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I think that I first raced at the Springfield, MO, Fairgrounds in the Arena Building back in 1971 or 1972. I remember that it was winter, it was cold, and the pits were outside. I rode a Yamaha Mini Enduro 60cc machine. One week it was a small flat track circuit, the next it was a flat track with a V in the backstretch. I was lapped by local rider Rusty Reynaud on his Yamaha Noguchi kitted GT80. My cousin Dean Crane and his wife (at the time) Lois had taken me there. Dean raced a Bultaco, his brother Tim raced a 250 Bultaco, and Lois rode a 125 Yamaha. Dean worked on my JT1 Mini Enduro for the better part of the day to get it running so that I could go. I remember that on one of the two nights, we ran over a skunk on the old Ford truck on the way to my house. The whole thing was reminiscent of the movie, Little Fauss and Big Halsey. From that point, I was hooked on the excitement, the smell of race fuel in the air, and the challenge of seeing the other racers successfully out riding/outsmarting other competitors on the race track.
My first memory of working on a bike was for a neighbor who I recall was legally blind and owned a Sears (Puch) bike, maybe a 125. It was a two stroke and he had purchased the bike with the top end removed and a damaged piston. He had ordered a piston and wanted me to install it. At maybe 11 years of age, I proudly loaded my tool box that we took to the races and mom drove me back to his house. I installed the top end, but when we started it, it only ran for a second, then quit. It turned out that the big end rod bearing had failed and had ruined the new piston (which is also what caused the old piston to fail). He wasnt thrilled, and I left. So far as I know, he never did get it running again. Fortunately, I have learned since then.
After some initial forays into shorttrack racing at Fairgrounds (described prior) and Clear Creek, I would turn to motocross for the final race in 1975 at the Airport Speedway (my first motocross race ever). The first moto I got the holeshot on a 1973 Yamaha CT3 and led some of it, to finally finish second. Prior to the second moto, the rain poured and the clay was so slick that it was somewhat hard to walk on without slipping. I started poorly, fell about 75 times (it seemed). I think that I was lapped twice. So much for the Cinderella story! By now, I was doing all of my own maintenance and reading everything that I could get my hands on. We moved the shocks up on that bike to gain more suspension travel and did several mods on the motor.
Over the winter, we bought a 1975 Suzuki TM100 and I raced the 100 class that year, never finishing better than 3rd, out of a field of generally 5 or 6 riders. Mel Gere had helped us with old parts from the bike that his son Doug had ridden the year prior through his store Action Cycle. Action Cycle was a fixture here for 30 years. Mel has also been the NMA regional director for our area almost constant since 1975 or so and I wish to thank him for all that he has done for EVERY local racer. From providing opportunities to race, officiating the races, and helping with parts through his store, nearly everyone of us in this area owe him a huge THANK YOU! Mel was responsible for the 1976 NMA finals being held at Clear Creek. Mike Brown and Jeff Ward were two of the names that I recall from that race.
In 1977, I raced a 1976 Yamaha YZ100. Dad bought the local Hodaka dealership in 1975, and we built a 1975 100 Super Rat to finish the year in 1977. By then, we were fairly competitive in the 100 class, but the motors would not stay together, with crankshaft breakage being the largest problem. 1977 was also the first year that I was exposed to NMA national racing at Ponca City, OK. Don Herndon invited me and his son to go with him and his wife so that we could have our horizons enlarged. We watched Chris Heiser, riding a R&D Suzuki win most of the stuff that counted. Back then, I believe that NMA only included bikes up to 125cc (they originally only did 80s).
By early 1978, we stepped up into the 125 Intermediate class with a 1977 RM125 Suzuki, then finish the year in the Expert class with a 1978 KX125. That 1977 Suzuki remains to this day one of two very special motorcycles in my mind. 1979 saw us attempting to qualify for the GNC races at the Houston Astrodome, but mechanical trouble with the Kawasaki would prevent that from happening both at Ponca City, OK and Rio Bravo, TX (while leading). Unfortunately, the 1979 KX125 that we replaced it with continued the tradition. By late 1979, we decided to return to solid ground by dropping my ride with the local Kawasaki dealer and buying a 1979 RM125 from the local Suzuki dealer, Don Bucholz. I am very appreciative to him to this day for helping us during that time as much as he did. He had a very difficult time during that era and it is a tribute to him that he was able to keep the doors open on the Suzuki shop. I hope that I helped a small amount.
That same year, Dad picked up Can-AM brand motorcycles when Hodaka folded and I kept racing a 125 Japanese bike and generally a 370 or 400 Can-AM. NMA and GNC continued to be regular competitions for us through 1981 (1980 with NMA), with no substantial results logged. However, I made many friends and enjoyed the good life experience I wouldnt trade that for anything. After that, the local Fairgrounds motocross series that ran from 1981 (that 1981 YZ125 is the other bike that I am very fond of) through 1985 became our big thing. After injuries in late 1981 and early 1982, I continued to run 125/500 class bikes, but decided to cut back on the schedule and ride more for fun. That netted back to back double championships the last two years of the Fairgrounds Motocross series. A hearty Thank You to Jerry and Ellie Sharp for bringing us all the oppertunity to ride that series. This was a great effort on their part. I pretty much quit racing in 1982, only coming out for a few hare scrambles and the Fairgrounds MX. By 1986, I had quit racing and turned entirely to street bikes.
Being a dirt bike rider in an era when four strokes were totally uncompetitive, I had cut my teeth on the two stroke street bikes from the 70s. RD350s, S2 Kawasaki 350 triples, even an H2 750 triple were all owned by me at one time or another. I figured that 2-strokes were the way that God intended it to be. To this day, there is no more bang for a buck than a two stroke, and they are much cheaper to modify than a four stroke engine, not to mention that the gains are much greater.
I started working for Dad as a mechanic in 1977 on weekends at the bike shop he owned, parlaying that into a full time job by 1980. Selling bikes and parts by day, working on bikes at night was a blast! I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn on the older simple bikes at a time when cut and try was the bible of the performance industry. When Dad sold the Hodaka shop in spring 1982, I was hired by the Honda shop. They didnt know that I had a broken leg at the time. When they learned, they put me in the back assembling new units as they didnt want me working the show room visibly injured by a motorcycle. I bought knee pads so that I could work on my knees and assembled nearly every new unit that they sold that year. After my leg healed, I worked in the parts department on Saturdays, while assembling new units weekdays.
The end of 1982 saw a switch to automobile mechanics, where the cars were beginning to become computerized with emissions management. I worked on cars for 2 years, while moonlighting at the Honda shop the next summer assembling units at night, working parts counter on Saturday. Not yet experiencing enough grief from switching fields with my profession, in late 1983, I left the automotive field to enter the field of forklift mechanics. I did that for a year and found it to be quite different. I switched to the parts department after that, but still wasnt having much fun. During that time, I raced a CR125 a limited amount and raced a ATC250R in flat track races. In 1985, I raced the fairgrounds series for the owners of the Lebanon Yamaha dealership with good success on a YZ125/490 combination. We had gotten along so well during the race season, that when they offered a general manager position, I had to accept! Harold and Peggy Logan were very good to me and once more, I appreciated what they did for me.
In late 1986, an opportunity to go to work for Yamaha Motor Corp began to materialize, and by Feb 1987, I was headed to Atlanta, GA to be trained as a service rep. I eventually lived in Hermitage, TN and covered all or part of an 11 state area, chasing problems with Yamaha product, assisting dealers in repair of Yamaha product, and teaching seminars. Eventually, the opportunity came to leave the road and move into the office as a phone tech, but I had to go to New Jersey to do that. In the end, New Jersey wasnt as bad as I had feared and I was re-introduced to off road riding in the form of ECEA enduros and hare scrambles. Politics were growing old for me (but I want to state that Yamaha was and is a top notch company) and I left Yamaha to join a friend at a large Yamaha store in Camp Hill ,PA. He was the general manager, I would be the service manager. The big store was neat and racing in that area was abundant. I especially became fond of competing in AMA District 7 and the GNCC hare scrambles. I learned that the large population base created an extreme depth of competition.
After two years of Camp Hill, my friend was leaving to purchase a business outside the motorcycle arena, and I had decided that I could do what I was doing there and be back in Missouri. Returning home I landed a job as service manager at Surdyke Yamaha in Marionville, where I stayed for four seasons (thank you Steve!). Upon leaving Surdykes, I took yet one more foray outside the motorcycle industry to manage a parts department at an Independent Farm dealership. I learned a lot about parts management and farming, while continuing to work on a loyal clientele of motorcycle and ATV service customers at home in the evenings. I also built motors for the Baby Grand race cars that were manufactured in Marshfield. With Baby Grand cars, we won one national championship and finished second twice.
When the old MFA Feed Store building in Rogersville came up for sale, it was time to make the move to owning our own powersports store. We started with little money and have continued to build inventory in new utility trucks, used bikes and ATVs, used parts, and new parts, all the while continuing to strive to meet our customers needs. I still own a few vintage bikes and even bought a fleet of two stroke MZ motorcycles from an estate. I also own Rickmans, Kawasaki triples, an RD400 Yamaha, an FT500 Honda single, a Yamaha Mini Enduro (nearly exactly like the one that I first raced in the arena building at the Fairgrounds), and SC500 Yamaha, and a couple of CZ street bikes. Other than the MZ two stroke stuff that we do, I try not to mix vintage bikes with business, as it seems to take some of the fun out of them.
Our business is focused on supplying parts and service for Japanese bikes from 1 to 15 years old, Bristers Chuck Wagon utility trucks, and SDG Speed Minis. We bring in some old motorcycles, and some unusual motorcycles from time to time to keep things interesting. We would appreciate it if you would give us a call or come by so that we could meet you.
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