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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment