Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

FACTORYRIDE / READERSRIDE /HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS/ BUYERS GUIDE

Thebikethat
startedyouonyour
careerwaswhat?
It wasa Honda
MR50thatI gotfor
Christmas.Askidswe
calledit theMister 50
andI wasseven.Bothmy
fatherandhisbrotherwere
racersandDadworkedatthe
Harley-DavidsonfactorysoI’d
beenexposedtoit allmylife
andtookupcompetitiveriding
prettyquicklyoncesummer
arrived.TheMRwasfollowedby
anotherHonda,anXR75,then
anRM80andRM100in 1980.
ThenextyearI steppeduptoa
125 andby’82I wasridinga
250 aswell.Dadhadwona few
championshipssomaybeit was
in theblood.
Wherein theU.S.areyou
from?
I grewupin Millington,
Michigan,whichis about 90
minutesnorthofDetroit,not
toofarfromtheCanadian
borderbutwetravelledallover
theUSAtogoracing.
Didyoustartwinningfroman
earlyage?
Myfirstchampionshipwasin
1977 in the80ccB classandI
moveduptothe 80 A classin
1978 andwonthataswell.
Thoseclasseswereagebased,
7 to11 yearsoldforB and 12 to
15 forA.Nineteenseventy-nine
and 1980 wasa dryperiodwith
a lotofmechanicalfailuresbut
from 1982 throughto 1984 I
wonmyshareofcrowns,oneof
whichwasa winatLoretta
Lynn’sAmateurMX
Championshipin 1982,thefirst
yearit washeld.LorettaLynnis
a countrysingerwitha
6000-acrehorseranchandthe
six-dayeventis thefinalstop
foramateurridersbeforethey
jointheprofessionalranks.
Hasalloryourridingbeenin
MX?
MostlybutI’vealsohada bitof

a goatgo-karting

androadracing.I

wentin a six-hour

roadraceatEastern

Creeka coupleof

timesandI’vedone

someHarleyracingon

a Sportster 883 fora

season.Thatwasallforthefun

ofit asI’dfinishedasa

professionalmotocrosser.

It wasracingthatbrought

youtoAustraliawasn’tit?

I camethefirsttimein 1987to

ridein theBurswoodCasino

Supercrossin Perththatwas

promotedbyJeffLeisk’sfather.

ThenPhilChristensen

contactedmeandI rodein one

ofhiseventsin Adelaidebefore

returningtotheStates.I was

onlyhereforaboutthreeweeks

butcamebackagainforabout

sixmonthsin 1988basing

myselfin Rockinghamsouthof

Perthbutcompetingin the

easternstatesaswell.I likedthe

laid-backAussielifestyleandit

is a lotwarmerthanMichiganas

wellsoI returnedpermanently

in 1989.

Witha careerstartingfrom

suchanearlyagetheremust

beplentyofbigmomentsbut

whichonestandsoutforyou?

It wasn’tmyfirstnationalwinin

theUSAbutit wasa daywhenI

justranawayfromthefieldat

GlenHelenoneyear.It wasa

rock-hardclaytrackthata rider

fromMichiganshouldnothave

feltathomeon.Werodein sand

andmudallthetimebut

everythingjustclickedforme

thatday.I wonbothmotoson

the 125 forthecrown.Mybest

dayin Australiawasthe 1989

SouthAustraliantitleswhenI

rodeallthreeclassesfora

secondin the125sandwon

boththe 250 and 500 titles.

Doyouhaveanythingthat

wasnevertickedoffonyour

bucketlist?

Intheearlytomid-’90s,I can’t

REAR GUARD

HERE TO STAY

EDDIE WARRENCAMETOOZTO RACE SUPERCROSS AND LIKED IT SO MUCH HE RETURNED FOR GOOD

was limited things to do.

Normally you’d grab a magazine

or watch TV to relax but my

limited Japanese wasn’t up to

either of those. Working with

the factory engineers was an

experience as at fi rst they

ignored my feedback if it was

different to their dyno fi gures

and other data. I was eventually

able to convince them that the

bike that read lower on the dyno

was actually faster on the track

by comparing lap times. It was

getting more drive and less

wheelspin.

What was the most

impressive bike you’ve

ridden?

In 1992 I got to ride a hand-built

factory prototype KX250 that

just handled so well it was

unbelievable. It had a steel

frame, very light walled and it

fl exed a lot but in a good way.

Unfortunately it was fragile and

broke a lot, we often replaced

the frame after each race

meeting. It just fl oated over

bumps so well as the frame

worked in harmony with the

suspension. The designers had

this mind set though that the

frame had to be stiffer and went

to an alloy frame for the ’93

model and it was terrible, the

biggest piece of garbage I’ve

ever ridden. It transferred every

bit of shock force straight

through to the rider.

What are you riding these

days?

My race career in Australia was

all on Kawasakis but the only

bike I have these days is a

TTR125 Yamaha to run around

on the farm. I have a hobby

farm at Glenn Innes and my own

company, Ezebale, making

presses for the recycling

industry, compressing

cardboard and plastic waste. We

also do some electronics work

for Telstra.

with Warren Jack

MMMMYYYYRRRRAAAACCCCEEEECCCCAAAARRRREEEEEEEERRRR

IINNAAUUSSTTRRAALLIIAA

WASALLON

KAWASAKIS

FI

VE

MINUTES

WITH

EDDIE

WARREN

remember the exact year, I was

asked to ride in the Finke Desert

Race but I had commitments in

Japan so couldn’t get to Alice

Springs in time.

So you raced in Japan as

well then?

I did through my contacts with

Kawasaki. They were interested

in bringing a foreigner to Japan

to compete in the All Japan

Championships so I lived and

raced in Japan for three

seasons, ‘92, ‘3 and ‘4. It had its

pluses and minuses. Japan is a

fascinating place, so clean and

effi cient with great food and

people but when I wasn’t racing

or test riding for Kawasaki there

142 |JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au