Bike Shop
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By Clutch Roberts
have loved reading motorcycle magazines all my life and I'd like to share a few memorable passages. There have been lifestyle columns, bike tests and other features with bits that just stay with you. In Motocross Action Magazine "1989 250 Motocross Shootout "they loved the Honda CR250. Well, not everything about it. Sure, it turned well, had a great engine, super brakes, clutch and had that Honda fit and feel. Even back then, Honda's were put together well. When you worked on a Honda, all the parts lined up right to where they were supposed to go. Sit on a Honda and everything feels just right. Well, everything was right just until you hit some bumps. You may have noticed that I didn't include suspension in the list of attributes above. MXA was never shy to say what bikes were actually like, then and now. Of the 1989 250 Honda they said: "In place of suspension components, Honda put medieval catapults on each end of the CR250." In the early days of Supercross, the promoters asked MXA editor Jody Weisel if he had any recommendations for
together before enduro events Supercross tracks. "Make the and Ed would sneak his friends berms out of foam rubber and fill boots into the refrigerator the the water hole with Armor All." Yes, supercross tracks used to have night before. Funny thing about me is I didn't understand the joke. water holes. I thought he was just hiding the I always enjoyed reading boots (something my friends have the now defunct Cycle Magazine. I love both street and dirt motorcycles, both riding and racing, so this was a good overview of our world. There was an enduro column writer there who kept us entertained. If you remember "The Duct Tapes" by Ed Hertfelder, then you know who I am talking about. He had a few gems that stuck in my mind over the decades. Ed and his friend would camp Duct Tapes 80 by Ed Hertfelder, published in 1980 in a camper
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done to me). Years later I realized what he was doing when I was camping in Ocotillo Wells on a cold night. First thing in the morning I got dressed to ride and my feet froze in my boots. Right then I had a clear understanding of why he put his friends boots in the fridge. In another column he talked about skidplates and how they were hard to get. In the old days, aftermarket stuff was not very good and pretty scarce. They learned that railroad engines used to run on coal before they ran on diesel fuel and wore out shovels moving coal into the burner. The old, worn shovels were tossed out of the coal cars on the ground. So, Ed would ride along the tracks looking for a shovel. When they were worn, they were the right size and where the shovel handle went fit nicely on the frame's downtube. Problem was drilling the holes to bolt it on. The steel was really hard and difficult to drill, so he tried to "drill" it with a 38, but learned the hard way what a ricochet was. Helmets were also hard to come by in the early days. They found out that fighter jet pilots wore helmets that would work great, but how do you get one of those? They were out riding and saw what looked like a fighter plane in trouble. They saw the parachute open and so they headed towards it. That side of the country has an awful lot of trees and they arrived to find the pilot hanging above the ground, parachute caught in the trees. They parked their bikes and he called out to them, "Can you guys get me down?" "Sure," they said, "first throw your helmet down." E
