Classic Racing Motorcycles at Roebling Road Raceway

The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association or AHRMA welcomed vintage racers from across the USA for the opening round of the 2011 classic racing series at Roebling Road Raceway, near Savannah, Georgia on March 8 & 9. Whether your preferance is American, British, Italian, or Japanese iron, there was so much to choose from.





Longtime motorcycle dealer and racer, Tom Kerr and his wife Peggy
brought this 50cc Ariel to campaign in the "Classic 60's" class.





Roebling Road is near the coast and the combination of sandy terrain and pine trees is tough to beat. The track surface offers more grip in the wet than most tracks in the dry due to its unique mix. This is so far removed from the experience at big tracks like Daytona where concrete and asphalt dominate.  







Early morning shadows and bright sun awaits Gary Maucher on his Indian Scout when the first practice session opened up. Gary ran every session and two races per day on the Indian without problem.





This strange Moto Guzzi, dubbed, "the Raven" tells a lot about the effects of Cabin Fever during those long winter months. So much work done to accomodate the new inline positioning of the V-Twin engine.





The Harley crew let the big twin warm up in the early morning sun.





Tasty Triumphs are a favorite of the classic crowd anywhere you go.





Indian Chiefs and Scouts still doing battle with the Harley-Davidsons  in "Class C, Hand Shift" Class .





Early 1970's Ford Econoline window van from Johnnys Vintage Cycles
adds to the vintage vibe in the paddock.





Between races, Gary Maucher checks over the Scout, one of the oldest bikes on the grid.





That's Barbara Connors Harley K model being prepared for action and below, a "Harley" of a different type that Dave Roper uses to great effect in the 350 GP class.





The number 1 plated Seeley framed Norton owned by Kenny Cummings and
ridden to victory in the premier event by Tim Joyce.





Team Hansen hits some snags with it's Honda 450 twin during the meet, but is likely the fastest Honda of it''s type in the USA.



A BSA Goldstar is displayed prior to it undergoing a thorough rebuild for "Classic 60's" class racing.



If you like classic motorcycles and want to see them in action, or race your own vintage bike, please visit an AHRMA race soon. Check out http://www.ahrma.org/ for complete schedule and information.

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Dondolino Debut - Classic Moto Guzzi Racing in USA

  A joyful Dave Roper fills in John Cronshaw on the details of his "new" 1946 Moto Guzzi Dondolino.  The bike would  make its classic racing debut in the capable hands of Mr. Roper the next day at the opening round of the AHRMA classic racing series. In the second day of racing, Dave grabbed the holeshot and led for several laps before being overtaken by Alex McLean on the McKeever Champagne Racing SRS Norton Special, a bike with hundreds of classic racing victories.





Don't let the age fool you, these bikes had many 'state of the art' features.
Check out those magnesium hubs front and rear. These bikes also run a girder front fork as good telescopic forks suspension did not rival the performance of the proven girder design yet.





This Guzzi may actually pre-date WWII and was likely a Condor model built to Dondolino specs. Lovely details typical of the Italian bikes of that era like the exposed flywheel.



Seeing and hearing a Dondolino Guzzi racing here in the USA is a rare event.
It was a sensory delight for Italian bike lovers.





Another interesting feature is the  parallelogram rear suspension similar to the Gilera Saturno design.





Heel and Toe right side shifter and tach drive above it and a Magnetti Marelli magneto.





Interesting fuel tank design and of course, the obligatory exposed hairpin valve springs on the front of the single cylinder engine. This is a push rod engine running thru a muffler which still rivals a Norton Manx for loudness.



click this link to see and hear this Moto Guzzi in action on the dyno last week in preparation for this race


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLA8Td9RyCQ&tracker=False







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Honda 350 Four Grand Prix special

The 'Works', Please!

When you think of Honda Grand Prix machines, what comes to mind? If you're of a certain age, names like Jim Redman, Mike Hailwood and Gary Hocking riding machines like the 250/4 or 500/4 comes to mind. But the most magnificent Honda of the 1960's clearly is the legendary 250/6. Was there any sexier machine? Honda wasn't the first to develop a six cylinder Grand Prix bike, that honor goes to MV Agusta. Why, even Moto Guzzi developed a compact V-8, but none enjoyed the success of the Honda.

                        


The Honda RC172 was a 350cc DOHC factory built racer introduced in 1963 and produced 54 hp at 13,500 rpm and it was able to reach speeds of 150 mph. The bike above is the Honda 250/ six which belongs to the Brooklyn based  Team Obsolete which had the bike at Daytona for Jim Redman to ride before his famous dust-up with AHRMA chief Jeff Smith who was trying to prevent Redman from entering the track. How silly.

It was with these imagines percolating in my mind since childhood that led me to build a Honda RC 'special' for vintage racing. In 1998, before replica RC works' style chassis were commonly available, I met Ken Awae at Daytona. The California based team owner was contesting the AHRMA 500 GP class with some very fast riders and some beautiful Honda twins with lovely alloy fairings. After several fairings were crash damaged by his riders, Ken switched to fiberglass and agreed to sell me a spare that he had made for the team in Japan. I packed the alloy faring in my truck for the long ride home while I contemplated what to do from here.

A thousand miles north, I had hatched a plan to build my own Honda Grand Prix style racer, albeit a more modest version running stock a stock 350cc four cylinder engine with a few minor tweaks. I'd run out of money to fund the AMA pro team I was involved with and I was going to return to my roots in classic  racing, where I'd started a decade earlier on a 1967 Ducati 250. But this time, we were  using a compact 350F roadster as a starting point. 
                                                                           




We modified the frame both front and rear by re-positioning the shocks to a more upright position and revising the steering angle at the front end. Unnecessary frame tabs removed and a new front end with a Suzuki T500 drum brake for a more period feel were but a few of the changes made. Kent Riches at Airtech provided the fuel tank, which was revised underneath to fit the frame.
Airtech also provided the seat and clip-ons.














The bike was put together at RBO in Parkesburg, PA in the winter of 1998.








The stock exhaust pipes, which were losing their chrome and dented, were then sanded and
painted after the baffles were removed. The sound is truly amazing at 10,000 rpm. The 350F racer is a SOHC engine that puts out 32 hp and weighs about 340 pounds dry. The factory version has plenty of trick features like a dry clutch and six speed transmission. Shame that Honda never brought that Grand Prix technology to best selling CB350/500/550 and 750F series.  
                                                                                      





             What a thrill it was to meet ex- Honda works rider, six-time World Champion
 Jim Redman at Daytona when he was riding for Team Obsolete. We'd also get a chance to meet the great racing mechanic Nobby Clark for the first time too.






After a minor incident we're back on track at Daytona minus a windscreen. Flat out on the banking, at 110 mph, it was brutal and my neck was sore for hours afterwards.



                                        1999 in the rain at Summit Point Raceway, W. Virginia.
                  A minor crash in the rain at Loudon later that year convinced me to keep the
                               alloy fairing for display and buy a fiberglass unit for competition.



Virginia International Raceway 2003

The Honda350F in action  at
Mid Ohio Raceway, Lexington, Ohio
 350 Grand Prix class
July 2003.





When I remember this weekend at Mid Ohio in July 2003, I can't help but think about fellow
racer Frank Swartout who lost his life that weekend. He and his brother were enthusiastic
 competitors and well liked by all. One positive result of the fatal accident was the mandatory application of the 'belly pan rule' which AHRMA had previously opposed despite the obvious safety improvement. 
I had been running one as WERA required one in their series, but it took a fatal incident to bring about
 a rule change at AHRMA.







The Honda 350 special has been laid up since 2003 when I started to put in more time on a MV Agusta 350 and TZ350 I'd acquired. It is a machine that can still conjure up that feeling of Grand Prix racing whilst stretched over the long fuel tank, immersed in the roar of four open exhaust pipes despite its humble origins.


click this link to hear a real Honda 250/six Grand Prix bike 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4chNjn01DP8

 

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Laverda Love Fest

La-ver-da. When I first saw a Laverda motorcycle in person, I was stunned by the size of the machine. I thought Italian bikes were meant to be small and delicate, but the Laverda is a man-size machine. Especially when it was in the confines of a small motorcycle shop in Philadelphia, The Sparts Parts Co.



















Original shop owner Franz Nachod  has since moved on to other adventures, but the shop continues today with current owner Roland Sotello. My father was just beginning to make the move from his beloved BMW to the Italian marque Moto Guzzi and the Spare Parts Co. sold both brands. It was there I saw the then current models SF750 and the Jota. The big twins and triple cylinder bikes dwarfed the Moto Guzzi LeMans parked nearby. A few years later, I found myself buying a Guzzi 850 T-5 from the shop and made my entry into Italian bike ownership.






I never did get buy my own Laverda, but in 2008 something even better came along, the offer to race someone else's Laverda!  Local Mercedes Benz dealer Gerd Opderbeck was kind enough to offer me a chance to race his stunning Laverda SF750 at the AMA Vintage Days Celebration at Mid Ohio Sportscar Complex and Raceway in Lexington, Ohio that July.






The bike had been converted by Altenier to SFC- style bodywork but was largely stock other than that. We took the bike to a local race shop, RBO in Kinzers, PA which got the bike running, added new tires and safety wired it in preparation for the event. Once completed, we loaded up the equipment and headed west.


                                    

Imagine my surprise when we rolled up to the garage at Mid Ohio, where we were confirmed as the only Laverda race entry for the weekend only to hear, " Hey, there's a guy in the next garage with an orange Laverda too."  I poked my head around the corner to have a look. What I saw was none other than Mr. Piero Laverda and his son, Giovanni with two stunning factory Laverda race bikes. One was the "Barcelona bike", a twin cylinder 500cc endurance racer and the other was one of the most fantastic race bikes ever, the Laverda V-6. While I'd seen the bike in books and online, I never thought I'd get to see it in person. Wow!

 Apparently the Laverda owners group put together the funding to bring over the father and son with the race machines as Laverda was the featured marque for the AMA Vintage Days weekend.  Laverda was established in 1873 in Breganze, Italy and manufactured , among other things Combine Harvesters for Agriculture. Big Orange Tractors.

                                 


                                                 







In what seems now like a just matter of minutes, I'd unloaded my bike, checked in and fueled up. I was heading out on track following the Laverda V6. What followed was one of those moments for which we classic bike enthusiasts dream of. I passed Mr. Laverda and he passed back, we ran up through the gearbox, then downshifted and dropped into the next turn. All the while, the big six making an exquisite sound via its six-into one exhaust system. lap after lap I stayed behind now, absorbing the moment, knowing it would likely be only chance to ever see it this close in action.






                                                                          


click on the link below to see the Laverda V-6 in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKqEEIlhNzg






In the next practice session, the Laverda twin, the 500cc Barcelona was taken out and exercised as well. I followed along as well. Like father, like son, the Laverda family knows how to have fun. I found out quickly, though, that my SF750 was very much in need of an update to dual disc instead of the drum brakes that didn't offer power equivalent to the engines power.  Lots of  Go, but no Whoa!

                                        


When we returned to the pits, I saw a familiar face in their garage. It was former AMA Superbike and two-time World Superbike Champion, Doug Polen who was sharing garage space and running a race school. Doug would hang around for the weekend critiquing and assisting racers who needed insight. What a class act. This is why classic bike racing never fails to keep my interest. It's the people and the bikes; the sights, the sounds, the smells, that provide the sensory overload that results in memories that last a lifetime.

In the Formula 750 race, it was quickly red-flagged because of an accident. Lots of drama and then a clean  restart. I finished mid-pack, but most importantly,  I brought the bike back home intact, which is all I could hope for given the high level of competition in the class and the other excuses I'm still working on.






As we loaded the bikes in the trailer for the long drive home, I said "Ciao" to my new friends and thought back to those days when I first laid eyes on a Laverda at the shop in Philadelphia. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined someday I'd not only get to race one, but get see the mighty Laverda Six up close. Simply amazing.

















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