My Gift to the 11th Earl of Denbigh

William Rudolph Michael Feilding, 11th Earl of Denbigh.

That was his name, but we called him ‘Rollo’, as he was always introduced as Rollo Denbigh or Lord Denbigh. He was a regular guy who loved cars and motorcycles. I got to know him on my first trip to the Isle of Man in 1990 and he was an enthusiast in the true sense of the word. 

He was riding the bike Geoff Johnson had won the Production 1000cc TT in 1987 for the Loctite Yamaha team (Now shown as Production Class B). Geoff died in 1990 of a brain embolism. This was a guy that rode a 520 pound bike (a real handful in those days) around the IOM, inches from walls and poles, only to die during a party at home in his kitchen. Goes to show you never know what will happen.

Geoff Johnson on the 1987 Loctite Yamaha Bike

Now Rollo is riding this bike – with Geoff’s signature on it - with all the paperwork from Yamaha and the Loctite team.  This was one of my first trips to England and the Isle of Mann as well, and I was learning that ‘English’ is not always the same English; word usage can differ, sometimes greatly.  For example in the US we ride on the pavement in the street. If you say you were riding on the ‘pavement’ in the UK, they think you were riding on the sidewalk.  A transmission is a gear box in the UK, and a Fanny Pack is known as a bum bag.  Back in the day, you may have gotten your fanny or backside swatted when you got into trouble.  Yet in the UK, it’s more of a slang term about female genitalia.

So here I am with Rollo and friends and he states he has a Harley Davidson FLHTC as I think to myself, “Cool I have a present for you”.  You see, on my last trip to Sturgis I had bought some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders.  I had been using them on this trip to hold up my rain pants; but thought they would be a nice gift. I tell him I have some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders for him and he looks at me like there is something majorly wrong with me. After I hand them over I found out that our USA suspenders are called braces.  

Turns out suspenders in the UK are what are known as a garter belt in the USA! 

Riding In England. . . Who's the Hooligan now??

Ever ridden in England? It is a ball!! First thing, they are very motorcycle friendly. Back in the 90’s, three of us were on our way to the Isle of Mann; Alan Blake, then national sales manager for Avon Motorcycle Tyres, my friend Terry, and myself. 

As we are going up this hill (remember on the left side of the road), the cars are all pulling over so we can ‘lane split’, which is a little scary on a narrow two-lane road with Lorries (big trucks) coming the other way.

The speed limit on the dual carriage way or Motorway, is 70mph - but you can ride 80 all day long with no problem; just be sure to move out of the right lane (fast lane) if you see someone coming up fast behind you, and I mean 100mph fast.

Here in England the police drive white Rovers and use radar. But they have these places they park on the left side of the road that is elevated about 3 feet with a ramp up and a ramp down. The other place they sit is in the middle of an overpass. So if you see a white Rover (how could you miss them?) slow down. The other thing they used to do was post a sign that said “Photo speed check ahead”.  You can guess what was going to happen in about a half mile as you went under the overpass!

As most are aware it rains in England.  Thus we are riding down the M6 in the rain at an indicated 100mph, but it is actually better because the water does not stay on you visor, and as we start coming into more traffic we slow down to 80.  After about 15 miles I see a white Rover coming up behind me so I slow to 70 and move into the middle lane, he follows for a while then passes and follows my friend Terry from the States. When he moves around Terry to follow Allan, Terry and I slow way down.  The officer follows Allan for 10-12 miles and then pulls him over, and then waves for us to pull over as well.

When we all take off our helmets the officers see that I am the youngest - I have gray hair and am in my 40’s. Now it is ‘good cop, bad cop’. They determined we are from the States and ‘bad cop’ asked Terry “What the speed limit is in the States?” and Terry says 80-90 (as I’m thinking, “Where is that?”).  They tell us they’ve been following us for 10 miles and we have been exceeding 100+ mph, followed by big lecture. We are riding 600cc sport bikes that the factories have loaned Avon and as a result there is a bunch of questions about that too.

Then they say that we have two options:  1. Let us go or 2. Throw us in jail. Personally my vote was for option 1. In the end it was option 1. Most likely they were expecting some young ‘hooligans’, so we were a little bit of a disappointment. After a couple of minutes we were all the best of friends and I think they would have let us buy them a pint or two! They really wanted to give Allan a ticket but could not because they would have had to put us in jail and I am sure that was way too much paperwork for them.

Moral of the story is: “You can be a hooligan and get away with it if you have gray hair”

Alan on the Side of the Road with the two Police Officers!

Next chapter is about my gift to William Rudolph Michael Feilding, 11th Earl of Denbigh

Valentino and the Corkscrew

Are you a Valentino Rossi fan? Fan or not you have to respect the talent he has, especially after this last week end at the Malaysia race - he scored his 46^th victory, a magical number for him. To top all that off he is a great guy, so it is no wonder he has such a huge following.

Valentino Rossi, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Turn 5, 2006.  Photo by Kenny Jones

When I was a Regional Sales manager for Parts Unlimited I was privileged to be able to have dinner with Val several times as a result of a contest sponsored by AGV helmets, Michelin and then Bridgestone tires. At these dinners he answered questions from those in attendance and even those that were quite personal (which we won’t discuss here). He is a very colorful individual and always has time for his fans.

He also took the time to sign autographs on just about anything you wanted and everyone who was invited got a new signed AGV helmet so if you are looking to buy a signed AGV Rossi helmet let me know.

Valentino signing my helmet, 2006.

One year I was staying in the same hotel, on the same floor as Val in Monterey, while we rode the elevator another guy got on and wanted his autograph, but did not have anything so Val suggested he sign his pass. The guy was over the moon when we got off the elevator.

Back to the colorful part at the dinner and the questions that were being asked. One of the questions that was asked was what did he think of the ‘corkscrew’ at Laguna the first time he saw it. (If you have been around the track you can understand why he answered this way). He starts by saying in English with his Italian accent that he was riding around the track on his scooter and when he got to the top of the ‘corkscrew’ he stopped then he looked down and said “ Oh f—k I have to go down this thing fast!!” 

Valentino Rossi in the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca

The Bostrom Story

Do you enjoy motorcycle stories? Several of my friends have been after me to do this blog, so let’s see if I can entertain you with some of the things that have happened to me over the 35 years I have been in the motorcycle industry. Not all of the stories you will read will have happened to me, but they are accurate to the best of my memory.

I got into motorcycles because of my ex-brother in law, who was a mid-pack racer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He gave me my first lesson on a BSA Lightning. Much like the one pictured here.

BSA Lightning

My next series of lessons was given to me by my older sister - good thing my mom does not have a computer. Larry (the ex) crashed a lot, but he was friends with the likes of Dick Mann, the Bostrom brothers and many more.  Ben and Eric Bostrom’s dad is Dave Bostrom and their uncle is Paul. Both of these guys were very talented racers.

Legends Flat Track Race, Dave Bostrom (81)

So let’s start with the Bostroms.  I was at Sturgis in the mid 90s and attending the vintage ½ mile race.  As they lined up the 650 class, they announced the riders’ names and Dave is in the second row. I tell the guy next to me that this is going to be no contest. I think it was an 8 lap race and at the end Dave won by about ½ a lap.  Again, a very talented racer. 

Parts Unlimited, for whom I was a regional sales manager for the past 9 years, always hosted a hospitality suite for their dealers at the Hangtown Motocross near Sacramento.  One year Dave shows up and he begins to tell me stories about “back in the day” with my sister and her husband (now ex).  He tells me (and I later called my sister to confirm) about the time my sister dressed him up as a girl for a Halloween Party.

A few months later at the Parts Unlimited National Sales Meeting, Ben and Eric Bostrom are displaying their product lines, one of which is T-Shirts with vintage pictures of their dad.  I took Ben aside and told him that he should keep his dad away from the involvement of the clothing design because I knew for a fact that he’s is a “Known Cross-Dresser”.   In good fun I told him of the story that was passed to me and he said he’d give his dad a bad time about it. 

Stay tuned for Rossi’s impression of the Cork Screw at Laguna.