Old school WERA riders...where are they now ?

Since I'm stuck out here on the left coast and can't make it to any MA region races, I'm just wondering if any of the old gang are still out there thrashing it.

If you have any details on any of these guys, please post them up

Jeff Atwell
Glenn Szarek
Kurt Hall
Evan Semoff
Rick Steffey
Mike Hausknecht
Rick Bair
Jari Wallach
Devin Battley
Jim Roth
Jim Tribou
Chris Taylor
Burke Meyers

Thanks

 

How about Dave Bissett?

 

Aww Hell-----
What about my man BRIAN LANTZ????

Mongo-What about ole "Crazy Check" Jerry Hughs, and A.J Cates?

 

What about REAL old school- Ernie Kicklighter, Boonie Knott?

 

Jeff James??

 

Yea, Boonie had the RG500 Gamma, then there was the guy with the TZ500 Yammie - real 500 GP bikes at the WERA NC races!!

 

no mention of Wes Cooley?

 

Was he WERA? He was my favorite AMA racer back in the day, along with Ron Pierce. Those old Yosh Zook GS1000's were brutally awesome. I don't recall Wes Cooley running any WERA, but I was mostly east coast. Anyone remember Patrick O'Leary?

 

i'v heard my dad (luther wikle) talk about wess coley, not sure if he was friends or just raced in the same years.......i'll ask him about it

 

what a coincidence....i just ran into a guy named terry cook today at work....

i think he raced a (hi hp) hawk in glrra awhile back. anyone know him?

 

I know I saw him run at Nelson in the wet once and he was faster when it was raining than quite a lot of people in the dry.

The guy was absolutely bonkers in the wet, doing wheelies out of 13 for most of the front straight, sliding all over the place....it sure was fun to watch.

 

I think I first saw Wes at Talledega in 1987 running w/Hammer. He wasn't the fastest guy out there but he was the most famous. Everyone wanted to say I passed Wes. I think the fastest guys that day were; Kurt Hall, Human Race Team (I still have Human Race Team Stickers) and Scott Russell on the Solmax FZR 750. Poor Wes walked like Evil Kinevil or Kevin Rentzel by that time. For a little guy he could put some beer away. At the end of the day he was always real nice to us "little guys".

 

Original Cooley Bike

I know a guy who has Wes's original Yosh GS 1000 works racer.

It is Bitch! I want to ride it in Vintage

 

I ran into your Dad this summer at Summit Point. I had not seen him since he was endurancing in 1987. He said he quit after Russ Paulk passed away at Sears point. Your dad was riding very well and at age 42 myself he inspired me a bit to look at racing into my 50's as a possibility. Would you please ask your Father to Email me. I would like to see what he is doing for next year and just stay in touch.

Thanks, Matt Macheca

 

I remember seeing Cooley walk around the paddock at Daytona, 1981? His leathers were puuled down around his waist and his arms were so scarred he almost looked like a burn victim. He was the toughest racer around. I still have my old black/red/white Wes Cooley ARAI helmet- foam rotted out. I wish I could get him the sign it. He is still my favorite old school racer. There was a Cycle World article a few years ago that said he is a male nurse somewhere in Oregon. His Dad is/was a politician.

 

Now I remember; TZ500 Was Jim Knipp...

 

Wes Cooley as of 2004

 

Tracy, Iworked with Jim Knipp for 9 years at Greenwood Honda here in Indiana. He's working parts there still. He bought a Ducati 748 in 99' for his 40th birthday and raced it a few times, tried speedway in 03' and broke his arm and decided to hang it up for good.