Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

$o-l Q,) ,.0 e Q,) .~ o Z CGn-Am's··littie .wonder John Martin By Jim Bowman Photos by Bowman.and Karel Kramer At 5'4" tall and 130 pounds, John Martin hardly looks big sitting on his Can-Am 250cc Qualifier, but Martin is Can-Am's number one National enduro rider and has been for four years. Martin, who's home is in Deluth, Minnesota, spends most of his time traveling between events and 1~ • l home. Martin doesn't mind though. When asked about his hobbies, he paused, thought a minute, shook his head and smiled, "All I like to do is ride motorcycles. I did buy a Jet Ski last ear, thoug-h." • i II II I j 1.1 •••• John first became interested 10 motorcycles in 1965. Whileon a family camping trip, John's father, Richard, became bored with watching the unchanging scenery and became interested in a minibike rider that was playing nearby. This new interest led to the purchase of the family's first motorcycle and eventually led to the .purchase of bikes for John and each of his brothers.• • • JI ~ Ij ••• John's first enduro was in POlassi, Missouri, and it was a family outing.. John remembers, "Burleson won that event with 10 points; I dropped 180. My brother and father beat me. I was riding one of the first IT400s and I weighed 115 pounds." After earning a silver medal at the International Six Days Enduro in 1980, anda ISDE gold medal in 1981, Martin has felt some success, but has yet to capture the golden prize: the United States National Enduro Championship. At the end of 1980, John was sure he had the runner-up spot in the bag, but a freak accident (a broken front axle) at the last National dropped him to third overall that year. Last year, Martin crushed a vertabrae and missed four months of competition. His medical leave cost him his bid for the National Championship, but he proved himself to still be in the hunt by coming back to win the aforementioned gold medal and finish lIth in the National standings.· John really enjoys his position as Can-Am's top factory rider and feels , lucky that he can earn his living . doing just what he likes to do mostI ••••• a. •••• a I , •••• I ride motorcycles. In addition to getting paid what he says is a pretty reasonable salary, Can-Am also pays his racing expenses and even paid for the custom painting and motor rebuilding of John's own van.. There is more to a factory sponsorship, though, as John explains: "What I do, number one, is I prepare my motorcycle for racing. I do Can-Am's service work, answer telephone calls from dealers or customers, do some letter answering (I get it typed by secrataries), participate in trade shows and get all that organized and I do some development work. They'll send down parts from the factory...and I'll have to write up a summary of what I think about it." When we talked to John back in July, his season was off to a good start, but he was not yet acheiving the results he wanted. With the excep-' tion of the Fool's Gold National 10 California and a DNF in Ohio, John had been consistantly placing in the top ten; his highest finish was second overall ·at the Burr Oak National in Indiana. As three or four local hotshots usually break the top 10, Martin was not doing poorly, but wasn't running away with the championship either. Said Martin, "I don't know why, but I always seem to start the season slowly. Things should pick up for me after the summer." When asked what he would do during the summer break in National competition, John said, "Go out riding. I ride local enduros to keep in shape." And in shape he must he must stay, Jolin took the overall in every Minnesota event he rode last year. "I had to," said Martin, "there are no AA riders to compete against at these enduros, so the only trophy I am eligible for is the overall. It is one of those wierd side-affects of being a professional in an amateur sport." When asked to explain this last statement, John was full of enthusi- , j' ., .. ,

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