Barry Burke races his Yamaha in the WERA Pro Formula USA race at Heartland Park Topeka in 1990. Burke was forced to ride his 1987 Yamaha FZR 1000 in the final after he couldn’t get the Ohlin forks to work on his new Yamaha OW01. “The forks came with super stiff springs, it’s totally unrideable. I’m not sure why we can’t get softer springs, I guess they aren’t unavailable.” Burke said. Burke was a fast Southern California club racer who made good showings when he branched out to compete in national events. In addition to racing in F-USA Burke made several appearances in AMA Superbike races that season. He scored a solid ninth place finish at Road America. Today Burke does testing for Motorcyclist.

Barry Burke races his Yamaha in the WERA Pro Formula USA race at Heartland Park Topeka in 1990. (Larry Lawrence photo)