2012 Chadds Ford Classic Motorcycle Auction

Don't miss the 10th Annual Chadds Ford Classic Motorcycle Auction on April 15, 2012. Tons of great motorcycles from 1910-2006 on hand. Free Admission and no charge to bid. Find the 'classic' of your dreams. Located at William Bunch Auctions at One Hillman Dr and Rt 202 in Chadds Ford, PA. See www.myclassicmotorcycle.com for complete details and list of machines pre-entered.

AMA Roadracing in the 1990's part II

Before he went grey, he was blonde Miguel for a season. Haircolor aside, it was the same old Miguel, fast and focused. Tough as nails too and in top form.

                        
                                         Jamie Hacking gets focused on the Kinko's Kawasaki ZX6R

Scott Russell on the factory Yamaha World Superbike. Poll and race winner at Daytona 200 race.

The crush of media was constant with pressure on Mr. Daytona ready to score another Rolex.

Ben Bostrom on Vance and Hines Ducati as he gets ready to put the hammer down in qualifying.

Stever Crevier's factory Suzuki was a mess when he unloaded in the horseshoe.

The remains of Eric Bostroms Honda Superbike are unloaded from the crash truck. His new-found turn of speed and confidence came to a sudden halt. Tough start for the up and coming rider.

The story of The Spiral, America's oldest motorcycle

It looked ready to ride, resting in the middle of a nearby country road on a foggy morning in late 1996. At the time I first laid eyes on it, The Spiral was not well known outside of a small group of collectors of old machines. Today, it's value would be well into the mid-six figure range as links to the early days of motorcycling have been recognized for their historical value by a larger audience. It was preserved rather than restored, a one hundred year old time machine that was unmolested. This was a rare beast indeed, one man's vision of what motorcycling could be, built at a time of great innovation.

Many seemingly unrelated events took place the world over that would ultimately lead to the introduction and development of the first gasoline driven internal combustion powered automobiles and motorcycles. In 1776 Alexander Volta discovered that explosive gases can be ignited by electric spark. In 1799 American Eli Whitney developed interchangeable parts to speed up the production of muskets and farm equipment. By 1815, James MacAdam introduced roads made of broken stone in England.

The early 1880's were and important time for bicyclists when England's Coventry Machinists created a safety bicycle with equally sized wheels. It would lead to the demise of the high-wheelers or 'penny farthing' bicycles which required great skill to ride. Falling from the height the rider was at did prove fatal for a number of early riders. With the advent of the vulcanization by Charles Goodyear and development by Irishmen John Dunlop would leave to the first pneumatic tires greatly improving ride quality. This diamond shape frame would come help create the shape of the first motorcycles once the small four stroke engines were sorted out, but before that happened Nicholas Otto patented the four-stroke internal combustion engine in Germany in 1876. His associate, Gottlieb Daimler would leave Otto and create the first gasoline powered vehicle in 1885. 

The following story was told to the niece of Herman Jehle shortly before his death in the early 1950's at nearly ninety years of age. It was re-told to me twenty five years ago by the late collector Harry Buck, who purchased the machine seen in these pictures directly from his niece in the early 1970's for just over one thousand dollars.

 In 1895, a man named Herman Jehle, an instructor at the Baron De Hirsh Technical School had a chance encounter with a man on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The man was riding a Daimler-built internal combustion powered three wheeler, with a wooden chassis and running on metal-rimmed wooden wheels. Mr. Jehle was very excited to examine one of these machines up close and asked the owner to consider giving it to the school for his students to learn from. Surprisingly, the machines' owner, whose name has been lost to history, agreed to donate it.

Herman brought the machine to the Technical School as promised and gave great thought as to what to do with it then. After having problems with the ride quality, he decided to discard the original frame and studied the engine. He then set about making his own engine based on what he had learned from the Daimler design. Jehle has use of the complete machine shop as well as his eager students for this purpose. The new single cylinder and head were machined from one piece of solid steel. The cylinder fins are one continuous piece, like that of a screw, giving the machine it's name, 'The Spiral'. Herman installed this engine into a bicycle frame and used a belt drive to turn the rear wheel. In the rain, however, the belt would slip and so he switched ti chain drive. It was also at this point that he decided to scrap the bicycle frame and built a new frame, similar in design, but stronger. The new front forks were sturdy units and the petrol tank featured a cleverly integrated tool box as well. He manufactured his owner handlebars and fenders as well as the direct drive speedometer that would be mounted on the right side of the forks. He installed the recently developed pneumatic tires to soften the jolting he had endured on the often rough roads of the day. The finished creation was completed in 1896, making the Spiral the first complete motorcycle powered by an internal combustion engine made in the United States.

Herman rode the bike constantly and would make continual improvements over the next few years. He would run alongside, hop on a pedal until the engine fired in action. When he stopped, the engine would stop to as no clutch had been developed yet. An "inclinometer"is mounted on the petrol tank and was useful for estimating the steepness of the grade you were climbing and encouraged use of the pedals when the hill was too steep. A Bosch magneto was added in 1900 and a new exhaust pipe was created at that time to curve around the unit. In timing tests, with the original New York Motorcycle Club, it was recorded a top speed of 45 mph on the flat and was said to capable of 65 mph with some modifications to gearing. Herman collected a number of ribbons and awards during this with his two-wheeled wonder.

Riders of motorcycles had to be a determined lot due to the primitive nature of the machines. The ignition system for example, were often the source of fire if the machine was crashed. Front forks collapsed from the constant pounding of the rough roads too. Most early machines required that the oil be hand pumped every 15-20 miles to avoid engine seizure. Punctures of tires was a never-ending source of aggravation for riders. Places to re-fuel their machines were far and few between as well. It's amazing that motorcycles survived this initial period compared to the relatively plush automobiles being produced. Bicycles were also enormously popular and inexpensive as well. It was a time of great innovation and creativity in the mechanized world we were entering at that time period.

By the time Herman Jehle first road registered the Spiral in Newark New Jersey in 1903, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company would produce their first motorcycle. Herman would continue to ride his creation until 1913 when he put it in the front window of his auto parts store in Newark, New Jersey on Halsey Street. According to early registration documents, the Spiral made one one-quarter horsepower. The license plate from that last year of registration is still on the rear fender. Jehle would turn up in newspaper reports from time to time, often demonstrating his Spiral still ran. Eventually his auto parts store closed and the Spiral disappeared from sight for many years.

                                                                                 


In the mid-1990's I convinced Harry Buck, the bike's custodian for the last twenty years at that point to allow me to photograph the machine for  a story I was doing for Motorcyclist magazine. It would eventually appear in the April 1997 issue of the magazine.  Harry, who had a collection of over 115 pre-war machines had been a good friend and agreed to let me do so. He had introduced me to many of the well known collectors of our area in Pennsylvania; guys like Doc Patt and Milby Jones who were some of the founding members of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. They shared with me their passion for early American motorcycles and the adventures of tracking them down. They did it because they had an interest in saving the bikes for future generations, not to flip them for a quick profit. Most of these men, rarely sold anything at all, preferring to trade with other like minded hoarders of two-wheeled memorabilia. What I know, as no doubt countless other young men of my time did, was that these 'old timers' bought and saved these machines because they were compelled to do so, an we are very thankful that they did.

Doc, Milby and Harry have all passed on a few years ago as I write this. I am grateful to have known them and hope to share more stories of their old machines and adventures in future posts.

Retro Moto TV Trailer

Things are really cooking at Retro Moto TV; our most recent trailer was released a few weeks back and has garnered a tremendous amount of comments and and compliments. We've got a great team behind the camera andsome incredibly generous offers to cover the very best events and interesting people in the classic bike scene. Give it look!
                                                     http://www.edbuffman.com/?cat=38

The Cotton Club

The Cotton Club at Las Vegas


Most of you know the infamous Cotton Club was indeed in Harlem, New York, not Las Vegas, Nevada. We're talking about a different kind of Cotton Club, one that features the almost forgotten English manufacturer who never made much of dent here in the USA. Yet Cotton, founded in 1919 proceeded to produce a wide variety of machines powered by JAP four stroke V-twins pre-war and Villiers two-stroke engines postwar.

Roadracing in the 1960's on the short circuit's of the UK, the 'works' Cotton, piloted by Derek Minter scored many victories in the 250cc class on the Cotton Telstar. Bernard Hooper designed the Starmaker engine which powered various Cotton machines. About 60 Telstar's were built from 1962 until 1967. The onslaught of Japanese race machines, specifically Yamaha multi cylinder two-strokes proved too much and production ceased.

 But for a time, the Gloucester based Cotton firm ruled the newly created Formula Junior class, with Minter winning the 1964 250cc ACU Star / British National Championship.  The original machines featured twin Amal monoblocs and made 27 bhp. Weight was a mere 230 pounds for the quick-handling, home grown machine with the Armstrong leading-link front forks. The late Bill Ivy was also running a six speed gearbox like Minters works bike and was a top contender too.

I'd long been an admirer of the legendary 'King of Brands', Mr. Derek Minter. His exploits on the Steve Lancefield and later Ray Petty tuned Norton Manx 500cc machines was the stuff of legends. 'The Mint' also rode a variety of smaller machines, like Bianchi and EMC before switching to the Cotton Telstar on which he won the title on. It was one of many for Minter, one of the best English short-circuit specialist in the world. He also faired well at the Isle of Man and the Dutch Grand Prix on the bike as well as his Nortons.

                                                                                       
                                      

 I had just finished Mick Walker's 'Derek Minter, King of Brands' book last week before heading west to attend the inaugural Auctions America Las Vegas  Auction January 12-14. With this fresh in my mind, imagine my surprise to see six Cotton motorcycles of all types, road and track, on offer at the sale. But one bike in particular caught my attention. The Telstar 250cc production racer.

I had no intention of buying, but the little red Telstar 'spoke' to me, you know? I'm pretty sure it said 'buy me!', because that's what I did. This 1964 Cotton Telstar had recently been the subject of a 100% restoration by Bultaco West of Texas. I contemplated purchasing the Cotton Continental as a companion road bike, but felt that may be stretching my budget a bit too much at this time of year.

 I tried to convince a few of my new found friends to join my Cotton Club, but to no avail, they'd spent their cash on other good deals this weekend buying Triumph Tiger Cubs, Russian sidecar unit, Moto Guzzi and a pre-war, tank shift 250cc Rudge. Our new friend Jinx (above, motioning) was determined to convince anyone that would listen, not to buy BSA's. A personal fued of sorts. BSA's will do that to you. That's what this weekend proved in spades. Men are passionate about their motorcycles. Sure, there were ladies there, but this was a guy thing. Whether you could afford $500.00 or $500,000.00 it was offered this weekend to buy. Many did just that: It was the right thing to do.

So the Cotton Club is an exclusive club for now, but we are committed to growth. In the meantime, hand me my pudding basin helmet and pass the Castrol Oil. I've got miles to go.

                                    1964 Cotton Telstar 250cc Formula Junior production racer.

Harley-Davidson VR1000 at Daytona

Not since the late 1960's had we seen such a resurgence in Harley-Davidson factory racers at the famed Birthplace of Speed, Daytona, USA. A lot of time and effort went in to the design and build of the new VR1000. Mark Tuttle and HD engineer Mark Miller contracted Roush Racing to complete the concept and they brought along Steve Schiebe to run the project. From 1994-2001, The Milwaukee-based manufacturer tried it's hand at a return to AMA Pro Roadracing. Miguel Duhamel, Fritz Kling, Tom Wilson, Doug Chandler were among the pilots who threw a leg over the Harley. In the end, they came very close to succeeding with the fuel-injected DOHC V-Twin  racer. Sadly, Tom Wilson suffered a career ending injury at Loudon on the machine just as he was coming to grips with the bike.

Canadian Pascal Picotte on the factory Harley-Davidson VR-1000 at Daytona gave it his best after a stint on the Suzuki GSXR. He managed to grab a podium in 1996. In fact, he led the Daytona 200 for a few laps before a bad pit stop put paid to his chances.

                      A quiet moment during Qualifying at the Speedway. (time-date info incorrect)

                                                                   
                  In the later days of the VR, it was decided that Scott Russel should give it a try, but Russell couldn't get the VR-1000 to add another Rolex to his collection despite his determined efforts.

Chris Carr took to the VR quickly, his flat track skills prepared him well for the job. Amazingly, Carr returned to flat track racing and won a number of Championships before heading to the Bonneville Salt Flats to add his name to the record books. His best ride came at Pomona where he put the Harley on the pole.

A frequent view of the ill-fated VR-1000 in the pits. They suffered their share of DNF's during the AMA pro racing days due to the complexity of design. Handling was sweet, but horsepower was not on par with the increasingly faster competition.

One rider who did enjoy considerable success on his privately sponsored VR was

Pennsylvania based roadracer, Ron McGill. It was too little too late. HD pulled the plug in 2001 and the dream was over.

Will Harley-Davidson ever return to professional roadracing with factory built specials? Not in the foreseeable future, with a spec series filling the need by keeping the H-D name in front of race fans. But someday, they'll return. It's in their DNA. Until then, we can look back on the mid 1990's as the last time they dared take on the might of the Japanese. It won't be the last. Any company with the racing heritage of one hundred years behind it is bound to be back.

The Best of 2011

 After starting my race career on a 1967 Ducati 250 in 1989, I moved on to modern sportbikes, but it was inevitable that I would return to vintage bikes, they are why this blog was created afterall. Whether it's singles, twins, triple or four cylinder machines. Two stroke and four are both welcome too.Some of my racebikes over the last ten years are pictured below. The Honda 350 Four, MV Agusta 350 twin, Yamaha TZ 125 & TZ350 resting as my focus has shifted in the last few years. A couple of racing Norton's had come my way.

2011 has got to be the best year ever in my motorcycling life. Seriously. I can hardly believe where I've been and who I've met, not to mention what I've ridden as well.  I've been very, very fortunate. What a year its been. Let's look back.

 I decided to start this blog to share my personal journey with the motorcycles that cross my path. I run and annual classic bike auction, but have been brokering some private sales as well and some good stuff comes along from time to time. This year I've sold a number of classics for clients. Recently I sold a 1951 Vincent Rapide and a 1938 Triumph Speed Twin, both blue-chip collectibles.  Just handling machines like those for a brief time brings enjoyment too, even if I don't own them.  As I look back now, with readers all over the world, I am certain that our hobby has a devoted global following. About fifty percent of the you are from places other than the USA.  Thanks for viewing and sharing your comments and experiences with me.

The year got off to a good start with a trip south in late February. I was racing the  Team 20/20 Vintage Racing 1961 Norton Manx 500cc at Robeling Road Georgia in the Antique Historic Racing Motorcycle Association Classic 60's class. Strong competition was present and the best I could manage was 2nd and 3rd places during the two-day solo outing. It was a memorable weekend with warm weather and the company of good friends.

We jumped forward to the 9th Annual Chadds Ford Classic Motorcycle  in April where a great collection of  vintage bikes and parts changed hands. A number of Indian and Harley-Davidson's were featured this year. The poster was designed by Robert S. Coy of New Hamsphire. Mr. Coy was the featured artist at the 2011 Radnor Hunt Concours.

June had us on location at a private estate in Delaware to continue shooting for TV show we're working on. Having two Norton Manx and a TZ750 running at speed for the cameras was a once in a lifetime experience. More on that later.

July brought us back to Mid Ohio where we shared garage space with the Royal Enfield based Badger raced by Stu Carter and put together by Leon Stanley and his crew.The Manx ran well again and another memorable weekend was gone in a flash. Below, a TZ750 gets what's needed before the next practice session.

                      
Early August saw the opening of the exhibit I prepared for the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia featuring Ducati and other Italian motorcycles. Former Cycle magazine editor and AMA Superbike race winner on 'Old  Blue' Ducati Cook Neilson was a delightful guest for the opening party. Our gracious host, Dr. Frederick Simeone's museum was recently named, "Best Automotive Museum in the World" , an astounding honor for this local gem. Please make sure you visit museum sometime soon.                                  www.simeonemuseum.org

 Earlier in the year, noted photographer Michael Furman shot a small group of bikes for the poster. The 1979 Ducati MHR was created to honor the legendary comeback  victory of the Mike " The Bike" Hailwood at the Isle of Man in 1978. It would be a fitting choice as the late Mike Hailwood's son, Dave was to be our guest of honor at the Radnor Hunt Concours.

                                                 

The 15th Annual Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance happens the first full weekend in September every year and this one was really special. We arranged for the entire collection of 50 motorcycles from the Simeone exhibit to be on display at Radnor Hunt for judging by our esteemed guest judged.
Special guests included David Hailwood, Nobby Clark, Gary Fisher, Eraldo Ferracci and Cook Neilson for the weekend. Dave stayed on for a few days and we got to do some motorcycling before he headed back to the UK. Our friend, former AMA racer Ron McGill supplied the hardware for that adventure. Check out www.radnorconcours.org  and www.mikethebike.com

              

                                                             
Two weeks later, we were southbound. We made our way to Barber Motorsports Park for the final AHRMA round of the season for us. A huge turnout meant intense competition on the track, but the bike acquitted itself well enough for a 6th and 7th place finishes. The museum itself was a knockout and hanging out with guests Kevin Schwantz and Cook Neilson, Paul Smart and Jason DiSalvo made it a very special weekend.

As the season wound down, we put things in high gear to wrap up production on a TV series trailer we've been working on for some time now. It captured some of the very best moments of the year with some great people and machines. We're pressing on with getting things going on that front as quickly as possible. It's called Retro Moto.

Racing an 8 hp Yamaha TTR125 might seem tame by comparison, but when your sharing the saddle at a four hour endurance race, it can provide big fun. The tiny Yamaha may have been underpowered compoared to the winning team's Honda, but we managed to have enough laughs for the Mini Moto GP to make the list. We'll be back next year for more fun at NJMSP.

On the racing front, the Yamaha TZ750 E model is nearly ready for a return to the track. We hope to have it ready for Roebling Road in February as the final details are being finished as we write this. It's taken a year and a half to piece together the parts needed to put it right. The big 750cc four cylinder two stroke weighs about 340 pounds and produces about 130hp!

 

Happy Holidays to you and Best Wishes for the New Year !