PATRICK SVILANS

BY PATRICK LAMBIE PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATRICK SVILANS

Since 1980 the Vintage Road Racing Association has been the Canadian home for vintage and classic motorcycle racing, providing racers and fans alike the opportunity to once again enjoy the bikes they grew up with. As the organization has grown, a new generation of vintage enthusiasts, has also found its way onto the VRRA starting grid.

Inside Motorcycles recently sat down with Patrick Svilans to talk about his experiences in the VRRA, vintage motorcycles and the thrill of racing.

Inside Motorcycles: When did you start riding motorcycles? What was your first bike and what other bikes have you owned?

Patrick Svilans: Motorcycle was one of my first words. My father Peter Svilans has always been into unique vehicles and we share an interest in anything mechanical. I restored ‘60s British cars for a living for 13 years starting as a teenager, then worked with my father who was a curator for a museum of unique postwar European “microcars” such as Messerchmitt and Isettas. He was into scooters and let me ride his Honda Helix when I was 11. I got my licence at 17 and put a ton of miles on our TWN (German Triumph) Contessa, ‘50s touring scooter. I was into travelling and needed something with longer legs and sort of got out of my dad’s shadow by steering toward bigger bikes. My first “real” motorcycle was a Kawasaki EX500 then a Suzuki DR750 (a rare big-single Dakar replica) as I got into trail riding. Between my dad and I we have a bunch of bikes such as a ‘75 Moto-Guzzi 850T, ‘56 Vespa 150, Honda NM4, ‘74 Kawi 100, ‘34 Raleigh three-wheeled cycle car, and my new to me last year Yamaha Tenere 700 everyday driver which I am in love with! I have more projects than time and am poking around with a Honda 450, Yamaha RZ350, Aermacchi Zeffiro 125 and a ‘50s Triumph TR5/ TRW which a friend’s father-in-law very generously donated after seeing too many grey-haired guys at a CVMG meet.

IM: How did you become involved with the VRRA and when did you start racing in that series?

PS: I started in 2019 with no prior racing experience, just a track school and the VRRA school run on the Thursday each season before the first Shannonville race. It was sort of the next step having done lots of different things with motorcycles. I had been going to watch the races for many years and in my mid-thirties, decided that “one day” needed to be sooner than later. My friend from parking-lot motorcycle meets, Holly Varey, had just started racing the year before and she and her racing mentor Gary McCaw were incredibly supportive and polite as I bugged them constantly for information and advice. Every free minute of that year I was preparing in some way. Researching riding techniques, tracking down and preparing the bike, spares and weekend equipment. Figuring out the routine and administration side of things was stressful enough the first time, which was helpful in suppressing the butterflies for the on-track stuff. I rode motorcycles like crazy, but usually alone and not particularly aggressively, so I wasn’t sure I had the “will of the warrior” nor the skills to partici- pate. I was relieved to find out that good racing is about calmness, smoothness and attention to detail under pressure, rather than pure aggression and a willingness to suspend our instincts for safety. I enjoy the extreme focus of the sport. Everything in the world is secondary to the necessity of your next input. I had the impression that one had to be born into the racing world and if you weren’t in it early, you were too late, but club racing is its own thing and I enjoy being around people who do things for no other reason than their enjoyment and enthusiasm. It has made me a much more confident and safer street rider too. I put the word out that I was looking for a race bike (the VRRA forum is a good place) and another parking-lot bike-meet friend, Ray Roberts, was selling his crashed Aermacchi. There are easier ways into roadracing than a 60-year-old bike, but I am partial to unusual stuff and I knew the bike would spend most of the year next to my couch in my basement apartment so I knew it needed to make my heart flutter (a requirement to get one through nasty mechanical troubles). It’s also good on tires, fits in my Honda Element, and is light enough to push up the steep ravine when getting it out of my apartment.

IM: What sets the VRRA apart from other motorcycle racing series?

PS: The people in this club are exceptional. They are people of character who can tackle the difficulties and stresses of a race weekend while being friendly and kind. There are higher highs and lower lows with racing, and these are people who choose to engage with life more fully. Rather than young people trying to aggressively make a name for themselves, it’s older folks, some with incredible resumes, who have less to prove, and have better stories. Half the fun of the weekends is the pit environment. Lots of the folks have stories such as racing in the Isle of Man on a family vacation or thinking they are in bed and realizing they are wedged in a hay bale post-crash. It is definitely fierce competition on the track; however, there’s a family atmosphere. When you’re struggling with something, you’re around people who sincerely understand what it takes to keep these older bikes (and bodies) going. If you’re tinkering in the pits, there’s always someone walking by offering to help. There’s also room for everyone. There are many lifelong racers, but there are just as many motorcycle enthusiasts who are out there to challenge themselves more than others. It is also entirely volunteer run which can be quite demanding, but the club sustains itself through a genuine passion. Also, no other club has such a wide variety of gorgeous machinery.

IM: What bike(s) are you currently racing in the VRRA?

PS: I race an early ‘60s Aermacchi Sprint (CRTT replica). I’m in the pre-65 350 and the period-1 350 classes. Technically it’s a Harley-Davidson as they owned 51 percent of Aermacchi in the ‘60s and ‘70s and put their name on the smaller displacement singles. It’s a single cylinder, 350 cc, air-cooled pushrod engine. It revs to 8,200 rpm which was pretty good back then. They didn’t make a huge impact in Grand Prix racing as the two-strokes came along, but big names like Renzo Pasolini raced them. They were popular with club racers though, and my bike is an example of a kit put together in the ‘70s that turned the street model into a road racer. VRRA member Ray Roberts souped up the engine. It has a “medium” stroke rod, domed piston for 11.5:1 compression ratio, racing cam, dry clutch,

PVL magneto ignition, five-speed gearbox with straight-cut primary gears. 35 mm Dell’Orto carb off a speedway bike that has a trick 90-degree float bowl adaptor as the engine is a unique leaned forward layout where the carb sticks straight up. It has a four-leadingshoe drum brake off of a Suzuki GT750 “Water Buffalo” that’s been lightened, NJB shocks and a fibreglass tank. I love its simplicity! It’s so easy to work on. The engine drops out with about three bolts, the head can come off in place, the carb comes off with one hose clamp. It is however very old and keeps me very busy. It looks like it should be retired as background decor in a coffee shop, which is why I enjoy reminding people that it is still a snarling track weapon (and one of the louder bikes in the club). My father taught me that we are only custodians of these vehicles and it is our duty to show them to others and use them as originally intended and not just as sculptures. People often gravitate towards the bikes of their formative years and my bike is a generation or two off, but there is an inherent value I see in it that goes beyond personal nostalgia. As technology makes bikes intimidatingly more complex, the simplicity of my bike is refreshing. When I go fast on my bike, I know it’s me doing it. When I’m on a modern R1, I feel like the weak link as the bike is impossibly capable. To find the thrilling limit of a modern bike requires a lot more speed, whereas grabbing a handful of cable driven drum brake after a straight feels similar despite a fraction of the speed. My legs are the suspension, versus the latest Ohlins kit.

Generous folks have also offered occasional rides, on a ‘60s Ducati 250, FZR400, and a ‘90s Ducati 900SS.