When is a speeding ticket not always a bad thing?

Back in the mid 90’s my wife wanted to go over to the Washington peninsula for a short vacation. I think she read about the place on Lake Crescent in Sunset magazine or something. I was thinking that it didn’t sound like all that much fun unless I could take the bike. So she being the accommodating person she is, drove the car and I rode my Honda CBR600F2.

After riding part of the day in the rain we got to the little cabin at Piedmont (North side of the Park).

The next day I decided to go for a ride and my younger daughter wanted to go as well.  This back in the day when you looked at a map for all the little squiggly lines for the best ride.  Jessica and I are very similar and if I wanted to dial it up a notch or two, it was certainly alright with her. We found a couple of nice back roads and cruised out to Neah Bay at a fairly brisk pace.

This area is Washington’s rainforest and the scenery is stunning.  During the mid-90’s, most of the logging industry had fallen on hard times (Spotted Owl anyone?), thus the forests were largely dense.  The Olympic Mountains are spectacular as are the roads; and the law enforcement was as thick as the trees!

As we were coming back through the National Park, everything was perfect; beauty all around us, perfect pavement, lots of nice twisties, and sweeping curves.  Then we got behind a Ford Crew Cab Diesel with a bunch of loggers in it. This was not really a problem as they were going 35-50 and I was sure they knew the road as well as anyone.

We followed them for maybe 10 miles until we all caught up with the tourists that were gawking at the lovely lake and doing the speed limit (which I think was 30mph).  Even though it was a double yellow line, the Ford and I are picking them off as safely as possible. Finally we got around the last one and we were back on pace. I followed the Ford for another mile or so and got tired of inhaling diesel fumes and decided pass. Just as I got around the truck, we met up with Smokey the Bear (park ranger) with his radar on.

The good news was that he did not see the pass over the double yellow line, but we got it for 20mph over the limit.

My wife wasn’t too happy about my new award nor about the poor example I was setting for our daughter.  There was an upside to the incident besides the really great ride. Jessica tells her older sister, who tells all her friends, and now the word is out!  All the young men she knows now think her dad is ‘pretty cool’ as he is known to ride ‘briskly’.

Unfortunately, sometimes you pay to be "cool".

What have you found in a Barn lately?

The story of the 1962 BSA Goldstar DBD34GS

 

Everyone dreams about and talks about finding the ‘old board tracker’ or the Vincent in a barn, but rarely does it happen. However I own one of those and the entire story is not as romantic as it sounds.

In 1976 I was working in a Kawasaki shop and a gentleman in his 60’s comes in and asked to buy a throttle cable. I asked him what it was for and he said that whatever he got will need to be modified. Again I inquired what it was for, as perhaps I could get at least one end correct. He tells me it’s a 1962 BSA Goldstar. My mind is telling me that this is the good one…the pre-unit one…with the racing history. After confirming that was truly what it was, I told him “If you ever want to sell it, give me a call.”

One day, as I’m coming back into work after a day off, I get a message.  “ Some guy called and wants to sell you his BSA” .  I had forgotten about the guy as it had been a year since he was last in the shop.  But I really didn’t want some leaky old British bike but I’d call out of courtesy.  When I returned his call, it all came back.  I arrange to go see the thing, out in the country, in an old horse barn. Actually it was more of a giant shed, dirt floors, stalls and lots of junk.

When I first saw it I was quite disappointed. I asked if it ran and he said “Runs good”…could have fooled me. One thing about this bike was that it had the 1½ GP carb; the float bowl was not built into the carb and all the mounting hardware was missing. It was only held on with the fuel lines. This was one of those bikes that had a definite starting drill. My brother-in-law used to have one when I was a kid so I knew what the drill was but had never done it. I think he was impressed that I knew it and got it started.

Then I discovered surprise number two. The side stand had no spring to hold it up. I took off around this rutty cow pasture in the dark with the side stand banging.  Every time it starts to run out of fuel I grabbed the float bowl and lift it up so it would run. Craziest test ride I have ever been on, but it did run good…sort of.

Then the negotiations started. He wanted $500, which was way TOO much.  I asked what he was going to spend the cash on? He said he needed a used motorcycle to ride because his wife was sick and she needed the car. I said we had a CB450 at the shop for $500 would he trade? The next day he picked up the Honda (that I bought from the shop for $350). That night I went to his place to get the BSA and as we were loading it I was already having buyer’s remorse. I was thinking “what have you gotten into with this old piece of junk?”

BEFORE Restoration

After it was in the truck he asked if I want the 2 apple boxes with the extra parts in them. Parts???? (Lesson learned here is to ALWAYS ask for the extra parts!) The two boxes had the instruments and mounts, some of the sheet metal and a bunch of brackets.

The parts were worth as much as the bike. It took me 10 years of scrounging to scrape together all the other bits and pieces I needed.  Yet I was in no hurry and not willing to spend much on the project. During my travels, both work and personal, I was always looking for the parts I needed. 

One time, probably in the early ‘80s, I was in a shop in Portland called the Cycle Hub.  The owner, Cliff was a somewhat unique individual. There also happened to be two fellows from England and they were asking about a large Goldstar tank. My ears perked up because I needed one as well at that time.

“Do you have one?” they asked.

”Yep, sure do and still in the box.” Cliff replied

“How much?” they inquired

“$800” he replied…..and I almost choked (Remember I only paid $350 for my bike!)

“Could we see it?” the lads asked

“If I have to go get, it the price will be $1,000” retorted Cliff.

Well that was the end of the discussion and interest in Cliff’s tank.

I found a big Clubman gas tank and took it to England to have it restored. Little did I know the bike I bought was a Clubman and when it was done I had a proper 1962 BSA Goldstar DBD34GS.

The RESTORED Goldstar!

Just one of the many motorcycles that Max has in his own “Barn”!  

The New Rider and Tire Repair

Having worked in various dealerships for 10 years, starting in the early 70’s, I have met a lot of really great enthusiasts, as well as helping new people get started in our fantastic sport.

One day in the summer of 1973, I had a young man in his late teens come in the shop.  He wore a long sleeve shirt that was torn and asked if he could use our bathroom. He then showed me his forearm that sported some new ‘road rash’. It was very obvious that he had just crashed. After helping him to clean up and apply a little first aid I asked him what happened. His first statement was actually a question “Does everybody crash when they get a flat tire?” I responded that that was not normally what happens.  I gave him a few pointers on how to deal with a flat when it happens. He was obviously a new rider and I did not want to insult his riding skills. I then sold him a new tube for his Honda CB350. He said he hoped to never have another flat; as this was the second time he had one and had crashed both times! After a little more discussion he asked if I would look at his bike to see if I though something might be wrong with it. I said I would be glad to have a look.

 

The best replica of what the New Rider had that we could find online!

We then walked out of the shop and around to the side where the bike was and at first glance it was very apparent what the problem was. This bike had extended forks that were at least +8” but I think were probably +10” and ‘Z’ bars. The fact that he was not hurt as bad as it could have been was a testament to his current skill level. I then gave him a lesson on motorcycle geometry and why the factory setup had its advantages. He said he bought it that way because it looked ‘cool’. 

Today’s motorcycles are far safer that ever before. Not going into chassis design or anything else but the fact that most have tubeless tires versus the old tube is a major step. With a tube the air is forced out with a puncture (think of a toy balloon); where with a tubeless tire the tire pinches the object and the pressure helps it stay in the tire. Commonly the puncture is not noticed until one notices the tire is low on air because it comes out more slowly.

Be very careful about adding sealants to street bike tires as a preventative measure. This will cause the puncture to seal and the object and move around as the tire goes through the contact patch.  It can also eat up the casing, which has a great potential of causing a catastrophic failure. 

40 years later, Tire repair is still a touchy subject!  We here at Ventura-MCA have a great new product, GRYYP Emergency Tire Repair Systems, made in Spain.  The Cargol Turn & Go is a revolutionary NEW way to quickly repair a tubeless tire in an emergency situation.  Check them out on our website, www.ventura-mca.com! 

Cargol Turn & Go System.  Remove the Object, Screw in the Cargol, Break off the Head, Air up the tire, and GO!!

Want one of these for your own?  Order direct or from one of our dealers!  Go online to www.ventura-mca.com!

Gryyp Kit #K004; Auto/Motorcycle

The origin of the Gangster Whitewall

When Harley Davidson was starting to build up sales momentum in the 1980’s there was also an increased interest in nostalgia.

I was prompted by a friend, who was an Indian collector and enthusiast, to see if Avon would consider building an H speed rated whitewall tire. At the time the only wide whitewall motorcycle tire was made by the Coker Tire Company.  They were marketed toward machines that were mainly for display. Goodyear had long ceased production of their whitewall, which had been a favorite of the Harley crowd.

 I asked the Export manager at Avon if they would build such a tire, and I wanted it based on Avon’s old style Roadrunner Universal. This way only one tire would be needed as it could be used on both front and rear applications.  Every time I asked he would tell me how difficult it was to make as the entire production for whitewalls would have to be done differently.

Normally, in the automotive world, when a whitewall is being built they lay down a strip of white rubber on the sidewall then cover it with a layer of black rubber on top. After the tire is pressed (molded) they buff down through the black to the white layer. The problem with an H speed rated motorcycle tire is the side walls are too short and by the time all the necessary legal information is printed on the side, there is no room for a whitewall to buff down to it. 

As a result the Gangster is made with the whitewall having all the lettering in the white. Therefore the tire goes through the factory after it is built, with the white exposed to all types of contamination and any contaminated tires need to be scrapped, increasing the cost.  It took me 4 YEARS of hounding them to get it built.

When we launched the tire it was an immediate success and we were behind 2-3,000 tires for over two years. All of these tires were to come to the US only. In England they put a set on a bike and went out to take photos and when they rode it back to the factory a guy was following them and would not leave until they sold him the tires off the bike. The crazy thing was we were selling tires back to England and France and they were being sent by air.

One time when I was at Harley’s headquarters in Milwaukee they said to me if Avon ever came up with any unique concept they would consider buying tires from Avon.  Here is where the fool in me comes out. I was at Harley on another issue and pulled a Gangster whitewall section out of my bag to ask them what they thought. There was immediate enthusiasm and then they got very subdued saying they would need to consult the design department. Don’t know what I was thinking because as soon as I was out the door I know they called Dunlop and asked for a wide whitewall. The good news was it took Dunlop two years to get it to market which gave Avon two years with no competition.

What was interesting was the Dunlop was technically illegal. They chose the buff down method and the lettering was too small. When the Department of Transportation was notified their response was: “You are contacting us about a labeling infraction? We do not have the time or resources to enforce this problem, but don’t you do it.”

After about four years into production we got a consumer letter condemning the use of the name ‘Gangster’ saying we were hurting motorcycling’s image. Some how I think they missed the concept that this was a nostalgia thing that had the look of the car tires of the 1920’s when gangsters were in their heyday.

So there you have it.  Max’s tale of how the Avon “Gangster” came into play!  The Avon Gangster tyre is still available.  See www.avonmoto.com for a dealer nearest you!!

Have you ever wondered where the “Fat Freddie” Tire came From?  In this feature, Max Martin recalls about the inspiration and commencement of the Avon “Fat Freddie” Tire, also known as the start of the Wide Tire Craze!

If you have ever been to a custom bike show, rally or anywhere that custom Harley-Davidsons gather, you have no doubt seen the oversize or fat rear tired monsters. This is the story of how the oversized tire came about. Now you may be thinking that some marketing genius in a corner office behind a fancy desk dreamed it up.  Or that a bunch of marketing guys in a big conference room around a walnut table had a brain storming session. That might be the way some products come into existence, but that is not how the first oversized tire came to be.

When Dealer Expo used to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, there was as much business done in the bar as in the convention center.  I happened to be standing and talking with two well-known custom bike builders. Donnie Smith and Dave Perewitz, as well as the late Gene Koch who was a Drag Specialties sales rep. I asked Donnie if he could have any tire built for him, what he would want. I actually knew he was going to ask for a very large ‘Drag Race’ size tire but I asked anyway. He said “I want the largest tire you can make”. I told him I did not think that was what he really wanted because Avon at that time made some industrial applications that were quite large. The thing I found interesting was he wanted a 16” tire because the east coast roads were poor and the additional sidewall flex would help the ride. I knew the west coast look would have been for a low profile 18”

.

So my next job was to determine exactly how wide we could go.  I started doing some research and determined the widest tire that would fit a stock HD frame without cutting the frame rails could be 8” wide. You would still have to offset the motor and make everything else yourself. Now I had to convince the factory in England to make it. This was in the days where everything was done by fax. I sent a fax to the UK saying I wanted them to build a 200/60H16. It went kind of like this:

UK: What is the application?

US: Nothing. It is for custom Harleys

UK: Is there a wheel for it? Will it fit? What do you have to do to put it on?

US: There is one rim available. You either have to use a custom frame (one available) or cut the back half of your stock Harley Davidson off and make everything else yourself.

UK: What will the front tire be?

US: Either a 90/90H21 or 90/90H19

UK: Wait a minute. You want us to build a tire that fits nothing, you have to cut you bike in half to put it on and you are going to put a little skinny little tire on the front?  Are you out of you mind?

US: Yes…trust me on this.

AM23 "Fat Freddie" 200/60B16

As they say the rest is history.

Honestly I never thought it would grow into what it is today. The 230 tire came next, and is still in production today.  This also started an entire trend and Hot Bike magazine awarded Avon Tyres the ‘1992 Innovative Product of the Year’.  In the 2000’s came the Venom 250, 300, and even the 330. 

Next I’ll tell you the story behind the Avon Gangster Tire.  

Harley's Sport Bike

While working for Avon Tyres, it had put me in contact with some really great people and some interesting situations. Prior to the development of the European Economic Community, the German government had a TUV standard that tires had to pass; today it is the ECE75.  This was because of the high speeds that could be obtained and sustained on the Autobahn. 

In Europe, the motorcycle manufacturers also recommended specific tires for replacement on each model. Therefore, every year the bike and tire manufacturers would get together to test tires. Harley was just starting to sell quite a few more bikes in Europe and at Avon we were having clearance problems with some model tires rubbing on certain model Harleys.

All the tire manufactures made tires in compliance with the ETRTO (European Tire and Rim Technical Organization) which gave the industry some standards for both the tires and the motorcycle manufacturers. However Harley was not going by the rules for the “tire envelope” and parts of the bike were contacting the tires.  Harley had a meeting Milwaukee to discuss this problem. 

So there I was, sitting in this very fancy  meeting room waiting for some of the engineers and the first thing I noticed was that there was a noise coming from the floor above us that sounded like someone was moving boulders around on steel wheeled carts. One of the guys said it was the engine painting department.  He went on to say that the EPA wanted to shut them down but they were “grandfathered in’. I was anticipating someone falling through the ceiling during our upcoming meeting!.

The same guy then says to me, before the meeting started, “What do you ride?”.  I responded “I ride a sportbike’.  At the time I was riding a new Honda CBR600F2 but did not disclose what I owned.  He then responded “Oh, we have a Sportbike!”  

I was familiar with their line of bikes and it was before they owned Buell so I am sitting there running down the list in my mind and not coming up with anything and he adds…..”The Sportster”.           “Oh right” I responded.

One needs sometimes to look back on history because there was a day when the Sportster came out that it was the fastest thing on the street. But times have changed - but the Sportster?  Not too much.

Sportster Then

Sportster Now

Stay tuned for information about "The Britten"!!

And, don't forget, you can know look up your Ventura Motorcycle Dealer on a Map online at www.ventura-mca.com!  Until next time!

Just who was it designing those Kawasaki’s anyway?

In 1976 I started working at Kawasaki Country in Yakima Washington. I have always said there are 3 types of motorcycle shops. Those that make it happen…those that watch it happen….and those that wonder what happened.

Prior to this shop I worked in the latter type of shop, but this was a make it happen place. Don, the owner, was all for being creative and using your imagination. If anything, he had some of the wildest ideas. I will talk about some of the promotions we did another time; but this time I would like to reflect on some of the bikes we created.

In this time period, there was not a demand for the specialized bikes we find today. There were no sportbikes, no cruisers like we see now, and very few touring bikes. Today we see a lot of ‘builders’ around, but in my mind they are mostly assemblers - as all they do is take existing parts off the shelf and assemble a bike (with modifications to it). A real builder starts from scratch and makes his own frame and usually everything but the motor. We made customs.

The first one we did was with a stock KZ400. We found a place that made handlebar mounted fairings and some nice small bags that matched and made what could be called a mini touring bike. This combination sold very well because it looked nice and was very reasonably priced. The regional manager for Kawasaki came by and took pictures.  Then Kawasaki released the KZ400 Deluxe, which cost hundreds more than ours and did not sell.

Next I wanted to build a ‘Café Racer’ so I took a 1976 KZ900 ordered Lester Mag wheels, a BMW R90S fairing, 4 into 1 pipe, better shocks and an additional disc brake and more. We had it custom painted a blue silver with blue stripes. The Kawasaki came in again armed with a camera.  Again, they took pictures.  Sure enough, in 1978 they introduced the Z1R.

I rode a KZ900 for a year but did not like the weight so when the KZ650 came out, I bought a 1977 KZ650C with the mags. I put a 720cc kit in it, smoothbore carbs, Koni shocks, drilled the disc, BMW fairing again and a KZ750 twin tail section.  I tell you, history continues to repeat itself.  Kawasaki Rep comes out, takes pictures, leaves.  Then Kawasaki introduces the GPZ 750.

At about the same time I had a customer who was a former H2 owner buy a KZ650 but it wasn’t fast enough.  So we turbo charged it – which was unusual in the mid 70’s. Can you say GPZ 750 turbo? I sold the 650 and rode a KZ1000 MKII (J model).

I do remember asking the rep if it was possible to get any of the Eddie Lawson race parts from Racing as I wanted to make a replica.

It was at this time the shop was purchased by the local Harley dealer and we got a new Kawasaki regional rep.

Maybe I should have applied at Kawasaki headquarters for a job. 

Reflections of Harley Davidson during the AMF ownership days. . .

There was a time I worked in a Kawasaki shop that had been purchased by two guys who owned the local Harley-Davidson dealership.  They ended up putting the two dealerships together. The absentee owners put the fellow who had almost bankrupted the HD shop in charge. Yes this was a formula for disaster, and it eventually went under, but it was interesting for a time.

When I first started to work at the shop, I had a good look at the bikes.  My immediate reaction was ‘agricultural’; but Harley has changed a lot since then. Combining the parts departments of the two into the new building was a little eye opening for me. 

First, there really are no obsolete HD parts.  When I started to put overstock parts on an empty shelf in the back, the ‘man in charge’ had a fit. He said it was his shelf and he was going to need it. ‘What for?’ I asked. He said for ‘recall parts’.  He said every year they had a recall and this  was going to be for the replacement parts. That year there were two recalls. One was for the ignition switch on twin tank models – which would burst into flames; and the second was for brake rotors that would break and bind up in the calipers. Scary stuff!

But it was the customers that made it interesting. This was before all the yuppies got into the ownership game, so it was all ‘hard core’ people. Once a couple (in their twenties) came in and he was looking at the bikes and she was looking at the stuff in the glass display case. This attractive young lady had me dragging out all the HD branded stuff. At that time you had to practically give away anything that said Kawasaki on it, so I figured it would not sell either.  I was dead wrong.  I need to mention this was mid-week and they were the only customers in the shop. She calls her boyfriend over and there is a little private conversation and he tells me that if I will give her the HD panties, she will put them on right here in the parts department. Thanks but no thanks. 

Then there was the mid 30’s couple that can in.  He had this big bushy mustache and looked like a linebacker. She was a pretty long haired blonde about half his size.  Her choice of clothing was a T-shirt that said “Professional Mustache Rider”.

It’s good to know that while some things change, some never do.  I’ll let you figure out which is which!

Daytona Stories - Skip Van Leeuwen

This little antidote comes via my sister and her ex- husband who was a racer. I knew of Skip because of the TT expert he was in his racing days, but I never got to know him personally until he was a distributor of Marushin helmets (back in the mid 80’s).

Skip Van Leeuwen

While I was visiting my sister, who lives near Solvang, California, I knew that Skip and a friend would be in the area, so we all arranged to have dinner together.

During dinner my sister related an event that happened to Skip during Daytona ‘back in the day’. 

The story goes that they were all at a night club which was full of racers and college kids on spring break. My sister mentions there was a ‘veteran’ racer who was an excellent ballroom dancer; it turns out to be Everett Brashear (AMA hall of famer).  Then she starts telling how Skip was flirting with a college girl and the girls’ boyfriend was not too happy about it.  It turned physical and a brawl ensued of bikers versus college kids.

Everett Brashear

Up until now Skip did not remember the incident; but he then chimed in with many colorful details. It sounded like one of the brawls you saw in a cartoon because Skip crawled out the bottom of the pile to hide under my sister’s cloth covered table. While he was under the table, they gave him Everett’s coat and tie (yes, people used to wear sport coats and ties to clubs) and he sat down at the table. By then bouncers were throwing people out and they came up to Skip and start accusing him of starting the whole thing.  Of course he insisted it wasn't him as he had been sitting at the table the entire time. He never did get thrown out.

Skip Van Leeuwen

Daytona hasn’t changed much over the years.  If you have gone, or know of someone that has been during Bike Week (or during the old days before it was known as Bike Week), there’s stories aplenty!

Riding Home from Laguna Seca - The Hawk Story

As I mentioned, I often ride to Laguna Seca for the MotoGP from Seattle. I think it is about 1,000 miles if you take the freeway, but the way I go it takes me 3 days or more, and it is about 1,500 miles.

Northern California has some great roads between Highway 101 and Highway 1 that are fun to explore. One year, while on my return trip, I was riding my modified Triumph Daytona and after looking at the map found some nice little county roads in the Sacramento valley that paralleled Interstate 5. (I hate riding down the freeway). It is a nice day; the sun is shining, its 80 degrees, and no wind. The road surface is not great (which is typical for California) and there a lot of rodents out, chipmunks and the like. I felt kind of bad because at this point I had actually run over two who had poor timing while trying to cross the road. 

My Modified 1997 Triumph 955 - It's for Sale Too!

The road is not too tight and most of the corners are fast sweepers and I was cruising along enjoying the day thinking how much I like ‘work days’ like these. As I came out of a wooded area onto a straight stretch, I glance down at the gauges to see if all is OK. I noticed I was motoring along at 80mph, not accelerating for the straights, just a nice pace considering there is no traffic on the road at all.

At the end of the straight was a hawk eating some road kill on the left shoulder.  I was confident by the time I got there that he will have taken off. Without backing off the throttle I start getting closer, watching him all the way. First he turns to the left and crouches down like he is going to take off. I’m thinking great, no problem. At the last minute he turns right and takes off right in front of me. OMG! I try to tuck in behind the fairing as much as possible but he hits me in the head (gotta love a full face helmet).  As I looked up for the corner I started seeing stars and had a little tunnel vision that was short lived.

I glanced in the mirror to check on my feathered friend and he is ‘spread hawk’ on the road, not moving. His wingspan appeared to be about 4 feet and I was thinking he could’ve knocked me out or off the bike. I never stopped as I figured there was nothing I could do for him and there was probably someone from the Sierra Club or Park Service hiding in the bushes that would want to pursue criminal charges.

The helmet only had some feather dust on it so it was a shame to throw it away – but I know I had collapsed the liner some. This is not the only bird I have killed on my bike. Once in Eastern Oregon with the ‘molar rollers’ I was going through a fast (100mph?) right hand sweeper and a blackbird came out the bushes and I got him with my right knee. I think I will start painting animals on my fairing like they did on WWII airplanes.

Riding to World Superbike, Seattle to Laguna

Let me start by saying that I am not a fast rider. I can do okay, but I am not a retired racer, nor have I ever taken ’track lessons’.

I used to ride with a bunch of dentists who called themselves the ‘molar rollers’ and there were some fast guys in this group!  Most of these guys rode Ducatis or 1000cc sportbikes.  David Edwards (ex Cycle World editor) called Wiley the ‘world’s fasted dentist’.  I’m not sure so about that, but he is fast on the street. I am not as talented as some of the doctors are, but when would keep them in sight when they are ‘on it’, I was a happy camper.

One year we all decided to ride from Seattle down to the World Superbike race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey. I started to have charging system problems with my CBR600F2 and stopped at the Honda shop in Eureka, California to see what the problem was.  I told the guys to keep on and that I would catch up with them later. I don’t know if you have ever ridden Hwy 1 from Liggett to Ft Bragg, but this road is a “10” in my book.  It has great pavement, beautiful scenery if you look, and very TIGHT corners that work their way through the coastal range.

Once I left the Honda shop, I found myself cruising along at the speed limit +10 or +15 with a big smile, in and out of the sunlight; the world was perfect. As I came through a straight stretch of the big redwoods 5 riders were pulling on to the road and tucked in behind me.  I think “Great, someone to ride with.”  I look in the mirror and these guys are right on my tail. Okay, so they want to go a little faster – I can do that. The 15-20mph corners are behind us and now the 30mph corners are ahead – which you can do at another 10-15mph safely. When the pace picked up, I checked the mirrors again and there are only two with me - the others have dropped back.

Again I got the feeling they want to up the ante so as Emeril Lagasse would say “let’s kick it up a notch”. Now we were on it to where the tires were starting to be the deciding speed factor and I checked the mirror again – now there is only one guy back there. One more glance to see if he is thinking about passing and I notice he was crossing the line in some of the corners. At this point, I do not want to be part of something that could get ugly, so when I came up behind a truck, I timed it so I could get around, but he couldn’t.  I backed it off a little and pulled into the first gas station I see in Ft Bragg –where the molar rollers are having an ice cream.

Several of them come over as I am filling up.  .  Now let’s sidetrack for a second.  During this story I was in my late 40’s and the Molar Rollers are 5-10 years my senior.  As we‘re chatting, the 5 ‘fast’ guys pull into the station.  One of them, the last guy behind me (who’s maybe 20), walks over and says to two of my friends and myself “It is nice to see some of you ‘old guys’ riding sportbikes”.  We’re just smiling as we all say “Thanks.”  Even though in my mind I was thinking “didn’t I just show you how it’s done?  You should ride with these guys because I’m not the fast one here.

The moral of the story.  Don’t judge a rider’s ability by his age.  

Are you the Real Kevin Schwantz?

Are you the real Kevin Schwantz?

Years ago, as I was riding with a sales rep in Houston, a Ducati 916 passed us on the freeway and was picking off the slower cars. The rider had on a replica Arai Schwantz helmet and the Dainese replica jacket with ‘Schwantz’ across the back. I said to Lewis (the rep) “There goes Kevin!”  He said “You do realize you are in Texas, and it just might be!”

I guess that’s the trouble when you travel a lot; you forget where you are. We then stopped at a Honda shop and the lo and behold, the bike is sitting outside!  Since it was towards the end of the day, everyone was standing around as they closed up.  “Kevin” was hanging around because happened to be buddies with the parts manager. We start talking and he told me he was an attorney.  I kidded him about his “Kevin” gear and he says:

Let me tell you about the time I was in Austin. I was on a case and had a few extra days so I took my bike to ride in the hill country. As I am riding along, not too fast, when a sheriff passes me, makes a big U-turn with his lights flashing and then pulls me over. He jumps out of his car then tackles me to the ground. I am screaming the entire time ‘I am an officer of the court let me go’. After he takes the hand cuffs off he explains he was out here two days earlier and chased me all over but I got away. He was 

convinced it was me because I had Schwantz all over my helmet and jacket.

We all had a laugh because we knew it was probably the real Kevin.

Several months later I ran into the real Kevin Schwantz at a show and told him the story. He got a big smile on his face and said “Could have been”.

Dave Leach, Four Time Isle of Mann TT Winner

Dave Leach with the famous Yellow with Red Polka Dot Helmet!

  

On my first trip to the Isle of Man in 1990, I met Dave Leach, a racer riding for FM Yamaha and shod with Avon tires.  He was a three time TT winner, with his first race win in 1988 on a Padgetts FZ1000 0W01. In 1990 he was riding a FZR400 RRSP, which is kind of a baby 0W01.

Standing at the starting line I was talking to Dave and told him we did not have that Yamaha in the States. He said to me “You can buy this one in about an hour and a half”. So during the entire race I was thinking “do I really want to buy this thing?” I didn’t think I could get a license for it in the States; I don’t race and I cannot afford to buy it and just put it in my garage. After the race, which Dave had won (his Fourth win); he asked if I wanted it.  I said no.  I guess some guy from Japan bought it and had them crate it up, with the bugs still all over the front of it and send it to Japan.  Dave also took a 3^rd in the Senior Class, a 5^th in Formula 1, and 10^th in the Junior Race.  Unfortunately his bike broke down while leading the Supersport 600 race.  But that’s just racing!

Later he asked if I wanted to go to the awards banquet, and since I had a ticket and he had won I thought it might be cool. We show up and Dave says we should sit in the back.  In my mind I’m thinking ‘you’re one of the heroes, we should be up front’.  After we sat down they start by saying “Finishing 20^th in the 125cc class is…” With that we left and snuck down to the bar for about an hour, and then came back to get his trophy. 

IOM TT Trophy

I might add they are one of the classiest trophies around.

The next year Dave came to us to race a 750 at the Daytona 200.  It’s my turn to show him around.  I took him to the short track races, to which he thoroughly enjoyed. While we were at the stadium we ran into some of the staff from the Speedway.  They invited us up to the top level, where the announcer sits.  They interview Dave during one of the breaks and asked him if he liked dirt track to which he responded that he would give it a go if they had it in the UK, as it looked like fun!  Then they asked him about racing at the Speedway. He said “It is a little scary going 170mph right next to the wall.”  Now I am thinking to myself, here is a guy that rides 100 mph on very narrow country roads with light poles, houses, and stone walls everywhere, and he thinks Daytona is “a little scary”. 

The terrible part of this story is in 1992 Dave was racing at an Irish road race and crashed in the rain.  He came off the bike and ended up straddling a tree at probably 60mph (ouch!). It almost killed him.  But it did shorten him by I think he said a little over a ½ inch. Two years later he was at Daytona getting around with two canes and informed me all the ‘important parts’ worked fine.  

In 1995 he made a return to racing the Isle of Mann TT, which at the end of the 1997 season (after sitting out 1996) he hung up his leathers for good.  Here’s a video link of Dave in Practice in Ireland in 1995 (watch for that helmet!!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuDMYUUqB0s

I guess scary is a relative term.  

Dave Leach at IOM Parade of Champions