points removed from the Atco, New Jersey and Indianapolis events. McWaters' points were erased from the 2002 record books, and his 9.823 Hot Rod Cruiser E.T. record set at the same Atco race in September was removed." But that's not all. Apparently, upon being nailed to the wall for having illegal heads on his bike, McWaters miraculously found God and confessed to having been illegal for the entire season, which would include the first four rounds, after which he wrote me that love letter. In a move that made a single tear roll down my cheek, poor McWaters issued the following post-penalty statement: "Last December I contracted Terry Reed of Reed Racing Engines to build my engine. Terry started building the bikes wl'thout having (a current rule book) and did not realize valve angles could not be altered. The engines were built when the 2002 rulebook came out and we realized the valve angle stipulation. The engine was already complete, and there was no time (one month) or budget left to make the cylinder heads legal. We also felt that we were still at a disadvantage against the four-valve bikes, so we raced with heads as they were - not knowing what would happen during the season ahead. "This is no excuse however, the damage has been done and I would like to apologize to AMA/Prostar staff and fans, most importantly to Yamaha Motor Corporation, Nigel Patrick, Mark Underwood, and the rest of the racers and sponsors in the Hot Rod Cruiser class. It was a hard-fought Due •• n. · class all year and I deprived many in the Hot Rod Cruiser class of legitimate round and class wins. "In trying to rectify this personally, myself, and Terry Reed as a team are accepting the penalties levied against me, plus withdrawing all our points earned during the 2002 season. I wish everyone good luck in Gainesville and hope to be competing on a level and legal playing field next season. "For the record, the actual displacement of my engine was 1707cc, (well under the 1800cc limit) with a 4.072' x 4.0" bore and stroke, stock crank and rods, 2 valve heads and a single Mikuni carb." In a confusing response, the sanctioning body went on to commend McWaters and Reed for the integrity(!?) and sportsmanship they have shown after having willfully disregarded the class regulations for the entire year. Hey, it takes a hell of a man to come clean and admit his wrongdoing after having been caught redhanded. The press release also reminded the media that pushing a Vtwin motorcycle to a 9-second quarter mile time is a remarkable task. I can only assume that they mean it is remarkable when using illegal cylinder heads. With legal ones it would be downright neat-o. But I must commend McWaters for having a bike that was of the legal displacement. After all, just as he wrote to us back in Issue #33, he really is a stickler for details. It's just too bad that AMA/Prostar wasn't checking for displacement. If that were the case, then McWaters would never have had to make the excuse that there was no time or budget to switch to legal cylinder heads - even later in the season - and then in the same breath say that he wasn't making any excuses for that excuse. Prostar concluded by hoping that the McWaters team will be alile to regain the same record-setting pace in 2003, while being compliant with the technical rules. It made no speculation as to whether or not the McWaters team will ever be able to regain the same record-setting face, also while being compliant with the technical rules. Nor does it hazard a guess as to whether or not the class will enjoy any more factory participation, thanks to the fact that both Yamaha and the sanctioning body were basically bent over by McCheaters for an entire season. Wait a second, I think that I misspelled a word in that last sentence. In conclusion, I would just like to say that after mishandling the Patrick Racing Yamaha down the Pomona quarter mile this past summer, I thought I was the biggest ass ever to swing a leg over a dragbike. I now feel that this is no longer the case. _ S • NOVEMBER 27, 2002 99