Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

" the pond, so Zemke went for a three-week visit. He watched some speedway and also too k in a round of the British Superbike Championship. Again, the road-racing bug bit, and it bit hard. "The guy who rode for Charlie's sponsor also rode for the VM Honda team, and he was the current points leader in the 600cc Supersport Championship," Zemke said. "We were right in the garage, checking everything out, and everybody was really nice. I was just tagging along for the ride. When I was at that road race, I was looking around and going, 'Man, I need to do this. This is where it's at ." Fast-forward to Zemke back in the dealership, when he sees the Bostro mlWait cover of Cycle News. That was all she wrote. Road racing, here I come. From there, the call was made to Bill Bartels of Bartels' Harley-Davidson. Then came a test ride on a Bartels' Harley 883 at Willow Springs. The test was a success, and Zemke was back in business - the business of road racing - having come full circle since the days of a 14-year-old at Willow Springs. "I went out to Willow Springs, squeezed into my leathers that I was weari ng when I was 14, went out there , and luckily enoug h I was able to get the ride," Zemke remembers. "That sprung me back into road racing. The 883 class was a really neat class. It was affordable enough so that shop owners like Bill Bartels, Don Tilley, Hal's Harley-Davidson... a bunch of them that could field a couple of riders and go out there and get some exposure. I had a two-year deal with Bill 1997 and 1998 - and in '97 we were just going to learn all the tracks, and we figured we'd make a big push for the championship in '98." Zemke put the bike on the podium a few times in '97, and he ended up third in the championship, behind Eric Bostrom and Dave Estok. Then the AMApulled the rug out from under his feet when it put a stop to the 883 class. Oh no, here we go again. "I talked to Bill [Bartels], and he didn't really have anything for me," Zemke said. "He said I could go dirt tracking an 883, which I'd done while road racing in '97. I knew I didn't want to go dirt tracking an 883. I'd stepped away from that, and that wasn't where I wanted to go. I wanted to go road racing." Glenn Cook at Zero Gravity got Zemke a deal to try out some Aprilia 250s to see if there was any feasibility in bringing the Aprilia Challenge Cup to the United States. Cook also told Zemke that if he got a bike, he'd help him continue his road-racing career. "I called him and said, 'I got a bike,''' Zemke said. True to his word, Cook provided Zemke with a box van and a gas card - the two key ingredients in a privateer's program. He also was reunited with tuner John Ethel, who built the Suzuki GSX-R750 for Zemke. Their season would start th ree races late, but it was a start, and Zemke was thankful for the chance . "Glenn also lined me up with some great sponsors, Dunlop being one of them ," Zemke said. "Without Dunlop's support, there was no way I could have raced. It took everything we had." When he says everything, he means it. Paul and Barbara Zemke were there again whe n the ir son needed help. "My parents took out a second mortgage on the house , and I maxxed out every cred it card I could get," Zemke admits. "And lowed a ton of money to the shop I was wo rking for. lowed them two years later. It took me allthe way to the end of 2000 to payoff allthe debts 34 AUGUST 11 ,2004 • C YCLE NEWS I had - not to mention the money my parents had put into the thing. And this was in 1998. I got a lot of he lp from product sponsors, and there was no way I could have done it without them ." The "team" missed the first three races of the year, but Zemke finished strong with a fourth and a third in the last two races of the year, his first-ever podium coming in the season finaleat Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He ended up ninth in the series point standings after missing those th ree races. "I never crashed the bike once," Zemke said. "That was a pretty good season for a guy who was as raw in road racing as I was. I was still learning how to ride a road-race bike." Zemke was beginning to tum some heads , and the following year he was on his way, earning a ride in the Cycle Gear team . Then he got his big break In 2000: a call fro m Kevin Erion to ride on the Honda support team at the time, Bruce Transportation. "That was the start of my re lationship with Honda," Zem ke said. "I've been with them ever since. There's been a lot of things that have happened between here and there. "The goal was a super bike ride , that's for sure. I always knew I could ride a mot orcycle. It was something I could do since I was a little kid. Looking at the guys at the front, Ben [Bostrom] was out there on a superbike, Eric [Bostrom] was, Matt Wait was - and then he went and raced 500 Gp. There were a lot of guys who I grew up racing with, and I knew we had similar talents. We all grew up racing bikes together, and we all progressed to that level. I quit racing, and they kept going, so when I jumped back in, it took me a little bit to get up to the ir level - but I think we are the re now." Indeed. With four races remaining in the 2004 AMA Superb ike Championship, Jake Zemke is second , 21 points behind four-time series champion Mat Mladin. In his roo kie season on the new Honda OORR, Zemke has won two CBRIO races, finished second six times, third three times and fourth once. The only blemishes on his record are a seventh -place finish at LagunaSeca and a fifth at Mid-Ohio a few weeks ago. The year on the privateer Suzuki GSX-R750 led to this. It was his last chance , and he's made good on it, the investment his parents made in him definitely fructifying. "My parents told me in 1998, 'We can help you for one year,''' Zemke said. "They said, 'Hopefully,you can get someth ing from this, because we can't help you after that. This is going to wipe us out . So this is your one chance.' It's pretty awesome that it worked out ." Today his parents are obviously proud. They 've raised a quality individual for a son, and he's made it to the top of his profession. Zemke still has a hard time getting them to allow him to return the favor. They rarely let him even pay for dinner. "I'd still like to help my parents out a litt le more ," Zemke said. "But the funny thing is, they 'll never take anything from me. They just tell me, 'Save your money, save your money.' They 're looking out fo r my future . It's really cool. Everything else has been paid off. It turned out to be worth it." Now Zemke is hot property. Naturally, his current employers at Honda wan t him to lead its assault o n next year's AMA Superbike Ser ies. He's also being courted by Yamaha and anyone else in the paddock who'd like a shot at winning. But Zemke's a loyalguy, and most figure he's goingto stay put. "I'd like to stay with Hond a, for

• Cover