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.