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/143901
''I'm on good equipment now and that really helped. The bikes are a lot lighter, faster and the suspension works a lot better. That was a big change psychologically because now I know that nobody out there has a bike that is better than mine. I feel real confident now. I used to go out there hoping I could win. Now I go out there knowing I can win," The help from Team Honda and Danny's tuner Steve Carter has given Danny just about all he needs "to smoke the nation." His European wins, his energy, his good health and his new confidence are adding up to prepare him for a really great year in 1983. We asked Danny about his European wins and found out .he really liked the enthusiastic spectator support of the sport.'Even more than that, though, we found out that Danny really liked the team competition at the Trophee and Motocross des Nations. "The team competition brought all the participating Honda riders together. We all became closer and got to know each other better. When we're here racing in the States, we know at the track that we're nice peop'le away from the track, but we're uptight and have the presSure of racing against each other. Sure, we all wanted to win in Europe, but because we were a team, it took the individual load off each of us and we got a chance to know each other." Chandler would like to get back together with his Honda teammates off the track again, but it will be hard with the schedules they keep. He's had ideas though, ''I'd like to see team competition in the U.S., factory against factory, maybe once a year. We could have it filmed for TV and make a big deal about it like the Superbikers, and see what factory has the best team." Team or no teams, Magoo will be racing for a long time. He enjoys racing so much that it's become more of a habit than a profession. We drove back to Magoo's friend's house and found three guys working on an old truck that, while an antique, seemed to be destined towards transportation rather than restoration. Danny jumped in on the project and when the battery failed to start the truck, and compression didn't work either, Danny jumped on the side boards with a can of starting fluid and fed the carburetor while another guy pulled the truck with another Toyota. The truck never started and Magoo set t6 goading the other guys into a little four-wheelin'. What went on for the next few hours was a game of "let's get the other truck stuck." Magoo was the leader and the hands down winner. We must have towed and winched the other truck out of messes a half a dozen times. Everyone was muddy by the time we returned home and we'd all been through some pretty terrain and traversed more than a few eyeopening obstacles. Magoo is as crazy on four wheels as on two! Magoo laughed wh n we commented on his driving and told us how Honda teammate Johnny O'Mara calls him a hick, and Magoo calls o 'Mara a kitten (or did he use another word?), Anyway, O'Mara has a real nice Toyota four-wheeler, but won't subject it to the same abuse as Chandler. O'Mara is from the southern California city area and was one of Magoo's teammates in Europe. Danny would really like to get him up to Foresthill for a little four-wheelin', but after seeing the pictures on these pages, we doubt if Johnny will take his truck. It's pretty tough to withstand Magoo's goading when his mind's made up. ~ \" .J', ... • ',,' (C9'qiilJ1!!!q.,'i t l.Aa"Kl' 4)) RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. ~- BY YOSHIMURA. "Flying" Fred Merkel completely shattered the AFM Riverside Raceway track record aboard the Yoshimura Suzuki. Posting a lap at 1:28.93 seconds, he chopped a full 1.14 seconds off previous record holder Eddie Lawson's best-ever time. Riding the 1982 Yoshimura 1024cc AMA Superbike, Fred blew away the Open ' SuperStreet Class against many machines, 1100cc and larger. After winning the race and setting the new track record, the bike was gassed up, the chain adjusted, and Merkel wheeled it onto the Formula One starting grid with less than three minutes to go. And when the flag went up, fred and the Suzuki were gone. Back-to-back firsts in two consecutive road races. No valve adjustments in between. No jetting changes. Not even spark plugs. When you put such a high- performance machine to this kind of test, you know it was built right. By people who know how. Yoshimura. Put the legend of Yoshimura to work for your machine. From our beautiful, 4-into-1 Series VII Exhaust Systems, Pistons and Cams, all the way to race-ready Superbikes. For breaking into the 10's, or breaking track records...Yoshimura has the power. 1983 CatalOll *4, Yoshimura Research and Development of America. 4555 Carter Ct" Chino, CA 91710. (714) 628-4722, Visa and MasterCard accepted, mJ ~OSIHIIIMlUJIA ThePrecision. ThePer10m RICe. ThePower. No brag. Fact. 'The Best Go West' T-shirts say it all. Please turn to our order blank in the Dealer Directory page and make your statement.