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July/August 2021

BUILT BY GODET, THE CAFÉ RACER IS A MODERN TAKE ON A CLASSIC MASTERPIECE

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PLUS:

• CLASSICALLY FAST: 1974 TRIUMPH TRIDENT T150 • HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA RESTORATION • ALAN CATHCART RIDES THE LAVERDA 3C 1000 RACER

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ROAD

MAP

NICK CEDAR

This Triumph Trident T150 looks mostly stock, but after a few upgrades, it’s now properly fast. See Page 28.

FEATURES 14

42

EGLI-VINCENT The Egli-Vincent Café Racer, built by Godet, is a modern take on a classic masterpiece.

22 28

48

ONE FOR THE ROAD: 1972 CCM Built by Alan Clews, the Clews Competition Machine was a BSA-powered scrambles racer. This one had a tag and lights when it was found, and so when it was restored, it was kept street-legal.

CLASSICALLY FAST: 1974 TRIUMPH TRIDENT T150 Somewhere along the line, Tridents have gotten a reputation as dogs — slow, unresponsive dogs.

But not this one, built by Scott Dunlavey.

34

What gives a motorcycle its character? What feature most identifies and defines it? I think most riders would agree ... it’s the engine.

DUCATI MARIANNA Only about 350 of Fabio Taglioni’s Gran Sport were made, but they saved Ducati Meccanica.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: GREEVES 25DB SPORTS TWIN

57

SLIMMED-DOWN SPACEFRAME: 1975 LAVERDA 3C 1000 RACER Given Laverda’s proud tradition of going endurance racing, as soon as 3C production began, the Italian factory started racing its new triple.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA: RESTORED TO ORIGINAL Collector Fred Wacker has owned his WLA since he was just 16 years old. When his dad bought it for him, it had been turned into a custom, but in the early 2000s, Fred began the process of restoring it back to being an Army bike.

DEPARTMENTS 2

SHINY SIDE UP

10

The return of summer events.

4

8

READERS AND RIDERS

70

Visiting the Texas Vintage Motorcycle Fandango.

Readers send in stories about their long-term rides, and share info regarding all-white Honda CB160s.

62

ON THE RADAR

69

Which Bonnie is really the best? We take a look at three eras of the famed Triumph.

CLASSIC SCENE

HOW-TO

Keith gives advice on reading spark plugs, freeing a clutch and repairing exhaust ports.

Win a new Schuberth helmet We’re giving away a new Schuberth C4 Pro modular helmet to one lucky reader, who will receive their choice of color and size of the helmet, along with a SC1 Standard Communications System. To enter the Motorcycle Classics Schuberth Giveaway, go to MotorcycleClassics.com/ sweeps/schuberth

CALENDAR Where to go and what to do.

72

Two ways to stop your classic Norton Commando from wet sumping.

KEITH’S GARAGE

ON THE WEB!

DESTINATIONS Visit Chiriaco Summit, California, and the General Patton Memorial Museum.

80

PARTING SHOTS Dain Gingerelli tells us all about America’s Toughest Race, the Blackwater 100. www.MotorcycleClassics.com

1

SHINY

SIDE

UP

®

The return of summer events elcome friends to the July/ August issue. I hope that where you are summer riding season is in full swing and that the reward of winter wrenching is being found in happilyrunning bikes all around.

First, I wanted to say thank you to the surprising outpouring of responses to the question I posed in the March/ April issue regarding long-term motorcycle ownership. I’ve received more than a few dozen responses, and I hope to feature as many of them as possible in our Readers and Riders section in this and future issues.

I was amazed to hear all the stories of bikes that readers have had for decades, and a great many of you sent sharp photos to go along with the letters. It’s been quite a treat for me, so again, thank you.

Motorcycle shows and events are beginning to return. Our Texas correspondent Corey Levenson made his way to both the Texas Vintage Motorcycle Fandango in Fredericksburg, Texas, and a gathering of the Lone Star Chapter of the Vincent Owners Club in nearby Kerrville, Texas, the same weekend in April. Read all about it starting on Page 10.

Here in Kansas, the AHRMA Classic Motofest in the Heartland took place in its new bigger and better format over Memorial Day weekend at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka. In addition to road racing, this year the event expanded to include sidecar racing, motocross, cross country, trials and more. Saturday featured a vintage bike

W

LANDON HALL, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF lhall@motorcycleclassics.com

CHRISTINE STONER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR KEITH FELLENSTEIN, TECH EDITOR

show in association with the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, along with a growing swap meet.

Another highlight of the event was vintage drag racing on Saturday night with Russell “Russ” Hendron, known as “the quickest man on an H-D,” serving as the AHRMA Drag Racing Grand Marshall. He also made exhibition passes aboard and raced “Black Betty,” the famous dual-engined 192 cubicinch nitro methane Harley-Davidson Ironhead owned by Ray Sender of American Air Cooled Motors out of Louisville, Kansas. Russ won four consecutive AMRA/HDRA National Championships from 1987 through 1989, and is still active in nitro fuel drag racing today.

Next on the AHRMA calendar is another big one: the AHRMA Classic MotoFest of Monterey, which takes place July 16-18 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey County, California. The weekend will feature road racing, motocross, trials, and a Vintage Motorcycle Show by Hagerty on Saturday. 2021 is just the first year for this event, but AHRMA has confirmed this show for a three-year run. It’s sure to be a new regular highlight on racers and spectators summer to-do lists.

One way or another, 2021 is looking up. I hope you get out there and enjoy it.

Cheers,

RICHARD BACKUS, FOUNDING EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS JEFF BARGER • JOE BERK ALAN CATHCART • NICK CEDAR DAIN GINGERELLI • COREY LEVENSON BURT RICHMOND • MARGIE SIEGAL • ROBERT SMITH PHILLIP TOOTH • GREG WILLIAMS ART DIRECTION AND PREPRESS MATTHEW T. STALLBAUMER, ART DIRECTOR ADVERTISING DIRECTOR BRENDA ESCALANTE; bescalante@ogdenpubs.com WEB AND DIGITAL CONTENT TONYA OLSON, WEB CONTENT MANAGER DISPLAY ADVERTISING (800) 678-5779; adinfo@ogdenpubs.com

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BILL UHLER PUBLISHER CHERILYN OLMSTED CIRCULATION & MARKETING DIRECTOR BOB CUCCINIELLO NEWSSTAND & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR BOB LEGAULT SALES DIRECTOR ANDREW PERKINS DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TIM SWIETEK INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR ROSS HAMMOND FINANCE & ACCOUNTING DIRECTOR MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS (ISSN 1556-0880) July/August 2021, Volume 16 Issue 6 is published bimonthly by Ogden Publications, Inc., 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265.

Periodicals Postage Paid at Topeka, KS and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ogden Publications, Inc., 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265.

AHRMA racers Clint Austin (#720) and Jason Lindquist (#13) on track at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

ETECH PHOTO

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

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READERS

AND

RIDERS

“On a BMW you work through the turns, on the Guzzi you dance.”

Long-term Norton

M1000S Monster Senna ediRobert Freeman and his tion, and finally a 2018 Moto BMW, purchased new in 1963 Guzzi V7III Milano. The “back (MC March/April 2021) won’t up” isn’t just one way; each of be challenged for the record these has had its own downof longest ownership of one time, making the Norton my motorcycle by me. But maybe one functioning ride at times.

I can be a notable also-ran in My Commando had 8,700 the competition. I’ve had my miles when it came under my 1972 Norton Commando for a care, and it now has 103,100, bit over 41 years. so I have ridden it over 94,000 In late 1979, a very sorry miles, while the back-ups looking Norton was traded in accumulated less than 25,000 on a Honda Goldwing at the in total. Wonderful motorcyHonda-Kawasaki dealership cles all, but none provide the where I worked. By January Ben English and his Norton, which he has owned 41 years. soul-stirring joy of the Norton.

1980 it was mine, replacing a It now wears Brembo succession of Suzuki 2-stroke twins construction. That role was first played brakes, 18-inch Sun aluminum rims, (150cc, 250cc and 500cc) that had kept by a 1982 Honda FT500 Ascot single.

Amal Premier carburetors, a Lucas me on two wheels since I started ridEven when the Norton was back in one Powerbase charging system, a RITA elecing in 1966. I got it running right and piece and running better than ever, I tronic ignition, Colorado Norton Works was entranced by everything about found it handy to have another bike. billet triple clamps, a Lockhart oil cooler the bike. Aside from a 1974 Triumph I could keep riding while taking my and thermostat, and all manner of other T140V/Velorex sidecar combination for time for careful work when the Norton refinements and modifications major about three years in the mid 1980s, needed maintenance, upgrades or occaand minor to make it my reliable daily this Norton was my only motorcycle for sional crash repair (it had another frame rider. I am 76 now, and expect to keep nearly 20 years. out rebuild after a major crash in 2016). rolling on the miles as long as I can still Then when I planned an extensive I also came to enjoy sampling the kickstart it. frame-out rebuild expected to take at virtues of more modern machinery, as Then I will consider one of least a year beginning in 2000, I needed a the Honda was succeeded first by a 2000 the electric start kits available! back-up bike while the Norton was under Buell M2 Cyclone, then a 2003 Ducati Ben English/Albany, New York

More long-term rides

It could tell my life story. In 2013 I decided she deserved a I just opened the March/April 2021 Motorcycle Classics issue complete restoration, all of which was done in my garage and read the editor’s letter asking for bikes I kept the longest except powder coating and chrome. and why. I purchased my 1975 Moto Why this bike? It was a “sport Guzzi 850T new in the spring of touring” bike before the term was 1976 from Rissman Motors here invented: four hundred miles a day in Albuquerque. I remember tellwith a passenger, no problem. It ing Ilsa Rissman (she did the sales) never left me stranded and I was that I was also looking at BMWs, to able to do all the maintenance and which she responded in her thick repairs. Anyone could do a valve German accent, “on a BMW you adjustment on a Guzzi. Forty-five work through the turns, on the years and she still dances through Guzzi you dance.” It was one of the the turns. reasons I ended up on the 850T. I’ll never let this Guzzi go, my It traveled coast to coast, took daughter has already laid claim to my me to grad school, lived and toured motorcycles. I bought her a “learner” Northern California for 15 years bike (don’t tell her mom) so she will and came back to Albuquerque be ready when the time comes. with me. It has outlasted two marHarry Weingardt/ riages and many changes in career. Harry Weingardt's 1975 Guzzi 850T, bought new.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

4

MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

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Dave Dawes' restored all-white CB160.

John Huberts' 1968 Bonneville.

Ride ’Em I purchased my 1968 Triumph Bonneville when I was 19 years old. I am the original owner and it will be passed on to my children. I have explained to them when you have a classic motorcycle such as the Bonneville you are now not just an owner, but a caretaker, to preserve and share it with others. I have done just that. I do not hide it, I ride it. This motorcycle is completely stock and looks and runs as good as the day I purchased it from Family Cycle Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 53 years ago. I consider it the best purchase of my life!

John Hubertus/via email

Long-term Triumph This 1967 T120R has been with me in various configurations for many years. I was given a 1967 Bonneville to ride as a young mechanic at a Yamaha/Triumph dealership in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

As this was our first year for the Triumph franchise, the boss had me strip the demonstrator for parts to keep customers bike on the road. The bits and pieces left over were put back on the road in 1975 and ridden until 1999 when I was hit in a failure to yield right of way left turn accident. I restored the bike again and have ridden it each season. I am looking forward to spring and getting back on the Triumph.

Dave Goldman/via email

All-white CB160s Someone might have already replied to reader Ralph Poulsbo’s letter in the May/June 2021 issue about the all-white Honda CB160, but for the record, my friend John Lassak, whom I bought my 1966 CL160 from (and it’s in rather nice condition!) also has an all-white CB160, and he says the fenders are WHITE, not silver, as the other models have (including my CL).

Dain Gingerelli/via email I read Ralph’s question regarding all-white CB160s and wanted to confirm that Honda did indeed produce these bikes with white fenders and side covers, contrary to the Honda product identification guide. My CB160 shown in the attached photo (at top) was purchased new by a friend of mine, ridden briefly, and parked in an unheated garage for many years. We pulled it from that garage a while back and did a complete restoration, being sure to repaint each piece in the original color scheme. Every sheet metal part was white, including the taillight bracket. Only the footpeg bracket and center stand were not white. Since restoring this one, I have seen several allwhite 160s, so I guess they are not as uncommon as I once thought.

By the way, this machine has only 856 miles. It still wears the original Nitto rubber, along with all of the original Honda parts except for the hand grips (which were changed by the original owner to the much more comfortable Gran Turismos), and the An all-white CB160 in a period photo. battery which succumbed long ago.

Dave Dawes/via email Regarding white CB160s from the factory: My buddy in McFarland, Wisconsin, set the record straight when I asked him about colors on his white 160. His was totally stock and all white [see photo above right]. I hope this helps.

Tom Neumann/Janesville, Wisconsin

Dave Goldman's 1967 T120R.

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

Thanks to everyone who wrote us regarding all white CB160s. Though it’s a small photo, we also found this period Honda advertisement (right) that appears to show an all-white CB160. — Ed. July/August 2021

A period ad showing an all-white CB160.

ON

THE

RADAR Which Bonnie is Really the Best?

1963-1970 Triumph 650 Bonneville T120R Conventional wisdom says the 1968-1970 Triumph 650 unloved oil-in-frame Bonnie got the blame.

Bonnevilles were the best, the product of a decade of continuous But was this dissing deserved? Aside from its faults (and its development. The crack-prone pre-unit duplex frame was history, eccentric styling) the OIF 650 of 1971-1972 brought in muchand the 1963-on unit-construction engine was more compact and needed upgrades, like the welded frame, 5-speed transmission needed less maintenance. Balance factor and flywheel changes and turn signals. Most of its flaws were corrected during 1972, moderated vibration, camshafts were nitrided to reduce wear, and paved the way for the disc-braked, 750cc Bonneville T140V and the 1968-on twin leading shoe brake was a potent stopper. of 1973.

The engine was mostly oil-tight, thanks to improved breathing Good, better, best and revised pushrod tube seals. Already becoming a classic, the The success of the “new” 1963 unit-construction Bonneville — 1970 Bonneville wasn’t broke and didn’t need fixin’. like its progenitor, the 1938 Speed Twin — owed much to Edward But they fixed it anyway. BSA Group’s in-house think tank, Turner’s flair for combining classic looks with contemporary a safe distance from Triumph’s Meriden factory, dreamed up a technology. new welded chassis that carried oil in Inside the unitized powertrain was a its frame tubes, dispensing with the oil 71mm x 82mm dry sump parallel twin tank. Though built around BSA’s unit with a one-piece crankshaft running construction 650, it was also supposed Claimed power 52hp @ 6,500rpm on ball bearings (drive-side roller from to fit the Triumph 650.

Top speed 109mph/112mph (period tests) 1966) and plain bearing big ends. A At Meriden, everything that could Engine 649cc (71 x 82mm) 2-valve duplex chain drove the wet clutch and go wrong, did. The new frame would air-cooled OHV parallel twin, 4-speed transmission. Two gear-driven not accept the Bonneville engine with 4-speed, chain final drive cams operated overhead valves by rockthe rocker boxes in situ, slowing proWeight 363lb (dry), 390lb (curb) ers with screw adjustment. Battery/coil duction, while the seat height leapt to ignition replaced the pre-unit magneto. an ankle-stretching 34 inches. Frothing Fuel capacity/MPG 3.5 gals/N/A A single downtube lug-and-braze inside the frame “tank” meant reducPrice then/now $1,375 (1970)/$6,000-$20,000 steel tube frame housed the engine, ing oil capacity, with the potential for with a bolt-on rear subframe (that’s why overheating. Frames fractured around Triumphs were popular with hardtail builders!). Triumph fitted the center stand mounts, creating oil leaks. Because of these and their own telescopic fork, while Girling spring/damper units conother issues (a new computerized ordering system for one) BSA/ trolled the swingarm. Brakes were floating single leading shoe, Triumph missed the lucrative Spring sales season in 1971 — one 8-inch front and 7-inch rear. of the reasons they ran out of cash in 1972. Fairly or not, the U.S. dealer feedback prompted changes for 1966.

In came smaller gas tanks A 1968 U.K. model Bonnie. and wider handlebars; electrics went 12 volt; front brake lining area was increased; exhaust cam lubrication was improved; the rear drive sprocket was detachable from the brake drum; and the tach gained a right-angle drive to prevent cable snagging. 1968 introduced the potent TLS front brake, and for 1970 the crankcase breathed through the primary to atmosphere, replacing the camshaft-timed breather.

A Cycle World test in 1966 recorded a top speed of 109mph and a 14.2 second standing quarter at 88mph, while Cycle magazine’s 1970 model recorded 112 and 13.9

1963-1970 T120R

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

at 97mph, thanks to engine upgrades. Cycle also noted extra stability at high speeds from an increase in fork rake. Though steering felt heavier, it was still “head and shoulders above previous models” in handling and “roadability,” they wrote. CW noted that the increase in brake lining area made the front stopper “fade free.” Wrote Cycle, “Spend some time with this prince among twowheelers … and you’ll come to an understanding of why it has

CONTENDERS

been around so long.” They lauded its “great mechanical presence,” “power” and “silky smoothness.”

“The Triumph Bonneville for 1966 must still be considered the standard by which all medium-large displacement high performance touring bikes are judged,” wrote Cycle World. “None offers quite the same combined package of performance, and reliability, and handling.” MC

Other Bonnevilles to consider

1959-1962 Triumph 650 T120R Bonneville

1971-1972 Triumph 650 Bonneville

The 1959 Bonneville was essentially the 1958 Tiger 110 650cc with a new splayed port cylinder head, dual remote-float Amal Monoblocs and a new one-piece crankshaft. It wore the Tiger’s dowdy headlight nacelle and valanced fenders. U.S. dealers asked for a sportier look.

That came in 1960 with a new duplex frame, slender blades replacing the frumpy fenders and the nacelle nixed in favor of paired tachometer and speedometer. Unfortunately, the new frame was prone to breaking below the steering head, and a triangulating brace was added during the year. A 60-watt Lucas RM15 alternator and selenium rectifier replaced the 6-volt DC generator, though a Lucas K2F magneto still supplied sparks.

British magazine The Motor Cycle tested the 1960 Bonnie, finding it “very fast” with “tremendous accelera• Claimed power: 46hp @ 6,500rpm tion.” Handling was “first • Top speed: 115mph class” though heavier than • Engine: 649cc (71 x 82mm) usual for a Triumph, and 2-valve air-cooled OHV parallel the then-new floating-shoe twin; 4-speed, chain final drive brakes worked “really well” • Weight: 404lb (wet) while the engine remained • Fuel capacity/MPG: 4.8gal/52mpg oil tight.

• Price then/now:$1,100

When the 1971 Bonnie finally arrived in the U.S., the cycle press fawned: “One of Triumph’s best,” said Cycle World — though they noted that the seat was too high, and the Lucas turn signal switches were awkward and looked “as they’d be easy to break off.” But U.S. dealers were aghast: “The one thing Triumph didn’t have to change was the appearance,” noted dealer/racer Bob Leppan at the time. “That’s why people bought Triumphs!”

In time, riders got to appreciate steadier handling that came with the lighter, more rigid frame, improved fork action, and taper-roller steering head bearings. Cycle Guide thrashed a 1972 Bonnie round Orange County Raceway averaging over 70mph (including stops) before the clutch gave up at 318 miles — and the engine had burned two quarts of oil! Both • Claimed power: 47-50hp @ 6,500rpm CG and CW found the • Top speed: 112mph (period test) brakes worked well, • Engine: 649cc (71mm x 82mm) though many owners 2-valve air-cooled OHV parallel twin; would differ. The retro4-speed (5-speed optional), chain styled 1973 T140 finally final drive got it right: “Triumph • Weight: 399lb (curb, 1/2 tank gas) should have built the • Fuel capacity/MPG: 3.5gal/53mpg • Price then/now: $1,479 750 Bonnie five years (1971)/$3,000-$9,000 ago,” said Cycle World in 1973.

(est.)/$7,000-$28,000

The Verdict So which Bonnie really is best? For historical significance and cachet, it’s the 1959. The duplex pre-units win on graceful, austere styling and street cred. Early unit-construction Bonnies carry the McQueen seal of approval. And for sharp handling, it’s the 1971-1972. If only Triumph had built a 5-speed, disc-braked 650 … but they didn’t. The 1968-1970 Bonnies were capable, reliable and refined over a decade without losing their classic good looks. So they still get the nod. www.MotorcycleClassics.com

9

This classic Guzzi is not just for show, as it was parked in the attendee lot at the Fandango.

CLASSIC SCENE Texas Two-Steppin’ in the Hill Country Story and photos by Corey Levenson

B

By mid-April, things in Texas had finally started to loosen up a bit. Folks were getting jabbed and events that were cancelled in 2020 were slowly coming back on the calendar in 2021.

Springtime in the Texas Hill Country brought perfect riding conditions with cool breezes, warm sunshine and roadside bluebonnets. The Cherokee Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America hosted the 2nd edition of the Texas Vintage Motorcycle Fandango at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds in Fredericksburg, Texas over the second weekend in April. It’s been called “The Best Little Vintage Bike Event in Texas” and included a swap meet with 140 vendors, tech sessions, 130 flat track racers and two shows with 116 classic bikes and 98 choppers on display.

The event was first held in April 2019 and had to compete that weekend with Austin’s Handbuilt Show and the MotoGP circus for attention. Fandango was skipped last year for obvious reasons and came back in full force this year with over four thousand folks attending. The marque from Milwaukee was best represented but, with so many bikes in attendance, there was plenty of vintage British iron in addition to classic European and Japanese models.

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

In addition to being a Spanish dance, a Fandango is defined as “a foolish or useless act or thing.” Call it what you will, the event was a huge success. In the words of the organizers: “In the grand scheme of things, our event didn’t change the world, but it did put a smile on the face of everyone who attended.” The next Fandango is already scheduled for April 1-3, 2022. For updates, see cherokeeamca.org/events.html By happy coincidence, the Lone Star Chapter of the Vincent Owners Club gathered the same weekend in nearby Kerrville, Texas just a short ride from the Fandango event. It provided a rare opportunity to enjoy a spectacular collection of the iconic British motorcycles. The Chapter has about fifty members and many showed up, bringing a total of two dozen bikes badged as either Vincents or HRDs. The oldest was a 1936 Comet 499cc single and the newest were a pair of made-in-France, Godet Egli-Vincent Specials. Most of the bikes were 998cc Black Shadows and Rapides from the 1950s, including a rare Chinese Red Rapide. By the time production ended in 1955, the factory had produced four families of machines (Series A, B, C and D) and examples of each were present in Kerrville.

After a year of isolation and not being able to fully relax and hang with friends, these two celebrations of classic motorcycles made Spring truly feel like a time of emergence and renewal.

Dang, y’all; it felt just like old times! MC

Clockwise from left: Hand-shifting adds to the challenge when racing one of these old Harleys; dirty old bikes need love, too; plenty of vintage Harleys on display; a few British treasures in the swap meet; a Brit bike and American dirt is a good combo; old school flat tracking hijinks; two classic British 500cc singles, a Velocette Venom and a BSA Gold Star Catalina.

www.MotorcycleClassics.com

11

Bev Bowen’s 1936 Series A Comet, complete with period-looking luggage (left). Engine detail of the 1936 Comet (right).

A matched set of Godet Egli-Vincents.

Two very rare birds — a red Rapide and a Meteor single.

The ride leader’s Series B twin.

All the Lone Star Chapter member Vincents at a rest stop.

The gathering brought together many Black Shadows and Rapides, along with a few even more rare models.

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

A long-stroke 630cc Comet NorVin Special.

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EGLIVINCENT The Café Racer, built by Godet

Story by Greg Williams Photos by Jeff Barger

C

Canadian folk-rock troubadour Corin Raymond has a tune called Hard On Things, which appears on his 2016 album, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams.

While not exactly a theme song for Jim Balestrieri, some of the lyrics do echo how the Wisconsin man, who is an automobile racer, motorcycle collector and a partner in the Elkhart Lake-based Throttlestop Museum, describes himself.

Corin Raymond sings in Hard On Things: “I’m hard on every tool I use I strip the drivers and the screws I’m hard on my soles hard on my heels hard on tires I’m hard on wheels hard on clutches hard on brakes I’m hardest on my own mistakes my suspension needs new springs ‘cause I’m hard on things.”

Jim says, “I do race cars, and I’m not known for something being more valuable when I’m done with it,” and, he admits, “I’m hard on things. The last thing I want to do is take something out and wreck it, and not be able to find a replacement.”

He’s speaking of the Egli-Vincent Café Racer seen in these photographs. The bike was purchased early in 2018 at the Mecum auction in Las Vegas. “This is a drop-dead gorgeous bike, it’s distinctive and, as a continuation model Egli-Vincent, it’s unique,” Jim says.

The lineage What exactly is a Godet EgliVincent? To answer that, we’ll first introduce the late Patrick Godet, who died on November 25, 2018, at the age of 67.

According to fellow Motorcycle Classics contributor and author Alan Cathcart, writing early in 2019 in Classic Bike magazine, Godet was just 23 years old in 1974 when he bought a Vincent Black Shadow. That same year, using money he’d saved serving in the French military, Godet opened a Vincent tuning and restoration business. From this venture, he earned enough money to buy a Vincent Black Prince, a model he used exclusively for touring.

But by the late 1970s, when Godet turned his attention to the nascent French historic motorcycle racing scene, the Black Prince was sold, and he tuned his Black Shadow www.MotorcycleClassics.com

15

to Lightning specification. He referred to this machine as the Spéciale, aka “Le Gros Avion.” With further fine-tuning, the Spéciale participated in British historic racing events and in the hands of rider Hubert Rigal, in 1985, the duo won the Vintage Race of the Year at Brands Hatch.

This honor, Cathcart notes, helped ensure Godet Engineering became a name firmly connected with Vincent machines.

Fritz Egli

GODET EGLI-VINCENT Engine: 1,330cc air-cooled OHV V-twin, 92mm x 100mm bore and stroke, 8.3:1 compression ratio, 100hp @ 6,000rpm Top speed (approx.): 138mph Carburetion: Dual Mikuni Concentric 36mm Transmission: 5-speed, chain final drive Electrics: 12v Alton alternator, electronic ignition Frame/wheelbase: Egli-style tubular steel w/ engine as stressed member/56.5in (1,435mm) Suspension: 35mm Ceriani GP replica forks front, dual shock rear Brakes: 8.3in (210mm) 4-cam magnesium drum front, 7in (178mm) SLS drum rear Tires: 3.50 x 19in front, 4.10 x 18in rear Weight: 392lb (178kg) Seat height: 30.3in (769.2mm) Fuel capacity: 3.7gal (14ltr)

Next, we must introduce Fritz Egli. Born in 1937 in Zurich, Switzerland, Egli was an enthusiastic machinist and motorcyclist who spent a short time in California in the early 1960s. While in the U.S., he desertraced an Ariel, and also developed a deep appreciation for traditional blues music.

When he returned home to Switzerland, Egli began specializing in fine-tuning and racing Vincent motorcycles. He campaigned a Vincent Black Shadow, and quickly determined the factory frame was no match for the power he was able to coax from the V-twin engine. The Vincent frame consisted of an oil-bearing squaresection top. Attached to this “spine” was the neck, complete with a Vincent Girdraulic fork. The 50-degree V-twin Vincent engine was suspended below the spine, and acted as a stressed mem-

ber with a triangulated swingarm bolted to the rear of the powerplant.

Suspension was provided by two shocks, essentially located under the seat. The shocks were anchored to the rear of the spine and angled back to join the upper section of the swingarm. All of these frame components were bolted together, and Egli realized that to make a Vincent truly handle, he needed to create a stiffer frame of his own design incorporating modern shocks at the rear.

He started with a 4.5-inch diameter top tube that would hold six pints of oil, and the V-twin engine was still used as a stressed member.

Instead of the under-seat twin shock arrangement found on the Vincent, however, he made a strong subframe of 1-inch diameter tubing and conventionally mounted twin shock absorbers to meet up with a much stronger swingarm.

Going racing

With a front fork harvested from a Matchless G45 race bike, he campaigned his first Vincent special in 1968 at the Swiss Hill Climb Championship — and won.

In the hands of his official riders Fritz Peier and Florian Burki, the same Vincent went on to win the 1969, 1970 and 1971 Hill

Climb Championship. It’s important to note that a European hill climb is not the same rough-and-tumble dirt affair seen in North America. Using closed mountain roads in this European format, competitors race up twisty asphalt routes to reach the summit in the quickest time possible.

With such successes to his name, Egli soon became a Vincent special builder, buying used machines and fine-tuning the V-twin engines before placing them in his own frame. Updated forks, carburetors, hubs, brakes, wheel rims and shocks came from mostly Italian suppliers, with customers choosing their preferred options.

Exact production numbers are unknown, but it is thought approximately 100 Egli-Vincents were built in his Swiss workshop.

When the ground-breaking Honda CB750, with its overhead-cam 4-cylinder engine debuted in 1969, Egli realized there could be a potential new market for his chassis. He began focusing on building frames to hold engines from not only Honda, but also Ducati, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha.

Vincent history We’ve been talking about Godet and Egli and their involvement with Vincent motorcycles and powerplants. Now, here’s a short primer on that British manufacturer.

In 1928, Philip Vincent purchased the remnants of the HRD Motors company, and began building Vincent HRD machines with a single-cylinder JAP

engine and a cantilever frame of Vincent’s design. Shortly after that, the company was building a single-cylinder engine of its own, penned by chief engineer Phil Irving. It was Irving who drew the first Vincent V-twin, which debuted in the Series A Rapide in 1936. Development of the marque continued, and the company soon boasted they were makers of “The World’s Fastest Motorcycle,” but by the mid-1950s Vincent had hit hard times.

In 1954, in an effort to increase slow sales, Vincent introduced the Series D line of machines, and these were essentially marketed as high-speed touring motorcycles. Both the Black Knight, based on the Rapide, and the Black Prince, based on the Shadow, were fitted with full body enclosures. The body parts were made of fiberglass, including a “beaked” front fender, a handlebar fairing and a rear tub that hinged for access to the rear wheel and chain.

Vincent fitted the Series D motorcycles with a hand operated center stand, actuated by the rider from the saddle. A large lever on the left side of the machine was employed to raise and lower the stand.

Also, the Series D was the first and only Vincent equipped with battery and coil ignition and Amal Monobloc carburetors.

Enclosing the motorcycles did nothing to help sales, and in 1955 Vincent ceased production of its powered two-wheelers.

Egli and Godet come together

The fairing features built-in blinkers.

By the time Egli entered the picture in 1965, new motorcycles hadn’t rolled out of Vincent’s factory doors for 10 years. In Britain, the old Vincent machines were www.MotorcycleClassics.com

17

considered antiquated, but, as noted earlier, the 998cc V-twin shop had been restoring not only Vincents, but also Eglicould be tuned to achieve significantly more power. Initially Vincents. By the mid-1990s, Godet had gone on to build a few rated for some 45 horsepower in the Rapide model, for examEgli replicas himself. In 2000, at the Egli Meeting in Bettwil, ple, in the hands of a capable Switzerland — home of Fritz tuner, the V-twin could be Egli’s workshop — Godet modified to make closer to presented one of his Café 100 horsepower. With that Racers to Egli, who was duly kind of power, enthusiasts impressed by the build. The wanted a better frame and two quickly became friends, those faithful to the Vincent and Egli blessed Godet with brand supported Egli’s work. the rights to reproduce his However, almost as soon classic Vincent chassis. as Egli built his first special Around that same time, Vincent frame, other firms Godet had also engineered took notice of the design. and begun building his own Some, such as Roger Slater 1,330cc Vincent engine with in the U.K., who became 92mm x 100mm bore and an Egli-Vincent distributor stroke. Improvements to the in 1969, built Egli frames basic Vincent design were under license. Others simply based on his racing experitook to producing Egli-style ences, and these engines frames of their own, as Egli’s were installed in his design was not trademarked. nickel-plated Egli chassis.

Godet was very aware of By 2006, there was a long Egli’s work, and in his work- The Godet-designed 1,330cc twin makes 100 horsepower. customer waiting list for one

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July/August 2021

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of these Godet-produced continuation model Egli-Vincents.

These machines include the Café Racer and Sport GT. Godet also constructed 500cc single-cylinder Vincent engines, creating the 500 Grey Flash and Racer 500.

Godet’s 1,330cc engines featured updates such as electric start and electronic ignition. Options abounded on build details, including magnesium cases and either a 4- or 5-speed transmission linked to the crank via a multi-plate clutch.

Our subject bike Jim’s Godet Egli-Vincent is powered by the 1,330cc engine and uses a 5-speed gearbox. This powerplant is equipped with gasflowed cylinder heads and spent gases exit a curvaceous 2-into-1 exhaust system that’s capped with a BSA Gold Star muffler.

Most of Godet’s Café Racer models were fitted with Ceriani replica forks constructed by Maxton Suspension Specialists. Rear shocks were also by Maxton.

Magnesium front hub and brakes were 210mm 4-leading-shoe as standard, and that’s the size of brake found on Jim’s machine featured here. A larger 230mm front drum and backing plate was an option. Bringing up the rear was a 178mm drum brake. The front wheel is 19-inches in diameter, and the rear 18-inches with Borrani aluminum rims at both ends; Jim’s machine is shod with

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a Dunlop Roadmaster rear tire and Avon Speedmaster front tire.

Sitting atop the frame is the classic Egli banana-style aluminum gas tank. Clip-on bars are from Richard Peckett of P&M Motorcycles (U.K.), and the right side is equipped with a Tommaselli twist grip.

According to Philippe Guyony, author of Vincent Motorcycles, The Untold Story Since 1946 and the Egli-Vincent Section Organizer of the Vincent HRD Owners Club, the frame number on Jim’s Godet Egli-Vincent indicates the machine was produced in 2013, however, as a continuation model it’s titled as a 1968. It’s fitted with the optional half fairing, something that is claimed to add just two pounds of weight to a bike that, without the fairing, tips the scales at 392 pounds.

After the Godet Egli-Vincent was purchased from the Mecum auction, it was crated and transported to the Throttlestop museum. While Jim says he’s not aware of the bike’s history, it was obviously well cared for and had only traveled some 844 miles before being sold.

“It’s pristine,” Jim says of the motorcycle that was assembled with a great deal of craftsmanship in Godet’s workshop. “We cleaned it up a bit, but when you get something like this you really just leave it alone. And, like I said, I wouldn’t want to ride it and wreck it. I really am hard on things.” MC

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DUCATI MARIANNA

Story by Phillip Tooth Photos by Phillip Tooth and the Ducati and Tartarini archives

O

Only about 350 of Fabio Taglioni’s Gran Sport were made, but they saved Ducati Meccanica.

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Ducati was in trouble. The year was 1954 and the factory had recently laid off 600 workers because of poor sales.

Fortunately they had a new boss who had the vision to realize that a race-winning motorcycle could save the company — and Dr. Giuseppe Montano knew the man who could design it for him.

The company began in 1926 when Antonio Cacelieri Ducati and his three

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sons Bruno, Adriano and Marcello founded Societa Scientifica Radio Bravetti Ducati — the first company in Italy to make electrical capacitors and radios.

Nine years later the brothers moved into a new factory at Borgo Panigale on the outskirts of Bologna. Before long they were employing 7,000 workers and expanded into making electric razors, miniature cameras, refrigerators and juke

electric start 175cc scooter and various versions of the Cucciolo. The Ducati family must have been impressed with Dr. Montano because a year later, when they split the company into two separate groups — Ducati Electronica and Ducati Meccanica — they put him in charge of the motorcycle side of the business.

But the Cruiser scooter was a disaster — it was expensive, slow and unreliable — and the Cucciolo was no longer selling in large numbers. Tuned versions of the pushrod 98cc Ducati were entered in long-distance road races but they were no match for Laverda and MV Agusta lightweights. Dr. Montano realized that you couldn’t build a winner by converting a road bike into a racer, so in the spring of 1954 he phoned Fabio Taglioni, a 33-year-old design engineer who had recently resigned from Mondial. He made Ing. Taglioni an offer he couldn’t refuse: I’ll give you a one-year contract if you can design a racing motorcycle that can be used on the road — and win next year’s Motogiro d’Italia. But if you fail it will probably be the end of Ducati Meccanica.

While at FB Mondial, Dr. T had worked under Alfonso Drusiani, designer of the double overhead camshaft 125cc racer that won every world championship from 1949 to 1951. During 1953 Drusiani developed single overhead-camshaft sports road bikes of 125 and 175cc, and these were quickly developed into successful production racers. When the Mondial bosses organised a dinner to celebrate victory in the 1954 Motogiro d’Italia they forgot to put Taglioni on the invite list and he quit the next day. The real Ducati racing story was about to begin.

Beginnings of a new bike

boxes. Diversification was the name of the game after World War II, and in 1946 the brothers bought the manufacturing rights to the 48cc Cucciolo (puppy) from a Turin lawyer. This little 4-stroke engine, with its pull-rod valve operation, could be bolted into a bicycle frame and was a huge hit with Italians who were crying out for motorized transport.

Besides being remarkably frugal com-

pared to the 2-stroke competition, the Cucciolo was also fast and reliable. In 1951 a racing version ran for 48 hours without stopping to take an impressive 27 world records.

Dr. Montano joined Ducati as Managing Director in 1952. The factory was now making proper motorcycles powered by a new 98cc unit construction overhead valve engine alongside an

On May 1, 1954, Taglioni set to work designing an all-new racer that would owe nothing to the pushrod singles from Borgo Panigale. He selected a handful of the best mechanics and engineers from the factory production line. These men would be his race team. The Grand Sport 100 racer used a shaft and bevel drive to a single overhead camshaft, just like the Mondial. But Taglioni’s unit-construction engine was over-engineered to make sure that it could be ridden flat-out for days on end, which it would www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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The original 98cc Gran Sport was soon joined by a 125 version. They cleaned up in the Milan-Taranto.

have to do if it was going to win the Giro.

Sandcast crankcases were split vertically, and housed a crankshaft assembly with full-circle flywheels and a forged steel connecting rod with strengthening ribs around both the big end and small end. To give a larger bearing surface area, the crankpin was stepped so that it was 32mm in diameter at the caged roller big end, but 5mm narrower where it was pressed into the flywheels. A forged alloy piston carried two compression rings and one oil scraper ring. The straight-cut primary drive gears and wet clutch on the left transmitted power through a 4-speed close ratio gear cluster. Also on the left was a flywheelmounted generator to charge the 6-volt battery and power the coil ignition and the lights — after all, this racer would be running through the night.

The alloy cylinder barrel, with its shrunk-in iron liner, was tilted 10 degrees forward and the alloy cylinder head featured a separate cambox (later

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bevel drive Dukes would have the cambox integral with the head). The rockers and hairpin valve springs were exposed to the cooling breeze, and the springs could be changed at the side of the road with a simple compressor lever that the rider tucked down the side of his boot.

Dr. T’s masterpiece had a bore and stroke of 49.4mm x 52mm to give a capacity of 98cc, and with a 20mm Dell’Orto set at a steep 15-degrees downdraft angle and a modest 8.5:1 compression ratio.

Maximum power at 9,000rpm was an impressive 9 horsepower at the crank — a figure soon boosted to 12 horsepower when the engine was singing at 10,500rpm.

Instead of a full cradle frame with twin downtubes like the Mondial, the new OHC Ducati engine was fitted into a simple loop frame with a single downtube and the engine used as a stressed member. Suspension was a conventional telescopic fork up front with twin shocks and a swingarm controlling the

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rear. Unlike most racing lightweights of the time, instead of 19-, 20- or 21-inch wheels the Gran Sport ran on 2.75 x 17-inch tires. Steel-lined magnesium brake drums and conical hubs helped keep the weight down to around 175 pounds. Small wheels and a 50.4-inch (1,280mm) wheelbase delivered quick handling, and even at racing speeds — the Gran Sport 100 was good for 81mph — the 4 gallon aluminum gas tank held enough to cover 415 miles.

In February 1955, less than a year after he joined Ducati, Taglioni put out his cigarette and fired up the Gran Sport at the Modena Autodrome. He was going to be the first to ride his creation — but this was nothing to do with ego.

This modest man believed that he was responsible for the safety of his riders, and if anyone was going to get hurt it would be him. But the Gran Sport performed faultlessly and was soon christened Marianna in honor of the Catholic church’s celebration of 1955 as the year of Holy Mary. They were ready for their first race — the famous Giro d’Italia.

Twin quick-action tank caps allow speedy gas fills whichever side the pit is on (top left). Classic white-face Veglia tachometer sits in front of pilot’s nose.

Ready to race Held over nine days in April, the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy) was limited to motorcycles of up to 175cc. There were two categories: “production” models which were usually specially prepared by the factory, and the “sports” class, which was really road-legal racing machinery like the Marianna. Riders wearing skin-tight leathers and pudding basin helmets lined up for a night-

time start in Milan with their headlights throwing a 24-watt yellow glow into the darkness. Ahead of them lay almost 1,500 miles of riding with the twistgrip wound wide open. With daily stages of between 50 and 310 miles they would race through crowded village streets, through hundreds of hairpin bends on Alpine passes, and along seemingly endless straights between cities. It was a tough race — hard on men, and hard on bikes.

There were 37 Ducati riders entered

in the 1955 Giro, with some on the old pushrod singles. Although Leopoldo Tartarini was a Giro veteran, most of them were enthusiastic amateurs, and this would be the first big event for most of them — including team leader Bruno Spaggiari. If Dr. Montano had any doubts about the Marianna they had disappeared before the end of the second day, when a youngster by the name of Giovanni Degli Antoni roared into the lead and stayed there all the way to the finish. The Ducati team was ecstatic

Record breaking in the Flying Torpedo On November 30, 1956, Fabio Taglioni watched as two riders piloted their streamlined Gran Sport 100 around the concrete banking at Monza and into the record books. A slim aluminum fairing covered both wheels, which is why the little Ducati was named the Siluro (Torpedo). That was enough for Mario Carini and Santo Ciceri to claim a total of 44 world records.

Lapping at up to 106.82mph, they took 13 records in each of the 100cc, 125cc and 175cc classes, and even five records in the 250cc class. The Siluro set the 50km (31-mile) record at 102.18mph, but most impressive was the 1,000km (621-mile) record that was smashed in just under 6 hours 30 minutes at 96.04mph. The only engine modifications were higher gearing and a 25mm Dell’Orto in place of the original 20mm carburetor. www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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Swiss ace Luigi Taveri at the 1958 TT, Desmo 125 (top right). Taglioni launches the Gran Sport, Imola 1955.

— only nine of their bikes broke down, and eight of these were the old pushrod design. The Marianna took the top six places in the 100cc class, and Degli Antoni’s 61.5mph race-winning average was faster than the Benelli Leoncino that won the 125cc class.

Next up was the Milan-Taranto, the 870-mile marathon where men and machines raced from the north to the south of Italy. Unlike the Giro, the MilanTaranto was open to motorcycles up to 500cc. Even full Grand Prix machines like the 4-cylinder Gilera were entered by factories hungry for the publicity that a win would bring. Taglioni and his team quickly built a 125cc version of the Marianna for the June event by boring out the cylinder of the Gran Sport by 5.85mm. With a bore and stroke of 55.25mm x 52mm it would be the first Ducati with over-square dimensions.

Ducati were on a roll. Degli Antoni led for almost the entire distance to win the Milan-Taranto with a race average of 64.11mph, and the Gran Sport 100 annihilated the opposition to claim the next 12 places. Degli Antoni also finished 16th overall, even though he was racing against machines with five times

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

the capacity. To add icing to the cake, Giuliano Maoggi won the 125cc class on his big-bore Marianna.

Moving forward Early in 1956 Taglioni converted the cylinder head of the 125cc Gran Sport to double-overhead camshafts to make Ducati’s first Grand Prix racer.

A few months later he produced his first engine with desmodromic valve operation, again using the Gran Sport as a basis. On the second weekend of July the Desmo made its race debut at the Swedish GP in Hedemora, It was another astounding success for Ducati

— Degli Antoni ran away with the race, setting a new lap record. He even lapped every other rider on the track. It was a sensation!

At that year’s Milan motorcycle show, under a banner reading “From the Race Track to the Road” Dr. Montano revealed the production version of the Gran Sport — a 175cc overhead camshaft single available in sport or touring trim.

Taglioni had saved Ducati and the Marianna would be the basis for a range of racers and roadsters over the next two decades. Oh, and Dr. Montano extended Fabio Taglioni’s contract — he was still at his desk in 1989! MC

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CLASSICALLY FAST 1974 Triumph Trident T150V Story by Margie Siegal Photos by Nick Cedar “One thing can be said about performance — breathtaking.”

Cycle Guide, September 1972

B

Back in the day, Triumph Tridents were pretty fast.

They did well at the drags and performed on the track. Somehow, in the years since production stopped, Triumph Tridents have gotten a reputation as dogs — slow, unresponsive dogs. Scott Dunlavey, the owner of this 1974 T150, builds modern race engines and should know a greyhound from a bulldog. He says Tridents are greyhounds.

Back in the day, Scott rode a Trident back and forth to college.

It was fast and reliable, and the only problem he had was the number of times he had to stop for gas on the 227 mile trip — exacerbated by flogging the bike outside of populated areas.

“It got 35 miles to the gallon. Triumph geared it low to keep up with Honda 750s.”

Now once again a proud Trident owner, Dunlavey shares his tips for making a Trident run. No special prep is needed — just a good tune-up, unrestrictive mufflers and good air flow to the carburetors. “Tridents like air and gas,” he says.

Poor timing Scott also points out that the Trident is Exhibit A for just about everything that went wrong with the British motorcycle industry. In the 1960s Triumph was owned by the group that also made BSAs. The people who worked for each brand hated each other’s bikes, which made for some interesting interfactory clashes. The triple was designed at the Triumph Meriden works by Bert Hopwood, Doug Hele and Jack Wicks in 1963. The prototype, which was ready for production in 1965, looked very much like the good looking Triumph Bonnevilles of the time.

Getting it into production would seem to have been a priority, given that management had heard rumors that Honda was building a 750cc motorcycle.

However, the BSA group was run by suits with no motorcycle experience or understanding of the motorcycling public. The suits delayed the introduction of the triple for three years for a cosmetic redesign — by Ogle Designs, a firm whose only prior work had been on automobiles. They also insisted that BSA produce its own version. As a result, the triple came out in 1968, a

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few weeks before the Honda 750. The technologically advanced Honda snatched public attention away from the British product.

To make matters worse, the Ogle design was not particularly loved by the motorcycle public, and cost the company money that could have been used to develop an electric start or a front disc brake. The Ogle design was particularly badly received in the United States, which was Triumph’s biggest market. To try to salvage sales, Don Brown, BSA’s U.S. branch vice president, commissioned Craig Vetter to redesign the bike, a project which resulted in the X-75 Hurricane, the first factory custom.

Although it was unveiled in 1970, production did not start until the 1972 model year, due to internal turmoil at BSA, which was losing money and dragging Triumph down with it. Some 1,200 Hurricanes were built before production stopped due to inability to meet new U.S. noise requirements.

In the middle of 1970, Triumph made a kit available with a teardrop shaped tank, black side covers and conventional

mufflers, which reverted the motorcycle to the look of the prototype. Sales improved.

The first Tridents fed power from the 741cc engine via a 5-speed transmission. The engine made 58 horsepower, which was pretty respectable in the late Sixties. The 120-degree crankshaft was carried in aluminum cases. The cylinders and heads were aluminum alloy. Instead of the traditional multiplate clutch, the Trident used a Borg and Beck single plate diaphragm clutch. Cycle World recorded a top speed of 117.03mph in a 1968 road test. It timed the triple at the then obligatory quarter mile drag strip at 13.71 seconds at 98.46mph.

Shootout contender In 1970, Cycle announced a Superbike Shootout and invited a group of fast heavyweights, including the Trident, to participate. The testers liked the bike. “The big triple went around the course like it was on rails: no snakes, no wobbles, and I could

lean it way over. The forks and shocks were perfectly tuned to the rest of the bike ... I can understand how Rusty Bradley, Virgil Davenport and Roger Beaumont can consistently win production road races on Tridents.” On the minus side, testers did not like the hard clutch pull and the vibration between 5,000 and 6,000rpm. Both the Trident and the BSA version, the Rocket 3, cost almost as much as the Harley Sportster — the most expensive bike in the test. Then as now, cost was an important element in purchase decisions.

In July 1972, the Trident received a fifth gear for the 1973 model year and a 10-inch front disc brake. The 5-speed Trident was denominated T150V, the V representing the Roman numeral 5. Cycle did another Superbike Shootout in 1973. Testers found the clutch to be much easier on the hands, and braking was no problem. The Trident had the third fastest lap time and, “offered the best combination of cornering ability and low scare factor.” In the acceleration test, “It was the most perfectlywww.MotorcycleClassics.com

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1974 TRIUMPH TRIDENT T150V Engine: 741cc air-cooled 4-stroke triple, 67mm x 70mm bore and stroke, 9.5:1 compression ratio, 58hp @ 7,250rpm Top speed: 117mph (period test) Carburetion: Three 26mm Amal Premiers Transmission: 5-speed, right foot shift, chain final drive Electrics: 12v, aftermarket electronic ignition Frame/wheelbase: Single downtube cradle frame/58 inches (1,473mm) Suspension: Telescopic front forks, twin Girling rear shocks Brakes: 10in (254mm) disc front, 7in (178mm) SLS drum rear Tires: 4.1 x 19in front and rear Weight (dry): 460lb (209kg) Seat height: 32in (813mm) Fuel capacity: 4.2gal (16ltr)/35mpg (est.)

Price then/now: $1,930/$4,000-$10,000

geared motorcycle.” Testers had set an impressive quarter mile time and were trying to get the bike to run 12.5- or 12.6-second quarter miles before second gear shredded. Even so, the Trident came in third place in points in this test, behind the Kawasaki 750 2-stroke and the 900cc Z1.

During this time, Tridents and the BSA sister ship, the Rocket 3, consistently showed up in road racing winner’s circles. In 1971, Dick Mann won Daytona on a Rocket 3, with Gene Romero on a Triumph Trident second and Don Emde third on another Rocket 3. John Cooper, riding a Rocket 3, beat out Giacomo Agostini on a MV Agusta in the 1971 Race of the Year at Mallory

Park, England. The best known racing Trident was Slippery Sam, who won every 750cc production races at the Isle of Man TT between 1971 and 1975.

The turmoil and monetary losses continued at BSA. The workers at the Triumph factory in Meriden, England, grew angrier by the day as one bad decision followed another. In July, 1973, control of BSA’s motorcycle-related assets was given by the British government to Dennis Poore, the head of the Manganese Bronze holding company that also controlled Norton, with hopes to save what was left of British motorcycle manufacturing. It soon became clear that Poore only wanted to strip out the remaining

assets of BSA and Triumph. In September 1973, the Meriden unions organized a sit in and strike. The strike dragged on for months, while management desperately tried to regain control.

In 1974, the strikers released some equipment to be used to build Tridents at the Small Heath factory, and some stockpiled Bonnevilles. Eventually, the government brokered a settlement, loaning the strikers money to buy the Meriden factory. The strikers formed a co-op, and built Bonnevilles at Meriden until 1983.

The strike resolved, BSA started manufacturing Tridents at

the former BSA factory near Wolverhampton. By this time, U.S. environmental protection regulations specified emissions control and noise reduction. Other new regulations mandated a left foot shifter. The 1975 Trident was a very good looking bike and sported an electric starter, but suffered badly from a restrictive air cleaner and mufflers that not only choked the engine but also set up a resonant vibration that became annoying after a few miles. To make matters worse, the Trident cost more than the Kawasaki Z1. When the Dennis Poore controlled companies went to Parliament to ask for further loans, the British government threw up its hands, refused to come up with more money, and that was the end of the Trident.

After the Meriden co-op was liquidated in 1983, the rights to the Triumph name and patents were bought by John Bloor, who built a completely new factory nearby Meriden, in Hinkley, and started manufacturing state of the art bikes.

The new Triumph factory is doing well, and has recently decided to build an updated Triple with the Trident look.

Going back The 741cc air-cooled triple makes 58 horsepower at 7,250rpm when stock.

Many of the Tridents built www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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in 1974 were shipped to the U.S. One was bought by a person who after owing it for a while brought it to a dealer for repairs.

The owner decided he couldn’t afford the repairs and abandoned the bike. For some reason, the dealer never sold it. “I walked past that bike every day for 25 years,” says John Rios, formerly a mechanic at that shop.

Meanwhile, the shop that had the 1974 Trident decided to close down operations and held an auction. Scott Dunlavey was now running a motorcycle dealership in Northern California and collecting classic Triumphs. He decided he wanted this Trident.

Eddie Mulder, well known West Coast racer and race promoter, was going to attend the auction and offered to bid on the triple for Scott. When the dust settled, Mulder had the bike and hauled it to Scott’s shop. Scott paid Mulder back and now once again had a Trident.

Scott runs Berkeley Honda Yamaha Tuesday through Saturday, hangs out with his family on Sundays and works on his vintage bikes on Mondays. Even through he is a skilled mechanic, he

The three original Amal Concentrics were replaced with a new set of Amal Premiers. Owner Scott Dunlavey also installed a pair of peashooter mufflers from a T140 Bonniville (left). spent a year’s worth of Mondays getting this Trident running properly. “I called it ‘Triple Trouble.’ The bike was supposed to be running when Eddie got it for me. I tried to go on a test ride.

It would start, then die on the side of the road. It took me a year and a lot of calls to Mitch Klempf (klempfsbritishparts.com) to get it going. Mitch is a great resource. There is a huge amount of triple knowledge out there. People who are really into Triumphs love triples.”

One of the trials of maintaining a Trident back in the day was setting three sets of points. Scott eventually ran out of patience.

“After quite a bit of time, I gave up and ordered a TriSpark electronic ignition. I spent hours wrestling with the original Amal Concentrics — all three of them — and bought a set of Amal

Scott Dunlavey aboard his Trident. Amazingly, the bike features all its original paint and chrome.

Premiers, the new Amals, which really work well. I put the original mufflers in a box with the points and the old Amals and installed peashooter mufflers from a T140 Bonneville twin.

They go right on triples, don’t restrict the engine and sound great.” The original ape hanger handlebars also went into the box, to be replaced with more sporting Western style bars.

After replacing all the rubber and the hydraulic system for the disc brake, tuning the new carburetors and changing the oil, Scott had the T150V ready for the road.

Dunlavey thinks that the reputation Tridents have for being slow may have been derived from the late 1974 version and the 1975 model. “Late 1974 Tridents had a solid air cleaner to meet noise regulations. Early 1974 Tridents had an air cleaner like the one on my bike, that looks like a half umbrella. The half umbrella air cleaner works well. The later one was basically a Band-aid to get the Tridents EPA legal, so they could be sold in the U.S. The mufflers for the later models are also overly restrictive, so replace them with the earlier version or mufflers for a T140 Bonneville.

“Make sure the jetting is correct. If you replace the existing Amals with the new version, Premiers, you will get carburetors with the wrong jets. It took me five hours to yank off the Premiers I had just installed, set them up with the right jets and slides, and reinstall. If you do it, hope that you got it right, because you really don’t want to go through it again.

“Electronic ignition is the biggest thing to happen to Tridents. No more setting three separate sets of points.”

The T150V is kickstart only, but the starting ritual is not too involved. “Tickle the carbs, pull the choke, free the clutch and KICK. It takes a couple of minutes to warm up. Even though it is 100 pounds heavier than a Bonneville, it is a sweetheart around town.”

On the open road at speed, the Trident is very stable and handles well until it gets into really tight mountain roads.

“You can feel the extra weight when you flip it left to right in the tight stuff. But when you take it out on a country road and open it up, the howl that they make when they are right on the money — it’s intoxicating.”

Triumph Tridents are a transition bike between classic and modern, with a lot of “if only” about them. Dunlavey thinks that the Trident would have been the bike to save Triumph, if only the 1960s Triumph management had its act together.

“The bike was fast, it was reliable, it was good looking.

Triumph could have brought it out in 1965, maybe with the disc front brake. Then when the Honda 750 came out, it wouldn’t have been such a revelation.” MC

Trident Buyer’s Guide This guide to the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket III will tell you everything you need to know about both models. This informative guide will be a great resource, whether you are buying or selling one of these great machines. This guide includes information on pricing, differences between models, details on original or aftermarket features, and more. This title is available at MotorcycleClassics. com/Store or by calling 800880-7567. Mention promo code: MMCPALZ5. Item #10834. www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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SLIMMED-DOWN SPACEFRAME

1975 Laverda 3C 1000 Endurance Racer Story by Alan Cathcart Photos by Stefano Gadda

F

Fifty years ago, the evolution of what we think of today as a modern motorcycle had only just begun gathering pace.

Honda had commenced its own march up the capacity scale with the CB450 DOHC parallel-twin launched in 1964, the same year that 25-year-old Massimo Laverda was appointed by his father Francesco to take over running the motorcycle division of his family’s agri-machinery company. Massimo’s understanding of the marketplace due to his own passion for bikes — he was already a Vincent and BMW R69S owner — meant Moto Laverda was the first-ever manufacturer to produce a 750cc sport bike. That came about in May 1968, when production began of the scaled-up version of its 650cc SOHC wet sump parallel-twin previously unveiled at London’s Earls Court Show in November 1966.

It didn’t take long for other manufacturers to follow suit, led by Britain’s BSA/Triumph combo which launched its Trident/Rocket-3 750cc triples in September 1968, powered by a 4-speed vertically-split OHV pushrod engine concocted by Triumph engineer Doug Hele, essentially by dint of adding an extra cylinder to his company’s best-selling 500 twin, whose kick-start it retained.

But in November 1968 Honda unveiled the electric-start SOHC 4-cylinder CB750 at the Tokyo Show, and the rules of the motorcycle marketplace changed forever.

But just as he’d trumped Honda’s CB450 twin with a 650cc model, Massimo Laverda was already working on his counter to the CB750, as the first person to visualize that 1,000cc would be the two-wheeled capacity benchmark of the future. With his company’s twin-cylinder models selling as fast as Laverda’s small Breganze factory could build them (19,000 in all before their mid-1970s replacement by the one-liter triples, and 500cc twins), he instructed the firm’s chief engineer Luciano Zen to create a 1,000cc hyperbike obtained by following the Hele/ Triumph route of adding an extra cylinder to Laverda’s existing parallel-twin engine, to create the world’s first one-liter multicylinder model.

The prototype Laverda 3C 1000 triple was unveiled at the November 1969 Milan Show, and in the eyes of some overshadowed the Honda CB750 with which it shared star billing there. With the engine’s single overhead cam driven by a duplex chain on the right side of the cylinders, it shared the same 75mm x 74mm dimensions as Laverda’s 650 twin for a capacity of 981cc. A horizontallysplit design with a 5-speed gearbox and electric start, it produced a claimed 75 horsepower at 6,700rpm, good for a top speed of 127mph, and sported three separate exhausts, just like Agostini’s World champion MV Agusta GP racers.

A good reception Public response was ecstatic, so the Laverda family knew they had a winner — a confidence duly upheld by the total of 12,550 Laverda triples of all different types which they’d go on to build between 1972 and 1988. To counter the strong secondary vibration from a 120-degree crankshaft with even throws, the first-generation Laverda triple had a six-piece pressed-up 180-degree crank, supported on four roller bearings with a ball bearing on the timing side, and an extra outrigger roller bearing in the primary cover, with the two outer pistons rising and falling together, and the central one diametrically opposed to them at 180-degrees. This resulted in an extremely gruff-sounding offbeat exhaust note from the 3-into-1 exhaust it began production with.

As development got underway in 1970, the Laverda engine’s top end evolved into a DOHC format with shim-andbucket adjustment, but the same offset camdrive now via a toothed belt, before switching in 1971 to a more compact design. This saw the robust onepiece cylinder block inclined forward by just 20-degrees (versus the twin’s 25-degrees), and a single-strand camchain positioned between cylinders 1 and 2 starting on the right as viewed from the rider’s seat. The 6-valve cylinder head had 38mm inlet and 35mm exhaust valves set at an included angle of 70-degrees, with cast iron cylinder head skulls to prolong valve seat life.

With three of Dell’Orto’s new 32mm PHF concentric carbs, a transistorized Bosch electronic CDI, an oil-bath clutch with triplex chain primary drive, and a www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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LAVERDA 3C 1000 ENDURANCE RACER

9:1 compression ratio, the version of the wet sump 3C 1000 engine, which entered production in April 1972 (after a typically lengthy Latin gestation period), produced a claimed 80 horsepower at 7,200rpm, with a hefty 61.28lb/ft of torque at just 4,200 revs.

Fitted in a conventional twin-loop frame with large-diameter tubular backbone, Ceriani suspension and Laverda’s own brakes, this wirewheeled muscle bike lived up to its ultra-tough looks in delivering benchmark performance with handling to match, aided by its 471-pound dry weight, 11 pounds less than the Honda four. The 3C 1000 was also 20% more powerful than the CB750, while producing the same claimed horsepower as the Kawasaki Z1 that dead-heated with the Laverda in entering showrooms, albeit weighing 33 pounds heavier, and with

Engine: 981cc air-cooled DOHC 3-cylinder inline 4-stroke with 180-degree crankshaft 75mm x 74mm bore and stroke, 10.2:1 compression ratio, 96hp at 8,500rpm Carburetion: 3 x 36mm Dell’Orto PHB Ignition: Bosch BTZ electronic CDI with belt-driven alternator Transmission: 5-speed close-ratio Clutch/final drive: 13-plate oil-bath with triplex chain primary drive and duplex chain final drive Chassis: Chrome-moly tubular steel open-cradle spaceframe with engine as fully-stressed member Suspension: 38mm Ceriani telescopic fork adjustable for spring preload and rebound damping front, tubular steel swingarm with 2 x Ceriani shocks rear Frame/wheelbase: 58.5in (1,486mm) Weight: 441lb (200.5kg) with oil/no fuel Brakes: Dual 280mm Brembo cast iron discs with twopiston Brembo calipers front, single 280mm Brembo cast iron discs with two-piston Brembo caliper Tires: 110/80 x 18 Avon AM22 front, 120/60 x 18 Avon AM23 rear Fuel capacity: 6.6gal (25ltr) Top speed: 148mph (Spa-Francorchamps, 1975) Year of construction: 1975 Owner: Collezione Famiglia Laverda, Breganze (VI), Italy

less assured handling. The Italian model’s only major reliability problem was with the Bosch CDI on the early bikes, which surely cost the German supplier lots of cash to remedy via a total recall.

The fuel tank features twin filler caps (above left). The dual Brembo front disc brakes (above).

Going racing Almost inevitably, given Laverda’s proud tradition of going Endurance racing both to prove the worth of its products as well as to develop them further, as soon as 3C production began the Italian factory started racing its new triple — winning first time out, too! This came in June 1972 in Austria, in the Steiermark Cup Sport Production race at Zeltweg, where factory racing stalwart Augusto Brettoni on a stock-framed Laverda 3C triple with 750SFC race bodywork, led home Roberto

Gallina on a Segoni-framed SFC750 twin.

The Endurance debut of the 3C 1000 took place in that September’s Bol d’Or 24hrs held on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans, with Brits Tony Melody and Doug Cash riding a bike with a modified chassis, which retired after five hours with gearbox problems. The new frame raised the engine 30mm to reduce the chances of decking the alternator mounted on the right end of the crank in turns, but this only added to the bike’s top-heavy feeling compared to the sweet-handing SFC twin.

But Laverda cut back on racing in 1973, since with the 750 twins selling so well, and advance orders for the 3C so strong, Francesco Laverda constructed a spacious new 129,000-square-foot factory on the outskirts of Breganze for his company’s motorcycle operation, which until then had occupied a section of the agri-machinery plant where the bikes were essentially hand-built individually.

Moving to a series production format allowed him to double production volume with the same 300-strong workforce, thanks to a further substantial investment in new machinery. The disruption this entailed amidst the need to satisfy orders reduced Laverda’s focus on racing for a couple of years.

Back on track But for 1975, with production back on an even keel, Laverda returned to the

race track with a purpose-built bike — the 3C 1000 Endurance. Piero Laverda, Massimo’s younger brother, and today with his son Giovanni the driving force behind the array of bright orange bikes waving the Laverda flag at Historic events around Europe, takes up the story. “Our first 3C racer came in 1972, and was very close to a standard bike. The second edition we prepared for 1974 was an improved standard frame with the alternator brought inside to have more ground clearance, but with an improved engine. Then for 1975 we developed a new spaceframe chassis to try to resolve the handling problems, because the original 3C 1000 frame was made for the street, not to race. This meant that on very fast corners over 110mph, the bike would start weaving, because the engine was moving a little bit in the frame, so we needed a very rigid connection between frame and engine to have zero movement. We made only five examples of this special chassis, and for 1975 we decided to contest all the FIM Endurance Championship rounds with this machine, with a two-bike team but five riders, so there is always a spare rider available in case of necessity.”

The new chrome-moly tubular steel open-cradle spaceframe chassis employing the engine as a semi-stressed member was designed by Luciano Zen, and while at 29 pounds it weighed 20 pounds less than the standard frame, it was also

50mm lower and 40mm shorter, too. The 38mm Ceriani fork sat at a 26.5-degree rake with 112mm of trail, while the tubular steel swingarm operated twin Ceriani shocks. Wheelbase was 58.5-inches (1,486mm), with an even 50/50 distribution for the 441-pound weight with oil/no fuel. Twin 11-inch (280mm) Brembo cast iron discs with 2-piston calipers were fitted up front, and another at the rear, with 18-inch Borrani wire wheels, and Dunlop rubber. That weight not only included the alternator in front of the cylinder block, with a polished alloy cover over the belt-drive running off the crank, but also the twin SEV-Marchal 100W headlamps parked either side of the letterbox slot in the all-enveloping fairing, feeding air to the oil cooler positioned in its nose.

The modified 981cc 3-cylinder engine saw compression raised from 9.5:1 to 10.2:1, and oversize 40mm inlet valves and 35.5mm exhausts operated by race camshafts with higher lift and longer dwell. Larger 36mm Dell’Orto PHB carbs were fitted (vs. 32mm stock). The closeratio 5-speed gearbox featured undercut dogs to enhance engagement, with a duplex final drive chain and triplex primary, and beefed-up 13-plate oil-bath clutch, together harnessing the increased output of 96 horsepower delivered to the gearbox sprocket at 8,500rpm. Ignition came via an early Bosch BTZ electronic CDI. Laverda test rider Fernando Cappellotto www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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The slot in the fairing between the twin SEV-Marchal 100W headlamps allows air to pass through to the oil cooler (far left).

had begun testing Il Spaceframe from February 1975 onwards. The first round in the five-race FIM Endurance series took place in June on home ground at Mugello.

There, Augusto Brettoni and Nico Cereghini finished third in the 1,000km

(621-mile) race on the new Laverda’s debut, behind the victorious works Ducati of Grau-Ferrari, and Guzzi-mounted runners-up Sciareza-Romeri, though teammates Georges Fougeray and Marco Lucchinelli retired with engine problems.

This was the future World champion’s first ride for a factory team.

Fortunes were reversed at the next round in the July heat of Barcelona at the Montjuic 24 Hours, with LucchinelliFougeray finishing sixth after an eventful race, while it was the turn of BrettoniCereghini to retire with engine problems.

Next up came the 3C Spaceframe’s finest hour, in August’s 24 Hours of Liège at Spa-Francorchamps, run in testing conditions including torrential rain showers which negated the speed advantage of the 4-cylinder Japanese bikes. There, the two Laverdas both finished on the rostrum, with Roberto Gallina taking a break from GP racing to team with Cereghini to place second behind the victorious Japauto Honda of Ruiz-Huguet, with Lucchinelli-Fougeray third. “The protection we received from the very protective fairing was a key factor in this race,” recalls Roberto Gallina today.

But after the double podium at Spa,

Tony Melody on the prototype Laverda 3C at the 1972 Le Mans 24hr Bol d’Or (right). Marco Luchinelli in July 1975 at the Montjuic 24hr aboard the 3C (bottom right).

September’s Bol d’Or at Le Mans was a disaster for Laverda. There, two machines were entered in the race, as usual — but Lucchinelli-Fougeray were entrusted with a prototype 120-degree engine with evenly phased crank throws, such as would later be adopted on production Laverda triples from 1982 onwards, after the correct balance factor was finally discovered.

But in 1975 this was solidly mounted in the spaceframe chassis, with the result that the high frequency secondary vibration not only tired the riders, but also repeatedly blew the Bosch ignition’s black boxes, eventually resulting in their retirement after 12 fraught hours. BrettoniCereghini on a conventional 180-degree bike retired just two hours from the end when well placed, with a broken piston.

And that was that, with the Laverda Corse team opting not to make the long journey to the U.K. for the final round of the FIM series at Thruxton. The 3C Spaceframes would race no more, while the factory race department devoted itself to developing the fabulous V6 Laverda 1000 that would make its debut two years later in the 1978 Bol d’Or. But that’s another story!

“Our disadvantage with the 3-cylinder Spaceframe against the 4-cylinder Honda and Kawasaki bikes was not so much power, as weight,” says Piero Laverda, ever-present in the pits at that year’s FIM Endurance rounds. “Our 4-cylinder competitors were about 378-385 pounds without fuel, but we were 441 pounds! I remember the Honda RCB factory Endurance model looked like a GP machine prepared by the same people who later made their 500GP bikes in the Reparto Corse. Our bike was really just a road racer derived from an improved standard machine, so in the 24 hours we often got a good result, because remember, in Endurance racing to finish first, you first must finish!”

On track today My chance to experience these extra pounds from the hot seat came at Italy’s annual Moto Storiche festival at the Varano circuit in the hills outside Parma.

Piero Laverda and son Giovanni had brought both the legendary V6 for Piero to demo, and the 3C Spaceframe which

Giovanni normally rides. But this time he gave me the honor of two sessions on the busy 12-turn 1.48-mile Varano circuit. The engine remains essentially untouched since it was built up in 1976 after Laverda had retired from racing, ready for display in the factory lobby until the company closed in 1985, and the Laverda family retrieved it for their private collection. In deference to this, I was asked to keep revs down to 6,000rpm, rather than the 8,000rpm the watching Roberto Gallina, whose La Spezia home is just 45 minutes from the track, told me he usually observed in 24-hour marathons.

Such a circuit is quite unlike the fast, open courses like Spa and Mugello that the heavy, robust Laverda 3C long-distance express was most at home on. It didn’t help that it was way over geared for

Varano, since to avoid changing sprockets the Laverda family leaves the tall Spa-Francorchamps gearing on for their annual visit to the Bikers Classic event there, and makes do with it elsewhere.

This meant that I could only use third gear once a lap past the Varano pits, and elsewhere had to use bottom gear four times each lap — though the forgiving nature of the 3-cylinder 981cc engine saw it pull cleanly away from not much higher than the 1,200rpm idle out of pit lane. But you must let the needle on the road bike tacho hit the 3,000rpm mark before it comes on the cam. Otherwise, the 180-degree engine is very smooth and torquey, while the exhaust utters that unmistakable offbeat lilt.

First, though, after pulling up the ignition switch on the top right of the tacho, www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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Piero Laverda with the 3C 1000 Endurance racer. Alan Cathcart aboard the 3C with the entire Squadra Laverda at Varano.

I’d had to fire up the engine on the electric starter via the button mounted above the right clipon, which you must reach over to push with your left thumb so as to catch the throttle as it fires up — sometimes, after several turns. Select first gear by pressing down with your toe on the right-foot gear lever, and let the lusty 3-cylinder engine pull you away seamlessly from rest. If you wish you can change up by kicking the very Italian rocking pedal gearshift lever with your heel, but it takes some getting used to, especially as the gearchange feels rather rubbery and not too precise, though I never missed a gear. First gear is very long, which made it OK to use in the Varano chicanes, as it probably would have been at a tight hairpin like La Source at Spa, where the extra engine braking would also have been helpful to stop such a heavy bike.

I had much less than half a tank of fuel when I rode it, but the cast iron Brembo brakes surprisingly had less bite that I expected — and since I’ve been using a similar set for the past 40-plus years on my Ducati 750SS, I know how well they should work! Mine are gripped by Lockheed calipers, and that’s probably the reason, since Brembo’s 2-piston black calipers were never as effective, making me glad I had the extra help of the engine braking in slowing down, without buzzing the engine on the overrun. Using the rear brake hard helped stop the Laverda adequately well without chattering the rear wheel, as it will do on my desmo V-twin if I use it too forcefully.

But as against that slight disappointment, the 3C Laverda’s handling was a pleasant surprise, and especially the way it steered. I’d been expecting it to

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

be a big, heavy old thing that needed a good tug to lift from side to side in Varano’s quartet of chicanes, and it did indeed need physical strength to do so in the slowest of these — this is not a GP racer! But the chosen front end geometry allowed it to tip into corners easily and controllably, both hard on the brakes, and at a faster pace — the problem came in lifting it up and over for the exit, even with a relatively light fuel load. But the second gear chicane on the far side of the track was a good tester of its agility at higher speed, and there the Laverda passed with flying colors — it just found its way almost on autopilot, without undue exertion.

Mind you, that came with the conservative riding style that was the benchmark of Endurance racing back then, when one set of tires would last an entire 24-hour race. “Even Marco didn’t hang off the side like he did later on!” said Roberto Gallina. “Endurance racing then was about getting comfortable for the long spell and conserving your energy — remember we only had two riders per team, not three or even more like they have nowadays.” So the plushly padded seat on the Laverda was your throne for

the long haul which, coupled with the relatively low footrests denoting a period when the treaded tires then still universal in Endurance racing didn’t permit excessive angles of lean, makes you feel wedged in place, unable to move around the bike thanks to the close-coupled riding position. Just get ready to tuck yourself behind the broad fairing and rest your elbows on the wide, flat fuel tank with its twin filler caps as you tackle those long straights at Spa or Mugello, while that sodistinctive engine beats away seemingly unburstably beneath you.

The 3C 1000 Laverda Spaceframe must have been a fine ride for a 24-hour marathon on big circuits by the standards of the era, especially in damp conditions where the good feedback from the Ceriani suspension would have given added confidence, coupled with the friendly, flexible delivery from the 3-cylinder engine.

Too bad there were those pesky, potent 4-cylinder devices developed by Hondasan and his rivals that were faster in a straight line. But that was only until it rained, when the needle of rideability swing in favor of the Italian triples — as it did at Spa-Francorchamps in 1975. MC

The Laverda Twins and Triples Bible Discover the history of Laverda twins and triples, some of the most charismatic and exciting motorcycles produced in a golden era. With a successful endurance racing program publicizing them, Laverda’s twins soon earned a reputation for durability that wasn’t usually associated with Italian machinery. This book provides a detailed history of this innovative and daring Italian manufacturer and the bikes they built. This title is available at MotorcycleClassics.com/Store or by calling 800-8807567. Mention promo code: MMCPALZ5. Item #9747.

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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Greeves 25DB Sports Twin Story and photos by Robert Smith

W

What gives a motorcycle its character? What feature most identifies and defines it? I think most riders would agree … it’s the engine.

In fact, in recent times, bike manufacturers have stuck to their chosen engine configurations to differentiate their brand, regardless of whether that layout is optimal for the purpose. Ducatis are always 90-degree V-twins (though sometimes hidden inside V-fours); Triumphs are parallel twins or inline triples; Guzzis are across-the-frame Vs; Harleys are … well, probably the most format-driven brand of all.

So why, then, did Bert Greeves choose the same off-the-shelf paralleltwin 2-stroke engine for his premium street bike as a half dozen other British bike makers? The 1960 Greeves 25DB Sports Twin was competing against the Ambassador Supreme, Cotton Continental, DMW Dolomite, FrancisBarnett Cruiser 89, James Superswift, Norman B3 Sports, Panther Model 35, Royal Enfield Turbo Twin, and Sun Wasp Twin — all using the same 250cc Villiers 2-stroke twin.

The very nature of the British motorcycle industry gives a clue. By the mid1950s, the U.S. was down to one major motorcycle maker, Germany to a handful and Italy to maybe a dozen. But the U.K. had what was essentially a craft industry: scores of small-volume garage builders — the only true massproduction maker being BSA-Triumph.

No surprise then, that given the cost of developing and building a new engine with its complex castings and specialized machining, these small companies

bought ready-made drivetrains “off the shelf.” More often than not, they were the product of the Villiers Engineering Company.

But using a proprietary engine was a Faustian bargain. It reduced the price of market entry by eliminating development and tooling costs. But your engine then looked, worked and sounded like everyone else’s, and inevitably cost more on a “per unit” basis. That meant your finished motorcycle had to either be better and more distinctive than its competitors — or cheaper.

Bert Greeves obviously thought his product was better, with some justification, and it was certainly distinctive. Greeves’ reputation was built on success in offroad competition, and the factory ran its own team of motocross and trials riders. This focus was rewarded with 250cc world motocross

championship titles in 1960-1961, and victory in the world trials Championship in 1964 and 1967. Greeves-mounted riders won 40 gold, 22 silver and 28 bronze medals in the International Six Days Trials between 1954 and 1975.

Greeves also built “clubman” road race bikes with privateer entrants winning the 1964 and 1965 Lightweight (250cc) Manx Grand Prix.

But as well as boosting sales, competition success had a downside. Demand for Greeves’ offroad machines grew to the point where the factory was operating at capacity. Something had to give, and it was the street bikes. So after 12 years in production, the last Greeves twin, a 25DC MkII East Coaster left the Thundersley, Essex factory in 1966.

The Greeves Story Oscar Bertram Greeves was born in 1906 in Lyon, France to English parents.

By age 13 he already had a motorcycle license and was riding his father’s 225cc

Villiers’ 2T powerplant fits neatly into Greeves’ composite frame with the aid of substantial engine plates.

www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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1960 GREEVES 25DB Engine: 249cc Villiers 2T 3-stroke twin, piston port, 50mm x 63.5mm bore and stroke, 8.2:1 compression, 15hp @ 5,500rpm Carburetion: 22mm Villiers S22/2 Transmission: 4-speed, right foot shift, chain final drive Electrics: 6v, 120 watt generator Frame: Composite light alloy and steel tube frame Suspension: Greeves leading link front fork with Metalastik bushing in torsion with hydraulic damping, swingarm rear with Armstrong spring/damper units Brakes: 6in (152mm) SLS Greeves drums front and rear Tires: 2.75 x 19in front, 3.25 x 18in rear Weight (dry): 270lb (122.5kg) Price then/now: £199/$2,500-$8,000

James 2-stroke. A succession of bikes followed, including an OHC Norton CS1 that he rode in trials. Bert was too young to serve in World War I, and by 1939 he was working on defense contracts in the small workshop he and his brother had established in the 1930s in South London.

Greeves’ first major venture was in response to Britain’s newly-created welfare state in the immediate postwar period. The Invacar Company manufactured small, gas-powered vehicles providing mobility to the disabled, many being World War II veterans. Greeves had experience in this area: he’d designed and built a powered wheelchair for his cousin Derek Preston Cobb, who had been disabled from birth.

The first Invacar was a 3-wheeler

powered by a 147cc Villiers 2-stroke engine, and it used a unique suspension system with rubber bushings “twisted” in torsion to provide the springing. To test this idea, Greeves built an offroad motorcycle with torsion-rubber suspension front and rear.

It worked well, both on the motorcycle, and then on the first Invacar.

Bikes The Invacar was a big seller, and with the business rolling along, Greeves had the resources to invest in his motorcycle project. A prototype first ran in 1951 and went through two

Tidy enclosures house the horn, lighting switch, and Villiers carburetor.

years of development before Greeves was ready for showtime. The production Greeves range shown at the Earls Court, London show in 1953 consisted of two roadsters (the 3-speed 20R and 4-speed 20D Deluxe) and a motocross machine (the 20S), all using the 197cc Villiers 8E single-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Top of the range, though, was the 25D Fleetwing street bike, a 242cc twin using a British-Anzani rotary-valve 2-stroke engine.

These machines shared what was to become a Greeves trademark: a composite light alloy and steel tube frame.

The front down member was made of aluminum alloy with the steel steering head and top tube cast-in. The front fork terminated in a pair of leading

links sprung by two Metalastik rubber could legally ride a motorcycle but had based (but heavily Greeves modified) bushings in torsion. At the rear was a to turn 17 to drive a car, so most redengine, Bickers took the European conventional swingarm, but with two blooded teenagers were motorcycle 250cc championship in 1960 and 1961. links attached to frame mounted rubmounted before learning to drive. A Twins ber torsion bushings under the seat. newbie could ride, unsupervised, any Though Greeves was better known Both the front and rear torsion bushmotorcycle up to 250cc before taking in the U.S. for its offroad singles, the es were fitted with friction dampers. a road skills test — provided they disroadster models were crucially imporThough Greeves did offer a convenplayed a red “L” for learner. tant in the U.K. market. A 16-year-old tional steel tube frame on some early So the quarter-liter class became budget road models, the alloy a crowded niche, dominated beam frame and leading link

by BSA, Triumph, Ariel and fork were Greeves trademarks Royal Enfield, all using their until conventional Ceriani own engines. Smaller British forks were fitted to the motomanufacturers — including crossers in 1967 and convenGreeves — went the simpler tional steel tubes replaced the route of buying in a proprialloy beam on the 1968 Griffon etary 250cc engine. Twinmotocrosser. By that time, the cylinder 2-strokes typically roadsters were gone. provided smooth power and To develop the competigood torque, but at first, the tion machines, Greeves lured only proprietary 250 twin Brian Stonebridge from BSA. was the 242cc British-Anzani, Stonebridge and mechanic so Greeves used this in his Bob Mills managed to doupremium roadster, the 25D ble the power output of the Fleetwing. (Anzani also made lowly 200cc Villiers stroker to a 322cc twin, which Greeves all of 18 horsepower. Though used in the 32D Fleetmaster). the bike was still down on But there were issues with power against the 4-strokes, the Anzani engine (see sideStonebridge dominated 250cc bar), and by 1957, Villiers had scrambles in the U.K. in 1957, started production of its own often beating 350 and 500cc 250cc 2-stroke twin, the 249cc machines. model 2T. This came from the Stonebridge was killed in a Wolverhampton factory comcar crash in 1959: but the arrivplete with integral transmisal of Dave Bickers on the team sion, carburetor and ignition cemented Greeves’ competisystem. tion success. Riding the works Even though Greeves motocrosser fitted with an Front suspension is by Metalastik rubber bushing in bought in the same drivetrain increasingly powerful Villiers- torsion; slender hydraulic dampers fit inside fork tubes. package as other makers, it www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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Battle of the Twins The first twin-cylinder engines used in Greeves motorcycles were 242cc and 322cc 2-strokes from British-Anzani. Founded in 1907 by Alessandro Anzani, the company expanded from its native Italy with Anzani setting up factories in France and Britain to produce engines for automobiles, farming equipment, outboard motors and even aircraft. In fact, an Anzani engine powered Louis Bleriot’s 1909 monoplane, the first aircraft to cross the English Channel.

The air-cooled, rotary-valve engines supplied to Greeves were developed from outboard motors, which were, of course, water-cooled; but for motorcycle applications the engines were air cooled. That meant piston clearances had to be greater because of uneven cylinder expansion, compromising power output. Anzani did eventually increase the cooling fin area on the cylinders and heads, allowing tighter tolerances, but then piston seizures became an issue, and the Anzani engines gained a reputation for being unreliable. The Anzani twins also came without a transmission (because of their origins), so they were paired with an Albion ‘box in the Greeves 250 Fleetwing and 325 Fleetmaster. The 249cc Villiers 2T and 324cc 3T, both with integral transmission, replaced the Anzani from 1957-on.

The Villiers Engineering Company was an 1898 offshoot of John Marston’s Sunbeam works in Wolverhampton, England. Established to make bicycle pedals, Villiers also invented and patented the freewheel gear (all bicycles to this point had been fixed wheel), generating enormous financial success.

Villiers’ Frank Farrer is credited with the move into engines: he predicted that powered two-wheelers would be in heavy demand, and that most motorcycles would be utility machines. Therefore a simple, inexpensive engine would sell “thousands.” In 1912, when Farrer made this prediction, many British motorcycle makers were using bought-in engines from abroad, like the Swiss Motosacoche or French Peugeot.

In the end, Villiers sold more than 2.5 million engines, including those used in lawn mowers, motorcycles, outboards — and many thousands of Invacars!

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was wrapped in the distinctive, raceproven composite chassis and leading link fork. The Greeves was also the lightest, fastest and, most agreed, best handling of the bunch. By this time, the friction dampers had been abandoned in favor of conventional Armstrong spring/damper units at the rear, and slender hydraulic dampers hidden inside the fork legs at the front — though the leading link fork and rubber torsion spring remained.

Replacing the somewhat dowdy looking Fleetwing and Fleetmaster in 1959 were the 25DB and 324cc 32DB Sports Twins with Villers 2T and 3T engines.

Gone were the deeply valanced steel fenders, replaced by light alloy blades.

A more compact seat was fitted, and the speedometer housed in a new headlight nacelle. Alloy “cooling” fins adorned the front and rear brake drums.

The Motor Cycle tested a 25DB sports twin in 1960 and was impressed by its road manners “So delightful was the handling that, whenever a choice of route offered, secondary roads were invariably chosen. Bendswinging at all speeds was sheer joy.” They concluded: “The Greeves Sports Twin proved itself one of the liveliest and most

“One of the liveliest and most diverting lightweights on the road.”

diverting lightweights on the road. It is John Farguson’s 25DB though, Farguson felt a yearn to own John Farguson bought his first a machine to give endless fun without one of his teenage bikes again. He Greeves twin, a 1961 25DC, as a teenostentation and is assured of a niche found a complete but tired 1960 ager in Britain. in the hearts of many sporting riders.”

Greeves 25DB in the U.K. and had it “I had this awful BSA D1 Bantam,” he In 1961, the 25DC Sports Twin gained shipped to Vancouver, Canada. Local says. “I took it in to (London motorcya marginally more powerful Villiers 2T mechanical whiz Len Georgeson fettled cle dealer) Comerfords, and just looked engine, with raised compression and the engine, while painter Steve Sharpe around.” That was where he spotted a larger carburetor, meaning the neat restored the bike to its original color the Greeves. intake housing was nixed in favor of scheme of Moorland Blue and the curi“It just spoke to me. It was so differa pancake filter. Over the next three ously named Essex Grey (which was ent,” he says. Farguson had considered years, Greeves introduced a bewilderreally just a lighter shade of blue). ing array of twin-cylinder Riding the restored Greeves models, including the rathis a delight, reports Farguson. er garish Sportsman, with a “The steering geometry makes “The steering geometry make it very handlebar fairing, “spats” for it very flickable. It goes where the front suspension links, you put it,” he says, noting flickable. It goes where you put it.” and the whole finished in that the lack of dive from light blue and yellow with a the leading-link fork also aids red seat. handling. “I’ve squealed the other lightweights, like the Panther The Essex Twin of 1963 reintroduced tire with the front brake too,” he adds.

250 and 200cc Ariel Colt, but they were the more practical valanced fenders, So the Greeves 25DB is one reason “rubbish,” he says. The Greeves was the while the 1964 East Coaster continued for the success — and ultimate failonly “exciting 250 that I could afford. I the sporting look. Both now had fullure — of British made 250cc bikes of loved the sound, too.” width wheel hubs. During these years, that era. They were pretty good — the Farguson rode the Greeves everythe Villiers 2T was replaced by the 4T, Greeves especially — until something where, until his girlfriend’s brother an almost identical powerplant, but better came along. Then it was game “borrowed” it and crashed it. Though tuned for more power at higher revs. over. After all, why would a motorcycleit was repaired, Farguson had by this Whether it was an improvement over mad teenager spend hard earned cash time passed his road test, meaning he the smooth and flexible 2T is moot. on a 15 horsepower British 2-stroke, could legally ride bikes over 250cc, and The last Greeves roadster twins were when for about the same money a 650cc BSA Road Rocket beckoned. produced in 1966. they could buy a 24 horsepower Like many of us in our later years, Yamaha YDS3? MC www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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ONE FOR THE ROAD

1972 CCM — Clews Competition Machine

Story and photos by Dain Gingerelli

A

As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens.

And it was in 1971 that dwindling corporate resources forced BSA, for years one of Great Britain’s leading motorcycle brands, to close the doors to its factory-backed motocross racing team.

It appeared to be the end of a proud era that included two 500cc Motocross World Championships (1964 and 1965) among other achievements by BSA-mounted Jeff Smith and teammates of the time. The sun was slowly setting on the British Empire’s crumbling motorcycle industry.

Yet, practically before anyone wearing a BSA shop apron had time to secure the latch, another door in another part of England opened that would keep the Beezer flame alive on motocross and scrambles tracks throughout the historic island. Alan Clews, a reputable privateer motocross, scrambles and trials rider from Bolton (a suburb of industrial Manchester), had dedicated himself to building a race bike of his own design that would use BSA’s B50MX engine for power. He called his one-off bike a Clews Stroka, but he really had no intent on selling it; Clews was a racer and, simply, he wanted to build his own unfair advantage into the bike that he would race. As the story goes, before Clews had a chance to race the completed bike another competitor spotted it, liked what he saw, and offered to buy it from Clews for a handsome sum that the builder most definitely liked. Done deal, and Alan Clews the racer now had a few more schillings jingling in his pocket, although he was no closer to the finish line with his own

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1972 CCM Engine: Stock-spec BSA B50MX 4-stroke air-cooled single cylinder, 84mm x 90mm bore and stroke, 8:1 compression ratio, 34hp @ 5,500rpm (est.)

Top speed: NA Carburetor: Amal 32mm Transmission: 5-speed, right side shift, down for low Electrics: Boyer Bransden capacitive discharge Frame/wheelbase: Single downtube cradle frame/55.2in (1,402mm) Suspension: 1973 CZ telescopic front fork, Ohlins rear shocks Brakes: CZ drums front and rear Tires: 3 x 21in (front), 4.6 x 18in (rear) Weight (wet): 260lb (118kg) Fuel capacity: 2gal (7.5ltr) Price then/now: $1,750/$3,000-$11,000

race bike than he was the day before.

Pause now while we follow Clews as he frantically points his shop truck towards the BSA race shop in Small Heath (just north of another industrial city, Birmingham) where he offers to buy whatever factory-racing parts that team manager Brian Martin is willing to sell him. Eventually the lot includes about a dozen scrambles (proper English in 1971 for the term “motocross”) racing frames plus as many other components as any industrious race bike builder could want. Young Clews ceremoniously delivers the lot into his home garage where he begins, with the help of a younger lad named Martin Hemingway (who would become Clews’ first employee), creating a replacement Clews Stroka.

That, of course, is the Reader’s Digest version of what happened 50 years ago, and by early 1972 Clews and his business partner

(in the guise of Mrs. Gail Clews) opened a dedicated race shop on Shiffnall Street in beautiful Bolton, England. The first batch of bikes built and sold wore the Clews Stroka label, but that name was soon dropped in favor of the more professionally sounding Clews Competition Machines, or CCM, moniker. A new, and rather exciting, chapter in BSA racing lore began. The door was now wide open for CCM to conduct its own business.

The door to success What soon passed through that open portal was a rather unique motocross racer for its day. And each CCM motorcycle that Clews and his workers produced was for sale; CCM was now fully ingrained in the motorcycle industry. As Alan Clews was quoted by author Peter Henshaw in his book about CCM, Rolling

While the unique chain adjuster is a CCM item, the CZ magnesium front hub is a common add-on.

Tim culled the Lucas 5 3/4-inch headlight and Yamaha IT250 taillight from his parts bin to make the bike street legal.

Thunder, the plan was “to build a business making lightweight B50-based MX bikes.”

Eventually the supply of original BSA racing frames and complete B50 race engines ran out, forcing Clews to source out his own frame, although worthy donor engines remained relatively attainable. Fortunately for Clews another industrious young man, Mike Eatough, was nurturing his own upstart business of making motorcycle frames, including one for the B50. His company, Eaton Motors Components (EMC), crafted frames from lightweight, yet strong, Reynolds chrome-moly tubing. Each bare frame he built for CCM weighed a mere 27 pounds due in large part to ingenious engineering that included storing the engine’s oil in the frame itself.

Additionally, a bevy of lightweight components including forks

and triple clamps, Girling shock absorbers, wheels, brakes and hubs, an alloy gas tank and featherweight fiberglass body and trim items kept overall weight to a minimum. Clews and Eatough incorporated many other weight-saving components into the design, including engine case-mounted foot pegs, the result being an Open Class motocross racer weighing a reported 201 pounds, although Andy Ainsworth’s race bike officially checked in at 209 pounds. Either figure was credible for a racer toting a heavy 4-stroke engine such as the B50.

Clews’ creativity found its way to the engines that he built as well. Although the B50MX engine had a reputation for power and durability, young Clews elected to improve upon it, the result being two basic variants of the fabled Beezer single.

Sweet “sixsess” Perhaps the most famous engine during CCM’s breakout year was what became known as the Big Six. As the name suggests, the engine displaced 600cc — 608 to be precise. Taking advantage of a handicapping rule that allowed larger displacements for heavy 4-stroke engines, the Big Six achieved its displacement by altering the B50’s original 84mm x 90mm bore and stroke (498cc) to a remarkable 88mm x 100mm. According to Henshaw’s book, “most of the bikes built in 1972 were 608cc, though there were also some Short Fives,” another Clews-engineered B50 engine that shifted bore and stroke specs to 88mm x 82mm to alter performance characteristics in an entirely different direction than the Big Six’s. For comparison, a standard B50 generated about 34 brake horsepower at 5,500rpm, while Clews’ 498cc Short Five developed a claimed 45 brake horsepower at 7,000rpm. As you can imagine, the Big Six had them both beat, leaving the dyno after pounding out 50 brake horsepower at 6,500rpm, not to mention gobs of torque.

The package of a torque-laden engine cradled in a lightweight frame proved sufficient enough to be competitive on the race track, too. Sales for the first year, 1972, were beyond Clews’ expectations, with most bikes available (about 40 are known to have been sold) in kit form that spared customers from having to pay Great Britain’s heavy purchase tax.

By 1973 CCM’s “factory race team” scored its first British National Motocross win by rider Bob Wright. Reflected Clews in Henshaw’s book, “I knew he [Wright] was going to win when I saw him going up the big, bumpy hill. He was hanging on for grim death, and apart from his grip on the bars, most of him was off the bike for most of the time!” Clews’ description of Wright’s win is not to suggest that the CCM handled poorly, either. On

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the contrary, as another team rider, Ainsworth, described how well balanced his CCM racer actually was. “It was beautifully balanced,” Ainsworth told author Henshaw. “He [Clews] would hold the bike upright, feel for the balance, and then let it go. It would stand out on its own for quite a time.”

That balance feat is especially surprising considering the drivetrain’s layout. The BSA’s countershaft sprocket, located between the clutch and the inner case, prompted positioning the engine slightly off center, to the left of the frame’s centerline.

The British are coming!

With many of the bike’s kinks worked out, Clews looked to expand CCM’s sales to America, so in late 1973 he dispatched a team to compete in the Trans-AMA Series that filled the AMA’s winter racing calendar. That’s when Cycle World magazine publisher Joe Parkhurst experienced a ride aboard the British thumper and liked the bike so much that he purchased one for himself. The magazine’s CCM track test appeared in the January 1974 issue, and right out of the gate the editors made two things known. First, they had forgotten Alan Clews’ first name, referring to him as Ed, not Alan, in the article. The second point? The bike was surprisingly light: “Take the Clews out on a motocross course and the first thing you notice is an absence of weight,” cited the test. The CW staff had further praise for the CCM’s on-track manners, touting the steering as “beautiful … the front end doesn’t push to the outside at all,” a common trait among many big-bore thumpers of the time.

Parkhurst and the CW crew especially enjoyed the big-bore CCM on fire roads and back trails. After changing the final-drive sprocket gearing to boost top speed they hit the trail, leading them to suggest that the bike “becomes a play bike supreme.

All early CCM bikes were powered by BSA B50MX engines. Tim’s bike includes the CCM cast side cases that … leaked oil. Note, too, the foot peg mounts.

Really, the bike is the best fireroader we’ve had in years. Feet up slides using the throttle for control are child’s play and there is plenty of power to keep the rear end out.” The CCM wasn’t without its faults, though. CW testers were annoyed by the staggered placement of the case-mounted foot pegs, citing “the right hand [side] peg is almost 1 1/2 inches farther forward than the left hand [side] one and both pegs are mounted rather far forward when compared to other motocross machines.”

“Our biggest complaint with the CCM,” concluded Cycle World, “is its propensity to leak oil from beneath the engine. British Singles have never been known to be oil tight, but this one is ridiculous,” something we also discovered when photographing our feature bike, owned by vintage bike enthusiast and racer Tim McIntyre of Lake Elsinore, California.

On the road again Tim, a retired firefighter now in his early 60s, still has plenty of fire in the furnace when it comes to off-road riding and racing. He

Who says street bikes can’t jump?

Tim puts a little air between the tires and the ground at nearby Wildomar OHV Park.

participates with enviable success in California Vintage Moto Cross (CALVMX) events, “and of course, the Elsinore Grand Prix,” he’ll remind you. He’s also a big fan of BSA’s B50MX racers.

“I had wanted a B50MX since I was about 12 or 13 years old,” recalls Tim, citing his first exposure to a used one that he spotted for sale at the local bike shop in Dana Point, California, where he grew up. But it wasn’t until nearly 40 years after that first B50MX encounter that something rekindled the B50MX flame within Tim: “I was watching my son Reed compete in the Harvey Mushman Race [an Elsinore GP feature event] when I got motivated to compete in the Vintage Class.” Purchase of a 1973 CZ 250 followed, along with success on the race track. He also encountered what appeared to be a rather scuffed up B50MX for sale.

“It looked like a B50 frame, or at least a copy of one, and it was nickel plated,” he said. It was also California plated — a banged and bruised California license plate was attached to its rear fender. The whole package piqued Tim’s interest until eventually he exchanged money for the bike. Further investigation told him that the bike was a CCM bearing frame number C7223. A volley of emails with CCM and various respondents to an online thread that Tim started on the b50.org website concerning frame numbers confirmed that the bike was, indeed, one of the first-year

models by Clews Competition Machines. Finally Tim received an email from the late Alan Clews’ son Russel, now CCM’s production manager, confirming that this bike was part of the company’s first-year models, even though frame number C7223 wasn’t listed on the official manifest, which Tim thought to be peculiar. Russel Clews’ email read: “C7222 and C7224 are on our records, but C7223 is not.

Sometimes, but not often, certain motorcycles weren’t recorded but your motorcycle is probably authentic. It is not a Clews Stroka, but a CCM. Clews Stroka’s were earlier. Your machine was produced in early 1972.”

The mystery solved, Tim elected to restore the bike to its former glory by keeping it street legal. Besides, how often do you see a dual-sport CCM? Furthermore, as a member of the BSA Owners Club of Southern California club, he feels the bike, with its nickelplated frame and B50/CCM hybrid engine, would make a classic addition to the dual-sport and road rides that the club promotes throughout the year.

Tim does much of his own work during a bike restoration, but this time he called on several suppliers and friends in the industry to help see this project through. For instance, the white fiberglass body parts were sourced from CCM Britain, and various replica CCM hard parts such as the brake pedal, cable and swing arm protector — even the CZ front brake hub — he sourced locally. (Tim says that the CZ hubs can be found on Joe Maxwell Engineering’s website.)

The frame required extensive work, so Doug Farron, of T&T Welding in nearby Corona, California, was commissioned to smooth things out, including relocating the lay-down shock mounts and struts (installed by a previous owner) to their more upright position as per 1972 specs, replacing worn or damaged mounting hardware and fabricating the kickstand mount (original CCMs didn’t have that feature). Tim’s son Reed lent his welding expertise at times, too, and when all the cutting, grinding and welding was complete, the frame was sent for a soaking at MJB Plating in Rialto, California. What emerged from their vat was a nickel-plated frame that was jewel-like in its finish.

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“Charlie Richardson,” Tim added, “helped with specialty items such as the billet triple clamps, steering bushings and a custom rear axle to accommodate the CZ rear hub.” Charlie owns CR High Performance, a vintage CZ specialty shop in Fallbrook, California, so he’s familiar with 50-year-old bikes like this.

After thoroughly rebuilding a donor stock B50MX engine, Tim ceremoniously removed the tired original unit that came with the bike to make room for its replacement that boasted fresh CCM cast aluminum cases (with kickstart provision; many CCM racers had no kickstarters!) and their signature foot pegs. He also nestled an Amal 32mm up top, making sure it was securely fastened to the air filter box. The exhaust is a Tim creation, too: “I made a cardboard mock-up for a pattern,” he said, “and by the end of the afternoon I had a pipe.” The Bill’s Pipes silencer (“It even has a spark arrestor!” boasts Tim) keeps the bike street and trail legal.

Following a quick trip to Tim Bartee at T.A. Bartee Designs for some tasteful gold and black pinstriping, plus the number “23” painted onto each side cover, the bike was ready for fire up. By the way, the “23” pays tribute to the bike’s frame number, a fitting touch to a CCM that otherwise could be considered an orphan among the Clews Competition Machines family of racers.

So how does the biked perform? First, the bad news: those CCM engine cases insist on leaking oil, so Tim’s still working on that part of the project. But when it comes to riding and sliding, he says the bike feels masterful.

“It’s tight. It really rides nice, with good manners,” he says. It’s light weight lends to its predictable ride on the trail, too. Our photo session included taking a few jumps at nearby Wildomar OHV Park where Tim let his CCM dual-sport bike stretch its legs and shake off some dust. No doubt the late Alan Clews would be proud.

CCM continues making bikes today. After surviving a buyout that shifted ownership from the Clews family to a private firm, the company eventually returned to its original owners. Today CCM continues making specialty bikes in the same spirit that led to the Big Six and Short Five that helped launched the company nearly half a century ago. MC

Photo of Dave Roper by Bill Burke

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Fred Wacker, 61 years old, on his 16th birthday present.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON WLA A hot-rodded Army surplus bike restored back to original

Story and photos by Burt Richmond

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Most of us had difficulty getting parental approval to ride a motorcycle.

Mom would remind us about how dangerous they are. Dad would tell us that he never wanted to see a motorcycle in the woodshed. Imagine how lucky Fred Wacker was, as he had a Bonanza mini-bike when he was only 7 years old!

On his 16th birthday in 1976, Fred’s father gave him an adult-

sized yellow Harley-Davidson, which happened to be an old WLA Army surplus bike from World War II. Fred Sr. was not only a fellow motorcyclist, but was also a British sports car fan, competing in MGs and other race cars of the 1950s. Luckily, Fred had a great role model in his dad, who taught him how to ride safely and how to keep his 1942 Harley tuned and running properly.

Fred Wacker, Sr. paid $250 for that old Army surplus bike. The seller had removed or cut-off all the non-essential military components and added a large buddy saddle instead of the single bicycle-type seat. He also had the front-end chrome plated — it www.MotorcycleClassics.com

57

The original bill of sale from 1967 (left). The refreshed hot rod 11 years after initial gift (above).

was a perfectly hot-rodded bike for a teenager. WLA was HarleyDavidson’s abbreviation for their military model: W= flat head 45 cubic inch engine; L= high compression and A=Army. The yellow Harley took Fred through high school and college. Well into his working career, Fred decided to freshen up the bike in 1987. He dismantled the bike, stripped off the old school bus yellow paint, and sandblasted the frame and the sheet metal. The tired and

The WLA was given a faithful restoration by the owner, from the rifle scabbard to the leather saddle bags and the U.S. Army blanket roll.

pitted shiny parts were re-chromed — all part of Fred’s love affair with anything with two wheels and an engine. The family business was manufacturing tools, so it was natural for Fred to learn how to use them with proficiency. Like father, like son. Fred grew into a competent weekend mechanic.

Years ago, Fred, Jr. was in the hunt for a replacement seat for his Moto Guzzi 175cc Lodola Sport. It was an important bike as it was the one his parents bought in Italy for their honeymoon in the 1950s. Fred enjoys rescuing abused and unloved motorcycles, which, over time has morphed into a serious collection, several of which he has personally restored. It gives him great pleasure to escape from corporate captivity by tinkering in his garage workshop on winter nights and weekends.

Back to original Fast forward to the mid-2000s, during a dinner conversation with one of his sons who was studying World War II in middle school. The son asked why the family motorcycle collection didn’t

The oil-bath style air cleaner (left). Milwaukee’s 45 cubic inch high-compression flat head workhorse (right). have any military bikes. Fred pondered that for a few minutes Therefore, most nighttime mobile military operations were durand responded, “We already have an old relic from 1945. Yep, our ing full moons when the ground forces could see where they were yellow Harley was actually a 1945 Army surplus relic that your going and could see the enemy.

Grandfather gave me. It was used by mesDuring their training, riders were taught sengers and scouts in the front lines of the that if they encountered enemy fire, that they European theater!” That dinner conversation should “drop” the motorcycles on the side and got Fred inspired about restoring his WLA. crouch down behind it to let the engine deflect First, he researched the Harley-Davidson enemy fire. Many soldiers reported back after archives to learn that they actually produced such incidents that Milwaukee’s metal saved 88,000 military models from 1942 through the their lives! end of the war in 1945. However, all of them Once again, the bike was on Fred’s lift were titled as 1942. Via the internet, Fred was being disassembled for the second time. It able to find several Harley-Davidson operatook more than five years for the complete tor’s manuals, illustrated parts restoration, but Fred is delighted manuals, and various sources for with the finished product. No the many missing military parts. details escaped his touch. Notice How to Restore Your Military Harleythat even the heads of machine Davidson was a great find — not screws and bolts are painted OD necessarily an actual do-it-your(olive drab) or finished with the self guide, but an indispensable correct Parkerizing non-rust finassistant to understand the proish. Check out the leather toe duction-run variations caused by shields at the bottom of the leg war-time changes. shield to keep the rider’s boot Fred’s WLA is from the end of more stable on the foot platform. the war in 1945. He began finding Gas tank mounted U.S. Army military lube instructions. David Sarafan, a nationally known other collectors who had many expert on WLAs, directed Fred to of the parts that he needed. The most daunting missing pieces other known sources for literature and parts. At this juncture, to locate were the so called “black-out” lights made by Guide & those black-out lights are virtually non-existent; same for the Cycle Ray, which had small horizontal rectangular openings so NOS tank-mounted speedometer, which drives their price off that aerial observation at night was nil. According to Fred, the the charts of affordability. nighttime lighting is akin to four lightning bugs in a pickle jar!

The MVAA (Military Vehicle Association of America) was able It was very hard to discern the war-time dirt roads in the dark. to supply the correct, toxic, dull OD paint. The paint is thick and

Proof positive: Harley-Davidson WLAs abroad About the time that Fred Wacker was having a dinner conversation about a military motorcycle in 2000 with his family, I had co-organized an expedition on Russian Ural motorcycle sidecars from oil-rich Baku, Azerbaijan, to Ceyhan, Turkey, to help promote the construction of a new oil pipeline to a deep Mediterranean port. Turkey was eager to avoid shipping oil via tankers across the Black Sea and the Bosporus because a tanker had hit one of the two

bridges. It exploded thousands of barrels of crude oil that burned for a week.

It destroyed Istanbul’s Asian connection with the European side; this disrupted Istanbul for many years. Our expedition was a Public Relations effort, which included meeting many government officials along our route.

The proposed pipeline route would go through the Republik of Georgia. At the time, the former USSR Secretary of State, Eduard Shevardnadze, was the

President of Georgia. We had a meeting with him in the Georgian Congress Hall.

He addressed us in English, telling us that he was envious of our journey and wished that he had the time and energy to join us. As a young college student attending Moscow University, he would ride his WWII Army surplus HarleyDavidson over 2,200 kilometers (1,320 miles) from Moscow to Tblisi, Georgia — proof that there were WLAs in the former USSR! — Burt Richmond www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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clings to all the metal parts, which is essential for military use as exposing any metal to sunlight reflections could be observed by the enemy. This machine is not a shiny trailer queen. It is an authentically restored 75 year old Army work horse.

The engine went to the local HarleyDavidson dealer whose shop machinist had been servicing the engine for years.

He did a complete upper-end including a valve job, honed the cylinders and replaced the piston rings. The crankshaft journals, camshaft and bearings were checked for wear, but checked out as okay. The bike was finally completed in 2006. Much of the fun and sense of accomplishment occurred piece-by-piece when long awaited parts arrived and were added.

Fred’s constant searches for authentic pieces for his restoration included the Thompson submachine gun scabbard and the handlebar mounted shovel bracket. After a long search, a pair of very stiff leather saddlebags were found in Europe that had Cyrillic (Russian) writing inside the bags — a reminder that Russia was an ally during World War II via a program called “Lend Lease.” The U.S. supplied the Soviet Union with $11.3 billion in food, uniforms, and military equipment including planes, tanks, jeeps and 30,000 WLA motorcycles to help fight

The period speedometer (middle), flanked by military-type black-out head light and tail light with covers. Note the leather toe protectors (left). the Germans. That represented a third of Harley-Davidson war production! No surprise that those saddle bags were sourced from behind the former “Iron Curtain”!

There was and is an abundance of WLA machines and parts readily available from the old Soviet Union and satellite states.

Fred lives a few miles from Fort Sheridan, a former Midwest Army base. The most appropriate ride after the motorcycle’s metamorphosis from yellow and chrome to a “Monument of a Bygone Era” that saw active duty during World War II was through Fort Sheridan. He experienced several thumbs-up as he rode through Fort Sheridan’s Parade Grounds, where General George Patton trained as a cavalry soldier during World War I. That ride around the Parade Grounds was an incredible source of pleasure putting the proverbial bow on the proper restoration to return this bike to its original military configuration. Between the bike that his father had given him 44 years ago and thanks to his son’s inquiring mind, Fred has achieved a high level of pride with research and his hands. MC

Harley-Davidson WLA: The Main US Military Motorcycle of World War II

Restoration was guided by original U.S. Army manuals.

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Harley-Davidson WLA is the story of an iconic model in the long history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the WLA, which was used by Allied forces during WWII and developed for the U.S. Army’s mechanized cavalry. Known today as the “Liberator,” this book will unveil the history and stories of individuals who rode this icon to war and why the model is now a favorite among civilian collectors. This title is available at MotorcycleClassics.com/ Store or by calling 800-880-7567.

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The new MkIII Commando timing cover (left) next to an original cover from a 1974 Commando, which has been modified.

Solving wet-sumping issues on Norton Commandos

A

common problem with vintage British bikes, due to cover with their dry crankcases and remote oil tanks, is wet other is a sumping. Wet sumping is when the oil from the remote oil tank finds its way into the sump of SPONSORED BY the engine. In this How-To we’re going to show you two methods of curing the problem as it exists in Norton Commandos.

Both of these methods involve changing the timing cover to incorporate a check valve on the pressure side of the oil pump.

One method is to replace your stock timing

In a minute we will remove the timing cover, but before that, you’ll need to drain the sump and oil tank. Our bike had sat long enough that most of the oil was in the sump, as you can see here.

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one from the MkIII Commando of 1975 and the modification to the pre-MkIII cover that accomplishes the same thing. We’ll detail the differences as we go along so you can decide which method to use if you should want to modify your Norton.

You will need the service manual which is available online from many sources, along with some gaskets and seals. Those are available from many sources, including our advertisers. Let’s get started.

— Keith Fellenstein

After all the oil is drained, it’s time to remove the points cover and, depending on your setup, either the points plate and auto advance unit or the electronic points unit and rotor. We had a Boyer, so out comes the sensor plate and magnetic rotor underneath.

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MOTORCYCLE

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HOW-TO

The Boyer plate has an M8x1 internal thread, so with a little shop work you can make a tool to remove the plate easily.

3

I had the special tool so I used it instead of the bolt and spacer. In either case, you are pushing against the recessed end of the cam to release the taper holding the rotor in place.

4

Disconnect the oil line to the rocker boxes and let it drain into a small container. There are two copper washers on this junction, be sure to anneal them to red hot with a propane torch before reusing them.

6

After the points plate and shift lever are out of the way, remove the timing cover screws. To remove the cover you’ll probably have to shock it a bit with a rubber hammer to loosen the bond between the cover and gasket. Carefully clean any gasket residue from the crankcase and timing cover.

Once the cover is off this job can branch in two directions.

In the first, you send the cover (and optionally the oil pump) off to AMR in Tucson so they can modify your cover to MkIII specs. We’ll do that one first. This picture is of the cover before modification.

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7

Remove the gear indicator and shift lever so you can remove the timing cover

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www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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HOW-TO

We’ve got our cover back from AMR. The first modification is to redirect the pressure relief valve back to the sump rather than back to the input side of the oil pump. This does away with a back channel for oil to seep into the sump.

As a part of this modification, you must plug the oil passage in the crankcase with the supplied set screw and some loctite. The crankcase is already threaded for this set screw. Screw it in until it is just below the sealing face of the crankcase.

The second modification is the check valve on the pressure side of the oil pump. A light spring holds this ball against the pump output to stop oil from leaking down from the oil tank through the pump. Once the engine starts, oil pressure pushes the ball out of the way and allows normal oiling. The pin on the right holds the ball in place until you have the cover on. The wire tie holds the pin in place until you’re ready to install the cover.

The optional modification is machining the oil pump so that sealing rings can be fitted to stop oil from leaking past the pump gears. This is sort of a belt and suspenders fix, as the ball valve should stop wet sumping on its own. Also shown is the O-ring that seals the pump output to the newly machined cover surface.

Here is the modified cover with all new seals installed and ready to be fitted back to the timing side of the crankcase. Remove the safety tie holding the pin in place before fitting the cover, but don’t dislodge the pin or you’ll be chasing a ball and possibly a spring around your shop.

Fit a new gasket between the crankcase and timing cover.

Once you have the cover fully seated on the case, you can pull the pin, releasing the ball to seal against the O-ring and pump output. Reinstall all the cover screws and attach the rocker oil feed to the timing cover with the freshly annealed copper washers.

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HOW-TO

Seal everything back up, double check your hoses, and start the engine. Look in the oil tank to be sure oil is being pumped back and you’re done. This is a more reasonable amount of oil to drain from the sump in normal use now.

15

The second method is faster, but much more expensive.

You just buy the MkIII timing cover and parts needed to populate it. Then it’s just a matter of removing the old cover, replacing a few parts and installing the new cover.

16

In addition, they have not drilled the passage that would return oil to the feed side of the pump. In the event of the pressure relief valve opening up, the excess oil is dumped into the sump, to be pumped back to the tank. With this hole missing, you don’t need to plug the return gallery in the crankcase.

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The MkIII cover has a cylindrical plunger backed with a spring as the anti-drain valve.

There is a new pump output flange, shown here on the left, to back the seal to the timing cover. The flange and the rubber seal are larger to work with the larger plunger in the cover.

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You’ll carefully pry the old flange out and press the new one in its place. It’s a light press fit, should come out and the new one go in without much trouble.

20

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The new seal fits over the flange with the ‘bump’ facing outward

You don’t have to plug the oil gallery in the crankcase when using this cover, but be sure that there is a screw installed in this location in the cover. Loctite it to keep it in place and screw it in flush with the cover. For added security, you can use a pin punch to stake the cover into the screw slot.

22

Here it is in place and ready for the cover to be fitted.

24

Assemble the check valve with the hollow side holding the spring into the cover.

23

RESOURCES Alternative Motorcycle Repair (AMR) Tuscon amr-of-tucson.com Andover Norton andover-norton.co.uk

The final assembly is the same as for the modified cover, just be careful that the check valve doesn’t come out of the cover while installing it. Put everything back the way you found it and enjoy your new non-wet sumping Commando.

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Klempfs British Parts klempfsbritishparts.com Morrie’s Place morriesplacecycle.com

Baxter Cycle baxtercycle.com

Norvil Motorcycle Company norvilmotorcycle.co.uk

British Cycle Supply britcycle.com

Old Britts oldbrits.com

Fair Spares America fairsparesamerica.com

Walridge Motors walridge.com

KEITH’S

GARAGE “Full throttle under load at less than 100mph is perfectly valid for plug reading.”

Exhaust port repairs

the bike. Sometimes the clutch frees up before the bike starts, but if the bike starts the engine pulses finish the job of freeing up the plates.

Q:

Do you have any suggestions as to Norton Commando exhaust port repairs? Should I have the ports welded up and rethreaded or bored out and put in brass threaded inserts? Also, anyone you know have expertise in this area? Thank you for your help!

Mark Gwynn/Cleveland, Ohio

Reader feedback

A:

I got some good suggestions to add to my method of fixing cracked overflow tubes in carburetors, and one of the easiest came I’ve had great results from from Lee M. Christof. He said go to Jim Comstock, but he’s a busy a small engine repair shop and get man so you’ll have to be patient. His Tygon tubing that just fits over the website nortonmachineshop.com is drain tube. Cut to fit and push on. for information only. You’ll have Just make sure it doesn’t interfere to drop him an email at one of the Ready to take your classic queries: Tech Editor with the float operation.

Keith Fellenstein. addresses listed on that page.

I can always count on subscribers to supply the knowledge I’m Plug reading issue is. Pressurizing each cylinder lacking. Regarding the Motorumi I was wondering if you have any expewhile at TDC on compression should Formichino scooter question (from rience with the Gunson Colortune. give some clues. You’ll have to keep reader Joe Mensch) in the March/ And I also have a related question about the engine from turning over, and April issue, reader Paul has some getting a plug reading at full throttle. Rather then listen at the breather, intake and information to share. than running over 100mph, can a wide open exhaust. If your rings aren’t sealing “I saw the reader question about plug reading be done in lower gear at or near well, there should be some air noise at a Motorumi Formichino scooter in the speed limit? the breather. One possibility is piston the March/April 2021 issue. I’m pretty Ross Richards/via email rings installed upside down, another is into vintage scooters, and there are rings that are sized incorrectly and not not a lot of options for that scooter I’ve seen those visible spark providing enough sealing against the in the U.S. It is very rare, even in plugs before, but don’t have any cylinder walls.

Europe. The first place I would send experience using them to tune a bike. the reader would be Saint’s Cycle Clutch issues They would be most useful I think, if Works in Chattanooga, Tennessee Hi Keith, I have a 1973 Triumph the bike was on a dyno. I don’t know (www.saintsengine.com). Joe Casola, Bonneville. I have had it for several how you can read them in loaded conthe owner, is very into old scooters, years. I have done quite a bit of work on it in ditions otherwise. As for plug reading and has a soft spot for the oddballs. the past and need to sell it and get it out of in lower gears, full throttle under load He is an excellent machinist. If there my garage, however the clutch is jammed up, at less than 100mph is perfectly valid is anyone in the U.S. that will take on is there an easy fix for this? for plug reading. engine work on a Formichino, it would Ian Rednall/via email be him. If Joe won’t do it, you can send Smoky starts the reader my email info. I do know I have recently rebuilt a 1982 Triumph Those wet plate clutches always a guy out here in San Francisco that Bonneville 750. When I started and stick together if left unused has a large collection of Motorumi rode it, it blew lots of smoke. Is this normal? for too long. You’ll need to start by motorcycles. He may have a contact I have done around 80 kilometers on the bike unloading the clutch by pulling in the in Europe that can assist, if nobody in but it is blowing too much smoke for my liklever and tying it back with a zip tie. the U.S. is able to help.” — Paul ing. Or am I being too picky?

Leave it overnight and the next day Charlie Chodorowski/Pemberton, kick the engine over with the ignition If Paul’s contact would be useful for West Australia off until there is no resistance to the anyone else out there, email editor Hall at kick starter. At that point you can take lhall@motorcycleclassics.com and he’ll be Some smoke on a first restart the zip tie off and the clutch should happy to share it. wouldn’t be troubling, but conbehave itself, at least until it sits tinued smoking is. The first test would unused for a bit. I have that problem Send questions and feedback to be compression, followed by a leak with my Triumph T100SC if it sits. For keithsgarage@motorcycleclassics.com down test to see where the sealing it I just pull the clutch in and kick start

A:

Q:

A:

Q:

Q:

A:

A:

www.MotorcycleClassics.com

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CALENDAR

JULY/AUGUST Don’t miss these upcoming events!

All events subject to change. Please check event websites for updated information.

7/3

Head to the Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, Alabama, for the third edition of the Concours de Competition et D’Elegance, with famed racer David Aldana serving as Grand Marshal. WERA will conduct the event on the track and in the paddock, while the Barber Museum will provide judging for motorcycles entered. If you would like to enter the event watch wera.com or the Concours de Competition Facebook page for the procedure to apply to participate, or contact Brian Slark at bslark@barbermuseum.org

June 29-July 3 — GWRRA Wing Ding 42. Springfield, MO. wing-ding.org July 9-11 — 28th Annual MGNOC Iowa Rally. Elkader, IA. mgnoc.com July 9-11 — New York Moto Guzzi Rally. Mountain View, NY. mgnoc.com

7/16

Head to California for the inaugural AHRMA Classic Motofest of Monterey, July 16-18, 2021. Enjoy road racing at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, along with motocross, trials and more. Saturday will feature the Vintage Motorcycle show by Hagerty. More info: ahrma.org

July 10 — 10th Annual Kansas City VJMC All Japanese Rally.

Liberty, MO. kcvjmc.com

7/23

July 11 — Jeff Williams MC Swap

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 23-25, 2021. Enjoy the AMA Vintage Road Racing Grand Championships along with motocross, hare scrambles, trials and flat track racing. The event includes America’s largest motorcycle swap meet, the Wall of Death, bike shows, stunt shows, demo rides, seminars and more. More info: vintagemotorcycledays.com

Meet. Admiral Twin Drive-In, Tulsa, OK. jwswapmeet.com

July 16-18 — 40th Annual British Biker Cooperative Rally and Show.

Blue River, WI. britishbiker.net

7/24

Visit the Vintage Motorbike Show, July 24-25, 2021, during the annual Pittsburg Vintage Grand Prix. All classic, vintage, antique and historic racing motorbikes are invited to participate in the show which runs from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Entry fee is $15 per day or $25 for the weekend and includes exclusive motorcycle entrance to the park and all day parking. Ton-Up Pittsburgh hosts the Motorbikes at the PVGP Hospitality Tent on Saturday which includes complimentary food and drink. More info: pvgp.org/car-shows/motorbikes

July 25 — Jeff Williams MC Swap Meet. Twin Drive-In, Kansas City, MO. jwswapmeet.com

Aug. 6-8 — North Carolina Moto Guzzi Rally. Cruso, NC. mgnoc.com

Aug. 7 — 9th Annual KCVJMC

Motorcycle Classics wants to know about classic motorcycle shows, swap meets, road runs and more.

Send details of upcoming events at least three months in advance to lhall@motorcycleclassics.com

Vintage Motorcycle Rally at the Commermorative Air Force Museum Show & Rally. New Century, KS. kcvjmc.com

Aug. 14 — 5th Annual Kansas City All 2-Stroke Rally. Lee’s Summit, MO. kcvjmc.com Aug. 15 — British Iron Association of Connecticut Brit Jam 2021.

Haddam Neck Fairgrounds, East Hampton, CT. ctbritiron.org

Aug. 19-21 — MGNOC New Mexico State Rally. Datil, NM. mgnoc.com

Aug. 20-22 — 20th Annual Michigan Moto Guzzi Rally.

Interlochen, MI. mgnoc.com

Aug. 22 — Jeff Williams MC KELLY SHANE

Swap Meet. Twin Drive-In, Kansas City, MO. jwswapmeet.com

Motocross, trials and road racing will all be featured at the AHRMA Classic Motofest of Monterey, July 16-18, 2021.

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Aug. 28-Sept. 2 — Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials AMA Land Speed Grand Championship. Wendover, UT. bonnevillespeedtrials.com

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The Big Map (as it is known) covers the area used by Patton’s Desert Training Center and the California-Arizona Maneuver Area. It’s a visuallyarresting display that is truly something special.

CHIRIACO SUMMIT, CALIFORNIA, AND THE GENERAL PATTON MEMORIAL MUSEUM n the late 1920s, the path across the desert from Arizona through California (a trail currently known as Interstate 10) was but a dirt road. A young Joe Chiriaco used it when he hitchhiked from Alabama to see a California Rose Bowl football game in 1927. Chiriaco stayed in California, working as a surveyor for the aqueduct that would carry water from the Colorado River to Los Angeles, and he recognized opportunity. That dirt road (Highways 60 and 70 in those early days) would soon carry more people from points east to Los Angeles. Shaver Summit (the high point now known as Chiriaco Summit) would be a good place to sell gasoline and food. He and his soon-to-be wife Ruth bought land, started a business and a family, and did well. It was a classic case of the right people, the right time, the right place and the right work ethic.

Fast forward a decade into the late 1930s, and we were a nation preparing for war. George S. Patton, Jr., needed a place to train his newly-formed tank units. The desert regions Chiriaco had surveyed were perfect. Chiriaco was at his lunch counter one day when someone tapped his shoulder. Chiriaco turned and there stood General Patton. Two legends, one local and one national, eyeball to eyeball. Chiriaco knew the desert and Patton needed his help. Camp Young (where Chiriaco Summit stands today) and the 18,000-square-mile Desert Training Center (where over one million men would learn armored warfare) formed the foundation of Patton’s success. Patton and Chiriaco’s relationship was mutually-beneficial: Patton kept Chiriaco’s gas station and lunch counter accessible to the troops, Chiriaco sold

I

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beer with the General’s blessing, and as you can guess ... well, you don’t have to guess: We won World War II. World War II ended, the Desert Training Center closed, and during the Eisenhower administration Interstate 10 followed the path of Highways 60 and 70. Patton’s troops were gone and I-10 became the major east/west freeway across the U.S. We became a nation on wheels and Chiriaco’s business continued to thrive as Americans took to the road with newfound postwar prosperity. Fast forward yet again and in the 1980s Margit Chiriaco Rusche (Joe and Ruth Chiriaco’s daughter) and Leslie Cone (the Bureau of Land Management director overseeing the area) had an idea: Create a museum honoring Patton and the region’s World War

II contributions. Ronald Reagan heard about it and donated an M-47 Patton tank and things took off from there.

I first rode to the museum in 2003. It was small then, but it has grown substantially. The armored vehicle exhibits have grown, as has the Museum’s interior, including dioramas of Patton’s life, a small arms display and much more.

The museum is three hours east of Los Angeles on I-10 and it’s a marvelous destination. The I-10 ride is the quick but boring way to get there; you might want to pick up State Route 62 north and come down through Twenty-Nine Palms for a scenic ride through Joshua Tree National Park (see MC May/June 2009). Trust me on this: You’ll want to visit the General Patton Memorial Museum. — Joe Berk

THE SKINNY What: Chiriaco Summit and the General Patton Memorial Museum, 62510 Chiriaco Rd., Chiriaco Summit, CA, 92201, (435) 922-0213.

How to Get There: From Los Angeles take I-10 east for 156 miles; from Arizona take I-10 west. Chiriaco summit is approximately 70 miles west of the Arizona border.

Best Kept Secret: The General Patton burger in the Chiriaco Summit Café adjacent to the museum. It’s awesome.

Don’t Miss: Picking up a copy of Mary Gordon’s book, Chiriaco Summit, for a more in-depth history of the area, the Chiriaco family, and the museum.

The Patton Museum’s new Matzner Tank Avoid: Dehydration. Daytime Pavilion. When we were there, one of the two temperatures are usually well M60 tanks you see in front was running. If you over 100 F in the summer. think a motorcycle engine at idle makes music, More Info: generalpatton you will love listening to an M60’s air-cooled, museum.com horizontally-opposed, 1,790-cubic-inch, More Photos: bit.ly/PatMuseum 12-cylinder diesel engine.

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MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS STREET BIKES OF THE ‘60S This 96-page Motorcycle Classics special collector edition features glossy photographs, unique perspectives, and some of the most famous bikes to come out of this time. Revel in the history with Motorcycle Classics Street Bikes of the ‘60s. #8461 $6.99 Members: $5.59

WHY WE RIDE Why We Ride serves as an anthem for those who do and an explanation for those who don’t. The book presents the insights of Mark Barnes, a motorcycling clinical psychologist, as he articulates the elusive physical, emotional, and interpersonal elements that make the world of the motorcyclist such a rich and exciting place. #9290 $24.99 Members: $21.24

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF CLASSIC AND MODERN TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES, 1937-TODAY The ultimate reference for Triumph lovers and fans of British motorcycles, The Complete Book of Classic and Modern Triumph Motorcycles, 1937-Today collects all of the motorcycles from this iconic brand in a single illustrated volume.

Written by respected Triumph expert Ian Falloon, this luxurious reference covers all of the major and minor models. #10260 $50.00 Members: $45.00

MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS STREET BIKES OF THE ‘70S Motorcycle Classics has put together another 96-page special edition featuring articles that explore the decade and what it brought to the motorcycle world. The Honda CB550K, Ducati 750 Sport, Yamaha RD400, and many others are all covered in this glossy-page, full-color guide. #9840 $6.99 Members: $5.59

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THE COMPLETE BOOK OF MOTO GUZZI 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION This new edition of The Complete Book of Moto Guzzi includes a 100th anniversary introduction, new photography, and additional pages to cover the newest models from 2018 to 2020. All of Moto Guzzi’s production models are covered in detail, including the groundbreaking Falcone, the V-8 Grand Prix racers, the V7 Sport, and more! #10547 $60.00 Members: $54.00

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DREAMING OF JUPITER In his previous book, Jupiter’s Travels, Ted Simon tells the story of his four-year ride around the world. At age 69, out of shape, barely able to do one push-up, or lift his bike, he says: “Why not do it again?” And, unbelievably he does.

Simon’s journey through 59,000 miles and 5 continents will inspire riders to defy their years and hold on to their dreams. #10729 $24.95 Members: $21.21

MAGNIFICENT MOTORCYCLE TRIPS OF THE WORLD Featuring 40 spectacular routes from the snowy passes of Patagonia to Australia’s Red Centre, this book is the perfect inspiration for your next big motorcycling adventure. Full of stunning photography and route maps showing points of interest along the way, the guide focuses on journeys that are accessible to everyone. #8865 $19.99 Members: $16.99

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HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT, REPAIR, & MODIFY MOTORCYCLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS Motorcycle expert Tracy Martin provides crystal-clear, fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions for every electrical repair imaginable on a bike: from the nuts-andbolts basics to fuel-injection systems, onboard computers, repair and installation of factory and aftermarket accessories, and everything else in between. #7707 $39.99 Members: $33.99

MOTO GUZZI: THE COMPLETE STORY Moto Guzzi: The Complete Story charts the development of the stylish Guzzi bikes and the highs (and lows) of one of the oldest motorcycles marques still in existence.

Topics covered include the origins of the Moto Guzzi factory at Mandello del Lario, the oldest motorcycle factory in the world; successes at the Isle of Man TT and races worldwide; the development of the V-twin engine; and more! #7138 $44.95 Members: $38.21

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MOTO GUZZI MOTORCYCLES: SINCE 1921 Active in motorcycle construction since 1920, particularly in the years after 1945, Moto Guzzi created motorcycles that made history, especially those with the powerful V-twin engine installed lengthwise in the chassis. This comprehensive volume describes all models and technical details, while providing background information about the company and the industry. It is not all about machines and horsepower, but also the people who put their stamp on the operations. #10559 $39.99 Members: $35.99

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A complete workshop guide to restoring and maintaining your classic British motorcycle. Covering the principles of restoration and maintenance, and therefore applicable across all post-war classic British marques, this book covers everything from general maintenance procedures to full engine strips and rebuilds. #10893 $59.95 Members: $50.96 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS MESH BLACK STONE HAT This hat features a garment washed cotton twill front with a mesh back and a pre-curved visor.

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AJS AND MATCHLESS POST-WAR SINGLES AND TWINS Illustrated with over 200 photographs of AJS and Matchless bikes, this book looks at the history and development of the single and twin-cylinder ranges, racing bikes, technical details of all major models, and owning and riding AJS and Matchless bikes today. #10836 $44.95 Members: $40.46

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HARLEY-DAVIDSON This book charts the history and evolution of the company and the machine, from its humble beginnings to the present day, and features a chronological guide to every Harley model produced, from the 1906 Silent Gray Fellow to the VR1000 superbike. It includes photographs showing each motorcycle to perfection, together with technical specifications, key design elements, engineering standards and notable attributes. #10702 $13.99 Members: $11.89

BSA THE COMPLETE STORY BSA was once the world’s most successful motorcycle company, manufacturing more machines than any other in the world by the mid-1950s. This book is an epic story of rise and fall of the British motorcycle industry. With more than 170 illustrations, this book recalls the founding of the company and its foray into bicycle and then motorcycle production and describes the evolution of the various models of motorcycles. #10533 $36.99 Members: $33.29 Classic Superbikes presents 75 of the best models, from renowned manufacturers including Aprilia, Bimota, BMW, Buell, Cagiva, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha. Each bike gets four pages with cutout photography from a variety of angles, while lively text explores the bike’s history and aspects of its design. For the real enthusiast, there’s a comprehensive specification box that covers everything from engine size and tire measurements to top speed, weight, power output, and gearbox. #9962 $14.95 Members: $12.71

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900 SEI PRINT Every motorcycle enthusiast will love this one of a kind Daniel Peirce 900 SEI Engine print! Perfect for any garage or office, this print will encourage you to get out on the open road. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist. #9023 $69.00 Members: $62.10

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES Written by noted motorcycle author Patrick Hahn, Classic Motorcycles presents the history of motorcycling as told through the most significant, iconic, classic motorcycles of all time, with both period photography and modern portrait photography.

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PROFICIENT MOTORCYCLING Proficient Motorcycling lays out a clear course for all riders who want to sharpen their handling skills and improve their rides. Taking riders from long, snaking country roads right into the traffic of the big city, offering the best advice for riders dealing with the most challenging conditions (whether it’s road construction, snapjawed intersections, skateboarders, or suddenly slippery road surfaces). #9354 $24.95 Members: $21.21

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PARTING

SHOTS

403 racers lined up for the 1984 race, won by Ed Lojak.

Blackwater 100 — America’s Toughest Race

I

t was a 100-mile cross-country off-road race like no other, West Virginia event became an east coast fixture. And every held every June from 1975 to 1993 in the dark north woods year Coombs, with a chain saw strapped to his back, boldly of West Virginia. Beginning and ending in the sleepy town rode into the wilderness to carve out a challenging, but creditof Davis, each race lap served up 20 miles of brutal riding — able, course. Traditionally every race started on Main Street nay, survival! — through countryside home to waist-deep mud before leading to nearby Beaver Creek, then headed for the bogs and gnarly woods where tree roots as thick and stubborn Blackwater River at which point Coombs and his trusty chain as elephant legs consumed the trails. There was never time to saw decided what direction the racers would go from there. relax as riders also faced fast-moving streams and abandoned The racing was always tough, and more of the 400-plus ridsaw mills, and struggled up and down steep hillsides in Canaan ers who entered dropped out than finished. Indeed, the late Valley before winding back to the Dave Coombs Sr. once told of a start/finish line on Main Street. rider who became so discouraged The race was officially tagged as in The Bogs — a mile-long stretch The Blackwater 100, but everybody of mud, water and soft grass — in the off-road community knew it that “he just walked out of there, as “America’s Toughest Race.” The and left his bike.” A couple months ominous moniker originated from later some adventurous trail riders the typewriter of Dirt Bike magazine stumbled upon the lone bike and editor Rick Sieman — aka Super reported the find to Coombs Hunky — who, with Dirt Bike staffwho graciously retrieved it for ers Tom Webb, Paul Clipper and the owner.

Dennis Cox, had left the sanctity of Blackwater’s winner’s list includes the magazine’s Southern California some all-time greats of enduro office to experience firsthand what Crossing The Bog is more about survival than racing. competition, too. Kevin LaVoie Blackwater 100 promoter Dave won the first two, plus the 1978 Coombs Sr. concocted each year for hearty east coast offbattle. The Lojak family was always well represented, including road racers. two overall wins by Ed (1984 and ’89), and Mark Hyde won The Blackwater truly lived up to Super Hunky’s reporting, the most — four times (1979, ’82, ’86, and ’87). Fred Andrews too. Consider the late Rod Bush’s description: The AMA Hall has the distinction of winning the final race, the 1993 event of Fame member and former president of KTM North America that, following threats of environmental impact litigation, not once described the Blackwater 100 as “the only off-road event to mention potential injury liability lawsuits against corporawhere you feel you’ve ridden 1,000 miles when you finish, and tions whose land some of the racers crossed during the race you’ve really only gone 100 miles.” itself, marked the Blackwater’s demise.

Coombs (unofficially dubbed America’s Toughest Promoter) The Blackwater 100 is gone, but tales of the race continue to and his wife Rita had promoted various other off-road races in this day. The legend will surely live for years to come. It wasn’t the region, but inspired by California’s Elsinore Grand Prix, the dubbed America’s Toughest Race for nothing. — Dain Gingerelli

80

MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS

July/August 2021

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