| So you want to hear my story. Motorcycles came in to my life at the
age of 7 or 8. My dad got a Honda 90 in 65 or 66. He quickly discovered
that was too small and got a 66 Suzuki TC200 and then a 67 Triumph Tiger
500. Jump to ’71. A friend let’s me take a spin on a neighborhood trail
on a QA50. Naturally being my first ride on a "motorcycle" I think it’s
the coolest thing there is, and Dad is now giving me a choice of a Honda
QA 50 or a Yamaha mini enduro. Well 2 days later a QA50 shows up. I
should have listened to my older brother and gone for the mini enduro.
But nevertheless I was now on a dirtbike. Summer of 1972 the TC200
becomes mine, however not long after that the top end locks up from
moisture and I’m back on the QA50, but not before I can get a taste of
what I think Motocross is.
Early 1973, I attend my first MX race at Strawberry Hill, as a
spectator. It’s my first time to see Bobby Pickard, on a Penton. Shortly
thereafter we purchase a used 1971 Suzuki TS125. A few months of
practice and I’m off to the races…Rabbit Run MX June 9, for my first
race. I think I finished 8th or 9th. Well, while
practicing starts that day we noticed the TS125 was a little slow (I was
getting pulled by a kid on a new XR75). So on the way home we stopped at
a Suzuki dealer that was in Richardson to window shop the new TM125.
Someone was there and they let us in. Next day I picked up my new TM125,
and the next weekend it was Wyman Priddy’s MX school at Rockwall MX. I
raced that bike for about a year and a half.
Obviously my dad was pretty much behind me in racing as much as he
could. So much so, that he took over as track operator of Rabbit Run at
the end of 1974 and continued to the end of ’77. Needless to say I spent
a lot of time at Rabbit Run, working and riding. Remember the snow fence
around the track at the Trans-AMA? Somebody had to drill those post
holes…
Enter the 1975 Honda CR125. I worked my way through Intermediate and
into the Expert class on that. I raced a buddy race with Wyman Priddy on
it, which we won. A few months later I hit a tree at Mosier Valley when
the throttle stuck, knocked some teethe out. In ’75 the AMA began the
amateur championships. Experts only, 125, 250 and open classes. So, I of
course, had to make my run for it. It was done a lot different then than
compared to how it’s done for Loretta Lynn’s now. I never made it to the
finals but I made it further each year from ’75 –’77 when the regional
was at Redbud, Michigan.
In’76 I got a Honda CR125, had a decent year on it with no injuries.
I then moved to 250’s in ’77 with a Penton MC5 . I, like so many other
racers had aspirations of making the big time and by this time I had a
plan in mind.
I bought a new ’78 CR250R with plans of 1 more year of amateur and
then get my Pro license at the beginning of ’79. Well fate had something
else in mind. At the time of purchasing my ’78 CR250R I was working as a
technician at Al Lamb’s Dallas Honda. I made a deal with Al that my
CR250 would stay on the showroom during the week so people could see it,
because at the time they were limited. I show up for work one morning,
the front door is off the hinges and there is an empty space where my
CR250 was, GONE, STOLEN. The weekend coming up is the astrodome so I
figure someone stole it for parts. I’m on the phone to just about
everyone I can think of, and the frame number is now ingrained in to
everyone’s mind to look for it at the dome. A couple of weeks later Al
pulls the shop van up to the door and tells me there are some things to
unload. It’s my CR250, in pieces. A deal was made with the parents of
the underage thieves. I repair my 250 replacing whatever parts are
needed and they agreed to pay for it. The worst was yet to come.
Back to the track, man this thing is fast. Mosier Valley, April 2nd,
track opens for afternoon session expert practice. Take my usual slow
first lap and then comfortably begin to pick up speed. Last thing I
remember is going around a turn very fast, dragging the bars. About 50
yards down the track and 20 feet off to side I somehow came in contact
with a large tree. It was said to sound like a car wreck. It was years
later before I finally found someone that saw it. I cross-rutted in a
sweeper at a high rate of speed and was tossed like rag doll. Broken
left femur, cracked right shoulder blade, separated right shoulder,
fractured ribs and collapsed lung. That was not the end of my racing but
I pretty much decided that ended my decision to turn pro. So I sold that
250, which went on to injure its next 3 owners.
Fall of ’78 I purchase a new ’79 CR250R. April 2nd of ’79
after work, I break my left leg below the knee just messing around
behind Dallas Honda. I sell that 250 and purchase a ’79 CR125R. July ’79
at Lake Whitney, practice is going good, laying down some fast laps.
Gate drops for the first moto and I get clipped on the right forearm as
I am braking for the first turn, both bones broken before I hit the
ground. Two steel plates in my forearm. Now I build up a super trick
XR75 as funds are tight and the pitbike craze is becoming a big thing,
so big that Mosier Valley makes a class for them at the night races.
’79 and ’80 I dominate the 4-stroke division of the "adult mini"
class. There were so many riders doing this that we could not all fit on
the gate at one time, so they split the class 2 stroke and 4 stroke and
stagger start us. 2 strokes first and then 4 strokes. I would catch and
pass all the 2 strokes. A friend of mine brought out a stop watch one
night and said I was 5 seconds off of the fastest 125 expert, Randy
Sullivan. Not bad for an XR75 I thought.
As ’81 was approaching I was ready to get back on big bikes again. I
thought hey, I already was going fast on a 4 stroke, so why not.
September of ’80 I purchase a new ’81 XR500 pro-link. I removed the
lights and tool bag. Drop 1 tooth on the rear sprocket. Spent a couple
of months as an open intermediate and after moving to the front of the
class I figure it’s time to join the expert class again. Placing
consistently in the top 5 on a stock XR500 this was fun again. John
Talbot of Mosier Valley even came up to me on the starting line and said
people really enjoyed watching the 500 4 stroke run so well.
Now along comes ’82 and I get a new CR480 on the dealer support
program. I finished 3rd in the ’82 AMA Texas State Spring
Championship in the open expert class. The AMA starts a new program
called "progressive pro". So July 4th I attend a full 3 day
weekend of racing at Marshall Creek and finish with a 3rd, 2nd
and 1st. That earned me enough points that all I needed was a
decent finish at one more of these progressive pro events and I could
race the ’83 National at Whitney. All right, one pro race at Whitney
would be cool. Well it was not to be. Turns out the promoter of the
Marshall Creek event did not turn anything in to the AMA, money,
memberships or points.
’83 approaches and on the improved dealer support program I purchase
a new CR480. Unfortunately other riders in the open class had decided
and discussed with each other not to buy big bikes that year and the
tracks decided no more open expert class. I was pretty much stuck as I
could not afford to lose money on the 480 to buy a 250. I did race in
the amateur race in the Cotton bowl and finished 3rd in open
expert, after falling 3 times on that super slick surface. That was to
be my last race as an open expert. I also raced the night before during
the pro event for an intermission race. It was a team race of sorts;
team Dallas vs. Team Houston, 3 riders on each team. I was on Team
Dallas along with Guy Cooper on a 125. I don’t remember who our 250
rider was. Team Dallas won though.
I then switched to just play riding at flying P ranch a lot for the
next few years. I had another injury there. It was in ’85 that I t-boned
somebody that was not paying attention to the trail they were on.
Dislocated my right elbow and broke both wrists. Snapped the front end
off of the 480 and pushed his engine sideways. That brought on more down
time. I started going to Mosier Valley now and then as they were now
opening for practice on off race weekends. It was there in ’87 that I
had one of those simple fall and roll crashes and dislocated my left
shoulder again. So my wife puts her foot down and says that’s it. No
more motorcycle.
Well now, mountain biking was just beginning and I had to stay on 2
wheels and in the dirt somehow, so I get one. But where were the races?
Racing was in my blood. Finally some races started popping up and I
raced the ’89 and ’90 state championships. Then my son got old enough to
ride and we discover BMX in ’90, he was 4. In ’91 I start racing BMX. I
started attending nationals on a regular basis in ’96 and I won my first
national championship in my class. NAG, national age group, they call
it. I was NAG #1. They give NAG numbers to the top 10 in each class and
I have been in the top 10 every year since ’96, having had the number 1
twice. I have been state champion 8 times. I have won the Race of
champions 3 times. I have been central region (Gold cup/Red line cup)
champion 7 times and ABA world cup champion once.
Well it’s November 2004 and I decide to go to Lake Whitney to watch
the Pro-circuit challenge. Hey, I missed motocross. A friend of mine is
there trying his hand at motocross for the first time. He gets done with
his first moto and says he is too tired to ride the second. So he asks
the dangerous question. Do you want to ride my second moto? Now I have
not ridden a dirtbike since ’87 and have a vague idea of where the track
goes because a lot of Whitney has changed. My wife, Carol was with me so
I told her what Dan said. In so many words she basically told me I was
chicken, if I did not do it. We will just say with no practice I
improved Dan’s overall finish.
I had also discovered vintage MX on the internet. Stumbled across the
Wyman memorial event and very much wanted to be a part of that. I made
it to the event in 2005 just as a spectator and really enjoyed seeing
some old motorcycles and meeting some new friends. I attended a few more
races and met someone that loaned me a ’74 CR125 to follow the 2006 TVRC
fall series. It sure felt good to ride again. With some engine problems
continuing on the Honda I stumbled upon an all most decade legal ’97
Suzuki RM125.
I now have a 2004 KX 250F and a 2006 RMZ 450. I hope to get my own
vintage MX sometime, but for now I will enjoy being a part of the club
and helping when I can.
It’s just good to be back…..
David #87
|
