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/141006
NICE GUYS By Ali ce Rhea When I menti oned to friends th at I had been assigned to d o a profile on Larry Pfutzenre uter I w asn't too surprised at t h eir questions. T h e first thing everybody wan ted m e t o as k him was h ow t o pronounce Pfu t zenreuter. I must ad mi t being a little c u rio us m ys elf as I had h eard him ca lle d every thi ng a nd Fu tz to fr o m Fi t z , Fritz Po o fe nw h oofer a nd S upername . Lar ry say s it is Fits- in-wr it er, w ith the accent on th e Fits . Born in a sm a ll t own in South Dakota, Larry w as ra ised on a farm a nd att end ed a on e-ro om sch ool for eigh t years. La rry smiled as h e re m in isced, "Th en I go t to rid e o n th e bus a nd go t o sch ool in t own with the big b oys. " My fol ks still live th ere . M y you nge r sist er a nd b ro th er a re m y bi ggest fans. And m y M om . Friday ni ght is Cy cle News night at o ur house ," Larry said , grinning. "1 nev er wr ite a nd th e fa m ily keeps u p with what I'm d o ing throug h th e p ap er ." Larry gave a sa mp le o f h is fans' d evotion : "One Frida y th e pap er wasn't in th e mail and Mom w as mad at Dad all weekend . She was su re he had hidden the p ap er from h er , but it came in th e m ail o n M onda y ." Larry and h is w ife ca m e t o California in 1964 and Larry settl ed d own to working a t Am eri ca n Can Compan y a nd rai sin g a fa m ily . Then he bought a Hodaka a nd sta rted trail -riding - an d we all kn ow whe re tha t lead s! T h ree years ago Mit co Bultaco in Anah eim held ' a d rawing d uring their gra nd open ing . T h e prize - a sh iny new Bultaco , T he luck y b o y Larry Pfutzenreuter . That u su all y isn' t th e way a rid er ge ts a sp onsor, b ut wh en Larry st art ed rid in g m oto cross, M itc o d ecided t o b ack him u p wi th parts. A year la t er wh en Pfutz began desert racing Mitco con ti n u ed t o ba ck him. Larry's ris e to Number O ne Ligh tw eigh t has b een nothing sh o rt o f phenomenal. He made only three rid es as a No vice before th e p owers-that-be decided he wa s too fast to ra ce as a Novice and m ov ed h im up to A mateur, Fo ur ra ces later they were about t o make Pfutz an E xp ert when h e decided '. to go b ack to m o t o c ro ss . Larry last ed a t rno tocross ab o u t six months that time before he su ccumbed to the spell of th e desert again. At the st art of the season las t ye ar , Mit co told Pfu tz that th ey would like to see a Bu ltaco carrying the Nurnb er One Lightweight dese rt pla te and Pfu tz set out to win it . By the mi d dl e of October Larry had the title . Larry had 2 1 firsts, four of which were first-overalls. "The most gra t ify in g ra ce was the Check Chase ," Larry re call s. " It was a lo ng, hard , demanding ra ce . I go t o n my ALWAYS FINISH LAST M " '" '" a. N ,... en .n .g u. !£ w z w -' U ~ U head once and b ent th e handlebars. When I crossed the finish lin e first-overall I really felt lik e I had d one something. Pfutz is a quiet p erso n, alm os t p ainfully shy. " I lik e people, " Larry said, "And I wo uld lik e to ta lk to them but I can 't t hink o f anything t o sa y. I can 't just walk up to someone and say 'IIi.''' But anyone willing to make the first move will find Larry a n ea sy m an to talk to . H About Dis trict 3 7's silencer requir em ents : "I love it! I really hate loud noises." Larry explained , "Wh ere I work th er e is a lo t o f reall y n o isy ma chiner y and th e c ompany issued ear-plugs t o all th e emp loyees. I am probab ly th e o nly person in the whole comp any wh o wears them willingly . I re ally like them." Larry ' expanded o n his 'noise p o llution revo lu tion ' id eas: "I would lik e one of the clubs to show up at a race some weekend with a d ecib el meter and disqualify every b ody wh o doesn't m eet th e st a ndards ." Pfutz agreed that it probably wouldn't b e fa ir t o penali ze a rid er wh o lo st his muffle r during the ra ce. "Ma ybe th e cl ub could chec k ever ybod y just before th ey get th eir st ar t ing ch ec k." Pfu tz is p articularl y d own o n sp ectat ors a nd pit-cre ws wh o a nnoy everybody b y pit-racin g o n t heir u n sile nced m achin es. He co uld ru n for p re siden t o f the d ese rt on th at p latform and prob ab ly win. Larry tal k ed about th e problem o f th e gra d ual closing of lan d s t o b ik e riders . He and his wife rec entl y p u rchased a h om e in a n o u t ly ing area where th ere was lots o f land t o rid e on . ' 'Two w eeks afte r w e b ough t the h ouse th ey pu t up th e " N o T respassin g' signs ," Larry said glu mly . Larry now p lan s t o spe nd m ore Saturda ys with hi s family a t th e desert, ge tti ng some of the pra ctice h e feel s is so im porta nt t o his r aci ng. Moto rc ycle ra cing in the d esert has b ecom e so mu ch a p art o f Larry 's life th at h e can 't com p reh end b ein g witho u t it. " If they closed th e d esert I gu ess I w ould go b ack to trail-riding," he sai d. Wo w ! No . If th ey clos e th e d esert to sanc tioned ra ces th at wo u ld really be th e en d. O f trail rid ing t o o. I guess we just have t o w o rk to keep it o pen." Street riding wa s o u t o f th e q uestio n for Larry : "Too scary." A nd as fo r m otocro ss : " I do n't th ink could win at motocross n ow , Pfutz admitted. " When I firs t started rid ing deser t I was so aggressive that if anybody go t in my wa y I wo uld k ick them off th e t rail. In motocross you don't wait for a p lace to pass - yo u ma k e o ne. It t o o k m e a coup le of races t o catch on ," Larry contin ue d, "B u t in a 90 -mile desert race there are p len ty of chances to get around a slower rider and you ,d o n 't h ave t o clear a pat h with your foo t;' . Larry is one o f the founders of Sled Riders M.C . "It all started as a fu n thing," Larry recalls. "A group of us used t o take our fam ilies out and ca mp and trail-ride on weekends. We o rigi n ally formed th e club as a social group, but more and more we are becoming race -oriented and interested in h ow to ' get ou r riders in and out of the pits in a hurry a nd th at sort of thing. But it is still basicall y a social club fo r mo st of us," Larry con tin ue d . " I rea lly go t o the m eetings mostl y t o get to geth er a nd shoot th e bull with th e gu ys." On equipment: "Reliability is 90%, Larry said . "It d o esn't m atter h ow fast y ou are , if th e b ik e won't go the distan ce you ca n 't win. If th e bike is reli able, th ough, you ca n almost alwa ys fin ish we ll." So m u ch h as b ee n sai d lately ab o u t chea ting th at I as ked Larry 's o pin io n. "It jus t can 't be d on e," Larry sta te d flatl y. " O h su re , if so me guy is wa y back a nd can see a tr a il o f d ust o ff in the dis tan ce an d wants t o c ut ac ross and tak e h is chances on m issing a chec k I gu ess h e could , bu t if h e got o ut in fro n t th at way he probably could n't keep u p th e p ace . When yo u a re in the gro u p in fr ont yo u reall y h ave to fo llo w th e ribbon ." Larr y 's ex press io n as h e sp o ke left little do ubt as to h is op inio n of anybody who wo uld actually cheat. A nd h is n ex t wo rds. confirmed th e impression : " I th ink a lot of t he racers lo se sigh t of w hy they started racing d esert in the first p lace , It is supposed to b e fu n. T his isn 't professional racing where your living depends on you getting th ere first at any cost. Even if I break d own, I'm not too disappointed. I k now there will be "'... -. . .......a race ne x t week." - . .... ..-