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.

USCRA's 2017 Fall Giro

This year's Fall Giro was based in Tannersville, Pa., in the Poconos.  In 2014, we had a Giro base in the same place, but it was disrupted by police searching for a fugitive who had shot a cop and was at large, therefore roads were shut down and routes had to be changed.  The a big Walmart truck went over a little bridge and damaged it and routes had to be changed again.  So, this year's promised to be a clean run, especially since the weather was as good as it's been on any Giro; sunny and mid 80's with a light breeze.
I brought my '68 TC 200 Suzuki and my 'problem child', Laurence Deguillme, came with me.  Laurence had not been able to finish his 160 Ducati and was therefore borrowing a CA 77 Honda.

Laurence's CA77, Doug sitting on his Benelli, Pete ready to get on his T-20 Suzuki and Dave's Matchless

My TC 200 in the foreground, Pete's T-20 behind, Doug and his Benelli on the left and Dave's Matchless G2 in the back.

Sat., after our initial agility test, we headed initially southwest, then turned northeast and eventually crossed into N.Y. at Barryville.  Along the way, a bear jumped out of high grass and Mike Tomany hit it with his Puch Allstate and crashed.  Mike broke his scapula and a rib which punctured his lung. When I got there, Mike was laying in the road, but several people had stopped and I didn't see what I could do to help, so I carried on.  Mike's son, Aaron, was following and witnessed the whole incident,  then accompanied his dad to the hospital.
We only went a few miles in N.Y. along the Delaware River and, after a time check that didn't happen because of Mike's accident, we crossed back into Pa. via the Roebling Bridge.  This was the high point of my day as I'm a big fan of the Roeblings and their bridges.  This particular one is the oldest surviving Roebling bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in the country, and was originally an aqueduct for the Delaware and Hudson Canal.  That is, it carried the canal over the Delaware River.  Now the canal is gone and it's a roadway.  It's a National Historic Landmark and has been fully restored by the National Park Service.

The Roebling Bridge

It used cables attached to a huge chain that connect to an anchor deep in the ground

What was once a canal over a river is now a roadway.

Reading the sign explaining the cable/chain system revealed opposite.

From the Roebling Bridge we headed west about 18 miles to lunch at Rusty Palmer, a huge Honda/Bombardier dealer in Honesdale, which made it 99.5 miles from our start.  Laurence had been having big problems with the 305 Dream.  It would run well for a while then run poorly and he would let it sit for a while and it would run OK again for a while.  He associated this with a quick disconnect he had in the 'crossover' hose that kept coming partially apart.  He was able to get some hose at the dealership and I helped him eliminate the disconnect without spilling too much gas.
After lunch, we headed south and after a while I caught up to the Cotter clan.  Brothers Tommy and Danny Cotter are long time Giroistas and over the years more of their sons/nephews and friends have joined in the fun.  They're all characters and ride with brio on interesting bikes (or, in Tommy's case, sometimes scooters).  I gradually worked my way through them and was leading when I just overshot a turn in Newfoundland that I saw at the last minute.  I made a U-turn, but they, being not far behind, saw where to turn and we all entered the dirt Creamery Rd. at about the same time.  Tommy turned into a parking lot immediately before the road and cut across the grass to short cut the corner, but I just caught out of the corner of my eye that he was encountering a culvert and laying his X-6 Suzuki down at maybe 5 mph.  I chuckled to myself about the irrepressible Tommy and was back leading again.  Later, I learned that further on Tommy, Danny, and one of their son/nephews were chasing their friend and entered a corner, by one account three abreast, and didn't make it, the three of them running off the road and crashing.  Apparently, Tommy broke a femur and lost the end of a finger.  Danny initially refused treatment when the ambulance came but, as soon as it left, reconsidered.  Turns out he had a broken T-6 vertebrae.  They both ended up in a Morristown, N.J. hospital (one by helicopter) to be closer to their Bayonne home.
Somewhere on Promised Land Rd., my bike went on reserve.  I didn't know if there was any fuel before I got back to base, but figured my best chances were to stay on Rt 447 rather than do an almost 10 mile loop on Snow Hill and Laurel Run Roads which came back to Rt 447.  I learned later that on a steep downhill on the marbly, dirt Laurel Run Rd., Harry Elliot locked the front brake on his Ducati and crashed, breaking his leg.  All this carnage is highly unusual.  While it's not unknown for someone to crash on a Giro, there have probably been only a couple of broken bones in the 13 Giros the USCRA  has put on, so four riders in one day is unheard of.  The only explanation I have other than random chance is that the weather was too nice.
I didn't find any fuel on Rt. 447, nor Rt.191.  At Rt. 715, I encountered Pete Swider, also on his X-6 Suzuki, and he was having problems which he thought might be low fuel related.  So, we carried on in extreme economy mode.  Three miles from the end we finally found fuel.  I never knew that my bike would do 26 miles on reserve. A 175 mile day.
Sat. eve, at the banquet dinner, Mike Gontesky was the MC.  Plenty of people were thanked for stepping up and going out to fetch broken down bikes.  One group didn't get back until 9p.  There was plenty of swag that was handed out for door prizes.

Mike Gontesky's Aermacchi Chimera. He didn't ride it in the Giro; just brought it to show it off

They were ahead of their time--not a sales success, but who wouldn't want one now?

Sun. morning, we headed south and west,  then north and west on a dirt road.  Back on pavement, we turned onto a road that seemed familiar to me.  After a while, I realized that this was the road to Pocono Raceway.  I hadn't raced at Pocono since 1984 and I think the last time that I had been there was to spectate at Formula USA race in maybe the early '90s.  Despite the fact that Pocono is perhaps my least favorite race track, I did feel a bit nostalgic passing by it.
From there we went through White Haven, then across the Francis Walter Dam, which was fairly spectacular.  Back to Blakeslee, then a bit of dirt road and on to Pocono Lake and Pocono Pines, through Little Summit and back to Chateau Resort for lunch for a 82.5 mile morning.
About 3 miles into the afternoon run, I stopped for fuel.  I had a really hard time starting the bike and after kicking and kicking, I finally push started it.  For the rest of the afternoon, the Suzuki ran poorly.  I don't usually by the 'bad gas' theory and anyway, that wouldn't make it hard to start as the fuel in the float bowls was from the previous tank.  Did I have a leaking crank seal?  We headed south and west, through Neola, then back north through Reeders, then Tannersville and back to base at Chateau Resorts for a 44.9 mile afternoon.  300 miles of great roads in fabulous warm, sunny weather.
When I got home, I checked the points and timing, pulled the exhaust pipes off, took the carbs apart and didn't find anything but sprayed through the jets.  I took the baffles out of the mufflers and they weren't clogged up, but I put the torch to them anyway.  I put it all back together and it runs great.  No smoking gun, but sometime you just have to take them apart and look at them so they know that you care.  Ah, the joys of owning an old stink wheel.

Volunteers Amy Roper and Shana with her new husband Eli Kirtz in his Swedish Army uniform

Robert Fuller's '49? Airone

Team MotoGeezer may have to change it's name as this is some of the fresh blood riding with them this time.

How not to do an agility test--a TC250 knocks over cones

USCRA Spring Giro 2017

The USCRA's Spring Giro this year was in Asheville, N.C.  The course was laid out by director Will Paley, and it was a fabulous one. I rode my '68 TC 200 Suzuki.

 We had some rain Fri. pm and over night and, while it was dry when we started Sat. morning, it rained a bit and we encountered some fog early on.  This made the dirt sections quite greasy and a challenge on skinny road tires.  Gary McCaw may have had the greatest challenge on his Ducati Diana MkIII with clip on handlebars.

The clip ons on Gary McCaw's Ducati Diana MkIII were a challenge on the dirt

 We headed east through Black Mountain to Old Fort, then north.  We sort of circled around the south side of Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the U.S. east of the Mississippi.  Along the way, I stopped to help Carl Bachman who I saw stopped by the side of the road with his totally original 200 Bultaco Metralla.

Carl Bachman on his 200 Bultaco Metralla

He thought he had just fouled a plug and his plug wrench wouldn't fit under his tank.  Mine did and he put in a new plug, but then discovered that there was a lot of slack in the throttle cable, which we soon discovered was because the slide was stuck in the bore of the carb.  Carl got it out, but when he put it back, it jammed good and proper and he packed it in and called the 'sag wagon'.
Lunch was at the Ice Cream Deck in Micaville, where Tommy Cotter repaired the clutch cable on his bike in the now warm sunshine.  From lunch, we headed north through Double Island and Green Mountain.  Then I got quite lost and stopped to help another lost Giroista who's S-65 Honda had somehow lost the pin that drives the points cam off the OHC.  A local stopped and offered confusing directions and I headed off.  But, I soon lost faith and returned to the stranded S-65.

This isn't the S-65 Honda that got lost and died, but another one ridden by Doug Evans

It's rider had found a nail which he was going to try to use in place of the missing pin and he used the file/hacksaw in my Swiss Army Knife to shorten it.  The nail was too small in diameter and allowed too much slop in the points cam and, while the motor fired some, it wouldn't keep running.  I left him to the wolves, and tried to find the route again. He didn't get picked up until 7:30p as he was off the route and couldn't describe where he was.  Eventually, I found a road that was on the route sheet, though I was on it from the wrong direction.  This took me south and, after another challenging dirt section, took me to Barnardsville,  then Weaverville and back to south east Asheville.
That night at the banquet, Mike Gontestky played MC and got Gary McCaw and me up there to talk about our experiences of racing at the Isle of Man.
Sunday was glorious weather and we headed north and west to Weaverville via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Ox Creek Rd., then on to Bernardsville and Mars Hill.  The roads were fabulous with great views.  Grapevine, Big Laurel, Revere, and Lonely Mountain roads was an especially delightful section.
We had a time check at the Barnard River Park, and while there, Stewart Hall, father of Jake and Rob of HCV and a local, showed Rich Hosley and me a cache of old cars and trucks across the street and slowly returning to the earth.  He had his eye of a '49 Chevy pickup there, but I though "don't get involved".  Rob and Jake showed up, Rob on a 125 Sachs Boondocker and Jake on a 175 Hercules of dubious vintage.

Rob Hall's 125 Sachs Boondocker

The Herc had started running poorly and they suspected the coil in the magneto.  They had a coil, puller and impact driver with them.  What they didn't have was a hammer, but used a rock instead to pound on the impact driver to remove the flywheel and replace the coil and they were on their way again; what's the big deal?  I got a little lost again but managed to find my way into Marshall for lunch.  From Marshall, it was south through Stoney Knob and into North Asheville with a very challenging section of loose, large diameter gravel on Beaver Dam Rd.  Nearly 300 miles (well over 300 miles with my wrong turns) of terrific roads in mostly great weather.  This may have been the best Giro yet.

Jeremy Simpson's 175 Bridgestone Hurricane Scrambler

A 250 X-6 Suzuki

Lined up for the morning's agility test

My brother Doug on his 250 Benelli.  He had a rough Giro with the bike dying Sat. because both carb float bowl vents were plugged (which took a lot of diagnosing), then Sunday being rammed from behind and knocked down, breaking his front brake lever.  How he handled some of those steep downhills with no front brake I'll never understand.

There were four different Puch tingles on this Giro, this being a 250 badged as an Allstate

This is a '58 175 Allstate twingle, the oldest bike in this Giro 

I particularly admired his home made 'milk crate' with everything a Puch Giroista would need.

Jake Hall sitting on my TC200 Suzuki after we'd finished

evidence of the muddy dirt roads we had encountered.

Fall Giro

This year's USCRA Fall Giro was based in Brattleboro, Vt.  There were about 80 entrants and among them, three Moto Guzzi Airone Sports, including mine.

The Vermont Airone Sports

Laurence Deguilme and I had planned to go together and share a room but, at the last moment, something came up and he couldn't make it.  I called Tim Courts and offered him Laurence's entry.  Tim thought that sounded like a good idea and thought he could get his old 250 Ducati race bike shaken down for the Giro.  I thought Tim was a grizzled veteran of these events, but it turned out that he had never entered a Giro before.

Tim's ex-racebike 250 Ducati.  He was conserned about the seat, which is little more than a plank, but he got a gel pad from my brother and had a sheepskin and he was fine. 

Saturday started pretty cool and somewhat foggy as we headed north from Brattleboro to Dummerston, then west to Newfane and South Wardsboro.  I took a little detour and went to some land that my siblings and I own in West Wardsboro.  After a quick snoop around a tiny corner of the land, I returned to the Giro route on Rt. 100 south thru W. Dover and Wilmington. and into Ma.  We had lunch at Sayre Anthony's Nova Motorcycles in Turners Falls, after a 100 mile morning.  Sayre was working on a number of interesting bikes including a Gold Star an a Pre War DKW100.

A late '30s DKW 100 at Nova Cycles.  Rob Sigond photo

  Robert Fuller was having a hard time starting his Airone Sport as he wasn't quite reading what the motor wanted.  I got it started for him on the 2nd kick.  They're stone axe simple motors, but they can be particular.  The afternoon took us south through Deerfield, then northwest through Conway and Ashfield, east on Rt 2 through Shelburne Falls, than north through Colrain and Leyden back into Vt.   I caught up to Tim as we approached Brattleboro and his bike started running poorly as we got into town.  But, we made it back to the motel and Tim discovered that the problem was that he was running out of fuel.  He filled up the tank and it was better than new.  A total of 193 miles Saturday.
Jesse Morris' NSU Max had blown a head gasket (which he couldn't understand as he had replaced it, heat cycled it and retorqued the head) and Peg Preble had blown up her 175 Honda side car and I offered them each the use of my TC200 Suzuki for Sunday, but they both declined and decided to run a second sweep vehicle in addition to sister-in-law and Amy with Gayle Ellis.

The NSU Max of Jesse Morris and, yes, I'm a terrible photographer

The dealer sticker on Jesse's NSU, King Motorcycle, Brooklyn, N.Y.

A 65cc Yamaha

Sunday was like Sat., cool and sunny.  We headed across the Connecticut River into N.H., then north following the river more or less to Walpole, then east through Alstead Center.  Somewhere around here, I came upon a gaggle of Giroist and I passed a bunch of them down a steep hill just as I see the cop parked by the side of the road, but I guess he didn't see me, luckily.  Shortly after this, Bill Condon pulled up along side me pointing at my bike.  I pulled over and he pointed out that my kickstarter was hanging straight down.  I pulled it up and took off again, but the kickstarted fell down again and I realized that the return spring had broken.  Not a big deal as I had a bungee with me to hold it up and the bike is very easy to bump start.   After a bit, I stopped to see why Rich Hosley and Rick Bell, my nominal teammates in Team Paleo, were stopped.  Rich was securing his speedometer on his Ossa Wildfire after a small crash had knocked it ajar.  They followed me but almost immediately I went on reserve and I wondered if I'd make it to the next fuel stop.  But, I did and while there, Henry Syphers gave me what was left of some oil that he couldn't used, which eased my mind a big as the Airone was spewing it profusely.  We skirted south skirting around the east side of Keene and south some more through Swanzey and Richmond into Royalston,   Ma.  Lunch was at the Boiler Bar and Grill in Orange, a converted mill, 81 miles from our start.

The Boiler Bar & Grill, Sunday's lunch stop.  Rob Sigond photo

 The afternoon took us back up north into N.H.  about 20 miles from the finish, Tommy Cotter's 175 Bridgestone died and his brother Danny towed it back to Brattleboro and they still made their time check.
the scoring of the Giros is almost entirely based on the agility test when one is given a specific time to get through a slalom of cones where points are accumulated for time over or under or for knocking down a cone, dabbing or going out of bounds; low points wins.  I am consistently a high scorer, but this Giro I actually did fair.  I had a total of 7.7 points and beat my Team Paleo teammate Rick Bell's (250 H-D Sprint) 10.284, but we both dragged down Team Leader Rich Hosley's 4.842, good enough for 2nd 250 and 10th overall.

I love these Zundapp Super Sabres

Add caption

They do require pre-mixing

The owner found an NOS exhaust pipe for cheap

Jake Herzog's Grossa, an Ossa motor in a Greeves chassis

A YDS2 Yamaha

Fall Moto Giro

The USCRA's Fall Moto Giro was held in Asheville, N.C. this year on the weekend before the Barber Vintage Festival.  Will Paley, who participated in many Giros while he lived in Ct., moved to the Asheville area a couple of years ago and organized and laid out the route this Giro.  When I arrived on Fri., people were getting set up and doing last minute prep on there bikes.  I was quite taken with Tom Cotter's Progress scooter.

This is a late '50's German machine powered by a 191cc Sachs two stroke.  German machines of this era have such beautiful aluminum castings.  Tom let me take it for short ride and I was quite impressed.

It started to rain and blow in the afternoon and we knew that this was the beginnings of Hurricane Joaquin.  The predictions were dire, but we went to bed hoping for the best, knowing that the media often hypes these things way out of proportion.
The headquarters motel was chosen because of it's proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was our exit out of town.  Unfortunately, we found Sat. morning that the BRP had been closed.  Apparently, trees were down, and there was no easy way to revise the route on short notice, so Saturday's route was abandoned and we just did a agility test in the parking lot.
The majority of the Giroist decided to go to the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, not far away.  But, a few of us wanted to ride.  Yeah, it was raining and blowing, but so what?
Rob Hall grew up in the area, though he now lives in Charlotte, and he volunteered to lead us on a ride.    Six of us took off, heading first to Rob's brother Jake's shop, Hall's Custom Vintage, so Rob could pick up some two stroke oil.  We got to see Jake, who was recovering from a badly broken leg he received when T-boned while road testing a customer's beautiful BSA Goldstar.  HCV is a great shop and between Jake, Rob, and their dad Stuart, they can tackle anything for restoration or performance.  After checking out a few of their current projects and a good smooze, we got on the road again.

Leaving Halls Custom Vintage during Hurricane Joaquin.  Stuart Hall photo

Rob was riding the 125 Sachs Boondocker that he and his brother had beat the shit out of when they were kids.  Rob dragged it out of the barn where it had sat idle for years a few days before and threw some new tires on it.  I was riding my '68 TC 200 Suzuki, Mike Baker and Steve Fowler we each on 250 H-D Sprints, Tom Cotter was on his Progress and his nephew Kevin was on a YDS-3 Yamaha.  After a couple of miles of residential streets, we got to Elk Mountain Rd., and the fun began.  The road climbs steeply with switchback after switchback.  I couldn't believe the pace Rob was setting.  I knew Rob was a great roadracer, having raced against him at Roebling Rd., Barber, and Talladega.  But, now he was on a 125 dirt bike with trials universal tires.  In the pouring rain, he was  sending it in to the wet leave covered roads.  Admittedly, he knew the road well, but still I was dumbfounded, and there was no way I could hang with him.  When we stopped for a break, I asked him about those trials universal tires.  The front was a Shinko and the rear was a Golden Boy!  China's best.
We worked our way to Banardville, and then headed back, dropping Rob off at HCV.  Yeah, it was wet and there were a few branches down, but I think people had over reacted again.  Back at the HQ motel, my old friend, Bob Curtis, met us for lunch.  I probably met Bob 35 years ago when he live in the East End of Long Island, near the Bridgehampton race circuit.  About 10 years ago, he moved down to Burnsville, a little north of Asheville.  A couple of years after that, he fell in an AHRMA cross country and broke his back and is paralyzed from the waist down.  He now lives in a rehab facility in Asheville and his wife brought him over to the motel to see the bikes and some old friends, including Bob Coy, President of the USCRA, who he hadn't seen for about 30 years.  This motorcycle sport is serious fun.
At dinner that night, it was announced that Will had come up with a plan to run Sunday's route despite the fact that the Blue Ridge Parkway was still going to be closed.  Five or so locals would lead groups of 12 or so Giroist on a complicated route some 12 miles out of town to where we'd pick up the original route, for which we already had route sheets.  And, while the day started drizzly, it got nicer and nicer and, by mid-day, the sun was out and the roads were dry.  And, what roads they were.
Early on, I got hooked up with Rich Hosley riding his Ossa Wildfire.  But then he missed a turn and I rode for myself through some fabulous roads.  Grapevine Rd., Revere Rd., Lonely Mountain Rd.  Switchback after switchback with superb views and almost no traffic.  After I had gone quite a ways and was beginning to wonder if I had missed a turn, I stop to take a piss.  Being the modest, retiring fellow I am, I walk a ways off the road after parking my bike right on the side of the road.  I heard a two stroke coming and I got back to my bike just in time to see Rich passing and riding off in the distance.  There are no friends in a Moto Giro; it's cut throat.  So now I jammed hard trying to catch Rich, but ended up being the first one at the lunch stop in Marshall.  Rich had gotten lost again.
After lunch and the agility tests, I left with Rick Bell on his Sprint.  After we went a ways, we got hung up by some Giroist who were taking the average speed a bit too literally for my taste and I made a bit of a rude pass and lost Rick.  Some ways later, I saw a rider up ahead, and it took me for ever to catch up to him.  I followed for a good while and couldn't find a was to safely pass at this pace.  Finally, when he looked down at his route sheet in his tank bag figuring out the next turn, I swooped by, having my route sheet holder up on the cross bar of the handlebars and not having to take my eyes off the road much to read it.  This fellow, on a CB160 Honda, latched right onto me and we rode hard all the way back to the finish.  Trent Webster from Knoxville, Tn., introduced himself and I told him that I was impressed by his riding after he told me the motor was stock and still 161cc.

Trent Webster's CB160 Honda

I was impressed that Trent's taillight actually worked

Swiss Neiderberger gets the long distance award.  He brought this 250 Motobi from British Columbia

Eli Kirtz' on his C110 Honda, the sole 50cc entry

After a rough start, it turned out to be a great Giro.

Ron Cowan's Sears Allstate/Puch SR250 Twingle

Rich Snyder's '67 LS-2 Yamaha

Eli's faithful mascot

The legendary Cotter brothers, Danny standing and Tommy on his Progress, after Tommy survived going over a cliff, hauling his scooter 40' up to the road with the help of half a dozen or more and carrying on to the finish.  What's the big deal?

retrieving Tommy's Progress

I stayed on a few days with Will and his wife Elaine, in Weaverville, and got to ride much of his fleet.  Mon., my brother Doug and his wife Amy came over.  Doug's Benelli had died the previous day, his first DNF, and he found the loose connector in about 5 minutes in Will's shop, and we went for a ride, me on Will's Moto Guzzi Falcone, Will on his R-50 BMW, Rick Bell on his Sprint.  I rode my TC200 down to Bob Curtis' rehab facility and had dinner with him and his wife, who had brought Chinese takeout.  Over the next couple of days, I got to ride Will's NX 250 Honda and 2011 Moto Guzzi V-7.   I thought Will, having three BMWs, should know Ivan Messina and  Motorrad Unlimited, and we took a ride over to West Asheville and checked out his shop while he was preparing a bunch of bikes for Barber.  We visited Jake Hall again at HCV when I needed to weld a broken cable adjuster I found on my ERTT when preparing it for Barber.  Will took a shine to a 1950 Douglas Mk IV 350 they had in the shop and he recently told me that he bought it.  And we rode down to the Wedge Brewing Co. on a fine evening and met up with some of Will and Elaine's friends.  All in all, a great prelude to the Barber Vintage extravaganza.