THE 20 STAGES OF WARREN REID’S LIFE: Meet A Man Who Raced Anything With Wheels; And Did It With Pride
In 1983 Warren went from a Yamaha support ride to a full-factory ride.
THE 20 STAGES OF WARREN REID’S LIFE:
MEET A MAN WHO RACED ANYTHING WITH WHEELS; AND DID IT WITH PRIDE
ÿÿ He rode for every factory team. He raced against the best riders in America. He helped develop the bikes the public bought. He competed in every type of event. He was trained by a rabbit and a teen idol. His stepdad was an acclaimed factory wrench.
ÿÿ MXA tracked Warren down at his home in Pennsylvania, where he works for Honda, to get a firsthand account of the central role he played in American motocross’ most pivotal days. Here is what he said.
1: 1970
ÿÿ “In 1970 my dad told me that if I saved half the money, he would pay the other half to buy a Yamaha Mini-Enduro. I was 11 years old. I mowed lawns and kept birthday dollars until I earned enough money. That year at Christmas, the last gift that my mom handed me was a little box about an inch thick. I opened it and found a 1970 Yamaha Mini-Enduro owner’s manual. The bike was hidden down the street at our friend Jim Williams’ house. I sprinted down the street in my bare feet with no shirt on. There it was. My deliverance. My reason for living. Thoughtfully, Jim had a helmet for me to wear so I could ride it home. (And it had rubber covered foot pegs so my feet were okay, too.)”
ÿÿ “In 1971 I got sponsored by Cycle Path Motors. They were a mini bike-only shop in Westminster, California (located in an old Fosters Freeze restaurant). They sold Gemini mini bikes and Rokon two-wheel-drive ATV motorcycles (before the Don Kudalski days).”
Two years with Team Kawasaki didn’t leave Warren with the best of memories.
3: 1973
ÿÿ “Dennis and Wendy Blanton were my sponsors from 1973 to 1974 (Dennis was Marty Tripes’ Honda mechanic). Dennis thought I might be good at motocross, even though I had never raced before. So, when the Honda Elsinore came out, Dennis and Wendy bought one and took me to the CMC races to race.”
ÿÿ “In 1974, when Jon R and my mom got married, they bought the CR125 from the Blantons. Jon R became the lead 125 mechanic for Team Honda. I got to hang with a lot of fast folks and ride with them when they practiced. I learned to practice from Marty Smith and Pierre Karsmakers.”
Warren Reid may have ridden for every factory, but he was bred to be a Honda man. After his racing career was over. Reid got a job with…Honda.
5: 1975
ÿÿ “From late 1974 to 1976, I worked for FMF. They paid me to weld pipes. I made them in my garage using my bike as the welding jig. I would deliver ten pipes at a time to the FMF shop in Harbor City, California. I got paid five bucks a pipe. Righteous bucks in those days.”
ÿÿ “When I got fast enough, FMF started porting my cylinders for free. When I made way more money racing local Pro races, I quit making pipes (except for myself and Jon R). I was 16. I rode the 125 Nationals for FMF in 1975 and 1976, and got ninth and sixth.”
Lining up for the Mid-Ohio 125cc Grand Prix on a Factory Honda had to be a good feeling.
7: 1977
ÿÿ “I was at Team Honda from 1977 through 1979. I got a factory ride with Honda after winning a Trans-AMA Support class race. I won the Trans-AMA Support class title over Broc Glover and Steve Wise in 1978.”
ÿÿ “A lot of people left Honda after 1979. I moved to Team Kawasaki and was there in 1980 and 1981. Gary Mathers was the team manager at Kawasaki. He found a way to make me gone. That seemed to be common practice with him and riders over the years. Was it him or the riders? I think history will look at the common denominator and draw the right conclusion.”
Warren’s first year on the Nationals was aboard a 1974 three-digit Honda, with moved-up shocks and a spindly box-section swingarm.
9: 1982
ÿÿÿ “I was at Team Suzuki in 1982. I did well there. I was fourth in the 250 Nationals behind Johnson, Hansen and Glover, and seventh in the 250 Supercross series. But, it never felt like a good fit there. Obviously they felt the same, because I was only there for one year.”
ÿÿÿ “I started 1983 as a Yamaha privateer, but I got a factory deal halfway through the year. I never got a salary though?all bonuses. I broke my leg in January of 1984. Amazingly, I got a letter in the hospital from MXA’s Zap telling me not to quit racing. I didn’t. I just decided that I would ride the types of races that I always wanted to try. I also started a full-time cabinet contracting business (which turned into outfitting box vans for racers when all my buddies found out what I was doing).”
Warren was the first King of Mammoth and a pioneer four-stroke rider aboard the big ATK 604.
11: 1984
ÿÿ “In 1984, I raced the Ascot TT National for the White Brothers on a Yamaha TT600. I qualified for the night program but didn’t make the main.”
ÿÿÿ “ATK called me up in 1985. I raced some 500 Nationals, the Austrian 500 GP and the 500 USGP for Horst Leitner. Nobody was riding four-strokes back then. Horst was a pioneer and an innovator. My cabinet contracting business remodeled his kitchen, too.”
Warren Reid takes center stage on the start line with Mike Bell and Gaylon Mosier to his right and teammmate Steve Wise and Yamaha’s Broc Glover to his left.
13: 1985
ÿÿ “I raced the Ascot TT National again in 1985 for the White Brothers. I qualified for the National TT, but didn’t make the main. Then, my brother and I drove all night to Hangtown where I raced the AMA 500 National on an ATK. To my knowledge, nobody has ever qualified for a Dirt Track National and a motocross National on the same weekend.”
ÿÿÿ “I raced a factory BMW in the 1985 Baja 1000 with teammates Tom Kelly and Dave Chase. We got fourth overall on a street bike. To this day, that is still the single best motorcycle I have ever ridden (for what it was meant to do). My old friend Al Baker flew over the race in his plane and told me later he clocked me at 125 mph on a dirt road!”
Jon R does some last minute tuning on Warren’s FMF? Honda Elsinore.
15: 1986
ÿÿ “I stayed at ATK for 1986 and raced the Whiskey Pete’s Hare and Hound World Championship and got tenth. Then I raced the Ascot TT again (this time on an ATK) and made the main. I got 13th against Springsteen, Shobert, Carr, Fay, Jones, Poovey, Graham, Parker and Goss. At the end of the year, I earned National number 27 in AMA Dirt Track. I never raced with it, though.”
16: 1986
ÿÿ “In 1986, I decided to do something really different and raced a Jawa Speedway bike in the Second Division Speedway Championships for Cody Racing. One night I scored a perfect 15 points in the heats and got second in the final behind future British Leaguer Ronnie Corry.”
Warren’s first big claim to fame was winning the Trans-AMA Support class in1978.
17: 1989
ÿÿ “After my speedway season, I took some serious time off. I got the urge to race the World Veteran Championships in 1989. I called Norm Bigelow at Kawasaki and he got me a bike. I picked it up on Friday, rode it for a half hour on Saturday (after doing a cabinet install all day) and won the 1989 Vet World Championships on Sunday. The bike sat unridden for months until Kawi asked for it back.”
ÿÿ “I didn’t defend my World Vet Championship, but in 2003 I came out to race some vintage races. I raced a 1973 CR250 owned by Diamond Don Rainey. It was good to see so many of my old racing buddies again. I may do some more vintage races in the future.”
ÿÿ “My career highlights were winning the 1978 Trans-AMA Support Class Championship and the 1989 World Vet Championship. I am the only person who has ever earned championship points in motocross, Supercross, AMA Dirt Track, FIM GPs, Superbikers and SCORE off road racing. I have held AMA pro licenses for motocross, dirt track, Speedway and road race at the same time. I never raced an AMA road race National, but I almost won the first Superbikers event in 1979.”
ÿÿ “Generally, I’m impressed with the state of the sport today, but I am somewhat mystified by the dominance of one or two guys. I would like to see more difficult tracks in Supercross and motocross. The indoor tracks are cookie-cutter, with banked 180-degree corners, a whoop straight and a big finish-line jump. Boring! I want to see gnarly off-cambers and momentum-breaking obstacles, not just a set of doubles and a table top. Oh yeah, and the motos are too short!”
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