Random 1980s racing pictures

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

George at what i believe is the LA Sports Arena in late 1984, i did not attend this race for one reason or another.

Catching some air on one of the Can Am 200s, oh how i wish i still had one of those Franks jerseys



Dicing with the ever consistent Paul Woods on his custom KDX200, I wonder what Paul is up to these days, i stopped seeing him at the races in late 84.



Rotax stuffs

Been cleaning the forks up a bit, ended up using a buffing pad on my dremel to get the last bits of paint off and it worked well but ate up about $30 in buffing pads.

[onformula1]

John, you do great work, very clean!

As always, excellent pictures, Thank You.

I can't believe how many SAE bolts are on that trike, I guess it was built in the USA & most machinist still seem to prefer them on everything.

It looks like George was not just a pro FT/TT rider, he was great everywhere!

That open face helmet gives me chills!

[Jmoozy27]

I just missed out on the 90/110 racing era, my first ride on a ATC was on a 110 in 78 that was on our ranch when we bought it for the irrigation workers to use (i went straight into a wire fence, mad skillz yo).

crossing the line at my very first race, 185s in all its stock glory
Attachment 221726

I'm digging the race gear... Sweatshirt, blue jeans, leather boots, and no gloves. Good pics John. Pure gold buddy...

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

It was hard sourcing high grade metric nuts and bolts back in those days, i remember many a trip to our local CAT dealer to score some of their black grade 8 bolts after George or i would sheer off another pot metal Honda foot peg bolt or whatever. My dad would drill out the metric threads and helicoil in the next size up SAE threading and that solved that.

George was a beast, he was into weight lifting and karate in those days and he had great balance and endurance for a 200 pound dude. I was a late bloomer on the physical side and it was not till ATV racing had died off and i had gotten hooked on mountain bikes, Jet Skies and motocross that i got my fitness sorted out.

[onformula1]

It was hard sourcing high grade metric nuts and bolts back in those days, i remember many a trip to our local CAT dealer to score some of their black grade 8 bolts after George or i would sheer off another pot metal Honda foot peg bolt or whatever. My dad would drill out the metric threads and helicoil in the next size up SAE threading and that solved that.

George was a beast, he was into weight lifting and karate in those days and he had great balance and endurance for a 200 pound dude. I was a late bloomer on the physical side and it was not till ATV racing had died off and i had gotten hooked on mountain bikes, Jet Skies and motocross that i got my fitness sorted out.

I was checking out some websites about the old MTEG Races (I still can't figure who won on trikes & quads per year) It seems like the history is cloudy online.

Anyway, a few guys that raced against you said your nickname was "Baby Huey" I have never heard that before...nor seen it in a magazine...LOL

We must have got lucky, my father always went to VW shops for grade 8 metric bolts, they used them on BAJA bugs & sand rails.

[onformula1]

I'm digging the race gear... Sweatshirt, blue jeans, leather boots, and no gloves. Good pics John. Pure gold buddy...

Hey, the first riding pants I ever had were real leather with a metal buckle that looked like it came off a weight lifting belt, padded too. Very cool in the Southern California desert!

The Bell Moto lll was the helmet to have, unfortunately Bob "Hurricane" Hannah was so popular the only color you could buy in the early days was a nice mustard/gold color. Jofa was the popular chest protector, if you were cool/lucky you had a FOX or JT, that probably had yellow on it. M. Robert's made good leather gloves, but most kids never wore any back then after riding bikes, trikes and BMX bikes and playing outside all the time you didn't seem to need them which is why I never had a blister.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

George and i had proper riding gear but the three wheelers where just about having fun in those days and so we did not break out the leathers and stuff. I have some photos of us riding our Suzuki dirt bikes in full 1970s riding gear that ill post at some point just for a laugh.

I had a number of nicknames and my Dad had all those dang magazine editors in on the joke, from age 10 to 14 i was know as "Piglet" and got called that in a few publications then i had a six inch growth spurt over about a five month period that totally messed up both my conditioning and coordination and i was known after that as Baby Huey and called that a few times in the magazines.

Hard to brag to your friends about being mr famous racer dude when you are being called Baby Huey.

Piget got to use a normal front tire, it was a good day.

[onformula1]

HAHA, my Mom used to call me "Husky" when I was young for a few years, I thought it was cool because I loved Husqvarna's and Malcolm Smith... I figured it out later.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

George's ripping it up on his 185s and 250R

i want that white truck in the center shot



81 250R pinned



Rotax stuffs

the parts ive replaced for one reason or other



couple shots of the frame



just waiting on the o-rings for the head then i can start putting it back together

[xrider]

Great work John. Cant wait to see it back together.

[atc300r]

George and i had proper riding gear but the three wheelers where just about having fun in those days and so we did not break out the leathers and stuff. I have some photos of us riding our Suzuki dirt bikes in full 1970s riding gear that ill post at some point just for a laugh.

I had a number of nicknames and my Dad had all those dang magazine editors in on the joke, from age 10 to 14 i was know as "Piglet" and got called that in a few publications then i had a six inch growth spurt over about a five month period that totally messed up both my conditioning and coordination and i was known after that as Baby Huey and called that a few times in the magazines.

Hard to brag to your friends about being mr famous racer dude when you are being called Baby Huey.

Piget got to use a normal front tire, it was a good day.

Love the 81 250r .I have mine setup similar with DG full exhaust ,intake and head with a plus 5 Nasa axle and plus 3 custom made swingarm. Still racing it..Geneva NY last year. The guy sitting is Rodney Shedenhelm from California I don't know if you know him or not he raced a lot back when you did. He raced for Holiday Honda.

[Orangecnty250r]

George's ripping it up on his 185s and 250R

i want that white truck in the center shot



81 250R pinned



Rotax stuffs

the parts ive replaced for one reason or other



couple shots of the frame



just waiting on the o-rings for the head then i can start putting it back together

AWESOME!! You are very organized!!

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

@OC250RThank you, its pretty easy since i live alone and so no one to disturb my little piles of three wheeler scattered about.

First o ring for the head that i got was to thick so back to waiting again for some thinner 2.5mm ones to show up, this engine has oddly sized o ring grooves that makes it hard to decide on the perfect fit for them.

@atc300r - yeah i remember the Holiday Honda trailer at the races, i think i even have it in some of my photos of the pit areas but i cant place the name to a face/rider since he was likely a 250cc rider who was racing against George more than myself in those days since i was a 200 class guy up till 84 for the most part. Id ride the other classes but my rivals who i focused on where mainly the 200 guys.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

George at CRC race at Arroyo Cyclepark (now called Glen Helen) in early 81

Stock 250R aside from a pipe and tires, front tire is off a 81 Odyssey and worked surprisingly well







Nothing really new with the Rotax to report, waiting on o rings and trying to track down shock parts has been about it.

[onformula1]

^ There seems to be a bad Yamaha in the first picture.