Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 7, 2014 Glover went back to the Yamaha manual and discovered a passage near the very front that most riders either missed or interpreted incorrectly. Once he understood the meaning and was able to properly set the rear shock height it was like he'd cracked the TZ code. "The bulk of people would simply change the pre-load on the spring, but the trick was you needed to change the length of the shock eye to eye. Suddenly I could run the thing wide open through the high-speed turns, where before it would always push," Glover said. "In those days, on those tires, if you'd slide the front wheel 10 times, nine times you'd fall down." With his new discovery Glover was ready to do some damage. This was 1984 and Glover was riding well even before figuring out his TZ's suspension. He'd scored three top-five results in West Coast AMA 250GP Nationals leading up to the September round at Willow Springs. The '84 season was possibly the most competitive in series history. Ten different riders won in the 13 rounds that season. And it was Glover's turn at Willow. He knew he was on to something with his rear shock setup and practice confirmed it. "I told Barry [sponsor Barry Elliott] I was just going out in practice to scuff in tires," Glover said of Sunday morning's session. "Pretty soon here comes Donny Greene and Sam McDonald zipping past me, going at it tooth and nail. I wicked it up and reeled them right in. I could tell from the way they were riding they were going balls out. I waited until we came up to turn eight and I just blasted around the outside of both of them probably going 10 miles per hour faster. They both thought I was just being a hero and riding through there pushing my front end and getting away with it, but my bike was on rails." Glover had won his heat over Chris Steward and McDonald. Greene beat David Sadwoski and Alan LaBrosse to win the other heat. Steward led the opening laps of the final, but on lap three Glover P87 took over and he was only challenged once, going into turn eight by Tracy DeMuro. After that it was clear sailing. So good was Glover and his TZ that day, he was able to build a big lead and then back it off in the closing laps, cruising home to his first, and ultimately only, AMA National win. It capped off a dream weekend for Glover. The day before he and teammate Richard Scoular won the Kerker Four Hour Endurance race on a Yamaha FJ1100. "Riding the TZ the next day it felt like I was on the back of a greyhound by comparison," Glover laughs. Even today emotion creeps into Glover's voice when he thinks about his Willow victory, the highwater mark of his racing career. "There's nothing like standing up in the winner's circle and seeing all your friends who had faith in you," Glover reminisces. "I had no idea I had so many friends. It felt like there were a million of them that day." The next season Glover suffered a massive crash at Laguna Seca. After a lengthy layoff he came back to racing, but by then he was in his late 30s and wasn't getting any faster. After a short stint racing lower-level events in Europe he decided to hang up his leathers. "I feel satisfied knowing that with the right equipment I could run with anybody," Glover said. "I battled and beat some of the best, including guys like Wayne Rainey. But by the time I hit my stride I was too old for anybody to mess with." Today Glover still rides, but at a much slower pace on his Harley around his home in Key West, Florida. His son still lives in California and competes on sidecars in Speedway racing. "I had a great time racing and had some pretty decent success, but there's no doubt that the win at Willow Springs was the biggest moment for me." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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