Bruce Lind "Captain America"
By Shawn McDonald
Background
Born: Minnesota
Height: 5’8 ½"
Racing weight: 150 lbs
Married: Edith
Business: Developmental Program Manager in avionic instrumentation at Boeing
Championships: 1999 Eleventh overall AMA 250 GP National Series
1993 Winner 14th Annual WMRRA 6 hour Endurance Race
1991 Winner WERA 600 Superstock at SIR
1990 WMRRA Overall Champion
1986 New Zealand International Sidecar Champion
1985 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1985 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1983 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1983 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1982 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1981 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1981 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1979 WMRRA 250 GP Champion
1979 Daytona 200 12th Place
1978 Daytona 200 12th Place
1977 WMRRA & OMRRA Overall Champion
1977 WMRRA Open GP Champion
1976 WMRRA & OMRRA 250 GP Champion
1975 WMRRA & OMRRA 250 GP Champion
1974 WMRRA & OMRRA 125 GP Champion
1973 WMRRA 125 GP Champion
1968 Western Canadian 125 GP Champion
4-time Champion of WMRRA 6-hour endurance race
Best Daytona finishes: 200 Mile Race 12th place in 1978 and 1979
250 GP 9th in 2000, 16th in 1998, 7th in 1975
Major sponsors in your career: Edith Lind, EBC Brakes, Silkolene oil, Barnett Clutch, Bell Helmets, Bates Leathers, RC Koshien, I-90 Motorsports, Renton Yamaha, Burien Honda, Cycle Barn, Lynnwood Yamaha
What do you call a man who has traveled to New Zealand four times to race in their National Championships? What do you call a man who has won on two and three wheels? What do you call a man who has raced for 38 non-stop years and keeps on getting faster the older he becomes? What do you call a man who has raced 929 miles in the Daytona 200 and more in the 250 GP class? You call him just Bruce or to a select few of us Captain America. Bruce got that nickname by coordinating two trips to New Zealand as part of the Lind/Hart sidecar team and two more trips to New Zealand as part of Team America. When the police would pull us over and ask us who was in charge we would point to Bruce and say Captain America. As a person chooses to breathe to keep alive, Bruce chooses to race to live. It’s not a want to race; it is a need to keep alive that drives Bruce. What I choose to call Bruce is a friend and mentor.
Bench Racer: What got you started in motorcycles in the first place?
Bruce Lind: My father was an airline pilot and all his co-workers built their own Briggs and Stratton Tote Goats to go deer hunting. My Father never got around to building his own Tote Goat so he purchased a new 1962 Honda 55cc for himself that I quickly converted into an English scrambles bike. I found a bunch of other young riders who had other 50cc Japanese bikes and we ended up competing against each other just for the fun of it around Sea-Tac Airport. I stepped up the ladder at age 15 and started competing in real races at the Jolly Rogers racetrack in the Kent valley. I first went roadracing in June of 1964 on a Honda 305 Superhawk. In my first roadrace I DNF’d. The "trick" Webco alloy tappet nuts I had ordered from California, stripped and came loose. I competed in some flat track races at Graham and Castle Rock racetracks but by 1966 I was roadracing full time.
BR: What role did your family have in supporting your early riding?
BL: Absolutely none, they were completely against it. They were always worried I’d get hurt. My Mother did loan me money in 1967 to buy a Kawasaki A1R 250 based on the Samurai streetbike. It was 1967. I was in college and working as a parts man at Burien Honda/Kawasaki. I paid my Mother back in full. My parents came to watch me race early in my career until my Mother got to nervous to watch me race. My Father watched me race continuously until his death. My Dad and I did not work well together so he didn’t help me on the bikes. I learned to do everything on my own. It taught me to be very self-sufficient. Later in his life I think he took great pride in what I was able to achieve and that I stuck with it for so many years. I didn’t have any natural talent so what success I have had has been through determination and hard work.
BR: What made you switch from dirt racing to roadracing?
BL: In flat tracking you had to be an animal from the drop of the flag with a devil make care attitude. I just didn’t have that much aggression to go that hard in the first corner so I didn’t do well in flat track racing. Roadraces were longer events that rewarded reliability more than aggression. You could start off slower and work your way to being faster as the laps wore on.
BR: Were you successful when you first started?
BL: No. But not as much because of my lack of natural ability, but because race bikes in the 60’s and early 70’s were so unreliable. Your finishing place in roadracing back then was more determined on your ability to build a reliable bike than your ability to ride it. Racers today are spoiled because the equipment is so much better now than it was back then. Today you can take a Grand Prix bike and put it on a maintenance program and replace parts before they break. That was not possible when I started. The factories were pushing the envelope of technology with every new model. Lots of parts broke. People like Don Vesco earned a reputation and a following, from learning how to build and modify Japanese two stroke engines so they would be reliable.
BR: What was your first race that made you stand out from the rest of the crowd?
BL: At the 1968 Canadian National Championships in Westwood, B.C. in the fog and pouring rain. I was riding my underpowered Kawasaki A1R against the Yamahas, Harley Sprints as well as the Ducati 250 singles. As well as the bunch of X-6 Suzuki’s headed by Jimmy Dunn. In those terrible conditions the Kawasaki ran well enough to keep up with those guys so that I was able to win the Western Canadian 250 Junior Championship. I think that I got recognition from that win or at least I felt that I had arrived.
BR: What was your biggest disappointment?
BL: Not being committed enough to do racing with more conviction. For the first 20 years of my 38-year racing career I raced because it was something to do rather than doing it with a passion. For a lot of years, I was distracted by a lot of other pursuits.
BR: What was your biggest regret?
BL: I don’t think I have any regrets. I wouldn’t change anything in my racing career. The good and bad things have all taught me things about life and racing.
BR: You have logged a few thousand miles of racing at the Daytona racetrack. What is the secret to the track?
BL: The secret to Daytona is not to over-tune the equipment and to make sure that your motorcycle is reliable enough to finish the weekend. The tuning and riding conditions can change severely as the moist air blows in from the sea. You have to run the racetrack knowing that the track and tuning conditions will change before and during the race. Most racers end up defeating themselves at Daytona by looking for the quickest lap instead of the fastest race. Daytona is like no other track in the world because of the high banking and sustained high RPM, you have to leave, just a little bit of reliability. In the 70’s, before they put the present chicane there to slow down the speeds, they would run us down the back straightaway and directly into the banking. That was awesome and frightening until you got some miles under your belt. You would look out as far as you could through the windscreen while going 180 mph and see this huge wall coming at you. It was terrifying until you got familiar with it. Eventually you could hold the throttle wide open and then it became an exhilarating experience. Going around the high banking of NASCAR turns three and four, you can try turning the handlebars and all you will do is twist the front forks. The force is so strong that the only way to turn up there on the wall is to move your weight.
BR: Worst crash you saw that you were not involved in?
BL: The fatal crash of Jim Bailey on the front straightaway at S.I.R. I was standing in the turn 10 corner that leads onto the front straightaway and watched Jim crash on the first lap and get hit head on by a rider in the pack as he was trying to crawl off the track. I never want to see that again. Also, Rusty Bradley’s turn one crash at Daytona in 1971 was an eye opener for me. They had just introduced full-face helmets but almost everyone still wore the open-faced helmet. Rusty was wearing an open faced Buco helmet. He slammed down face first in turn one when he locked the front brake and crashed. He never had a chance.
BR: What attributes make a championship racer?
BL: Desire, determination and planning make a champion. You’ve got to want it more than anything else. You have to figure out how to do it and make it all happen at the right time. You have to be prepared to change your plans when things suddenly go wrong. You have to be at every race and adjust to anything that happens. Desire would be the first priority because that is the driving force. Desire is more important than anything else. Without desire and luck, you’ll never make it.
BR: Throughout your racing career who was your greatest rival?
BL: I’ve been racing for so many years the rivals keep changing. The majority of my rivals have retired either through injury, death; they got smart and got into something less expensive. My biggest rivals that drove me into National class racing were Jimmy Dunn, Alan Seddon and Pete Kelland. Pete rode a 1962 Manx Norton at Westwood when I started. He was almost unbeatable until technology finally passed him by. Steve Schaefer was a big rival locally because we were very equal in ability for a number of years. Lately I have been having a fun competition on the National level with Bill Himmelsbach in the 250 GP class in that we are both over 50 years old. We have an unofficial challenge to see who is the fastest old guy at each race and the year.
BR: Who was your greatest NW racing rival?
BL: Captain Dirt (Gene Brown), and a host of others in the late sixties. Bob Loose. Randy Skiver in the 70’s. Keith Pinkstaff, Joe Pittman, Steve Littlejohn, Shawn Roberti in the late 80’s. Mike Sullivan and I have been rivals and good friends. Mike has almost always been able to beat me because he has more natural talent, is a better rider and is 10 years younger than I am. After 38 years of racing anyone who is just ahead or behind you on the track is a rival.
BR: Who was the best racer you saw or raced against?
BL: I’m not sure that I can just choose one because of the exposure to the different generations of riders I have seen. Cal Rayborn was one of the most impressive riders I have ever seen riding the iron barreled KR750 Harley Davidsons. Kel Carruthers was a phenomenal rider who taught Kenny Roberts everything he knew about roadracing. Jarno Saarinen was an unbelievable talent whose life was taken much to early. I got to race against three times AMA Roadracing and two times World Superbike Champion "Flying" Fred Merkel when he was an AMA Novice on 250 GP bikes. We went head to head for 20 laps at SIR in the 250 class and he beat me by 10 bloody feet. I raced against two great riders from different eras in Gary Nixon and Freddy. Steve Baker was another really good rider with a short career. I raced against Colin Edwards (2000 World Superbike Champion) and Kenny Roberts Jr. (2000 World 500 GP Champion) in the early 90’s. Aaron Slight and Simon Crafar were racing the New Zealand Nationals when the 2nd Team America visited there on 1990.
BR: What do you think made you different from all the other racers and made you a champion?
BL: Longevity. I stuck around long enough and got enough miles and experience where I was able to learn how to win races and prepare the bikes and equipment. I also kept the desire to race and win long enough to get the championships.
BR: If you were to start motorcycle racing today, what type of racing would you do?
BL: Are you assuming that I am young again and starting to race? If I were young I would probably start out in the dirt because it’s easier to learn and there are more places to ride. I would start out in motocross and then migrate over to roadracing. I think that the riders who start out in the dirt racing motocross and especially in flat track racing where you learn to slide both wheels and control it with the throttle are much better roadracers than the rider who literally comes off the street. I would enter the 600 Production class because it is very competitive, relatively low cost and the bikes are better than the GP bikes five years ago.
BR: Is NW racing better or worse from more of the sportbike riders becoming roadracers?
BL: The local NW racing scene is better because there is more participation from the sportbike riders than previously. I’m not sure that the quality or the ability of these riders to step up the ladder to the national caliber is as good as the dirt racers, the sportbike riders have to learn the craft of racing from the letter "A." The dirt bike racers have an easier transition because they already know how to race and are at the letter "M." I don’t think that you ever stop learning how to race. After 38 years of learning the alphabet I think I am at letter "T."
BR: What was or is your favorite track?
BL: I don’t have a favorite racetrack because I like something about every track that I go to. One of the reasons that I race the national circuit is to go to as many different tracks as possible. After all these years the Seattle and Portland racetracks are frankly pretty boring. I figure I’ve logged over 20,000 miles at S.I.R. and I think I know every bump and line on that track. I really appreciate the corkscrew corner at Laguna Seca racetrack and the carousel turn at Sears Point in California. Each course brings different challenges such as the tight and twisty Loudon course to the high speeds of Elkhart Lake. There are the street circuits like "The Cemetary Circuit" in Wanganui New Zealand, where you race through a World War I cemetery with a flower garden in the middle of one corner. There is a railway bridge and the high crown to the road as you race between curbs and light poles. The challenge is to learn the different tracks and get up to speed in time for the main event.
BR: Do you still play ride today?
BL: From October till February I go and trail race in the nastiest, filthiest conditions to stay mentally and physically alert between racing seasons. I have to admit that while my road race bikes are kept at the optimal engineering and maintenance peak my 1988 Honda XR250 considers itself lucky when I change the oil and clean the air filter once a year. I always say that dirt is for planting potatoes and I think that a couple of sprouts are showing up on the XR250. If I wasn’t road racing though I would be out trail racing with my friends almost every weekend.
BR: What is the difference between dirt bike racing and road racing?
BL: Speed! That’s about the only difference. If you ride hard enough, you are pushing both tires for optimal traction in varying conditions and steering the bike through different challenges that are placed in front of you. In road racing you have more time to think about the changing overall race strategy due to the length of the race as opposed to a sprint motocross race. In dirt racing you have to react more where in road racing you think more. I approach my trail riding as if it was a race and I push myself both mentally and physically as if it was a road race.
BR: Why do you still race?
BL: I love the 1966 Formula 1 film called "Grand Prix." James Garner plays the part of an American driver who has been at it a long time. His team owner Mr. Yomura, who is loosely based on Shisiro Honda, ask him why he races and his response is; " I don’t think there is one of us who doesn’t ask themselves at least once in the middle of a race what the hell am I doing here. Of course when it’s over we conveniently forget that we ask ourselves that question. I think about it. There are a lot of reasons. I don’t know, maybe to do something that brings you so close to the possibility of death and to survive it is to feel life and living so much more intensely." I think I continue to race because what normal people call living is unacceptable to an adrenalin "junkie" like me!
BR: Were you a natural rider or did you have to work at riding?
BL: I did more to slow myself down because of my own natural disability than the other way around. I was really envious of naturally talented riders. Guys like Jason Fraser did very well locally and moved on to race F-USA for Team LaBelle. It was way to easy for him though and he got bored and quit racing. Those of us who have to learn the craft of racing through trial and error, and much effort seem to have longer careers because it’s not easy getting there in the first place. When we start getting results, were so happy, we just keep going. After a while it’s all we know. Ask Sully!
BR: Best party?
BL: The best party was on Boxing Day (December 26) 1990 in the west coast town of Wanganui, New Zealand at the promoter Don Cosford’s house. Team America introduced the Kiwi’s to Mexican food and real Tequila. The drunkest was the last one we had in the South Island town of Timaru. It was the last race of the series and Team USA was both celebrating our survival and mourning the injury to Shawn McDonald. Team USA ended up shouting (free liquor) the bar to the tune of $1,000 NZ dollars for about 300 racers and the entire crowd ended up drunk in a really good piss up (Mike Sullivan also mentioned this party as the best ever).
Reporters note: Great, I missed this party just because I was unconscious, paralyzed and a priest was giving me last rights! Is that a good reason for not waking me up!
BR: Most memorable moment as a racer?
BL: I was leading the AMA National sidecar race at Elkhart Lake, WI in 1983 with Jack Hart as passenger on a Yamaha TZ750 powered Windel chassis. We were just past the halfway point of the race, when entering the hairpin turn 5 corner I found something wasn’t there. It was called brakes. A bolt had fallen off the plunger rod for the braking system leaving only one caliper on the handbrake and only two cycle engine braking. I went straight off the corner and through a gauntlet of hay bales, tire barriers and steel Armco before it slowed down. I was determined to finish the race and collect valuable championship points. So we went back on the track with only one operating front brake caliper. Two laps later, were going into the same corner at a reduced rate of speed. The last remaining brake line broke and there was absolutely no slowing down this time. I was able to spin the sidecar just before hitting steel Armco and reentered the track for the last ½ lap to finish third and hold the points lead.
BR: How is it different to drive a sidecar vs. a motorcycle?
BL: They are both similar and different. First there are two people who have to think and react as one being. Not an easy task considering racers egos. You have to be a dedicated team where each person does his job very well. You need a passenger who is as good and strong and as dedicated as Jack Hart was. You drive a sidecar, as you would like to drive a motorcycle by driving as fast as you can into a corner slam on the brakes and then throw it sideways. Most teams never learn how to go fast on three wheels. Drifting a three-wheeler, especially the short wheelbase units we raced in the early 80’s takes a lot of confidence in each other, the machine and your ability. We learned how to three wheel drift the sidecar by accident when we broke some reed valves in our engine and had no acceleration out of the corners at a National event at the old Loudon track in New Hampshire. We were racing with our most consistent competitors, Pete Essaf and Dennis Crueger. I was not going to let them win. I pushed harder than we knew how. Once we learned that technique through adversity we were untouchable.
BR: What is the Bruce Lind Disease?
BL: Which one. I believe there are two. #1 disease is that Jack Hart and I single handedly killed the sidecar class for over a decade. Jack came back to me in 1979 to drive his sidecar for the full season and I agreed to it on one condition that we use a Yamaha TZ750 two-stroke motor. The first race out in 1980 we flipped the sidecar and destroyed it, broke Jack’s back and gave me a severe concussion. We were back racing in three months. That first race back was at the Laguna Seca National and it was our first of five consecutive wins there which is a record for any class. In six years of sidecar racing Jack and I won every race we entered that we did not blow up the engine or spin out in. When we first started in 1977 there were 40-50 teams competing and when we left in 1985 there only remained about five teams. The disease is that everyone quit racing because we won all the time. #2 disease is that my wife Edie claims that I am like Typhoid Mary. Anyone that comes in contact with me for any length of time winds up racing motorcycles. Happens all the time. Someone expresses an interest in going racing. Next thing you know, all their objections and obstacles are gone and they’re on the track.
BR: How do you still get it up to go racing after all these years?
BL: Every year it becomes harder to make the commitment to spend the time, energy and financial resources to race at the top level. At a certain level it is because it is what you do naturally and what you are used to doing all your life. Some of it is because I’m not sure I would be satisfied doing anything else because I haven’t been able to find anything else to replace the adrenaline rush that racing gives me. It comes down to a decision to go racing. Once that decision has been made then you set your mind to that "we are going racing" and make the effort and the commitment to plan for entire race season. I crashed on the first lap of the AMA 250 GP National at Road America in June this year and suffered yet another Tibia Plateau compression fracture. The Doctor told me it would be at least 16 weeks before I would be recovered. I immediately sold my brand new TZ250 and contemplated quitting. I had to ask myself, "do I get enough enjoyment out of the three hours a weekend that I am actually riding the bike to make up for 16 weeks of pain and discomfort?" Six weeks after the injury I was back racing. Once you’re at the starting line it’s real easy. I have no idea how many times I have taken a green flag. At that point it just becomes a reflex action like breathing.
BR: You have seen friends who are racers die or become seriously injured in your career. Did this ever want to make you stop?
BL: I've almost quit several times. I've had several close friends killed or seriously injured, and each time it makes you wonder whether the sport is worth it or not. Because I've had to ask myself this question several times over the years, I would like to believe that my friends knew that racing is dangerous, were willing to take the risks because of the joy and satisfaction they gained from participation. I continue to ride because I enjoy the activity and am willing to evaluate and accept the risks as they occur. One of the hardest things I've ever done was picking a very close friend of mine off the racetrack in New Zealand, knowing he couldn't feel his legs. That friend is now an inspiration as he is adapting his life to a wheelchair.
BR: What was your worst crash?
BL: There are two crashes that stand out in my mind the most. The first one was the sidecar crash where I should have gone to the hospital with a severe concussion and did not. I went out to dinner two weeks after that and remarked to my wife that the table was made of wood and she said "Yeah, it’s wood so what?" and I said well I haven’t been able to feel anything for two weeks. I was a basic mushroom for a few weeks after that crash. In 1987 I crashed at PIR coming out of turn 7 and tumbled with the bike end over end and wound up breaking ribs, wrist, ankle and collarbone and that put me out for 13 to 14 weeks. Except for my lack of mental stability I have no lingering problems from all my crashes.
BR: How many bones have you broken racing?
BL: Not counting ribs the number is 26 broken bones including 15 broken collarbones. A couple of ankles, the right wrist, left thumb and some I can’t remember. The only time I go to the emergency room is to confirm that I have broken something and usually I already know that.
BR: Which racers did you hang with in your career?
BL: I don’t spend a lot of time around racers other that at the track or traveling to and from races. I have spent most of my life holding down a job and working on race bikes. Most people would call me boring. Undimensional. All I do is race or get ready for the next race. I always hang around my wife Edith, she is my biggest supporter and I wouldn’t be able to go racing without her. If I am racing anywhere in the world Edith is there. She missed her first race in 30 years this year!
BR: Which racers did you look up to?
BL: I admired Jimmy Dunn’s ability to make a motorcycle go fast and to come back from crashing. Steve Baker was amazing to me. Steve pioneered the Yamaha 500 GP effort before Kenny Sr. got to Europe. It was disappointing to me that he didn’t get the opportunity to carry on his career in the World Championships. I thought he could have done better if Yamaha gave him the opportunity. Randy Skiver was a bull of a man who was strong and could muscle a motorcycle to go fast. I would like to fabricate like Dick Wascher does because he is an artist when it comes to material and building frames and parts. Kenny Roberts Sr. even though he had an ego problem. I could go on for hours about all the riders and how they have impressed me and influenced me in some small way.
BR: Do you race differently at national races vs. local races?
BL: Anyone who is a national class racer rides differently at local races. I race local races only hard enough to stay in shape, test out my equipment and finish as high as I can without taking ANY risks. There are not enough rewards locally to push it. At National events you have to step up your riding level many times over in order to even finish in 15th place. The competition at National events is deep and talented and you have to bring your "A" game to do well.
BR: Describe your riding style?
BL: My riding style is unique to Bruce Lind. I have been riding so long, I have had to try to adapt to the changes over the years as equipment and styles have changed. My "style" is a combination of leaning the bike over until something drags and the present day style of hanging off the bike with your knee out as a curb feeler. I have a real aversion to putting any part of my body on the asphalt so I slide my body towards the corner and slide my knee alongside the fairing. I wish that I could put my knee on the ground so that I could recover when the bike starts to slide. I think that if I could do that I wouldn’t crash as much as I have in the past few years.
BR: Will there be another national class roadracer from the northwest?
BL: I certainly hope so! I think Gary Ricci’s national program where he finds and supports local talent like Jimmy Moore and Jake Holden is on the right track. Holden injured himself earlier this year but if he sticks with it could make a National roadracing impact. A few years ago I would have put my money on Karl Schenk to rise to a higher level. Karl has a really good ability to ride a motorcycle fast but he and his father Ben got burnt out chasing National Championships on 3 wheelers. They are now perfectly content to do just local events and more power to them. It takes a special commitment to go on the national circuit and give up your money, time and personal life. But it’s also real easy to be the big fish in the small (local) pond and quite a different story when you wake up in a different town at a different track and have to race against riders who are as good as you are or better.
BR: How many miles have you traveled and how many cars have you used up racing?
BL: I’m on my 6th vehicle as a race bike transporter and I use other people to take my bikes around the country. I have one Ford van that has almost 500,000 miles on it. I would say that just to and from races I am approaching 1,500,000 miles.
BR: Which racer has been the best road trip partner?
BL: The most entertaining person to spend time with is Mike Sullivan and his father Steve. The trip to New Zealand was very interesting with those guys. The way I travel, usually one person is sleeping while another is driving. The wheels only stop when the fuel hose is attached.
BR: Who do you think was the most talented Northwest racer who didn’t make it to the top and why?
BL: There are three that come to mind very easily. The first one of them would be Jason Fraser. He decided to quit to soon. Joe Pittman tried everything to fulfill the promise he had shown locally and never went anywhere Nationally. Shawn Roberti was hell on wheels at the two local racetracks but he never seemed to be able to learn other tracks so he also never did anything outside the local area.
BR: In one word what would you say about your racing career?
BL: Fantastic!
Background
Born: Minnesota
Height: 5’8 ½"
Racing weight: 150 lbs
Married: Edith
Business: Developmental Program Manager in avionic instrumentation at Boeing
Championships: 1999 Eleventh overall AMA 250 GP National Series
1993 Winner 14th Annual WMRRA 6 hour Endurance Race
1991 Winner WERA 600 Superstock at SIR
1990 WMRRA Overall Champion
1986 New Zealand International Sidecar Champion
1985 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1985 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1983 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1983 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1982 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1981 Western Canadian Sidecar Champion
1981 AMA National Sidecar Champion
1979 WMRRA 250 GP Champion
1979 Daytona 200 12th Place
1978 Daytona 200 12th Place
1977 WMRRA & OMRRA Overall Champion
1977 WMRRA Open GP Champion
1976 WMRRA & OMRRA 250 GP Champion
1975 WMRRA & OMRRA 250 GP Champion
1974 WMRRA & OMRRA 125 GP Champion
1973 WMRRA 125 GP Champion
1968 Western Canadian 125 GP Champion
4-time Champion of WMRRA 6-hour endurance race
Best Daytona finishes: 200 Mile Race 12th place in 1978 and 1979
250 GP 9th in 2000, 16th in 1998, 7th in 1975
Major sponsors in your career: Edith Lind, EBC Brakes, Silkolene oil, Barnett Clutch, Bell Helmets, Bates Leathers, RC Koshien, I-90 Motorsports, Renton Yamaha, Burien Honda, Cycle Barn, Lynnwood Yamaha
What do you call a man who has traveled to New Zealand four times to race in their National Championships? What do you call a man who has won on two and three wheels? What do you call a man who has raced for 38 non-stop years and keeps on getting faster the older he becomes? What do you call a man who has raced 929 miles in the Daytona 200 and more in the 250 GP class? You call him just Bruce or to a select few of us Captain America. Bruce got that nickname by coordinating two trips to New Zealand as part of the Lind/Hart sidecar team and two more trips to New Zealand as part of Team America. When the police would pull us over and ask us who was in charge we would point to Bruce and say Captain America. As a person chooses to breathe to keep alive, Bruce chooses to race to live. It’s not a want to race; it is a need to keep alive that drives Bruce. What I choose to call Bruce is a friend and mentor.
Bench Racer: What got you started in motorcycles in the first place?
Bruce Lind: My father was an airline pilot and all his co-workers built their own Briggs and Stratton Tote Goats to go deer hunting. My Father never got around to building his own Tote Goat so he purchased a new 1962 Honda 55cc for himself that I quickly converted into an English scrambles bike. I found a bunch of other young riders who had other 50cc Japanese bikes and we ended up competing against each other just for the fun of it around Sea-Tac Airport. I stepped up the ladder at age 15 and started competing in real races at the Jolly Rogers racetrack in the Kent valley. I first went roadracing in June of 1964 on a Honda 305 Superhawk. In my first roadrace I DNF’d. The "trick" Webco alloy tappet nuts I had ordered from California, stripped and came loose. I competed in some flat track races at Graham and Castle Rock racetracks but by 1966 I was roadracing full time.
BR: What role did your family have in supporting your early riding?
BL: Absolutely none, they were completely against it. They were always worried I’d get hurt. My Mother did loan me money in 1967 to buy a Kawasaki A1R 250 based on the Samurai streetbike. It was 1967. I was in college and working as a parts man at Burien Honda/Kawasaki. I paid my Mother back in full. My parents came to watch me race early in my career until my Mother got to nervous to watch me race. My Father watched me race continuously until his death. My Dad and I did not work well together so he didn’t help me on the bikes. I learned to do everything on my own. It taught me to be very self-sufficient. Later in his life I think he took great pride in what I was able to achieve and that I stuck with it for so many years. I didn’t have any natural talent so what success I have had has been through determination and hard work.
BR: What made you switch from dirt racing to roadracing?
BL: In flat tracking you had to be an animal from the drop of the flag with a devil make care attitude. I just didn’t have that much aggression to go that hard in the first corner so I didn’t do well in flat track racing. Roadraces were longer events that rewarded reliability more than aggression. You could start off slower and work your way to being faster as the laps wore on.
BR: Were you successful when you first started?
BL: No. But not as much because of my lack of natural ability, but because race bikes in the 60’s and early 70’s were so unreliable. Your finishing place in roadracing back then was more determined on your ability to build a reliable bike than your ability to ride it. Racers today are spoiled because the equipment is so much better now than it was back then. Today you can take a Grand Prix bike and put it on a maintenance program and replace parts before they break. That was not possible when I started. The factories were pushing the envelope of technology with every new model. Lots of parts broke. People like Don Vesco earned a reputation and a following, from learning how to build and modify Japanese two stroke engines so they would be reliable.
BR: What was your first race that made you stand out from the rest of the crowd?
BL: At the 1968 Canadian National Championships in Westwood, B.C. in the fog and pouring rain. I was riding my underpowered Kawasaki A1R against the Yamahas, Harley Sprints as well as the Ducati 250 singles. As well as the bunch of X-6 Suzuki’s headed by Jimmy Dunn. In those terrible conditions the Kawasaki ran well enough to keep up with those guys so that I was able to win the Western Canadian 250 Junior Championship. I think that I got recognition from that win or at least I felt that I had arrived.
BR: What was your biggest disappointment?
BL: Not being committed enough to do racing with more conviction. For the first 20 years of my 38-year racing career I raced because it was something to do rather than doing it with a passion. For a lot of years, I was distracted by a lot of other pursuits.
BR: What was your biggest regret?
BL: I don’t think I have any regrets. I wouldn’t change anything in my racing career. The good and bad things have all taught me things about life and racing.
BR: You have logged a few thousand miles of racing at the Daytona racetrack. What is the secret to the track?
BL: The secret to Daytona is not to over-tune the equipment and to make sure that your motorcycle is reliable enough to finish the weekend. The tuning and riding conditions can change severely as the moist air blows in from the sea. You have to run the racetrack knowing that the track and tuning conditions will change before and during the race. Most racers end up defeating themselves at Daytona by looking for the quickest lap instead of the fastest race. Daytona is like no other track in the world because of the high banking and sustained high RPM, you have to leave, just a little bit of reliability. In the 70’s, before they put the present chicane there to slow down the speeds, they would run us down the back straightaway and directly into the banking. That was awesome and frightening until you got some miles under your belt. You would look out as far as you could through the windscreen while going 180 mph and see this huge wall coming at you. It was terrifying until you got familiar with it. Eventually you could hold the throttle wide open and then it became an exhilarating experience. Going around the high banking of NASCAR turns three and four, you can try turning the handlebars and all you will do is twist the front forks. The force is so strong that the only way to turn up there on the wall is to move your weight.
BR: Worst crash you saw that you were not involved in?
BL: The fatal crash of Jim Bailey on the front straightaway at S.I.R. I was standing in the turn 10 corner that leads onto the front straightaway and watched Jim crash on the first lap and get hit head on by a rider in the pack as he was trying to crawl off the track. I never want to see that again. Also, Rusty Bradley’s turn one crash at Daytona in 1971 was an eye opener for me. They had just introduced full-face helmets but almost everyone still wore the open-faced helmet. Rusty was wearing an open faced Buco helmet. He slammed down face first in turn one when he locked the front brake and crashed. He never had a chance.
BR: What attributes make a championship racer?
BL: Desire, determination and planning make a champion. You’ve got to want it more than anything else. You have to figure out how to do it and make it all happen at the right time. You have to be prepared to change your plans when things suddenly go wrong. You have to be at every race and adjust to anything that happens. Desire would be the first priority because that is the driving force. Desire is more important than anything else. Without desire and luck, you’ll never make it.
BR: Throughout your racing career who was your greatest rival?
BL: I’ve been racing for so many years the rivals keep changing. The majority of my rivals have retired either through injury, death; they got smart and got into something less expensive. My biggest rivals that drove me into National class racing were Jimmy Dunn, Alan Seddon and Pete Kelland. Pete rode a 1962 Manx Norton at Westwood when I started. He was almost unbeatable until technology finally passed him by. Steve Schaefer was a big rival locally because we were very equal in ability for a number of years. Lately I have been having a fun competition on the National level with Bill Himmelsbach in the 250 GP class in that we are both over 50 years old. We have an unofficial challenge to see who is the fastest old guy at each race and the year.
BR: Who was your greatest NW racing rival?
BL: Captain Dirt (Gene Brown), and a host of others in the late sixties. Bob Loose. Randy Skiver in the 70’s. Keith Pinkstaff, Joe Pittman, Steve Littlejohn, Shawn Roberti in the late 80’s. Mike Sullivan and I have been rivals and good friends. Mike has almost always been able to beat me because he has more natural talent, is a better rider and is 10 years younger than I am. After 38 years of racing anyone who is just ahead or behind you on the track is a rival.
BR: Who was the best racer you saw or raced against?
BL: I’m not sure that I can just choose one because of the exposure to the different generations of riders I have seen. Cal Rayborn was one of the most impressive riders I have ever seen riding the iron barreled KR750 Harley Davidsons. Kel Carruthers was a phenomenal rider who taught Kenny Roberts everything he knew about roadracing. Jarno Saarinen was an unbelievable talent whose life was taken much to early. I got to race against three times AMA Roadracing and two times World Superbike Champion "Flying" Fred Merkel when he was an AMA Novice on 250 GP bikes. We went head to head for 20 laps at SIR in the 250 class and he beat me by 10 bloody feet. I raced against two great riders from different eras in Gary Nixon and Freddy. Steve Baker was another really good rider with a short career. I raced against Colin Edwards (2000 World Superbike Champion) and Kenny Roberts Jr. (2000 World 500 GP Champion) in the early 90’s. Aaron Slight and Simon Crafar were racing the New Zealand Nationals when the 2nd Team America visited there on 1990.
BR: What do you think made you different from all the other racers and made you a champion?
BL: Longevity. I stuck around long enough and got enough miles and experience where I was able to learn how to win races and prepare the bikes and equipment. I also kept the desire to race and win long enough to get the championships.
BR: If you were to start motorcycle racing today, what type of racing would you do?
BL: Are you assuming that I am young again and starting to race? If I were young I would probably start out in the dirt because it’s easier to learn and there are more places to ride. I would start out in motocross and then migrate over to roadracing. I think that the riders who start out in the dirt racing motocross and especially in flat track racing where you learn to slide both wheels and control it with the throttle are much better roadracers than the rider who literally comes off the street. I would enter the 600 Production class because it is very competitive, relatively low cost and the bikes are better than the GP bikes five years ago.
BR: Is NW racing better or worse from more of the sportbike riders becoming roadracers?
BL: The local NW racing scene is better because there is more participation from the sportbike riders than previously. I’m not sure that the quality or the ability of these riders to step up the ladder to the national caliber is as good as the dirt racers, the sportbike riders have to learn the craft of racing from the letter "A." The dirt bike racers have an easier transition because they already know how to race and are at the letter "M." I don’t think that you ever stop learning how to race. After 38 years of learning the alphabet I think I am at letter "T."
BR: What was or is your favorite track?
BL: I don’t have a favorite racetrack because I like something about every track that I go to. One of the reasons that I race the national circuit is to go to as many different tracks as possible. After all these years the Seattle and Portland racetracks are frankly pretty boring. I figure I’ve logged over 20,000 miles at S.I.R. and I think I know every bump and line on that track. I really appreciate the corkscrew corner at Laguna Seca racetrack and the carousel turn at Sears Point in California. Each course brings different challenges such as the tight and twisty Loudon course to the high speeds of Elkhart Lake. There are the street circuits like "The Cemetary Circuit" in Wanganui New Zealand, where you race through a World War I cemetery with a flower garden in the middle of one corner. There is a railway bridge and the high crown to the road as you race between curbs and light poles. The challenge is to learn the different tracks and get up to speed in time for the main event.
BR: Do you still play ride today?
BL: From October till February I go and trail race in the nastiest, filthiest conditions to stay mentally and physically alert between racing seasons. I have to admit that while my road race bikes are kept at the optimal engineering and maintenance peak my 1988 Honda XR250 considers itself lucky when I change the oil and clean the air filter once a year. I always say that dirt is for planting potatoes and I think that a couple of sprouts are showing up on the XR250. If I wasn’t road racing though I would be out trail racing with my friends almost every weekend.
BR: What is the difference between dirt bike racing and road racing?
BL: Speed! That’s about the only difference. If you ride hard enough, you are pushing both tires for optimal traction in varying conditions and steering the bike through different challenges that are placed in front of you. In road racing you have more time to think about the changing overall race strategy due to the length of the race as opposed to a sprint motocross race. In dirt racing you have to react more where in road racing you think more. I approach my trail riding as if it was a race and I push myself both mentally and physically as if it was a road race.
BR: Why do you still race?
BL: I love the 1966 Formula 1 film called "Grand Prix." James Garner plays the part of an American driver who has been at it a long time. His team owner Mr. Yomura, who is loosely based on Shisiro Honda, ask him why he races and his response is; " I don’t think there is one of us who doesn’t ask themselves at least once in the middle of a race what the hell am I doing here. Of course when it’s over we conveniently forget that we ask ourselves that question. I think about it. There are a lot of reasons. I don’t know, maybe to do something that brings you so close to the possibility of death and to survive it is to feel life and living so much more intensely." I think I continue to race because what normal people call living is unacceptable to an adrenalin "junkie" like me!
BR: Were you a natural rider or did you have to work at riding?
BL: I did more to slow myself down because of my own natural disability than the other way around. I was really envious of naturally talented riders. Guys like Jason Fraser did very well locally and moved on to race F-USA for Team LaBelle. It was way to easy for him though and he got bored and quit racing. Those of us who have to learn the craft of racing through trial and error, and much effort seem to have longer careers because it’s not easy getting there in the first place. When we start getting results, were so happy, we just keep going. After a while it’s all we know. Ask Sully!
BR: Best party?
BL: The best party was on Boxing Day (December 26) 1990 in the west coast town of Wanganui, New Zealand at the promoter Don Cosford’s house. Team America introduced the Kiwi’s to Mexican food and real Tequila. The drunkest was the last one we had in the South Island town of Timaru. It was the last race of the series and Team USA was both celebrating our survival and mourning the injury to Shawn McDonald. Team USA ended up shouting (free liquor) the bar to the tune of $1,000 NZ dollars for about 300 racers and the entire crowd ended up drunk in a really good piss up (Mike Sullivan also mentioned this party as the best ever).
Reporters note: Great, I missed this party just because I was unconscious, paralyzed and a priest was giving me last rights! Is that a good reason for not waking me up!
BR: Most memorable moment as a racer?
BL: I was leading the AMA National sidecar race at Elkhart Lake, WI in 1983 with Jack Hart as passenger on a Yamaha TZ750 powered Windel chassis. We were just past the halfway point of the race, when entering the hairpin turn 5 corner I found something wasn’t there. It was called brakes. A bolt had fallen off the plunger rod for the braking system leaving only one caliper on the handbrake and only two cycle engine braking. I went straight off the corner and through a gauntlet of hay bales, tire barriers and steel Armco before it slowed down. I was determined to finish the race and collect valuable championship points. So we went back on the track with only one operating front brake caliper. Two laps later, were going into the same corner at a reduced rate of speed. The last remaining brake line broke and there was absolutely no slowing down this time. I was able to spin the sidecar just before hitting steel Armco and reentered the track for the last ½ lap to finish third and hold the points lead.
BR: How is it different to drive a sidecar vs. a motorcycle?
BL: They are both similar and different. First there are two people who have to think and react as one being. Not an easy task considering racers egos. You have to be a dedicated team where each person does his job very well. You need a passenger who is as good and strong and as dedicated as Jack Hart was. You drive a sidecar, as you would like to drive a motorcycle by driving as fast as you can into a corner slam on the brakes and then throw it sideways. Most teams never learn how to go fast on three wheels. Drifting a three-wheeler, especially the short wheelbase units we raced in the early 80’s takes a lot of confidence in each other, the machine and your ability. We learned how to three wheel drift the sidecar by accident when we broke some reed valves in our engine and had no acceleration out of the corners at a National event at the old Loudon track in New Hampshire. We were racing with our most consistent competitors, Pete Essaf and Dennis Crueger. I was not going to let them win. I pushed harder than we knew how. Once we learned that technique through adversity we were untouchable.
BR: What is the Bruce Lind Disease?
BL: Which one. I believe there are two. #1 disease is that Jack Hart and I single handedly killed the sidecar class for over a decade. Jack came back to me in 1979 to drive his sidecar for the full season and I agreed to it on one condition that we use a Yamaha TZ750 two-stroke motor. The first race out in 1980 we flipped the sidecar and destroyed it, broke Jack’s back and gave me a severe concussion. We were back racing in three months. That first race back was at the Laguna Seca National and it was our first of five consecutive wins there which is a record for any class. In six years of sidecar racing Jack and I won every race we entered that we did not blow up the engine or spin out in. When we first started in 1977 there were 40-50 teams competing and when we left in 1985 there only remained about five teams. The disease is that everyone quit racing because we won all the time. #2 disease is that my wife Edie claims that I am like Typhoid Mary. Anyone that comes in contact with me for any length of time winds up racing motorcycles. Happens all the time. Someone expresses an interest in going racing. Next thing you know, all their objections and obstacles are gone and they’re on the track.
BR: How do you still get it up to go racing after all these years?
BL: Every year it becomes harder to make the commitment to spend the time, energy and financial resources to race at the top level. At a certain level it is because it is what you do naturally and what you are used to doing all your life. Some of it is because I’m not sure I would be satisfied doing anything else because I haven’t been able to find anything else to replace the adrenaline rush that racing gives me. It comes down to a decision to go racing. Once that decision has been made then you set your mind to that "we are going racing" and make the effort and the commitment to plan for entire race season. I crashed on the first lap of the AMA 250 GP National at Road America in June this year and suffered yet another Tibia Plateau compression fracture. The Doctor told me it would be at least 16 weeks before I would be recovered. I immediately sold my brand new TZ250 and contemplated quitting. I had to ask myself, "do I get enough enjoyment out of the three hours a weekend that I am actually riding the bike to make up for 16 weeks of pain and discomfort?" Six weeks after the injury I was back racing. Once you’re at the starting line it’s real easy. I have no idea how many times I have taken a green flag. At that point it just becomes a reflex action like breathing.
BR: You have seen friends who are racers die or become seriously injured in your career. Did this ever want to make you stop?
BL: I've almost quit several times. I've had several close friends killed or seriously injured, and each time it makes you wonder whether the sport is worth it or not. Because I've had to ask myself this question several times over the years, I would like to believe that my friends knew that racing is dangerous, were willing to take the risks because of the joy and satisfaction they gained from participation. I continue to ride because I enjoy the activity and am willing to evaluate and accept the risks as they occur. One of the hardest things I've ever done was picking a very close friend of mine off the racetrack in New Zealand, knowing he couldn't feel his legs. That friend is now an inspiration as he is adapting his life to a wheelchair.
BR: What was your worst crash?
BL: There are two crashes that stand out in my mind the most. The first one was the sidecar crash where I should have gone to the hospital with a severe concussion and did not. I went out to dinner two weeks after that and remarked to my wife that the table was made of wood and she said "Yeah, it’s wood so what?" and I said well I haven’t been able to feel anything for two weeks. I was a basic mushroom for a few weeks after that crash. In 1987 I crashed at PIR coming out of turn 7 and tumbled with the bike end over end and wound up breaking ribs, wrist, ankle and collarbone and that put me out for 13 to 14 weeks. Except for my lack of mental stability I have no lingering problems from all my crashes.
BR: How many bones have you broken racing?
BL: Not counting ribs the number is 26 broken bones including 15 broken collarbones. A couple of ankles, the right wrist, left thumb and some I can’t remember. The only time I go to the emergency room is to confirm that I have broken something and usually I already know that.
BR: Which racers did you hang with in your career?
BL: I don’t spend a lot of time around racers other that at the track or traveling to and from races. I have spent most of my life holding down a job and working on race bikes. Most people would call me boring. Undimensional. All I do is race or get ready for the next race. I always hang around my wife Edith, she is my biggest supporter and I wouldn’t be able to go racing without her. If I am racing anywhere in the world Edith is there. She missed her first race in 30 years this year!
BR: Which racers did you look up to?
BL: I admired Jimmy Dunn’s ability to make a motorcycle go fast and to come back from crashing. Steve Baker was amazing to me. Steve pioneered the Yamaha 500 GP effort before Kenny Sr. got to Europe. It was disappointing to me that he didn’t get the opportunity to carry on his career in the World Championships. I thought he could have done better if Yamaha gave him the opportunity. Randy Skiver was a bull of a man who was strong and could muscle a motorcycle to go fast. I would like to fabricate like Dick Wascher does because he is an artist when it comes to material and building frames and parts. Kenny Roberts Sr. even though he had an ego problem. I could go on for hours about all the riders and how they have impressed me and influenced me in some small way.
BR: Do you race differently at national races vs. local races?
BL: Anyone who is a national class racer rides differently at local races. I race local races only hard enough to stay in shape, test out my equipment and finish as high as I can without taking ANY risks. There are not enough rewards locally to push it. At National events you have to step up your riding level many times over in order to even finish in 15th place. The competition at National events is deep and talented and you have to bring your "A" game to do well.
BR: Describe your riding style?
BL: My riding style is unique to Bruce Lind. I have been riding so long, I have had to try to adapt to the changes over the years as equipment and styles have changed. My "style" is a combination of leaning the bike over until something drags and the present day style of hanging off the bike with your knee out as a curb feeler. I have a real aversion to putting any part of my body on the asphalt so I slide my body towards the corner and slide my knee alongside the fairing. I wish that I could put my knee on the ground so that I could recover when the bike starts to slide. I think that if I could do that I wouldn’t crash as much as I have in the past few years.
BR: Will there be another national class roadracer from the northwest?
BL: I certainly hope so! I think Gary Ricci’s national program where he finds and supports local talent like Jimmy Moore and Jake Holden is on the right track. Holden injured himself earlier this year but if he sticks with it could make a National roadracing impact. A few years ago I would have put my money on Karl Schenk to rise to a higher level. Karl has a really good ability to ride a motorcycle fast but he and his father Ben got burnt out chasing National Championships on 3 wheelers. They are now perfectly content to do just local events and more power to them. It takes a special commitment to go on the national circuit and give up your money, time and personal life. But it’s also real easy to be the big fish in the small (local) pond and quite a different story when you wake up in a different town at a different track and have to race against riders who are as good as you are or better.
BR: How many miles have you traveled and how many cars have you used up racing?
BL: I’m on my 6th vehicle as a race bike transporter and I use other people to take my bikes around the country. I have one Ford van that has almost 500,000 miles on it. I would say that just to and from races I am approaching 1,500,000 miles.
BR: Which racer has been the best road trip partner?
BL: The most entertaining person to spend time with is Mike Sullivan and his father Steve. The trip to New Zealand was very interesting with those guys. The way I travel, usually one person is sleeping while another is driving. The wheels only stop when the fuel hose is attached.
BR: Who do you think was the most talented Northwest racer who didn’t make it to the top and why?
BL: There are three that come to mind very easily. The first one of them would be Jason Fraser. He decided to quit to soon. Joe Pittman tried everything to fulfill the promise he had shown locally and never went anywhere Nationally. Shawn Roberti was hell on wheels at the two local racetracks but he never seemed to be able to learn other tracks so he also never did anything outside the local area.
BR: In one word what would you say about your racing career?
BL: Fantastic!
