Enduro Champion
ENDURO CHAMPION
BILL BAIRD:
JACK HALL
IF WE WERE TO TAKE Bill Baird at his word, enduro riding runs a cool second in his life. Seeing that he has been AMA National Champion for the fifth straight year, this is perhaps a commentary on the sport of enduro — a phase of motorcycling that one can enjoy, and do quite well at, without alienating wife and family.
As Baird is an Illinois man, he is thus in the hotbed area of enduro activity. He was born in Mount Vernon 37 years ago, now lives in Sterling.
That “second love” implies a first love, his family, including wife Milly and three children, Debbie, 14, Lou Ann, 13, and Bill Jr., 7.
His first encounter with motorcycling’s he-man off-the-road version of the timed sports car rally was at the age of 19. He entered the Abe Lincoln run in 1950 at Peoria, 111. As could be expected, he didn’t do very well.
Commenting in his simple, down-to-earth way on this and subsequent attempts, he said: “If they would have given a trophy to the guy who fell down the most, I surely would have won it.”
Enduro riding took a brief respite while he got married and built his own house, and then, in the spring of 1955, he plunged back into competition. After a few local runs, he decided to try the famous Jack Pine, the run out of Canton, Illinois, which draws riders from as far as California.
“I reached High Line and had carburetor trouble,” Baird said. “So I wired the float bolt back. I really had a good score for a B rider — but I had to quit. I had nothing but trouble on local runs after Jack Pine, one thing and then the other. Then in 1956 as a B rider I won first High Point.”
Shortly after, Bill was notified that he was an A rider. “I wasn’t too pleased to hear this,” he said, “because I was still green at the trade and I wanted one more try at the Jack Pine as a B rider.”
This still peeves him today and he feels it is one of the worst rules in enduro riding. “It only takes 100 points to become an A rider. This can be done in four events. Then the poor greenhorn is stuck in with the old pros only to get discouraged. It doesn’t seem fair.”
Harkening back to his beginning days as an A rider, he recalled that he continued to qualify heavily for the “falling down” trophy. On his second time out at the Jack Pine, he placed “second or third” but had to run the last 70 miles with the throttle stuck open.
His toughest run? “Well, I rode in New York and in this run they had a hill — what a hill — you had to leap ditches to get to it and then it must have been a mile to the top. Another rider who was stuck in the same place on the hill as me, helped me pull my machine to the top. Then we pulled his machine up.
“That guy just sat down and said he couldn’t get up, he was so beat. I was too, but I crawled over to my bike on hands and knees and thought to myself, if it starts on the first kick, okay, but otherwise, forget it!”
The machine started, fortunately (or unfortunately), and off went Bill, down the hill, which was no picnic, either.
A runnerup for the world’s worst enduro in Bill’s memory involved water — lots of it. He kept going further into the crossing and “the water was bad.”
“Now, I don’t mind deep water, but when a guy floats by in a row boat, that’s it for me . . .”
Bill’s pick for the enduro rider is the Triumph twin, to which he finds he has to add very little to make it competitive. His advice to the beginner is find a machine that “you feel right on,” and when you do, stick to it.
To set his machine up for the battle, he raised the front fender, as a fender close to the wheel will clog up with mud in his part of the country. Of course, he added knobby tires for traction in rough going. The engine was left standard and no changes were made to the frame or suspension.
The 500cc T100C model Bill rides comes equipped with high pipes, so he had no changes to make there.
He shields the coils and condensers from water with his own homemade covers, and he considers the famous “Sparky” sparkplug covers a must.
To get into the fine points of what the top enduro rider uses, one must first notice the German made VDO odometer-speedometer on his machine. Bill says it is extremely accurate. A 17-jewel railroad pocket watch with Incabloc construction is another important instrument used by Bill. He stresses that a 17-jewel watch is best because any more jewels and it just gets fouled up. He said, “I’ve wrapped the hair spring up on it four or five times and then have used my wrist watch.” Bill also uses, and I quote, “a roller doo-dad.” The roller doo-dad he refers to is a metal box mounted on the handlebar. It carries adding machine paper inscribed with distances to left and right turns, which he rolls as he goes. Bill depends pretty much on his timing instruments and says, “If I ever overhear where or how far any check is, which is very seldom, I always get messed up. I figure the time and the turns and that’s all. I guess I’ve only got a two-track brain.”
Bill always sets his watch to key time rather than 0, or noon, he says. “By setting on key time, you can check the checkers.” He admits that if he had a choice of being first or last rider out, which he never does, he would choose the last place, because if the run is not well marked, one loses time trying to find the route. And after 10 or 15 riders go through a woods area, it’s easy to find the path they took.
When asking Bill what techniques he uses for negotiating types of circuits he answers, “Well you just do your best. There is no set pattern you can use because every mud hole as well as every other portion of land is different.” Bill notes that the East Coast enduros deal with mostly sand and rocky country, while the midwest gives the enduro rider a much wider range of terrain Bill adds that “we have everything here.” Everything includes flat as well as hilly country with water, some sand and plenty of good old mud. “Wet sand is no problem. It’s as solid as regular dirt. When it's dry and powdered sand, you’re in trouble. I try it, usually in second, as fast as possible.”
Water is not much of a problem, depending on its depth, according to Bill. “Providing I don’t have to don water wings, I usually try water at an even speed, so as not to drown out. Mud — well — I look it over a little, make up my mind and don’t change it. I don’t like to stay behind anyone, ’cause you can get into trouble. All you see is their tail. I usually plan ahead about 200 feet what to do, but when someone gets in the way, well, it just doesn’t work.”
When asked how long it takes him to repair a flat tire, he said, “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve never fixed one on a run, but I’ve sure rode on them.”
I asked Bill how one should dress for enduros and he grinned, “I usually wear clothes!”
Actually, he wears leathers. The leather pants are padded at both the knees and the hips. Bill once tangled with a barbed wire fence. It seems a man was supposed to open a fence and he opened the wrong one. Bill, riding into the sun, didn’t see it and went down, breaking off the fence posts. His machine wound up at the back of his knees, sliding him into a creek bed over rocks. Since then he has found the padding protects his knees from limbs and such. He adds, “Everyone knows what the padded hips are for!”
The thing he doesn’t like about leathers is that when wet, they feel like they weigh about 100 pounds. Milly and the kids bought him an English made Barbour Suit last Christmas. It’s light and he says he thinks he will like it.
When I asked Bill if he had any tips for new riders starting out, he said, “Don’t get discouraged - your clutch is going to burn up the first year until you learn to leave it alone.” Another tip offered by the champ is relax, as muscles won’t get nearly as stiff and sore if you do so. One of the most important things. Bill stressed, was learning how to time. He said you must start your timing when you are a B rider, because later on it’s too late. Ride your own run, is another point he makes. He remembered that a friend rode a run with him.
HE WINS BY RUNNING A COOL SECOND
The friend turned in the worse score he had ever made because he didn't concentrate on himself. Ride your own speed and don’t worry about how the other riders place at checks.
The Champ, who has the endurance of a 20-year-old, keeps fit by riding his unicycle in the non-active months. Weight is no problem to Bill, although he admits, “I never let myself go over 170 pounds, even if I have to watch what I eat for a week or so.” Bill absolutely does not smoke. He says smoking winds him.
Bill’s 258 trophies range anywhere from two inches to about five-feet tall and vary from regular trophies to clocks, pitchers, trays, plaques, ice buckets, bowls, bells, radios, antlers and even an end table. His trophy collection is rapidly outgrowing his house. However, they all are neatly displayed tor all1 to see. The possibility of a money paying enduro happened to come up in our conversation. Bill said, “I would not ride if I were riding for money. It wouldn’t be fun anymore. It would become a dog-eat-dog racing event.”
Bill has never raced professionally. He used to ride an occasional sportsman scrambles, but dislocated a shoulder as a result. He also has done a bit of hillclimbing, but enduro is his first love when it comes to motorcycling.
He doesn’t even like to ride on the road. “I find myself wanting to close my eyes and go off to sleep, with the hum of the motor and nothing to do but ride down a highway. I get bored. I’m used to branches slapping me in the face, space between me and the seat and lots of action.”
Bill is secretary of the Midwest National Enduro Riders Association, a position he takes very seriously. He could sit and talk for hours about its working and regulations. He and his wife take charge of the MNERA banquet each year.
When asked why he likes enduro riding, Bill smiled and said, “Oh, I don’t know — the people — it must be the people. They are the most friendly, kind and sincere people one could ever hope to meet.” One would almost think he was describing himself and his wife, for they are probably one of the most well-liked and respected couples in motorcycling. ■
