Page 30 - LS2_ISSUE_TWO_DENNISKIRK

Yheroes when I was growing up. I have a Gaylon Mosier bike, a Jimmy Weinert bike, a Steve Wise bike, a couple of Dave Thorpe’s bikes, I’ve got some bikes from Australia. Each one of them is it’s own work of art, because all the parts were handmade and everything. They’re really trick and you can just sit there and look at ‘em for hours and pick out things that are different from production.
How much different were the bikes that you got from Australia and Europe compared to the ones that had to compete under
AMA ruling? So the AMA claiming rule came about in the mid to late ‘70s where a spectator could actually try and claim the bike and buy it for what a production bike would cost if they won the lottery, if you know anything about the AMA claiming rule. The factories wouldn’t put their trickest parts on their bikes in America ‘cause they were afraid it would get out in the public and everyone would know their secrets, so they started testing the stuff over in Europe. The unitrack for Kawasaki actually came out in Europe (Brad Lackey raced it over there) before it came over to America. They were always about a year or two ahead of America as far as technology, because they were so afraid they were going to get claimed.
Have you done any vintage
racing or anything like that? I have raced. In the last few years I haven’t been racing as much, but I was racing vintage motocross for quite a few years. I broke my leg at the last race of the season one year (my right leg) and then the rst race of the next year I broke my left leg, so that happened and I had a two year old daughter at the time, so I was kinda like “I’m not sixteen years old anymore.” All
I’m doin’ is getting this little plastic trophy, it’s not worth me goin’ out there and killing myself. Now I have a buddy of mine that I grew up with -- I take him out to the races and he races my bikes and I kinda just
wrench on ‘em now. I still race from time to time, but I’m not as serious as I was. I used to be really serious and really chasin’ the points, winning championships and all that, but after you break your legs two times in a year, you kinda start thinkin’ about it.
So, when you do ride or race what bike
do you choose? The ‘78 KX250 is my bike of choice, ‘cause I’m not real tall. The ‘78s had like nine inches of travel front and rear, so it’s kind of a shorter bike, and it corners better than the big travel bikes. It’s just kind of a real neutral handling bike, it’s got a real fast motor on it, so that’s kind of my bike of choice.
30 THE PULSE • ISSUE TWO