Can you imagine a couple of riders deciding that riding a Yamaha TT500 in Endurance races would be a good idea? Well, it happened and here’s proof, courtesy of Neil Tolhurst. Neil sent in this photo of Team Thump with Lance David and his wife Peg and Neil and his wife Pam. The team won their class no less on the single-cylinder Yamaha.
Team Thump posing for a photo after winning their class in a WERA Endurance race in 1982. (Neil Tolhurst Collection)
Rider Files 
C’mon Larry, you remember Wentzville. The TT was absolutely the most logical choice for that track.
Gotta love the chrome front fender on that thing. I was thinking that was something like an XS650 front end, but the caliper is mounted in the wrong place (unless they flipped the slider). What say you, Neil?
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Good point Kevin.
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Didn’t AMA hold an Road Race there back in the early 65?
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What a Great looking group. Riders should remember how fast Lance was on that bike..
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The TT may have been a good choice for Wentzville’s bad track surface, but it was Lance’s only race bike at the time so we used it everywhere. I didn’t have my RZ 350 until the next year. Lance will have to answer the front end question…he built the bike. I was happy to get to race it with him for a couple of seasons before I started racing sprints on the RZ.
Hi to Mike – where are ya these days?
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I think that was the weekend I broke my ankle. The forks were off a Kawasaki 750 or something. Too stiff and too short caused a tank slapper that sent me over the bars. After that I figured the Kaw sliders bolted up to the stock tubes resulting in a long travel softer front end with a disc brake. That and a damper eliminated the tank-slappers. Team Thumping with Neil was great, thanks for being a good partner, Neil.
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My Mom and Dad are so cute! She still goes to see him race mountain bikes and takes pictures of him coming in first across the finish line or runs around the race track when he does track days on his Buell. And that ‘ole “Lance” race jacket hasn’t retired yet. I wore it out on a ride this weekend :-)One of my girlfriends (Mike Shilts’s daughter) couldn’t stop raving about how vintage it looked. I said…that’s because it is!
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I am lovin this! And thanks for reminding me about Wentzville…the suspension test track. I remember doing an endurance on an SRX600 single (i.e. Ken Essex) that was still on floor plan at Middleton Kawasaki-Yamaha ; )
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To Neil, Still around Super-moto racing with my son. Mike. questerracing@aol.com
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“Suspension test track” it sure was Mike, and a rider test too. I came back into the pits after my first practice session on that track totally spooked. The next session was far better after switching to a dirt riding style with less body weight on the seat, more weight on the pegs and a light grip on the handlebar. That worked.
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