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/141050
Mik e H aller and C harlie Swenson used to rid e t ogether a few years ago and are now b ack to geth er on th eir new 650 Triu m p h Wasp. T heir fi rs t ride toge ther this year was th e Moose Run , which th ey wo n. The se co nd w as a CMC race: a t Indian Dunes, and they wo n it too . I'm sure I d o n 't need to tell you that these two are go ing to be go od co m pe titio n for th e rest o f the big boys. Yo.u'll know t he m b y their bl ue and white j ail bird shirts. Side-hack p opulari ty is growing all around us . There 's a group of guys in Ari zon a who now have five side-hacks and have form ed th e A rizona Side-hack Asso ciati ~n. T hey h ave c o m e t o a numb er o f O U f ev ent s . At Barstow-to-Vegas, o ne of their h acks, driven by Pe te Wekell and Ro n Jackson, went all the way and to ok second. I d on 't kn ow what it co st the m for these weekend trips, but it m ust mean a lo t to the m, b ecause they keep co ming back. We're glad the y d o. I've men tioned Wasp a co u p le of ti mes an d I thi nk I be tte r explai n wh at a Wasp is. A Wasp is a specially manufac tured frame fo r side-hacks, it includes t he b ike par t of th e fra me less the eng ine, and th e ch air part of th e . hack . T hey're made in Englan d . A Wasp is ' a be tter . stro ng e r frame than m o st peo p le can make in their garage. My h usband 's fi rs t ha ck was b uil t in a frie nd's garage in abo ut three hours, and that 's about all the lo nger it last ed wh en th ey rode it . T he w ay th e wh ol e thin g sta rt ed wa s th at his frie nd (Steve F ish er by name) h ad wanted to borrow my b ike for his friend an d w he n I refused t o le t him (because I wanted to rid e it my sel f) he said he'd go h o me an d build a side-ha ck so hi s frie nd co uld ride wi th hi m. Well , it too k Steve abou t tw o an d one-half h o urs to th row togethe r a few pi eces of pipe and an o ld car wh eel and w ood for the floor board, and he wa s ready to ride it . . It didn't last very long, but it did get th e gu ys thinki ng about seriously b uilding a hack. Steve built tw o more hacks, and J o hn an d Steve star te d racing against e ac h other o ut in th e desert. When they came home t hey'd weld their h acks back together for the next weekend . T o ma ke a long story sho rt, John's 360 Ya maha starte d to stay together m o re and mo re , wi th a little hel p fro m a he li-arc we lde r , an d he w en t o u t to win the number o ne p lat e. Now he has his 750 Honda Wasp, afte r his ye ar of p ra ctice o n hi s Ya mah a. A nyone that mi gh t be in terested in build in g a sid e-hack co u ld ge t in t o uch wi th o ne of the rid e rs at th e ra ce o r ca ll o ur secre tary , Mr s. Na nc y Person at (2 13) 25 7-7 13 2 o r wri te to the Side-Hac k Associati on, 4 304 W. Avenue 4 1, Los Angeles, California 90065. I'm su re th a t anyone of o ur memb ers wo uld be h appy _ to help y o u ge t your side- hack o n th e race course : Let 's get to the p a ssen ge rs, m o re com m o n ly know n as monkeys. I t tak es a lo t o f guts to ride o u t th ere and "leave the driving to us," the pilots. I' m sure th er e arc a Io t o f times th ey wish there were b rakes on th eir side , bu t all they ca n d o is lean o n e w ay o r the other and hop e it 's th e right wa y. J ust kidding gu y s. T he m onkey has to rea lly work o ut. He has to watch the co urse just as much as th e pilot to see which way an d when to le an ; if he le ans to o soon or too late it may ca u se th em to crash . And it's not easy to ru n around o n the 18 to 36 in ch floor board of a h ack at any speed, mu ch less one that 's d o in g u p to 70 miles an hour. In the desert he has to gu ess wh ich side o f th e b us h o r rock the pil o t is go ing to take an d then make sure he 's o n the co rr ec t side to keep the ha ck d o,wn . On hills he has to get off and push . A lot of dese r t hacks have a pa dded seat o ver the thi rd wheel . Bu t don't le t th at fo o l you , they d on 't ge t mu ch o f a ch ance to use it . On TT's an d moto cr oss th ey h ave to mo ve tr orn o ne side t o the o the r in a h urry and alw ay s rem ember to keep hold with a t least o ne h an d or leg or th ey're liable to end u p on the gro un d, an d th en they have to ge t u p and ru n like hell to' catch up with the hack , if it 's still on three wheels. A ctuall y, the mo n keys have a lot o f fun . T h ey some times h a ve tim e o n a p lay day to w ave a t the p eopl e and flirt with th e girls o n th e sid e Iin es, There are some wh o like to pic k up d rt o r lillie ro ck s a nd throw the m at the guys beh in d th em (all in fu n) whil e the pil ot is w orking his bo tto m off go ing arou nd a tu m or w a tc hing the course an d j he o the r riders. A lthoug h it's not easy to be a mo nkey, if you asked any o f th ese gu ys w ha t th ey th ought of it , they'd tell you th ere's no o th er w ay to ride a bike. They d on't alw ays get the. publicity the pil ots do, but the y kn ow it tak es tw o. ..... ." '" 0.. M ..... Cl ..... N . :::;; ~ w Z W ...J U > U Pilot Doug Bingham go es horizo ntal as monkey Ed Wade fights it ou t wit h th e 'hack . T his man euv er is to be avoided if at all possi b le. - J .K. Pe rso n Photo. make/ hi/tory XDUSOR qUietly Bill O liver , of Co rvallis, Or ego n b ecame the first o ut-of-state rid er t o ever wi n a n Asco t T .T . R id ing an Xdusor eq uippe d Bul ta co Astro . Fast doesn 't have to be 16 loud a nd t h e Xdu so r eli mi nat es up to 9 0" of t he ta ilp ip e noise. Th e Xdu sor pr events overscaven gin g, th er eb y giving up to 30"16 boost in low-end pow er-with ou t h urt ing top-end pe rfo rma nce. It provid es increase d power o ut put, t h ro ttle resp onse, a nd RPM ran ge on bo th 2· a nd 4 -cycl e engines wi th either a turned or st oc k e xh aust. T he aerodynamically d es ign ed Xdusor is light ( 19 oz .,), compact (5 "x2 " ) . and so rugg ed it's guaranteed again st failure . T he Xduso r-S m uffler ( 12.9 5) or t he Xdusor- l l Muffler! Spar k Arrestor ( 15 .9 5) w ill give any motorc ycle t he racing ad van ta ge. Ask history makers like Bill O liver . Bill O liver, Corvallis, Oregon , rid ing an Xdusor equ ipp ed Bu lta co t o become t he fi rst out-of-state Novice t o eve r w in a n Ascot T.T. XDUSOR@ ®Registe red- D iscoje t Corp., Da vis, Cal if orni a DISTRIBUTORS: Western Scooter Distributors '-- 1599 Cu~ter Ave, Sa n Francisco, Cal if.,94124 Hiranport Company 7585 S.W, Hunziher Road Tigard, Oregon 97223 Just llistributing Co. 1515 South CentraI Ave. Kent, Washi ngton 98037 Ed Tucker Distributors, Inc. 9250 King Arthur Drive Da llas, Texas 75247 G & L Equipment 1522 South Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 C leme nt Distributors Co. omp 6963 Wasto ington Ave., South Ed ina , Minnesota 55435