Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 14, 2014 P117 smile. "In my mind I already had mapped out what I was going to do to turn the bike into a café racer and the whole deal." There was only one problem. Even though he worked at a motorcycle shop Williams had never actually ridden a motorcycle. Being the studious type, Williams sat down for most of the day and me- ticulously read through the owner's manual before attempting his first ride. "Back then you only had to take a written test to get your motorcycle endorsement on your drivers' license. Before you knew it I taught myself how to ride; I had a subscription to Cycle World that I got every month and I read as much as I could on rid- ing and how to work on bikes." One day Williams was working in the shop and someone mentioned something about races at Sears Point. They told Williams there was a black guy who raced named Bill Judkins. "I was excited to about hear about Bill, even though I never got to see him race," Williams said. "I figured, 'Hey, he's a black guy who figured out how to go racing, maybe I can too.' I think I was in 10th grade when I decided to quit playing football and instead turn my attention to becoming a motorcycle racer." It was a good thing he turned his attention to the track, because at about the same time the Berke- ley Police had seen enough of Williams' antics on the street. "I thought I was too slick for them," Wil- liams said "until the morning they actually showed to the shop to talk to me about my riding." The guys at the TT Motors were encouraging about his road racing aspirations and told him they would help as much as they could. It wasn't long before Williams found himself at Sears Point at an AFM rider's school. Williams admitted he found road racing much faster and more difficult than he thought it would be, but again he was always very analytical and he soaked up all the information he could from the instructors. After several race week- ends things began to click for Williams and his lap times and results started to improve dramatically. It was a few years into his club-racing career when Williams experienced a seminal victory. He was leading his race on a Kawasaki KZ650, when, on the final lap, he was passed by Paul Ritter. Rit- ter was a Sears Point legend who'd twice beaten all the National guys in AMA Superbike races at the circuit on a Dale Newton Ducati, but Williams knew none of this. All he knew is that he'd been leading the race and suddenly he wasn't. "Paul was a smart rider and he'd just been sit- ting back measuring me up," Williams remem- bers. "I was so mad when he went by me. I was young and aggressive and I was going to pass him back no matter what." Going into the final turn Williams simply waited until Ritter hit the brakes on the Ducati, then he shot inside him, the KZ skidding in protest. "Of course I was way too hot into the turn," Williams admits. "I had the bike sideways, chattering the whole way through, but somehow I made it and held on to win. Paul came by after the race. I'm sure he wasn't too pleased, but all he said to me was, 'I guess you wanted it worse than I did.'" After being filled in on just who it was he'd beat- en in that race, Williams said a rush came over him and his confidence as a rider shot through the roof. Not long after he went to Southern Cali- fornia and beat one of the local hot shots named Pete Busby in an AFM 250GP race at Riverside. "Busby was one of the top guys on the National level," Williams said. "So that gave me the confi- dence that I had the skills now to give it a shot as a pro." Next week we'll look at Williams' rise in the pro ranks, his emotional Battle of the Twins vic- tory at Laguna Seca on the heels of his mother's death, teaming with a young Kevin Schwantz, his unsuccessful quest to earn a factory Super- bike ride and his rides outside of America. CN THE BERKELEY BURNER (PART 1) Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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