Trivia Question

[B2V8384]

Thanksgiving Trivia Question:

25 years ago (November 1983) the first 3 Wheelers raced the infamous Barstow To Vegas 175 mile Desert Race.
Question is: Who won the 3 Wheeler class? Hint: He won it in 1983 and 1984.

The first correct answer here will get a T-shirt or something.

[oldtime3wheeler]

Was it "Pistol" Pete Sohren?

[Vealmonkey]

I think it was Sundahl, Coe and Wax. But if you must be specific, I believe Mike Coe was the rider at the end that crossed the finsh line.

[B2V8384]

This was a solo race.
One rider, no rest stops, 175 miles.

[seadoo650]

Gimme your last name and I'll have the answer. Am I close?

[B2V8384]

Yes, you are on the right trail.

BTW:
The prize to the first correct answer (spelling counts) will be a new motorcycle rain jacket.

Dig out those old Cycle News, ATV News, 3 Wheeling Mags, 3 & 4 Wheel Actions, etc.

[Vealmonkey]

I've seen results for the motorcycles, but not the trikes. Blue27 has some atvnews that might have it ilsted.

[seadoo650]

I've seen results for the motorcycles, but not the trikes. Blue27 has some atvnews that might have it ilsted.

Same here. Can't find results for trikes and I don't have any mags that go back that far. Randy something. I'm the closest. I'll settle for a cool story.

[225DX DUDE]

Randy S......? Does your last name start with a S?

[oldtime3wheeler]

Was it Randy Slawson

[B2V8384]

No it wasn't

[Nick_R_23]

Was it you, B2V8384?

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[Blown 331]

Was it you, B2V8384?

-Nick :TrikesOwn

Ha ha. I think you win!

[seadoo650]

B2V8384= (B) Barstow (2) to (V) Vegas in 83 and 84.

[Nick_R_23]

I saw that too. Plus, if you look at his profile his name is Randy. :D

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[Micahdogg]

Mark Wax....

Sorry, noticed that "spelling counts" sooo.....

Mark Weixeldorfer

[B2V8384]

Wax was there but he crashed hard about 20 miles into the race.
He did not finish.

[ChrisCrash]

Randy Wilson

[Saul]

why is there no video of these races?!

[Micahdogg]

Hmmmm.

Curtis Sparks?

[B2V8384]

Hmmmmm,
no, none of those.

Curtis Sparks was pretty much a short track specialist.
I don't remember him ever winning a solo desert race.

[Nick_R_23]

Dean Sundahl

Marty Hart

Steve Wright

Tracey Dickson

Mike Hallett

Brett Driscoll

Craig Corda

Any of those???

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[ATC-Eric]

Ive searched for over one hour, I give up.

[ChrisCrash]

Lance Schoonmaker

[B2V8384]

Sorry, None of the above.

Lance Scoonmaker was a good guess, he won B to V in 1985 or 86 I believe.
The year he won it and every year after that, the ATC class did not race all the way to Vegas (175 miles), they went 120 miles and finished at stateline Nevada, so I guess from 1985 on the ATC Race should really have been called "Barstow to Stateline".
1983 & 1984 were the only years that the ATC's went the entire distance of 175 miles, same as the 2 wheel bikes, so the only ATC Racer to win a true "Barstow to Vegas" race was the 1983 & 84 winner.

Somewhat of a Hint:
The 1983 & 1984 winner was the only ATC Racer to win B to V two times, no other winner was able to repeat.
Yes, first name is Randy.

[Nick_R_23]

Randy Cleek

Randy Smith

Randy Johnson

Randy Scoville

Randy Moseley

Im not coming up with much else...

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[ChrisCrash]

Randy White

[B2V8384]

No, none of those.

[Blown 331]

Macho Man Randy Savage?

[250rulzes]

Randy Travis???

[atctim]

No guesses here from me - but I am looking forward to reading more once someone gets it right. It is great to hear from our heros from time to time.

[88 Turbo Coupe]

Randy Schedwitz won those races

[sandpuppi101]

I'm pretty sure it to be Randy Hawkins ...

[Saul]

Randy Rhoads!! No, wait - he died in 1982.

[225DX DUDE]

Randy Schedwitz won those races

Thats what I was going to say when I said Randy S.......
I'm pretty sure your right. Maybe not though.

Randy Shepherd.

[FireboyTwister]

Was it Dan Smith?

[Blown 331]

It was me, thanks.

[Saul]

It was me, thanks.

CONGRATS! :lol:

[Micahdogg]

So what's up with picture #2 here?

http://www.3wheeler.org/racer2/84randomracepicts/index.html

[Blown 331]

So what's up with picture #2 here?

http://www.3wheeler.org/racer2/84randomracepicts/index.html

hmmmmm. The plot thickens.

[ChrisCrash]

So what's up with picture #2 here?

http://www.3wheeler.org/racer2/84randomracepicts/index.html


That was the Barstow 500. That year there were problems with the Mexican government over the Baja 500. So S.C.O.R.E. moved the race. That Race was the debute of the 85 ATC 250R.

[dirtface]

Here's my shot in the dark, Randy Branson?

[B2V8384]

No, sorry.

There was no internet in 1983 so maybe there is nothing on the net about those early B to V races, at least not the ATC class.

The Barstow SCORE Race was called "Baja in Barstow".
Right, problems with the Mexican Government moved it to the U.S.
I rode that race twice, 1984 & 85 if I remember right, teamed with Mike Hallet one year. The race was about 250 miles long.
I remember it was scary as hell racing on the same course and at the same time as the big V-8 trucks and Buggys.

[MyMistress86R]

I'll throw Steve Webb out there, but I doubt it's right.

[MyMistress86R]

Randy Scoville?

[ChrisCrash]

Randy Webb

[B2V8384]

No, none of those.

Again, first name Randy is correct.

Another hint:
He won it, overall ATC, both years on a Honda 200X, beating all the bigger (250cc & up) ATC's.

[Dirtcrasher]

Well, no matter WHO won................

Could you please explain to us how to build the incredible and reliable power plant Mr' Randy ????????? was running that won 2 years in a row!!?? :lol:

[ATC-Eric]

Spelling may be a bit off, but I think one of these is it.




Randy Kumbler?

Randy Ressell?

Randy Bryum?

[ATC-Eric]

GOTTCHA!


Randy Rogers

[250rulzes]

Randy West?

[ATC-Eric]

Went back to do more searching, and narrowed it down,


Randy Ressell!!!!

[B2V8384]

Wow, I was beginning to think nobody would come up with the correct answer.

Eric guessed it, the answer is Randy Rhoads....no wait...I mean Randy Ressell.

I thought the winner would end up being someone from California because (I) Randy Ressell was a privateer, not a factory rider.
I specialized in desert races and not short track type racing. I won a bunch of Desert Races and was in the ATC magazines often so my name was out there but I was much more well known in the southwest.

Anyway, congrats to Eric.

Eric, please P.M. me the address that you want your rain jacket shipped to.

[keister]

Guess that college education paid off already!!

[ATC-Eric]

Freagin sweet :cool:


I will tell you guys it wasnt easy.

:beer

[Vealmonkey]

Well, now it seems like a great time to tell your story. How about a list of your victories and races you ran. And tell us what you are doing today. Also feel free to share a few amusing anecdotes from some of your personal experiences. I'm sure it will all be well appreciated. I know I feel bad not knowing more about you enough to know your name, wether there was some type of prize or not.

[Mrs.Mosh]

Congrats Eric! and welcome to the site Randy!!

Please feel free to post any pics you may have, and we would all love to hear any stories from your race days.

[Dammit!]

I'd love to see some pics and get some details on a 200x set up for desert racing. Can't recall ever seeing one.

[B2V8384]

OK, I have lots of pics and some stories from the early days of ATC racing.

I'm sure this question has been asked a billion times on here but I did a search and could not find the info I was looking for on posting pics.
When I click on the "Insert Image" icon it asks for the URL of the pic.
Can anyone tell me if I can post directly onto the forums or do I need to have a host for the photos.

Thanks

[ATC-Eric]

I use www.photobucket.com as a host. its easy, and the pics are bigger.

Post the image code on the forum once a pic is uploaded to photobucket if you use that.

[Saul]

Yeah - we for sure wanna see each and every trike related pic you have from back in the day!!

I'm really interested in any Gen1 Air cooled R pics/info you might have!!

[longbedGTs]

Are you "Rad Randy" over at 3wheeler.org? We're all looking forward to pics and stories. Welcome to the site! :TrikesOwn

[B2V8384]

No, I'm not Rad Randy from that other site.

I'll post pics when I figure out how to make it work.

[B2V8384]

Finish line at the 1984 Barstow to Vegas Race.

[ATC-Eric]

Thats awesome

[atctim]

And drinking Gatorade from a glass bottle - SUPER COOL!

We need more pics - and stories - great to have you aboard!

[B2V8384]

Thanks to all who posted here wanting to see more pics and who asked for some racing stories.
I'm going to write something on the B to V Races and post it here asap.
I have lots of ATC racing photos from 1983 through 1987, I will work on scanning in more of my pictures so I can post them here.

[Vealmonkey]

Quit teasing us and get busy already. What ever happened to the winning trike? Married with children? We want all the details.

[B2V8384]

:welcome: What was the headlight and # plate on that bike from? Custom made?

That # plate does not have lights, those openings below the # are vent openings, the 200X had air ducts behind the # plates that ran to the airbox.
I think UFO or WFO made those # Plates, they were very common in the mid 1980's.

Yes, I still have the 200X.

[Daddio]

You look pretty stoked in that picture. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Tri-Z Pilot]

Ok I'm gettin as giddy as a schoolboy! :pics: and stories Macho Man Randy Savage, lol Still laughin at that one.

[B2V8384]

Ok, I haven't got any more pics scanned into the computer yet, but here is some of the early history as I remember it. More to come later....

A short bio.

Beginnings (at least for me)

I guess I was pretty lucky, my Dad rode motorcycles way before I was born.
When I was about 5 years old, sometime around 1966 he bought 2 old school mini bikes for us kids, a Bonanza and a Taco that we used to ride in the local fields around Orange County, Calif.
Back in the 1960's you could do that in Orange County.

A couple of years later when all the other kids on our block were signing up for Little League Baseball, I asked if I could sign up and play, my Mom and Dad told me I could either sign up for baseball or we could buy motorcycles and we would go riding in the desert as a family sport, so, of course I said forget baseball and we started going riding and camping in the desert on a regular basis. Mostly around Adelanto, Lucerne Valley or Lake Elsinore California.
Us kids would ride from sun up to sundown on those weekend trips, exploring all points of the compass, every trail we could find we would ride, every hill we could find we would try to climb.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

The addiction.....

In 1971, when I was 10 years old, two movies came out,
On Any Sunday and Evel Knievel.
I already had a love for motorcycles but when I saw On Any Sunday, I was hooked.
I had an instant and great admiration for the motorcycle racers featured in that movie.
I wanted nothing more than to race my motorcycle and to jump it like Evel did, not over 20 cars but still in my own small way, I wanted to catch some air!
My parents would not let me race though, I guess they did not want me to get seriously injured plus, it was not cheap to race. They told me, when you are 18 and can pay for it yourself, then you can race if you want.
I vowed that I would.

I grew up in Southern California, in the 1970's it was motorcycle racing mecca.
We had Saddleback Park, Escape Country, Corona Raceway, Costa Mesa Speedway, Ascot Park (Ascot was in L.A. but only 20 miles away) where you could watch real live heroes race in person.

Also, it was an exciting time in dirt bike evolution, the Yamaha Mini Enduro came out along with the Honda XR 75, the Honda CR's were released in 1973, and then the Yamaha YZ's, Orange County International Raceway would have High School Motocross events.
I can remember going to a night race there in 1974 and seeing a sea of bikes with silver gas tanks screaming and flying around the track with the thick smell of castrol oil hanging in the air.
Wow, it was great. Even today, whenever I smell someone burning castrol oil it takes me right back to that time.
In 1974-75 European bikes started to have long travel suspension followed soon by the Japanese bikes.
In ten short years, from 1965 to 1975 dirt bikes had drastically changed.
Back in the 1960's you would buy a Hodaka or Yamaha Enduro or some other street-trail type bike, take the headlight, tail light and any other un-needed equipment off, switch the metal fenders to Preston Petty plastic fenders and that was your dirt bike.
Believe me, kids today don't know how good they have it.

In 1969 the Honda ATC 90 came out.
Kind of an odd looking play bike, most people thought of them as a toy or something you would buy for your girlfriend to putt around on.
I remember in about 1974 my Dad bought an ATC 90 and then he picked up a 2nd hand, non running mini dunebuggy type go cart called a Dune Cat (sort of like a Honda Oddessy), he installed a 7 H.P. lawnmower type motor in it and we had a blast playing around with that and the ATC 90 at Dumont Dunes and other desert areas.
It wasn't until the mid to late 1970's that I saw people start to modify ATC
90's with high performance motor parts and racing them as a side show at local race tracks when the promoter would allow it.
Eventually aftermarket companies took notice and began selling hop up parts for ATC's and more people began building homemade 3 wheel racers and started showing up at the races, soon they were getting faster and faster and actually haulin' pretty quick around those tracks, sliding sideways through the turns like mini sprint cars.

In the late 1970's the pressed sheet metal frame on my ATC 90 broke it's welds so I bought a Bandito Tube frame and built a pretty cool little race trike.
It had a Powroll 118cc motor with a ported head, Web Cam, 24mm Mikuni carb, oil cooler, homebuilt exhaust header, K&N air filter, Turf Tamer rear tires, front forks from an XL Honda with wider homemade triple clamps. It was super light and actually hauled pretty good. It was a blast to ride.
The first place I raced it was Corona Raceway.
That was pretty much the beginnings of ATC Racing as I remember it.
Soon after that Honda released the 1981 ATC 250R and the world of ATC racing changed drastically, kind of a Deja Vu of the mid 1970's when 2 wheeled motorcycle racing changed overnight and forever.

In the next installment, the beginning of ATC Desert Racing.

[Vealmonkey]

Great reading. I'll be looking forward to the next installment. Don't forget pics of your old 90 if possible.

[atctim]

Thanks Randy - very cool reading. I too am looking forward to the next installment

[Billy Golightly]

Awesome story...Its always really cool for me to see these stories and hear from you guys that grew up and were in the sport from its conception and were around it from the very beginning. Thanks a ton for becoming a member here and sharing.

[Tri-Z 250]

Pull up a bench and tell us more, please. Still break out the X? Did you have any idea 3WW existed and lots of us never made the switch to 4 wheels? As you know the search for lost items is very hot topic. Swingarm, frames, motors, Tiger 500's you know the stuff you only hear about. Being a non-supported rider did you test product from any aftermarket Co.'s. Do you have any old boxes of stuff you'd like to share? I need to see the 200x - R beater...I gotta believe some stroker work was done...you out ran a 250R across the sand? WOW, and welcome

[B2V8384]

Pull up a bench and tell us more, please. Still break out the X? Did you have any idea 3WW existed and lots of us never made the switch to 4 wheels? As you know the search for lost items is very hot topic. Swingarm, frames, motors, Tiger 500's you know the stuff you only hear about. Being a non-supported rider did you test product from any aftermarket Co.'s. Do you have any old boxes of stuff you'd like to share? I need to see the 200x - R beater...I gotta believe some stroker work was done...you out ran a 250R across the sand? WOW, and welcome

I'll try to answer everyone's questions.
Some of them will be covered when I write about the ATC Golden Days (Good old Days?) of Desert Racing, which in my opinion, was up to about 1986.

My 200X.

It may surprise some people but the motor combination I ran was not that radical.
The 200X motor I raced was 199cc (stock was 195cc) with a 10.5 to 1 compression Wiseco piston.
It had a lightened crankshaft so it would rev quicker but no stroke work was done to it.
It had a ported head, larger stainless steel intake valve and bronze valve guides. I used a Web Cam with a mid range grind and high quality valve springs. I used a 30mm round slide Mikuni in the desert (more top end speed) and a 28mm flat slide Mikuni (better bottom & mid range power) on Gran Prix type tracks. K&N air filter in the stock air box with the screen removed.
I ran a pretty much wide open exhaust with no spark arrestor, it was really loud, kind of intimidating when I would pass other riders, plus I rode it on the pipe most of the time.
You had to ride the 200X like a 125 MX'er, keep the revs up and try to maintain your momentum, every time you slow down it takes time to get back up to speed.
My buddies that worked my pit crew in the desert races called my 200X "Thunder" because it was so loud. They said the could hear me coming before they ever saw me, they could tell my trike from all others just from the sound.
There were a lot of people that ran much more radical motors with 11 or 12 to 1 pistons and super high lift cams but I was a desert racer, I needed my motor to be strong, but to me it was more important for it to still be running at the end of a 100 to 500 mile race.
The old saying couldn't be more true in desert racing, to finish first you must first finish.
Not only could you lose the race if your motor blew, but you might be 50 miles from nowhere if it did. You do not want to spend the night in the high desert in the winter, you would freeze.
I built my own motors, the only thing I did not do was the valve job or the bore job. I was lucky to have an older gentleman who worked his magic on the machine work. I do believe his work did give me an advantage.
His shop was called MicroBore, his name was Len Norris, God rest his soul.
I had very few motor problems, probably why I won over 100 races, my bike continued to run.
The only time I had a motor completely fail was when I was talked into letting Curtis Sparks build me a motor for the Parker 400 (more on this another time).
Even though I ran a non radical motor I was constantly accused of running a cheater motor because I would beat the other 200X riders by so much and also beat many of the 250 riders.
I was under powered compared to the 250 riders and would have to work twice as hard to pass them. I would pass them in the rough or tight stuff only to have them fly passed me going 15 mph faster than my 200X would go when we hit a smooth dirt road or dry lake bed.
Some of you that have never ridden in the California Deserts may think there are miles and miles of endless sand dunes, but we have two different types of desert out here, the high desert like Barstow all the way to Vegas is rocky mountains with cactus and sandy whooped out trails connecting them. The terrain can be very rough and can actually be low speed, technical riding, perfect for the lighter 200X.
You need to be on your toes in this type of terrain, if you crash into cactus or on volcanic lava rock, it is gonna hurt. Trust me, been there, done that.
The Low desert is different, much faster, wide open type desert. Not many rocks, much higher speeds riding down there.
I was good in the high desert terrain but prefered the low desert because the rocks in the high desert would damage your trike, bent wheels, skid plates, broken frames and many flat tires.
That gets expensive.

One thing I did have on the 200X was good suspension, that was a big part of going fast in the desert.
I used a 2 inch longer chromoly swingarm and a Fox Twin Clicker shock in the rear and ATC 250R forks with semi stiff springs on the frront.
When I won B to V I weighed between 165 and 175 lbs.

I never switched to Quads either, I did not like riding them, when they basically outlawed 3 wheel racing because of the CSPC scare and the insurance companies would not cover them, I switched back to 2 wheel motorcycles.
I spent 5 years, almost every weekend racing ATC's in the desert, and honestly, they beat the hell out of me.
When I quit racing them I didn't care if I ever rode one again.

My 200X is in mothballs, stored in a garage.
I have not ridden it since 1986.


I always hated to see that 200X motor sitting there in the corner of the garage collecting dust because it was such a strong running little thumper.
About 7 years ago I was looking for a Dual Sport bike, one that was barely street legal but lightweight with good suspension.
I decided to build my own and I took the 200X motor and installed in a CR 125 chassis and used Honda XL 250R body work on it.
It was a lot of work but worth it, it is really light, it handles great, I love riding it, plus I still have my trusty old friend (200X motor) with me when I go riding.

The pic posted is of the CR 125-200X bike.

More later.....

[Texas 200x]

Think you'll ever put the 200x together and ride it again?

[B2V8384]

3 Wheeling Magazine took this pic, we were testing the new 350X near Palm springs, Calif.

[Nick_R_23]

When you ran a wide open exhaust on that 200x, did you use a gutted muffler, no muffler, extend the header pipe, or another way?

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[B2V8384]

When you ran a wide open exhaust on that 200x, did you use a gutted muffler, no muffler, extend the header pipe, or another way?

-Nick :TrikesOwn

The pipe I ran was made by one of my sponsers, PK Racing.
It had a larger headpipe and the rear section was sort of like a supertrapp but it had no end cap.
Back when I was riding the 200X none of the race promoters ever told me I had to run a spark arrester so I never did.
I tried many different pipes on the 200X, the White Bros Supertrapp was quieter but it did not make as much power on top end.

A couple of years later they started requiring spark arresters, from 1985 to 1987 I raced a 1986 250R, I can remember having to go through a spark arrester check before some races.

[Tri-Z 250]

Looking forward to "the Good old Days" writeup. Thanks again

[trikejunky]

Dean Sundahl

[B2V8384]

Dean Sundahl

Correct, it was Dean Sundahl, that S.O.B. won everything!