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1 Published Quarterly December 2018 MoTorcYcle CluB Motor- cycle History SHOW ANTIQUE Judging Restoration Camraderie ROAD RUNS NATIONAL Swap GOOD BEER BAD JOKES Mediocre PIZZA
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Published Quarterly
December 2018
MoTorcYcle
CluB
M o t o r -
c y c l e
H i s t o r y
S H OW
A N T I Q U E
J u d g i n g
R e s t o r a t i o n
C a m r a d e r i e
R O A D
R U N S
N A T I O N A L
S wa p
G O O D
B E E R
B A D
J O K E S
M e d i o c r e
P I Z Z A
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AMCA® VIKING CHAPTER
NEWSLETTER
Viking Chapter AMCA® P.O. Box 18304,
Minneapolis, MN 55418 http://www.vikingmc.org
Club Officers PRESIDENT: Gary Kloss 763-757-1712 [email protected] VICE-PRESIDENT: Dave Moot 952-856-2695 [email protected] DIRECTORS: Ivar Natins 612-770-3818 [email protected] Ron Spargo 952-443-2020 [email protected] David Glennen 612-616-5025 [email protected] Craig Kotval 651-269-1755 [email protected] TREASURER: Jeff Ricker 612-201-6938 [email protected] SECRETARY: Roy Williams 612-202-4905 [email protected] MEMBERSHIP: David Glennen 612-616-5025 [email protected] WEB/EMAIL: Doug Nelson 612-559-9595 [email protected] DEPUTY JUDGE: Roger Rimnac 612-825-2550 [email protected] CLUB HISTORIAN: Tom Jones 763-533-9163 NEWSLETTER: Caleb Spooner 763-443-1602 [email protected]
Officers 2 Upcoming Club Events 3 AMCA 2019 National Meets & Road Runs 4 Gary’s Garage/Editor’s Note 5 Membership Renewel Form 6 In Memoriam - Jerry Richards 7 2019 National Meet Featured Motorcycle 8 National Meet - Bikes win Prizes 9 Meeting at Go Moto 9/19/2018 10 Swap Meet 11 Free Bikes 4 Kidz 13
Jack Cranes’ Retirement 15 Motosota 20 Sturgis 22 Wheels and Wings 23 Distinguished Gentlemens Ride 24 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance 25 Glenn H. Curtiss Museum 29 Bonneville - Salt Fever is a real thing! 31 B33 Summer Project 33 Tiddler Ride 34 Humor 35 Want Ads 36 Classified 37
December 2018
New Members! The AMCA Viking Chapter wel-comes the following new mem-bers: Arlen & Carol Johnson Pat & Meg Huber We look forward to riding with you and seeing you at our meet-ings!
Contents
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Note: Board of Directors (B.O.D) meetings are open to all members. When held at a chapter member‘s home, please notify the host ahead of time if not a board member.
Upcoming Events
Saturday January 12, 5 - 9pm Viking Chapter Holiday Party Moundsview Community Center 5394 Edgewood Dr Moundsview, MN 55112 Friday - Sunday February 1 - 3 IMS Motorcycle Show (See web for hours) Mpls Convention Center 1301 2nd Ave S Mpls, MN 55403 Wednesday February 6 - 7pm National Meet Planning Committee Davanni‘s - Edina 5124 Gus Young Lane Edina, MN 55436 Wednesday February 13 - 7pm Viking Chapter BOD Meeting Davanni‘s - Bloomington 8605 Lyndale Ave S Bloomington, MN 55420 Wednesday February 20 - 7pm Viking Chapter General Meeting Go Moto 3346 N Washington Ave Mpls, MN 55412 Wednesday March 6 - 7pm National Meet Planning Committee Davanni‘s - Edina 5124 Gus Young Lane Edina, MN 55436 Wednesday March 13 - 7pm Viking Chapter BOD Meeting Home of Roy & Kathy Williams Kenwood Gables Apts 700 Douglas Ave Mpls, MN 55403
Wednesday March 20 - 7pm Viking Chapter General Meeting Go Moto 3346 N Washington Ave Mpls, MN 55412 Saturday - Sunday March 23 - 24 Donnie Smith Custom Bike Show (See web for hours) St Paul RiverCentre 175 W Kellogg Blvd St Paul, MN 55102 Wednesday April 3 - 7pm National Meet Planning Committee Davanni‘s - Edina 5124 Gus Young Lane Edina, MN 55436
For the Silent Auction bring a desirable item in good condition - artwork, books, posters, jewelry, clothing, etc. (no swapmeet stuff - it doesn‘t have to be a motorcycle related item). This auction benefits our club and also supplements our Charity Fund. So donate that old knick-knack to a good cause! Bring your stuff to the party to be bagged and tagged.
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Upcoming Events AMCA 2019 National Meets & Road Runs
February 22-23 Omaha Chapter National Meet Fremont, NE (402) 660-5151 www.omahachapteramca.org March 8-9 Sunshine Chapter National Meet New Smyrna Beach, FL www.sunshineamca.org April 8-10 Cherokee Chapter National Road Run Kerrville, TX www.cherokeeamca.org April 26-27 Perkiomen Chapter National Meet Oley, PA (610) 948-4553 Perkiomen Facebook Page May 17-19 Southern National Meet Denton, NC (417) 838-4777 www.amcasouthernnationalmeet.com May 24-25 European Chapter Meet Raalte, Netherlands +44.1303.256266 www.amca-europe.eu June 9-12 Allegheny Chapter National Road Run Ligonier/Seven Springs, PA amcaamc.com June 14-15 Viking Chapter National Meet St. Paul, MN (952) 443-2020 www.vikingmc.org June 14-15 Fort Sutter Chapter National Meet Dixon, CA (916) 485-1721 www.amcafortsutter.org
July 5-7 Empire Chapter National Meet Trumansburg, NY (315) 382-6711 www.empirechapter.com July 19-21 Wauseon National Meet Wauseon, OH (419) 929-0291 www.wauseonnationalmeet.org August 2-3 Yankee Chapter National Meet Terryville, CT (203) 272-6605 www.yankeechapter.org August 24-25 AMCA Australia Chapter Meet BULLI Show Grounds New South Wales (near Sydney) 011-61-419-229-605 www.amcaaustralia.org September 4-6 Music City Chapter National Road Run Nashville, TN (615) 972-8758 September 12-14 Yerba Buena Chapter National Road Run Monterey, CA (408) 591-7607 www.yerbabuenaamca.org September 27-28 Chesapeake Chapter National Meet Jefferson, PA (410) 360-4211 www.ccamca.org
http://www.omahachapteramca.orghttp://www.sunshineamca.orghttp://www.cherokeeamca.orghttp://www.amcasouthernnationalmeet.comhttp://www.amca-europe.euamcaamc.comhttp://www.vikingmc.orghttp://www.amcafortsutter.orghttp://www.empirechapter.comhttp://www.wauseonnationalmeet.orghttp://www.yankeechapter.orghttp://www.amcaaustralia.orghttp://www.yerbabuenaamca.orghttp://www.ccamca.org
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At the last board meeting, we were talking about how we might revitalize the President‘s ride and the lack of participation in the ever-dwindling group rides that the club puts on. We‘re really good at riding to a local bar or restaurant for a get-together, but there are less day-trip and overnight length rides and fewer people that go on the ones that are still happening. Also the longer runs are mostly made up of riders on modern bikes. I get it; we‘re aging riders riding aging bikes. Something‘s got to give. It won‘t be long before someone is picking us up at the ―home‖, bringing us out in a rolling chair and loading us into a sidecar so we can experience one last time the joy of getting a few bugs in our teeth.
But there is another side to all this that has struck me from the beginning. Here we all are, a large group of older riders, alive and well. Motorcycles didn‘t kill us like we were told they would. Why? Statistically we very well could have ended up in that situation. And we have been in that situation – everyone has stories. But we had something in us that kicked in and saved the day. We are the ones who should be riding, I guess. I firmly believe there are people who should never touch a motorcycle.
And by and large, we seem to be in better shape overall than our cage-driving counterparts. We look and act younger than people ―our age‖. We have reasons to live, projects to finish, people to see, places to go. We are engaged in living full lives and will do so for as long as we can. I think constantly having a project to look forward to or something like riding a motorcycle – something that makes you smile just thinking about it – short-circuits the aging process. We‘re not exactly teenagers riding our first bike anymore, but we can get a taste of that, riding our time machines wherever they will take us.
PS. - You may notice that the newsletter has a different look; I decided it was time to do a redesign, despite it being a large issue and the holiday season, wherein all my occupations get super busy. I mean, idle hands are the devils work, right? Why do anything when it would be easier? That may be why it‘s a little late. That‘s my story, and I‘m stickin‘ to it.
I hope you all had a good summer this year, even if it was too short as usual. I got off to a slow start but got back to normal just as the fall hit so I‘m ready for a short winter, so here‘s hoping!
I have my winter project already started, the 73 Triumph is on the stand for an engine rebuild. I was just going to do a top end job because of the oil burning, but last time I rode it the engine seemed to be kind of noisy also. Sooo…… after some thought I decided to go into it all the way. The engine has never been opened and although it‘s a low mileage original, I think the miles it has are hard miles. Let the fun begin! Oh, all you Triumph experts out there let me know about anything I should watch out for. I‘ve never done a Triumph before!
If some of you didn‘t know we as a club will be participating in the IMS show again in Feb so Ron Spargo is looking for bikes for display and we will be looking for people to man the booth and keep an eye on the bikes during the show. Be prepared to sign up to help. The holiday party would be a perfect time to sign up.
Speaking of the holiday party I hope it‘s on your schedule to attend, I know it‘s on mine. It‘s not too early to start looking for goodies to put in the silent auction, I already have several things set aside that I‘m sure will get some bids going. I hope to see you there.
This will be my last message as the club President so I would like to thank all the people that made my job easy and stepped up to do all the hard work to keep everything going for the last 3 years. I won‘t try to list all the people because I would probably forget someone and I don‘t want to forget anyone. So to all of you thanks again for your help and support. And welcome to Dave Glennen the new President!
Gary Kloss
Cal Spooner
Notes From Gary’s Garage
Editor’s Meanderings
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2019 is almost here - and that means it‘s time to renew your Local Viking Chapter Dues! We no longer mail out renewal notices so consider this our request for you to submit $15.00 for your 2019 membership. Chapter dues renew each January for all members while the National dues renew in the month you signed up. Please take a few minutes and renew your Viking Chapter dues for 2018 today. Simply go the our chapter web-site www.vikingmc.org and click on ―join the Club‖ then either download the renewal form and mail it in with your check for $15.00 made out to the Viking Chapter or click on ―Buy Now‖ to go to the PayPal site. (The PayPal site does charge an additional dollar but you save a stamp and the hassle of getting it in the mail.) At our Viking Chapter Christmas Party on January 12th, we will have a chapter dues renewal table set up for your convenience. If you have any questions or concerns about your membership status, please contact me by email at [email protected] or by phone at 612-616-5025. The Dues renewal form is included below.
Time for Membership Renewal!
Club News!
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In Memoriam - Jerry Richards
October 21, 1932 - September 16, 2018
Husband, Dad, Grandpa and Great Boppa
Age 85 of Shoreview. Passed away surrounded by family on September 16, 2018. Survived by his wife, Trudi; daughter, Linda (Scott) Morris; grandchildren, Rebecca (Chris Woo) Morris and Kevin Morris; great-granddaughter, Norah; siblings, Neil (Sue), Mar-ion McCarty, Jeannine Kelly and Robert; Trudi‘s children, Bradley (Susan), Kimberly (Gregory Boettner), Kevin and Shannen Johnson; 7 grand-children and 4 great-grandchildren. Preceded in death by grandson, Joey. Jerry was born and raised in Rochester. Proud Korean Navy veteran, serving on the USS Ful-ton. Worked as a pipefitter and service techni-cian. Active member of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America and devoted Harley Davidson rider.
Jerry Kenneth Richards
Club News
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2019 National Meet Featured Motorcycle - June 14-15, 2019 Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the motorcycle that changed everything, the Viking Chapter has selected the Honda CB750 as the featured motorcycle for the 2019 National Meet. From the AMA website: It‘s hard to imagine the glee that lovers of high-performance motorcycles must have felt in 1969. Suddenly, almost every major manufacturer was introducing a new big-bore bike that was leaps ahead of anything ever built before. And 1969 was transformed into the Year of the Super-bike. The most refined and sophisticated of them all, though, was Honda‘s CB750. Four cylinders. Four megaphone exhausts. A disc front brake. An overhead camshaft. Amazing fit and finish. The Honda was so revolutionary, in fact, that it overshadowed everything else in the market—the Triumph Trident, the BSA Rocket 3, the Nor-ton Commando Fastback, the Harley XLCH, the Kawasaki Mach III. Honda made this landmark step by applying what it learned from small-bore bikes and grand-prix racing to a machine clearly designed as a big-bore flagship. Engineers realized that several low-mass, smaller pistons could move faster than a few heavy ones, turning increased RPMs into more power. The Honda four-cylinder engine, like those from Indian, Ace, Henderson and others back in the teens and ‘20s, also had one more advantage over a twin—it was smooth. "At the dealership I went to, the sales trick was for them to stand a nickel on its edge on the engine cases with the thing running," says Mark Mederski, the AMA‘s vice president for marketing, who owns this machine, pre-viously on display in the Motorcycle Heritage Museum at AMA headquarters in Westerville, Ohio. "If the carbs were in sync, even at idle, the nickel wouldn‘t fall over." The bike was more than a rolling, 67-horsepower statement of technological pride from Japan‘s largest manu-facturer, though. It was also Honda‘s first marketplace shot at the big-bore Brit bikes and Harleys. For the first time, and often for less money, you could run with "serious" motorcycles while riding a Honda. The new model even won the Daytona in 1970, its first time out. The long shadow cast by the CB750 is visible even today. Transverse-mounted four-cylinder engines still power many of the most popular bikes in the ‘90s. That engine configuration now seems normal, commonplace, expected. In 1969, though, there was only one. It came from Honda.
Club News!
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NOTICE! All 2019 Viking AMCA Members Will Be Eligible To Win One Of Two $500
Cash Prizes Given To Two Lucky Winners At The 2019 AMCA
National Meet In St. Paul, MN.
Display a bike and get a chance to win $500. Display 4 bikes and get 4 chances to win $500…
Get the Drift?
Must be a paid 2019 Viking Chapter member and a paid 2019 AMCA member to be eligible. Only one prize per person.
More details to follow.
Club News!
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The approved slate of nominations for the board was put to a vote. The 2019 Viking Chapter Officers are as follows: President: David Glennen Vice-President: Bob Hopf Directors: Craig Kotval Ivar Natins Dave Moot Ralph Smith Treasurer: Jeff Ricker Secretary: Kathi Rimnac Membership: Roy Williams
AMCA General Meeting @ Go Moto - September 19th, 2018
Club News!
Riders: Paul St.John 1942 Harley 45 Stan Mewhorter 1971 Triumph Tiger Cal Spooner 2016 Royal Enfield
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2018 Viking Chapter Fall Swap Meet - September 16 2018 Thomas Whittles
Our Fall Swap Meet doesn‘t change much from year to year. There are certain people who always volunteer for the gate work. There are certain people who volun-teer to help get vendors settled. There is a crowd of ―club regulars‖ that make this event happen. The ―regulars‖ met at Per-kins at 5:00 am, ‗bout 10 of us. The conver-sation was mostly about our projects and how the Cannonball had stopped in Animosa IA. the evening before.
I left Perkins at about 5:45, heading for the Fairgrounds. I found the gate wide open (later I realized that 4 gates were wide open). Only one overhead light had been turned on (it was the light that is furthest north in the parking area) which did us no good. At the end of August, I have a conver-sation with the State Fair people. I ask them to give us a little electricity. The peo-ple at the Fair didn‘t help us much this year. The Fairgrounds staff gave me a phone # to call if there was any problems; the phone # went to a voice mail that had-n‘t been set up yet… sadly they gave the same # to the Fairgrounds police; we looked at each other with foolish looks. By 7:00 the sun was up and lights were no longer needed. Thank goodness our club member Bob Hopf was there, he had his construction company‘s electric generator. We used it to run the coffee makers all morning. Bob had brought 12 dozen rolls - which didn‘t sell out, that was odd. We only made 3 pots (30 cuppers) of coffee. Unusu-al but it was a warm day. As a matter of fact, it was one of the last nice days we had this fall. Two weeks later the Antique Auto-mobile Club in town held their show and swap meet - it was a rain out (torrential). A big money loser. And two weeks later the Roadsters car club hosts the last swap meet of the year and that too was a rain (snow) out money loser…
3 days later at the general meeting at GoMoto our book keeper Jeff Ricker stated the we had made several hundred dollars from our fall swap, which surprised the hell out of me. A lot of the people that you would expect to see were not there.
All‘s well that ends well, yet we need to get the word out better next year…
Club News!
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Swap Meet
Club News!
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Viking Chapter members volunteered once again to fix up used bikes for underprivi-leged kids. It‘s amazing the amount of two-wheeled iron that is donated to this cause; all of this could be ending up in a scrap heap! Instead, all these are going to be used and loved again. The sheer volume of all the bicycles in this one place is somewhat breathtak-ing. It‘s recycling pure and simple.
Well, when we showed up, they knew they had the aces on hand, and we meant busi-ness. So they took us to a spe-cial room in the back, and led us to our destiny.
―You guys start on the ―pink‖ bikes.‖
And so it came to pass that we attacked the stack of girly bikes, polishing pedals, han-dling handlebars, shining seats, testing tires, fixing frames and seating seatposts. We worked so fast and furious that in a short time we com-pletely depleted their stock of white tires and streamers. We of the Viking Chapter do not mess around! We‘ll be back… next year!
Free Bikes 4 Kidz - Oct 24 2018
Club News!
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Free Bikes 4 Kidz - continued
Club News!
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Last Chance Visit to Jack Crane’s Motorcycle Museum - November 17 2018
In early November while trying to firm up a general meeting date, Ron Spargo contacted Jack Crane and found out that Jack had decided to retire from antique motorcycle collecting. The plan was to pack up the bikes in early December and that they would all hit the auction block in Las Vegas in January. But Jack wanted to have us one last time to see his collection - so we had to come up with a date quickly. Luckily November 17 was good for everyone, and we set it up.
Hopefully everyone in the club has had a chance to see Jack‘s won-derful collection; if you‘ve never been, it‘s too late now. Hopefully the pictures on these pages give a glimpse into the (mostly British) collection of fine motorcycles that included Brough-Superior, Vincent, BSA, Triumph, Ariel, Enfield, and many rare makes too numerous to list. But nothing can replace being able to see them in person and even touch these museum pieces in a lo-cal setting a few minutes drive away. But like it or not we‘re all on this same road and sooner or later we‘ll pull into the garage for the last time. Best of luck to you, Jack; the AMCA Viking chapter will miss you.
Club News!
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Club News! Last Chance Visit to Jack Crane’s Motorcycle Museum - continued
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Last Chance Visit to Jack Crane’s Motorcycle Museum - continued
Club News!
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Last Chance Visit to Jack Crane’s Motorcycle Museum - continued
Club News!
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Last Chance Visit to Jack Crane’s Motorcycle Museum - continued
Club News!
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Events
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Motosota @ Bauhaus Brew Labs Oct 6 2018
Events
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Sturgis Pics 2018 - Mike Blackburn
That's Harvey under his BMW ck'n the oil. My rear tire on the
Enfield. My " new " girl friend. The camp ground pavilion
… Overall no major issues with the bikes.. rain hit us hard on
the first day and after that minor drizzles. Come'n back the
S/Dakota heat was tough. Downtown Sturgis was the usual
Harley luv fest.... as was Lead, Deadwood.
Riders: Harvey Berquist - 1969 BMW Dena Natins - 1975 Honda 400F Tom Jones - 2002 Sportster Gene Hostetler - 2004 Honda Gold-wing Mike Blackburn - 2010 Royal Enfield with side car Stan Mewhorter - 2004 Sportster
Events
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Wheels and Wings - September 8 2018
Riders
Paul St.John 1942 Harley 45 Garvin Thorsrvd 1946 Indian Chief Kerry Rasmussen 1946 Indian Chief Keith Peters 1951 Vincent Rapide Paul Chamberlin 1981 BMW R100 Mark Jilk 1981 Honda 750 John Ulrich 2003 Honda Goldwing Gene Hostetler 2004 Honda GoldWing Stan Mewhorter 2004 HD Sportster
Events
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Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride - September 30, 2018 Roy Williams
This event occurs annually on the last Sunday in Sep-tember. It was founded in Sydney, Australia by Mark Haw-wa in 2012 with 2,500 registered riders across 64 cities worldwide. Mark was inspired by a photo of Mad Men‘s Don Draper astride a classic bike and wearing his finest suit. The success of the event encouraged Mark to use the event to support a worthy cause. Participants are now asked for donations that are used to fund men‘s mental health programs and prostate cancer research. This year there were 112,000 registered riders in 650 cities!
Our local event with 192 registered riders left Hidden
Falls Regional Park in St. Paul at 1 pm, followed parkways in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and finished at Ngon Bis-tro in St. Paul. This year it was cloudy, drizzly, and 49 de-grees (our average low for 9/30) while last year it was sun-ny, humid, and 90 degrees (a record high!) – what a differ-ence a year makes!
Events
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Imagine my surprise! I was at a ―First Thursday‖ gathering. Two men approached and asked, ―Would you show your
motorcycle in the 2017 10,000 Lakes Concours d‘Elegance?‖
―What bike?‖, I asked.
―This one‖, they replied. ―It looks good.‖
―This one?‖, I asked again. ―This is a daily rider. It‘s not a
show bike.‖
―Yes. This one. We like it!‖, they both replied.
―Well, OK, then. I‘ll do it!‖, I said.
They told me the motorcycle must be nominated, then invited
to participate. So, I go to the website, enter information about
my motorcycle. Click ―Enter‖. That‘s considered getting nomi-
nated.
I decided to do some serious cleaning to do to get my 1972
Yamaha XS2 650 to a condition I‘d be proud to say, ―Yep, this
one‘s mine.‖ I spent six days cleaning, polishing, and tracking
down minor nuts and bolts that needed replacing. Since I en-
tered the XS2 in the ―Preservation Class‖, or ―unrestored‖, it
was important to maintain it in original, unrestored appearance. Except for the forty-five years of riding, and one minor
unscheduled dismount, it‘s in pretty good shape, and it‘s a particularly good looking ―standard‖ motorcycle from the ‗70s.
As the show approached, I received more infor-
mation for participants. Wow! A complimentary partici-
pants‘ reception at the AutoMotorComplex in Chanhas-
sen on Friday night; a group tour to a classic car dealer-
ship and box lunch on Saturday; a group event to see
―Grease‖ at a dinner theater Saturday night; and finally,
the show, or ―10,000 Lakes Concours d‘Elegance‖, on
Sunday, in the Excelsior Commons on the shore of Lake
Minnetonka. Encouraged to dress in the period of your
vehicle, I dug out my best tie-died t-shirt, jeans, and san-
dals, thus the decision to trailer, not ride to the event.
Arriving at my designated time, the Excelsior Commons
show grounds was already filling up. I rolled the XS2 off
the trailer and rode it to my designated location among
other motorcycle invitees.
2017 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance Phil Holbo
Member Stories
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Other participants immediately asked if they could
help unloading, etc., and invited me to join them under
a great shade tree nearby. From there, it was a day of
browsing and gawking at some fine-looking motorcy-
cles, classic foreign and domestic cars, boats, and
trucks. Excelsior Commons is a great venue for this
event, and it all benefits the charity ―Bridging‖.
After a day of photographing dozens of beautiful vehi-
cles, I returned to the motorcycle display. To my sur-
prise, I found a nice red, white, and blue ribbon hang-
ing on the old bike! The ribbon was a recognition
award for preserving a classic motorcycle in its original
form.
Overall, it was a great experience! I can‘t enter XS2 in
the 10,000 Lakes Concours d‘Elegance again for a few
years. However, it‘s given me a confidence to try other
shows as opportunities arise, between rides. It is, after
all, a daily rider. It‘s just a little cleaner, now.
The organizers want to increase the number of mo-
torcycles in the 10,000 Lakes Concours d‘Elegance. I
encourage all of you to clean up your ―ol‘ bike‖, and
nominate it through the website of the 10,000 Lakes
Concours d‘Elegance.
2017 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance (continued)
Member Stories
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2017 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance (continued)
Member Stories
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2017 10,000 Lakes Concours d’Elegance (continued)
Member Stories
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Glenn H. Curtiss Museum - by Dick Randall
I was fortunate this summer to visit the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondport, New York. The museum focuses on the accomplish-ments of Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer and early motorcycle manufacturer. The museum includes a sizeable collection of early air-craft and motorcycles, which illustrate the innovative genius of Glenn Curtiss. There were many beautiful motorcycles there, but one of the most impressive was an exact reproduction of the 8-cylinder motorcycle which earned Curtiss the title of "Fastest Man on Earth" in 1907. Curtiss developed a 40 hp air-cooled V8 for an aeronautical customer. He was tempted to mount this engine on a motorcycle, and did so. The result was a shaft-drive motorcycle that set a land-speed record of 136.4 mph in 1907.
Member Stories
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Glenn H. Curtiss Museum (continued)
There are a number of other vintage motorcycles on permanent display, including the following:
· 1903 Curtiss Hercules · 1907 Curtiss 8 Cylinder (Reproduction) · 1908 Curtiss V-Twin · 1909 Curtiss V-Twin · 1910 Curtiss Single Cylinder with sidecar · 1911 Indian · 1912 Curtiss Single Cylinder · 1917 Henderson · 1922 Evans · 1924 Ner-A-Car · 1925 Cleveland
The Curtiss museum has an annual antique motorcycle show and swap meet, and a number of show exhibitors leave their motorcycles on loan to the museum, so there are more motorcycles to see, with that collection varying over time.
Member Stories
31
Every story needs a beginning, this one starts in 1956 in Fern-dale, Michigan, one block off of Woodward Avenue. Woodward is now well known as the location for the annual Dream Cruise. There was a Standard gas station at the corner of our street and Woodward, run by Ben Stumpf. Ben allowed me and my friend Chris, both eight years old, to hang around and sometimes help out by washing and vacuuming cars. Ben had a 15 year old son, Bobby, who had a gold colored Harley 165 two stroke. Back then you could get a license in Michigan at that age to drive a motorbike. It would be fair to say that we idolized Bobby, and the mobility and status that the Harley pro-vided.
Next came a subscription to the Harley Newsletter, The Enthusiast, a family move to the country and a growing interest in all things having internal combustion engines. A nearby go kart track, a used homemade go kart and my racing adventures began. At age 12, with a toolbox between my legs and my buddy Gary crouched on the back bumper, we would drive the two miles on the gravel road to the track. My helmet looked suspiciously like a football helmet. The go kart was used and abused for three summers. We never won anything, but had a blast.
At age 15 Michigan did away with the motorbike license, but a friendly police chief that looked the other
way if we behaved ourselves allowed motorbikes and scooters in town during daylight hours. A couple of classmates had Cushman step-thru scooters, one had a Cushman Eagle, and my buddy Rick got a 1952 Harley 125. I found a nice 1959 Harley 125 and off we went in clouds of two stroke smoke. I put about 5,000 miles on the little Harley during that year. Motorcycle and car magazines were consumed, and we became fascinat-ed by motorcycle racing; drag, land speed and flat track.
As we turned 16 and got our drivers licenses, the desire for things bigger and faster brought Rick to a new
Harley 250 Sprint H, and me to a well used 1956 Indian 500 twin. The Indian was really a Royal Enfield Me-teor with Indian badges. My 16th birthday present was a Bell 500TX helmet. The license, helmet and Indian were my ticket to the AHRA Motor City Dragway in New Baltimore, MI, and multiple trophies in my class. Along the way an Indian 700 Twin and a 500 single were acquired.
Then real life appeared - four years
in the Air Force, marriage, children, college, jobs, houses and before you knew it 40 more years had elapsed and age 60 was fast approaching. 2004 and new 883 Sportster returned me to two wheels.
As retirement approached I decided
that I would like to find another (Royal Enfield) Indian for restoration and per-haps some Vintage Class racing at Bonneville. A lot of time on the internet located a 1956 Indian 700cc twin in Ohio. A winters work brought the bike back to life. I joined the Viking Chapter and began seriously researching Bonne-ville rules, only to discover that my In-dian was one year too new to qualify for Vintage Class racing!
Bonneville - Salt Fever is a real thing! By Steve Clough
Member Stories
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Next I located a 1955 700cc Indian twin and purchased it on line from a shop in New Hampshire. The BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials had started in 2004 and the 2006 movie, The Worlds Fastest Indian, set my thoughts squarely on Bonneville. A Vikings Chapter meeting about Bonneville at a park in St. Paul intro-duced me to Tom Anderson (aka Santa Claus). Tom provided lots of info, suggestions, answers to my many questions and knocked down any reason I might have had to not give it a try.
I chose the 750 P/PV class: 750 cc max displacement, Production chassis, Production Vintage (1955 or
earlier!) engine. For this class the motorcycle must externally be as produced - carburetor, ignition, exhaust, fenders, suspension, etc. Only safety required external modifications are allowed. Internal modification that do not increase the displacement are allowed. Gasoline must be purchased on-site and the tank is then sealed. The carburetor and magneto were refurbished and rebuilt by Joe's V Cycle.
In August of 2013 ClubMet racing, membership of one, arrived at the Bonneville Salt Flats outside of
Wendover, UT, for the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials (now the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, BMST). After passing scruitineering (tech inspection), I was ready to race! As there was no established record for
this class, my first run qualified me for a return run and the likelihood of a record. The enclosed picture shows a very happy racer holding two timing slips, with an average speed of 79.451 mph. Engine teardown verified my displacement and I now held an AMA National Record.
Late rains in 2014 and 2015 flooded the salt flats and cancelled the BMST events. In 2016 my college bud-
dy Dave Allenbaugh doubled the size of ClubMet Racing and became my pit crew and Head Pit Monkey. The Indian had been upgraded with higher compression pistons. We pushed our record up 5% to 83.691 mph.
Our wives joined us at Bonneville in 2017. The Indian had the heads reworked over the winter at Bill Bune
Enterprises, a newsletter sponsor. We again bumped the record to 87.938mph, another 5% increase. For 2018 the salt surface was excellent, hard, very smooth and dry, the best in more than a decade accord-
ing to long time racers. Our first attempt was about 83 mph, lower than the two previous records, in spite of the improved salt surface. After hours of checking everything we could think of, Dave mentioned how much work it was to push the bike to the remote fuel truck and back. Bingo! We discovered a front brake that was dragging ever so slightly. After properly adjusting and testing the brake, we were able to set our 4th record, 95.318 mph, an 8% improvement of 2017 and 20% higher than our original record.
We plan to be back again in 2019, shooting for another 5% increase to 'crack a ton' to the magical 100 mph.
Bonneville - Salt Fever is a real thing! (continued)
Member Stories
33
I needed something to do this summer, 2018. I am done resurrecting old M20‘s, M21‘s from the trash as having moved I just don‘t have the space, machinery or energy to do that anymore; so I found what I thought was a summer project. It was a Ebay listing; a 1959 BSA alternator GB33 refurbished, restored, recreated, something redone, all done poorly. Actually it looks nice, done in a Pinkish Salmon color, for something 60 years old not too bad. Either the person had this paint left over from his pink Cadillac or it was a lost bet.
On a long shot I won the auction. Getting it back here from Sunny California was the first hurdle. This bike was way north of San Francisco so I had to find a trucker who would go out of his way to pick it up. The truck-ers worked out well but they didn‘t speak English. These three guys were running a nice business hauling bikes around the country with the English speaker doing the dispatching. Two guys in a truck and trailer did the hauling. It arrived safe and sound on time. I think they were from Albania. Cash only please!
Don‘t look too carefully as what you see may not be good. This engine had a .040‖ rebore and new piston. If someone had paid money to have this work done they were cheated. There was way too much silicon rub-ber holding the engine together. I pulled the head and barrel off to see what there was to see, not too much but I was looking for the rest of the chunk aluminum that I found at the bottom of the crankcase. I suspect it came from a broken piston sometime earlier. Actually the head and barrel looked good; the valves are a bit pocketed but were good to go. Fur-ther disassembling the engine I was pleased to find a set of ZB Goldstar cams instead of the the usual M20 cams that B33‘s normally came with. These cams are hard to find as they were a popular B33 upgrade in the
late fifties and ZB Goldies are rare. Maybe I will put my set of DBD34 Clubman cams in it, but they are a bit much for a little iron barrel B33. Now if I can just find a alloy head for it I will be set.
It came with a new cush center four spring clutch, new plates and chains front and back. The stock Lucas alternator was a 6 volt small rotor one which puts out about 60-70 watts. The solution to this obsolete Lucas junque is to install a new late style large rotor two wire alternator with a suitable solid state rectifier and regu-lator. Gone is the old Selenium plate rectifier. Originally BSA selected windings on the three wire alternator to determine the charge rate. That was controlled by a Lucas PRS8 multi connection switch. Only Lucas/BSA could come up with a Rube Goldberg mess like that. That system must have cooked many batteries dry. Mov-ing to a 12 volt system eliminates much of the superfluous wiring and I can now see at night. Ignition is by point coil with BSA finally moving in the right direction. So long old MO1 magdyno and E3L dynamo, starting is easier now, Ignition is controlled by a 18D1 distributor, a rather pitiful looking thing but seemingly reliable. Amazingly I found a extra 18D1 on Ebay so at least I have spare parts. Parts are rare for these distributors and even the points are expensive, gaskets ha, make your own. The capacitor must be changed to a later one as the 6 volt one dies quickly with a 12 volt system. Interesting task setting the timing with it, as it is a bit tricky. I hope it continues to run ok.
On to the gearbox, oh my goodness what a mess. It had not been opened for years, the restorer (who?) had pulled the outer cover off and squirted in orange silicon rubber over the old gasket and then resealed it. I would be ashamed to do something like that, that person should be too. As expected the two mainshaft ball bearings were worn out. BSA did not use a sealed bearing on the drive side so either the oil ran out when the seal died or when the bike leaned on the side stand.
B33 Summer Project - Dr Frankenbeeser
Member Stories
34
Water and crud would get into the bearing which would eventually finish it off. They did the same thing with the rear wheel drive side bearing, recommending to pack it with heavy grease but that didn‘t work either. The driveside mainshaft bearing is now a sealed one. The layshaft bushings are serviceable, the layshaft is worn but it‘s within tolerance to use. At my age I don‘t go very fast anymore so it isn‘t that important for a per-fect fit. These gearboxes would work fine in large trucks as the teeth on the pinions are large and rugged. BSA made the gearbox‘s in STD, SC scrambler, or RT that had layshaft needle bearings in the DBD34 Goldstar se-ries. Those are coveted and rare. This one is a STD meaning standard not the other meaning. I should have counted teeth on the pinions as it is apparent that third and fourth gear are very close in ratio. I guess that would go with someone putting ZB Goldie cams in it.
The project is back together and running. It has been a fun and sometimes frustrating pastime this sum-mer. I did not start with any expectations, I ended with a bike that I had wanted for years. My first BSA was a 1949 B33, that was a real mess but continued to serve me faithfully rain or shine. I couldn‘t ride it in heavy rain as I sealed the leaking petrol tank seams with bar soap, it worked when it was dry. I was a student at The University of MN then and it was my ride for several summers in the early sixties. Foolishly I sold it. Then I found a DBD34 Goldstar for $900, need I say more. They seem to have gone up in price a bit since 1964. That eventually went also but that‘s another horror story!
What have I learned from this project; looks can be deceiving, there are good things to be discovered and there are nice people in the old old Brit bike community. Prices have gone up a bit for the unobtainium parts but they are out there.
Submitted by Dr Frankenbeezer, purveyor of fine old British motorcycles. Addendum to this story: In November 2018 the California Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, CA
and many people are missing or dead. This is where this motorcycle came from. I am trying to find out if the man I bought it from survived the conflagration or not. I suspect his bike collection is destroyed.
This fun, annual event was held on Saturday, September 15th ; 16 participants, 15 motorcycles, and 1 dog met at Mike Madden‘s house in St. Paul. The motorcycles ranging from 90 to 650 cc‘s included 9 Honda‘s, 4 Yamaha‘s, 1 Kawasaki, and 1 Suzuki. It was too hot for jackets (92 degrees!), but eve-ryone wore helmets. The caravan left Mike‘s at 10 am, trav-eled on the 25 mph parkways, and arrived back at Mike‘s just before noon. We were treated to a BBQ lunch in Mike‘s back yard – a great way to spend a Saturday during motorcycling season in the Twin Cities.
B33 Summer Project - continued
Tiddler Ride 2018 - Roy Williams
Member Stories
35
A rookie police officer pulls a biker over for speeding -
• Officer: May I see your driver’s license?
• Biker: I don’t have one. I had it suspended when I got
my 5th DUI.
• Officer: May I see the owner’s card for this vehicle?
• Biker: It’s not my bike. I stole it.
• Officer: The motorcycle is stolen?
• Biker: That’s right. But come to think of it, I think I
saw the owner‘s card in the tool bag when I was
putting my gun in there.
• Officer: There’s a gun in the tool bag?
• Biker: Yes sir. That’s where I put it after I shot and
killed the dude who owns this bike and stuffed
his dope in the saddle bags.
• Officer: There’s drugs in the saddle bags too?!?!?
• Biker: Yes, sir. Hearing this, the rookie immediately
called his captain. The biker was quickly sur-
rounded by police, and the captain approached
the biker to handle the tense situation:
• Captain: Sir, can I see your license?
• Biker: Sure. Here it is. It was valid.
• Captain: Who’s motorcycle is this?
• Biker: It’s mine, officer. Here’s the registration.
• Captain: Could you slowly open your tool bag so I can see if there’s a gun in it?
• Biker: Yes, sir, but there’s no gun in it. Sure enough, there was nothing in the tool bag.
• Captain: Would you mind opening your saddle bags? I was told you said there’s drugs in them.
• Biker: No problem. The saddle bags were opened; no drugs.
• Captain: I don’t understand it. The officer who stopped you said you told him you didn’t have a license, stole this motor-
cycle, had a gun in the tool bag, and that there were drugs in the saddle bags.
• Biker: Yeah, I’ll bet he told you I was speeding, too!
Once upon a time there was a frog who lived in a lake all by himself. He had been given special powers by a local witch.
One day he finally ventured out of the lake to get his first glimpse of the world outside. The first thing he saw was a bear
chasing a rabbit and so he called out to them and asked them to stop. Then he said to them: ―I am a magical frog and
since you are the first two animals I have ever seen, I am going to grant you both three wishes. You will each take turns
using them and you have to use them now.‖ The bear (being greedy) went first. I would like for every bear in this forest to
be female except for me.‖ A magical sound and it was done. Then the rabbit. ―I would like a helmet.‖ This confused both
the frog and the bear, but after a magical sound there was a helmet. It
was the bear‘s turn again. ―I would like for every bear in the neighboring
forest to be female.‖ A magical sound and it was done. The rabbit went
again. ―I would like a motorcycle.‖ Both the frog and the bear wondered
why the rabbit didn‘t just ask for a lot of money with which he could buy
himself a motorcycle, but after a magical sound there was a motorcycle.
The bear took his last wish. ―I would like for all the bears in the world to
be female except for me.‖ A magical sound and it was done. The rabbit
then put on his helmet, started up the motorcycle, and said ―I wish the
bear was gay‖ and took off like a bat out of hell.
Ed note: Upon request this joke was reviewed by a friend of mine, a member of
the LGBT community. As an actual gay bear, he deemed it non-offensive (and
quite funny). He also noted that magical frog conversion therapy does not work.
Humor
36
2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport. New rubber front and rear. 13,548 miles. $3500. Arlen Johnson 763-670-9701 (cell) 763-497-8555 (work) [email protected]
FOR SALE: 2007 Suzuki Burgman. 400cc, only 13,000 miles. Runs great and is in excellent condition. New front tire and factory CB radio. Bloomington, MN $2,700 OBO . Call Vic at 952-888-0138
WANTED: Altette horn, 6 volt, probably made by Lucas, for old British bike. I can send you a picture. [email protected] or call/text 612-532-1112
WANTED: Starving homeless man with rare condition (extreme flatulence) seeking donuts and pizza. Love donuts so much would marry one but it would have to support me. Potential for a long term relationship if you have a life-time supply of Gas-X. To reply go to the Post Office and look at the pictures until you find me.
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