Random 1980s racing pictures

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

bit of 250R fun

first couple are from Fremont Raceway, the second two a CRC Sunday race the day after the Anaheim supercross



@OC250R - I sure would enjoy a tour of your collection someday.

after great upheaval and turmoil i got my kickstart shaft seal changed, it gave tight fit a whole new meaning

[phantomtracer]

John, did they modify the Anaheim track from the bikes? That must have been insane to ride any version of Anaheim. Any interesting stories about racing on a supercross track?
Thanks for posting

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

If Hi-Point had used photos like this in their ads instead of Jack Penton playing male model they might still be in business.



@phantomtracer - Hundreds of riders on dirt bikes would show up for the Sunday morning after a supercross CRC races and they had all the big jumps knock down so you could roll them and the whoops flattened so that even a PW50 could do a lap around the course,albeit at a walking pace.

I raced a bunch of supercrosses on the full pro track layouts when Suzuki hosted Quadracer races during the intermissions all during 85 and 86 and offered some really good cash prizes but to be honest i never did worth a damn at any of them as the guys with more motocross experience had a major edge on me on those tracks. The same guys i would lap at a TT race so it was tip for tat.

My favorite of the SX Quad events was oddly enough a DNF but it was the best because i broke my chain on my Quad and we could not get the bike off the track before the dirt bike main events started so i got to watch the greatest race in motocross history sitting on my Quad in the in field. That race was the 86 Anaheim Supercross where David Bailey and Ricky Johnson went at it for 20 straight laps.

86 Anaheim SX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGa1ICpG19M

[onformula1]

Hey, Jack was a legend in enduros, but I don't know how much gear it sold for them, the Power Rangers outfits probably didn't help either.

John, that's a great story, I have never heard that one, I thought you were going to say your swingarm broke off at the carrier, that was always fun.

That was a great race, but I like this one too, last to first for RJ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2QrqZeKnuA

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

I cracked a bunch of alloy swing arms but never did have one totally fail on me, same with axles, bent a bunch but never snapped one off.

RJ was the man and if not for the wrist injury in 89 would of had a ton more championships to his name. I do not think MC in 93 would of gone on the winning streak that he did if a healthy RJ was still racing. Just my opinion.

I was at a CMC GoldenState national at the SandHill Ranch race track in Jan 86 and it was when RJ had first signed with Honda and Jeff Ward, Ronnie Lechien, Glover and all the Suzuki guys where there as it was a popular series to shake down the new bikes before the SX season started. RJ was head and shoulders faster than everyone else on his CR250R with the prototype upside down forks but he crashed his brains out on a huge downhill and his day was done. Wardy won the 250 and 500 and i believe it was Mike Healey on a Cagiva who won the 125. I raced the pro quad class but cant remember how i did.

I raced my Suzuki powered Quad at all those CMC races because of the bonus money Suzuki offered and i never did as well on that bike as i did on my Honda powered conversion Quadracer.

[onformula1]

My 85-86 Quadracer damage consisted of- 2 cracked swingarms, 2 bent axles, 1 cracked steering stem, 2 badly bent spindles, 1 snapped tie rod, 2 snapped A arm tabs off the frame and many blown motors trying to make it half as fast as a Honda!

RJ was bad, but JMB was going to give him fits at some point. I read a article from Europe where RJ was racing over there in 1988-1989? I think in the Des Nations were RJ grabbed a pit bike to ride to the other side of the track during practice to see why JMB was making up a lot of time, so he was on RJ's Radar. RJ had determination like no other so that would have helped for sure. I saw RJ in 1990 at the Mammoth Mountain Motocross tuning up after the injury and he destroyed everyone.

At the CMC Golden State nationals Mike Healey on a Cagiva 125 flew and that was not a Pekka Vehkonen Cagiva!

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

For me the weakness on production ATVs was the footpegs and handle bars, i would bend stock pegs and bars with in minutes of my first ride on a new bike if the track had big jumps. Never bent a race axle, just stock ones. My dad would get me some high grade steel pegs made up whenever we got a new bike after we moved on from the Franks to production bikes.

Yes pre mental issues Bradshaw and JMB would of been thorns in RJs side as well as MC if they could or would of not had the issues they did to of been removed from the scene when everything clicked for MC in 93.

thanks for 20k view, so here is a guy on a stock 185s blowing me away off the start..

[onformula1]

We always gusseted the frames and foot pegs before we rode them, I can't remember ever riding a trike or quad with stock grips, bars or a thumb throttle.

I was at the Mammoth Mountain Motocross track practicing the first time MC jumped on a borrowed full sized 125 from a mini, he picked it up just fine.

"Mental issues" how many top guys have fallen?,,, Sad. I think I could come up with 20-25 pretty easily.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

Yeah i am really proud of the guys racing MX today and how well they keep it together compared to the rise and fall of so many 70s,80s and 90s riders to addiction, attitudes no teams would work with or confidence and motivation swings because of a major loss like Bradshaw.

I raced with MC in the 250 Int class in the 1989 CMC GoldenState championship and of course he was faster than me but not by that much. He really picked it up over the next couple years after that. I never got faster than the Int class due to injuries and being on the large side for MX.

racing against Tri Motos is serious business

[onformula1]

From the pictures you don't look- "being on the large side for MX"

Here is a couple of pictures in 1991 at the Bishop, CA. Motocross Cycle Park. I had a trainer and I worked hard 6'1" 172 lbs. 4% body fat, later they made me pump up the body fat so I didn't collapse after a long race.

I need a scanner, but you might be able to make them out, I only have maybe 100 pictures after the fire.

This was my I want to be RJ stage of my life, check the gear, bike and number plate.




That double was tricky 75 feet landing down a hill in full chop then a 90 degree to the right...LOL, many blew the berm.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

Yeah i always had a compact on the bike style, but i am six foot two and when i hurt my back i was 225 pounds. I had been lifting weights for a couple years due to being forced off bikes after having full knee reconstruction in 1990 on my right knee to replace my ACL. Doing rehab on my knee got me into the groove of going to the gym (and i wont lie, i enjoyed looking at the ladies).

I do not have many photos of myself on dirt bikes as i was going to most of the races by myself in just my Ford van. Do you remember the guys that would go to the big races, take photos of every rider and than mail you mini pics offering to sell you higher res versions for like $20? I kept some of those, here is one on my 89 RM250 at the CMC Goldenstate at Hangtown, i got second in the Jr class and got a five foot tall trophee (Jr class at a GoldenState was like the Exp class most places because of so many sand baggers).




This EPSON scanner i got to upload pics here has been fantastic for me and has copied over 600 pics now without missing a step. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16838110057

[onformula1]

Thanks, for the scanner advice, your pics are nice, I have a HP all in one that likes to work sometimes, I think my wife beats it...LOL

I have a bunch of those tiny pictures, maybe we should start a post in the bike area?

I just showed up at the tracks with gear to race/test someone customers bike or 2 bikes and gear, none of us took pictures, we were all racing or on the pit board or in the pits getting ready for the next race.

A great gym was always fun!

When I was young my Mom took all the pictures, when it cools off out here I will go though her stuff and check for pics, she is a bit of a pack rat, (Hoarder)

[xrider]

Hey John. What made you guys decide to switch from the Franks machines to the factory machines?

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

@xrider - As i got older and my results started to improve i was getting more and more sponsorship offers and so when i signed with DG Performance in 1985 they needed me racing bikes they sold products for so the 1984 San Jose flat track nationals was the last time i raced a Franks bike and we switched to the new water cooled ATC250Rs right after that race.

In their last race I placed 4th in the 250 pro class on my Rotax behind Marty Hart, Jimmy White and Mike Coe and second behind Chris White in the open class on the KTM495 so the Franks bikes served me well right up till the end.

[onformula1]

What was Chris White riding, I assume a Tecate but what engine for the open class?