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/141063
b y Kent N ich oll s A fam o us p e rson su ch as Rolf Tibblin, in m o st p e opl es' ey es, is a sing le dim e nsi o nal figure wh o goe s e x tre me ly fast on a m o torcy cl e an d little e lse . ' T ib b lin d o es in deed go fast. He wa s World Mot o cross C h a mp ion in bo th 19 6 2 an d 19 6 3. He is th e o n ly rid er wh o h as b e en Mo to cro ss Ch am p o n bo th a F our and a Two-cy cle m ot o rcy cl e. In 19 64 , jeff S mi t h b e at him out o f b ein g World C ham p h y o n ly two tenths o f ' a secon d a fte r eig h t m on th s of racin g. Before th a t , Tibblin w o n ove ra ll in th e 19 60 I.S. D .T . in Aus tri a. Since co m ing to t he U.S ., h e h a s w on th e Mint 4 0 0 twice an d Baja 10 00 on ce. In th is co u n try h e is com b in in g his twe n ty -one years of raci n g e x p e rie nce to te ach th e A m e rica ns to go fas t , (So, T ib b lin h op e s , w ill soon be hi s fell ow co un try me n .) a t h is Moto cr oss S ch ool a t Carlsbad R acewa y . But R o lf T ib h lin is a lso a very in tel ligen t man with a knac k for c om m u nic a tin g wit h p e op le. He h as a ver y n ice h ome in San Di ego Co un ty , a lovel y wife (Who, b y th e w ay , is a fan ta stic c o o k .) an d thre e c h ild re n, a tw o y ear o ld b o y , a n d two girls, thre e and five . I was ve ry i mp ressed with Rolf 'I' ib b lin , A ni cer p er son w ould b e h ard to find . li e is n ot in th e, slig h tes t b it a rrogan l ab o u t his sk ill. Li st en to wha t h e has to say as h e tell s o f times p ast , prop he sie s A m eric a's ch ances a t World Moto cros s, an d gives so me good ad vic e . C N - Wh at is life o n th e G .P . C ircui t like ? Tihblin - A c irc us. It st ar ts in ea rly Ap ril and it's d rivin g fro m c o u n try to co u n try : th e h o tels lo o k the same all over Europe. Monday is mayb e to re st. Tue sday is to start to cl ean y our moto rcy cl e. I n ev er h ad a me chan ic - I di d the w o rk m y sel f. S o , 1 cle an th e bike an d fi x the hike. A n d then we'd h ave ma yhe five , six o r 700 mil e s to d rive . Mayhe twice th a t di st anc e : 1500 mi les o r m ore sometime s. Wo rk a ll th e tim e, work o u t on e h our every d a y. go to bed a t 10. CN - Was th e re m uch co m rade sh ip b etw e en rid er s o f th e d i f fe ren t ma n u fac turers? T ihhlin - Ah ! Yes ! When I go t up th er e th en w e ge t lik e a hi g famil y . O f cou rse, I like to b e fr iendly io a ll pe o pl e. And wh en I w as up th e re , the guys c a me to me, a ll kinds of guys lik e o nes from CZ an d BSA an d y o u kn ow, all those guy s co me 10 me an d I to them, bu t that wa s be fore like today wh er e Suzuki d o esn 't lik e to h elp Yamah a, a n d Yamah a doesn 't lik e to help CZ. But I think tw o rid er s are still go od friends be cause th ey will still help ea ch o th er. I th in k th e Americ an ride rs rea lly n eed to learn togeth ern ess to h eat th e Eu ro pe ans. I thin k th at it will take m aybe th ree years, maybe tw o, be fore we ha ve at leas I o ne guy up th ere (A me ri ca n) . I c an 't say wh o, it co uld he Marly Tripes, h e lo ok s good to m e, if his D ad doesn 't push h im too hard. And Brad Lack ey a lso h as a good chanc e. We have a n ew guy c o m in g up , I th in k h e is fr om Interview: . An Afternoon With RoH TIbblin Cll c :l; 3 _. c: n ... ~ ... 0< :C. "' 2 Cll s :l> C. c. ~ Cll 2 Cll :l; c. c: c: 2 n ;;: :l> 3 0< C. 0> C. ~ Cll Cll ::: ~ ~ . 2 3 Cll o ' -< ~ ~n coco r rn CllO O> X2 g.~f"l'l and C lev elan d , O h io . Hi s n a me is H artw ig an d h e is ve ry goo d to o . Mike H artwig , he rides a Hu sky:- T here are so man y good rid e rs over: h e re. Th e y are so interest ed, an d if th ey really ge t se rious th en it w on 't ta ke m o re th an th re e years . But , o f co u rse , y o u have Aberg, A ke j onsson , De C os te r, a ll o f th o se guys in Eur o p e . Th e best ri ders in E urope a re a ll 29· :~ 0 ye ars o ld. A n d in tw o o r three mo re yea rs... You kno w th o se guys h ave b ee n th e re for so long a n d e ve ryon e ge ts ti re d - th at slows y o u d o wn. CN - Wh at was th e bi g g e st di sappo in tm en 1 in yo u r racin g c aree r ? T ihblin - I d on 't lik e to look h a ck - I lo ok fo rward . S ome tim e s eve ry t h ing go es ver y well an d the n e x t time y o u h ave bad lu ck , hut tha t's par t o f th e ga m e. I . do n ' t reall y like pe opl e t o com p la in after th e rac es I had that kind o f tro u ble, this ki n d o f t ro ub le . T h at 's wh y I d on 't re ally like t o loo k h ac k - a p erson sho uld le arn b y, hut n ot d we ll o n h is mi stakes. CN - H ow d o th e p e opl e conce rn e d wi th racing in Eu ro p e c o m p are w ith those h er e - p e ople suc h as spec ta to rs , riders, e tc. ? T ih b lin - O n ly o n e co u n try in E u rop e can keep up with th e U.S . in atti tude , and th at's Bel gium and m a yb e H olland. I reall y think the A.M .A . is d oing a great job a nd I ca n ' t find the rac esin Eu rope b etter th an o ve r h er e. The ra ce s here are ve ry wel l o rganize d . Wh at yo u n eed is a fe w mo re spectat o rs. CN - 1I0w lon g do y o u pl an to make th e United St at es y o u r h ome an d wh at • to::E are y o u r go als he re ? T ih h lin - I re all y li ke it h er e . I a m goi ng to try to ge t my green ca rd, the n I w o uld h ave th e sam e rights as yo u . Of cou rse , I ha ve t o stay h ere five ye a rs t o b ec ome a ci tize n. But , I thin k I'm go ing to sta y h er e , I re all y li ke it h e re , I like th e p eop le , I like to wo r k with m ot orcy cle peo p le . Ru t , yo u kno w , yo u ca n fin d b a d people a ll o ver. I h ave th a t ex pe rience in Eu ro p e . b ut I h ave m e t so very ma ny n ice pe o p le a nd so few b ad p e ople an d 1 th ink y o u h ave th e same he re . Bu t so fa r, I ha ve just be en meetin g nice p eople . I thi nk th at if y o u be n ice to p e ople, th e y 'll be n ic e to yo u . C N -- Did yo u p repare yo u r o wn ma ch in e for those race s? Tih hli n -- I prepar ed m y bike. to gether w ith o ur raci ng man age r C la us Ni lsson, but I really lik e to take care o f m y "When it comes to chain remember two th inqs , The place to lu bricate is the inside of all those littl e pin bush ings. The ot he r thing to re me m be r is TORCO PO WER SLI DE Chain Spra y . _ =' 01 s- r 0>1 5.1 ... 0 .... - to ::r 3 ~I ... POWER SLIDE pen etrates in sid e and leaves a clear tra nspare n t f ilm of .anti·w ear lu b ricant on th e pins and bushings. It won 't sq ue eze out, slinq-o ff or m e lt w he n hot. It's also w aterproof a nd ru st proof. 0 co 0 " o ~ 2 _. Cll g :l; .(; o ~ ~ I~ ., c o c: ...... .'" BRAD LACKEY 1972 AM ER ICA N MOTa CROSS Use T ORCO POWER SLI DE . I know you'll like it ." CH AM PI ON Cll KAWAS AKI RACI NG TEA M I :l; 1= <, CN - You w o n th e Min t h o t h last ye a r and th is ye a r, p lu s la st year's Baj a 1000. Would y o u attes t th ese w in s more to rid er skill o r mo re t o c o n d itio ni n g? Tihhlin - In a long d istance race lik e th e Min t o r Baja y o u n e ed so much experience to p ut th e m ot orcy cle to geth er an d to plan eve ry th in g so far ah ead . A nd I guess we we re lucky to m ake it . In th e firs t Mint (las t ye a r) I rode toge th er with Bah Grossi an d h e was do in g a bea utifu l j o b . Th en in Baj a I ro d e to ge th er wit h Gunnar N ilsson fr om S we de n an d he was d o in g th e same . T hen this year a t th e Mint it wa s Mitch May es w ho w a s ri din g so good . It's no t th at h ard if y o u ge t a good p artn er an d good p it service. ~ nco", 31 0> Cll CN - Wh at a re yo u r plan s for th e Mot oc ross School? Ti b h lin - :>1 1' pl an is to help Ame rican rid e rs to ge t in shape , to le arn to train to ge t in shape . We a re go in g to he ve ry h ap p y if we c an bre a k eve n. We aren ' t lo o kin g f o r mo ney, we j ust wan t to hel p th e ride rs . If the y ride Suzuki, Yam ah a, o r Hu sk y, it 's all th e sa me be c ause we th ink th a t if a guy rides a S u zuki o r a Yam ah a. maybe nex t y ea r h e'll w an t to buy a . Husky . T he sc h oo l wil l hel p ad ver tise o ur p ro duct . I thi n k th at it 's ver y go o d for th e sport t ha t ride rs ca n go to sc hoo l an d le arn to ge t in sh ape . to learn t o ride. I ' thin k we ar e also ru n nin g a sa fe o pe ra t io n . I h ope so. Rol f T ibb li n , a man w ho kn ows m ot o rcy cl ing and genui n ely suppo rt s th e spo rt . ." c: ~ . Buy T ORCO POWER SLIDE from your dealer. I!:: I !!. I ~ I :l; I ~ r ·1 .. L o c: N I L OJ ~ ~ § .., ~ w Z w CN - \Vhat is y o ur ra ce strate gy fo r U >long d e sert rac e s'! U Tibhlin - In a ra ce lik e th e Min t or Baj a, or any im p o rt ant race, I ge t so se ri o us an d I try to d o eve ryt hin g right. I fe el th a t I go a little t o o slo w . But 1 kn o w if I gothe same speed c o n siste n t ly fo r a cou p le o f h ou rs, I can keep u p with th o se guy s in th e d ese r t. I lik e to rid e safely an d I told Mitch to take it very easy . I told him th a t if so meone , p asse s him, j ust le t h im go be c aus e he won't go so far. 4 0 0 mil es is a lo n g wa y v o u h ave to b ring th e m otorcy cl e h ome. CN - Wh a t d o y o u feel is a good philo so phy fo r a person se rio us ab o ut racin g? Ti b h lin - Take ca re o f yo u rse lf , ge t 10 h o ur s slee p, w o rk o u t - m aybe yo u ru n two o r three tim es a w e e k fo r a half h our e ac h time . T h en w ork o u t to so me kin d of exe rci se p ro gr a m. j ust lea d a n orm al life . G et yo ur hike toge ther. Pr e par e it. T r y to le arn yo u r m o to rcycl e , if y o u don' t kn ow to o m uch ab ou t it. Don ' t le t o t h er pe op le care fo r it t oo mu ch. T ry to le arn as mu ch as you c an ab o u t it , be cau se if yo u ru n in to tr ouble, you c an fix it y ou rsel f an d ge t b ac k. A lso, he n ice t o people o n a n d off the race tra c k, b ec au se even o ff th e race tr ack peopl e still lo o k a t y ou a s a m ot orcy cl e ra ce r. CN - Ar e yo u go in g to r id e th e I.S .D.T . in th is c o u n try thi s y e ar? T ibblin - N o , I 'm n ot. I sho uld Iike to rid e , h u t th e Sw e d ish Fed e ration w on't let me ge t an Ame ric an Internati onal ca rd. A nd I d on' t wan t to ride as a Swede. If I ride in th e Un ite d S ta tes, I sho uld like t o d o it a s an Ameri c an . S o, I'll h ave to ge t th ere as a m e ch an ic. T h ere is so much to d o . CN - Th ank yo u ver y m u ch. Ti bblin - j a , Shure. Brf/d If/ckey Sf/Ys ••• ---------------r-c n 0 0 0 -< 2 '" '" '" 0.. ..J MOVING? o motorcycle before a b ig race lik e th e Min t o r Baj a. I am j ust th at w ay . I c an ' t ride a motorc ycl e I d on't reall y kno w , I ha ve t o ge t u sed to it . 1 like to know wh at's in sid e - sa y th e transmissio n. I lik e to put it toge th er m ys el f, to get he r w ith Claus N ilsso n . li e ' s a re ally good me ch an ic . I d o n ' t th in k I trustun y one els e . Maybe Mal c olm S mith bec au se 'he is su p e r go o d : th e best ri d er an d th e best me c han ic in t.he;. Un ite d St at es to me . - MANUFACTUR ER - REGIS TERED TOR C O O I L CO MPANY 12247 LAKELAN D RO AD SANTA F E SPRIN GS . CA LIF . 9067 0 MEMBER