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/128341
This is what riders were facing as they climbed the hill. And once they reached the top, it was nothing but straight up. and more innovative machinery, but he's the best ride r." Wh itloc k shrugged off the idea of a new bike, saying, "T hey can make fun of th e FJ , bu t th ey aren't beating it - I've won over $100,000 on tha t bike." Thomas himself is behind the techno logy he was talking about. Thomas teamed up with Jaso n Smith of Utah and built a formidab le sta ble of hillclimb w eapons based on ancient Yamaha XS650 paral lel twins. They have 690 cc and BOOcc versions running 100-percent nitro methane, a supercharged model, and a 900cc bike running carbureted on gaso line . T he engines are housed in hand -built chass is with KX suspension and bodywo rk. The bike s are supe r-slim with "no rma l" ergonomics and a weight slightly over 300 po unds, but tha t is more th an 10 0 pou n ds lighte r t ha n mos t of the O p en -class mach ines. Smi th won the fr ighteni ng 0 -700c c cla ss with the vertical wa ll near the top . As sc ary as the cliff looked , so m e rid ers fe lt it was e asier than the chute. "Th e hill started going away at the end of the day," Whitlock said. "Below the chute, it was like somebody poured a concrete slab in that thing. You'd get up there and there was no more dirt to bite into, so your pad- dies [on the unlimited bikes) wou ld start spinning." The club went all o ut to ensure t he riders' safety and put o n a show fo r the crowd, and 14 riders went over the to p of the hill, but Smith's nitro Yamaha blasted the top section of the hill so fast that he w o n the 0 -700cc cl ass by nearly a seco nd over Beer. Dusty and his brother Don Beer were the only riders to clean the hill on both rides. In the O pen Unlimited class (w hich was wo n by Whitlock) high-school studen t Eric Cherry was seco nd, with Thomas putt ing his "little" Yamaha into third. "I've got more [cham pionships) ahead ," www.cycienEWs.com said Whitloc k, nodd ing. "I've got a good five, six years left in me ." No doubt Dusty Bee r and others fee l t he same , so o n the last weekend of July each year, be there to watch, because it de finiteeN ly will be one fo r the reco rd books . BILUNGS , M ON TAN A RES ULTS: JULY 24·25, 20 04 1).600, I. Du"y Beer ( 15.305); 2. Harold Waddell (15.84 7); 3. T",... _ k (15.9 1<); 4. Kenny B..-bu la ( 16:490); S. Pete Krunich ( 16.495). OPEN: I. Travis Whidock ( 12.632); 2. Dusty Beer ( 13.08 3); 3. Bre , Perter-son (14.BI5); 4. jon Smith ( 14.815); 5. Craig Speocer (14 .934). 1).700, I. J""'" 5mith ( 15.956); 2. Dusty Beer ( 16.720); 3. RDbie Peterson ( 17.291); 4. Jeff Thomas ( 17.852); S. Travis Wh itlock (I S.8l 0). 70 1 UNLIMITED: l. Travis Whitlock ( 13.299 ); 2. Eric Cheny ( 14.352); 3. Je ff Thomas ( 14.465); 4 . Mel Kimball ( 14.479); 5. Pete Loomis (14.504). CYCL E N EWS • SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 69