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

The Surprised Brit

One of the great things about the motorcycle industry is meeting a lot of really great people.  And you get to do things with motorcycles all the time and call it ‘work’.

I have been going to Monterey, California to attend the races at Laguna Seca Raceway since the mid ‘60s, when I was in high school. Back then it was with SCCA and the Can-Am car series, and I was part of the crash crew (but that will be another story). I started attending the AMA National roadraces in the mid ‘80s then it was World Superbike, followed by the 500cc GP races, and now the MotoGP. The second year of the 500 GP they ran side cars with the bikes and it was quite wild as several flipped in the cork screw!  

Trackmaster Triumph

Since Avon Tyres dominated the side car races, three of the guys from Avon Racing UK came to the States. For one of the lads, Andy, it was his first trip to the States.  So we decided to show the boys a good time.  I let Andy ride the bike I brought down, an ex-dirt tracker, the Trackmaster Triumph, and he acted like he was Scott Parker or somebody.  

The racing went very well for Avon and the team of Steve Webster and Tony Hewett won.  Steve is the only man to win 10 FIM World Sidecar Championships. The team is most probably known for their spectacular crash at the Dutch GP in 1985; here’s the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF_DZ1SXEoQ .

Steve Webster and Tony Stewart, Laguna Seca

Left to Right:  Nick Ienatsch, myself, Steve, and Tony, and the passerby

That night all the lads from the UK and I were out for a victory drink at what is now know as Sly McFly’s.  I had noticed this “young lady” (I am going to be nice and say in her 30’s) who was probably a regular at the place, flirting with all the guys at one side of the bar. On my way back from the restroom she and I came face to face and I asked her “Would you be up for some fun?” I explained I had this Brit friend with me (I pointed him out) and it was his first trip to the States and he would be over the moon if he got a little attention from a California girl, maybe even a little kiss on the cheek. I never would have asked her, but I had a feeling she was the kind of gal that would be up for that sort of thing. Now Andy and I are sitting in the front corner of the place with a window behind us.  On our left I saw her coming back from the restroom.  Then she turns at the door, goes outside past our window and disappears.

Then the Avon lads sitting across the table from Andy and I get a very startled look on their face. Moments later she reappears and proceeds to sit on Andy’s lap. To say he was surprised would be an understatement!  Andy has a tendency to talk the talk, but not necessarily walk the walk. She gets him to turn his chair so she can straddle him. She has her arms around his neck and is giving him all her attention and he has not spoken a word and is beet red.  The more dumfounded he gets, the more she pours it on!.  She is really eating it up and the next thing I know she grabs her shirt and flashes him. I thought Andy was going to pass out! She soon departed and I don’t know how long it was before Andy took a breath. The reason the boys across the table were in shock was when she went out earlier, she flashed them through the window behind our backs.  Welcome to California Andy!!

The $200 Bike

Letting it sit. . . 

My mother used to manage an apartment complex in the San Francisco area, and on one of my visits she introduced me to one of the tenants who was an enthusiast. He had an XJ650 Yamaha turbo and a 1976 Triumph Bonneville but had not ridden for years. He said the Triumph was seized up, so I bought it for $200.00 and hauled it back to Seattle.

First I put oil in the cylinders and let it set for a couple of weeks.  Then with it on the center stand, I turned the rear wheel backwards and sure enough it turned over. I discovered the spark plug had been cross threaded and rain water had rusted the rings to the cylinder. I took it apart, honed it, and put new rings in - as it did not need a bore job. I cleaned it up real good and rode it for 5 years.

When it was time to sell the bike, I put an ad in the paper and a photo flyer with my phone number on it in several local motorcycle shops.  One Saturday a nice young man shows up in his 3 series BMW all decked out with his Gucci shoes, Armani pants and whatnot. I don’t really know all that much about fashion, but my teenage daughters gave me all the details on what Mr. Fashion was wearing. He takes the bike for a spin around the block and comes back into the shop. He is a little upset because he lost his Oakley sunglasses but still says he wants to buy it.  Then the great money conversation starts.  Got Cash? Not at the moment, but Tuesday for sure.  I tell him that’s fine, but I’ll need a deposit to hold it or I’ll just sell it to the next guy.  He gives me his watch, which he says is quite valuable, as a deposit. He then calls my office on Tuesday and said he did not have the cash but would get it soon. I told him I was going out of town and would call him when I got back. After I returned from my travelling I called his number and to which his roommate said he moved out.  I left a message for him to come and get his watch. As this was Spring, I got busy and didn’t put the bike back up for sale.  Then one day a gentleman who had seen the bike photo in one of the shops calls and asked if I still had the bike.  He got a bike and I got $2,600 out of the deal.  We were both happy!

The 1976 Bonneville

But I still had the watch.  So I hung it on a hook where we kept the extra keys and told everyone if Mr. Fashion came by, give him back his watch.  A couple of years go by, and one day I’m throwing out all those keys that nobody can remember what they go to , and there was the watch.  At this point it was no longer running as the battery was dead.  . I take it down to Fred Meyer to have the battery replaced and the guy says it is an expensive watch.  So I’m wondering what it’s really worth.  So the next time we go to the mall I take the watch to Ben Bridge Jewelers, who happen to be a Raymond Weil dealer.  Upon inspection, they tell me that the model I have is worth $2,200.00!! I’ve been wearing it ever since. 

So what do you do with good motorcycle money?  Instead of a mini-van like the last time, we bought Microsoft stock, which then split.  A year ago I bought a very nice 1968 Bonneville. 

That old ’76 was probably the best $200 I’ve ever spent!

Don't forget, our office is closed for Winter Holiday from Dec 24th to Jan. 2nd. 

Selling bikes

The motorcycle industry has gone through several ups and downs since I got started in the early 70’s. Like many I got started behind the parts counter, but one’s enthusiasm always boils over onto the show room. The first motorcycle I sold was a Honda CL350 because the owner wanted what he considered “a bike he could ride on and off road”. Unless he lived on a gravel road, I don’t think that thing ever got off the pavement. My how things have changed!

Just a couple of years ago I was in a shop with one of my sales reps for Parts Unlimited and this young parts counter kid said he had just bought a ‘really neat vintage bike’ and asked if l would like to see it. As an enthusiast with a shop full of “proper British motorbikes”, I said “Sure. I would love to see what you have bought”.  We go in the back and he shows me a 1976 green KZ900. I didn’t really want to rain on this young man’s parade, but 1976? This might classify as a classic, but not a vintage in my book. Just because it was made before he was born I think classified it as vintage in his mind. I sold these things when they were new!

Kawasaki had a program for dealers on 25 units so my boss bought 50 and I don’t think we sold 30 the previous year. On top of that when I got down to the last 10, he bought 25 more! We had a special for $2495.00. Those were the days when if you wanted a touring bike you added a Windjammer fairing and Bates saddlebags.

The fun back then was creating your own specialty bike.  For example we were buying lots of Vetter Windjammer fairings and adding them to mostly KZ900 and KZ1000s. For the most part they were white and never really matched anything. We decided it would be cool to build one all matching -  so we got a painter to do it all in yellow…body work, fairing, bags, top box and cargo trailer. Then we took the gas cap down to the local trophy shop and had it engraved ‘Custom built for………. By Kawasaki County’ (the name or our shop). When people would express an interest in the thing we would point to the cap and say that the owners name was to be engraved as soon as the deal was done. We let the boss sell this one as he was the principal behind the entire program and a touring rider himself. 

Sorry I don’t remember the gentleman’s name that purchased it but I do remember he had a 1974 T150 Triumph Trident with probably a 6” extended front fork. I took the bike for a test ride and could not for the life of me understand why someone would take a really well handling bike and to that to it. He and his wife racked up many miles on that yellow monster.

So I had this customer come in looking to buy a good used bike for a trip. I had previously sold him a bike at the Honda shop, but now at the Kawasaki shop he was looking for something to ride from Yakima, Washington to Tennessee. The problem was he had hardly any money. We had a really clean Honda CB450 that he was looking at, and asked if it would make it there and back. I said the bike would make it but I would be a long ride for him and his wife. He came in about a month later after he got back and said the bike was fine, but both he and his wife still had numb butts. That’s when he purchased the now ‘Vintage’ GREEN KZ900 with fairing and bags.

I need to be real careful about passing judgment on fools riding long distances on ‘little bikes’. I once rode a 1968 Yamaha YCS1C (180cc) from Fairbanks, Alaska to Anchorage on the 430 mile old road. Very long trip but I was young and adventuresome.

But that’s just selling bikes. . . 

The Parts Bike

One day I was standing in my garage and thinking “I have enough parts to make a bike”.

I had the slim line Norton featherbed frame with the forks and the Triumph 650cc motor from my dirt tracker and several sets of wheels. So I ordered a gas and oil tank as well as seat and engine mounting plates from Unity in England. This was going to be a nice Triton, not a show quality piece, but nice all the same.

When I received the tank, I was a little disappointed in the quality; as the silver in the gel coat had sagged and it needed to be repainted. I asked my friend Terry to “Just put some paint on it. Nothing fantastic. Just put some color on it to cover up the sags”. He said he just got some new paint he wanted to try and was black OK? It was fine with me.  So a couple of weeks later he says it looks too plain, can we get some decals? So I got some gold stripes and a couple of Triton decals.

When he brings me the bodywork, it’s gorgeous! Now the rest of the bike looks like a junk-yard special. This presented a new dilemma because it just didn’t look right, therefore I had to tear it all apart, powder coat the frame, unlace the wheels, do the hubs, and new shouldered aluminum rims. This was turning into a real project and this thing was going to be a beauty.

Now here comes the bad news. My wife (of 40 years this year) brings a cup of coffee out to the garage one day and asked what I was going to do with this bike – sell it or keep it.  Besides, she knows the garage is full. I told her I was going to sell it and then the discussion about what I was going to do with the money comes up. In a moment of weakness I said “And I suppose you want the money?” Big Mistake, as she informs me she wants a minivan.  So there went good motorcycle money, for a not so cool set of wheels.

The story gets even worse because when I got it all done and took it for a ride, the thing was a fantastic café racer! It was very strong with the race motor and the Norton frame handled great. Not a modern sport bike, but a great ‘60s era ride. At least the new owner was smiling.

The Parts Bike, before it was shipped to it's new owner!

Years later my wife brought out another cup of coffee to the garage, so that will be another story.