Looking good, feeling good.  We had to work to make it happen, but the Magyar NRE 750 was shoveled in to fit to its Seeley MKII frame.  A little-known factoid about these motors: The case mounting-bolt bosses are different widths and require appropriate shimming.  No two of them are exactly the same dimensions, so a lot of attention was put into the plates to get it all into the Seeley and keep it perfectly lined up.  This, and the ribbed oil galley under the timing cover was certain to foul the lower frame tube without careful placement.  Happy to report about .100″ clearance without much ado.  The front plates are next.  Much, much, so ever so much more to come on this one.

Almost there.  The first bike ever put onto the track by us has been almost completely resurrected (with a few upgrades, tweaks, fabrication details, etc).  Today the primary cover mounting system was fabbed and the cover installed.  Tomorrow, maybe a chain, some safety wire, and a few dyno pulls.  We’ll see.

This is an Open GP/BEARS bike, through and through.  Expect to be seeing it on the track again this year.

On Tuesday, February 14th, a crate the size of an NYC studio apartment arrived at Spannerland, having made its way across the Atlantic from Minnovation Racing.

The crate was actually smaller than some of our past deliveries, but inside was nothing but twice the fun.

In this photo, actual likenesses of Mick and Martin from Minnovation Racing.  Silly boys.

As the packing material was pulled away, the motorbike porn begins to shine through

Voila!  Two NYC Norton-spec Minnovation Racing Seeley MK2 chassis are pulled from the crate.  Folks, rest assured you are looking at something you won’t get to see very often: Two Titchmarsh-built Seeleys lined up in their birthday suits, ready for the jewelry and dresses.

Some of the aforementioned jewelry.  Engine plates, custom mounting bolts, spools, brackets, etc.  An alloy dream.

Stamped by the man himself.  Roger Titchmarsh.

Falcon alloy/Ti racing shocks from the UK.  Good, good stuff.  In the past we’ve used Works Performance and been very happy with them, but unfortunately Works discontinued their Ultralite series of racing shocks, and Falcon does racing well, so it was an easy decision.

This is as close to an assembly line as we get.  Certain to keep the shop bustling for the spring and beyond. The chassis on the left is earmarked for a Nourish Racing Engineering (NRE) 8-valve 750cc motor, built to Formula 750 specifications.  This bike will run a Marzocchi front end with twin Brembo calipers, and a flat-track-style spool-type rear hub with knock-off.  This will be heavily campaigned in AHRMA’s National Series in the F750 class.

Once completed, the chassis on the right will be our pièce de résistance – a 1007cc Steve Maney motor, fully blown with a Drouin supercharger, to run (and we mean RUN)  on the street.  Yes, that’s right, a fully blown 1007cc Norton street bike in a Seeley MK2 chassis.  Our ears are already hurting.  The motor is now complete but required swapping the alloy MAP rods with JS Motorsport’s Long Rod/Raised Piston Pin setup; the only way to go for reliability and safety to handle the boost.

Both bikes will be documented fully as we progress on their creation.  Thanks to John Magyar and International Mining Services for the contract, and to Minnovation/JS Motorsport/Comstock Engineering for their help getting the ducks in a row.

The bodywork is out for paint, and there are a few loose ends to tie up, but it’s 90% home.  There will be a blog update with all the specs, mods and changes in the near future.

The 2011 Barber Vintage Festival was without question the biggest racing event I’ve ever taken part in.  Supported by Jamie Waters and Bellmouth Racing, our paddock played host to a group of Kiwis that made their way around the world with their pukka 500 Premier bikes, headed up by legendary tuner Ken McIntosh, who provided a very fast Manx Norton with the familiar #34 emblazoned on the side for world-champion Kevin Schwantz to lead the way.  Although it was a busy weekend for all, every once in a while I’d look up from what I was doing to have Kevin poking his head in, making comments, and being a good bloke.  I’ve been around a few celebs, and he was the best of the best; so generous and sincere.  We had some great chats, some good racing discussions, and best of all, we were able to spend a little quality time with him off the track.  Here we sit in Rusty’s BBQ, in Leeds, AL, after quite a feast.  This intense discussion was Kevin asserting that the Peanut Butter pie was far superior to the Banana Creme.  And who am I to argue?

2011: Moving on up

January, 2011

Having decided to focus primarily on the F750 class it was high-time to add some braking to the bike. I loved the single disk setup because it was so light and quite powerful, but on a few hard-braking tracks such as Road America and VIR I found I was really getting walloped by those other dudes with their fancy twin-disk setups. In fact, I was going through a set of Ferodo Platinum pads about every 1.5 race weekends Time to suit up and spend the extra cash. I went with a good ol’ Mick Hemmings Norvil 11.5″ disk, carrier, new LH slider, and up from a 13mm to a 16mm Brembo. The cast iron rotor is heavy, but after drilling I was able to shave off more than 1lb!

March 3, 2011

The 2011 season is about to commence. In all honesty, I have been working full-time on others’ bikes that my racing program may have taken a little back seat (or perhaps I’ve procrastinated). I have found it is hard to work on other bikes all day, then find that old enthusiasm for your own stuff. And out of discipline, I keep my own bikes far away from the customer stuff so the temptation doesn’t rear its head.

I didn’t do much to my 750 over the winter other than adding the aforementioned second disk brake setup and worked on the suspension a bit. And the Manx; it was mine to run this season, so along it came down to Georgia – Roebling Road to be exact – for the AHRMA 2011 Season Opener.

A shot from the Spannerland freight elevator as I load them up in the not-so-trusty Eurovan for the trip down south. I’m ready for some warmer weather. It’s been a long, snowy NYC winter.

March 7, 2011 – Roebling Road

I’m a lucky guy. Here are two bikes that I have dreamed about for years and years. This weekend I was able to sit back and appreciate that they are here, in one place, for me to have my way.

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating – I started building up my Featherbed Commando in 2000 as a reasonable facsimile to the Manx I could never afford. That first race bike was a way for me to chip away at it, one piece at a time (or sometimes a few pieces), and work my way into something “resembling” a Manx, at least superficially. (Call it an homage.) And through this all, my successes with Norton twins have developed over the past years. Now I’ve been bestowed with a very competitive Summerfield Manx to run as well. I can’t complain.

March 7, 2011 – Manx Tuning

A funny thing happened at Barber last October. A guy showed up in our pits, offered to help out with the Manx, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Bob Reynolds has been a big help with getting the Manx race ready and offered to come up from Florida on his own dime to lend a hand. Here we are working on timing as a bevel gear was replaced over the winter which necessitated re-timing the top end. We had a couple of great runs in practice. Riding the Manx is SO much different than the Commando – it lolls along and the motor seems so comfortable and low-pitched. Then you look down at the tach and you’re doing 8k rpm! The 4ls brake is great, but it’s a drum brake, which means it fades and has it’s own personality. This translates to carrying corner speed as opposed to point-and-shoot. A great lesson in riding for me. And the skinny tires; I can’t say enough about how nimble they are.

Unfortunately, just as the bike and rider seemed to be ready for action, the bevel timing was accidentally set incorrectly between practices, the exhaust valve hit the piston on starting, and that was it. Bob and Peter Politiek Sr. (visiting from Holland) worked for several hours trying to straighten the valve, but no joy. Alas. Back to the shop it goes and we’ll get it sorted for Road America.

Riding the Seeley I took two 3rd places at Roebling behind the usual suspects of Tim Joyce and John Ellis in F750. I don’t mind taking third to them, but I didn’t have much of a race on either day. I had a lot of odd suspension chatter (more than the usual Roebling stuff), and ended up with both tires worn and fragged in an odd pattern. Time to regroup and do it all again in 2 weeks in Texas.

(Notice Dave Roper’s badass Class C Dondolino MotoGuzzi in the background)

March 24, 2011 – Motorsports Ranch, Cresson, TX

I arranged for my Seeley to travel to Texas with AHRMA communication directors Tim & Cathy Lile who were traveling directly from Roebling to TX (and ultimately back to Delaware – easy for me to come fetch my bike), which meant I could fly in to Dallas and avoid the 25-hour drive each way. But it also meant no time to work on the bike in between events. I prepared my spares list and carried-on the flight as much as I could. I knew I needed to change tires, but I’d also noticed both rims running a little out of round, especially the rear seemed to have a pointed high spot, which may have explained some of the chatter and inconsistent wear I was seeing at Roebling. So some time with the truing wheel was needed. Here I am, Thursday night at the track doing my thing. You can see the paddock is quite empty. I was concerned this new event on the calendar would be a quiet one. I was certainly wrong.

March 25, 2011 – The First Cut Is The Deepest

Texas. Texas. Texas. After Roebling’s disappointment I was hoping for a little more from this weekend. While Roebling uses the tallest gearing I run (Daytona and Road America gearing), Texas uses the shortest… shorter than Barber. Even shorter than Loudon. What a tight-little-decreasing-radius-off-camber-grooved-rutted place this is. I went out in my first session and almost ran off the track getting caught out in these funky turns. Waiting for my second session I could almost do the track in my mind, so felt comfortable wicking it up a bit, which I did. The next thing I knew I was sliding on my bum about 90mph and watching my beloved sliding next to me and tumbled into the dirt. I remember thinking, “Noooooo! Be good to my bike!!!”. Yep, I threw it down the track. I had no idea why either. I just lost the front in a fast RH uphill turn and away it went. I later learned there is a big dip entering, and a rut in a pavement seam that caught me out. I definitely remember it being bumpy. Several other seasoned racers fell in the same spot, with the same perplexing question… why? (I changed my line for the rest of the weekend.) The bike didn’t fare too badly, all things considered. Most of the damage was on the RH side and required a new clip-on, rear-set, some new linkage, and some repair of the rearset hanger. The bike was good to go by 2nd practice on Saturday. Unfortunately by now by every crevice on the track (and there are many) looked like the Grand Canyon. In F750 fast guy Ryan Ambrose on the Big D Cycles Triumph was going so good, as was Tim Joyce, but I had nothing. Not even in the same league. Saturday night was the Awards Banquet for the 2010 Championships and I picked up my BEARS award and jacket, but my head was all over the place. On Sunday I made some adjustments to my suspension (actually adding back damping that I had taken off to soften up this bumpy beast) and the bike felt really good. Yes! I thought I might be back in the game. Then the rains came, and once again I psyched myself out. So it goes. At least I was able to put my stuff in the trailer intact, and send it back north. A big thanks to Keith Martin from Big D for putting on a great show, and putting me up Sunday night in his beautiful home.

April, 2011

I’ve been a little remiss about keeping my site up to date. I have a couple of excuses, and will list them here:

1. I’m now fully 100% engaged in building beautiful bikes for a living. NYC Norton is a commercial entity now. And I couldn’t be happier.

2. What’s the old saying? A painter’s house is never painted?

A bike that has been dominating my time this spring is a fully built Minnovation Racing Seeley MK2 Chassis with the highest spec 750 Commando motor, commissioned by Dan Rose and Rev’It Leathers. Around the time this project was being kicked about with Dan I received a call from the Discovery Channel folks asking if I would be interested in being the backdrop for an episode of Cafe Racer TV show’s second season. I explained to the person on the other end of the phone that I was a racer, my next project was a bespoke race bike, and I haven’t raced to a cafe in a long, long time. They thought that was just dandy. So they came. The Seeley was a great build for them to document, better than we all hoped. The directive was to follow me with the build by coming to the shop a couple of times over a couple of months, then get me on the track with it, maybe even race it! Easy peasy, right? Well, the pressure was on. Building a race bike has its own complexities, for sure. But building a racebike in a very short time in front of the cameras, then taking it to the track and running the hell out of it would be very difficult to pull off. Nonetheless, we worked hard to get this bike ready on schedule, but focused on making it be the best race bike it could be first and foremost. That was the client’s directive, and I was happy we were on the same page.

May 2011 – TV Dudes invade my space

I wanted to be cynical about the whole TV thing. I mean, I’m from NYC. I’m jaded. This ain’ t my first barbecue.

But I have to say, the whole experience was amazing. The show is produced by Chet Burkes Productions. This isn’t their first barbecue either. These were the most easiest going dudes, making jokes, giving me some direction, all while hearing me out that I wasn’t going to take angle grinders and hammers to my bits just to make for good TV. We built up the bike over a few days as far as I could take it, and the left me alone for a couple of weeks, to reconverge at Road America where I would take it out on the track and see what it would do.

Now the hard part…

Photo courtesy of Gregor Halenda

The finished product. The Rev’It Leathers Seeley 750 Norton

We all felt it would be prudent to photograph the bike as much as possible before I had my way with it on the racetrack. Although it looks a lot like my own Seeley (even has my racing number on it!), this is truly version 2.0 of my own bike, to be handed over after the final shoot. There really was no stone unturned on the build. It has all the good stuff within, including JSMotorsports rods, pistons, cam and lifters, CNW bits, the FullAuto head, and Jim Comstock did some real magic on the porting to get the port velocity up equal or better than some of the other Stage 3 heads out there. It is a knockout, and it is built for speed – to the highest Formula 750 spec.

As this bike came to life, I started to look at my old battle-axe across the room getting no attention. Road America was rapidly approaching and I had a lot on my plate. Besides having to get this bike out and around that monster of a track, I needed to get my Seeley running and do some wrenching to get the Manx race-ready. This is where the painter’s house analogy comes in.

At this point, I need to thank Rev’It leathers for putting me to the task of building a dream bike for me and them, as well as providing me we a beautiful new set of leathers to top it all off. I fly the flag proudly.

Photo by Gregor Halenda

Road America, Friday Practice, June 10, 2011

We all packed up and headed out for the big back-to-back June weekends – Road America and Grattan. My plan was to practice on the Rev’It Seeley all day Friday, getting it dialed and ready for Saturday’s TV shoot of the race. (The crew was only there for Friday practice and Saturday racing, as they had other obligations for Sunday, so the pressure was on to get it right.)

My first lap on the bike was very cautious. I listened to every sound, felt every shift, and covered the clutch. I did two laps and lost the peg from the rearset. Damn. Had to pull off and be carried in on the crash truck. Silly that! So practice two comes around, and I decided no more pussyfooting. I did one half of a gentle lap, then I FLOGGED it in Road America’s famous back section. The bike ate it up. It felt amazing. I laughed as I crested the hill on the front straight, with the bike’s owner Dan and the camera crew watching at the side of the track as I flew down the front straight. There were onboard cameras pointed every which way, and I expect they got some exciting footage. After each session I’d come in and we’d go through the bike, tightening this, tweaking that. By the end of the day I’d say, realistically, I was up to about 80% on it as compared to my own bike. I’m sure a lot of that missing 20% was simply because it was still new with a tight motor that needed to be worked in, but mostly the fact it just wasn’t my own bike. Now if we can just get through the taping and get on with things!

Saturday morning rolls around and it was damp, so I went out and did one short practice just to make sure the bike was still good. It was. In the next round of practice I took out the Manx. It was giving me carburetion issues but I chose to leave things as they were. I went out in the 500 Premier race on the Manx and took 3rd place behind Timmy Joyce and Wes Orloff. Fair enough.

Then I got the calls for the Formula 750 race. I donned my helmet and gloves as the cameras were pointed into my face. Groups of spectators stood and gawked. I hear 3rd call for the race, put the bike on the rollers and fired it up. As I sat there warming up the bike, I *thought* it was acting a little funny down low, like a carburetion issue. I continued to blip the throttle, but then sure enough, it started to break up. As I revved the bike to keep it going it died a miserable death. Ohhhhhh noooooooo! “Keep your cool. Keep your cool” I kept saying to myself. The camera crew was more animated than I’d ever seen them. They were loving this! Drama! I rushed and put the bike back on the rollers and we spun that thing up for a good 2 minutes, trying everything, and it would not start. Nothing! Dead. Done! The F750 race took off down the track and there I was, sitting on the wrong side of the fence, watching my brothers out dicing away. The cameras still rolling. Ooooofah.

This photo taken by my friend Fred Sahms

June 11, 2011 – My tale of woe

Well, the beautiful Rev’It Seeley 750 broke my heart at the worst possible time. The TV crew wanted my thoughts. “Was it a success or failure?”, they asked. I answered as candidly as possible – it was a success because I went VERY fast on that bike, time and time again. I know what it can do, and I know it can win. It was a failure because here is something that a lot of time, energy, and money was spent to get it to the level it is, and it let me down like a junkyard dog. I tried to be upbeat, but I was spent. The camera crew packed up, the bike was put on the truck, and it was time to get out of my leathers. As the film crew was pulling away in their van, the producer rolled down the window and asked if I’d be at Mid Ohio, and possibly we could do a follow-up there. Yes! A second chance! Of course I jumped at the offer, and off they went. I was relieved, and felt like I could get back to my own racing program for Sunday.

At this point it should be noted, in no defensive manner, that any new racebike will take time to get sorted. I am still working out little bugs on my own bikes after many, many weekends at the track. In hindsight, I am proud of how well this bike performed out of the gate. And only later did I find out that the reason the bike died was a ground wire whose connector had been crimped on the sheath instead of the wire itself, causing intermittent ignition firing. Yep… a simple little wire.

Road America, Turn 5, Sunday Practice, June 12, 2011

A new day, and a new lease. I did some great practices out on my own Seeley. Felt like my old friend. Maybe slightly more ragged around the edges than its pristine counterpart, but a useable tool, ready to be ridden hard. I also did some good laps on the Manx, and was feeling back in the groove. How quickly things can change for the better…

…and how quickly things can go pear-shaped once again.

In the Premier race I threw a chain on the Manx in the back straight, this after getting a meatball flag for jumping the start, necessitating a stop-and-go through the hot pit lane. A junk race.

Then my own, trusty Seeley 750 crapped out on me at the starting line due to a dead battery. Yep, that’s right. Unable to finish a race.

Kids, do yourselves a favor. Don’t buy into the glory and power of racing motorcycles. It’s smoke and mirrors. If you take all your money and throw it down a manhole, then bonk yourself on the head with the cover, you’ll get the same thrill and still be be ahead of the game.

This beautiful picture, illustrating the lustre of the aforementioned smoke and mirrors, was taken by Eric Cleveland.

Road America, June 11, 2011

More pretty.

Although I didn’t have the best weekend, I can look back and say there are very few things in life that can equal the sound and feeling of getting over on a Manx Norton at speed in the back alleyway of Road America.

Thank you Fred Sahms for the great snap.

Michigan, June 13 – 19th

As I scan my files I find, for once I actually don’t have a photo from a race event. I suppose I could really go out there on the ‘net and dig for a good shot from Grattan, but until I do, please enjoy this snap of a group of vintage racers having a week off at a cabin in the woods of Michigan (courtesy of John and Jan Ellis, Thank you!). As we’ve done for several years now, a group of us get together between the two races, work on our bikes, ride dirt bikes, and talk so much trash that we convince ourselves we are faster than Rossi, Hailwood, and Agostini, only to get to Grattan and be immediately humbled. This photo taken at the dirt pile out on the dirt road – the only place we can get a tiny bit of cell service if we are lucky.

From left to right: Tim Joyce – 750 Triumph, Mike Dixon – 750 Yamaha, Holmeslice – 750 Norton, Todd Puckett – 500 Seeley G50

My weekend at Grattan was similar in timbre as my previous weekend at Road America. Again I threw the chain on the Manx in Friday practice. Two times throwing a chain and I’m lucky to walk away, and smart enough to put the bike up until I can look at it back in the shop. I went out in Saturday’s F750 race on my Seeley and had the same issues as Road America (it should be noted that only then at Grattan did I determine it was a battery problem all along – the same problem I had at Road America – and until then was convinced it was my ignition). I swapped batteries and got out in Sunday’s race, taking 3rd behind Timmy and Ellis, as per usual. Ho hum.

Mid Ohio is coming up and I have some work to do to make this a success.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, Mid Ohio, July 24, 2011

I will spare everyone my diatribe about what the once great VMD at Mid Ohio has become. It seemed that the racing grids were actually up for the first time in 3 years, but the event overall felt quieter than the last couple. Perhaps this was due to the horrendous weather forecast, with 100-degree heat and high percentages of rain for all three days. In fact it always rains at least one day at Mud Ohio, without fail, and this year was no exception. I love this track. It’s one of my favorites, but I have never experienced anything like it in the wet. It is absolutely treacherous. I pitted in Garage 18 with a bunch of Canadians, my friends Scott, Mick, Jeff Peters and Doug MacRae. We got some good practice in Friday, and I went out on both Seeleys – my own, and the Rev’It bike. Both felt great and ready for action. Then, on Saturday, the rains came, which postponed my GP750 race until Sunday morning (and Sunday’s race ran at its usual time Sunday afternoon). Once again, I had the TV crews hanging around. My feeling was “just finish the damn race!”. So I took off, but the track was still damp and I didn’t want to chuck it away. I put in a fair showing, coming across the finish line in 3rd place behind my old fast friend Jeff Peters on his Rickman CR750, and Ivan Messina on his BMW, who pipped me on the last lap. Although it wasn’t the most spectacular showing, I finished a race, the camera crew was there, and I could save face on national TV. I was really happy.

Saturday, July 23, 2011, Mid Ohio

I keep a good notes on my bikes; gearing, jetting, when I change tires, what suspension settings, etc, etc. Coming into Mid Ohio I had less than two race days on my rear Dunlop tire (I can usually get 4 or 5 complete weekends). After a couple of Friday practice sessions the rear really started to slip and felt greasy as can be. Upon closer inspection I had torn up my rear tire like I’ve never seen. I did some practices on the Rev’It bike and didn’t have problems. It’s rear tire was imported directly from the UK and has a different compound, so wasn’t giving trouble.

Fortunately my pit neighbor Dave Crussell had a new KR164 (same compound and date code as my tire) and I put it on Saturday morning. Right away it too started to shred! Damn!

I made it through Sunday, but I was not a happy dude. I love these tires – they stick like glue – but I can’t be going through a tire a day. I spoke to Bob Barker, our US Dunlop distributor, who in turn went to Dunlop. I was happy that Dunlop took our concerns seriously and they will be doing a harder compound for 2012.

Seen here is the “old” tire on the right, and the “new” tire on the left, mounted on my Seeley.

Sunday, July 24, 2011, Mid Ohio

Later in the day the TV crew came back and wanted commentary. It was then they said they wanted more racing footage and were going to film the second race. Well all right, I’m back on again. And once again I came in 3rd. I finally sold my fancy-schmancy onboard camera that could never hold up to the vibrations my bike has, and invested in a tried-and-true GoPro Hero, and it works a charm. So some video footage of Sunday’s GP750 race can be seen by clicking HERE. Unfortunately I forgot to turn on the camera until the front straight! I had to reach up and turn it on while heeled over coming out of the keyhole. In the beginning you can see Ryan Ambrose on the Big D Triumph and Jeff Peters on his Honda in the distance as they check out. Later in the race, I reeled Jeff in a bit, but due to the tightened schedule, they decreased the number of laps for our race and I didn’t have time to do anything more. Now Ryan… he was gone. He’s a fast kid, and I wish he’d race with us more often. Once again I was just happy to come in unscathed.

The TV folks are happy and done with me for a while, and I can get back to my own program.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 – On the Podium

Left to Right: Ryan Ambrose – Big D Triumph; Ivan Messina – BMW; Jeff Peters – Rickman Honda; Holmeslice – Seeley Norton

I gotta say, the AMA does a nice podium ceremony. Makes us all feel a little more important.  I rushed back to the shop to get some work done. I have a few bikes for customers that are close to completion that will grace these pages soon. Next up on the racing schedule is VIR. I love Virginia!

Photo courtesy of AMA Racing

-Kenny Cummings
NYC

2010: The Kindness Of Strangers

Winter 2009: Spot the race bike?

This has become a repetitive story – bike gets built, bike gets raced, bike gets torn down , bike gets built back up again…

I suppose the difference this year is wanting to step it up a little more than before. I have contemplated building up a new motor for some time, and the time is now.

After working through the details I have been fortunate enough to land a few sponsors who are willing to stick their necks out for me.

Enter Colorado Norton Works, JS Motorsport, Fullauto Technologies, Left Coast Racing, and Comstock Engineering.

On to the build:

My crankshaft, balanced to 78%, with JS Motorsport’s very trick long rod/raised piston setup, with DLC (Diamond-like coated) pins. These JE pistons and special longer Carrillo rod was designed and implemented by Jim Schmidt for JS Motorsport. This setup reduces loads on the crank and cylinders by achieving a better ratio between the rod length and stroke, and reduces vibration because of this. The kit’s advantages carry over to any Norton – road to race. Thank you Jim.

Here the end float is being set. These crankcases supplied by Ken Canaga of Left Coast Racing. Ken has always been a boost to my program, and when I’m standing on the ledge his knowledge and level-headedness will always talk me back down again.

Jim Comstock machined O-Ring grooves into the alloy barrels to eliminate oil seepage past the bolt/stud holes and pushrod tunnels.

Moly-coated pistons, and the underside of the alloy barrels. Good stuff.

And the Pièce de résistance – the Fullauto head.

These heads are cast in Australia, but their initial flow and porting designs were developed by Comstock Engineering. So my new head returns back from whence it came. Even Jim was surprised at how little additional porting was necessary to get the flow up to where he wanted it for my race motor.

Kids – run out and get yourselves a Fullauto Head from Colorado Norton Works, a set of trick rods and pistons from JS Motorsport, bolt it up to your badass Commando and become an instant star!

Meanwhile, there’s racing to do

During the winter I consulted with several friends about whether to go with a shorter stroke or stick with a conventional stroke motor. My friend, John Magyar, offered up his Seeley Norton short-stroke for me to ride at Daytona to “test the waters”. How quickly could I say YES?!!!!

So, he arranged for the bike to be transported down to Savannah for the season opener at Roebling Road. I got all of about 5 laps practice total on the bike before the racing started, but managed to claw out a win in BEARS. Unfortunately the battery crapped out in F750 shortly after making a good pass on my friend John Ellis for second place behind Timmy Joyce. That’s racing, KC! On to the big show.

Monday, March 1, 2010 = Daytona International Speedway

Daytona is such a massive place and hard to crawl out of your own garage and take in all that’s going on. This year was no different. I found myself tucked away for the week. On Monday morning I had a great couple of practices and was feeling right at home on Magyar’s Seeley. The brakes were wonderful, the chassis just like my own bike, and only here did I finally wind it up to 8200k (John said I could do 8500, but I just didn’t want to be the one that blew the thing up!). My goodness was it a blast. It was like riding my bike, with an additional 1500 RPM of power available to me. I’ll take it, thank you!

I won the BEARS race after having a great dice with Tim Joyce as he rode Mark Mitchell’s short-stroke BMW.

On to F750, and again I had just put a move on John Ellis for Third place behind Jay Springsteen and Tim Joyce, when the primary belt snapped while full throttle on the banking. That was it – another DNF in F750. Didn’t matter, I was having a blast.

It looks so peaceful up there.  It’s not.

This beautiful photo courtesy of Fred Sahms

…and later that day, accepting my lumps.
That trophy is actually quite cool, albeit a bit wee.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 – Daytona International Speedway

My buddy RJ Reynolds and I work on setting belt tension. It rained all morning on Tuesday, so no practice. Fortunately the skies cleared and the track dried just before race time. I spent the morning working on the bike with RJ, who was at Daytona with his own Commando race bike that I hope to be riding later this season in some races. Since RJ’s bike wasn’t quite ready to go he became the best crew chief a guy could have. Together we spent the morning sorting all the little stuff on the Seeley. I decided to take a scrub lap before race 6 just to make sure all was good for the upcoming BEARS race (race 7). As I’d just come down off the west banking the bike made a huge bang, then went completely silent, all at 130mph. Yikes! I have never grabbed a clutch so quick. I coasted into the grass and came to a stop. They track crew actually had me on the truck and back to the paddock in about 5 minutes. After going through the bike we realized the Boyer ignition rotor had disintegrated. Ack! My race was next, and although we frantically managed to put a new rotor in, the debris from the old rotor had destroyed the stator. That was it, my day was done. Or was it??

Enter my hero of the week, Mark Mitchell. Mark is an AHRMA official, a great racer. with a great BMW, and a damn good guy. Here it is 3rd call for the BEARS race, and Mark offers his bike for me to ride. This is the very bike Timmy rides, and is one mean beast. I was nervous – it shifts on the left, down for down, completely opposite of my bike, I’d never ridden a BMW before, and it was DAYTONA! Not the place to cut your teeth on a new bike. But I was desperate and the time was now. I swapped my transponder onto Mark’s bike, and away I went. I had to grid in the back of the BEARS class, and told myself just to do what I could and not push it. The green flag dropped and the first 2 laps were pretty sketchy. It took a while to get used to the shift pattern, brakes, flywheel effect of the boxer motor, and those pesky cylinder heads hitting the deck! Little by little I started to creep up towards the front. Finally, I was able to pass Jason Besey on his beautiful Triumph for the lead as his clutch started giving him troubles. I got the win, and I was the happiest I’d been in recent. memory. Thank you, Mark!

April 5, 2010 – Spannerland

Oh, I like it when stuff like this shows up to my shop door. Mr. Comstock even makes great crates! I know what’s inside here, and it’s nothing but goodness!

So, it is for real. The new 2010 motor is here. It’s time to get it in the bike, on the dyno, and out to the track.

The new cases are ever-so-slightly different than my last motor, and therefore my fixed gearbox holes in the engine plates need to be bushed for proper belt tension.

I can’t begin to say how happy I am to have su ch a good team behind me now. This will be a long-term development and I’m in it for the haul.

Next up, a reunion of sorts. I’ll be heading out to Portland, OR, for AHRMA’s first visit to this track. Since I’m from Seattle, just 2.5 hours up the road from PIR, I will have some good friends and family down for the races. And… I get to ride one of the most beautiful Seeley G50s in 500 Premier, owned by Bruce Yoxsimer. Once again I am completely overwhelmed by the generosity of folks handing over their haughty race bikes to me. Thanks Bruce.

May 1, 2010 – Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon

Feeling pretty cool standing against certainly one of the haughtiest bikes in all the US vintage racing paddock – Bruce Yoxsimer’s Seeley G50.

Bruce has several beautiful bikes, most notably his blue Seeley Matchless G50 and maroon Seeley AJS 7R (pictured behind G50). This year he’s chosen to focus on the 350 championship riding the 7R, so offered me up a ride on his G50, which was lying around collecting dust. For a moment I thought he was joking. But he wasn’t, and I couldn’t have said yes any quicker!

I am originally from Seattle, so was able to coordinate business with pleasure and fly home to spend a little time with my family in Seattle, then drive down to Portland and meet up with Bruce. I arrived, and there it was sitting out waiting for me, gleaming in the northwest sunshine. I have ridden big singles before, but have never had the chance to run in 500 Premier with AHRMA. At this point I should confess to my legions of 750 twin fans that racing a GP bike in 500 Premier has always been my goal, but I’ve never seemed to have enough money in one place at one time to buy myself the 500 I’ve always wanted. My 750, built one step at a time, has always been a reasonable facsimile (Ahem… certainly the amount I’ve put into it I could’ve had a pretty fast Manx by now). Nonetheless, Bruce’s offer to let me ride this bike was fulfilling a dream I’ve had since I started riding motorbikes.

I had to do good…

…and I did.

I got the win on both days. The bike is a fast one, and the track is too. It was a prefect match.

The G50 felt so easy to ride and I got up to speed rather quickly. The chassis is a Seeley MK2 like mine and I didn’t make a single change to the ergonomics Bruce normally runs. The motor was full of torque and it was wonderfully smooth all through the range – very rideable. During our initial discussions he was very easy-going about the redline, and said he would run it up to 9k rpm at times. I chose to (try to) stay with 8k and not strain it too much. Portland has a 5000′ straight, and as I started to get more comfortable I noticed I was pulling 8500 at the end of the straight. This was really moving, as we had geared it as tall as Daytona. That’s the elusive thing about these big singles – they pull and pull, and you never feel like you’re on the ragged edge like you might with a buzzing Commando motor. By the end of the weekend I was doing good lap times – faster than many big 750 twins – and walked away feeling like I might need to work harder at finding a regular ride for the AHRMA Premier class. More on this to come.

So another great weekend; almost storybook for me. I got to fly in, ride the perfect bike, get the wins, and hang out and pit in with super-cool Yox and his band of merry men Craig Breckon and Daryl Foster.

Thank you, Bruce!

photo courtesy of Alex Bateman

May 2010 – Back to Spannerland

As with anything new, things fit a little differently than before. The cases were a slightly different fit than my last motor, so some fettling was necessary to get everything bolted up without strain to the engine plates and frame. Sitting in front of me was a beautiful new motor and I wanted to do it right and not rush the job. I worked for several days to insure all was happy.

One item on my to-do list for 2010 was to work with my primary belt tension. When I went with the TT Industries box in 2009 the belt ran tighter than with the Quaife. Too tight. And I had some reliability issues. So this was the time to correct as the fit with the new motor made the belt tighter than ever.

I run fixed center distances from my crankshaft to my mainshaft, which means I have a hole for the top gearbox mounting bolt, not a slot. When I first built the Seeley my belt was too loose; the simple solution was to file a bit on the backside of the top mounting bolt hole, as the final drive chain will ALWAYS pull the gearbox backwards, no matter how much you tighten it down. With the new motor the tension was too tight. Ack. Hard to go back once you’ve make the hole oval. I worked with Cosentino Engineering and we consulted Gates about proper tension with my setup, giving them all the appropriate measurements, rpm range, hub material, etc. Gates returned to us a frequency (hz) number in which the tension should be within. Using Cosentino’s harmonic tensioner I could pluck my belt like a guitar string and little by little would ream the hole forward until the tension was within spec. Once the hole was properly reamed I inserted stainless bushings that fit within the enlarged holes. Simple, right? It took me several days to get it correct. Once the tension was set, I ran the bike for a couple of heat cycles on the dyno, retorquing each time, then buttoned it all up to head north for a reunion of sorts, racing with the USCRA at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon) so to break in the motor, where points and championships are not part of the program.

May 22, 2010 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

I came to Loudon with high hopes but low expectations. I was quite enthusiastic about my new motor and was anxious to get on my bike again. It’d been 7 months since riding it last, and it felt like an old friend. After a couple of practices, things were coming together and I was really feeling good about the bike and motor. I gridded up for Eurocup Race — a sort-of catchall class for all types of European bikes up to 1000cc. Also gridded with us on the track was another class, American Twins, which consisted of 3 Harley Sportsters.

I took off, dove into Turn 1 first, and led for the first half of the race. Suddenly, going into Turn 9 on the fifth lap, a flash of red leather brushed up next to me. Sure enough it was Steve Flach on one of those pesky Sportsters. I must have swapped places with Steve 25 times in the next 4 laps. He’d always get me in T9, and I’d get him back on the straight, then he’d get me in T1, then I in T3, and on and on and on. He rode the WHEELS off that Harley. Pieces of bike would fly as he’d grind bits off it in the corners. At the last turn of the last lap we caught some lappers and Steve made a great move underneath them, but I got jammed. My last chance was a draft pass down to the finish. I twisted the throttle so hard I thought I was going to break the cables, but he got me by about one foot at the line!

I won the Eurocup class first time out with the new motor, and I was pretty damn happy. Just wish the overall win could’ve been mine. Didn’t matter though, that was probably the closest racing I’d ever done. Woo Hoo!

As I write, I’m preparing for the really big show that is Road American and Grattan with AHRMA- back-to-back weekends in the June sunshine. More to come.

June 9, 2010 – Next stop, Elkhart Lake.

There’s nothing more liberating than piling in my van with my bike and gear in the back with space for my cot so I can pull over whenever I feel the need to sleep. It’s the traveling racing gypsy in me I never knew existed.

Thursday, June 10, 2010 – Hogs

For the last couple of years the AHRMA racers on their way to Road America have been invited to display their race bikes at the Harley Museum in downtown Milwaukee for the monthly bike night. At first I thought this wouldn’t be such a good idea – kinda chalk and cheese – but in fact both years it’s been a hit. Many of the old Harley riders know their history and love to chat about the old race bikes. Those who don’t know often come up and scratch their chins and furrow their brows. Good fun. The Harley Museum is quite a place, and always worth the stopover.

Pictured L – R: Mike Dixon’s Yamaha XS750, Wes Orloff’s Honda CB450, Tim Joyce’s Seeley Triumph 750, my Seeley Norton 750, Kyle Corser’s Tankshift Harley, and Art Farley’s Tankshift Harley.

Road America, Formula 750, June 12, 2010

Going into Road America a bet surfaced for the F750 race – last one into Turn One had to buy the others dinner. What a mess this was. Here you had 4 guys who are already quite pumped up, about to implode at the start. When the flag finally waved green there were wheelies, jumped starts, diving, bucking weaving, and downright ugly riding. Let’s just say this – I didn’t have to buy dinner.

This shot was taken on the cool-down lap after the finish of the race. I am gesticulating with the imaginary spoon to my mouth, pointing out who would be the one buying dinner. Good fun.

Pictured L – R: Jeff Peters, Myself, Tim Joyce, and John Ellis

I took wins in the BEARS class both days at Road America and had some great scraps with my fellow F750 racers, managing to keep them within a few seconds. This is a testament to my new motor, as Road America is over 4 miles long, with 2 straights longer than any other tracks we go to. The bike handled perfectly and I had absolutely zero issues the entire weekend. I was able to socialize with some heavy hitters hanging out in our pits, namely Pieter Zylstra – the designer of the Harley XR750, and esteemed motorcycle journalist Peter Egan, who is a Commando owner himself.

Thanks to JS Motorsport, Comstock Engineering, Colorado Norton Works, FullAuto Technologies and Left Coast Racing for all their efforts to make this a winning motor. It is.

June 18, 2010 – Grattan Raceway, Grattan, MI.

Oh, old Grattan. What can I say about this place? It is one of a kind, for sure. I can say with complete confidence that this track has the most technical layout of any I’ve ever been. It has a great, long straight where big bikes can stretch their legs, and some blind, off-camber turns that will separate many a racer. The back section is a series of right / left turns, the first of which must be nailed in order to get the subsequent turns correct. It is a rider’s layout, for sure. The track is in the process of being repaved in three stages over three years (a good thing), but chose to pave the front straight through turn 2 in the first stage; not the back section that needs repaving the most. This year it seemed the usual sealer that’s been layered on the corners year after year was slipperier than ever in the 90-degree heat, and some interesting lines were taken to avoid the tar snakes at all costs.

Here’s a cool shot coming down the hill towards the Jump (yes, and actual jump), one of Grattan’s many quirky, technical challenges.

I managed to get the win in BEARS both days. A video of Sunday’s race can be seen by clicking HERE.

Sunday, June 19, 2010 – Grattan Raceway

I’ve been having some good dices in the Formula 750 class with Tim Joyce and John Ellis of late; a boost to my confidence. Saturday at Grattan was no exception, and I managed to trade places several times with Ellis, vying for 2nd place, while keeping Tim honest. John is a great rider with a smooth style, and his cool head prevailed and relegated met to a close 3rd.

Sunday started off similar to Saturday, with John and me dicing for second behind Tim, but that was short-lived. John made a good pass underneath in the back hairpin and I immediately felt like I lost all confidence in myself and the bike. In the end I went 2 seconds slower than my Saturday’s times, while John and Timmy had a cutthroat duel, putting them 2 seconds FASTER than they were Saturday… not the direction I wanted to go.

On the last lap I could swear my rear tire had oil on it. I just couldn’t get it through a corner cleanly. I crossed the finish line with the bike weaving badly. As I slowed for turn one on the cool-down lap I almost high-sided. By turn two I could no longer ride the bike. I somehow pulled off the race line to get off the bike and push it into the pits. I had a completely deflated rear tire. A broken spoke had punctured the tube. Scary stuff. After a long drive home and a day in the shop, I learned the cast bearing shoulder in one side of my hub had broken, allowing the bearings to move laterally within the hub as I rode(!!) and obviously putting undue stresses on the wheel, thus breaking the spoke and deflating my tire. A chain of events that could’ve been ugly. I replaced the hub, relaced with new spokes, and trued it all back up preparing for Mid Ohio.

July 10, 2010 – Mid Ohio Vintage Motorcycle Days – Top of the podium

If you ride or race a vintage bike, then Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid Ohio in July is Mecca.

I won’t go into it entirely here, but there are a lot of politics that have gone on over the last years in vintage racing, and amidst the turmoil we saw AHRMA and the AMA go separate ways. The result of this is a new operation for the race program for VMD at Mid Ohio. Unfortunately, there are several racers who still have some unfounded, hypothetical allegiance to a time that has long passed, and believe by boycotting this event they will somehow convince someone out there to bring AHRMA back into Mid Ohio. It simply ain’t gonna happen anytime soon folks. Let it go and come racing.

This event is like NO OTHER on the American vintage racing calendar; perhaps the world. 40,000(+) people ride in to one of the finest race tracks in the country, set up their tents, and party for 4 days. As a racer, it is a dream to be able to compete on such a world-class course. It feels wonderful to have thousands of folks waving to you during your cool down lap. It is a nod of respect and professionalism to get to the podium and be interviewed for the entire circuit to hear. It is great to have folks come into the garages and talk shop while we work.

Before I started racing I rode my trusty Commando from NYC to Mid Ohio for several years in a row. It was here the hook was set for me. I was so overwhelmed by what I saw, heard, and smelled. I picked everyone’s brains and made a general nuisance of myself. And now… here I am.

I will always come back to Mid Ohio.

July 24, 2010 – BeaveRun Motorsports Park

It has been a long time since I last came to the Beav. Such a great little track. Faster than one would think, with some good technical bits in the back. This event was a late add-on to AHRMA’s schedule due to another event falling through, so attendance was down. But this created a very casual atmosphere and I made a point to relax and enjoy myself. And indeed I did.

I got the win in BEARS on Saturday, but once again the Junkyard Dawg John Ellis got me in F750. I got the holeshot, but he got me on the brakes in the back. He’s going good this year and I’ve not had what it takes to get past him at the checkered.

This is a cool shot of me passing Maurice Candy’s Manx Norton – the bike Timmy Joyce usually rides. (500 Premier was gridded with BEARS, thus the two bikes on the track at the same time.) This weekend the Manx was ridden by Alex McClean as Tim couldn’t make the event. Alex kept his head on straight and brought it home intact.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. Hot as hell, but surrounded by good friends, which made it all worthwhile.

Photo courtesy of TheSBImage.com

Sunday, July 25, 2010 – BEARS Race

… and then the rains came. It rained, and it rained, and it rained. AHRMA pushed the schedule up, ostensibly to get all the races in before the skies opened. Silly that. What ended up happening was racing in the rain and packing up in the sunshine. Next time I’m bringing my Blackberry to the riders’ meeting to refute their weather reports.

This is one of very few shots I’ve seen that actually captures the sheer volume of water coming down onto the track surface during a heavy storm. (Notice everyone cowering in trailers and under awnings). Nope… no fun at all, but part of racing for sure. I quit my bellyaching, donned my rain-suit for the first time this year, and out I went. The warm-up lap felt okay with fair grip on the surface. As I waited on the starting line there was a botched green flag by the starter, and somehow in the confusion I killed the bike! NO!!! Unbelievable! I tried to bump start it, but no joy. I pushed off in the grass and watched 2 waves of racers get their start, then finally got some assistance to bump the bike. It fired, but it was way too late. I was a minute behind the first wave. I rode around not feeling particularly competitive, and somehow managed to get 2nd place, but the leader had his head down and there was no chance of catching him. This was my first loss in the BEARS class this year. I was bummed by this, but it was a foregone conclusion; out of my hands. So I took it as best I could, packed up, and never thought about it again for the rest of the ride home. C’est la vie!

This beautiful photo by Sydney Beaumont

Saturday, August 7, 2010 – Virginia International Raceway

Virginia was good to me this year. I won 3 of my 4 races this weekend (2 BEARS and 1 F750), and was able to clinch the AHRMA 2010 BEARS National Championship, 4th year in a row. I’ve won 10 out of 11 races (so far) in the BEARS class this year, and sealing up the championship at VIR was a wonderful way to fly, all while spending a little time in the southern sunshine and green grass.

I love this track, and do well here.

Sunday, August 8, 2010 – VIR – Formula 750

Wow, this was some of the best racing of recent memory here with Tim Joyce and John Ellis.

Timmy pulled away on Saturday but broke his throttle and handed the win to me. On Sunday, Ellis promised to ramp it up, and that he did. The three of us took off with a fantastic drag race up to Turn One. Tim got in first, but I was close behind, and I could hear Ellis right behind me. After 2 laps we were red-flagged and had to restart. This time I got to T1 first, but Timmy cut underneath and held the lead. I knew Ellis was right there and wasn’t going to let go. After switching places with John a few times over the course of the next couple of laps I had to push a little harder to shake him. Coming up the front straight I went deeper than ever into T1, squeezed the brakes so hard the lever was coming to the bar but it was too much, too late, too deep. I stood it up and ran off the track! Ohhhhfah. I watched John snake his way through as I turned myself around and got back out there,but was too late to get him back. But I didn’t care, this was great racing with some of the most talented there is. I owe a lot to these guys for pushing me like they do. If you’re going to learn, learn from the best.

Sunday, August 8, 2010 – VIR

A cool shot of John Ellis on his Yamaha XS750 “Junkyard Dawg” dogging me good through the misty morning haze on the very fast dogleg in the back straight of VIR’s south course.

More good racing to come, as Mosport is next weekend. Nothing like racing in the beautiful green South, then heading up to the equally beautiful North.

Sunday, August 15, 2010 – VRRA at Mosport, Ontario, Canada

No glamour for me racing here this weekend. I should state right here that Mosport is a big, big, fast track that must be respected, and it beat me this time.

On Saturday in my P3 Heavy qualifying race I felt like I didn’t know how to ride my bike. I was wobbling through corners so bad I pulled in after 2 laps. At first I couldn’t find anything wrong, and started to consider hanging up my helmet for good. Soon after I found that the tiny rubber seal in my valve stem cap had worked its way down into the Schraeder valve and let all the air out of my rear tire! Yikes. At least I knew I wasn’t crazy. I did manage to qualify 4th for P2 Heavy later in the day.

On Sunday I took off from the back row in the P3 Heavy Final race, did about 6 laps riding around working my way up through the pack, when coming out of T10 onto the front straight I suddenly heard a bzzzzzzzzzclackkkkkkkkk! I pulled in the clutch within milliseconds, but I knew it was bad. The rear wheel locked, but I managed to save it and coast off into the grass along the front straight.

Kids, nothing stops a race weekend quicker than a broken crankshaft. That was it – I packed it up and came home.

Photo thanks to Jean De Rosiers

Once back in my shop I tore the bike down in short time, and sure enough…
In actuality I got off easy. The break didn’t take out my cases more than a little bit of gouging, and although there was evidence of pistons hitting the head, everything came out intact. I got lucky.

Even the finest of parts has a wear life, especially when racing, and especially running a highy stressed component that had 6 hard racing years on it already. It is a testament to its design that it ran well as it did for so many hard years. Lesson learned. No more cutting corners – time for a brand new crank.

My JS Motorsport rods are back at Carrillo being checked, and possibly a new set of pistons will come into play. Jim Comstock will be going through the motor with his expertise, looking for hidden damage, and CNW is making sure no more corners are cut.

But first and foremost, I must thank Ken Canaga from Left Coast Racing, who offered up a new crank off his own shelf without hesitation, all to keep the program going. I liken Ken as my racing shrink (or is he a pusher?). When I’m standing on the ledge he always talks me back down. Thanks Ken.

Here are some of the bits, ready to go back in. Absolutely beautiful, they are.

Assuming no unseen issues, the motor will be back… better, faster, stronger. Ready to go for Barber in October.

Miller Motorsports, SLC Utah, September 3, 4 & 5th

Mike Bungay and his trick Aermacchi 350 Special

Where do I begin? Even though my motor was in pieces, I had already made travel arrangements to get to Miller for the fantastic Bonneville Vintage Grand Prix weekend and planned to beg/borrow/steal a ride while there. The night before I was to leave I got a call from Dave Roper saying he had been offered a Goldstar to run in 500 Premier, and therefore I could run the very trick 350 Aermacchi he was given to ride by the ultra-cool Mike Bungay. The plan was for Roper to ride the Aermacchi in 350 GP, then hand it to me for 500 Premier as he would ride the Goldstar. I was over the moon. Bungay’s bike is stunning, and certainly one of the best sorted 350s in the paddock. Roper takes it out for the first run in Friday’s practice, comes in and hands it to me. I wobble around on it a bit, being conservative. Next round of practice Roper decides to skip the 350 and focus on the 500, so I take it out again. About 3 laps into it I start to put my head down and it happens…. BZZZZZZZZZZ CRAAAAAAAAAACK. Not a good sound. Nope. I get carried in on the truck, and Mike and I proceed to tear the top end off. As he’s rotating the motor we can see the custom tapered crankpin has broken. Oooofah. So, Roper is out of a ride, I’m out of a ride, and Bungay made a long trip from Sacramento for nothing! So sorry Mike. We all went out and drowned our sorrows in Mexican food, and over dinner Mike allowed there was nothing that would’ve caused this other than wear and tear, and in fact Roper had done the same thing 2 years previous. So I was in good company in havoc. Nonetheless, I felt terrible. Mike was very reassuring, and out of all this, we’re now working on a plan for a very similar bike he is building for me to campaign for the 2011 season. Way cool.

Miller Motorsports Park, September 5, 2010

Remember Bruce Yoxsimer, the coolest dude in the world who loaned me his absolutely mint G50 to run at Portland this past May as noted a few cells up on this page? Well, he pokes his head in again at Miller, sees I’m without a ride, and proceeds to offer up his equally mint Seeley AJS 7R for me to run in Sunday’s 500 Premier race. (I should note, 500 Premier is the “Bump” class for the 350GP bikes – so the plan was for Yox to ride it in 350 GP, then I get it for the bump class where it’d be moderately less competitive.)

I have to admit I was a little nervous, having broken the crank on my own bike last month, then breaking the crank on Bungay’s bike yesterday, and now being handed the keys to this stunner. But seriously, what could possibly go wrong, right? Well, about 4 laps into Sunday morning’s practice I hear a “tinkle tinkle tinkle”. Was that the exhaust vibrating? Or was that a valve kissing a piston? By the time I’d metabolized that thought, the tinkle turned into a grrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzz. The clutch was grabbed in haste and the bike immediately died. Oh Good God no! Back on the truck I came, and it was not good. That’s 2 cranks in one weekend. In fact the big-end needle bearing let go and caused all kinds of trouble. I was sick. Bruce was so mellow and easy-going about it, but he too scratched his head. Ugh. Post mortem revealed the failed big-end was 6 years old and had given Bruce’s engine builder concern right before this weekend, so it seems it was luck of the draw and I got the bad hand. The only way to redeem myself was offer up my bike, once back together, for Bruce to flog, which he promised to take me up on. The offer still stands, Bruce.

Get me out of this Hell Hole, Utah!

September, 2010 – The Paul Dunstall Lowboy chassis.

I’ve been chipping away in my shop for the last 6 months working to build this bike for my friend and fellow Spannerland shop mate, Jamie Waters. Jamie has two Dunstall Lowboy chassis and the plan is to put a 500 Domi motor in one, and a 750 in another. (Check out some of Jamie’s collection here: www.jamiewaters.com)

The first task was the getting the 500 going. As the build progressed, we discussed what a good debut would be for the bike. The Barber Vintage Festival in October seemed like the obvious event, and a quiet plan fell into place that included a guest rider for its unveiling.

Late September, 2010 – Come Together.

After several trial assemblies aligning the usual wheels and sprockets, belts, motor mounts, etc., It was time for final assembly. Always exciting.

Late Late September, 2010 – 90% there, 90% to go

As Barber loomed there were many moves forward and several back, as it goes. On the dyno the big meggas made a hell of a wonderful noise, but also created a huge flat spot up to 4000 rpm. Different jetting, inlet tract length, etc, was tested, but and no amount of fettling would completely remove it. Hopefully not a problem for racing, but getting a good launch could be tricky.

Sunday, October 3, 2010 – All dolled up and ready to go.

As I walked out of Spannerland at 2am after several long weeks of preparation I fired off one last shot of the Domi in its completed state. It is one of those bikes where you can never just walk out of your shop and shut off the lights without pause. It looked brilliant and I wanted to remember it like this – sitting, awaiting its trip to Barber.

All the pieces had fallen into place, including the prefect rider. Jamie and I invited Maria Costello over from the UK to ride the bike at Barber. I had seen some snaps of Maria riding a Dominator at Goodwood in 2009 so reached out to her earlier this season about coming over to ride, and a long friendship was secured. Maria has culled some incredible achievements; she held the women’s lap record on the Isle Of Man for 5 years, from 2004 to 2009, and just this year set the women’s lap record at the Ulster Grand Prix. Oh, and she’s an MBE (Member of the British Empire) ordained by the Queen for her excellence the advancement of women in motorsports. No fooling around here. Check her out at www.costelloracing.com

But… if the Domi had issues (an untested racebike is bound to have them), the original backup plan of Maria riding my Seeley had its own set of wrinkles, what with no motor. Fortunately all the sponsors had risen to the occasion and in fact my new/rebuilt motor had just arrived a few days before and quietly sat in its crate awaiting installation. Hopefully it would be the reliable platform it’s always been in the past.

Monday, October 4, 2010 – Under the gun

As I spent the last several weeks working to get the Domi sorted I was a little cavalier about getting my own bike going and didn’t allocate much time to my program. Normally it takes about 2.5 hours to put the motor in, get the lines reattached, statically timed, etc, etc. I am happy to say this day was no exception. I had to get a heat cycle in on the bike so it could cool down and I could re-torque and readjust the valves before packing up and heading to Barber. So, a (relatively) brand new motor came back in and fired up on the rolling road without any issue. The motor has a new rod and pair of pistons (the old rod was a mere .0005″ out of round on the small end due to the piston just touching the head after the crank break), thank you Jim Schmidt. And a new crank, thank you, Ken Canaga (now balanced to 70%, down from 78%). Matt from CNW was one of the first to reach out,. and was there to make sure the job was done right. And once again Jim Comstock wove his magic in short time to insure it would be ready for Barber. It was. Thanks fellas.

Beyond the 500 Domi and Seeley 750, I also had a stock-framed Commando racer to get dialed. This bike was given to me by my friend R.J. Reynolds, at Daytona, and between my little earthquakes and his ever-changing schedule we postponed its debut (in its current form) until Barber. When he passed it off to me the bike was complete but needed some fettling to get it ready for BEARS and other classes legal for fully-faired 750 Twins.

And… if that wasn’t enough on the plate, I can’t go on without mentioning the Summerfield Manx Jamie has kept secreted away in a corner of our shop for the last 5 years. He’s watched me ogle that bike every time I’ve walked past it. Finally, my sad, sad eyes were too much for him, and we struck a deal. I was under team orders to get it back out on the track with me as pilot. I can’t complain a single bit, excuse the pun.

Thursday, October 7, 2010, Barber Motorsports Park

10PM – The bike arrives.

It was a blur. Two days previous I was rushing to finish packing the bikes so not to be late picking up Maria at JFK. The plan was to head head directly out of town (with a stop off in Times Square for some quick tourist photos, of course), and split the 16-hour drive into two days, which would give Maria a chance to see America like few do. Honestly, I was worried about having such a haughty princess sitting shotgun in my humble Eurovan for so long, but I am pleased to report this was the best racing road-trip I’ve ever driven, without question (and I think we’ll do it again). But finally, after hours of interstates, Cracker Barrel, Twizzlers, and Dolly Parton (her ipod, not mine), we arrived. This is a shot in the paddock as she got her first look at the bike.

Maria is a pro; she never said a word about clip-on position, silencers up on her leg, etc. Her only fear was the right-hand shift (c’mon Maria — that’s how the Queen intended it!), and shifting with a GP pattern. So, to lessen the possibility of missed shifts we crossed the linkage over to a street pattern of one down, four up. She was enamored with the bike and had such a pleasant demeanor about it all. If only it were this easy.

Friday, October 8, 2010 – Photo Op.

Everywhere Maria went the lambs were sure to go. I must go on record as saying having Maria in our paddock was a dream. She is a delight to be around, she looks and smells so much better than the usual blokes, and she brought me sandwiches every day when I had my head in the bikes and couldn’t seem to find the time for a proper lunch. Awww. But when she puts on the leathers she’s all business.

Noted author and writer Mick Duckworth was on hand for the festivities so we’ll certainly be seeing some of his pieces on the occasion in future issues of your favorite classic mags.

This was Maria lining up for Mick to photograph for a future piece.

Friday practice brought lots of mixed feelings about our bikes. The Dominator handled like a dream but it was running rough, and we kept chasing carburetion. The Manx had a deadly stumble as I’d roll on the throttle. It almost bucked me off a few times. I began to ride around it but wasn’t sure this is how riding a Featherbed Manx was supposed to be. And, after a few quiet break-in laps, just as I started wicking it up, my own trusty Seeley went down to one cylinder during practice. Hmmm. I came in, looked it over but couldn’t find anything obvious, tightened a few things and went back out for a scrub lap. Back onto one cylinder again. I came right in and pulled the tank to look underneath. As I removed the tank I noticed it was awfully light…. like it had no gas in it. Yep.

So, a little gas and we’re back in the game.

At the end of the day I took a look around and realized a contingency plan was needed. I offered up my bike for Maria to ride in BEARS if we couldn’t get the Domi sorted enough to keep her in the game. Nobody wanted her to go out and wobble around in 500 Premier on a bike that couldn’t get her up front.

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – Formula 750

Meanwhile, there’s racing to do. The championship battle for Formula 750 was down to this final weekend between Tim Joyce and John Ellis. I was merely there to throw a little interference now and then. After all the teething issues this weekend with the bikes I was a little out of sorts. I relegated myself to go out in F750 and phone it in; ride around and do what I could, but be sure to come home in one piece.

Meh…

(pictured on the front row of F750, foreground, back: Tim Joyce – Triumph, John Ellis – Yamaha XS, yours truly, and Glenn Campbell – BMW. 2nd row Jamie Waters – Monocoque Norton)

…Nope. No phoning it in this time. I had one of the best races of the year – maybe of my time – as John Ellis and I had a dogfight for 2nd (Timmy was 3 seconds in front). I got a great start and tried to keep on Tim’s back wheel. Yep, not only could I could hear Ellis right behind me, but a funny thing happened here in the late afternoon October sunshine… I could SEE Ellis behind me! His shadows cast in front of me in certain turns. I was being stalked – Where The Wild Things Are!

John and I went back and forth several times. I was happy the Norton could keep up with, and pass that very trick overhead Cam XS750 Yamaha. I knew I had to keep my cool. When Ellis gets a taste he won’t let go. As we got the white flag all I had to do was hold it together for one more lap. I went deep into Turn One and oops… I missed a downshift and got all out of sorts, and around he came. I went hard to try to get him back, but pegs were scraping, fairings hitting, bikes were bucking and weaving, and my last chance for a pass at the last turn found me just a split second too far behind. He got me by a nose and I came home in 3rd. But WOW…that was a good one. I was happy. And I’m still happy. I’m happy that, as I think back to my first race ever a scant 6 years ago, I was gridded up behind these big bad dudes. They lapped me then, maybe even twice, and now I’m up front giving them hell.

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – post Formula 750 decompression.

Kenny, John Ellis and Tim Joyce.

It’s intriguing how a group of folks can go out and ride so hard and so close as to put one another near certain peril, then come in and be best of friends. John and Timmy are good dudes.

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – Early morning paddock

Quite a lineup here. In the foreground (#67) is Jamie Waters’ 1973 Monocoque replica. Jamie owns the last surviving of the 4 original ’73 John Player Norton Monocoques, but it lives in its unmolested, as-ridden-and-put-away-wet state and isn’t something ready to take out on the track. Not satisfied with sitting still, Jamie commissioned original JPN team fabricators Norman White and John McLaren to do up another near-identical bike that he could flog. It’s a museum piece in and of itself. Entirely hand-made stainless monocoque chassis, and all the trick bits from the factory. This mere mention of the bike doesn’t do it justice. Please visit www.jamiewaters.com for more info.

Behind the Monocoque is the aforementioned 500cc Dunstall Dominator Lowboy. Notice the race number “MC mbe” AHRMA allowed Maria to run for this occasion. Cool.

The Commando racer with red rims belongs to RJ Reynolds. This bike has a beautiful motor and a lot of trick bits on the chassis. It needs perhaps one more day on the track to shake out some bugs and it will be a winner. RJ is a good dude and a big supporter. I appreciate all he’s put in for me.

The green-faired #17 is the Summerfield Manx, nestled snugly next to my beloved Seeley, just barely visible behind the Manx.

In the background with the blue fairing and white #1 is Tim Joyce’s Triumph.

And not in the picture but very worthy of mention, parked just behind the photographer, is Jamie’s stunning AJS 7R, which he had a wonderful time with all weekend in 350gp, and Jon Blonk’s equally beautiful Triumph Daytona 500cc racer he ran in Sportsman 500.

Photo by Corey Levenson

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – Summerfield Manx Norton

My first race on the Manx was a quick study on the need for fettling. During the sighting lap the clutch started slipping, and at the green flag I couldn’t get the bike to move! I slugged around for a lap or two, then pulled in with the bike bucking badly as I accelerated, and a clutch slipping too much to keep the revs up above the troublesome midrange. I was disappointed to say the least. Sadly, I didn’t have time to work on this bike this weekend. Too many other priorities. Enter a mythical character – Bob Reynolds. I’d never met him before, and to be honest, I thought at first he was just another one of those codgers hovering around the paddock telling us all, “I used to own a Manx”. I told Bob, in perhaps not the most delicate manner, that I didn’t have time to work on this bike and didn’t even want to know about it right now. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away, but came back later and persisted that I let him have a look. So I did, and he did. As he pulled the slide out of the GP carb he discovered the needle had worn away its notches and the circlip had about 1/8″ play. That certainly can make acceleration interesting. Maurice Candy loaned us a new needle and we were good to go there. Also, “someone” had put the clutch together improperly. So Bob pulled it apart, cleaned it all up, adjusted the springs, and set me up for Sunday – back in the game.

This beautiful photo taken by Fred Sahms

Sunday, October 10, 2010 – 500 Premier

Sunday’s 500 Premier race comes up, and I line up with little expectation. Off I go, not getting the best start, but I make up for it a bit and manage to pass all but one (Timmy riding Maurice’s Manx, naturally).. I kept him in sight throughout the race, and by the end I finally felt like I’d had a couple of good laps on the thing. Second place behind Timmy in 500 Premier is pretty damn good. My times weren’t as fast as my 750 by a couple of seconds, but the hook was set. I know I can go fast on this bike. Hopefully 2011 is the year. Thanks Jamie. It’s a dream come true.

Photo courtesy of Albert Hicks

Sunday, October 10, 2010 – BEARS race

Maria was becoming quite comfortable on my bike. Having dealt with the still-temperamental Domi in practice, jumping on the Seeley was like commuting to work in a Jaguar. On Saturday she went out in BEARS and was cautious, coming home in 6th. She didn’t want to chuck my beautiful baby down the track, even though I gave her full permission to fight. Sunday, after a few more laps of practice under her, she was feeling more confident. I was out in Premier in race 8, and Maria was to be out in BEARS in race 9, so fellow NYC teammate Jon Blonk agreed to help get her on her way, as I would still be pitting-in when she needed to get going. As I pulled into the paddock after Premier I was in my own little world, excited at my achievement on the Manx, and had all but forgotten Maria was out racing. When someone gently reminded me, I ran to the pit wall still in my leathers, only to see Maria having a bloody good race in BEARS, firmly planted in 3rd place and looking all business. As I watched her blast down the front straight the overwhelming feeling that came over me was something I’ve not felt before. I got to see and hear my bike at song with someone else riding it with confidence. I was excited Maria was having such a good time on it, while being a nervous wreck simultaneously. (At the time I think I likened it to “watching your girlfriend sleeping with your wife”. Sorry for the blatant chauvinistic imagery, but I couldn’t explain it any other way).

Maria held her position and took the checkered in 3rd after a good dice with Tony Read on his Triumph (#176). I was one happy team owner.

Video of part of this race taken from the Tony’s bike, right behind Maria, can be seen here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UTsPIBA3i4

Another beautiful photo courtesy of Albert Hicks

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Nothing but a cool shot of Jamie and me firing up the Nortons to go out in Formula 750.

Photo courtesy of John Blonk

The 2010 Barber Vintage Festival was one of the most successful AHRMA events ever; only slightly behind in race entries as the biggest-ever Mid Ohio of several years ago. This October weekend has certainly become the marquee event on the vintage bike racer’s calendar. There were lots of racers, lots of close racing, lots of friends, and lots of stories. But it’s always bittersweet as Sunday’s F750 race comes to a close. It’s the end of the season and another chapter.

Packing up went quickly as Maria had to get to Atlanta so she could jump the red-eye back to Heathrow. As we sped across I20 we did our best to compare notes. A lot of stuff happened over this massive weekend, and the buzz would linger for quite a while. As I type it’s now been 3 weeks since this snap was taken of Sunday’s F750 race, yet I still am receiving photos, emails, and little bits from various folks who were there.

I will have much more to post over the next while as I’m working on Nortons full time now, and some very interesting projects are sitting in my shop awaiting my undivided. Time to go to work.

And again, this wonderful photo courtesy of Albert Hicks

First Place
2010 AHRMA BEARS National Champion
(4th consecutive year)

Third Place
2010 AHRMA Formula 750 National championship

I must thank the following whose support has been immeasurable and kept me on the track this year:

Ken Canaga – Left Coast Racing
Jim Schmidt – JS Motorsports
Jim Comstock – Comstock Engineering
Matt Rambow – Colorado Norton Works Chris Cosentino – Cosentino Engineering

Kenny Cummings & Tim Joyce line up for year-end championship photo

Winter 2008/2009

Long Before any season starts a racer must sit down and come to terms with their abuse and destruction they have inflicted on their beloved machines the previous year. I had somehow managed to crack my Seeley frame at the upper left rear engine mount tab. The forces of the drive had created a crack that ran entirely around the crosstube. No problem I say… tear the bike completely down, chuck the frame in my car and drive to Chicago in the dead of winter through snowstorms and minus 10 degree temps to see our friend Randy Illg from Framecrafters.

After talking with original frame builder John Woods in the UK, we decided the best repair would be to actually remove the tabs from the crosstube entirely, weld them onto a new 1/2 round tube, and weld this tube to the cross piece at the top and bottom longitudinally, but not on the sides, as seen in this dodgy cell-phone snap. This will spread the loads across the tube and allow a bit of stretching (instead of cracking). Actually, Randy did both top and bottom mounts just to be safe. And he did it special for me on a snowy weekend. Thanks Randy. Framecrafters is aces in my book.

February 15, 2009 – Spannerland (my shop).

Sometimes the more you put it together, the more it wants to come apart. On this day I put the bike up on the dyno just to run it in a bit to make sure all was well before the big trip to Daytona. A massive leak was discovered emanating from one of the overhead oil lines. I was able to tighten the line to the banjo and stop the leak, but this twisted the braided stainless line and made for tough fitting under stress. This is where one sits down and asks, “Do I drop the cash on a new line or run with it as is?”. The answer is, spend more money.

Ironically, I believe this leak has been happening (in a smaller fashion) for a few seasons. While on the dyno it pooled on top of my timing cover immediately, which is something I’ve noticed every time I’ve come in from a race, and for the life of me have never been able to figure out where it was coming from. When the rocker feed lines leak, they run down through the center of the head and out the 3rd fin from the top on the front, sides and rear, which is very misleading.

February 16, 2009 – President’s day. Spannerland

Buttoned up and ready to go. Daytona looms. I feel cautiously ready. We are running the big track configuration this year which includes both bankings. I’m geared to the moon and upped a jet size just to make sure I don’t blow the thing up.

I also picked up a new camera setup that should prove much more reliable than the old rig, so hopefully there’ll be some good video footage soon.

February 22, 2009 – Loading out.

Content is a little thin right now, but race season begins next week so action footage is imminent.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist putting up a cool shot of the bike taken in our shop’s freight elevator as it was being loaded out to head south. A fear I’m sure every racer has at this point and time is, “I hope it comes back looking this good”.

March 2, 2009 – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Florida

I rolled into Daytona and bunked with my buddy Doug MacRae and Norton Tuner extraordinaire Herb Becker. Doug is a very fast Norton racer from Toronto, and with Herb behind him I knew I’d have some racing to do. On Monday practice we worked our way around the new configuration of the track that incorporated both bankings. Things were feeling FAST. In the BEARS race Doug got the holeshot but I stayed on his tail, ultimately passing him on the banking but he drafted right back going into T1. I knew it was time for some strategy. I stayed tight behind Doug until the last lap when I passed him in the Horseshoe and pulled a decent gap. Then, in the ultimate bonehead move I went in too deep into the last corner before the banking and got all out of shape and Doug got me back for the win. Ugh – relegated to 2nd.
Click HERE to see the video

We then gridded up for the F750 race and I got a great start falling in 2nd behind Tim Joyce, who was faster than fast. I looked behind me and saw I had a decent gap on Doug, went up on the banking, and the next thing I knew the red flags came out. Doug had blown up his motor on the banking at full speed (135mph+) and crashed. Oh no, this was not good. He was transported directly to the Halifax medical center. I restarted and finished F750 in 3rd behind Tim and a very fast CR750 Honda, quickly changed into my clothes, and Herb and I rushed over to the hospital. Moments later, like The Phoenix, Doug sat up in his bed and started bitching at the nurses. Oh Wow. Click HERE to see the amazing footage.
Welcome back, Dougie!

Tuesday came and we were happy to see Doug show up at the track, sore and dazed, but walking and talking.  So I went out and won the BEARS race.

Another perspective from Daytona. Monday’s Formula 750 Race.

May 23, 2009 – Barber Motorsports Park

I loaded up my VW Eurovan with the bike and tools and headed to Virginia where I met up with fellow racers Eric Mercer and Rusty Beltz. From there we piled everything into Eric’s Fun Mover and headed further south to Alabama for the WERA “Barber Challenge” – a WERA Sportsman round with a special open invitation to all AHRMA racers to come show their stuff.

The start of the V4 race. I fell in 2nd behind fellow AHRMA/WERA racer and all around fast guy Tim Joyce. I held on to 2nd throughout the entire race.

Barber, Turn 5.

As the race progressed I noticed my clutch lever getting looser and looser. Actually, this has happened to me several times since I got the new TT Industries gearbox. The ends of the clutch pushrod are mushrooming and shortening. There’s something I’m not doing right – possibly not adjusting in enough free-play between the pushrod and clutch spring, which is resulting in the rod loading up as it expands, and ends overheating and distorting (Yes, I’ve tempered the ends). A dismantling of the box is in order once the bike is back on the bench to figure out what’s going on. Pics of the dissection to follow.

A nice shot of Rusty Beltz and me working through Turn 5.  Damned 2-strokes!

I had a great race, taking second place in V4 against some formidable machines.  But Tim and his Triumph are still unbeatable…

Road American and Grattan are coming up. Back-to-back weekends with AHRMA. These were my favorite events last year and I hope to repeat the good fun again. More to come.

Pushrod woes

Since the new TT Gearbox is wider than a standard AMC, the stock Norton Clutch pushrod was too short. Easy fix, right? Cut 2 stock pushrods to length and insert a ball bearing. No, I didn’t want to do that. I decided to make my own pushrod as a single piece. Unfortunately, no matter what I material I used, or any hardening or tempering the ends I did, the gearbox end would mushroom after any running. This became quite frustrating on many levels – as the pushrod mushroomed, it shortened, making clutch actuation disappear during racing. Also, it made it impossible to remove the pushrod without removing the outer cover of the gearbox and pulling it through the mainshaft from that end. Not the thing you want to be doing between every practice and race, and this has been happening since Daytona.

Then, it dawned on me… I took out my calipers and measured. Sure enough, the stock Norton pushrod is 6mm in diameter. I’d been using 1/4″ stock. Therefore the clearance between the pushrod and ID of the mainshaft was much tighter and the pushrod ended up spinning with the rotation of the mainshaft, heating it up and causing all the problems. I just assumed 1/4″ would be better than 6mm because bigger is always better, right? Switch to 6mm stock, cut to length, harden then ends, and problem solved.

Road America, June 12, 2009

I met up with Tim Joyce at the Milwaukee Harley museum where we were invited to show our bikes as a promotional display for the upcoming race weekend. Too funny. I was surprised how many “Hog” riders took an interest in our bikes. Afterwards we caravaned up to Road America and set up shop. What a little stable we had. Dave Roper was there with his two Aermacchis. Maurice Candy was there with 2 of his faster-than-fast Manx Nortons, Mark Mitchell with his hyper short-stroke BMW BEARS bike, and Tim with his new, badass Seeley Triumph. We had a great time all weekend. Good folks to hang with. I’m privileged to be in their company.

Okay, not Nortons I know, but I couldn’t pass up a ride on a couple of Italian Harleys.

Fellow 750 racer Mike Dixon kept telling me there was a guy at the track looking for a rider for his bikes so I walked up and offered my services to Ron Lancaster, famous builder of these beautiful Aermacchis. There was a very trick Drixton-framed 250 and a moderately tuned 350 Sprint. Unfortunately the 250 had problems we couldn’t locate, so all racing was done on the 350 seen here.

Notice 5-time World Champion Doug Polen in the red cap loading his Ducati in the background. Hob-nobbing with the stars, I tell ya!

I had one of the best races I’ve ever had in Sunday’s 350gp, trading places with Dave Crussell on his Kawasaki A1R. Dave drafted me to the finish and won by 0.0016″ (sixteen thousandths of a second)! Had the transponder been mounted on the fork leg of this bike instead of the inside of the fairing, the outcome would’ve been different.  Things definitely move more slowly on the 350 than my Norton, but I was going deeper into corners than I’d ever gone before, and keeping up corner speed was key here. A learning experience, for sure. The bike felt like a non-entity (a good thing). It was so easy to ride and wonderful to listen to at 8k RPM!

This beautiful photo courtesy of Bill Neslus Photography

Back on the Norton and feeling right at home.

I DNF’d Saturday’s BEARS race while leading by a considerable margin due to a fragged primary belt. I’ve been going through them faster than usual lately, and could be a combination of lack of cush drive in the rear, as well as the clutch drum and engine pulley splines wearing and the belt not seating properly. New belt, and problem solved, at least temporarily. I got the BEARS win on Sunday.  I took 2nd in F750 behind fast guys Jeff Peters on Saturday, and Tim Joyce on Sunday.

A video of a lap of Saturday’s practice can be seen by clicking HERE

On to Grattan the next weekend. More to come.

Stuck In The Middle – Grattan Raceway, June 20, 2009

We all spent the week between races bench-racing and talking smack up at John and Jan Ellis’ cabin in Northern Michigan. They are such gracious hosts. Unfortunately John blew up his Yamaha at Daytona and wasn’t ready for these events, but he was good with advice and support. During the week I worked a bit on my suspension and changed gearing in preparation for Grattan. Again pitted with Mark Mitchell and his BMW, myself, and Tim Joyce and his new Seeley Triumph. Just behind Tim’s bike you can see Maurice Candy’s unbeatable Manx Norton. One day… One day.

Grattan is one of my favorite tracks. The layout has it all; a long fast straight, several off-camber and blind turns, and some very tight technical stuff in the back. Unfortunately the condition of the track gets worse every year. Not complaining – everyone is on the same track as me, but what a place this would be with a re-pave.

I won the BEARS races both days, and took a 2nd and 1st in F750.

Tim had a flying weekend, bumping up from F750 into Battle of the Twins Formula 3 (modern bikes) and winning! Leaving me to have a fantastic dice in my F750 race with Chris Spargo. I was 5 seconds a lap faster than last year. Dropping times like that shows me there’s still more to go.

It’s time for a mid-season teardown just to make sure all is well. Photos to come.

July 2009 – Dimpled

I pulled the motor from the bike and began taking it down. Immediately I noticed the crater in the RH inlet valve. I knew it was time for another valve. So out it must come, right? Well no… it wouldn’t budge. The collets were embedded into the valve stem so no amount of spring compression would free them. I had to remove all the other valves so I could cut the head off and tap it out. Unfortunately I found a loose guide on the exhaust side, which meant an oversized guide and recutting the valve seats. All this the week before Mid Ohio. Why is it always at the last minute? Enter Ken Canaga of Left Coast Racing to the rescue. Ken not only sent me 2 new inlet valves, but a complete set of R/D Springs and 4 new valve guides. He made 3 separate trips to the post office for me in one day, as every time he’d send a parcel off I’d discover I needed something else. Ken has been more supportive of my racing effort than anyone. Please buy any of your go-fast top-end stuff from him (JE Pistons, R/D springs, etc)- he’s the real deal. Contact me for his information.

Since I didn’t have the tools to recut valve s eats I made a cold call to Frank Gianinni on a Saturday afternoon to see if he could help me. Frank took me in without hesitation and proceeded to restore my head to its former glory, reseating all the valves, recutting a new seat for the valve with the changed guide. and cleaning up all the mess that had gone on in there over the years of dissassembly/reassembly. Another great help to my effort, Thank you Frank!

I took the motor down to the crank, put in new big end bearing shells and gave the bike a thorough going-over in preparation for the rest of the season. Got it buttoned back up just in time to load for Mid Ohio.

Mid Ohio, July 25-26, 2009

Mid Ohio has always been the big event on every vintage racer’s calendar. Unfortunately this year the event was marred by politics and fighting within the racing organizations, and AHRMA was no longer the racing effort for this event. The AMA in conjunction with WERA put on the first annual Vintage Grand National Championship race and overall it was a well run weekend. But unfortunately the grids were miniscule compared to the glory days of AHRMA past. The attendance was a fraction of what it had been in years previous, and the fans were all too aware of this. Plus, it rained like never before on Saturday, and Mid Ohio is no fun in the rain. I went out for a sighting lap, the bike was stuttering, so I decided to pick my battles and pulled in. My buddy Jamie forged on in the rain and actually had a great dice with another in the wet, and brought his #67 Seeley Mk4 back safely in second place.

Sunday was clear and dry. For the European American Twins race I took off from the last row and managed to pass all the bikes, including the Middleweight Superbikes that went off in a wave in front of us, and take the overall win.

A video of this race can be seen HERE.

I have a pre-printed track worksheet that I fill out during/after every event. These sheets are so very handy when I come back to a track and refer to my notes about the best gearing, etc. However, sometimes it is necessary to change based on conditions, new surface, etc. I’m always pleased when I need to gear taller than in the past, as it means I’m going faster than before.

Mid Ohio, Sunday, July 26, 2009

Frank Giannini telling me true in Garage #18 shortly before the Euro/American Twins Race. Frank took ownership of his work and helped me throughout the weekend getting the bike dialed.

Next up is VIR with AHRMA, August 8, 9 and 10th. Then the following weekend up at Mosport in Canada – one of my favorite events of the year.

Virginia Intl. Speedway, Saturday, August 8, 2009

Hot Hot Hot Virginia in August. As I headed down to VIR I wasn’t sure what to expect as it is widely felt that the North Course is one of the best tracks in the country but little was known about the South Course we were racing. When I pulled in I was so happy to see the ubiquitous rolling hills, green grass, and of course the famous oak tree at the last turn. After a couple of practice runs I began to really enjoy the technical layout, and while I hope to race on the North Course again, if the South course is on the schedule you can bet I’ll be there.

I won on Saturday but DNF’d on Sunday while leading due to my crankshaft nut loosening and the belt drive pulley slipping off the key and spinning on the crank. Oops! This has happened before, and I have to insure it won’t happen again. Double points are great when you win and not so when you don’t.

I pitted with Mark Mitchell (who sadly blew up his beautiful BMW during Saturday’s practice), Tim Joyce, Maurice Candy and his winning Manxes, Andrew Findling, Dave Roper, and my buddy Tom Sharp nearby with all the Ton Up dudes who did up a smashing BBQ on Saturday. There were more British bikes at this event than I’ve seen in a long time. Good deal. Good company. Great event.

Tim Joyce and I loaded up and both headed to NYC for some shop time before Mosport next weekend.  It’s not a Norton but it’s certainly worthy of mention. Here is his new, badass Seeley Triumph in the Spannerland eleavator.
Having southern boy Timmy in NYC was quite a hoot. He ate Indian food, went to Times Square, hung out in the offices of the New Yorker magazine, chilled with the hipsters in Brooklyn, and even saw a real transvestite.  Fortunately we also got some quality shop time in, and were poised for a good showing up in Canada.

Mosport, Canada, August 22, 2009

I traveled up with Tim and we had delusions of grandeur how we were going to take on this big place and walk away victorious. Not so. For me I went 3 seconds faster than last year so I had that little personal victory, but I was still over 4 seconds off the winning pace and placed 4th. I was taken for a ride by fast guys Dave Crussell and Jeff Peters.

For Tim, he had electrical issues that plagued his Triumph and ended up running his Period 2 race on Maurice’s Manx (and actually did very well on it). It was Tim’s first time at the track and I know he had a good time, but wants to come back with big guns next year.  This beautiful picture taken by Mark Mitchell, who was kind enough to accompany Maurice Candy up to the track and be an all around good guy supporting the cause for the weekend.

On the way up to Mosport I received a text from fast dude Peter Politiek in Amsterdam. It was official. The plane ticket was purchased and everything was in place. On September 8th I headed to Europe, invited to race Peter’s stunning Seeley G50 at Hockenheim and Assen. These are genuine, historical Grand Prix/Formula 1 race tracks, riding a real GP race bike. Wow.  I had to jump through some serious hoops to acquire an FIM international racing license, but cut through the red tape at the AMA and managed to become a credentialed rider. To say I was chuffed would be a massive understatement. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I can only thank Team PolyTech for their immense generosity and confidence in me.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

After flying into Schiphol in Amsterdam I had a long rest at Peter Jr’s flat in The Hague, then off to Borne to the Team Polytech shop/headquarters later that evening. I was so happy to walk into the shop and find this vibrant Green and Yellow monster awaiting my arrival! We moved a few things around to get it comfortable for me, and that was it. Ready to go.

The Team Polytech shop was amazing with race bikes all over the place. Everything from this G50, Guzzis, Ducatis, etc, etc, to Peter’s very stunning 2008 GSXR1000 that he campaigns quite successfully in the IDM German and Dutch Superbike series.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 – Arrival to HockenheimRing

Lining up for entry. I had no idea what a big show this was. The IDM series is huge, with factory teams (KTM, BMW, Suzuki, Yamaha, etc) and big-time sponsorship. The line to get in was immense, and this was after 3/4 of the paddock was already filled. The “Classics” was just one race of the day – a well respected but small portion of the whole event. It was impressive to see former GP rider Jorg Teuchert and Superbike rider Jeremy McWilliams out there doing their thing (quite rapidly, I might add).

Setting up.

No Walmart EZ-Ups here folks. Big time canvas tents to deal with the ever-changing weather.

Friday, September 11, 2009: Father and Son at work.

I went out for practice and felt really slow. I had to get used to the bike and the track, as well as shifting on the left. Towards the end of the first practice the bike starting making an odd clatter and was losing power. There was no compression. We pulled the rocker covers and sure enough the inlet valve had no clearance and was held open. Odd, for sure. But, we didn’t find any smoking gun, so adjusted the valves and buttoned it back up preparing for the upcoming qualifying session.

Saturday, September 12: Qualifying Round

I had a good night’s sleep and felt much better on the bike. I was poised to get some better times. The bike felt good but was still making a clatter so something was still amiss. Oh well, forge on. On the third lap of qualifying, just as I was starting to wick it up, it seized on me at the exit of the Sachs Curve (seen here). It skidded and fishtailed and I just about lost it, but grabbed the clutch and managed to roll off safely. The motor was locked solid. I knew this was a bad one. I got carted back to my pit and post-mortem ensued.

An onboard video of this qualifying session, including the seizure, can be seen by clicking HERE.

When is a rod no longer a rod? This is the aftermath of a seizure. A Titanium rod bent like a toy.

More carnage. It was felt that the circlip probably popped out of the piston allowing the pin to dig into the Nikasil wall of the cylinder and that was it. That would explain the clatter sound. Needless to say, it looked like my European racing career took an early retirement. Damn.  Peter Sr. was good about it all and believed it would’ve happened regardless, but I felt terrible about this.

Sunday Morning, September 13, 2009: Race Day

Time to shift focus. Peter Jr. is a fast, fast dude. But he had issues with his bike too and needed to get out in the first race and shake the cobwebs out. Here we are on the grid before the IDM German Superbike race. Unfortunately we were the only Brolly Dollies Peter had for the day. He blasted off and was having a good showing when his bike started making a clatter too! He pulled off and that was the end of that. After a later teardown we learned it was a good thing he pulled off when he did as his #2 cylinder big-end bearing had given up was so close to throwing a rod and certain to destroy the motor. As it stands, he only needs a new set of bearing shells. He’ll be ready for Assen next weekend.

William de Ridder: Racer and Gentleman

At this time it should be mentioned that pitted next to us were William and Adrie de Ridder – father and son racers from Holland that I’d read about for years in the classic magazines. These guys are fast. Faster than fast. They are the real deal. They came with 3 bikes of their own, all of them beautiful Seeleys, and an Isle of Man winning Tickle T5 Manx on loan. William had done some promising sessions on the Manx and chose to ride it in the race. He generously offered me up his G50 to ride. I was completely humbled and honored. What a good guy.

It should also be noted that this a Team Polytech bike that William has been riding for many years, so it was a good thing all around for the team.

Here William gives me some pointers on how the bike handles. I was heading out in a race of 35 riders having never been on the bike before and needed the input. We made some adjustments to the levers and shift linkage and I was back in the game.

Sunday, September 13, 2009 – The Classics Race

If you squint you can see me in there, #59, gridded 16th out of 35. I had no decent qualifying runs so was stuck in the middle. Didn’t matter. I was about to dump the clutch and gain my own personal victory – racing in Europe on a bona fide GP/F1 track on a genyoowine GP bike.  Note up front William de Ridder in pole (#28) and father Adrie (#1) right next to him. They had a cutthroat duel to the very end. They are very competitive with each other. It’s good to see and great for the sport.

This blurry pic is proof – I crossed the finish line 14 laps later. Yes!

I had a good race. I got a great start and actually moved up several positions and seemed to be keeping the leaders in sight. Then I made a big mistake coming in way too hot in a slow corner and lost several seconds, which put me out by myself for a few laps. I kept at it and passed a few more and managed a respectable 8th place. My lap times got better and better as the 14 laps went on, naturally. Saturday’s 40 minute qualifier would’ve been a big help.

All done! Papa is happy, I am happy!

I have to thank as loudly as possible Team Polytech for bringing me over and supplying me with this bike, my entries, and all that goes with it. I’m honored to be a part of their operation and they will always have a place in the States with me. As a matter of fact, they will be at Barber in a few weeks, with Peter Jr. riding their 900 Ducati in Vintage Superbike Heavy. Watch out!

I must also say thank you to William de Ridder. He is such a good guy to let me ride his bike. He won the race with his father, Adrie, taking 2nd.  My oh my, they are fast.  My best time was a 1:50 and they were doing consistent 1:45s.  In fact I think William actually did a 1:44 on the last lap.

So, I’m back in The Hague at Peter Jr’s flat. We have another race weekend coming up at Assen, leaving in a few days.  Peter will be riding his GSXR and I’ll be sitting on the side, helping when I can, enjoying the Dutch sunshine. 

Saturday, September 19, 2009 – Assen

No racing for me this weekend. This is the only bike I had to ride. But damn, I have a nice line!

Peter got pole position on Saturday and won on Sunday. I was in fast company. What a wonderful trip. I’ll be back.

Now time to focus on Barber, the last race of the year for me.

Saturday, October 10, 2009 – Barber Motorsports Park

I loaded up the Eurovan and headed south, with my wonderful photographer friend Esther Montoro riding shotgun, for the last race of 2009. Since AHRMA has lost Mid Ohio from its schedule the Barber Vintage Festival is quickly filling the void. This year was bigger than ever, and although we had a bit of rain in the forecast it was poised to be a great weekend. I had already clinched the 2009 BEARS championship earlier in the season so this was strictly holiday racing. I pitted next to Timmy Joyce, Marino Perna (MAP Cycles), and Tom Sharp, as I’ve done most this season. Good friends and great support. Tom offered up his absolutely stunning T140 for me to ride, so I happily obliged and took it out for one round of practice on Saturday, then promply entered the BEARS race with it. I took off in the rain and won by quite a distance. I was happy, Tom was happy. But not to forget my beloved Norton. I took my bike out in F750 and got a great start leading the pack. I knew John Ellis was nipping at my heels and I could hear him right behind me on his self-proclaimed “Junkyard Dawg” Yamaha XS. As I climbed the hill out of T3 on the second lap the bike briefly sputtered. Oh no… then it sputtered some more, and more and more. I threw up my hand and that was it. Ellis passed me as I nursed the bike back into the paddock where it finally quit 10 feet from my pit. After calming down a bit I diagnosed it back to a bad battery. It was fully charged before the race but a cell had gone bad and that was all it took. I was due – the battery was 2 seasons old and I ran it longer than I’d run any other in the past. I put in a replacment and all was good for Sunday.

My old buddy Andy Wendler, who does some writing for the big glossy auto magazines, came down to do a story for Car And Driver on the new Ford Transit Connect euro-style van using my bike and kit as the payload with Barber as the setting. Arrangements were made to get my van back to NYC so I could ride back with Andy in this little beast. Esther took hundreds of photos and hopefully we’ll see a feature in C&D in the near future. I will post something as soon as I hear.

Update: click here to read the Car & Driver story

Photo courtesy of Esther Montoro

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The wet weather rolled over us all day and night Saturday but we woke up to dry conditions for Sunday.

Today Tim Joyce decided to enter Formula 750 so things were going to be a little different than yesterday’s rain race. There were quite a few fast bikes gridded up in this race – John Ellis included, who was gunning for us all – but I was focused and feeling confident, and the bike was running good. Green flag drops, I get a great start, but Timmy beats me into T1. I did my best to hold on to him and rode harder than I have before. In times past he’s always disappeared off into the sunset but this time I fought hard and was able to keep him in in sight. I took an honorable 2nd place just 3 seconds behind Tim across the finish line. I was the happiest I’d been in a long time. My lap times were good. I walked away feeling like I’d had my own personal victory. I’ll proudly take my 2nd place for this one.

That was it – the season was over. No spills, few chills, and probably the best season I’ve had so far, at least in regard to good development, camaradarie, and enjoyment.

I’m sad the racing is over but as usual I’ll be doing lots to the bike in the off-season to make it go faster next year, so this is certainly not the end of 2009 for me. More to follow.

Photo courtesy of Esther Montoro

First place
2009 AHRMA BEARS National Champion
(3rd consecutive year)

Second place
2009 AHRMA Formula 750 National championship

I must thank the following whose support has been immeasurable and kept me on the track this year:

Ken Canaga – Left Coast Racing
Peter Politiek, Sr. and Jr. – Team Polytech
Tom Sharp – Sharp Mechanical
Frank Giannini – Giannini Racing
Chris Cosentino – Cosentino Engineering
Yukio Hamasaki – Tuned By Yukio Racing

Photo courtesy of Esther Montoro