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

AHRMA Carolina Motorsports Park 2021

In preperation for my second race of the 2021 season, I put my CRTT H-D Sprint on the dyno to understand why it didn't seem to want to rev at Roebling Road four weeks before. After several runs, the motor went BANG and lost power. I found that the exhaust valve wasn't opening and suspected that a tappet had broken. This happened to this motor last July at Blackhawk Farms and was no big deal as I just took the broken pieces out and put a used tappet in that I had with me. But when I investigated this time, I found it wasn't so simple.

It looked like the broken off head of the tappet had been jammed into the tappet bush and pushed it up towards the head and galled the bush so the broken off stem of the tappet was jammed in the bush.

I decided that this was more than I could deal with in the time I had left and Rob Iannucci offered me a Team Obsolete AJS 7R which I accepted. The bike had last been run in 2015 when I raced it at a USCRA event at NJMP Lightning circuit. We just put oil in it, changed the number plates and did some safety wiring and it seemed ready. I had a miseralble Friday night at CMP as it got really cold and I had to make three dashes to the men's room in the middle of the night with gastro-intestinal distress. Sat., was cold, cloudy and very windy. I took it very easy in the first practice, but had a lot of problems shifting the gearbox, especially downshifting (i.e.lifting the lever up). I got an old broken aluminum footrest from Stu Carter and slid it over the toe piece of the shift lever, lengthening it and making it bigger in diameter.

This helped enormously in the 2nd practice, though I still occasionally had problems downshifting.

Testing the shift lever on the bench. Amy Roper photo. My first race was race #7 with Sound of Singles 2 in the first wave and 500 Premiere (Vintage Cup) in the second wave and Formula 500 gridded behind. At the start, Helmi Neiderer crashed going into turn #1 and his bike knocked down Tony Read, the winner of the two 500 Premiere races at Roebling Road. This brought out the red flag, one of an incredible number of red flags over the weekend. Neither Tony or Helmi made the restart, so I was able to finish a distant 2nd to Wes Orloff, on Dale Coffman's 450 Honda, in class, but 17th overall behind a bunch of SOS2 bikes (and lapped by the leader, Ralph Staropoli) and three F500 bikes. There were more crashes and red flags before my second race, #13 the Vintage Superbike Lightweight, 350GP and 350 Sportsman and and Formula 125. I was running a distant 2nd to Alex McLean on his Drixton Aermacchi in class. I still occasionally had problems downshifting in the 'fog of war'and failed to get it right entering one of the corners and came out two gears too tall. Jonathan Hollingsworth on a Rickman Aermacchi and Jerry Duke on a 350 Ducati came by me. I initially thought--no problem; I can get them back--but then the red flag came out and the race was called final, so I was 4th in class and 10th overall. I decided that I was geared a little tall and added one tooth to the rear sprocket. I also went to one step colder sparkplug as I had a little concern about the center electrode on the one I had run with. Saturday night was much better than Friday and, while Sunday was somewhat warmer than Sat., it was perhaps more windy and even drizzled a bit in the morning. I trimed the footrest that I had slipped over the shift lever in a effort to further improve my downshifting.

My sister-in-law Amy Roper and her fiance Dave Nichols came to the event and were a trememdous help. Amy Roper photo.

Amy Roper Photo. After the one practice round, I went up one jet size in the carb.

Trying to find neutral after starting the bike on the roller starter. Amy Roper photo. In Sunday's 500 Premiere race, Tony Read stalled on the grid and wasn't able to start the race. I again ran a distant second to Wes Orloff and was able to hold off Helmi, who was somewhat detuned by his crash on Sat. This race too was red flagged for a crash and I ended up 2nd in class and 13th overall behind 8 SOS2 bikes, Wes and 3 F500 bikes. By the time the 350GP race came up, the sun had come out and it was considerable warmer, but still very windy. And, people were still crashing. I think it was on the second restart that someone crashed in front of Alex McLean and he had no where to go, went down and didn't make the restart as he hurt his foot. So, I took the lead in the class on the third restart.

Exiting turn #1. Amy Roper photo. I thought the race might be re flagged again as someone fell in the last corner and the bike ended just off the track in the impact zone, but for once they didn't throw the red flag. I had passed Jerry Duke early on but must have been goofing off or again wasn't able to make the downshift as my fastest lap was nearly three seconds slower than in the 500 Premiere race. In the last corner of the race, Jerry stuffed me hard up the the inside. I thought that he wasn't going to make the corner and I ran off the track. Jerry ran over the rumble strips but stayed on the tarmac and beat me to the finish line by 2.5 sec.as I recovered, so again I was 2nd in class, this time 4th overall with two VSL bikes in front of us. So, all four of the races that I was in were red flagged, the last one three times. And these were far from the only races red flagged. There had to be a record number of crashes. Part of this was undoubtedly the weather and maybe March isn't the best time to race at CMP. Part of the problem was just a big turn out--more entries mean more crashes, perhaps especially when it's the first race of the year for many of the racers. And, part of it is the nature of the CMP track. Turn #1 is very tight and not that far from the start line, so it's not uncommon for there to be a gaggle of riders there at the start trying to occupy the same spot. I felt lucky to survive unscathed.

AHRMA Roebling Road 2021

My 2021 racing season kicked off with the traditional February Roebling Road Raceway date.  I only brought my 250cc CRTT HD Sprint and my 350 wasn't ready.  The 250 had a pretty extensive rebuild over the winter: new crankpin and big end bearing, new main bearings, new gearbox, new cylinder bore, new rings, new valves and new exhaust seat and guide.  And a new rear tire. 

My '67 CRTT H-D Sprint as it arrived

So I signed up for Fri. afternoon practice.  I rained Friday morning and, while it had pretty much stopped raining by the time I got on the track, the track was fully wet and I was very cautious.  By my 2nd practice the track was drying, but there were plenty of damp patches and the odd puddle.  The motor started easily, sounded fine and accelerated fairly well, but didn't seem to want to rev and I wasn't pulling the gearing that I had in the past, so I dropped a tooth on the gearbox sprocket.

Saturday morning was quite cold with temps in the low 30's and I took it very steady.  By now the sun was shining brightly and it had warmed up a bit.  I went out for the 2nd practice and on my out lap when I cracked the throttle in turn #3, the rear tire broke loose and I low sided.  I slid on my ass on the track then into the dirt without tumbling, but I did wear right through my leather and got a raspberry of my left cheek. 

Wore right through my leathers.  Darleen Drehmel photo

The bike wasn't too bad, but the fairing was pretty smashed up and dirt was packed everywhere.  It seems like I'm making the rookie, cold tire turn #3 crash an annual tradition as I did it last year, though then I tucked the front.  

After the crash.  Kenny Cummings is very disappointed in his 'dad'.  Courtney A. Black photo

I abandoned the fairing and mounted number plates.  Now I have an air filter on the carb, so I didn't have to take the head off to clean out the dirt as I did last year. 

mounting number plates with Dr. Dan Levine.  Courtney A. Black photo

I installed a new CO2 cartridge in my inflatable vest. I got the bike re-teched and was able to do a scrub lap in race #2, and everything seemed OK for race #3, my bump-up race, 350GP with 350 Sportsman gridded behind us in one wave. 

heading out for a 'scrub lap'  Darleen Drehmel photo

As soon as I started the warm-up lap, the motor started cutting out intermittently.  I pulled in pit lane and saw that one of the leads had pulled off the coil.  I shoved it back on and got a push start and started the race from the pit lane after everyone got rolling.  Three of the 350GP and three of the 350 Sportsman bikes started pulling away.  After a couple of laps, I saw I was catching Colton Roberts riding his Dad's TD2b Yamaha.  Jason Roberts had crashed in practice when an oil line failed on his Aermacchi and oiled the rear tire.  He broke three ribs and offered his Yamaha to his son.  Colton had never turned a wheel on this bike before the start of the race and he was clearly figuring out how to ride it.  I was able to pass him in several corners and he would blow by me on the straights.  By the last lap, Colton had gained enough confidence in how the bike was going to act that I was unable to pass him and he finished 0.9 seconds ahead of me.  So I was 4th in class and 7th overall.

The 250GP class was in race #11 gridded behind Sound of Singles 3 in the first wave and Vintage Superbike Lightweight in the second wave. 

On the front row of the 250GP grid, behind the VSL grid, in the 2nd wave.  Darleen Drehmel photo

I got ahead of a few of the VSL bikes at the start and soon caught some of the SOS3 bikes.  SOS3 may have the greatest range of speed of any class.  The first two in that class lapped me (and all but 7 of the 30 starters)on what were effectively Moto3 bikes--modern watercooled, fuel injected 250 singles in full race chassis.  I passed 6 of the SOS3 bike and two of the VSL bikes for 1st in class and 17th overall.

Sunday morning was even colder with frost everywhere.  There was only one round of practice and I managed to complete 5 laps without crashing.  I still wasn't pulling the gearing, so I added two teeth to the rear sprocket.  Then, Art Kowitz told me that he was taking his X-6 Suzuki to the Hall brother's mobile dyno to sort it.  I didn't realize that it was there, and I followed Art down and after he made a run, we put my Sprint on.  Rob Hall was able to alter the ignition timing while Jake kept the bike running.  Rob advanced the timing 2-3 times to optimum and noted that the fuel/air mixture was a little rich, so I went down one jet size.

Sunday's 350GP/Sportman race went much like Saturday's except Jason Roberts wasn't riding his dad's TD2b.  I had a fairly lonely ride after the first 5 pulled away and ended up 3rd in class and 6th overall.  My best lap was more than 0.8 seconds slower that Sat. without the encouragement of chasing Jason and maybe his draft, too.  

There were a couple of crashes in close succession around race #7 that required both the ambulances to transport riders, which shut down racing until one returned.  After racing resumed, there was another red flag delay so, by the time race #11 came up, the race was shortened from 8 laps to 6.  Again, I led the 250GP class from the start.  I passed three of the VSL bikes and two of the SOS3 bikes to finish 1st in class and 17th overall.  I was only lapped by the leader of the SOS3 class (as were the next 16 bikes).  What I didn't realize until after the race was that I finished just 0.315 seconds ahead of Don Hollingsworth on his 250 Sprint.  I had a slightly faster fastest lap than Don, but mine was on the 3rd lap and his was on the last.  Clearly, I was goofing off and he was smelling blood.  Would I have been able to respond if the race had gone the full 8 laps?

My fasted lap of the weekend last year on the same bike (also without a fairing) was more that 3.3 seconds  faster then my fastest lap of the weekend this year.  I'm willing to accept that some of that is because I'm a broken old man (or rather more broken, older man), but I was definitely pulling more revs with taller gearing last year.  Why is mystery that I'm still investigating.

Brian Larrabure's Seeley G-50.  Brian unfortunately had a serious crash Sun. on another bike and broke his leg and clavicle

My pit neighbors: Doc Batsleer's Indian and Beno Rodi's cammy Nortons

Dave Kaufman's G-12 Matchless

 

Local Rick Panettieri always brings an interesting and immaculate bike, this time a Laverda Jota

 

Stu Carter's ex-Ginger Molloy Bultaco

The Bultaco seat warning

Southern Swing #2

 This year's AHRMA race at Barber was very different than the past as the 'Vintage Festival' was canceled because of Covid-19, though racing continued.  So, there was no swap meet, Wall of Death, Ace Cafe, AMCA or VJMC club meets, etc., and nominally, no spectators.  Because of this, entry was way down from years past.  Many people who entered didn't show up because the forecast was for rain all weekend as a hurricane approached.  Then, many of those that did come ended up not racing because of the heavy rain, meaning grids were very thin.

I arrived at Barber Thurs. mid day with my 250 and 350 H-D Aermacchi Sprints.  The 350 I had crashed at Carolina M/S Pk. in Sept., and tore up the fairing, among other damage.  I left the fairing with Sakis Vasilopoulos who said he would repair it and deliver it to Barber.  So, after setting up my pit, I collected the fairing from Sakis, who did a beautiful job on it, including painting it and even making numbers.  But, he had filled all the mounting bracket holes, saying that they were oval from wear.  So, it meant fitting the fairing from scratch, then mounting a windscreen, which I did with the help of Dick Miles.  Fortunately, Thurs., was a beautiful day.

Friday dawned raining, as promised, and I set about practicing on both bikes.  My 250 had ancient and very worn Dunlop tires, the ones that are no longer made, and which don't have the best reputation in the wet, but are my preferred tires in the dry.  So, I was very cautious on it, both because I didn't trust the tires and because I didn't want to put any unnecessary wear on them.  I've long had a problem with the carb on my 350 sticking, especially when rolling the throttle of gradually.  The slide snaps right down when the engine isn't running but, when running, the slide tends to hang up unless one snaps the throttle shut.  The carb got packed with dirt in the crash at Kershaw, and it took me a long while to even get it out of the body.  Now, it the rain, the problem seemed noticeably worse.  After one session, I took the slide out to see if I could polish it to improve the situation.  Al Hollingsworth happened to come along and said that he might have a slide in better shape.  The slides are brass, plated with chrome(?) and the plating on my slide was almost completely worn away.  Al's was used, but much less worn and he loaned it to me and that completely cured the sticking issue.  The rain let up some in the afternoon and a dry line started to develop, but I didn't bother to go out any more as the forecast was for heavy rain Sat., and I didn't figure that I learn anything in the dry and just wear out the tires more.

Sat., I was first up in race #4, with 250GP in front of Novice Historic Production Lightweight in the first wave and Formula 125 and Pre 40 in the second.  Just three of the seven 250GP entrants started and 16 of the 27 overall entrants.  Craig Light on his Bultaco 'Metralla' immediately went into the lead.  I had just met Craig at the USCRA Moto Giro in August, where he rode a Bultaco Lobito 175 then, the next weekend, he was at CMP with the Metralla.  His backround is in MX and enduros and he only started road racing last year and apparently, he had never road raced in the rain.  And it was really raining, but I wasn't willing to go at his pace and he pulled away and then Colton Roberts, Jonas Stein and Joe Koury came by on their F-125 bikes for the second wave.  Colton got by Craig for the overall win and I was a distant 5th overall and 2nd (of three) in the class.

This is from Saturday's 250GP (I think)before the Kourys, father and son, passed me. Father #951 finished ahead of me, son #357 didn't finish. I don't know who took the photo as someone sent it to me after finding it on the internet.

The 350GP was in race #7 gridded behind 350 Sportsman and ahead of Novice Historic Production Heavyweight, all in one wave.  Five of the ten 350GP entrants, and 13 of the 24 overall entrants started.  Jerry Duke led the 350GP and the overall on his Ducati.  Eric Cook slotted into 2nd O.A. on his 350 Sportsman bike.  I was third overall initially, but on the 3rd lap, Craig Light came by on his 250 Metralla.  I was trying to hang with Craig, but he was pulling away.  Then my ignition coil fell off and I came to a stop.  I was credited with 11th overall and 4th in class, because Jason Roberts had his carbs gum up on his TD2b Yamaha and he didn't finish the 1st lap.

Remounting the coil was simple and I had the bike running again in an hour or so and was ready for Sun.  Conditions were a little better on Sunday but still very wet for both my races.  And, for some reason I felt a little more with it.  In the 250GP, I got in the lead overall quickly, but Colton Roberts came by on his F-125 bike.  On  the last lap, I got baulked lapping a rider and Craig Light got by me, but I got back by him and finished less than 1/4 second ahead of him, though his fastest lap was more than half a second faster than mine.  My fastest lap was more than 8 1/4 seconds faster than I had gone on Sat., where as Craig's was only 3 1/8 seconds faster.

In the 350GP race, Jerry Duke again got the jump on our class behind some 350 Sportsman bikes.  I passed Jerry going into turn #5 on the first lap, then Jason Roberts came by on the back straight, having changed the oil in his pre-mix.  Stan Miller crashed his Sportsman bike in turn#13, which caused Jason and me to check up a bit.  Then Jason crashed in the last corner of the first lap.  These crashes put the chill on any heroic on my part, but I managed to maintain the overall lead.  Jerry showed me a wheel several times, but I held him off and finished less the 3/4 of a second ahead of him.  My best lap was 15 seconds faster than Sat., whereas Jerry's and Craig's were closer to 9 1/2 seconds faster.  But, Jerry had the fastest lap of the race, more than 3/8 seconds better than my best.  It was good ending the weekend on an up note with two wins in close races and, perhaps more importantly, surviving.

The only photo I took at Barber: Doc Batsleer's CL 90 Honda which he bought new back in the mid '60s.  He told me that he was inspired to bring it to Barber after seeing the Aerostich ad in a magazine with me and a friends CL 90.

From Barber, I drove to Savannah and spent a few days with friends.  One of the first things that I did was dry my racing gear.

My friend, Dr. Dan Levine, showed me his latest project, a Rickman 500 Triumph.  The chassis is all new replica of period gear.  The front brake, a replica Robinson 4LS, and the forks, replica Ceriani 35mm, both came from Hungary.  The frame and body work came from England where Adrian Moss now owns the Rickman name.  Dan is threatening to race it.

Dr. Dan Levine with his Rickman Triumph Daytona.

Thurs., I drove to Denton, N.C., for the Antique Motorcycle Club of America meet there.  I noticed that my route there took me through Cheraw, S.C., which rang a bell.  Cheraw is where Dizzy Gillespie was born and grew up and, being a big fan of Dizzy, I made a point of stopping there.  His boyhood home is no longer there, but there is a park on the lot where his house stood, with great stainless steel sculptures of his horn, the notes to his composition "Salt Peanuts", etc.  Then a local guided me to the town green where there is a 7' tall statue of Dizzy blowing his horn.  Cheraw has Revolutionary and Civil war history and is a lovely place that honors its favorite son well. 

The bikes at Denton were mostly Harleys with a good number of Indians, but there was a smattering of British, Japanese and Italian bikes, too.  Denton Farmpark, where the event was held, was just chock full of old stuff: old farm machinery. a complete old machine shop with everything belt driven, an old gas station, etc., etc.  

An old linotype machine?

My friend Will Paley brought his 1920 ABC, a British across the frame opposed twin (before there was a BMW), with swing arm rear suspension, overhead valves and a four speed gearbox--ahead of it's time.  Will's ABC was parked next to a 1920 Indian Model W Sport Twin, a fore and aft opposed twin that was unrestored and started easily and ran great.  Another friend, Terry Wolbert, drove out from his home in Yamhill, Or., with five girder fork British bikes including a JAP engined Panther, and an AJW, an obscure and short lived bike.

Will Paley's 1920 ABC

Terry Wolbert's Panther.

A Triumph dirt dragster with reversed cylinder head.

Sat. morning a few of us rode to a museum about 16 miles away in Ashboro, American Classic Motorcycle Museum.  It was all Harley--Knuckles, Pans, and Shovels, with two Sprints, but it had a few good race posters on the walls and the covers from The Enthusiast Magazine, the in house Harley monthly, from the 1920s to the 1970s.  A couple of the race posters that intrigued me were from 1964 when Rodger Reiman went 156mph on a 250 Sprint powered streamliner at Bonneville and the next year, when George Roeder went 176mph on what looked like the same streamliner also powered by a 250 Sprint (running on gas).  It seemed incredible to me that they could go 20mph faster in one year.

Jack led the ride to the museum on this well patina-ed Panhead.

After returning to Denton Farmpark,  I went to hear the results of the judging.  The AMCA judges bike against their specs and appearance compared to when they came out of the factory new.  Points can be taken off for things as small as having the wrong spark plugs in the motor.  But, after this, a Concourse D' Ordinaire was held.  I put my '68 TC200 Suzuki in the line up.  I thought they had a prize for Most Rusty, but I parked next to a XS 650 Yamaha that was well rustier that my Suzuki, so I didn't think that I had a chance there.  But, I had misread the category and it was Most Rustic, not rusty, and I won.  It could have something to do with the fact that Will Paley was judge, but I'll proudly display the plaque anyway.  

The bike that won "Most Rustic" in the Concourse D'Ordinaire"

Five days after I got back home, I got a Covid-19 test and the result was 'none detected', so it looks like I got away with it once again.

Southern loop

I started three back to back weekends by joining the USCRA's Moto Giro in Syria, Va. We were based at Graves Mountain Lodge and did loops from there, returning back there for lunch each day, which meant going over the some of the same roads multiple times. But, the roads were great and the scenery gorgeous. In fact, at first I wondered if the roads were too good--too smooth and well marked. But, eventually we did get a few gnarly roads and there was a good deal of excellent dirt road and one watercrossing. The turnout was well down from the usually because of Covid-19, but there were about 50 riders and a good variety of bikes.

Jesse Morris with his NSU Max 

An NSU Max, a Puch, a Jawa, a Gilera, two Ossas, two Bultacos, three R-27 BMWs,three Suzukis (including my TC200, a TC250 and a 305), two Yamahas (including a YM1 reputedly bought in Vietman at the PX by a service man and brought back to the States), a Kawasaki 90, and the usual gaggle of Hondas.

Alex Snoop on his 175 Ossa Wildfire

The bummer of the weekend was Rich Hosely breaking his right tibia and fibula without crashing by putting his foot down when he slid a bit and hitting his leg with his foot rest.

Craig Light's Bultaco Lobito

Bultaco Metralla

I didn't think the route sheet was the best and misinterpreted an instruction Sunday afternoon and missed a turn and went miles the wrong way on a boring divided hiway until I got disgusted and rode back, missing a reportedly good road going up to Skyline drive.

90cc Kawasaki G-3

Mitch Fraizer with his 250 Jawa Californian

Puch Allstate Twingle

Yamaha YM-1 Cross Country reputedly bought in Vietnam at the PX and brought back to the States by the previous owner.

I stayed over at Graves Sun. night and Monday drove to Thomas Jefferson's house Monticello, which I found fascinating and well done. From there, I drove to Peaks of Otter campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway, hydroplanning in the heavy rain and wondering if this was a good idea. But, it stopped raining and I was able to set up my tent and walk to the near by lodge to get dinner in the dry.

In the morning, I woke up to find that my right rear tire was flat. Thinking I'd put on the spare, I found that the tool to lower the spare was missing from my tool kit and I was unsuccessful trying to bodge it with an Allen key or screwdriver. I ended up pumping it up to 63 psi with a hand pump, which took a while. But, it got me into Roanoke where I got the tire patched. I unloaded my TC 200 and rode it to the Va. Museum of Transport while they were working on the tire. Cars, boats, planes and locomotives and one motorcycle--a '67 Triumph Bonneville. I stayed in Roanoke that night and the next morning cruised around town some and went to the O. Winston Link/Raymond Lowey museum in the old railway station that Lowey redesigned in the late '40s.

One of two railway stations in Roanoke

Downtown Roanoke

The Taubman Museum of Art

Hotel Roanoke

From there to the Booker T. Washington National Monument, then to the Rocky Knob campground also on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Rocky Knob overlook  where I met this rider from Indiana

Thurs., I drove to Stone Mountain State Park in N.C. and walked up to the top of Stone Mountain for a beautiful view that afternoon. The next morning, I walked the 4.5 mile loop trail that goes down to the base of the mountain by a spectacular waterfall, on to a restored homestead, then up over the mountain.

Stone Mountain had these mysterious holes in the rock.

this photo of the Stone Mountain waterfall doesn't do it justice

Then I drove to Carolina M/S Pk., getting there barely in time to get my bikes to Tech inspection before they close. I presented my 350 with a flat rear tire, which is a bit embarrassing. The next morning, when I tried to start it for practice, it wouldn't fire as my battery ground lead had come out of it's holder and had been laying against the crankcase for possible 8 days, draining the battery. So I put it on charge and just rode my 250 in practice.

The 250GP was in the third race of the day in the second wave behind the Thruxtons and Classic 60s & 650s in the first wave and 350 Sportsman in the second. I won the 250GP class quite comfortably and finished 9th overall behind four Thruxtons, three Classic 60s and one Classic 60s 650 (all form the first wave) and had the 5th fastest lap of the race. I did a scrub lap before the 350GP race to confirm that the battery was now charged up, my only practice on my ERTT. Race 11 had Sportsman 750 and Formula 500 in the first wave and 350GP led the second wave with Novice Historic Production Lightweight and Formula 125 behind. Alex McLean led the second wave into turn one with me behind. Jason Roberts on his TD2b Yamaha came flying by me on the straight between turns #6 and #7. Before the end of the first lap, we caught up to the first wave and I was able to get around both Jason and Alex. I guess Alex got really baulked by traffic and Jason and I began to exchange the lead. He'd pass me on the straight and I would out brake him going into the corners. We exchanged the lead 4 or 5 times in the first 3 laps. Then I ended the fun when I tucked the front end in turn #5 while in the lead on the fourth lap and, with my bike in the impact zone, the race was red flagged. Jason had the 5th fastest lap of the race, only bettered by the two Sportsman 750s and two F-500 bikes, while my fastest lap was 0.011 seconds slower than Jason's. I made out fine in the crash, but my bike got pretty torn up.

My ERTT after the crash.

It lowsided and then backed into the dirt ripping up the fairing and breaking the right clip-on off, and there was lots of dirt in the carb, and other damage.

Broken clipon and brake adjuster

Turns out that is fork tube was slightly bent.

Dirt in the carb.

I also found that the exhaust head pipe was cracked almost completely around, which probably had nothing to do with the crash. I decided not to try to fix it in the field and to wait until I was back home to strip it down and examine it carefully. I asked Sakis Vasilopoulis if he could repair the fairing and he said he could and would return it at Barber in Oct. So, Sunday I raced my 250 CRTT in both the 250GP and 350GP races. In the third race, I again easily won the 250GP and was 6th overall with the 5th fastest lap of the race. But, my fastest lap came on the 4th of 6 and the motor seem to loose it edge as the race wore on. I checked the valve clearance before race 11 and found the two rocker adjuster lock nuts sitting in the exhaust rocker cover and both adjusters had backed off and I had huge valve lash.

The lock nuts for both rocker adjusters came off.

I readjusted the valve lash and tried to really reef down on the lock nuts. This brought the edge back to the motor and I finish 2nd 350GP behind Alex McLean, as Jason Roberts didn't race on Sun. I was 4th overall behind two Formula 500 machines and Alex and my fastest lap was more than 1 1/4 seconds faster than in the 250GP and less than 2 1/2 seconds slower than I had gone on my 350 the day before, or just over 2%.

Craig Light's Bultaco road racer.  He rode the Lobito in the Moto Giro.

Dave Kaufman's (AJS Dave) G-12 Matchless

This Gilera was at the Moto Giro, also.

A beautiful S-65 Honda

This showed up at Carolina M/S Pk., on it's way to an air show.

I drove to Savannah Sunday evening and visited with friends there the next four days. Dan Levine made arrangements with a friend of his for me to change the gearing and check over my 250 for the AHRMA Talladega G.P Raceway the following weekend at his friend's sports car racing shop in Pooler. It was a fabulous facility with one half being devoted to vintage cars and the other to modern.

Dr. Dan Levine admiring the hardware

What do you do with the headers while you're working on a motor?

A Ferrari flat 12.

A Lola?

Porsches, Lolas, Elvas, Corvettes, and Ferraris, and other exotica.

Modern racing Ferraris.

And street Ferraris, too.

I was amused that crew at this shop were all Ga-Ga over my little stone ax 250 single in the presence of all this sophisticated, high dollar equipment. I got to Talladega Fri. afternoon and got my bike teched. The weather forcast was iffy with a good possibility of thunder storms and I wondered if the ancient Dunlops on my bike were up to a wet race. But, despite seeing lightning in the distance, not a drop fell on the track all weekend. It was hot, though. I hadn't been to TGPR since 2013, when it was back to back with NOLA. Since then it had be a stand alone event and I didn't feel it was worth the very long drive for a track that I considered second rate. It is short and flat. But, it being back to back with the postponed CMP and having done so little racing this year, I decided to do it. After practice, my opinion of the track hadn't improved, but riding on a mediocre track is better than watching TV at home.

Like CMP, my two races were separated by a big gap. 350GP was in race #2 and 250GP was in race #10. 350GP was in front of Novice Production LWT and Formula 125, all in one wave. Jason Roberts (TD2b Yamaha), Alex McLean (Drixton Aermacchi) and Jerry Duke (350 Ducati) pulled away in the front. Soon, Colton Roberts (Jason's son) came by on a F-125 Yamaha and not long after Jonas Stein came by on his 175 Honda. Jonas was pulling away when he got into the last corner too hot and ran off the track. This allowed me to get by, but he soon recovered and passed me again. So, I ended up 4th 350GP (on my 250) and 6th overall. The 250GPs were gridded in the back behind Thruxtons and Classic 60s and Classic 650s, and Sportsman 350 in the first wave and Novice Production HWT and 250GP in the second wave. My best lap was less the 0.05 of a second faster than in the 350GP race but was good enough to win the 250GP class and finish 5th overall behind three Thruxtons and a Sportsman 350. After the race, I checked my valve clearance and again found huge exhaust lash and the adjuster lock nut missing. Al Hollingsworth gave me a spare locknut and a little advice on the tightening procedure when I adjusted the valve clearance. Sunday's 350GP went about the same as Saturday, except that Jason Roberts didn't race because the chrome on the cylinder bores on his TD2b was peeling. Alex McLean and Jerry Duke took off and shortly Colton Roberts, the Jonas Stein came by with their F-125 bikes. This time, Jonas kept it on the track and passed Colton for 3rd overall, me being 3rd 350GP and 5th overall, with my best lap 0.7 seconds faster than I had gone Sat. The previous weekend at Carolina M/S Pk., when I rode my 250 in the 350GP race on Sun., I finished almost 1 min., 7 sec. ahead of Jerry Duke and my best lap was almost 11.5 seconds faster than his best. But here at Talladege there was no way that I could stay with him. He finished more than 8.5 seconds in front of me and his best lap was more than 1.2 seconds faster than my best. Also, I lapped Jonas Stein at CMP, but he was way faster than me at TGPR. I don't think that my bike was slower; I was just slower. Race #10 was also similar to Sat. with me 1st 250GP and and 5th overall behind three Thruxtons and one Sportsman 350, though my fastest lap was more than 0.8 sec. slower than I had gone in the morning's race #2. I guess I better check my valve clearance again.

Luke Conner's Thruxton, KRTT, and KHK?

Stu Carter's two Seeley G-50s, Framecrafter KTM, and my finger.

Stan Miller's T-20 Suzuki X-6

I noticed the grease fittings over the cams on Keith Leighty's CB450 based racer and asked Keith about them.  They're to pre-lube the rocker arms.