Late summer 2019 events

I was lax about recording my activities in the late summer, but have caught up during the Covid-19 lockdown.  The following may seem too wordy for many as I didn't take any photos, but you can find some photos at: http://www.teamobsolete.com/snapshots and I dug up some photos on the internet or that people sent me.
Aug. was spent preparing for the Classic TT.  For the eight year in a row, Team Obsolete had been invited to participate in the Lap of Honour.  This year for the first time we brought two bikes: the Surtees 7R for me to ride and the MV Electronica 350 four cylinder for Giacomo Agostini to ride.
The Surtees 7R has a chassis designed by John Surtees with a frame designed by him and fabricated by Ken Sprayson of Reynolds Tubing, with Norton forks and rear wheel, and a 230mm Oldani front brake.  Surtees built the bike around 1960 for British short circuit racing, but at the time was contracted to MV and the Count wouldn't let him race it.  Surtees sold it to Rex Butcher who then sold it to Tom Arter for Mike Duff to ride and, after Duff was hired by Yamaha, Peter Williams rode it.  I had ridden the bike a few times in 2017 and 2018, and consider it a sweetheart with exceptional handling.
The MV that Ago was to parade was the last four stroke to win a World Championship 350 GP (at Assen in 1976).  It was dubbed the "Electronica" because the ignition was by Krober electronics,  fitted after the original Mercury magneto couldn't keep up with the high revs the motor reached after years of development.  It has to be considered the ultimate development of an MV race bike with a titanium frame, plasma sprayed aluminum front brake rotors, dampening adjustable Ceriani forks and a very narrow valve angle cyl. head.
On the Saturday, the first day of racing, Seth Rosko and I tried to get in a lap before the roads closed for the races.  It became clear that we weren't going to make a whole lap before the roads closed, but we got by Kirkmichael and I figured we could take a left off the course and drive the back roads up to and around Ramsey, then take the coast road back to Douglas.  But, I missed the last chance to turn left before the marshals stopped us and made us turn to a loop road on the inside of the coarse at Churchtown.  It looked we were going to be stuck there until both races and a following practice were over at maybe 7pm.  We had no food or water with us, but one of the marshals recognized me and gave us some water.  But, we did have an Ordinance Survey topographic map.  I knew a cafe that I had eaten at some years before that wasn't too far, so we headed off cross country, up forestry roads, through fields, over barb wire fences, and forded a stream and finally got to the cafe.  But, it was closed because the only access to it is off the TT course, which was closed.  Duh.  So we pushed on further and crossed the pedestrian bridge near Schoolhouse Corner and got into Ramsey.  We got something to eat and went to Connor Cummings coffee bar, Conrod's, to use the Wi-Fi, and had a brief chat with Connor.
T/O major domo, Rob Iannucci called, crying that he really needed us back at the paddock and why didn't we just take a cab from Ramsey.  That probably would have cost 50 or 75 Pounds.  Then I though of the Electric Railway, so we walked to the station and only had to wait maybe 20 minutes to catch the train.  It was a beautiful day and the views are fantastic.  The railway dates from 1893 and the rolling stock is all Victorian or Edwardian.  The train makes one scheduled stop in Laxey, but one can request a stop at many places on the trip.  The terminus in Douglas is at the north end of the Prom not far from the Regency Hotel where we were staying.  Predictably, when we got back to the hotel, we found that we weren't needed.  Ago, his son, and friend, Fausto Zanetti, had arrived and we all had dinner in the hotel.  Ago wanted to do a lap in the rental car and Seth and I had to retrieve the van.  So, we all piled in with Ago driving and his son in shotgun, Fausto, Seth, and me in the back.  Ago gave a running commentary but, unfortunately, it was in Italian, so Seth and I didn't get the nuances, but there were lots of hand gestures and going over to the wrong side of the road to show the racing line.  They dropped us off at the van, about half way around the TT course,  and carried on.
What started in the morning looking like a disastrous day turned out to be a wonderful day.
A wonderful day for us, until we learned that the 500 Classic race had be stopped because Chris Swallow had died in a crash at Ballaugh Bridge.  The son of Bill Swallow, who was also in the race, he was  a very popular, likable, talented rider.  He had come over to Team Obsolete marquee in the paddock to check out the bikes a couple of days earlier.  We talked about the geometry of the girder forks on the Velo special that he was riding in the Junior Classic.  He told me that he was looking at a photo of his dad on the podium when he had won the Senior Classic Manx in 1989.  He noticed on the leaderboard in the backround of the photo that #20 had been fastest on the first two laps and asked his father who that was, and Bill told him that it was me.  That was the year that I crashed at the Bungalow when I had almost a minute lead on the third of four laps when the frame of the G-50 broke.  Chris' death cast a pall over the event, but it went on as it always does.
Sunday was the Jurby Festival with lapping of classic bikes around the circuit on the disused WII airfield in the north of the Island.  It's always a great time to shake down the bikes before the parade around the Mountain Circuit the next day.  Both bikes worked fine and I don't remember making any adjustments.

riding the Surtees 7R at the Jurby Festival.  Seth Rosko? photo

It was a pleasure spending some time with Ago.  I was really impressed with his patience and graciousness with the non-stop stream of well wishers, autograph and photo seekers.  He's still a superstar.  And, he's still very meticulous and particular about the bike he's going to ride.  In getting ready for the Lap of Honour, Ago went over the MV 350-4.  He always had the grips on the clip-ons and the footrest taped with bicycle friction tape.  The tape on the twist grip was getting tatty and he personally retaped it.   Then he fussed at some length with the fuel level in the tank.  This was just a parade lap, but it was like he went right back into race mode checking every detail and he didn't want excessive fuel in the tank.

It looks like the Bungalow.  Photo by Tracy's Photos

I rode the Surtees 7R and it was a delight to ride around the Mountain Circuit and I had no problems on a fine day, though I did hack up Parliament Square a bit.  A really sweet bike.

Basking in the limelight of two of the greatest: Giacomo Agostini and John McGuinness.  photo by TT USA

I came back to the States a day before the rest of the crew so I could load up my 1946 Moto Guzzi Dondolino and the Team Obsolete MV 350 three cylinder to take to the VRRA's Vintage Celebration at Mosport(CTMP).  We had learned some months before that our good friend Doug MacRae had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery in Feb. to remove the bulk of it.  But, it was considered incurable.  Doug is a brilliant photographer and painter and had done a  lot of photography for Team Obsolete.  (https://www.douglasmacrae.com/).  Rob Iannucci decided he wanted to offer Doug a ride on an exotic and the T/O 350 MV three cylinder was the one closest to ready.  Doug lost some peripheral in one eye with the surgery and Ontario took his driver's license away.  He didn't think he'd have any trouble doing some parade laps on his own, but didn't want to be on the track with other racers.  So, it was decided that I would race the bike and Doug would parade it.  I also brought my Dondolino to race in the Pre-50 class.  Our friend Carlos Escudero of Solo Moto (http://www.solomoto.org/index.html), volunteered to come along and wrench.  I loaded the Dondolino, tools and spares at my house and drove to Brooklyn and loaded the MV, then drove to Greenwich and spent the night with Carlos and his wife.  We left from Greenwich in the morning and arrived at Mosport in the afternoon and got registered and got the bikes through tech.  Saturday, both bikes seemed to go well in practice, but when Doug did his parade laps, he reported that the MV was starting to break up.  We found that the battery was low (the bike uses a total loss points ignition) and assumed that was the problem.
My first race was the Pre 50 heat on the Dondllino and we were gridded behind P2 Heavy weight, Pre 65 500 and Pre 65 350, and P1 200.  I finished 1st in Pre 50, beating the Rudges and Velo, and 5th overall.
Next up was the P2 Lightweight heat.  It quickly became apparent the the low battery wasn't the only problem as one cylinder was kicking in and out and I pulled off after a lap thinking it might be a fouled plug that would clear.  Carlos and I went through the ignition and found a few niggling problems which we corrected and, when we fired up the bike, it sounded good.
In Sunday's one round of practice the MV ran properly again.  During lunch, the sky turned threatening and by the time the Pre 65 500, Pre 65 350, P1 200 and Pre 50 race started it was raining lightly.  I found the turn #5/5A area quite slippery while the Turn #8, 9, 10 area had good traction and, sure enough, someone fell in front of me in #5A, vindicating my tip-toeing through there.  So again I was 1st in class, this time 3rd O.A.

Sunday's Pre 50 final in the rain with Cris Ness #124 on a Velo . Photo by Richard Coburn

By the time the P2 LW race was on, it was raining steadily.  I debated starting at all, but I thought that people would love to hear the MV-3, so I did race, but took it very cautiously as I definitely didn't want to drop the bike.  Again, someone fell in front of me turn 5A and the bike started jumping out of 4th gear and I started shifting from 3rd to 5th in the 7 speed gearbox and I ended up 4th, which was a bit disappointing, but kept it upright.
Some photos here: file:///Users/davidroper/Downloads/VRRA-BaffledMuffler-Vol3-19np%20(1).pdf

A couple of weeks after Mosport was the debut of film Daniel Lovering had done on me, "Motorcycle Man"at the Newberryport Documentary Film Festival.  I rode brother Doug's '77 Moto Guzzi LeMans to my friend Bill Burke's house in Dorchester, Ma.  The next day, we drove to Newberryport and saw the video with two other videos involving wheels, one bicycle racing at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and the other a cross country trip in an old VW bus.  The theater was standing room only and the makers and/or subjects of the videos had a brief Q & A after.  Daniel arranged a lunch with a bunch of friends.  Later Daniel learned that 'Motorcycle Man' was awarded Best Short Documentary by the festival organizers.
https://www.nbptdocufest.org/post/the-2019-festival-the-winners-are

The following weekend was the USCRA's Fall Giro, this time based in Oneonta, N.Y.  I rode my '68 TC 200 Suzuki and had a great time.  Photo by Matt Rice
There was an excellent route, with a fair amount of dirt roads.  Sat. morning started out quite foggy, which was challenging, but the day turned very nice and sunny.  We had a check point at Bennett Motors, and Honda/Kawasaki dealership run by Ray Bennett in Fly Creek, N.Y., a vintage enthusiast.  Ray has an extensive collection of vintage bikes on display at the shop.  Among them was a Bridgestone RS 200 built by my late brother Doug, which I had no idea was there.  It was a bitter sweet moment as this was the first Giro I've done without him since he started doing them.
Here's a video that gives the flavor of the event.  My bike @ .40 (seconds)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXY-Y3mSUwg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1n_pFwLDRiyzn1AmzekgbdYuqegBxcsspNm42GYvPBgXSkBxwJ_qXN6IA
Sunday evening, I drove to Cortland and spent the night and the next morning went to my friend Steve Keast's house in Ithaca where I picked up a Horex Imperator frame and swing arm to go with the Zundapp Citation motor that I acquired incomplete a couple of years before and for which I had been gathering parts.

The final race of the 2019 season was the Barber Vintage Festival.  I took my H-D 350 Sprint and my 1946 Moto Guzzi Dondolino.  But, Gary Roper brought my ex-Mike Bungay 350 Sprint that lives in California with Karl Engellenner, who has developed it into superb race bike.  Gary also brought Karl's sister bike for Walt Fulton to race as well as his own Velocette MAC and Indian Sport Scout.  Racers are required to practice Thurs. and/or Fri., as there is no practice on the race days of Sat. and Sun.  I chose to practice Thurs.  Karl had put new fuel tanks on both bikes, with new fuel taps.  I got out three times on this bike and, while we may have change the gearing once, the bike was working great.  I went out once on the Dondolino and it seemed good.  But, Dave Tompkins asked me if I like to take his Vincent Grey Flash out for a practice, and I definitely did.  The bike was excellent and my quickest lap on it was more than 14 seconds faster than on the Dondolino.  Dave decided that he had to go home to look after his sick dog.  I told him that I'd be happy to race his bike in place of my Guzzi and, after thinking about it a while, he agreed.

'Motorcycle Man' film maker Daniel Lovering and I pose with my 350 Sprint while Karl and Walt work on the sister bike.  That's Gary Roper's Velo MAC on the right.  Photo by Talbot Lovering

It was brutally hot and I was starting to get a little woozy, but I went out in the last round of practice on my ERTT that I had brought with me.  My best lap was just over one second slower than on Bungay/Engellenner Sprint.  Walt had had considerable problems with the sister bike with it cutting out on him more than once.
Friday, I did a walk-about, going to the swap meet, seeing Chuck Hunneycutt, my old sparing partner and now head restorer at the museum, and going to the AMCA display.  Walt did more practice, having never ridden the track before, and Karl decided that the cutting out problem was down to fuel flow.
Saturday, my first race was the 3rd of the day, the 350GP, with 350 Sportsman and Novice Production Heavyweight gridded behind us.  Jack Parker got the jump at the start on his DT1 Yamaha, but I led out of turn#1.  However, we had a red flag on the first lap and we had to do a restart, now for 5 laps instead of 6.  This time I led into turn#1 and was never headed, though early on I thought I saw a wheel in on me going into turn #5, and I presumed that was Alex McLean.  Dean de St. Croix was riding Ken Rosevear's 350 BSA Goldstar Geoff Monty Special replica, a bike that I had race a couple of times and I knew that it and Dean were very fast.  But, Dean had no points in AHRMA and therefore was gridded well back and had to wade through a lot of traffic.  Apparently, he passed Alex on the last lap and he turned the fastest lap of the race (0.057 sec. faster than my best) and finished 2.8 seconds behind me and 0.001 second ahead of Alex.  My bike had a hiccup between turns #10 & 11 on the last lap, which I didn't pay much attention to.  That turned out to be a mistake.  Walt again had his motor cutting out repeatedly as the race progressed and he ended up 5th.
The Class C Hand and Foot shift classes were gridded behind the 200GP class in the second wave.  I was never headed (in Class C) in this race either.  Alex McLean had trouble with his Norton and dropped out on the 4th of 6 laps,  his best lap being 1.4 seconds slower than my best.  In fact, Gary Roper was the only other Footshift finisher on his 350 Velocette MAC.  Dave Bourbeau was the first Handshift finisher, 45 seconds behind.  Tompkins Vincent is a superb machine with excellent power, handling and brakes.  Scott Dell on his Vincent was another of the non-finishers, his bike having seized.  Scott requisitioned the Tompkins Vincent for Sunday and I would ride my Dondolino.

Starting Saturday's Class C race on Dave Tompkins Vincent Grey Flash.  #81 Ralph Wessel, #75a Gary Roper, #35 Doc Batsleer.  Photo by Darleen Dremhel

Sat. night Karl thought of a possible cure for the apparent fuel starvation that Walt was experiencing.  He cut the rubber gasket in the fuel tap so that both the main and reserve fed simultaneously.  Karl asked me if I wanted him to do that on my bike, but I didn't think I had that problem, so decided not to change anything without being able to test it before the race.

Saturday night there was a showing of the Motorcycle Man video on a portable screen in the swap meet area and I got to hang out with Dave Aldana as they got set up.

Aldana mugs with me and Maurice Turgeau, organizer of the showing.  Photo by Talbot Lovering

Alex McLean didn't start Sunday's 350GP, perhaps because he had already cinched the 350GP Championship and with it the Vintage Cup, and four others who raced Sat., didn't start Sun.  So, Dean had 12 people to pass and opposed to the 17 on Sat.  I led from the start, but on the 6th of 8 laps, my motor cut out momentarily on the exit from the chicane, turn #10.  The next lap, it cut out in the same place, but for longer.  On the last lap, Dean passed me in Turn #5 and my motor cut out for what seemed like for ever on the exit to the chicane, and I finished 4.5 seconds behind him.  My fastest lap was 0.3 seconds faster than Sat. (clearly before the motor started cutting out), but Dean's fastest lap was 1.6 seconds faster that he had gone Sat.  So, I don't know if I would have held him off if I hadn't suffered the fuel starvation.  And, we don't know if Karl's modification on the fuel tap would have made a difference because the gearbox on Walt's bike broke early on.
In Sunday's 200GP and Class C race, I started a bit tentatively on my Dondolino having only done a few laps on it three days before, and Dave Bourbeau shot into the lead on his H-D.  Then, Ralph Wessel came by on his Indian.  Alex McLean made a slow start, as he often does.  I had started to get in the groove when he came by and he dragged me along and we both reeled in Ralph.  We then both started closing on Dave, but Alex got by him, beating him by less than 1/4 sec.,  and I didn't, finishing just over 2 sec. behind Dave, 2nd Footshift, but 3rd Class C overall.  My best lap was 4.28 seconds slower than my best on Dave Tompkins Vincent the day before, nothing like the  14 seconds slower in Thurs. practice.
For the 2019 season, I did eight events at eight different venues, entering 32 races and starting 30 of them on six different bikes owned by three different people.  I had 18 class wins, six 2nd, four 3rds, one fourth and one DNF.  I didn't crash once, which is rare for me.  A good year.

AHRMA Roebling Road 2019

The 2019 vintage road racing season began as is traditional with the first AHRMA round at Roebling Road Raceway in Bloomingdale, Ga., near Savannah.  I arrived Fri., 22 Feb., set up my pit and heat cycled the motor on my ERTT H-D Sprint, but didn't practice.

Darleen Drehmel photo

 I did a lot of deferred maintenance over the winter.  Bill Himmelsbach went through the motor and replaced the rings and wrist pin, got the cylinder liner Nikasil plated, put in a bigger exhaust valve for better seat contact, trued the crank and replaced the gearbox mainshaft which had started to fret.  I sent the brakes to Vintage Brakes and had the shoes relined (which had last been done in 1983).  I replaced the fork seals and swing arm bushings, and had the rear shocks rebuilt.  When I greased the swing arm after replacing the bushings, I discovered a crack and welded it up.  And, my friend Steve D'Angelo repaired and painted the fairing.
Saturday was a bit cooler than Friday's mid 80's, but still very nice, probably mid 70's.  I spent the first practice breaking in the fresh rings and bore, and the new brake linings, and picked up the pace in the 2nd practice and the bike seemed to run very well.  The 350GP was the 2nd race of the day and we were gridded in the 1st wave with 350 Sportsman being the 2nd wave.  Alex McLean got the jump at the start on his Drixton Aemacchi, but then missed the 1st to 2nd shift and I got ahead and led into turn #1 and stayed in 1st into the 7th lap, though I could hear a bike close behind.

Leading the field exiting turn#4.  #122 Alex McLean, #950 Don Hollingsworth, #2 Jonathan Hollingsworth.  Etech Photo

 Alex came around me exiting turn #4 on the 7th lap and I followed him onto the front straight and drafted by him  fairly easily after taking the white flag starting the last lap.  I was a bit surprised how easily I motored by him, as I think of his bike as very fast, and wonder if he had rolled off a bit in some kind of last lap strategy.  But, we came upon some backmarkers approaching turn #5 and I was able to get by, but they may have balked Alex and I won the race by 0.68 seconds.  We talked after the race and Alex said that he hadn't rolled off at all and in fact had tried to draft by me in earlier laps but, when he pulled out of the draft, hadn't been able to pass.

At Saturday's award ceremony.  Ron Melton photo

I bumped up to 500 Premiere which was gridded behind Formula 500 and 500GP in the 2nd wave with Sound of Thunder 3 in the first wave.  I got a good start and finished ahead of all of the 500GP bikes, 5 of the 8 F-500 bikes that started and 4 of the SOT3 bikes.  My fastest lap was a little slower than in 350GP as my rear tire was getting pretty worn and I wanted to save some for Sun.
Sun., it was decided to do just one round of practice and have a few races before lunch (ostensibly because of a threat of weather), which was fine by me as I was only going to do a few laps to conserve my tires.
In the 350GP, I beat Alex off the line and led the first lap.  On the second lap, Alex came by in a corner and I followed him onto the straight where, like Sat. I motored by.  But, Alex went really deep in turn #1 and slowly pulled away.

Alex McLean on a Drixton Aermacchi leads through turn #5.  Etech Photo

 I finished more than five and a half seconds behind him in a race shortened to 6 laps, he going faster than he had Sat., and me going slower.
We did get some rain during lunch and 'quiet time', but hardly the severe thunderstorms that were predicted.  The sun came out and the wind picked up and the track largely dried quickly.  There was a huge delay cleaning up an oil spill and all the remaining races remained 6 laps.
The SOT 3/F-500/500GP/500 Premiere finally got under way, but there were only 20 starters overall as  opposed to the 26 on Sat., as many people left because of the threat of rain or just fed up waiting out the long cleanup delay.  By now, my rear tire was really shagged and the track was slower because there were the odd damp patches, esp. where the cleanup had taken place.  again I got ahead of most of the F-500 bikes and a couple of the SOT3 bikes.  Coming out of the last corner, Alex McLean passed me on his 500 Norton Manx and out dragged me to the finish line, beating me by less the 0.2 sec.  So, I beat Alex (he on two different bikes) twice Sat., and he beat me twice Sun.

Getting the word from Art Kowitz.  Darleen Drehmel

,

Tim 'Merciless' Mings gets a autograph so he can hawk it on eBay.  Darleen Drehmel photo

Hallett 2018

It's been ages since I've updated the blog for reasons that I'll explain later.
For many years, AHRMA held their race at Willow Springs back-to-back with a race at Sears Point, aka Sonoma Raceway.  For 2018, apparently Sonoma Raceway decided that they wanted to do something else with that weekend, so AHRMA held a race at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma the week before the Willow Springs event.  I had always flown out to Ca. for the back-to-back races and raced bikes that lived on the west coast.  But this year, I decided to drive out.  I hadn't driven across the country in ages and I had heard good things about the Hallett circuit.  I had raced the CT1 Yamaha built by Dennis Latimer, from Oklahoma City, several times at Barber and NOLA, and he was keen to race it without having to drive thousands of miles.

Dennis Latimer on one of his creations, a superb 175 Yamaha

 Dennis brought two almost identical CT1s and I tried them both in Friday practice.

The first had no tachometer and the suspension felt stiff and the front brake wooden.  The second CT1 had nicer suspension, but the motor felt more peaky and was geared too tall.  I went to go out on my H-D ERTT, but the end pulled off the throttle cable that I had just made.  Denny Poneleit and Paul Germain repaired it for me with silver solder and I was able to get out for the last practice and confirm that my gearing was too tall.
Sat. We had no on track activities because of rain. Not thunder and lightning, not a hurricane, just rain. The AHRMA rule book says “every attempt will be made to race in the rain”, but the wimps canceled the race because of rain. We sat around all day smoozing and watching the MotoGP qualifying and the first MotoAmerica race from COTA.
Sun., we got back on the track and I start to pickup the subtitles of the track.  Hallett is a short circuit (1.8 miles), but is challenging with 10 turns, a couple of which are blind, and a good deal of elevation change.

Dennis and I settled on which bike to race.  I finished the first round of practice and decided to lower my gearing again on the ERTT.  I went out for the second round of practice on the CT1 and on the second corner of my out lap, I lost the front end and fell on the slowest corner of my he track.  I guess I just hadn't let the tire warm up enough.  It seemed like a nothing crash with no damage to the bike, but my left pinkie got trapped under the handlebar and got torn up a bit.  Also, I was sore on my left upper back/side.  Later, I decided that I had at least cracked a rib.

The bike and I got quickly picked up and I was able to finish the gearing change on the ERTT.  I did several laps in the second round of practice and decided the gearing was very close.

The 200GP race was my first and we were gridded behind the sole 500GP entry and in front of Class C foot and hand shifters and Novice Production Lightweight.   I was 2nd going into turn #1 and leading going into turn #2, which I took very carefully.  I then led the field for the next 5 laps, but I could hear a four stroke close behind each time going into turn #2.  I had to go around a lapped rider in the last turn of the penultimate lap and didn’t get a great drive.  Then after taking the white flag, I went through turn #1 a gear too tall and Joe Koury Jr. came by on the run down to turn #2. I was able to out accelerate Joe into turn #4 easily and held him off by nearly 2/3rds of a second at the checkered flag, but he must have been really pushing on his 175 Honda, as I had a lot of power on him.  Our last lap was the quickest for both of us, with Joe’s more than a 1/4 second faster than mine, but I guess I started the lap more than that ahead of him.

A couple of races later there were several races with red flags, and an inspection of the track was made.  There were a few spots where water was seeping up through cracks in the surface and someone was claiming that the wind was causing ice to form there.  I think this was preposterous as the air temp was in the 50’s.  Eventually, what was decided was to have a sighting lap in addition to our warmup lap, and the races were left at full distance

Several races later was the 350GP race.  The 350s were gridded in front of Sportsman 500 and Formula 500 in the first wave and Vintage Superbike lightweight and Novice Production Heavyweight.  I think I was in the lead before the 1st turn and was never passed.  My fastest lap was the last, as it should be, but Pete Homan in VSL had the fastest lap of the race.

I had tracked down an old high school classmate who lives in Oklahoma City and he came out to the track Sun.  He helped me load up, as by this time that rib was starting to be a bit painful.  From the track, I followed Mark to his home in Oklahoma City and spent the night with him and his wife.  In the morning Mark gave me a bit of a tour of Oklahoma City, which I found to be a bit of a revelation.

Paul Germain cruises by on his beautiful TA 125 replica pit bike.

Jason Roberts rode his period correct TD-2 Yamaha and his son, Colton, rode a replica ERTT H-D

Joe Green, on the left, is a super fan and comes all the way from England to spectate at U.S. vintage events, here with Dennis Latimer

Dennis brought his 350 Ducati, last raced by Robert Bryson, which he's threatening to get back on the track.

'67 Canadian GP Celebration addendum

Mike Gontesky just sent me a bunch of photos he took at Mosport.

On the Surtees Special AJS 7R.  I think this is turn #4

A little further along in the same corner, I guess

Same corner with Frank Camilleriei #33F on the TD1C that he raced back in the '67 race and Peter Hurst #560 on a 750 Norton Atlas

On the Arter Matchless G-50 #59, with Jeff Peters #45 on a CB750 Honda, Louie Raffa #176 (obscured behind Jeff ) on a RD 400 Yamaha and Vin Borbone #860  on a Kawasaki triple, entering turn #5, I think

Chasing Vin Borbone exiting turn #5?
all photos by Mike Gontesky

AHRMA NJMP

The weekend after AMA VMD was the AHRMA race at New Jersey Motorsport Park's Thunderbolt circuit.  I arrived Fri. evening shortly after a horrendous thunderstorm that rivaled a tornado.  Shredded EZups were collapsed every where and even bikes lying on their side in the mud.  There was some question as to what track conditions would be the next day.  Sat. was dry, but there were at least three places where water was still on the track.  I was quite concerned about this as I had a Continental ClassicAttack tire on the front and I had been told by many that this tire was no good in the wet.  I went and watched the rider school mock race, which had been held over from Fri. because of the weather.  There were two bands of water in turns #3 and #4, but I could see that one could go quite straight through them and none of the students seemed to have any problem there.
So, I went out in the group 2 practice and tip toed around.  In turn #10, there was a tar patch that looked very slick and I made sure I stayed inboard of it.  But, I focused so intently on the slick tar patch that I failed to notice how wet the track was around it and on the 3rd lap, I slapped it down.  I was unhurt, but the bike got torn up a bit.

The ERTT after I crashed it and before starting to work on it.

The windscreen was broken off and with it a bit of the fairing and the left handlebar was broken.

There was mud and grass everywhere.When I got it back in the pits John Stevens dove in and was a huge help kicking the bike back into shape.  We cleaned it a bit before we got the fairing and fuel tank off and found dirt in the carburetor.   The first order of business was finding a replacement handlebar and Mark Morrow came to the rescue on that front.  But this required pulling off the top yoke to slip the one piece 'clip-on' over the fork tube.  I dug through my spares and found a different perch and clutch lever as the perch is integral on the broken handlebar.

The replacement clip-on was much longer, but didn't pose a problem

 We carefully took the carb off, and there was no dirt down stream of the carb, so we took the carb apart and cleaned everything.  The rear brake pedal was pushed in and we had to carefully bend it back out without cracking it.  A little tape on the broken off bit of fairing, and I was ready to take the bike to have it re-teched.

ready to get re-teched

 I did a 'scrub lap' in the race before my first to check that everything was alright and it seemed good.
My first race was the bump-up class 500 Premiere, which was gridded first in front of 500GP and BEARS in the first wave and Sportsman 500 and Formula 500 in the second wave.  My arch nemesis and good friend Helmi Neiderer on his Seeley G-50, prepared by NYC Norton, got the hole shot, but a couple of the bears bikes came by before we even got to turn one.  Brad Phillips and Dan May on their BMWs and Stan Keys on his Norton Commando were pulling away as I was dicing with Helmi. Then Dan Mays bike seized and left a long rubber trail on the track.  I saw a big cloud of smoke  ahead, but then realized that it was steam from the hot motor flopping over into the wet grass outside turn #8.  Then Alex McLean came by on the 500 Manx Norton.  I got ahead of Helmi and chased Alex and finished just over half a second behind him in 4th over all, 1st in class.
My second race was the 350GP which was gridded first in front of Sportsman 350, Vintage Superbike lightweight, and Novice Production Heavyweight.  I was first off the line but Rich Midgely quickly came by on his CB 350 Honda and steadily pulled away.  And that's the way it ended with Midge about just over 7 seconds ahead of me, so I was 2nd overall and 1st in class.
Sat. evening, I spotted a bunch of vintage twins cylinder bike outside the condos at NJMP and I knew that they must be the Retro Tours group.  Sure enough, I saw Joel Samick in the on site restaurant and told him that I'd stop by after dinner.  I had a good smooze with the group, which were mostly return customers.  They had a good ride from Kennett Square, Pa., to the track and were headed to Delaware the next day.
Sunday, I had one good practice and then lined up on pole for the 500 Premiere, 500GP, BEARS, Sportsman 500, and Formula 500 race.  Again, Brad Phillips and Stan Keys on their BEARS bike came by before turn #1, but no Dan May because of his bike failure Sat.  Helmi and I went back a forth a bit and then Rob Hall came by on his 650 Triumph Bonneville.  Rob and I went at it and left Helmi.  Our bikes were evenly matched overall, though each had an advantage in different places, and we passed each other many times while closing on Stan Keys.  On the last lap, with me ahead of Rob, Stan had a slide out of turn #9 and ran off the track and I got by him and Rob had to check up when Stan came back on the track, so I finished 2nd overall, 1st in class.  Great fun.
In the 350GP, Sportsman 350, VSL, Novice Prod. H.W. race, Rich Midgely didn't start as he had crashed on a flat tire in a previous race.  Ake Smith, on his CB350 Honda, passed me going into turn #1 from the start, but I got him back in turn #4 and was never headed again, winning overall.
Four class wins and a first, 2 seconds and a 4th overall finish was a satisfying come back from crashing first thing.
One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing Art Kowitz' Kawasaki Bighorn road racer from the early '70s.  I have a soft spot for Bighorns as that was the first bike I road raced.  Art said he built the bike before he knew what he couldn't/shouldn't do and therefore came up with some innovative solutions.  The bike was raced by Ted Henter as a Junior with some success before Art raced it himself as a Novice.  He quickly advanced to Junior and won his first race as a Junior, which advanced him to Expert.  So, the Bighorn was sold.  The new owner put a headlight and kickstarter on the bike and took the fairing off and rode it on the street a few times, then put it away in a storage locker for 45 or so years.  He recently contacted Art out of the blue and said that Art should have it.  Art picked it up just a few days before coming to NJMP  and displayed it how he found it.

That's an H1R front brake and an A1R rear brake and swing arm, 35mm Certain fork and Koni shocks

One problem with road racing a Bighorn motor was being able to gear it tall enough, as it was designed as an enduro bike.  The clutch pushrod in front of the gearbox sprocket limited how big a sprocket one could put on.  Art eliminated the clutch pushrod and adapted A1 Kawasaki clutch release, which lifts the pressure plate from the opposite side.  The box you see with the clutch cable going to it behind the carb is this mechanism.

Art hadn't decided yet what he would do with the bike--restore it or leave it as is--a time capsule

Mid-Ohio VMD

After the Roper TT, I went to Mid-Ohio for the AMA's Vintage Motorcycle Days, for the first time in four years.  For '14, '15, & '16 it conflicted with AHRMA NJMP, but the organizations finally got it worked out and the events were on consecutive weekends this year.  Mid-Ohio is a great track--in the dry.  When it rains, it becomes an ice rink, and in Friday practice it rained toward the end of the day and several people when down, including a couple of my garage mates, Harry Vanderlinden on his 550 GPZ Kawasaki and Francis Ganache on his 250 Ducati.  Stu Carter, with his new Kramer and his star cross 200 Honda and Eric Bozell (Eboz) with a GSXR 1000 Suzuki also were in the garage.  I arrived after Fri. practice was over.

Our garage with Stu's Kramer, my ERTT, Francis' 250 Ducati and Eboz' GSXR in the background

Sat. morning was cool and overcast and everyone agreed that the track was quite slippery, but rideable.  My first practice went well and I was even able to pass Todd Narduzzi on his 450 Honda but, in the second practice my motor started to run poorly with some misfire.  I looked over the ignition and cleaned the points, but didn't find anything obvious.
My first race was the 'bump-up' class, 500GP.  We were gridded in the front ahead of V-2, 250GP and Class C.  Todd Narduzzi pulled steadily away and I had a tussle with a CB350 but eventually pulled clear, when an RD 350 from V-2 came by and we went back and forth.  I made a slightly desperate move in the 2nd to last corner and almost lost the front end and the RD prevailed, so I was 2nd in class and 3rd overall.  But, the motor had run worse still.

Robbie Graber's RD 350 which finished 1st V-2, 2nd overall Sat.

I decided to check if I had water in the float bowl and, as soon as I touched the carburetor, I felt it move.  My intake manifold hose was split.  I had another hose with me, but that was split too, from the last time I changed it on 25 March, 2011.  So, I spooged some Seal-All into the split and wrapped the hose with vinyl tape and hoped that would get me through the weekend.

My split intake manifold hose

The next race was Formula 500, V-2, and 350GP.  The motor now ran great and I quickly got up to the F500 bikes and first got by Martin Morrison on his 500 Honda 4, then I caught Mark Morrow on his RD 400 based bike.  This surprised me as Mark goes very well, but later he told me that it was his first time at Mid-Ohio, and there's a lot to learn there.  I closed on the leader, Scott Mackenzie on his 500 Honda 4, here from Canada, turned the fastest lap of the race (more than 2 seconds faster than I had gone in the first race) and finished less than 3/4 of a second behind Scott, for 1st in class, 2nd overall.

Martin Morrison's 500 4 Honda

I decided to gear the bike taller for Sunday and took a tooth off the back.  I did a few easy laps in the one practice Sun. and liked the taller gearing.
For the 500GP race, I quickly got into 2nd and was chasing Todd Narduzzi again and it was looking tough.  Todd turned a fastest lap a little quicker than Sat. and I went slower than I had in the 350GP race.  But, finishing the 4th lap, Todd threw his hand in the air and pulled off.  I cruised to the overall win.  It turns out that Todd had something let go in his transmission--no lock up or bad noise, just no drive.
In the F500, V1, 350GP race I got up to 3rd, but Mark Morrow had figured out the track by this time and I couldn't hang with him.  And, Scott Mackenzie upped the pace considerably with a fastest lap more than 2.5 seconds faster than he had gone Sat.  Again, I went slower than I had Sat., though faster than in the 500 race.  So, I was first in class and 3rd overall.  Maybe the taller gearing hadn't been a good idea, though it felt better.
I was good getting back to Mid-O.  Good competition, a good bunch in our garage and the swap meet bigger than ever.

The moon rising over the swap meet

Stu Carter's new Kramer powered by a 650 KTM single

Stu's starcrossed 200 Honda with suffered ignition failure again and still hasn't finished a race.

In one of the infield displays was this beautiful Scott Flying Squirrel.

And then, a well patinated ES-2 Norton

Being a Horex aficionado, I was very interested in this 125 Rebel, a model I had never heard of

But, not interested enough to buy it; I've already dug the Horex hole deep enough for now.