Favorite race memory of helping someone at a race??

VETRIDER801

VETRIDER801

PR Member
I Thought I would share this, I was thinking the other day about my memories racing back in the day. One stood out to me. One night race in 1992 at Honda Hills there was a buddy of mine that I raced with in 125c (Brian Campbell) that had a sister that had been participating in the newly formed girls class back then. Her name was Melody Campbell. She had bike problems that day with her bike and was pretty discouraged about not being able to race. I had a 1987 CR-125 with smaller in height seat, a nice 38mm flatslide Kehin Carb on it, that my Dad Steve Miller had tuned absoultley perfect. Her dad Tim came over to me and offered me $100.00 for her to be able to race it. I told him to put his money back in his pocket. I then just walked up to Melody and asked her if she wanted to try my bike, trusty old #901. with help from a block of wood, she could hold it up ok. With very little practice on it, (I think they gave her 2 or 3 total laps) race time came I headed down to the starting line with her and took the block of wood with me and helped her get situated on the gate. I then told her just to get it out of the hole clean, and if she was behind to nail it in second gear and hold on and she should get the holeshot on my then 5 year old CR with out any problem, I had confidence!!

I left the starting line and then ran up by the fence to watch with the rest of the spectators. I was standing there with my friend Brian, his dad Tim, and my Dad, and my new Wife Sheila that I still have today. I then proceeded to tell everyone to keep an eye on her on the start, Melody didnt dissapoint, I weighed about 180 at the time and I could pull top 5 starts on it out of 40 dudes everytime Melody weighed alot less than me Im guessing somewhere under 100 and did exaclty what I told her to do on the start, it looked like she came out of a cannon!!! The pa announcer went off talking about how wicked awesome her start was. 7 or 8 bike lenghs out front into the first turn!! Her dad went crazy with excitement, my Dad and Wife were both smiling ear to ear My friend Brian couldnt believe it!!! I then told Brian that now he knew how I was so tough on the starts when we raced together :)

Melody left the field in her dust won both motos and the smile on her little face I will never forget. That night taught me what racing was all about. its about the people you meet and the friendships you get. I hope maybe sometime she thinks about that race, it was awesome to watch!! and a joy to be able to help her, she was a really good little rider then too I was more proud of her that day, than any race I did good for myself, including some wins I dont even remember how I did that night, I know it was somewhere in the top 10 but it did not matter, it was Melodys night that night!!
 
That was a great story! The first time I let a friend ride a bike of mine, I ended up with a hole in my left case. The second time I let a friend ride another one of my bikes, I ended up with a destroyed top end. I learned my lesson.. Haha. I'm glad you had a success. I've got a 85' cr125 that I take out occasionally. I know what you mean about 2nd gear.. Its still a rocket!
 
I let meister race my bike at the cliff since I busted my foot. And he came off the line like a bat out of hell. Think he came around 2nd turn in 4th.
 
My favorite memory like this was about getting helped out, as I was the one with problems and all of my moto friends helped me to make it to Loretta Lynn's in 2008 or 2009, I can't remember which year it was for sure right now.

While getting ready for Loretta's and on my last practice session at Smith Rd on the Wednesday before Loretta's, I blew up the bottom end of the KTM 525SX and I was leaving on Friday morning, no time rebuild a motor from the ground up. My truck had also just blown up it's tranny and I'm heading to Loretta's without a truck, camper, or bike...... not a good start and I'm in in one class and an alternate in another. But what are friends for? I was about to find out how great the moto community is as Sharc offered me his 2006 KTM 525SX as my race steed for the week, Zman gave me his 2004 Chevy 3/4 ton Van and a generator, and hooked me up with his co worker's toy hauler camper trailer all at the last second. I was down at Loretta's on all borrowed equipment, I didn't have anything that I owned there except my kids and had a pretty good year finishing 9th overall in the Vet B class with 2 top 10 finishes in motos. Another side note was that I had no mechanic and 4 kids with me as I was being super dad for the week on top of being a racer and my own mechanic on Sharc's bike. I had a different mechanic for each moto, including Dane Leinbach who I had to recruit from the Kawasaki Team Green Pit area when Dave Hand forgot that he was going to be my mechanic for my final moto of the week. Also, I got in as an alternate at the last second to that Vet B class and had a different number for 2 classes, and had to change number plates between each moto in each class........ it was a crazy week, but it all worked out thanks to the great friends that I've made over the years riding dirt bikes. That's what is great about this sport, everyone you meet is willing to help out someone else when problems come up.
 
some awsome stories. i think this is one of the last sports where people care and want to help eachother out.it really feels good to be part of a sport like this where people do make the difference.
 
The best I can come up with is one time at OIR I let Hershey ride my bike. Mainly because the week before I pretty much whiskey throttled my way past him in a corner. End result was him with a thrashed bike. I believe missing the top of the tank or something. So when he had bike issues the next well I thought I'd smooth it all over by letting him try to kill mine. Worked out I think. Dave let me live after cleaning him out and my bike came back still running.
 
Got another one....

Red Bud about 2002ish. Idk. I was wandering around the pits checking stuff out. When Bo Bowman walks by. We chat for a min and he says bye and that he's heading home. I asked him why? He says a bearing let to in his transmission on his Honda. I offered to fix it for him. So we went back to his pit and drug out the bike. I proceeded to rip out the motor and tear it down. Was really close to havering it done but with out a flywheel puller I was pretty screwed. I was planning to try and negotiate a bearing from Honda anyways; so off I went with a cr125 bottom end under my arm.

Uppon arrival at the Honda rig I was less than welcomed when approaching the truck. Got past gosselar who was kind of like the warden of the place from what I remember, and asked to see Ron White ( I think that was his name). Explained our issue and he took me into the sacred factory rig. Pulled out a tool, popped off the flywheel then proceeded to open a drawer and pull out the much needed bearing. I was completely stoked!!

Returned to the Bowman rig and assured Bo his rig would be ready for him in the morning. Off to bed he went. Fast forward to the wee hours of the morning and the bike was ready and running.

Bo was so happy. Rode his but off but missed the gate by one spot. At least he had the chance.
 
Wow...OIR! Memories of NEEDING help!

When I first started racing moto..... early 90's....OIR..... I got run off the side of the track into a hidden creek. My bike was up side down under water. I got it back to the truck but back then I didnt have anything there. I got all the water out but my air filter was saturated. I went over to a younger guy and his Dad( turns out it was the first time I met Jason Rogers) and they hooked me up with everything I needed to clean and oil my filter!

The Beamer borrowing incident is WAY more involved...... OIR again, this is like early 2000's....

In the first practice session going up the big hill jump in the center you went straight a couple hundred feet then a sweet right hand rutted corner.....well Mickey Marshall steamed right into me going through the right hander, we both went down hard. I stand up and look down at my bike and gas is pouring out. I reached down to put the cap back on ( wondering how the heck it came off) and marshall had actually ripped the entire top of my gas tank off!!!!!

Back in the pits a friend of mine, John, lent me his RM125 to ride. I was in +30 and he was riding +50 I think. I was cranking around the track getting into the bike good. I remember thinking how well it ran on top end. Two corners after that thought and the bike came to a screaching halt.....fried the top end...locked tight! ........ NEXT BIKE PLEASE......Beamer to the rescue! I think I got a one lap late practice in no problems...Well I had the bike leaned up against my box van as I was putting my helmet on for my moto, I come back out to see it laying on the ground with a snapped clutch lever!!! NOT my day at all! Up to the Moto x trailer ....$20 later a new lever is on the bike and I made it to the line as they raised the card! I dont remember how I placed that day but it was a roller coaster ride!


Just goes to show what a helping, friendly yet still competetive sport we are in!

Though none really stand out I have helped more people than I could remember anyway. In my class or not. Many friends have come and gone over the years I ve been in the sport and all of them have been a positive impact on my life.
 
Lap 1 practice at OIR. Tim Ballantine smashes into me. Instantly I see antifreeze spewing everywhere. Lap 1 of practice. Oh man was I mad.

Bornhorst gave me a Radiator to use and Ballantine apologized and gave me some Engine Ice.

Just think if your light bulbs went out in your house and you couldnt see. I doubt any of your neighbors would go in there house, take out their lightbulbs and give you some so that you could see until daylight.
 
I remember after purchasing josh Steel's '92 KX250 (but before picking it up), I received a call from Josh's mom asking if he could keep the bike for an extra week and race it at kenworthy's that Sunday since his '93 250 wasn't ready yet. I thought why not, it'll be the fastest "my" bike ever goes.

I'll never forget the conversation with my wife as josh was going through the dirty dozen:
me: So, that's how it's done....Triple, quad, double, triple out.
wifey: Don't even think about it.
me: Well, we know the bike can do it.
wifey: You'll kill yourself.
(end of conversation)

bruce
 
I am fortunate to have several.... I remember taking a month leave in January'95 to go with Josh Steel test in Atlanta, the race the Orlando SX...back to GA then drive his brand new box van through a blizzard to Minneapolis where he made his first 250 main!!

Fast forward to January '02.....just purchased a brand new KX250, put a circuit silencer and added 2 to the rear sprocket. Show up at Huntington WV. Joe Oehlhof had just finished with A.M. Leonard KTM and only had a YZF250....first true ride on the bike was his pro practice.... comes in and says it has no brakes (still had coating from the factory) his mechanic goes out and rips up and dow the street with both brakes on. Joe got 2 both nights on a stock bike.

GREAT TIMES!!!!!
 
This is a cool thread...I have has less opportunity to be helped at races then I have had to help. A cool one of being helped is about these two guys that new me since I was in diapers would pick me up almost every weekend and take me to the races...with out these two guys caring for me, in ways I would never be doing what I am now.

As for helping someone... a fun one was at the first Outlaw HS, maybe a few years back...their was a real gnarly mud section. I had just come from church...in a nice tee and jeans to watch a friend race. Naturally, you look for the hardest section to spectate. He comes up to this narrow crossing with about 2-3 ft. of water on each side and he's a short guy. Hits an unrevealed stick and stops him, he falls over plunging into the water, I instinctly jumped in and saved the bike. I stayed their for and hour and a half helping guys get through, from building a bridge to riding bikes. This one dude was stuck the entire racem but I couldn't get to him because riders kept coming. In the end it took us about 20 minutes to free his rear wheels by hand. I was covered from head to toe and missing a shoe...so much fun!!!
 
One good one was back in march 2004. At that time i didn't have the mechanical knowledge that i do today... anyways, i show up at Malvern to race 125C. first moto, last lap and i'm passing anthony polumbo for 3rd place... we are just hauling down into the valley, one corner left... and bbrraapppp goes to bruuuggghhh. so i push that bike off the track, grenaded the motor.

next week i show up at malvern again, this time to race 250C on my yz 250... i was 13 and probably out talking to friends, and i was late for my moto. i hop on the bike, while it is snowing and maybe 15 degrees out, and proceed to start the bike, revv it up real fast, and race off to the line. shortly after, i hear some clanking and the bike stops running... kicker is seized. hmmm i guess i didn't realize what cold seizing was.

Like i said, i didn't know much or have much money, so joey mayerchak helped me out big time... he tore the motor apart, cleaned out the bottom end (piece of metal stuck in the bearing), and threw a new top end in it for me. i was back riding within a few weeks and i don't think he charged me much, if at all.

a few months later i let him race it at the pyma 3day.. cant really remember how he finished but i know he made at least a few dollars.
 
Another one...G-String 162 helped me out...my parents had a ride day for my graudation party and the week prior my bike broke and couldnt get it fixed. Adam gave his 250f to me to ride...the first lap out I hit some mud and bent his shifter completely backwards, thankfully we were able to bend it back...He never made me buy a new shifter even when I offered. Thank you Adam!
 
G-string is a very good dude. He let me race his brand new YZ 250f at Spring Valley one day when the clutch went out of my KTM 125. I think he got more joy of helping people and letting people ride his stuff then he got out of riding himself!

I also remember being in Danville Virginia in 2001 for a Loretta Lynn qualifier(first attempt at a qualifier). During practice I crashed pretty hard and bent my pipe up so bad that we were pretty sure my weekend was over. We ended up running in to Nathan Edwards and his dad in the pits. When he asked how the day was going we explained to him not so well. By pure luck he was also riding a CR80 that he let us borrow a pipe from. I ended up qualifying in 12-15 modified, and if it wasn't for them, I never would've gotten the opportunity to race atLoretta's.
 
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