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/141044
. ohnson J LD M (Continued f rom page 14) required intense care and there was little repetition . "Never d id ge t t o chec k o u t m u ch L ond on ni gh tlife. Work started 8 am and o f ten e x ten d ed un til 2 a m . I learn ed to live on ' six h ours slee p . " O n top of that h e h elp ed ou t Bar ry Sh ee n e wi th so me of Ilis bi kes . "The m o st a m az in g ra ce w as th e East German G P. T ha t was wh ere we cle n ched the 250 Wo rld Champio n ship . It was 1 15 degrees that d ay an d there w ere 250.000 spe ctators. T he y all see med so overjoyed t o b e th ere , an d I got the fee ling th a t it w as th e on ly thing d ecen t th at h ap p en ed all year for the m ." Wh ile in England he did get a c h ance to m ake o n e q u ick sojourn back in t o ra cing wh en h e en tered a Sportsman race at Ma llory Pa rk. Hi s first ride on a Yamaha road ra cer, in th e rain, b ro ugh t h im a third in the 250 eve nt and a se cond in the 3 5 0 o n th e sa me 25 0 . " I w on't ever race agai n serio us ly , bu t little th in gs lik e th a t d ay a t Mallo ry Par k m ak e me feel good . I kn ow I co uld b e a res pec table racer. " Bu t ra cin g w asn't wh a t Stev e w as af te r in E uro pe . " I hoped that go ing to Europe w o uld improve my p o si tion with K aw as ak i. When I came bac k I w as lookin g for so me th ing m o re in th e m an ageri a l en d o r in engin eering. I guess at 2 0 I w as a little yo ung an d that see ms 10 ca rry a lo t of wei gh t a ro u n d h ere ( Kawasa ki) ." So Stev e en de d up in a pil ot proj ec t of m o tocro ss p repara ti on w ith . Brad Lackey as hi s ri d er. No ,?ne reall y expected th e effo rt to b e an y kind of su ccess. " We ki n d of j u m p e d in mid-stre am an d h ad so little p repar a tio n that d isaster was e xpe c te d . Wh at got us through to the suc cessfu l end was the rel iability of t he e ngine a nd Br ad ' s cons isten cey. I used the same cran k in Brad 's b ike al l season. Th at was for two reason s. One , it 's a ve ry re lia b le crank and t wo , Brad doesn 't abuse th e en gine. He d o esn' t re v it hi gh and h e d oesn ' t screw it o n when it d oen't matter." S te ve reall y lik es d esignin g new p ieces fo r th e b ik es. In h is spare m omen ts h e figures o u t n ew ways to do things. " When Br ad - an d I were in Eu rope I built a m o c k u p ai r b o x o u t o f p la stic , tin , card board , and n ewsp ap er. Wh en I cam e b ack a p lasti c im itation w as m ad e and th at's what is o n th e bike now." C RC BEGINNER S ome of Steve 's fa vo rite coups came when h e w as w orking with R eed in Europe. "Th e first thing we d id w as put an alumin um shro u d a rou n d the rear wheel section . We told ev eryone th a t it w as to st re amline the rear wheel. Sure psyche d a lo t of p eople o ut. T hen we p ut a li ttle p le xi glass ad d ition o n t op of th e winds h ie ld. We t o ld everyone th a t it w as a n ew stream lin ing tri ck to go with the al u m inum . It was reall y to kee p the rain o ut of Ph il' s eyes." T he atten tion t o small d e tail on La ckey 's m o to cr o ssers is imp ressive. A ll con tro ls a re place d fo r ma xim um co m f o r t , the seat is a special im it ation o f a H usk y seat , the b ars are special, he h as m ad e up a special rear b ra ke lev e r, so on . "If an yth in g on the b ike makes Brad tired h e can 't ri de quickly a t all. " S te ve h as m ade a leathe r cove r fo r the kicks tarte r p ivo t, so th at it won' t ja m w it h mud. T h e su cce ssful co m b in a ti o n of Lacke y an d J ohnson is indeed a re p rese nta tion of S te ve's a bi lity t o tail o r th e bike to Bra d 's n eeds . Th ere is n o d o u b t th at Steve J o h n son is a talen ted yo ung m a n. It takes more th a n d iligen ce to fin ish a seas on wh ere y o u n ev er su ffe r a DN F . A ll th ose fini sh es sa y lo ts for h int, b ut - th e fact tha t Brad Lackey , tale n ted as he is, was fir st Americ an o n an u ntried b ik e, says m uch much m o re. S o h er e h e is, a ragin g su ccess. For h is yo u th (defin ite ly n ot a p osi tive consi de ra tio n wh en it comes 10 tunin g) h e is an un m atched su ccess. Things h ave al ways co me along at an ea rly age for Steve and th at life style isn't f ading a bit. H e seems to b e con stan tly lo o kin g t o th e future while giving hi s all to the mome nt. He tak es in ten se care and p ride in the activity a t h and b ut p hilosop hically is alway s in the fut ure so me where . " I wo u ld ne ver wan " to do an y th ing th at I rri ta ted me so m u ch th at I wouldn ' t d o it th e absolu te be st 1 could. There are o ther th ings I mi gh t li ke to b e d oin g now but no w I am h er e a n d this is wh at I am do in g.' He d oes in dee d put h is all in to h is work . Still, change is b ound to come for Steve. S teve i s c o n fi den t but m ild man n ered . He is young, b u t h e is e xp eri en c ed . He isn ' t exte ns ive ly ed uca te d , b u t h e is intelligen t . H e'll w ork h is wa y m o st an yw h ere h e wants to go , and time is on h is side. Ca lifo rnia Racing Club (membersh ip no t required ) " i6' Q. M ,.. ~ M' .::i " u, ~ w Z W ..J U ~ U St eve Johnso n t u ned fo r Ph il Read wh en he became a pr ivateer 250 Wo rld Ch ampio n . For yo u po wde r puffers, note bare chest. Also note t he special underwear . i******************** & NOVICE Powder Puff,* Min i * +35 * -16 Intermediates * Seniors MOTOCROSS S.day RAWHIDE SUN DAYS Beginners, Jun io rs, Intenned iates, Senio rs Plus Old T ime rs & Po wder Puff Feb . Feb. Feb. Feb . 4 - Carlsbad - E ur o Trk 11 - In d ian Dun es Shd . Glen 18 - Raw h id e 25 - Arroyo *S e ries poin ts earned S ILE NCERS M AN DA TORY . Regula r S portsma n classe s $ 5 .0 0 ma ll . $ 10.0 0 Post . S e n io r S10.0 0 m a il . $15 .0 0 P ost . N o p o st e n t r y fee to ne w membershi p . Feb. 18 - Indian Dunes Feb. 25 - Carlsbad All mail e ntries m u st be r eceived no la ter th an 40% BRASS of e ntry (7 14) 688 ·1291- (213 ) 830 -7519 * * ~ **CORONA ** RACEWAY ~ *n* ~ * ~ EVERY : TUESDAY 30% ~ TROPHIES * * it* ~ ~ SHORT TR A CK & Y.MI L E EVERY WED. Gates Open 5 pm Min is race 6 pm S ign up closes 7 pm 1 st Race 7 :30 p m * * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ********0*** Fr iday 'S mail b e f o re ea ch even t . Gates o pe n 6 :3 0. Pr ac ti c e 8 am , sign -u p cl oses ¥ :4 5 . F irst ra ce 9 am. 3 A.M .E . 8 n u mbe r p lat es req uired . MAIL ENTRY T O: A.M .E. 1::: 004 So . Washington Hawthorne . CA. 902 50 (2 13 ) 6 75 ·1922 o r 6 75·0 52 1 ** * * ************ SPILLWAY CYCLE PARK A.M .E. sanctioned M.X. 1st . Sun, each mo nth. Mail ent ry t o Spillway . Santa Maria, Cali f . C.R.A. * * ~ * * * * ~ * * * * * * YOUR ADS DEAD . . OR AUVE I REWARD: What you see • lS what you get. MOTOCROSS SI G IN7:00 N A~ ALL CLASSES RACE 9:00 ENTllY FEE S 4.oo EVERY SUNDAY 33% Tr"""ies INFO. (7 1 849 8481 4) DE AlIA CYCLE PARK SILENCERS REO'D. GATE S 2.00 ~ i ~v · ************~********J ..