Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2023 i Motorcycle Classics

1974-1976 Laverda 3C/3CL Although Laverda showed a 1,000cc SOHC 3-cylinder bike at the 1969 Milan show, it was another three years before the specification was finalized: a 180-degree crankshaft engine with chain driven dual overhead cams, three Dell’Orto pumper carbs, Borrani rims with Laverda drum brakes, and a sturdy steel tube frame. Over the next three years, FLAM alloy wheels and triple Brembo disc brakes replaced the wire wheels and the Ceriani fork was swapped for a Marzocchi. And working with U.K. distributor Slater Brothers, Laverda produced a tuned version: the mighty Jota, with 90 horsepower and a top speed of more than 135mph making it the fastest production bike at that time. Cycle magazine snagged a ride on one of the first 1000s and called Laverda’s new triple “brilliant,”…

“Think of the most challenging terrain you have ever tackled with a trail machine. Now take a good long look at the new Bridgestone TMX-7.” — Sales brochure by the U.S. importers, Rockford Trace St. Germain works with the National Hot Rod Association as part of the Safety Safari, a group that performs the behind the scenes tasks at the track when the NHRA is racing. He is part of the fire crew who run out to get the racer away from the vehicle and extinguish the blaze when something catches on fire, a not-infrequent occurrence after a crash. He also competes on his own drag bike. Racers tend to band together, and affable Trace has made friends with many of the other drag racing competitors, mechanics and vendors. Four…

11/4 Head to Vicksburg, Mississippi, for the Vicksburg Vintage Motorcycle Show. Entry is free and open to pre-1990 motorcycles, scooters, dirt bikes, etc. The show runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and more than 20 awards will be given out, including class awards, People’s Choice and Best of Show. Enjoy live entertainment and downtown Vicksburg. The show will be held at the Washington St. Park at 1050 Washington St. For more info, contact Roger Harris by email (roger.harris@ergon.com), call him at 601-831-2079, or search Vicksburg Vintage Motorcycle Show on Facebook. 11/5 Join the Southern California Norton Owners Club for “the best ride by a dam site,” the Hansen Dam Ride. Now in its 44th year, the ride is a great way to spend a day enjoying classic motorcycles. Recent…

When most of the country is digging out from blizzards, sliding around on ice, or dodging showers, Southern California’s deserts are usually dry, sunny and warm. So it was for the second annual Stagecoach Classic Motorcycle Rally held near Julian in the Anza-Borrego Desert in late March. Though principally for classic and vintage British motorcycles, all makes are welcome. This year’s weekend schedule included both on- and off-road rides, field events including a slow race, hot dog bite and slalom; live, classic rock from the Holy Frijoles; the Stagecoach Bike show; a movie night with classic motorcycle and bike racing movies on the big screen; and a wooden nickel hunt. Rally co-sponsor JRC Engineering also offered to present a trophy, the Ton-Up Cup to the rally entrant whose motorcycle best…

Dreamers and schemers make the world more interesting. One in particular is British-born Lord Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, Third Baron Hesketh, otherwise simply known as Lord Hesketh. After competing with his privately owned team in Formula 1 racing to some measure of acclaim from 1972 to 1978, Hesketh decided to build a motorcycle — the 1983 Hesketh Vampire seen here was essentially Part Two of the Hesketh story. We’ll dig into that in a moment. Although it was hoped to revive a mostly moribund British motorcycle industry, the Hesketh project was an overly ambitious venture, and one that, unfortunately, never met with serious commercial success. Throttlestop Museum co-proprietor Jim Balestrieri is fascinated by these kinds of stories. It’s a story he’d not been aware of until he took up watching the Netflix…

The arrival of BMW’s new R90S sports bike exactly 50 years ago in 1973, of which 17,455 examples were sold worldwide before it was replaced by the R100S in 1976, represented a landmark moment in BMW Motorrad’s product development. For the debut of this landmark model for the German manufacturer allowed BMW owners to compete on equal terms for the first time against the modern generation of high performance Superbikes like the 4-cylinder Kawasaki and Honda, the V-twin Moto Guzzis, and British twins and triples (there were no desmo Ducatis just yet). And nobody did this more effectively than German privateer Helmut Dähne, whose exploits in the gruelling Isle of Man TT put BMW’s new maxi-Boxer well and truly on the map — although the ACU did its best to…

Gettysburg National Military Park is a breathtakingly beautiful and historically significant destination. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over three days (July 1 to July 3, 1863). Confederate commander Robert E. Lee took his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania intent on continuing an unbroken string of victories. Lee initially prevailed, but flawed tactics and Union resolve turned the course of the battle (and ultimately, the Civil War). Pickett’s Charge, a near-suicidal and uphill advance across a mile of deadly Union artillery fire, sealed the South’s fate. During that engagement more than 12,000 Confederate troops marched directly into a Union cannon barrage, those who survived closed to small arms distances, and then those who survived the small arms fire engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Nearly half the Confederate troops were lost.…

Motorcyclists in general, and racers in particular, sometimes exhibit patterns of speech that suggest they have their own language. For instance, you might hear a motorcycle rider say, “The clutch went out.” The clutch didn’t go anywhere; what he really meant was that, plain and simple, the clutch stopped functioning properly. Or, you might hear a racer exclaim after a spirited practice session on the racetrack, “The tires aren’t biting in Turn 2,” as if he were actually fishing for rubber in … Turn 2. In reality the bike’s tires were losing traction somewhere through that turn. You also might hear someone say at a track day gathering, “I dove into Turn 5, clipped the apex perfectly, then stood it up.” Translation: He rode fast and furious into Turn 5,…

By the late-1960s, the race for motorcycle supremacy in the U.S., the world’s biggest market, was all about performance. It was equally clear that the day of the dominance of parallel twins was over. As power output and swept volume increased, so did vibration — and buyers’ frustrations at broken license plates, shattered headlight bulbs and loose fillings! Except for Norton and the cushion-framed Commando, the quest for power would point to more cylinders. Announced just months before the fourpot Honda 750, BSA-Triumph launched its three-cylinder Trident and Rocket 3. So what was the way forward? Triples or fours? Arguably, the quads won the day: the basic design being the template for the air-cooled, DOHC “Universal Japanese Motorcycle.” But three inspired designs showed that the alternative strategy might be worth…

As a collector of Streamline Moderne industrial design objects and Italian motorcycles, architect John Goldman says he was taken aback when he first viewed this rare Italian-made 1939 Miller-Balsamo 200 Carenata. It was a motorcycle he knew nothing about, but he loved the lines of the machine. He bought it, restored it and displayed it in May 2023 at the 13th Annual The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, where it deservedly earned “Best of Show.” No tremendous surprise, as it’s simply stunning. Quite the find In the spring of 2018, John was alerted to the Miller-Balsamo’s offering at auction by a team member at Aste Bolaffi, a company then mounting their first-ever motorcycle auction in Torino, Italy. “For many years I have collected Art Deco and Streamline Moderne industrial design objects,” John…

“Though of only 50cc capacity, the Itom “Astor Sports” two-stroke is a true motorcycle, in that, for all its small size, it offers considerable appeal to the enthusiast.” — Motor Cycling, December 20, 1956 1962 was an eventful year in the British Isles. Several former colonies became independent, the British Prime Minister fired a third of his cabinet and the Beatles made their first appearance with Ringo. For the organizers of the 1962 Isle of Man TT races, none of this mattered. In a crisis of International proportion, an actual female had sent in a race entry form. Beryl Swain was then a seasoned racer, having started racing in the early 1950s. She raced in the then-popular 50cc class, and was successful in regional events. She eventually achieved an international…

The International Norton Owners’ Association rally is an annual event held, alternately, in the east of the Continent and the west. That was until the schedule was kiboshed by Covid. The British Motorcycle Owners’ Club Okanagan section made a valiant attempt to host “Nortorious 2” (named for the 2010 INOA “Nortorious” Rally in Lumby, British Colombia) in 2021 but was defeated by post-Covid logistical difficulties. Stepping boldly into the fray were the Northwest Norton Owners Club and the Washington Vintage Motorcyclists, who with logistical support from BMOC members organized an epic “homecoming” rally in June 2023 in the faux-western town of Winthrop, just east of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Winthrop is an ideal rally destination: there’s a king-sized RV and camping resort, plenty of nearby hotels, half a…

What: Gettysburg National Military Park, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 17325-2804, 717-334-1124. No admission fee to the Park, the Visitors Center, and the Museum; there are modest fees for the film and cyclorama painting. Open 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. How to Get There: From the east or west ride Interstate 76 and pick up any of the numbered state routes heading south. From the south take Interstate 83 north and State Route 116 east. Best Kept Secrets: Neill Avenue (also known as the Lost Avenue); it’s the least visited area of Gettysburg National Military Park and probably the most original in showing how the battlefield looked on those three fateful 1863 days. In town, it’s The Blue and Gray Grill (their chili is wonderful) and…