Here’s a story I did five years ago for the old AMA Supermoto website on the only two-stroke in the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship:

If every AMA Supermoto rider wore boxers Rick Pearce would probably wear briefs.

In 2004, Pearce, a three-time SuperTT champ out of Bakersfield, Calif., was racing the AMA Unlimited Supermoto class at South Boston (Va.) on a 1997 Honda CR500. It was the only two-stroke in the series and Pearce liked the change of pace.

“A buddy of mine had this in the garage and I got it out and put some 17s [17-inch wheels] on it and brought it out to Reno,” said Pearce. “It runs really good on the top end and on the bottom end you just have to roll the throttle on and hold on.”

The big two-stroke Honda was so wheelie prone that Pearce had to be extra careful coming out of tight turns.

“If you get a handful of throttle too soon it’ll put you on your butt,” he said.

Pearce took 15^th at Reno earlier that year on the CR after making a mistake and slipping a few positions. Without the engine braking characteristics of a four-stroke he had to rely much more on the front brake of the Honda.

“You get a little arm pump since your on the front brake so much with this bike,” he explained. “I’m going into the turns hoping the front end won’t throw me on the ground because that’s the only way you’re going to get it slowed down. If you let up on the brakes you actually pick up speed.”

Getting the CR off the line is a little tricky as well. “I’ve definitely got to slip the clutch just right or it will light up the back end.”

Pearce also reports the old-school steel frame is flexy compared to the modern aluminum box frames. “It gives us a little chatter with the front and rear tires, but we’re working with it.”

Pearce qualified the big CR on the third row for South Boston’s Unlimited final.

In Pearce and his CR old time two-stroke fans had an apple to root for in a field full of oranges.