Atc 4 Me

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Brett Driscoll......... I've been away for awhile. I do remember my Yamaha experiences. Most of them anyway...... During the 1000. When Dean handed the bike over to me it was a pile. It was completely patched up. No skid plates, bent up, I know you can imagine because you rode some of the machine later.

Anyway, Deans toast..... none of the brakes worked. Something had fouled up the front brakes and the rear disc was so bent that it would "push" the pucks apart so it was not effective. Plus the smal light was wiped off it too.

If you will recall, we had it all planned to be in a certain pit before it got too dark, and if we fell a little behind we would still have the "small" light. We decide that I will try to nurse the Banshee along to the next pit where the main light rack is IN THE DARK! I am to follow other participants and use their lights t oget to the next pit, which actually worked pretty well considering.

That worked for a while. I don't remember a whole lot more other than after I got to the next pit and had the lights on I started reeling in Ray Schooley the leader. In fact, I had just caught up to him when we encountered a knarly Mexican speed bump.

Well, Ray had brakes. The rest is how you remember it. I think that the mexicans actually "clubbed" me more than I had gotten in a bad wreck. Anyway, yea i had some short term memory loss for a couple of days. It has mostly come back.

Besides, we did have an awesome time didn't we?? Ray and I teamed again the following year, 1988. The ignition gave out at the 1/2 way mark. We still had quite an adventure because some Mexicans stole the Quad off of the course!!

Thats another story, and the only one of my 7 Baja 1000's I DNF.

So Brett, How have you been?? How is the Imperial Valley? Can I still get a pair of Vuarnet Sunglasses from your store?

Mike

[3WW Star-driscoll333]

hey mike, its been along time, its great to hear from you. i didnt know the whole cuncusion story. glad u cleared that up. it wasnt funny at the time, but it is now.. we should have teamed in a few more races before we called it quits. I.V. is still hot and dusty, but still home. next time u come thru, u better stop by my store. vuarnet's are out... spy, arnette, VZ, oakley's are in!! and rayban's are back in style..hahaha.. keep in touch.. brett

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Brett,

It was probably funny then too! I have had a number of fellow racers recall that race and all of the repetitive questions I kept asking. I have been around others that have sustained mild head injuries and know what it's like to be on the other side. It can be funny! As long as you know the rider is not suffering from any major injuries.

I don't even remember why you didn't race with Ray and myself the following year at the 1000. Did you compete at all in 88 or did you see the end was near too? My wife became pregnant with our first child in 1988.

I called the SCORE Riverside race that year my final event. I raced a YZ250 powered Banshee that broke during the race. I did come out of retirement in 1993 to compete in and win the Pikes Peak Hill Climb event. That event and win was probably one of my most memorable victories! Have you ever been to the Pikes Peak race? It was awesome. I hear the environmentalists are still trying to shut it down. It is nearly paved all the way to the top now so it is nothing like it used to be 10+ years ago...... Oh well. Thats progress right?

I'll PM you with my regular e-mail address.......

Mike

[GREGMCKEE]

Hi Mike....
Amazing how this thread just keeps on smokin' along...
I read the whole thing yesterday and the inside stories you have shared have been awesome!!

I noticed somewhere along the line you said that for the most part your 250R's were stock to start with and then were modified. I remember seeing pictures in some of the magazines I believe from 1984 where some of the 250R's had what looked like a radiator shroud mounted to the (right) side. Can you confirm this? Was that in response to the debut of the Tecate? I will have to dig through the old mags and try to scan a pic. So from what I understand you guys didnt get a lot of "works" stuff like the MX guys did. I remember reading that someone from Team Honda saying that the Ohtsu tires were not very good. They sure looked cool though!
I can also remember back to when you all had to switch to the Hondaline jerseys and pants...they were about the ugliest stuff going at the time...I remember thinking "Those poor buggers!"

Well Mike I want to thank you for setting the record straight about the crap that went on in 1985. I have to admit that I was one of the many people who jumped on the Marty Hart bandwagon, but I always knew that you were champion material too. I do have to mention that I never saw any of you race, just read about you in the magazines...but you inspired me to get on my uncles ATC200 and race it at a fair (taking the win...) and parlayed that into a 4 year racing sponsorship with a local shop. You gave me something to aspire to and for that and the memories I have from racing, I say thanks!

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Greg,

We did receive some parts from Japan to convert our 3 wheelers to water cooling. Japan sent custom side covers with water pumps, cylinders, heads, and a few other goodies.

A friend of mine fabricated all of the radiator mounting hardware and shrouds.(He also modified our gas tanks for increased turning radius) Another friend made all of the radiators.

The engine was already designed to be water cooled, as the CR's had been since 1982 I believe. It was ALL in response to the release of the Kawasaki! And know this. No Ohtsu tire that I ever used was as good as the available Hoosiers. I could have won even more races had I been able to use Hoosier tires if I wanted! But since we were winning some on Ohtsu's, most believed they must be great simply because they weren't aware that we HAD to run them, not because we chose to!

As far as my commentary about the 1985 season, its all true. I want to reiterate that I have absolutely no hard feelings toward Marty Hart. He was and is a true Professional, and was one hell of a competitor. He is still involved in varying avenues of off-road competition and I see him every now and then on TV. He was involved in Rock Crawling, and I understand he is racing some class of pick-up truck too in the C.O.R.R. series.

But he did suffer some misfortunes and problems during that season, had a lot of bad luck and would not have won the championship without Honda changing things as they saw fit. Since the 1985 season was the first that the AMA was running, (Doug Richards was a FAR better promoter!) the AMA was in Hondas back pocket at the time. Honda ran the show, no question. Honda ATC knew they were going to reduce the team at year end and under nearly no circumstance was Marty not going to be the champ!

It was Honda management that was to blame for all of the BS, and in my opinion, Bruce Ogilvie was one of the biggest to blame. It was an unfortunate series of events (for me) and many know how Honda forced us into moving away from our long time sponsors and to use Honda products and Paul Turner engine components exclusively (slow). That along with the two earned points changes during and at the end of the season was a bad deal.

All in all, the good times clearly outweighed the bad! But even as the years tick by, myself and many others who raced then know the real score........

Mike

[3WW Star-driscoll333]

hey mike , when are we going to the dez? give me a call. ok set me straight on the ohtsu's. there was a big speedway race in el centro, and marty and 3 or 4 ohtsu guys tested on my private track for hours. im pretty sure they had several different compounds. if i remember right they didnt offer different compounds to the public. or was that only for marty?

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Brett,

Hows it goin'? Ohtsu had SO many tires, compounds, and tread designs it was crazy! Their problem was twofold. 1 none of the tire carcasses ever held a decent shape, and 2 the tires wouldn't hold an edge! I know I completely shredded so many Outsu's testing it wasn't funny. Marty did too.

The two Japanese tire guys that Honda sent over busted their asses trying to make a competitive tire. You may have known this, but Ted and Mat grooved MOST of our early tires from blanks!! Those guys were awesome with a tire iron!

When the production tires showed up, they NEVER worked as good as Hoosiers. NEVER. But we had to run them. We did have a few different compunds to choose from bu none of them worked well. Their production desert tires were great, but the flat track tires sucked big time. At least mine did.

Because I know how Marty got preferential treatment with all of Paul Turners engine mods and ATC 500R frame tricks, It wouldn't surprise me to learn that he also had access to his own special sets of Ohtsu race tires too.

I rarely go riding in the dez any more. The only time I go by there is when I'm on my way to Phoenix or Tucson. Too many idiots. Part of that is the states fault by not opening up more riding areas with all of that green sticker money they spend on everything else. I read in the paper recently where that may soon change! Looks like the Governator signed a bill that will hopefully make some much needed improvements for the off-road community!

Ever been to Gorman? You've probably driven past it numerous times on the I-5 over the years. Some of the best trail riding around! I got bored of the Dunes, Ocotillo, and Ocotillo Wells years ago. Its still O.K. riding, but I wanted to explore some new stuff. Somewhere I hadn't ridden a 100 times before, and where its still pretty remote. Its nice only seeing maybe 6 other riders during the whole day!

[Twilight]

Mike, I know this is off-topic. But did you ever have a chance to drive a Honda Pilot? Or get a chance to race them?

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Twilight,

I drove and perfomed many tests for the original Honda Odessey. I have also driven a few Pilots as well. I find it funny that Honda re-used those names for some of their more current mini van/SUV autos.

Anyway, I NEVER raced them.

Mike

[Bryan Raffa]

and there Big Red is now a MUV

Hey Coe been rideing at all? See any old racers lately?

You might know this also.. what are these rear fenders on this 200x...

[FreakinColeBuil]

I was wondering if anyone would know where i could get a copy of Wiseco AATVA cross country national championship video from 1985 or any atc videos from the 80's I cant seem to find any... Videos of Lake George atc races back then or just anything...??

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

Bryan Raffa,

Its been a while since i've been logged on.

The picture in your post is of Curtis Sparks, that I know for sure. There were a couple vendors that made "lowered" fibergalss rear fenders for ATC 250R's and also for the 200X. Dean Sundahl sold many through his SRP business for a while, but I don't recall if he had one for the 200X.

Anyway, the fender in question is a fiberglass aftermarket "race" fender designed to be used with the flat track tires. You might try a search, but I don't know of anyone making them now. They could always be made of plastic like any of the other reproduction parts made for trikes these days.

The only rider I stay in semi contact with is Curtis Sparks. I do continue to ride, but mainly ride my modified CRF230. I did some riding with Donny Luce a couple of years ago, and continue to request a ride with Curtis, but it seems more and more difficult to match schedules these days with family planning, work etc.

Good luck and ride safely.

[az350xer]

Mike,
Hey man, I'm an old fan from way back! Back when I was a teenager all I wanted to do was race ATC's because of guys like you, Brett, Gary and others. I just ran across a cool picture of you at Legends 2000. Most of those other guys were wearing Troy Lee jerseys and other modern stuff, but there you were with ATC pants and an old school JT chest protector! That was awesome man!

[3WW Star-CoeShow]

az350xer,

Thanks for your comments. The amazing thing was all of my old stuff still fit!! I have tried to maintain a "lean" body composition through the years. I think that living a healthy lifestyle and riding as often as possible does a body good....... Ride-on!

Mike

[scooterroo]

looks like lake george in the pic raffa.