Vacations

Will be on Vacations for a few days so guy see you soon ride safe and enjoy. All my best, Frank

Mid-Ohio needs to help its bike event

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Written by Rob McCurdy

The new bosses bought a track, a driving school, a bad schedule and one struggling event. Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, the owners of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, desperately needs to give its one-time signature event an extreme makeover.
Does Ty Pennington know anything about motorcycles? The Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires certainly requires an overhaul.
The action on the track was never better than a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, it was a box-office dud. Once upon a time, the Superbikes brought tens of thousands to north central Ohio.

my friend Kenny Cummings at Mid-Ohio in 2008 photo copyright Aron Ahlstrom.

The streets and roads were filled with folks on their two-wheeled machines, taking over Lexington, Mansfield, Ontario and parts in-between. Green space in the Esses and elbow room in the paddock were hard to come by. For the last couple of years, that hasn't been the case... Read more

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Troutman & Barns

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Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes (builder of Lance Reventlow' Scarabs, Pete Brock's Samauri, and the first Chaparrals for Jim Hall) also built some motorbikes. Here are two shots of their 450 Honda engined desert bike. Photos are from the 06/68 Cycle World.

The frame used 4130 steel and all tubes but steering head and swingarm 1.25" x .049" wall, and the swing arm was 1.375" x .095" wall. Engine and shock absorber mounting plates were of .125" sheet. Wet weight - 328 pounds. Engine - 4 speed Honda 450 with 40mm DCOE Weber carb.

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Dale "Lynn" James vintage motorcycle photos

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All pictures via the fabulous website : www.americanbantam.com

Dale pictures copyright : John Ramos

Back in the OLD days Dale used to race motorcycles. He raced from 1970 -71 very competitively and a few years after just for fun until the mid 70's. Most of the races after 1972 were marathons and enduros with his dad (who was quite fast by the way :-) He raced a 250cc Bultaco most of the time. It was a very fast and reliable bike for it's time. Here are some pictures taken by a professional photographer (John Ramos) who went from race to race taking pictures of everyone.

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Oscar apparel Featuring in WAD Magazine

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Photo : Dimitri Coste

Thanks to Wad Magazine

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1981 Kawasaki SR500

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Featured here is Dave Thorpe's 1981 Kawasaki SR500. Dave Thorpe raced this bike during the European GP season and was Kawasaki's only works GP rider. Considering he was still recovering from a badly broken leg during the 1980 season, Dave's results were very encouraging.
This bike was featured in VMX magazine issue number 26.vVia : www.vintageworksbikes.com

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Bubba Shobert's flat-tracker

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Harley-Davidson has dominated the AMA’s Grand National Championship since the inception of the series in 1954. But there was a time in the mid-1980s when Honda took over as the series king—winning four championships in a row.

This is the bike that made it happen: the RS750.

This actually was Honda’s second attempt at building a flat-track bike. The first was the NS750, based on a bored-out version of Honda’s street-going CX500 motor. The company campaigned that bike in 1981 and ’82, and it managed to win one race.

Then Big Red used all it had learned to create the purpose-built RS750 for the next season. The new dirt-tracker made several shakedown runs in the 1983 Grand National Championship, even winning the Du Quoin Mile with rider Hank Scott at the controls.

By 1984, Honda was ready to go championship-hunting in earnest. The company hired ’82 champ Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert to make a full assault on the title aboard RS750s... Read more

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Ariel HT5

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via : www.twnclub.ch

Here are some scans and pics from Mark Frei, who imported the only Ariel HT5 back in 1958 and was competing in trials and enduro Swiss championship.

The Ariel Trials version was developped from the Red Hunter series and was commercialised 1956-59. There were 2 versions available: HT5 with 500ccm and HT3 with 350 ccm. The weight was claimed at 132 kg (dry without liquid). This was clearly ahead of the 150kg of a 350ccm AJS. There was no lighter and more powerful 4 stroke trials bike around. Front wheel was 21 and rear 19(!), ground clearance about 22 cm.


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Wheelings Champions

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Alan Kenyon. His helmet has a 96 on it. The #96 was his number at Road Atlanta. He just hadn't taken it off the helmet yet.

Gary Scott as a Jr.

Jim Rice

Donnie Castro

all pictures via the amazing Bill Barret's gallery : Here

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Donny Schmit's 1990 Suzuki

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Via : www.americanmotorcyclist.com

Many of the bikes in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum tell the story of technological progress and innovation. This bike tells the story of one very determined racer.

Donny Schmit carved out his own career path to motocross success. The Minnesota native got off to a good start by winning the 125cc West Region title in the 1986 AMA Supercross Series. But Schmit then struggled in the premier 250cc class, particularly on tighter Supercross circuits.

Recognizing that his skills translated better to outdoor motocross, Schmit dropped out of Supercross to focus on the 125 MX series, losing his Suzuki factory ride in the process. Focusing on a grueling training regimen, he was picked up in 1990 by Team Bieffe Suzuki to race the 125 Motocross World Championship. Schmit won four races on this motorcycle en route to the 125 Motocross World Championship... Read more


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A day with Dimitri Coste by John Carriere

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A DAY WITH DIMITRI COSTE from EASTPAK FRANCE on Vimeo.


Today my friend John Carriere send me the video he made about Dimitri " Surfing " his motorcycle.
This video is a pure moment of pleasure ... enjoy. Frank

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Weird Harley-Davidson Exhibit in Milwaukee

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A new exhibit at the Harley-Davidson Museum is proof the Milwaukee motorcycle maker is about much more than its classic hogs.

An all-leather motorcycle made in Japan, rarely seen prototype bikes and a rocket engine that powered drone missiles during the Vietnam War are just a few of the items the company has dug out of its archive for "Collection X: Weird, Wild Wonders of the Harley-Davidson Museum." ... Read more

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