race bike count update

Last night I realize that somehow I forgot racing my '75 Silk 700S in 1976 & 1977, a bike I still have. That makes the bike count at least 135.

The Silk in the pits at Bridgehampton in 1976. Photo by Creighton Demarest

Race bike count

Having just updated the number of race tracks on which I've ridden, I tought I'd take a stab at trying to record the number of different machines that I ridden on those track. It gets fuzzy when I've ridden more than one example of the same make and model. How different do thay have to be? I've ridden AJS 7Rs from 1951 through 1062, plus 7R motors in custom chassis. So inevitably this will be a bit of a rough count. Also, the year of the bike might be a bit appoximate. '70 Kawasaki F-5 Bighorn '71 Ossa Pioneer '72 Yamaha TD3 '60s? CZ 125 twin pipe "72 Yamaha R5C '73 Yamaha RD 350 '74 Yamaha TZ250 '76? Norton Cosworth Challenge '62 AJS 7R '75? Ducati 860 GT '71 BSA A75R '59 Matchless G-50 '77? Kawasaki KZ1000' '75 Suzuki RE5 '72 Harley Davidson XRTT 750 '74? Harley Davidson XR909 '72 Seeley G-50 '80 Suzuki GS450 '81 Harley Davidson/Rob North XR909 '68? Harley Davidson-Aermacchi ERTT '80 Yamaha TZ250G '81? Harley Davidson XR1000 '79? Suzuki GS750 '79? Suzuki GS1000 '81? Kawasaki/Moriwaki 600 '79? Ducati 950 '81 Ducati TT2 600 '70 Harley Davidson ERTT '62 Norton Manx '62 Matchless G-50 '83 Ducati TT1 750 '60 Honda CB77 450 '67?Yetman Ducati 250 '71 Rickman Zundapp 125 '71 BSA B-50 DMS '72 MV 350-4 '73 MV 500-4 "67 MV 500-3 '71 BSA B-50 Dr.John '77 Yamaha TT500 DMS '88 Suzuki Katana 600 '86 Husqvarna 40WR '88 Yamaha FZR600 '70 Greeves Griffon 380 '84 Honda XL 350R '54 AJS 7R3 '39 Velocette KTT 471cc '71 Greeves Griffon 380 QUB '80? Honda XR200r '71 BSA Rocket III 867cc '90 Britten V1000 '67 Kawasaki A1R '51 Velocette KTT 350 '67 Triumph Daytona 500 '67 Benellli 350-4 '70 Velocette Thruxton '72 Yamaha TR3 '72 MV 350-4 '73 MV 500-4 '67 Stevens Velocette 500 '72 Seeley 7R '63 BSA Goldstar Cronshaw '53 AJS 7R '69 Ossa 250 '5? Norton ES2 '6? ABSAF Goldstar '6? Ducati 250 Tatlock '6? Ducati 250 Hogben '6? Suzuki 50 Smolenski '73 Aermacchi Giannini '90? Yamaha SRX6 '66 Harley Davidson CRTT '66 Suzuki T-20 '54 AJS E95 Porcupine '77 BMW R75/5 '6? Bultaco Sherpa T '57 Vincent Comet 'Red Flash' '6? Norton Manx Maurice Candy '6? Ducati 250 Jon White '71 BSA B-25 '69? Maico RS125 '6? Yetman Honda CB77 350 '52 AJS 7R3 '71 BSA B-50 Davidson '6? Ossa Stilleto 175 '73 Aermacchi 350 Bungay '6? Ducati 350 Germain '6? BSA Goldstar 350 Roevear '6? Butaeo 175 '74 Yamaha TZ250 Waters '7? Rickman Montesa 250 '7? Honda Yoshima 492 '00 Bimota SB8 '6? Ducati 350 Sinclair '73 Honda CB175 '6? BSA Goldstar Halem '6? Parilla 250 '7? Honda CB750 '63? Harley Davidson CRTT '75? Honda CB175 '6? BSA Goldstar 500 Rosevear '51 Velocette MAC '46 Moto Guzzi Dondolino '68 Beale Benelli 350-4 '8? Yamaha RZ 350 '7? Yamaha DT1 '7? Honda 550 '7? Honda XL/CB 250 '51 Triumph 500 'Bid D' '73 Honda CB175 Bateman '0? Ducati 748R '0? Ducati 749 '73 Yamaha TR3 '77 Yamaha TZ350 D '6? Ducati 350 Drake '6? Yamaha CT1 Latimer '6? Ducati 350 McCaw '7? Yamaha DS7 '7? Triumph 500 Morris '6? Harley Davidson 350 Hollingsworth '67 Harley Davidson 250 Hollingsworth '6? BSA A50 R '8? Ducati TT1 840 '60 Surtees Spl. 7R '6? Arter Matchless G-50 '67 MV 350-3 '5? Vincent Grey Flash '5? Vincent Comet '7? MV 500-4 Kay '50 Moto Guzzi Falcone Spl. '51 AJS 7R '62? AJS 7R Kirby '6? Alan Taylor Spl. Lyster/Velo '6? McIntyre AJS So, I figure I've ridden at least 134 different bikes on race tracks, most probably more and I've race many different AJS 7R & Matchless G-50 and Honda 160/175 and probably haven't kept them all straight.

Track Count update 3.0

In 2024 I added two new tracks to my track count. 25-26 May, 2024, I raced at Nelson Ledges near Garrettsville, Ohio. It's quite remarkable that I never raced there before in the 52 years I had been racing. I was certainly well aware of it, as it was quite legendary for the 24 hour M/C race that was held there for many years. And, it was certainly no further away than many other tracks that I raced at regularly. The track became quite derilic but a few years ago, new owner repaved the track and uprated the facilities. This was the first time AHRMA raced there and I very much enjoyed it. Track 121. Then on 7-8 Sept.,2024, I raced at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pa., also know as Pittrace. I had raced at this location several times when it was known as BeaveRun, but in 2011 the track changed hands and by 2015 the track was extended. I enjoyed the old BeaveRun, but the bit that was added is fabulous and very challenging. Track 122.

Track count update 2.0

In June, 2016 I posted all the tracks that I had ridden at with the date that I had first ridden there. The total was 115. Since then I've ridden at a couple more, so here's the updated list: Bridgehampton, N.Y., '72 Loudon, N.H. Bryar, '72 Noduol (Bryar 'backwards') '72,'73? NHIS, '90 Summit Point, W. Va., '72 Pocono, Pa., '72, '73? Virginia International Raceway Full circuit, '72, '73? North circuit, '01 South circuit, '09 West Palm Beach, '73 Daytona 3.81 mi.,'73 1.6 mi. Infield, '81 1.74 mi. Infield,'85 1.76 mi. Infield, '87 3.56 mi.,'90 (95?) 2.85 mi.,'02 3.51 mi., '09 Dade City, Fl., '73 Dallas, Tx., '73 Charlotte, N.C., '73 Gainesville, Fl., '74 Road Atlanta, Ga., 2.54 mi., '74 With modified 'gravity cavity, '98 With turn #3 chicane, '03 With modified turn #12, '09 Lakeland, Fl., '75 Thompson, Ct. 'Version 3', '76 1.7 mi., '16 Ontario Motor Speedway, '79 Sears Point original, '79 Current, '13 Road America, Wl. Original, '80 Current, '08? Lime Rock Park, Ct., '80 Talladega Super Speedway, Al.,'81 Laguna Seca, Ca. Original, '82 GP., '97 Shannonville, Ont., Canada Nelson, '82 Pro, '99? Roebling Road, Ga., '83 Mid-Ohio, '83 Blackhawk Farms, Illinois, '86 Watkins Glen, N.Y., '86. Mosport, Ontario, Canada, '88 Heartland Park, Topeka, Ks.,'89 original, '89 current, 2021 Talladega Grand Prix, Al. Original, '91 Current, '13 Grattan, Mi., '91 Rockingham, N.C., '92 Las Vegas, Nv., '93 Seattle Intl. Raceway, Kent, WA., '93 Putnam Park, In., '94 Gateway Park, E. St.Louis, Il., '94 Willow Springs, Ca., "96 Atlantic M/S Park, Shubenacadie, N.S., Can., '96 Deland, Fl., '97 Stafford Springs, Ct., '97 Gunstock, Belnap, N.H., '99 Carolina M/S Park, S.C., '99 Cayuga, Ont., Canada, '01 Frontierland, Loudon, N.H., '01 North Florida M/S Park, '02 BeaveRun, Pa., '03 Barber M/S Pk., '03 Sandia, N.M., '04 No Problem Raceway, La., '04 Autodromo St. Eustache, Quebec, Can., '04 Thunderhill, Ca., '04 Gingerman, Mi. Original, '05 Current, '16 Pueblo, Co., '05 Miller M/S Pk., Ut., '06 Portland International Raceway, Or., '10 Motorsport Ranch, Tx., '11 NOLA, La., '13 The Ridge, WA., '13 NJMP, N. J. Thunderbolt, '13 Lightning, '14 Calabogie, Ont., Canada '16 Hallet, Ok., '18 You'll notice that the above is only circuits in North America, so now I'll add public road races in North America: Steamboat Springs, Co.,'84 La Carrerra, Baja, Mx., '86 Delmar, Ca., '96 Maybe Deland, Gunstock, & Frontierland should be in this category. Now we go to overseas circuits Caldwell Park, Eng. Club, '75 Full, '86 Darley Moor, Eng.,'75 Donnington Park, Eng., National, '81 GP, '86 Brands Hatch, Eng., G.P., '82 Indy, '89 Oulton Park, Eng., '81 Mallory Park, Eng. Original, '82 With 'bus stop', '89 Adelaide International Raceway, S.A., Aus., '85 Mallala M/S Park, S.A., Aus., '85 Winton, Vic., Aus., '85 Circuit Paul Ricard, Fr., '86 Autodromo Riccardo Paletti, It., '86 Snetterton, Eng., '87 Assen, Nl., Longer, '87 Shorter, '99 Misano, It., '87 Knockhill, Scotland, '87 Pukekoe, N.Z., '90 Ruapuna, N.Z., '90 Autrodromo de Linas-Montlhery, Fr., '96 Nurburgring, Ger., '96 Eastern Creek, N.S.W., Aus., '98 Artic Circle Raceway, Norway, '98 Tsukuba, Jpn., '02 Jurby, I.O.M., '13 Phillip Island, Vic., Aus., '14 Finally, the overseas public road courses: Mountain course, I.O.M., '82 Villa Real, Portugal, '84 Dundrod, N.I., '84 Brno, Czechoslovakia, '84 Oliver's Mount, Eng., '95 Total:118 I plan to race at High Plains Raceway, Deer Trail, Co. this coming weekend and, assuming that happens, will make 119 race tracks I've ridden on. 2-4 June, 2023 I rode at my 120th race track: Motorsports Park Hastings in Hastings, Nebraska. Posted by Dave Roper at 8:47 PM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest 4 comments: AnonymousMay 7, 2022 at 4:42 PM Impressive!! ReplyDelete Dave RoperMay 7, 2022 at 4:52 PM And I did indeed race at High Plains Raceway 23-24 April, 2022 making 119 different race races I've ridden on. ReplyDelete

Track Count update

In June, 2016 I posted all the tracks that I had ridden at with the date that I had first ridden there. The total was 115. Since then I've ridden at a couple more, so here's the updated list: Bridgehampton, N.Y., '72 Loudon, N.H. Bryar, '72 Noduol (Bryar 'backwards') '72,'73? NHIS, '90 Summit Point, W. Va., '72 Pocono, Pa., '72, '73? Virginia International Raceway Full circuit, '72, '73? North circuit, '01 South circuit, '09 West Palm Beach, '73 Daytona 3.81 mi.,'73 1.6 mi. Infield, '81 1.74 mi. Infield,'85 1.76 mi. Infield, '87 3.56 mi.,'90 (95?) 2.85 mi.,'02 3.51 mi., '09 Dade City, Fl., '73 Dallas, Tx., '73 Charlotte, N.C., '73 Gainesville, Fl., '74 Road Atlanta, Ga., 2.54 mi., '74 With modified 'gravity cavity, '98 With turn #3 chicane, '03 With modified turn #12, '09 Lakeland, Fl., '75 Thompson, Ct. 'Version 3', '76 1.7 mi., '16 Ontario Motor Speedway, '79 Sears Point original, '79 Current, '13 Road America, Wl. Original, '80 Current, '08? Lime Rock Park, Ct., '80 Talladega Super Speedway, Al.,'81 Laguna Seca, Ca. Original, '82 GP., '97 Shannonville, Ont., Canada Nelson, '82 Pro, '99? Roebling Road, Ga., '83 Mid-Ohio, '83 Blackhawk Farms, Illinois, '86 Watkins Glen, N.Y., '86. Mosport, Ontario, Canada, '88 Heartland Park, Topeka, Ks.,'89 original, '89 current, 2021 Talladega Grand Prix, Al. Original, '91 Current, '13 Grattan, Mi., '91 Rockingham, N.C., '92 Las Vegas, Nv., '93 Seattle Intl. Raceway, Kent, WA., '93 Putnam Park, In., '94 Gateway Park, E. St.Louis, Il., '94 Willow Springs, Ca., "96 Atlantic M/S Park, Shubenacadie, N.S., Can., '96 Deland, Fl., '97 Stafford Springs, Ct., '97 Gunstock, Belnap, N.H., '99 Carolina M/S Park, S.C., '99 Cayuga, Ont., Canada, '01 Frontierland, Loudon, N.H., '01 North Florida M/S Park, '02 BeaveRun, Pa., '03 Barber M/S Pk., '03 Sandia, N.M., '04 No Problem Raceway, La., '04 Autodromo St. Eustache, Quebec, Can., '04 Thunderhill, Ca., '04 Gingerman, Mi. Original, '05 Current, '16 Pueblo, Co., '05 Miller M/S Pk., Ut., '06 Portland International Raceway, Or., '10 Motorsport Ranch, Tx., '11 NOLA, La., '13 The Ridge, WA., '13 NJMP, N. J. Thunderbolt, '13 Lightning, '14 Calabogie, Ont., Canada '16 Hallet, Ok., '18 You'll notice that the above is only circuits in North America, so now I'll add public road races in North America: Steamboat Springs, Co.,'84 La Carrerra, Baja, Mx., '86 Delmar, Ca., '96 Maybe Deland, Gunstock, & Frontierland should be in this category. Now we go to overseas circuits Caldwell Park, Eng. Club, '75 Full, '86 Darley Moor, Eng.,'75 Donnington Park, Eng., National, '81 GP, '86 Brands Hatch, Eng., G.P., '82 Indy, '89 Oulton Park, Eng., '81 Mallory Park, Eng. Original, '82 With 'bus stop', '89 Adelaide International Raceway, S.A., Aus., '85 Mallala M/S Park, S.A., Aus., '85 Winton, Vic., Aus., '85 Circuit Paul Ricard, Fr., '86 Autodromo Riccardo Paletti, It., '86 Snetterton, Eng., '87 Assen, Nl., Longer, '87 Shorter, '99 Misano, It., '87 Knockhill, Scotland, '87 Pukekoe, N.Z., '90 Ruapuna, N.Z., '90 Autrodromo de Linas-Montlhery, Fr., '96 Nurburgring, Ger., '96 Eastern Creek, N.S.W., Aus., '98 Artic Circle Raceway, Norway, '98 Tsukuba, Jpn., '02 Jurby, I.O.M., '13 Phillip Island, Vic., Aus., '14 Finally, the overseas public road courses: Mountain course, I.O.M., '82 Villa Real, Portugal, '84 Dundrod, N.I., '84 Brno, Czechoslovakia, '84 Oliver's Mount, Eng., '95 Total:118 I plan to race at High Plains Raceway, Deer Trail, Co. this coming weekend and, assuming that happens, will make 119 race tracks I've ridden on.

Yvon Duhamel

We've lost three great motorcycle racers in the last nine months that I've had the pleasure and good fortune to know: Peter Williams last December; Dick Mann in April; and Yvon Duhamel a week ago. Here are some memories of Yvon: In the early 70's, probably when I was a lowly novice ’73 or ’74, I was walking through the paddock at Bryar M/S Pk during the Loudon National.  I saw Yvon talking into the open trunk of his Caddie (in French, of course).  This seemed curious, so I hung out a bit, just watching.  After a minute or so, he pulled out a turtle that had YD and #17 stickers on its shell. Yvon made brum, brum noises and sort of launched the turtle like he was launching a wind up toy, and the turtle slowly lumbered around.  It may have been at Road Atlanta many years later (probably 1987), when AHRMA had a support race at the AMA National, that I first talked to Yvon.  He was there supporting Miguel who, if I remember correctly, was racing an Aprilla in the Lightweight 250 class.  I saw Yvon looking over some of the AHRMA vintage bikes.  I asked him if he had any interest in racing a vintage bike and he was pretty non-committal.  I dragged him around to check out the Team Obsolete G-50 Matchless, and he lit up and was a lot more receptive to the idea.  I told him of witnessing the scene of him and the turtle at Loudon and he was amazed that anyone knew of it.  He told me that he had rescued the turtle when he saw it trying to cross the race track and he adopted it as a mascot.  Apparently, it didn't survive it's first winter in Montreal. I remember seeing Yvon race an H2R(?) at Daytona in 1976 after he had injured his knee in Jan. racing snow mobiles. Near then end of the 200, the drive chain came off the rear sprocket and he pulled off very close to where I was spectating at the ‘dog leg’. He carefully got off the bike and clearly had to hold on to the bike not just to keep it upright, but to keep himself upright, as his leg wasn’t strong. He worked his way back to the rear sprocket, lifted the chain on it, and inched the bike backward to feed the chain over the sprocket. By this time, the race had ended and Ron Pierce stopped to offer Yvon a ride back. Yvon waved him off and, with great difficulty, bump started the bike and rode it back. Yvon was one of the most fun loving people I have known.  He was alway joking around--he never let up.  In ’91 or ’92 at little Talladega, when it was the warmup race for AHRMA Daytona, he was to race the Team Obsolete BSA triple.  There was a problem with the bike in practice and it couldn't race, so we put him on a AJS 7R (350) in the 500 Premiere race.  I was racing T/O's best G-50 (500) in the race and Yvon beat me, naturally.  I passed him on the cool off lap and stuck out my right leg to indicate that I was entering the pits.  Yvon pulled up along side me and grabbed my ankle and lifted it up over my head as we were rolling in 'pit in'. My, did he love to race.  He raced the BSA triple at Cadwell Park 1998 in one of T/O's Transatlantic Match races.  He was having a great scrap with Malcolme Tunstall, who was on his Ducati.  On the last lap, Yvon was ahead with Malcolme right on his heals as they crested 'the Mountain'.  Then, on the following right, Yvon ran off the track and Malcolme followed him.  They both recovered and went out of sight towards Barn Corner and we were all focused on who would be ahead when they came back into view at the finish line.  It was Malcolme with Yvon a short way back.  When they got back to the pits, we learned why Yvon had ridden off the track: his right clip-on had broken off.  But did Yvon retire?  Hell no.  He stuffed the front brake lever down in the fairing with the twist grip on the other side so he'd have something to twist against and finished the race (and cool off lap) like that. Such a warm, friendly, funny guy and a fierce competitor.  My life was certainly enriched knowing him.

Heartland Park

Towards the end of May, I drove out to Heartland Park in Topeka, Ks., for the AHRMA race there. I had raced there twice before, in 1990 and 1993, but I had little memory of the track plus it had changed somewhat since then. The road course used to incorporate the drag strip and the last corner came out over the launch area, which was trecherous in the wet. Now, the front straight runs parallel to the drag strip but doesn't use any of it. It's a good circuit, 2.5 miles long, very smooth, with a fair amount of elevation change and a good mix of fast and slow. I brought my CRTT and ERTT, though the ERTT was just for back up as Karl Engellenner brought his and my sister bikes from Roseville, Ca., picking up Walt Fulton on the way in Montrose, Co. I got there Thursday afternoon and was able to ride a bicycle around a couple of laps. I had been told by a couple of riders who raced there in 2019 that the gearing should be like Barber or a little taller like Carolina M/S Pk., but on the bicycle, it sure seemed much faster than that. As it turned out, my 350 Sprint had the gearing on it that we used to win 3 of the 4 races I was in at Laguna Seca last year and that proved ideal at Heartland. I signed up for half day practice on Friday and set about relearning the circuit. In the first practice on the 250, my plug lead came off the spark plug and cut my session short. But, the motor wasn't running right and it didn't want to rev over 8,000 rpm, where it should do 10,000. Over the weekend I richened the jetting and reduced the ignition advance a bit, but it made little difference. I finished a distant 2nd in the 250GP both days to John Scales who had a fresh Hall brothers built motor in his 175 Honda twin.

My '67 CRTT in the garage. Karl had the 350 running great and I don't think we changed anything on it all weekend except adjust the front brake. From the practice lap times, I decided that I could at least annoy the front runners in the 500 Premiere class, so I post entered that race, which ran before the 350GP. I fairly quickly worked my way up to 4th behind Wes Orloff, Andrew Mauk (both on Honda twins) and Tim Joyce making his debut on a Dutch built 500 BMW boxer in a custom chassis. On the last lap, Wes got into the chicane too hot and went straight onto the sopping wet grass with sheets of water flying from the heavy rain on Thurs. I was sure that he was going to go down, but he kept it upright and came back on the track pushing Andrew wide and allowing Tim to get by. Wes got well off line and seemed to wait to get any mud off his tires before gassing it up, and I was able to get by too, finishing 3rd. My final race Sat., was the 350GP. While waiting at pit out to start the warm-up lap, the motor stalled and there was a roller started there which got the the bike running again and we were almost immediately let out on the track. As I was climbing the hill that leads into turn#1 the motor died and decending the other side I wonder if the fuel tap was off. I coasted straight on the extention of the drag strip rather then blend right into turn #1 as I fumbled around trying to find and turn on the fuel tap. Just as I was coming to a stop the motor caught and I got it running. Now I had to enter the track at the apex of turn #3. Most of the field had already gone through so I didn't have to wait long to find a safe gap to re-enter the track. I was oh so close to not starting the race. 350GP was gridded behind Vintage Superbike Lightweight and I followed Mat Joy on his VSL Suzuki twin the first lap. I got by Mat in turn #1 starting the 2nd lap and led over all to the finish. Mat had a slightly faster fastest lap on the last lap but it was enough to make up the gap I had built. My fastest was more than half a second faster than I had gone in the 500 Premiere race.

My 350 Sprint in the foreground with Karl Engellenner's, which Walt Fulton rides, behind. In Sunday's 500 Premiere race, I never got by Tony Read on the B-50 BSA and, while Wes Orloff over shot the chicane again on the last lap when distracted by Andy Findling crashing in front of him, he got back on the track before Tony or I could get by, again baulking Andrew and allowing Tim to get through. I the 350GP, I again got in the lead, but I could hear a bike right behind me, which I assumed was Alex McLean. On the 4th lap, my bike jumped out of 5th gear and I shifted it back in. On the penultimate lap, exiting the chicane the bike went 'bang' and I lost all drive and I couldn't shift it. I thought something in the drive train broke and I coasted into te pits. Karl found on subsequent examination that it was a selector problem, not the actual drive train. I was scored 4th as Tim Joyce retired before me and we had several DNS, and my consolation was that I had my fastest lap of the weekend in this race.

The garage we shared with Tom Pillsbury (XS 650 Yamaha) and Gary Roper ('51 Vellocette MAC)

Hiroshi Murata's TA 125 Yamaha

Keith Martin's freshly restored Vincent Black Shadow