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Interviewer's
Note:
Many thanks to Terry Cunningham for taking time
out of his schedule to do this interview. Terry
was a member of the all-powerful Factory Husky Enduro
Team in the '80s. Along with riders like Dick Burleson
and Mike Melton, Terry helped Team Husky win 17
consecutive National Enduro Championships. Former
Team Husky riders make up the Who's Who amongst
off-road legends. Guys like Randy Hawkins and Kevin
Hines rode for Husky before moving on to other manufacturers.
Terry has remained active in Enduro racing at both
the National and Local level. Terry is currently
associated with the new Gas Gas Enduro effort and
is the '99 Vet A National Enduro Champion.
<DRN>
You won 4 National Enduro Championships in the mid
80's for Team Husky. When did you officially retire
from competing on the national level and what were
the circumstances that surrounded that decision?
<Terry Cunningham>
Well, honestly, I've never retired. I just kind
of backed off a little bit. You could call it less
fiercely competing. I don't ever want to say that
I retired because I might shrivel up and die. When
I really started shaving back on Nationals (Enduros
and Hare Scrambles) was 1995. That was the last
year that I competed super seriously, where I was
going to the Nationals and trying to do my best
for a competitive finish overall. I always try to
do my best, but as far as trying to go for a title,
'95 was my last year.
<DRN>
Husky was sold to Cagiva in
1988. How did that affect your ride with Husky and
how did you switch manufacturers?
<TC
>
Cagiva actually bought Husqvarna in 1985 and
then they really didn't do anything until '87 when
they started making Husqvarna a part of their company.
They came in and said that they weren't going to
change anything. They were going to keep all of
the same people and do all of the same things and
Husky would go along as it was in the past. But,
that wasn't the case. By the time '88 rolled around
there were only two of us left from the original
Husqvarna clan. They told me that they wanted me
to road race and/or run the off-road program. They
didn't want me to race (off-road) anymore. I didn't
feel it was time for me to quit racing yet. So,
that's when I switched to Kawasaki in '89. I had
gotten off to a good start in '89, but then I twisted
my knee at a National Enduro in Michigan. That kept
me out of action for a few weeks and it hurt me
for the Championship that season.
<DRN>
Didn't Randy Hawkins go on
to win the title that year?
<TC>
Oh, I knew you'd ask me something like that.
Yeah, I think he did. Let's see, Kevin Hines (KTM)
won it in '87. Then, Randy (Hawkins, SUZ) won '88,
'89, '90. Then I think Jeff Russell (KTM) won '91.
And then Randy came back and won '92, '93. Steve
Hatch (SUZ) won '94. Ty (Davis, KAW) won '95. Randy
won it again in '96.
<DRN>
Wasn't '96 the year that Ty
protested the last event in Delaware where Randy
rode Mark Hyde's RM to the finish? Ty was a little
mad at the AMA when he lost the protest.
<TC>
Yeah, I don't blame him (Ty) for being mad. Then,
Ty comes back and wins the Championship (National
Enduro) this year for Yamaha.
<DRN>
So, how and when did you meet
up with Don Knight (Gas Gas importer) and become
involved with the Gas Gas Enduro effort?
<TC>
Well, I've known the Knights for quite some time.
In fact, in '89 I did a riding school in Baton Rouge
(Louisiana) and he and his sons came to it. So,
I've known Don and a lot of the people down in the
SERA area for a long time. We were at an enduro
in Odenville, AL in '97 when I ran into Don. I went
down to that race with some friends of mine from
Mastercraft (the ski boat company) where I work.
It was early Sunday morning and Don Knight comes
riding up to the trailer and says: "Here I got a
motorcycle that I want you to try out." So I jumped
on it and I rode it out in the woods behind the
campground. It was a 250 Gas Gas and there were
some things that I liked about it. It had good suspension
and it had a pretty sweet motor. I wasn't real fond
of the gearbox and the clutch was a little bit draggy.
So I ride back up to Don and I tell him what I think
and he says: "So race it today." And I tell him,
you know I can't do that when I have a contract
to ride for someone else. At the time I was still
riding for Kawasaki. Don replies: "Ok, I understand.
But, if anything every happens, call me first."
Of course I say fine, but I didn't expect anything
to happen. Sure enough, a couple of months later,
in November, Kawasaki sent me a letter stating that
they had a change in management and the new person
was going to go after younger guys so they could
teach them. Basically, it was a good way of telling
someone who was a little bit older that "Hey, we're
going to hire up some younger guys." Which is understandable
and we parted on really good terms. I really like
the guys at Kawasaki and they always treated me
real well. They said they appreciated all of my
services over the years. So, I called Don up and
told him: "Hey, I'm calling you. Do you have a bike
for me?" He said, "Yeah, come on down to Maplesville,
AL (SERA/SETRA Enduro) on Nov 2nd and I'll bring
you a bike." So I get down there on Saturday and
it's kind of nasty, cold, and raining. I rode the
bike maybe 20 minutes that day. I got up the next
morning and rode the bike around a little bit more
and about 20 minutes before my start time we were
changing the whole clutch system out. It only takes
a couple of bolts and you can pull the master cylinder
and the slave cylinder off (Gas Gas uses a hydraulic
clutch like KTM) of the cases. So we're doing all
kinds of stuff because I wasn't really pleased with
the way that the clutch was working. When I got
going that morning, I was just railing. It was one
of those days where everything clicked right and
the bike was so good that it was just unbelievable!
If it weren't for one thing, the day would've been
perfect. I sheared the brake pedal off in the last
section of woods. Up until that point, I had everybody
beat by 2 minutes. So, that's how it started. I
basically decided that if the bike would perform,
I would go with Gas Gas.
<DRN>
So, how has Gas Gas changed
the bike in the last two years?
<TC>
It hasn't changed very
drastically. They (Gas Gas) tend to make small refinements
to make the bikes better. This year they've made
some major changes, but from '97-'98 there were
just small changes. Gas Gas just tries to make the
bike work for the rider. You can ride it all day
and it doesn't wear you out. That's the biggest
thing. They've taken their time developing the bike
and when they make a change it's to make something
work better. They don't make changes to keep up
with the trends of the industry.
<DRN>
How would you describe your
roll as Gas Gas team manager?
<TC>
That's kind of in its early
stages right now. Don has his two sons (Nolan and
Nathan Knight), and Clay (Boreing, '97 & '99 SERA
Enduro Champion/'99 Open A National Enduro Champion)
and Franklin Ramey (SE&TRA '98 Enduro Champion)
on the Gas Gas team for the National Enduros. So
basically he had these young riders and Don asked
them how they wanted to use me. They responded that
they wanted me to help them out at the races. Kind
of like a player/coach not so much as a team manager.
That's how I describe my job to people who ask.
But, I guess that it sounds better for the magazines
to call me a team manager. Don really manages everything,
and I'm just there for the team to help them out
when a question comes up like at the Six Days this
year. They (the Gas Gas riders) were pretty green
to it. Now, it's been a long time since I've been
to the Six Days, but I knew how to get around, and
knew what to look for and where to look for things
when we previewed the course. It's just good for
them to have somebody around with some experience.
That's more or less what they use me for. Maybe
some day in the near future, if things start to
flourish, I may end up being a team manager and
actually work for Gas Gas. But, as it stands now,
I work for Mastercraft Boat Company.
<DRN>
Describe how you feel the
Nature of Enduro Racing has changed from the 80's
to the 90's. I know that you and Kevin (Hines) were
known to prevail when the conditions were ugly and
that long gruesome events were then the norm. What's
different today?
<TC>
I think a lot of the changes are due to the way
the United States or society is today. Society looks
at recreation the way we do it as "unhealthy" to
the land and the wildlife. So, now you have ecologists
involved and you're not allowed to ride here and
there. Back in Ohio, where I'm from, it was starting
to get that way before I moved away. You couldn't
cross a stream anymore; you had to build a bridge
over it. That's the way it's been in Michigan for
quite some time. They used to lay down chain link
fence across the creeks. But, in Ohio, they got
to where they didn't even want us in the water.
They didn't want the chance of any oil or gasoline
dripping in the water. That has held the clubs back
from being able to promote a really tough, gruesome,
"true" enduro. Another thing is that the clubs don't
want to beat up the local riders so much that they
won't come back next year.
<DRN>
We had complaints that the
Odenville race that you mentioned earlier was too
tough.
<TC>
I
didn't think that that race was too hard, but it
was very dusty. You see, a lot of guys look at things
differently. Just like how they described this year's
Six Days in the magazines. It was a tough race,
and compared to the ones that I've ridden in the
past, it had some of the tougher obstacles. But,
I've ridden some very tough Six Days. France was
tough in 1980 and Checkoslavakia was tough. This
year what made it so tough was the dust. A lot of
guys get side tracked with what's tough and what's
not. That Odenville enduro had some tough hills,
but nothing that wasn't traversable. I've been in
races where you just about can't do it (ride over
the terrain), period. That's tough! Now, they try
and cater to the riders. When I grew up a motorcycle
club was a non-profit organization. They didn't
care how much money they made. They just went out
there and put on events so that everybody could
get away from their homes for a weekend, ride against
their buddies and visit with the people that they
met from other states. It was just a matter of having
fun. Today, the clubs look at it as if they have
to clear $4000 in order to pay for this and that.
They want to have money in the bank to have a banquet
or a Christmas party for the club after the season.
It just seems like they want to make that almighty
dollar. That's something that I've disagreed with
for a lot of years. That's where myself and a lot
of promoters have a real struggle. I feel that it's
kind of gotten out of hand. You know, you go to
a race and they charge $10 bucks to get in the gate.
I've always told a lot of the club members to look
at it this way: If you didn't have the riders coming
here who are you going to charge? There wouldn't
be anybody to charge because nobody's going to pay
to watch nobody ride. I never saw the point in charging
a racer to come through the gate, especially at
a motocross or a Hare Scramble. Now, at an Enduro
it's kind of a different ball game. The rider is
coming there and there's no real spectator thing
anyway. Usually at an enduro, they don't charge
you to get in the gate anyway.
<DRN>
Where you excited to go back
to the ISDE after a 10-year break?
<TC>
In a way I was. I was kind of excited, but because
I work 10 hours a day at my job 4 days a week and
1/2 days on Friday I usually don't have a lot of
time to go riding. The only riding I did was the
races I rode to qualify to go to Six Days. I probably
didn't ride my motorcycle 10 times before I went
to Six Days from the first of the year. So I was
real leery. I even told my wife that I didn't want
to go because I knew that I wasn't in the physical
condition that I needed to be in to ride Six Days
and do justice to myself, the motorcycle, and the
American team. It worked out good though, as the
week went on I got stronger, and my tests got much
much faster. I was putting time on some of the other
guys that were beating me on the first day; I was
putting 10, 15, and 20 seconds on them in the same
test. That's really what helped Jeff (Fredette),
Drew (Smith) and I. It's just the fact that we got
a little stronger as the week went on.
<DRN>
You rode on the Salt Fork
Dirt Riders team with two other ISDE Vets, Jeff
Fredette and Drew Smith. I think between the three
of you, there was 49 ISDE starts. How did you help
out the large group of ISDE rookies that represented
the US this year?
<TC>
We were able to help those riders that were on rows
around us. Jeff, Drew and I were spaced pretty close
together. Drew and I were only about 1-2 minutes
apart the whole week and Jeff was about 4 minutes
in front of us most of the time. For most of the
US riders that were on rows around us, they learned
pretty quick that just keeping a level head and
keeping the bike on two wheels had a lot to do with
it. Especially when 50-60 guys are dropping out
each day like they did for the first couple of days.
For them (the younger riders), they needed to see
what someone is doing right and make it work for
themselves. As far as helping them out, that was
about the only thing that we could do, besides lending
moral support. I mean when they would say things
like my hands are sore, or my legs are sore, we'd
just tell them to hang in there for just another
day.
<
TC Continues....>
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