| May 12, 2024
Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
By Kent Taylor
When motorcycle superheroes leave teams that they’ve been long associated with, it can be hard for their fans to adjust. While it’s happened many times in motorcycle racing history, rarely has it happened twice in one season.
Legendary NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas played 17 seasons for the Baltimore Colts, setting passing records and winning championships along the way. With his steady crewcut and signature black high-tops, Johnny U and the Colt horseshoe went together like meat and potatoes. But lest we forget, pro (and college) sports games aren’t games at all, at least not when viewed from the corporate level. When Unitas’ diminishing skills found him on the bench, Colts management made an unpopular decision and pawned the longtime face of their franchise to the San Diego Chargers in 1973.
Unitas in a Chargers’ uniform never looked quite right, just as longtime Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose seemed uncomfortable in a Phillies’ uni, Michael Jordan looked out of place with the Washington Wizards and ignore any photo of him with the Arizona Cardinals; Emmitt Smith was a Dallas Cowboy!
But for motocross fans, nothing looked stranger than Team Suzuki’s Roger DeCoster exchanging his yellow and black for Team Honda’s red, white, and blue! And while that aftershock was still rippling, Team Honda superstar Marty Smith did the exact same swap, except in reverse. Smith, who had long been associated with Honda, made the move to Team Suzuki. 1980 was going to be a year of adjustment for fans of dirt bike racing!
Roger DeCoster’s Honda debut. Still looks a little odd even to this day.
Roger DeCoster and Marty Smith had served their employers well for many years, and it seemed unthinkable that either man would ever be in a position of needing a ride. Listing the laurels that these two men accumulated would take an Archives column of its own; a short list for R.D. would include his five 500cc World Championships, four Trans-AMA titles and six Motocross des Nations championships. Smith was America’s first 125cc National Champion and would eventually win two more AMA titles. He won races in all forms of MX competition: 125, 250, 500, Supercross, Trans-AMA and Grands Prix.
Unfortunately, no one is faster than time, and by the end of the 1979 season, both DeCoster and Smith were no longer in the primes of their careers. Each man had won his final championship in 1977, and the following seasons were filled with injuries and frustration. Race teams represent their manufacturers and their sponsors; for them, there is no substitute for winning.
Fresh faces were on the scene and they were standing on top of the podium now. Like the Eagles said, “They will never forget you ’til somebody new comes along,” and though maybe the 1977 champions weren’t exactly forgotten, their glories from yesteryear also weren’t selling motorcycles in 1980.
DeCoster told Cycle News’ that he had begun to notice his relationship with Suzuki deteriorating in 1978. In 1977, DeCoster lost his stranglehold on the 500cc World Championship to longtime rival Heikki Mikkola and Yamaha. Mikkola repeated in 1978 and DeCoster, frustrated with the performance of his machine, hoped to use the off-season to develop a better motorcycle for 1979. But while DeCoster wanted to test, Suzuki wanted to race, and sent him to America to defend his Trans-AMA Championship. Though he would win a now-legendary battle with Bob Hannah at the Unadilla round, the hold on the Trans-AMA title would also slip through his grasp.
CN showed you Marty Smith’s new colors in the same issue in August 1980.
Marty Smith had experienced frustrations of his own during the 1978-79 seasons. Team Honda was in a state of flux. A new team manager and many new riders were competing with motorcycles that suffered the same problems as most of the other manufacturers; in a nutshell, the Hondas, Suzukis and Kawasakis weren’t Yamahas, and during those seasons, anything else just wasn’t good enough. In America, the yellow bikes won every major championship in 1978. Even privateer riders were turning in excellent performances on Yamaha’s production bikes. An all-out effort by Honda in 1979 netted the factory few wins and no AMA titles.
Smith told Cycle News that, like DeCoster and Suzuki, his own relationship with Honda had soured. Negotiations at the end of the ’79 season had stalled, and America’s first MX superstar was on the market. DeCoster told CN contributor Len Weed that he could’ve stayed at Suzuki but doing so would’ve meant taking a huge pay cut. He added that the factory told him they could no longer provide him a new race bike every year. Champions are winners and winners have egos; Smith and DeCoster both went looking for new teams.
Honda had been courting DeCoster for years, but the Belgian had spurned their many offers, which, he added, had been for significantly more money than what he was making at Suzuki. Smith had been very happy at Honda during his six-year stint with the team, but, borrowing Honda’s popular slogan, he now told CN that “you meet the nicest people on a Suzuki!”
Each new rider/team combo had a successful season in 1980. Smith finished third in the 500cc AMA National Championship series. In Europe, Roger DeCoster had a good season with Honda; in true championship style, he would win the final Grands Prix race of his career, going 1-1 at the season finale in Luxembourg.
Ironically, both men would eventually return to their old employers. DeCoster served as manager for Team Suzuki’s U.S. motocross effort from 1999 to 2010 and Marty Smith finished his pro career back on Honda in 1982.
DeCoster on Suzuki, Smith on a Honda. Some things just go together better!CN