40 Day Countdown To AMA Motocross Opener: 1984
Sunday, April 24, 2011 | 10:50 AM
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And the beat marches on as this is the forty-day countdown to the 40th year of American motocross. The 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship begins on Saturday, May 21, at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California. Racer X Online is counting down the days and years to the opener by reviewing each of the previous seasons of AMA Motocross.
(Click here to view previous years)
1984. Life was simpler back then as we were more worried about whether Bob Geldof had raised enough money for Africa with “We are the World” and how was this new TV program, Cosby Show going to be anyways? The LA Raiders won the Super Bowl, the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup and the old cowboy Ronald Reagan was re-elected once again.
The effortless, always stylish David Bailey with his grand national number 1 plate.
A little closer to home, the AMA motocross series saw some changes as well. Yamaha announced that due to the costs of producing one-off machines, they were going to go racing on modified production bikes and end their works bike program. It was a controversial decision that paid off later in the year with a championship. Mark Barnett, perhaps seeing the future of the 125s belonged to the kids, moved up to the 250 class and Honda snatched rising star Ron Lechien up from Yamaha and installed him in the 250 class.
Honda’s David Bailey was sporting the brand new number-one plate after winning the Grand National Championship the previous year. He moved up to the 500 class, which made for funny photos. Defending 500 Champion Broc Glover sported the 500 number-one plate on his YZ490 while Bailey also ran number-one (for the Grand National Title) on his Honda.
Up against the works, water-cooled Honda 500 of Bailey, Glover’s getting-old-in-the-teeth YZ490 was no match and Bailey rode to a fairly easy title. Glover would win the last two nationals though and kept David honest throughout and easily took second place in the series.
1984 would see the emergence of Jeff Ward as a superstar.
The 125 nationals saw a two-man battle royale between the defending champion Johnny O’Mara (Honda) and Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward. O’Mara was as confident as one could get as he was coming off the ’84 supercross championship. Those two were the ones left standing after the defections of Barnett and Lechien and they were a class above everyone else in equipment and talent. The two riders would swap moto wins all summer long with Wardy generally getting the second moto and overall win. They even came together a few times with each guy blaming the other guy for what happened. There was no love lost at all and eventually Ward claimed his first (of many) outdoor titles. For Ward and Kawasaki, this championship represented many years of research and development to bring the KX up to par. The battle for third was between privateers (and buddies) Mike Beier and AJ Whiting, with the national number 99 Yamaha of Beier getting the “first privateer” trophy.
The real war was in the 250 outdoor class, as Lechien and Yamaha’s Rick Johnson would go at it on and off the track. The two riders grew up in the same town, known as the El Cajon Zone. There was always the rivalry between these two, and now it was for more than just the local Barona Oaks title. These two kids would blow everyone else away (Bob Hannah did win the opening national of the year before, wait for it, getting injured and missing a bunch of races) and leave established riders like Barnett and Howertown in the dust.
Wrangler Jeans stepped up in a big way in the 80's and even incorporated stars like Jeff Ward and Mark Barnett in their ads.
For RJ, winning the 1984 250 Title marked a great comeback after losing the 1982 title in heartbreaking fashion, and then breaking his hip in 1983.
One of the first independent teams, Team Tamm, managed to win the Hangtown national behind Michigan rider Alan King’s 4-1 scores for that teams one and only highlight on the year. It would be several decades before the idea of an independent team would rise again.
Lechien told Racer X the other day his memories of that ’84 motocross season: “I was 17 years old and outdoors, it was RJ and I. Liles and Hannah were in there at times as well. Mainly, Johnson and I went at it. We battled and it was a good year for me. Unless something happened, it was us two out there trying to kill each other. There was some off track stuff that came into play as well, stuff that was going on at the races was making it back home so that didn’t help. We had a feud going for sure, he didn’t like getting beat by anyone and especially not me. I was taking it so not serious and he was taking it so seriously, I think that drove him nuts.
“We each won four races and it did come down to the last race at Washougal for the title. I got the holeshot, got out front and got tired. He chased me down and won the title. He took it from me and I was bummed about that. I definitely had a bike advantage over him as well.”
Team Honda had a formable team in '84 with Chandler, Bailey, Hannah, O'Mara and Lechien.
Ronnie continues, getting more animated now. “Not too long ago, I was watching the ’84 Saddleback round and we were going at in the second moto when he hit something and his wheel broke. So we were going down the next hill, he was looking down at his wheel and then he looked at me and turned right into me! It took us both down and I was swearing at him when I got up. I got up and finished the moto and I won the overall.”
“Anyways, I was watching this race on-line and you can see that he’s off in the back of the track getting a new wheel put on, outside the mechanic’s area. So that should be a DNQ and whatever points he earned should be taken away. Some thirty years later, I want the title!” laughs Lechien
Once again, America kicked butt at the Motocross des Nations as Jeff Ward put on a show one weekend sweeping both motos in Finland in a dominating fashion. The team consisted of David Bailey (who was replaced by Broc Glover after Bailey got hurt the first week), Ricky Johnson and Ward. The skills acquired by riding supercross were beginning to show through and the American riders were getting really good.
1984 NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
1984 250cc National Motocross
March 4 Gainesville, FL Bob Hannah, Carson City, NV Honda
April 1 Orange, CA Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA Honda
April 8 Sacramento, CA Alan King, Troy, MI Honda
May 13 Atlanta, GA Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA Honda
May 27 Mt. Morris, PA Rick Johnson, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
July 1 Buchanan, MI Rick Johnson, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
July 22 Binghamton, NY Rick Johnson, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
August 5 Millville, MN Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA Honda
August 12 Denver, CO Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA Honda
August 19 Washougal, WA Rick Johnson, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
Suzuki's Scott Burnworth was one of the rising stars of Suzuki in '83.
1984 250cc National Point Standings
1.) Rick Johnson, El Cajon, CA Yamaha 419
2.) Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA Honda 411
3.) Billy Liles, Fairburn, GA Kawasaki 366
4.) Alan King,Troy, MI Honda 306
5.) Mark Barnett, Bridgeview, IL Suzuki 292
6.) Keith Bowen, Pontiac, MI Yamaha 287
7.) Kent Howerton, San Antonio, TX Kawasaki 281
8.) Jim Holley, Northridge, CA Yamaha 204
9.) Jeff Hicks, Atwater, OH Honda 197
10.) Bob Hannah, Carson City, NV Honda 191
1984 500cc National Motocross
March 4 Gainesville, FL David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
April 1 Orange, CA David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
April 8 Sacramento, CA David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
May 13 Atlanta, GA David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
May 27 Mt. Morris, PA David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
July 1 Buchanan, MI David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
July 22 Binghamton, NY David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
August 5 Millville, MN David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda
August 12 Denver, CO Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
August 19 Washougal, WA Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yamaha
In 1984, Johnny O'Mara and Jeff Ward would battle hard for the 125 national title.
1984 500cc National Point Standings
1.) David Bailey, Axton, VA Honda 488
2.) Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yamaha 443
3.) Goat Breker, Riverside, CA Kawasaki 383
4.) Mark Murphy, Ft. Myers, FL Yamaha 253
5.) Peter Snorteland, Newbury Park, CA Yamaha 241
6.) Mickey Kessler, Farmingdale, NJ Honda 224
7.) Micky Dymond, Yorba Linda, CA Husqvarna 221
8.) Andy Stacy, DePew, NY Husqvarna 187
9.) David McClain, Houston, TX Honda 175
10.) Scott Manning, San Bernardino, CA Yamaha 159
1984 125cc National Motocross
March 4 Gainesville, FL Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
April 1 Orange, CA Johnny O’Mara, Gardnerville, NV Honda
April 8 Sacramento, CA Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
May 13 Atlanta, GA Johnny O’Mara, Gardnerville, NV Honda
May 27 Mt. Morris, PA Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
July 1 Buchanan, MI Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
July 22 Binghamton, NY Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
August 5 Millville, MN Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
August 12 Denver, CO Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
August 19 Washougal, WA Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki
1984 125cc National Point Standings
1.) Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA Kawasaki 479
2.) Johnny O’Mara, Simi Valley, CA Honda 461
3.) Mike Beier, Orange, CA Yamaha 322
4.) A. J. Whiting, Sherman Oaks, CA Honda 299
5.) Erik Kehoe, Granada Hills, CA Honda 261
6.) Jim Anderson, Longview, WA Yamaha 234
7.) Rick Ryan, San Jose, CA Suzuki 207
8.) Guy Cooper, Stillwater, OK Honda 183
9.) Gary Bowman, Bakersfield, CA Suzuki 160
10.) Doug Dubach, Costa Mesa, CA Suzuki 150
2011 MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. All rights reserved.
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HOLESHOT!! But seriously, that picture with the '84 Team Honda is AWESOME!! I was 14 years old at that time and those guys were gods to me. Seeing Hannah at the the Seattle Supercross last weekend was so cool. Keep them coming RacerX.
i wonder is my 1994 honda xr400r is aloud in this race ?
Good Job, Steve. Switching horses in the middle of a stream and never missing a beat. :)
That picture of O'Mara on the MXA cover - pure style!
I guess no one told Hannah they were doing the photo with eyes open.
Matthes, well done! I am enjoying Europe but I did miss handing the reins off on these articles. I met some of your fans today in Valkenswaard.... Okay, it was one fan. But he was eating fries and mayo, drinking a Jupiler, and thinking about letting his mullet happen again.... And he mentioned your dog on Racerhead. He's a legit fan!
DC
MX Sports
DC - Have one of those excellent Dutch beers for me!
I have video of Hannah and Hicks practicing the day before Lakewood race, during a break we said Glover was kind of a dickhead cause he woudl not let us film him, Hannah laughs and agrees with a "10:4 on Glover being a dickhead " was also the year Guy " Airtime " Cooper was rookie of the year. Good job, as usual
Another GREAT job reliving another MX season. That year I bought an '84 cr500 and wore the same gear that Lechein had..In my mind, that red/wht/blue gear made me just as fast...Also, one of the guys from my hometown wrenched for Jeff Ward during this season, for his 125 title: Mike McAndrews. Also in the MXA issue that is shown, Mike did a tech article on 125 tuning, saying he likes to keep the chain tighter than others, cause the extra slack was power robbing for a 125.
More TM400 bench racin\
Here is a great article by Super Hunky about the 1971 orange tanker.
http://articles.superhunky.com/4/65
Suzuki TM400 Cyclone
THE MOST DANGEROUS DIRT BIKE EVER BUILT?
By Rick Sieman
"By the time I had put in two laps on the motocross track, I knew something was dreadfully wrong with either me, or the Suzuki. Whenever I tried to accelerate smoothly out of a bumpy corner, that staggering mid-range would hit and the rear end of the bike would lurch outward. On the short smooth straights, the Cyclone was all you could want, as it pulled hard and clean, and would slow down with authority, as the brakes were far superior to the typical European stuff that I rode at the time.
After 20 minutes of riding, I was drenched in sweat and my hands and forearms were horribly cramped. The bike had scared me badly. Was it me? "Hey, who wants to ride this thing?"
The testers - all expert level riders - fought over who got the saddle next.Al Wurtzel, a very fast desert racer, won the coin toss and went out on the course.Ten minutes later, he came in, shaking. "This thing is dangerous! Here, somebody else give it a try."
By the end of the afternoon, all of the test riders, from Novice (me) to Pro, agreed that the all-new, technology-inspired Suzuki TM-400 Cyclone was the worst pile that had ever come out of Japan. If you rode it cautiously, a 125 could beat you around the track. If you rode it aggressively, chances are you would get spit off."
The manufacturers should bring back those one-off works bikes They were unbelievable - especially the '83-'85 Hondas!
The coolest thing about old-school mx was how close you got to stand to the track. Check out that pic of the little professor up there!
Holy cow I need some new articles or videos to watch!! I'm at work and have read every article and watched every video that has been posted and I keep checking back and there is nothing new!! I'm in Salt Lake and am drooling over the fact that SX is this Saturday and then I'm headed down to Vegas for the finals, but that is 6 days away!! I'm hoping in the coming week that there is plenty of new articles, updates, and videos for me to look at while waitng for the real thing this weekend. To all that are going to be there this weekend the forecast looks awesome! A lot better than the last two years. To those that are not going to be there, I will drink a cold one for you and take an extra picture with the monster girls in your honor:)
Some of you old-school moto heads might appreciate this new movie thats coming out in the summer- it has nothing to do with moto tho
http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/movies/video/?cp-documentid=4a3985f1-bbc8-4a03-9c29-5fa8e150368a
That picture of Hannah looks like he's saying, "Gee, fellas! You silly savages!" Nice limp wrist action.
Man, what a wrecking crew! Certainly in the running for All-Time strongest team ever! Props to Ward & Kawie for their technological coup (power-valve) and RJ for his will to win (absolutely no credit to Yamaha for their contribution, production turd). Without Wardy & RJ, Honda would've steamrolled the entire AMA tour.
I think this was also the zenith of the "Cajon-zone" dynasty, with Glover, Johnson, Lechein & Co. manhandling the series. Fast forward 25 some-odd years to today's version, the "Fla-hone zone".
From Smith to Moates to these guys and on, I just thought it would always be this way, with all the most talented racers coming from San Diego area.....Christian Craig will return us to glory.
Boy, I still remember the days at the old Palm ave. riding area, seeing these guys out there just blowing minds, Lechien especially, what a talent!
Almost forgot!!! 1984 was also the year Glover got hosed out of the SX title by AMA / Kawasaki Conspiracy. Ward rode backward on track at final SX & DID NOT get DQ'd while Glover did earlier in the year & WAS DQ'd. I was full on red rider at the time so, didn't matter to me but, a screw job is still a screw job and this probably would've had a dramatic effect on Glover's career.......could've changed everything! The ruling party at the time for the promoter took a job at Kawie the very next year.......hmmmmmm???????
Several decades before the idea of an independent team would rise again? Really!? It was only 6 years later when team Peak was formed in 1990.
LOVE these look backs
Red Bud on 7/1/84 was HOT! 100 plus degrees and with high humitity. Johnson
split moto wins with Billy Liles. Keith Bowen carded 3/3 and Barnett went 4/4. My buddies Tom Carson and Kevin Foley along with Minn Bruce Gates,we had a great
battle both motos running just inside the top ten. Put also in this battle Mi. Alan King, Jim Holley and Iowa speedster Johnny Spaw.
Red Bud on 7/1/84 was HOT! 100 plus degrees and with high humitity. Johnson
split moto wins with Billy Liles. Keith Bowen carded 3/3 and Barnett went 4/4. My buddies Tom Carson and Kevin Foley along with Minn Bruce Gates,we had a great
battle both motos running just inside the top ten. Put also in this battle Mi. Alan King, Jim Holley and Iowa speedster Johnny Spaw.
Nikola, to be fair to Matthes, Team Tamm was a full on independent team. They did well for awhile, got their own sponsors, had really cool team uniforms, and rode Honda one year, Kawi the next (if I recall, one year they had riders on multiple brands)
Team Peak, was a Honda Factory supported team. Amazing and successful effort by PC, yet a different animal.
Nothing written about the AMA battle with Insport that affected Pro Racing
and the promoters of SX and affecting the Nationals...during the 1984 racing
year. The Pro riders had to buy both Insport and a AMA Pro Card.
Yes 84 was a good year of racing. I also remember Glover telling Bailey his bike was too fast!!! I also still have a pair of Team Tamm racing pants, hey I still wanna call them leathers lol. I think I pissed making a couple of posts. In82 I started riding serious again on a yz 465 then got a yz 490 in 83 and made it all white. I raced that bike through 84 also. Made a lot of mods to it and was runing Ohlins fork interals and Shock. I 84 I thought I had a shot at the Texas Series title in the open Inermidiates, well as luck would have it the wedesday before the series started I went totest suspension and bike as I had just rebuilt it all. I was going by this minibike slow to be safe and I just fell over twisted my knee around real bad. had a pretty badly damaged alc. WEnt to the opening round at Rio Bravo outside of houston. I was on cruthes. But still rode Tey only had 5 experts show up on 250,s Well dumb dumb me goes and pulles the holeshot! well that David Mcain guy was not to happy he got by me just before the finish line jump it was a big jump and I maxed out my yz 490 and passed him back on the big jump guess I flew a long ways cause I pased him coming up to the jump well he finnaly got pissed at me and gave me the heave ho in the back of the track lol Needless to say I was not in a good place and took me a while to get going but I think I savaged 4th in the seriries I think? I believe Wyatt Seals ended up winning both Open and 250 Indermideate classes. I think all of the top riderrs wone motos that year it was a close series also.
THE BEST YEAR IN MX IMO. BAILEY WAS A GOD
9.) Gary Bowman, Bakersfield, CA Suzuki 160
Dude passed me in the last corner for the last qualifiying spot in Mammoth MX 125 Intermediate (then he won the Main) - but I'm not bitter LOL
R.I.P. ;
5.) Peter Snorteland, Newbury Park, CA Yamaha 241
Believe it or not, I was actually riding with Hannah when he broke his pelvis. It was in the hills above Mojave, Ca. (Between Mojave and Tehachapi). Hannah, along with Jeff Hicks, desert ace Tom Kelly and some others had gathered for a day of riding (Tom let me tag along as a 14 year old kid). Bob was on the bike for a total of maybe 10 seconds when he came flying up on a huge wash, grabbed a bunch of front brake, went over the bars in to the wash and the bike landed on him. Right in front of me. . .I asked him if he was OK and he said "NO!". I rode back and told the others that Bob was hurt and that ended my day of getting to ride with Bob Hannah. The highlight for me ended up being that Brian Lunniss took me and my bike home in the Honda Box van as all the others had taken Bob in to the hospital in Lancaster.
Saddleback that year was the first National I saw in CA. Great day, with Johnny O' and Wardy battling in 125s and the El Cajon boys in 250s. (I had just moved to El Cajon.) It was also the LAST National there. We rode road bikes up later that year to see the Four-Stroke Nationals and there was a "closed" sign on the gate. I still have a picture of my friend and me standing in front of the gate. Living in the SD area, I used to ride at Palm Ave and ran into RJ out there testing with the Honda truck AND the Showa truck in '86.
I recall 1984, to some degree. On July 1st, which is Canada Day, we had a 500cc GP about two hours north of Toronto Ontario and it was hot as hell. Of course it seemed hotter when nursing hangover from the night before.....LOL
Back in the days of the long moto, and to see guys like Jobe, Mahlerbe and Goebers up close on the European works bikes was simply amazing.
Probably never see these bikes in the top ten in MX ever again
7.) Micky Dymond, Yorba Linda, CA Husqvarna 221
8.) Andy Stacy, DePew, NY Husqvarna 187
Highpoint...500 national...Bailey and Glover....fastest speeds that I've ever seen on an mx track. They were insane.
Team Peak is now Pro Circuit Kawasaki and IS one of the "independent" teams Matthes is talking about. Also, several decades after 1986 would still be sometime in the future depending on your definition of several. To me several definitely means more than 2 1/2.
My brother and I won a harescramble on a 1974 TM400 cyclone....in 1976 i think. I was 12- he was 15....mud up to the gas tank......just gas the thing...LOL....the good ol days :) Love these look backs. Never thought it was a big deal till the last 20 yrs hehehe.