Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly - April 2016 by Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly

#173 FREE

It’s A Chopper Baby

Inside: 1972 Ironhead Chopper • Snow In Moab Old Guy Riding Motocross • Sorry, No Scooters

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly®

Table of Contents April 2016

PUBLISHER

Victor Wanchena

From The Hip

MANAGING EDITOR Bruce Mike

REVIEW WRANGLER

All The News That Fits Road Rash

David Soderholm

COLUMNISTS Thomas Day Paul Berglund

CONTRIBUTORS Neil Anderson Rick Ashton Lee Bruns Harry Martin Sev Pearman Tammy Wanchena

Photo By Bruce Mike

From The Hip

WEBMASTER Julie S. Mike Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® is published nine times a year by: Hartman Press, Inc. 7265 Balsam Lane North Maple Grove, MN 55369 Phone: 763.315.5396 email: bruce@mnmotorcycle.com www.mnmotorcycle.com Subscriptions are available for $14.00 a year (U.S. funds). See subscription form below. Advertising inquiries: sales@mnmotorcycle.com 763.315.5396 Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly encourages your submissions. M.M.M. will edit all accepted submissions and retains nonexclusive, multiple use rights to work published in M.M.M. Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly will return submissions only if accompanied by an SASE. “Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly” is a registered trademark. Copyright 2016 by Hartman Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Geezer With A Grudge Outta My Cold, Dead Hands Letter From A Reader

By Bruce Mike

orking for this fine publication has allowed me to ride a lot of different bikes and I now own two of the bikes I have ridden. My obsession with motorcycles is the reason why I can be found talking about them at least twice a day. Because I’m always talking about bikes, I’ve developed relationships with people who sell, service and even build motorcycles. These relationships have given me opportunities to purchase bikes I may not have otherwise bought.

So after returning from Utah last month I started wheeling and dealing my way into the Ural pictured above. I told my wife I would get rid of three bikes that were in the garage to make room for the Ural. The three bikes that moved on were, a Yamaha XT225 (The Goat), a Honda CRF 250L and a 1972 Harley-Davidson Ironhead Chopper. I don’t get emotionally attached to bikes so it wasn’t difficult to send them on their way. I accepted a long time ago that making a profit on bikes I own is not going to happen. What’s more important is that when the deal is done, everybody is happy. The XT went to my nephew in exchange for labor on my truck and a Sportster he is hot-rodding for me. This is a bike he will use. He knows the bike inside and out because he has pretty much rebuilt it from the ground up. The only thing he has not had to touch is the motor. This deal worked out great for both of us and I took my first step to getting the Ural.

6-7

Bike Review 1972 Smith Brothers And Fetrow Ironhead Chopper

8-9

Feature Fear and Loathing on the MX track

I had tried selling the chopper and Honda on Craig’s List but was unsuccessful. Mostly because I have little patience for Craig’s List buyers. I decided to call Dell Zehm at St. Croix Harley-Davidson. He had told me at the International Motorcycle Show that he would consider taking the chopper as a trade-in on a Ural. Not only did he take the chopper but he took the Honda as well. Dell is a great guy and I trust him. I also never would have met him if it wasn’t for MMM. This was a deal where I walked away happy and I believe Dell will have a better chance of finding a new home for the chopper than I did.

Movie Review Jailbreakers Gear Review Bell MX9 Adventure Calendar

These are the kind of deals I like. I will not hesitate to buy a used car from a friend. I especially like it when they are going to trade it in and I can buy it for trade-in value plus the sales tax. I’ve done this a few times and everybody comes away happy. There is sometimes concern from the seller about coming back to them if something goes wrong but I assure them that I don’t work that way. Half the reason I’m making the purchase is because of who they are and I know they cared for their vehicle.

A few years ago I was involved in a three bike deal where I ended up with a KLR 250 with a storied past. Everyone involved in the deal came away happy. That KLR was then sold to another friend who it ignited a passion for riding that I don’t think he even expected. He is now a devoted Kawasaki rider who can’t get enough off-road riding. His goal of a Baja 1000 was born out of that ‘86 KLR 250. He has since moved that bike on to another of my nephews who will continue it’s story. This is not a unique sequence of events in my circle of motorcycling friends but it is one of my favorites.

Tales From The Road Snow In Moab

Cover photo Provided by Bruce Mike

A great friend, who I have been involved with on a couple of vehicle and bike deals, put together one of the best deals ever. He traded two motorcycles and a truck straight-up for a much newer truck. Nothing exchanged hands but titles. It’s all about trust and faith in decent people. I think the world would be a better place if more deals would be made like this. Ride safe and don’t bump your head. MMM

Je Suis Charlie

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

All The News That Fits include vehicles used for racing competition. In a filing in the Federal Register last summer the EPA wrote with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they would “prohibit conversion of vehicles originally designed for on-road use into race cars” and “make the sale of certain products for use on such vehicles illegal.” This would effectively make modifying a vehicle for competition use or selling Photo Coutesy of Victory parts, such as exhaust systems designed for closed Victory and Project 156 course use, illegal. As you might expect this This is a rumor, and we mean just an unhas ignited a firestorm of outrage among confirmed rumor, that a production version racing organizations, racers from all sports, of the Victory Project 156 bike is still in and aftermarket parts suppliers. the works. For those not familiar, Project As reported by Jalopnik the EPA claims 156 was the bike built to take on the Pike’s that the Clean Air Act has been misinterPeak Hill Climb last year. There were high preted for years. Their claim hinges on the expectations for the bike, but after a crash specific definition of non-road vehicles. and then a later electronics failure the ulThe Clean Air Act lists non-road as agritimately DNF’d. If you attended the mocultural machines and industrial equipment. torcycle show this winter Victory had the The EPA’s contention is the vehicle emisProject 156 bike on display. Powered by a sions (cars, motorcycle, etc.) are still regu1200cc liquid cooled v-twin, there were earlated by the Clean Air Act and there is no lier rumors that the Victory was building a naked sport bike based directly on the 156. specific exemption for competition vehicles. It appears their primary focus is going after The recently announced Victory Octane was companies producing aftermarket parts that rumored to be that bike, a straight up naked don’t meet emissions standards, but there is sport bike as opposed to a power-cruiser (or also legal room to pursue individuals who what we at MMM call a Bruiser®) that it modify their vehicles. turned out to be. These unconfirmed rumors are partially based on Victory’s return to Pike’s Peak this year with two entries. Another gasoline powered Project 156 piloted by former Pike’s Peak Open Class winner, Jermey Toye, and a prototype electric version piloted by Cycle World Editor Don Canet. British cycling newspaper MCN reports an inside source at Polaris claims there is the intention to build a bike of similar performance and form as the race version of the 156. We will be interested to see what develops.

The Clean Air Act and Racing The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a pending rule, which would extend the reach of the Clean Air Act to

as this summer and doesn’t require congressional approval.

There is currently is pending legislation to prevent the EPA from issuing the rule. The bi-partisan Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2016 (H.R. 4715 and S. 2659, RPM Act) would ensure that converting motor vehicles into competition-only vehicles remains legal. Street motorcycles are considered motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act.

More EPA News Last December the EPA released the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements for 2016, increasing it to 18.11 billion gallons from 16.93 billion gallons in 2015. Functionally what this means in fuel suppliers will need to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline forcing consumers to use higher blends such as E15 and E20. While many cars and trucks are built to accommodate higher blends rates no motorcycles currently imported to the US are approved by the EPA to use anything more than E10. Additionally, the fear is that the higher blend requirements with drive the availability down and price up of fuel without ethanol (E0 or sometimes called non-oxygenated fuel). Concern about using the E15 or greater blends surrounds the effect the fuel has on engines not designed to use it. The ethanol in the fuel can have a corrosive effect on some plastics and rubber components, as well as adversely impacting engine performance. Older motorcycles, especially pre-2000 machines are at greater risk to damage from higher ethanol blends.

Italy Bans the Vespa?

The EPA published this proposed rule in an incredibly long document (600+ pages) and buried it in unrelated rules related to heavy trucks. The final rule could be issued as early

The measure is not dead and mayor is quoted as saying the older Vespas pollute a lot and are a danger to public health. It is estimated that 180,000 people use two-wheeled transportation (motorcycles, scooters, mopeds) in Genoa out of its 600,000 residents.

Genoa, Italy, the birthplace of Vespa is trying to ban to use of Vespas built before 1999, specifically the two-stroke Euro 0 models, in the city between 7 AM and 7 PM in an effort to curb smog. In December the mayor of Genoa, Marco Doria, approved the anti-smog program that was scheduled to begin in February. It would have stranded an estimated 20,000 riders in Genoa, a city that claims to have more motorcycles per capita than anywhere else in Italy. The move did spark large protests and hashtag #handsoffmyvespa went viral on social media. The furor it produced worked and the mayor has held off putting the measure into effect.

Uber and Motorcycles In February Uber, the ride sharing app, which allows users to hail a ride in the car of a local driver using a smart phone app launched a new service in Bangkok, Thailand called UberMoto. The new service allowed brave users to hail a ride using their app on the back of a scooter or motorcycle in the city. Bangkok is extremely large and has the traffic congestion problem a city that size inevitably faces. Uber saw this has an opportunity to make inroads in cities with ride sharing demand, but heavy congestion. They are using this location as a pilot for the service. The price for a 5-mile ride works out to roughly 64 Thai Baht or $1.84 in US Dollars. Interestingly, Uber requires helmet use and will provide a shared one for passengers who don’t bring their own, though a sweaty shared helmet in tropical climate sounds very unappealing.

Uber attempted to launch the service in Bangalore, India as well, and shortly after making the announcement a rival company, OLA, announced a competing hailing app for moto taxis. Following those announcements, the Indian government declared them illegal as unlicensed taxi services and both companies have shut down the service in Bangalore for the time being.

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MMM

Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Geezer With A Grudge

By Thomas Day

here is a punk gangbanger group on Facebook called the Yamaha WR250X and WR250R Public Group. I joined this group about two years ago, because their intro FAQ is all about the useful (and not so useful) things that can be done to make the WR250X/R more fun and practical to ride. I left the group this week because the most outspoken members are consistently spoiled brats. Like a lot of bikers/gun nuts/spoiled children and the rest of the crowd who think their “right” to do any damn thing they please overrides public safety, an undisturbed peace, and their neighbor’s property rights, many of these kids consider themselves above the law and beyond reproach. They are classic examples of why motorcycles and motorcyclists are about as popular as used car salesmen in plaid suits or politicians from another state. Between the “I don’t need no stinkin’ endorsement” and the “why would I carry insurance, I’m just a motorcycle” and “why should I care if wheeling out of control freaks out cagers” attitudes, the group is a sad cartoon of why motorcycles are likely to be historical relics in a decade or less. There are some decent folks in the group, but their voices (like the voice of reasonable motorcyclists everywhere) are drowned out by the goons, brats, and gangbangers. The last “conversation” I had on the group was about how gangbanging is going to be tough in an autonomous vehicle world. One

Outta My Cold, Dead Hands of the kids claimed “they’ll have to pry my steering wheel away from my cold, dead hands” and a half-dozen or more chimed in accordingly. I asked what they were driving now and got a list of fairly new, mostly-Japanese sedans and midsized pickups. I suggested that since all of these vehicles had automatic transmissions and were controlled by transmission and engine computers they weren’t really driving now. Add power steering, backup cameras, parking sensors, ABS brakes, adaptive cruise control and proximity warning systems and you are about 1/2 way to the fully autonomous vehicle. The difference between being a total passenger and a terrible driver in a smarter-than-humans car is immeasurably small. I think it is safe to assume that, based on their motorcycling attitudes, that these kids are awful cagers too.

porations that provide the multi-user leases to autonomous vehicle passengers. Not only are corporations “people” but they are people with super-special privileges not to be fucked with. I can’t remember the last time I heard of a cop going after any sort of big business, regardless of how vicious the corporation’s crimes may have been. So, the only ticketing game in town will be the “cold, dead hands” crowd and they will be feeling pretty picked on by the time they hand over the reins to their own autonomous car. I know, you’re thinking “The Geezer is still just pissed off about his damn Volkswagen automatic transmission experience.” True, I’m pissed off at Volkswagen over that nightmare, but I have always disliked automatic transmission cars. They feel patronizing, sort of like having someone pat me on the head, when they put me in an electric wheel chair and say, “Now you’re in charge old dude. The hallway is all yours.”

“The Geezer is still just pissed off about his damn Volkswagen automatic transmission experience”.

As macho as the American driver pretends to be, it ain’t gonna take much to remove most of us from the steering wheel. The first and logical step is to crank the shit out of the price of car insurance for those who insist on driving themselves. That will pretty much do the job alone. Cops will be watching the self-piloted vehicles closely, since their business will pretty much dry up on the autonomous side of transportation. They are absolutely not going to be issuing tickets to the cor-

Letter From A Reader

that I have to finance, insure, and drive myself. Cars are boring and I’m a lot happier as a distracted passenger than driving. I can read, sleep, watch the scenery, or write as a passenger. As a driver, I spend most of my energy trying to stay awake. Unlike these kids, if I’m going be stuck behind the wheel I want as much control as I can have, including getting to decide my vehicle’s gear, engine RPM, and the point in the powerband for the situation at hand. I’ve yet to see an automatic transmission or all-wheel drive vehicle do a half decent job on ice or in deep sand and I’ve sure as hell seen those vehicles do a pitiful job in those conditions. So, until I can get at least 95% of an autonomous car, I’m hanging on to my 4WD, manual transmission pickup. There is nothing cold-dead-handish about this, though. I just don’t like doing things half-assed. If I can get a computer to drive for me, I’m in. If the computer is just there to make me a more distracted, less competent driver, I don’t need that kind of help. But back to the original point of this rant, in an autonomous car world (Coming soon to your town!) motorcycles morbidity/mortality statistics will become unjustifiably overrepresented majority in traffic crashes and the ugly face motorcycling has proudly presented to the public will be something we’re going to wish we’d have done something about when it would have helped. MMM

I think the most insulting vehicle I’ve ever driven was a Toyota rental car with “Sport Shift Mode” thumb shifters. I guess some kid who grew up playing video games might be able to fool himself into believing that he’s “really driving a car” when he can select the gear with a flick of the thumb, but I don’t play video games. The little Corolla had more than enough power to get out of its own way, but the Sport Shift Mode was clunky, intolerant of any high RPM operation, and it felt like an attempt by Toyota’s engineers to convince me to go back to letting the car do the driving. Which I did after a couple of unsatisfactory experiments with the thumb shifters. Unlike the obtuse kids, I don’t care about driving and I’d just as soon lease a portion of an autonomous car as own a whole car

Dear MMM,

I read Thomas Day’s Geezer with a Grudge column “Being Customer Hostile” last month and was surprised by his lack of understanding of the sport of Observed Trials. For someone as “experienced” as Thomas his whining about having to walk to a section, read a map, or needing to have a basic understanding of the competition he was watching was both funny (in a sad way) and another example of his apparently faltering mind. In previous columns Thomas has bemoaned the laziness of the American rider, but now the one time he’s asked to walk as a spectator he is outraged. He thinks the rules and set up of the events is designed to make it intentionally difficult for spectators, but offers no evidence of that other than his poor understanding of the sport. And then he descends into one complaint after another for some undecipherable reason. His sweeping generalizations about the sport, the riders, and the spectators only reveals his ignorance. I ask the question, why is Thomas really mad at Trials? Is he intimidated by a sport he isn’t competing in? Is he looking to pick a fight with the most obscure group of riders he can find so he can act tough, but doesn’t get buried in hate mail? Or is he just trolling because he knows the publisher of MMM is a long time trials rider? Victor Wanchena Concerned Reader

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

1972 Smith Brothers And T

By Victor Wanchena

couple hours I rode around. The bars were another story. They mercifully weren’t ape hangers, instead being narrow pullbacks. They didn’t offer much leverage and hit my admittedly long legs. I quickly learned to drop a knee when executing a turn.

here are some things you should do once in life. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, watch the sun rise over the pyramids in Egypt, and ride an Iron Barrel Sportster Chopper. This month’s road test crosses one of those things off the list. It started like this. “Bruce whose motorcycle is this”, I asked? He replied, “It’s not a motorcycle. It’s a chopper.” “Okay, who’s chopper is this,” I asked? “Mine”, he replied. What I beheld was a vision in 70’s chopper mania. Long, low, loud, lewd, and the list of adjectives goes on as long as the stretched forks.

The passenger accommodations are sparse, as in they don’t exist. You’re rolling solo on this chopper. The single mirror was ludicrously small and only worked if I raised my left arm. But, the large chrome headlight mounted high and directly in front of the rider has a bullet shape and acted as a nice stand-in for mirror duties.

Most of us are familiar with the chopper craze of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. That second golden age of chopperdom owes it all to the swanky era of the late 60’s and early 70’s. These machines were subtler and less over the top, but no less creative. This month’s ride is a 1972 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 XLCH. But it’s no ordinary Sporty; it’s an original Smith Brothers & Fetrow custom chopper built on a 1972 Harley Davidson Sportster XLCH. It’s as traditional as they get. Raked out neck frame, chrome girder forks, rear spring struts, and minimalist everything else. In traditional chopper ethos, this bike is stripped to the bare minimum all the way around. No gauges, no turn signals, no horn, no front brake, no front fender, no mufflers, and no warning stickers telling you to ride like a sissy. It does have a headlight, a minimal taillight, a stretched girder fork, sweet pin striping, and Grateful Dead artwork painted on the tank and fender. Riding the chopper is, to say the least, an experience. First, you have to get it started, which requires patience, finesse, and a little luck. The rit-

Chicks dig choppers. ual involves: turn the fuel on, turn the key to an unmarked seemingly random position, twist the throttle a couple times to prime it, lift the choke (maybe, maybe not, you never know), swing out the kick start pedal (el hombre es macho), gently kick the engine through a couple revolutions till you feel some compression, reset the kicker, give a little throttle, offer prayers to your deity of choice, and kick it like a rented mule. If it starts, great! If not, repeat the process for several minutes until sweating, swearing, and stymied. The first time I tried it only took 5 minutes of kicking and I got it lit. Yeah! But then I turned my back for a minute to put on the jacket I had removed while kicking as the sweat poured off me and it died. Crap. Another 5 minutes of kicking and it came back to life. Not an ideal getaway vehicle for bank robberies. I swung a leg over and instantly felt over dressed. Why was I wearing this gear when I would have been fine in Chuck Norris Action Jeans and a sleeveless Molly Hatchet t-shirt? The seat height was comfortably low measuring in at a short inseam friendly 22”. With the bike running I hit the gear lever, or so I thought. I mashed the lever a couple more times with no luck. Looking down at the lever I realized one of the many charms of the Sporty; the rear brake and the gear change are reversed. A little history here. The Sportster was built to compete with the British bikes of the 50’s and thus wore the gear change on the right side until 1975. That technical oddity figured out, I got the bike in gear and moving under it’s own power.

Photo by Bruce Mike

The Grateful Dead art seemed right for a ‘72.

The vibration in the motor at idle is heavy. As I accelerated away the vibration built to an epic instant hand numbing level. In keeping with the tradition of losing parts, the license

plate vibrated off within ¾ of a mile from the garage. Despite all the vibration the 1000 v-twin is a torquey motor. It happily lugs away from a stop in pretty much any gear. As mentioned, the original design harkened back to the 50’s and hadn’t changed much. It’s often referred to as an Iron Barrel Sportster because of the cast iron cylinder barrels. A single carb feeds both cylinders and the claimed horsepower output is a highly “optimistic” 61 hp. The gearbox has four speeds and power is fed to the rear wheel via chain. Based on engine vibration I would estimate (but couldn’t verify due to a lack of a speedo) that the chopper tops out around 140 or 150 mph. Yes it did leak oil. They pretty much all do from that era and add 40+ years to its life and you get a machine that marks its territory like the alpha dog it is. It also started leaking fuel from the carb at one stop. It seems the float stuck in the carb. We pulled out the tool kit and hit it a few times with a hammer till it quit. That’s right, we fixed it with a hammer. Approaching the first stop sign I remember no front brake. Yup, why does a sweet chopper need a stupid front brake when flat track racers do 100 mph in the corners without one? The rear brake is less than inspiring, so stopping becomes a think ahead sort of affair. At normal city street speeds I would begin the slowing process about ½ block before the stop. If I were on a highway I would plan several miles ahead for any stops. If you anticipated the stop you were fine. If you didn’t, or say the light turned red abruptly, you either blew the light completely or tried to stop but blew the light anyway.

As I wandered through Nordeast Minneapolis, I enjoyed the sheer difficulty of riding the Sporty. You had to think your way through everything. StartPhoto by Bruce Mike ing, stopping, turning all required plenty of forethought. No mindlessly rolling along, 100% focus like a fighter pilot was required to stay upright and alive. In spite of the constant focus required, the bike does roll in a straight line very well. Stability is an understatement. The chopper cruises with locomotive stability thanks to the monster rake angle of the extended forks. You could do acrobatics on the seat and not effect the ride. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword. Even small bends in the road require much lean, but you have no ground clearance to make any lean happen. Consequently you must slow down, but that’s all right because your hands need a break from the vibration. So in reality everything works together in a perverse harmony. And in the end that’s why I kind of liked the chopper. It was loud, crude, ridiculously hard to ride, and probably even harder to live with. But that was also its charm. I have a soft spot in my heart for hard to ride machines. They require dedication, perseverance, and commitment. They will likely break your heart multiple times, but there is joy in conquering the bike that fights you. I imagine it’s similar to the devotees of steam locomotives or hot air balloons. There are better ways to do the same job, but this does it for you. Damn it. I like a chopper.

The riding position was annoyingly comfortable. I expected a torture rack, but despite the lack of rear suspension, the springy seat was fine for around town riding. I would be whining after a day, but survived the

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Fetrow Ironhead Chopper T

By Bruce Mikea

cally a tractor motor so it has a whole lot of torque. When driving on city streets you need to give yourself plenty of room for stopping (about a half a block) and turning around (a three lane road or an empty convenience store parking lot). There is also very limited clearance so any kind of twist in the road can produce a shower of sparks from a variety of places. It kind of adds to the overall “cool” of the chopper riding experience. My final summation of the “road test” of this bike would be — It is, what it is.

his particular chopper is built on a Smith Brothers and Fetrow chassis with their signature girder front end and rear spring struts. The motor is a 1972 HarleyDavidson, 1000 cc ironhead. It has a right side shift and forward controls. The current owner of this bike, me, purchased it in 2002 as a project. I bought it at a consignment shop after a friend told me it was there. I didn’t get a whole lot of history on the bike other than it had spent the last few years in a shed at a trailer park. It had a black snow blower headlight and a beautiful rattle-can red paint job. On it’s maiden voyage from the consignment shop, it died about two miles from my destination. The coil fell off and the carburetor came loose. I didn’t have enough hands to hold everything in place. The night ended with me having my first ride on an ironhead chopper and my first tow with a rope behind a pickup truck. I was laughing then and it makes me laugh now. Ten years later it got put together into the bike you see here. I had never been involved in a custom bike build so with the mechanical expertise of my brother and nephew, I got to do this one. My involvement in the build consisted of the aesthetics, parts purchases and handing them wrenches. We must have done something right because it took third place in it’s class at the Donnie Smith Show. I’m not sure how many bikes were in it’s class, but I got a plaque none the less. Putting together a chopper was something I always wanted to do. I changed this bike dramatically from what it was originally. It had mid controls, a full rear fender and a kingqueen seat. In retrospect, I probably should

Since the the writing of this review, the bike has moved on to new ownership. The dream that was inspired by my first time seeing Easy Rider has been fulfilled. The thing I will remember the most about this bike was the feeling I had the first time I rode it. A lot of time and a bit of cash went into this project. If I were to do it over I would do it differently but I would definitely do it. There is a great feeling of accomplishment in taking a 40+ year-old motorcycle and getting it back on the road. I definitely have a better understanding of why custom bike builders and the guys who restore old bikes do what they do. I also know now, without a doubt, I’m a rider and not a builder. Photo by Bruce Mike

1972 patinated chrome with red accents and brass pushrod tubes. Dead sexy. have restored it instead of changing it but I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like from the moment I saw it, and that’s what I went with. Being an old deadhead and the bike being a ‘72 is what inspired the paint scheme. The only mechanical changes that were made were electronic ignition, a gel battery and some slight cylinder honing to accommodate new rings. When putting this bike together I learned that better planning will save you money. I purchased a lot of parts that I didn’t end up using and I then had to sell. This could have

1000cc of raw, unrestrained power.

MMM

been avoided if I had a detailed plan rather than just an idea. Nevertheless, the whole project was still a lot of fun. Now that I’ve given you the background on the bike, I’ll get to the review. Riding this bike is like going back in time. There are no gauges, no front brake and the right side shift takes a conscious effort to operate. Starting this bike takes a lot of patience. If you are in hurry to get somewhere, ride something else. It’s kick only and you have to go through a bit of a ritual to get it running. After achieving this somewhat miraculous feat, you take a moment to catch your breath, it’s not easy kicking. Then you take another moment to calm the neighbors, it’s pretty loud. Throw a leg over and you’re ready to go. Every time I’ve ridden this bike one of my first thoughts is always, how the hell did people ride these things every day? In 1972, when choppers were popular, there were folks who rode this type of bike to work every day and took trips on them when they weren’t working. I ride it five miles to the coffee shop and I need a break. The longest distance I did on it was about 40 miles without stopping. At the end of this ride stopping was an issue. The rear drum brake adjuster had come loose and it being the only brake, I had to “Flintstone” it to a final stop. We fixed the brake adjuster with some duct tape and I continued the last couple of miles to our destination. The return trip was uneventful other than after 40 miles of highway riding my hands were completely numb. This bike vibrates like nothing I’ve ever ridden. It’s fairly smooth at 40 mph but 65-70 your teeth start coming loose. I always wondered if it would smooth out again at 80. I’ve never had the guts to push it that fast.

Photo by Bruce Mike

I Hope the next owner of this bike has even more fun with it than I did.

Running around town is a whole different kind of adventure. It has a 4-speed transmission, and it being an old harley, you can pretty much leave it in any gear you want. It’s basi-

Specifications: Chopper Engine:

45-degree v-twin

Displacement:

998cc

Bore/Stroke:

70.5 mm/75mm

Compression Ratio: Induction:

9.5:1 S&S Carburetor

Valves:

2 valves-per-cylinder

HP (claimed):

61 hp

Torque (claimed):

Ample

Cooling:

The wind and the open road

Starter:

Your leg

Gear Box:

4-Speed

Final Drive: Front Tire:

Chain 3.00 - 21

Front Suspension: Spongy girder forks Front Brakes: Rear Tire: Rear Brake: Rear Suspension: Frame:

Nope 4.00 - 16 Sort of worked Springy seat and spring struts Steel double cradle

Wheelbase:

Really long

Rake/Trail:

50˚/ several feet

Seat Height: Weight: Fuel Capacity:

22” (wet) 482 lbs 2.25 gal

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Feature

Fear and Loathing on the MX track

By Victor Wanchena with Gus Breiland and Sev Pearman

his gate and for a few brief moments I was in 2nd to last place. It didn’t last long as all the fundamentals I was reviewing at the start line evaporated from my head. The race was over before I knew it. I had been lapped again, but at least I didn’t crash.

here are some lessons I’ve learned the hard way. The fact that I’m not fast on a motocross track is one of them. This is the story of how I learned that lesson. What follows is a brief recounting of my attempt at motocross racing.

Second Race I practiced really hard before the second race of the season. I spent a full day on the track during a practice session. I learned the track better, trimmed my lap times and arrived ready to take it on.

Early last fall I rolled a brand new KTM 300 XC-W into my garage. It’s a hell of a machine. Big power, lightweight, nice suspension… the list goes on. But what it isn’t is a motocross bike. The power is so big it’s a handful to control, the plush suspension bottoms on big jumps, and the gear ratios are spaced wider than the plains of Nebraska. This bike is meant for the woods and enduro races; pretty much anything but motocross. I spent the fall trail riding the 300 anywhere I could. In November, I spent a day riding the single-track trails at a local MX park. I had gone there for the single-track, but access included open use of their MX track. It’s a large outdoor track and I tried a few laps. I was a mess, but enjoyed the jumping, bouncing, and inevitable crashing. A couple weeks later, as the weather turned colder, I happened across a listing for Cedar Lake Arena (see sidebar). They offered open practice on weekends on an indoor MX track. It sounded like a perfect way to stay fit and relatively fresh on the bike over the winter.

Practice The first time out for practice was Saturday morning. I picked up a couple friends and wandered out to the track. The practice was fairly straightforward. They lump the riders into groups of roughly similar racing classes and run each group on the track for about ten minutes at a time. After gearing up we settled in to wait for our turn out on the track. We were not sure what to expect as we watched the faster riders ahead of us. Huh, they’re pretty fast. Wow, those guys are clearing the triples. Quickly enough we were ushered out on to the track and I found myself in the air. Jump after jump; big ones, little ones, smooth landings, rough landings… I found them all. The 10 minutes seemed like an eternity. Finally the flag for the end of our session came out.

The day before race day I get an ominous email from a friend. “Check out the new track layout.” What? New layout? Crap! I arrived early on race day and immediately headed out to look at the new track. It was heavily modified. I walked it once the prep crew had cleared the track. It was tighter, which hypothetically should work in my favor, but jumps and corners were less forgiving.

Photo by MXMatt.com

I wobbled into the pits absolutely exhausted. I compared notes with my riding partners. The general consensus was we suck at this. The reality was we were slow, especially in our class. See the 30+ and 40+ year old classes are made up of riders you’d think should be taking it easy on the track. You’d be wrong. Instead, they are all the fast guys who’ve kept riding since their youth and apparently are just as fast, but now with the benefit of experience. In the space of 10 minutes I think the same riders lapped me twice. So after a few practice sessions and despite the reality that I’m slow and people don’t start riding motocross in their 40’s, I decided I’m ready to try my first MX race.

class, the Senior 40+, was the 22nd race of the afternoon. I settled in to watch the other races. The races went off pretty quickly and I lined up within a couple hours.

First Race

I was slow and there was no way around it. By the last lap I had been lapped and wiped out in one corner. No damage to the bike, or me, and despite my finish I actually enjoyed it.

The day of the first race arrived. I was apprehensive to say the least. I got settled in the pits and geared up. I looked around at the other riders, serious machines and serious looking riders. The pits were packed and everyone had full MX gear on including neck braces, and they were focused. I, on the other hand, still had to remove my mirrors and license plate. We were given a five lap practice session. It went well enough and the bike felt fine. There was a brief rider meeting a little before noon and the race order was announced. Crap, my

I found myself on the line in gate #4, a decent starting spot. The tension built as the 30-second board came down, and like that the gate dropped. My body seemed frozen for what felt like a year, but I snapped out of it and gave the 300 hell. I launched off the line and right into a huge wheelie. I chopped the throttle and regained some small semblance of control. By the time I hit the first jump the pack was well ahead of me and I settled into the rhythm of 5 minutes of racing.

The second moto came a couple hours later. I lined up determined to do better this time. I went over all the fundamentals I needed to remember. Eyes up, elbows up, ride on the balls of your feet. The gate dropped and this time I actually launched okay. The guy next to me caught

The first moto came fast. The Senior 40+ class was slotted as the second moto of the day. The track was still loose from the track prep and I wasn’t sure what to expect. As the gate dropped I actually got a decent start. The guy next to me caught his gate and I actually was ahead of two people going into the first turn. That quickly changed and even the guy with the bad start caught me. I kept at it and felt okay, but ended up lapped by half the field by the time the checkered flag dropped. I lined up for the second moto determined to do better. Focus on the fundamentals, maybe don’t get lapped, or at least race someone for a lap or two. The start goes well for me, but a couple guys on the outside pile into one another and go down. Here’s my big chance. I pour on the coals. Or so I think. One lap later the downed riders come blasting past me. Crap, there goes that chance. I keep it together and hold on to last place again despite my best efforts to give it away.

Third Race February rolled around and so did the third race of the series. Despite a good practice session, I wasn’t getting any faster. At least not enough to keep the fastest riders from lapping me, and arrived that morning with a pretty decent cold.

Photo by Neil Anderson

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Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Photo by MXMatt.com

A walk of the track revealed a couple subtle changes. Some slight changes had been made and they seemed to remove a couple slow spots for me. Practice went all right and the track was a little slick and loose and I was stiff and wooden. I tried to note where I could best stay out of everyone else’s way and still maintain some momentum. The Senior 40+ class was big enough that they split us into two races. I was slotted in the second and mid way down the gates. The start was less hectic because the split class race meant the first corner was way less crowded. Nevertheless, I was in last by the end of the first straight. I was actually feeling pretty good by the third corner. Not fast mind you, but not scared-out-of-mind-barely-in-control either. Then out of the blue there’s a rider off the track. He overshot a corner and ran wide down a berm. For a few glorious moments I’m not in last place. I figure I’ll hold him off for a while and maybe even eek out a 2nd to last, but reality screams back into the picture as he passes me a half lap later. The odd thing was the entire race felt smoother. Maybe it was the cold medicine or the lack of sleep, but even when I got out of shape on a couple of jumps I recovered and rode on; no drama. I clinched another last place, but felt strangely content.

The second moto the organizers mashed both Senior divisions into one race. This moved my gate way out to the end at #17. Not ideal, but I wasn’t really gunning for the hole shot. The start was big. The gate dropped and I shot forward for a brief moment, but then felt the crush of 16 other bikes headed for the same place I was. I wisely held back for a moment and let the melee happen without me. We all emerged from that first corner unscathed and blasted down the front straight. Another traffic jam at the second corner kept me in the pack for longer than I was used to, but by the time we hit the rhythm section I was trailing everyone again. Ironically, I felt even smoother this race. The whoops were manageable and I didn’t get lapped until the very last lap.

Fourth Race The final race of the season came quicker than I realized. March was upon us and I hadn’t even practiced since the last race. I felt ready, but knew the lack of practice wouldn’t help matters. The track had received a final tweak for the last race and was actually nicer than it had been all year.

all year, I stayed lined up on the outside, not worried too much about the start.

I spent the winter riding in the dirt. Jumping, bouncing, sliding, and roosting.

We were off quickly and I settled into the same routine following the pack through the first corner and straight, then watching them pull away. Leaving me to race myself for a few laps until the leaders caught me. And that’s pretty much what happened. It felt less than smooth, but the track revisions made it smoother and I didn’t get lapped until the very end. Still last place, but everything felt less overwhelming. I was starting to understand how to make up time or at least why I was slow. I was coasting in corners too much, and chopping the throttle too early. I still wasn’t clearing the bigger double and triple jumps. Fear and discretion were lingering. I might not be able to do anything about it, but I guess I took comfort in knowing the reason why.

I did something I had never even considered, racing MX, and done it over a winter. As we emerge from this albeit easy winter I feel ready to hit the trails and the street. My skills are actually sharper than they were in the fall, and I’m even more physically fit. That makes it worth all the time, energy and effort.

We lined up for the second moto a couple hours later. It was bittersweet knowing this was the last moto for the winter season and I had survived. I had not exactly thrived, but I did have fun. The gate dropped and we were off. I actually hung with the pack a little better this time. The second corner appeared and what? I actually passed a rider fair and square for a few brief moments. He quickly passed me back, but for those precious seconds I had actually raced and beat someone. Everything fell back into place for the final laps. I finished last again, but felt happy and surprisingly composed on the track.

Post Season The season is over and final points tallied. Out of 25 riders I finished 13th. How did I manage a mid-pack finish with my firm lock on last place? Endurance. I raced all four races beating other riders who skipped a couple races. For me competition was fun, but I wasn’t in it for glory.

A smarter person probably wouldn’t take up a highly demanding sport in their 40’s, but I couldn’t help myself. It really was fun. With a little more practice and a wiser bike selection I could maybe finish better than last. I can hardly call myself a racer now, but the hook is set. I will return. MMM

Cedar Lake Arena

Cedar Lake Arena is an indoor facility located on the same grounds as the Cedar Lake Speedway located just outside of New Richmond, Wisconsin. The facility is setup with a motocross track during the winter and a dirt cart track during the summer. The arena has several amenities including an indoor pit area for the riders, bleachers seating for fans, concessions, and even an on-site motorcycle shop. The practice sessions are run every weekend through the winter Friday-Sunday. A practice session is $45 for the day. The staff is helpful and the environment is kid friendly. In fact a large portion of racers in the series are young boys and girls. You can get more information, including a schedule of events, and view my pitiful race results for yourself at www.cedarlakespeedway.com.

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The Senior 40+ class was slotted as the 9th race. The track had gotten nicely firmed up by the time we lined up. Given my stellar performance

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Every issue 1996 thru 2016 — www.mnmotorcycle.com

Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Jailbreakers

Movie Review

Jailbreakers Directed by William Friedkin Spelling Films International, 1994 76 minutes By Tammy Wanchena

ifteen year old, Angel (Shannon Doherty) was truly flirting with disaster when she came on to drug dealing dropout Tony Falcon after cheerleading practice. Angel’s fate was decided the second Tony (Antonio Sabato, Jr.) pulled up on his Harley in his leather jacket and struck a pose on his bike, straight out of Playgirl. After only two weeks of dating, they find themselves on the wrong end of the law when they rob a diner and a jewelry store in a stolen car. Tony winds up doing time while Angel returns home to find herself, and her family, ostracized from their small town. Angel and her parents move away to start a new life. Angel returns to her life of cheerleading and popularity and even starts dating the track star. Tony remains in her heart and her head so she writes him with hope for their future

If you have an hour and sixteen minutes to spare, watch this movie. The dialogue is “LOL hilarious”. There are plenty of entertaining motorcycle scenes. The cast and screenplay are 100% Lifetime channel worthy. I read that Jailbreakers is a 1994 television film that originally aired on Showtime as part of their Rebel Highway series, where they took the titles of 1950s-era B movies and applied them to original films. This fact and too much time on my hands makes me determined to find the original. However if I’m lucky enough to find it, I will miss the twenty three-year old Shannon Doherty playing a fifteen year old cheerleader in the original movie, as she is truly a national treasure. I dare anyone to watch as she turns bad girl and try to state differently. MMM

Bell MX-9 Adventure

Gear Review By Lee Bruns

together. This inspires Tony to break out of prison dropping his prison issued sledgehammer and hopping on to his best friend Skinny’s (Adrien Brody) motorcycle for a quick getaway. Tony thanks Skinny for assisting in his prison break by screwing him out of their lucrative equestrian deal and leaving him vengeful on the side of the road. Tony crashes Angel’s sixteenth birthday party and the two rebels head for the Mexican border.

ome of the great things about a motocross helmet is light weight, great visibility and the built-in sun visor. The bad things are that many are not DOT rated, they can be noisy at highway speeds and they lack a face shield since most offroad riders wear goggles. Helmet needs change as riding habits change. In years past I rode paved roads almost exclusively so my modular flip-front helmet worked fine. Then I started riding and competing at off-road events and my brand X motocross helmet worked fine for that. Now, however, I find that many of my rides begin on pavement and end on a rockstrewn goat path 50 miles away. It was time for a helmet that fit how I ride. Enter the new-for-2015 Bell MX-9 Adventure. While the outer shell may resemble a full off-road helmet with the protruding chinbar and sun visor, it also has a flip down face shield like a street helmet. This creates a helmet that works well for both street and offroad riding. Bell offers the MX-9 with three outer shell size options, three Expanded polystyrene insert sizes and two cheek-pad sizes to help your Bell helmet dealer put together a helmet that custom-fits your melon. There are seven color options ranging from gloss black to hi-Viz yellow. I chose a subdued gloss grey with hi-viz yellow accents for visibility and some tasteful ‘Bell’ lettering on the sides.

The face shield is the most fog-free of any face shield I’ve ever tried. I have not once been able to get it to fog over. I chose the clear face-shield for my helmet but smoked and even a Transitions face shield are available that changes from clear to tinted when exposed to the sun. The face-shield cut-out is large enough that you can still wear motocross goggles if you prefer. The sun visor is two-position adjustable and can be removed by hand if needed. As with most high end helmets the lining is removable for washing. Chin-strap retention is by traditional double D-ring. Venting is exceptional with vents in the chinbar as well as the front and back to allow air to flow through the shell and yet wind noise is lower than the modular street helmet that I had been wearing for dual-sport rides. Weight is always an issue with helmets and the MX-9 weighs in at 3 lbs 9 ounces, making it lighter as a DOT approved street helmet than my non-DOT motocross helmet. So far I’ve wore the MX-9 for over a thousand miles of both on and offroad riding and am pleased with both fit, features and function. As an added bonus, since it’s a Bell there will be no problems with replacement face shields, visors, cheek pads, linings or hardware. If this seems like a helmet that would work for the kind of riding that you’re doing, check out the MX-9 at your local Bell helmet retailer. To find your local retailer head to BellHelmets.com or ask your favorite motorcycle shop to become a Bell helmet retailer. MMM

Photo Courtesy of Bell

Calendar Ongoing

2nd Monday of the month, 7:00pm Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Gathering Diamonds Coffee Shoppe, 1618 Central Avenue Northeast, Minneapolis, MN. Not Necessary To Be a Member to Attend Gathering.

Every Tuesday, 5:45-9:00pm Ride To Sir Bendicts

Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake, 805 E Superior St, Duluth, MN 55802 Have dinner, talk bikes.

1st Thursday of the month, 5:00 pm Dulano’s Pizza Parking Lot Party

607 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN Hang out, eat pizza, show off your bike, watch the variety of humanity.

3rd Thursday of the month, 6:00 pm Blue Cat Motorcycle Third Thursday

April 2 - 3 – Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show 29th Annual

Apr 23, 10:00 am – Simply Street Bikes Poker Run

460 Prior Avenue North, Saint Paul, MN, bluecatmotorcycle.com Two wheel block party. The action starts at 6:00 PM.

St. Paul River Centre. Biking enthusiasts from all over the country will be flocking to the 2016 Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show, the largest custom bike show in the Midwest. Bike Show - Huge Swap Meet - Vendors Food & Drink Tickets available at a www. ticketmaster.com or at the box office the day of the event.donniesmithbikeshow.com

7500 Washington Ave S, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 — simplystreetbikes.com

APRIL Apr 02, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm – Moon Motorsports SPRING OPEN HOUSE 2016! Moon Motorsports, 3613 Chelsea Road West, Monticello, 55362 The Official Start of Spring Riding! Moon Motorsports annual Spring Open House! Gear deals, demo rides, food, coffee, & conversation - The official start of spring riding since 1985!

Apr 9 – Defrost Your Nuts Run North Hudson, WI

Apr 16, 8:00 am – Spring Flood Run The Beach Bar, 2030 St. Croix Trail S, Lake St. Croix Beach, MN floodrun.org

April 29 - 30 – Vintage Torque Fest

14569 Old Highway Road, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 vintagetorquefest.com The Only Traditional Hot Rod, Custom, Vintage Cycle Show in Iowa. Pre ’75 Choppers, Bobbers, & Kustoms. Featuring Flat Track MN Motorcycle Exhibition, Vintage Flat Track Motorcycles. See the most current event listings on our website mnmotorcycle.com. Hosting an event? MMM will list your motorcycle event for free as a service to our readers. Email bruce@mnmotorcycle.com

Every issue 1996 thru 2016 — www.mnmotorcycle.com

Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly® #173 April 2016

Tales From The Road

Snow In Moab got to a long down hill stretch that was covered in snow. It took a sharp left and went out of sight behind the trees. I was fairly confident we could make it down, but I didn’t know if we could make it back up. Sev suggested that I ride down and the three of us would try and get my bike back up. Better to have one stuck bike than three. I ended up walking next to the bike and worked the clutch and gas and the bike made it under it’s own power down the hill. Going back up took some pushing from Sev and Rick as I walked next to the bike again, but I made the round trip. It was hard work, but it was do-able.

By Paul Berglund

ate: February 27th, Location: 8401 Pearl St, Thornton, CO 80229. That was our goal for day one of our road trip. It’s a Waffle House just East of Denver. You can see a Motel 6 from the parking lot. One of the on line reviews for that particular Motel described it as “sketchy”. It was an accurate summation. We had left St. Paul just after sun up. Our dual sport bikes loaded on the trailer the night before. It was an uneventful trip. I had my iPod jacked into my car stereo to block out the soul crushing boredom that permeates those corn infested states that lay in our path. We pulled into the hotel parking lot as the sun went down.

One by one we all made it past the snow and continued bouncing up the trail. We were riding just below the rim of a large rocky valley and we thought when we got to the high point, we would be looking back at that same valley. Instead we came to a sheer cliff that over looked the next valley over. The view was well worth the effort. In fact it was the high light of the trip. A prize that was fought for and won. Sweeter than waffles and better than coffee.

Day two started with waffles and coffee. Our waitress was particularly sassy and the weather clear and dry. We made it to Moab in high spirits. We backed the trailer up to our rental house and began to unload the bikes. That’s when I saw the trailer wheel. It was fine last time we stopped for gas, but now I could tell the bearings had died. It was sunday, so all the shops in town would be closed. We put on our gear and went for a ride. My troubles and cares blew off me to mingle with the dust in our wake. Moab 2016 had begun. The next day I called around and found a shop that would fix the trailer. We dropped it off and went out riding. Monday was another great day of riding. Tuesday we ate at the Moab diner and took on the Fins & Things trail just out of town. It’s made up of large rolling hills of solid rock. Our tires stuck like glue to the sandstone as we giggled in our helmets. Lunch was at Milts. It too was magnificent, burgers, fish tacos, fries and malts. Why worry about the calories with all this fresh air and exercise? We finished the rest of the trail after lunch and then called about the trailer. They hadn’t started on it. Wednesday was going to be a long day so steak and eggs were in order. We gassed up the bikes and took on the White Rim trail. We rode over 150 miles and it was another glorious day in Moab. We got back after sundown tired and hungry. The shop was closed so we didn’t know if the trailer had been fixed. We had a late supper

We still had to ride back on the trail we had just come in on, so the challenge wasn’t over. Once we had all three bikes back past the snow, we agreed that this was the hottest we had ever been when standing in snow. We put our gear back on and finished the ride. We met Hudson and the new guy at Milt’s and celebrated our victory. To top it off, the trailer was fixed. We raised our malts and toasted ourselves. Moab 2016 was a great success.

Photo by Rick Ashton

and talked over our options. What if the trailer couldn’t be fixed? What if it broke again? I began to worry. Thursday we were going to take on Porcupine Ridge. That’s the trail that kicked our man Hudson’s ass last year. Literally, he just started physical therapy for a pinched nerve he got from the face plant he took. Actually, he hurt his neck and shoulder. His face has always looked that way. Thursday we ate light, because we planned on having a big lunch at Milt’s to (hopefully)

celebrate the trailer being fixed. Hudson and the New Guy, would sit this one out. It would be three of us taking on Porcupine Ridge. The map the park ranger gave us rated it 4 out of 4 for difficulty. It was challenging. Each of us had to do some of our best riding just to get down the trail. Our goal was to reach the highest point. The view was supposed to be fantastic. There were a couple of spots where we stopped and scratched our heads, but we made it over every obstacle the trail threw at us. Then we

So what did I learn this time? For one thing it’s not what bike you chose to ride, just make sure it’s well serviced. Better bikes are nice, but it’s the rider that makes all the difference. Your bike can make it down most any trail, it’s up to you not to get in it’s way. Another thing I learned is things can go wrong, so don’t hang around with knuckle heads. Knowing and trusting the guys I ride with made each problem solvable. Each meal tasted better with good company. Each vista looked better with a friend to share it. And finally, loud music and a Hemi Magnum make quick work of even Nebraska. Oh and grease those trailer bearings. MMM

Photo by Sev Pearman

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