Big Little Bike
BIG LITTLE BIKE
An 80cc enduro brings home the gold
LARRY ROESELER IS ONE OF America's most-versatile off-road riders. And although he's best known for his Baja wins, he's also one of our best enduro racers. Roeseler has proven competitive on every size of enduro bike, having won on 500, 250, 200, 125 and 100cc two-strokes, as well as on 500cc four-strokes.
Even so, Roeseler surprised people when he showed up for the 1989 running of the ultimate enduro, the ISDE, on a Kawasaki 80. The reasoning behind the small bike was simple: There’s less competition in the small-bore ISDE divisions, and the higher Roeseler could finish in class, the better the U.S. Trophy Team would do.
The 80 that Roeseler took into battle wasn’t your normal, runof-the-mill 80, either. Team Green had taken a KX125 frame and transplanted a KX80 minimotocrosser engine into it. An upside-down fork was added, and Pro-Circuit chipped in with a pipe, engine modifications and suspension work.
Team Green also fabricated a two-piece clutch cover for the ISDE 80, anticipating clutch problems during the long event. But, surprisingly, the clutch never caused a problem.
Germany’s ISDE didn't prove to be a great race for an 80, though. The six days of competition consisted mainly of cruis-
ing down dirt roads, with a couple of trail sections and several special tests thrown in each day. “The little 80 was a pain to ride on the smooth roads. It required five to six shifts for every corner. But the special-test sections were a blast,” Roeseler says with a smile. “It’s too bad the course wasn’t tough like a normal ISDE; I would have had a real advantage. But I still had a lot of fun.” Along the way, Roeseler also collected his ninth ISDE gold medal
I g6t a chance to ride Roes eler's 80, untouched since it fin ished the Six-Days. The bike is still in excellent condition: its engine strong and responsive, al though very pipey. The engine doesn't start making power until it is wound up to, oh. about a zillion rpm. where the power band hits stron~1y. but briefly.
Surely, the longevity of such a radical engine had to be the same as that of a carton of milk left overnight on the counter top, I reasoned. But, actually, the 80 took all the full-throttle operation the ISDE could dish out.
“The engine wasn’t touched during the Six-Days,” says Roeseler. “I practiced replacing the top-end before going to Germany—I can do it in 1 1-minutes—but I didn’t have to. It never lost any power or got loose. And I didn’t give it any mercy.”
Roeseler finished the ISDE third in class, against the world’s best 80cc specialists. So you can believe he kept the throttle pegged.
What’s next for LR and Team Green? Roeseler smiles, “I’d like to ride next year’s ISDE in Sweden on a modified KX125. That’s the only size of bike that I haven’t raced in the ISDE. I haven’t told (Team Green Race Manager) Mark Johnson yet, but I don’t think that he’ll object."
Ron Griewe
