The Sunday Movie

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Missing the boats

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By Kristin Tillotson,

Todd Warner has spent nearly four decades finding and restoring more than 100 historic wooden boats. Next weekend, his beauties go on the auction block, and he hopes some of them stay in Minnesota.


To modern-boat enthusiasts, the cavernous warehouse in tiny Winsted, Minn., might look like it's filled with 40-foot-long dinosaurs. Sleek, swift, gorgeous dinosaurs, maybe, but creatures that belong in the past.

To Todd Warner, owner of the largest private collection of vintage wooden boats in the country, they are objects of unparalleled beauty, timeless enjoyment and rich history.


Warner has spent 37 years collecting and restoring more than 125 boats, from custom-made power racers and runabouts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to beat-up rowboats and canoes worth the sweat equity needed to restore them.


Next Saturday, he'll be kissing many of the fruits of his life's passion goodbye. His beloved Chris-Crafts and Hackercrafts, runabouts and launches, boats with names like Thunderballs, the Gerry Lo and the Sugar Lady are being auctioned to raise capital to restructure his business, Mahogany Bay... Read more



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1981 KTM 495

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Via : www.vintageworksbikes.com

Featured here is a 1981 KTM 495. This bike is one of several beautifully restored bikes owned and restored by Otto Gonzalez.

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Brough sells for record £286,000

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A vintage Brough Superior has smashed the world record auction price for its type by selling for £286,000 at the weekend – a massive £120,000 more than the previous record set in 2008.

The coveted machine was among many bikes setting records at the H&H auction at the Haynes International Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset.


The price is believed to be down to this SS100 being one of the best examples of the breed, collectively known as the ‘Rolls Royce of motorcycles’, to come up for auction, being original, fully equipped, in excellent condition, well known to the Brough owners’ club and with a complete history.

The other major success of the sale was that of a 1954 BMW RS54 which sold for £143,000.


Apart from the bike sales, current F1 champion Jenson Button also managed to walk away with £57,000 after the sale of his classic Honda S600 sports car and the VW Kombi Van.

For more information on the next auction visit www.handh.co.uk or call 08458 334455.




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Vintage Road Racing

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The Sunday Movie

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A host of racing legends will be competing at the Goodwood Revival festival this weekend - and MCN will be racing alongside them. MCN road testers Michael Neeves and Adam Child will both be piloting vintage machinery on track with Phil Read, Wayne Gardner, Scott Smart, Leon Haslam, Troy Corser and more. To prepare, they took the bikes they'll be riding for a little pre-race testing at Mallory.




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The 2010 Concours d'Elegance in Vegas

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The Motorcycle Hall of Fame is inviting owners of original and expertly restored classic motorcycles to participate in the 9th annual Motorcycle Hall of Fame Concours d’Elegance: A juried show of the country’s finest original and meticulously restored vintage motorcycles.


Who? Owners and restorers of the country's finest vintage motorcycles (like the Taglioni-designed Grand Prix bike in the photo above) . The classes are:

* Antique American to 1953
* Classic American 1954-1975
* Antique British to 1964
* Classic British 1965-1975
* Antique European to 1964
* Classic European 1965-1975
* Antique Japanese to 1970
* Classic Japanese 1971-1975
* Antique Competition to 1969
* Classic Competition 1970-1975
* Classic Specials & Customs to 1975


What? The 9th annual Motorcycle Hall of Fame Concours d'Elegance.

When? Saturday, November 20, 2010


Where? Red Rock Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada

Why? See, appreciate and be judged against some of this country's finest restored motorcycles.




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Harvest Classic Motorcycle Rally

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via : www.ultimatemotorcycling.com


The 2010 Harvest Classic will be held in scenic Luckenbach, Texas on Friday, October 22 and Saturday, the 23. This old fashioned motorcycle rally is organized by Central Texas Motorcycle Charities to raise money for Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation.Racing Legend Cook Neilson will be on site: he will be signing autographs and such at the Ducati Hospitality Tent.Activities include: Camping, Bike Show, Raffle, Auction, Mind-Blowing Barbecue, Vintage & Modern Trials Competition, Saturday Night Moto-Movie, Seminars.The 2009 Harvest Classic was a huge success. Thanks to all of the rally community of attendees, sponsors, and volunteers, $55,000 were raised for the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation.Over 2,500 people went out to enjoy a weekend full of cool bikes, killer barbecue, bike show, a movie on the big screen, trials competition, and more. Online registration is now closed but on Friday, October 22nd at 2 PM, you can register at the Rally. The $30 Full Pass includes a motorcycle rally packet, camping on Friday and Saturday night, Saturday night barbecue dinner, bike show registration and voting, admission to Saturday night movie, spectator admission to the Trials competition, and more. The $10 day pass is for those folks who are not camping or eating or entering a motorcycle in the show. Pretty much everything else is included.




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Marty Smith Photo by David Bradley

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Via : The Mot'Art Journal

Hello and greeting from Richmond, Virginia USA,

I don't much like to talk about myself, but will write way too much and you can edit to please. I am 51 years old now and have been an artist my entire life. Not knowing how an artist was to make a living, I attended college to study communication arts and have been graphic designer since.


My American Father married my German Mother and because of this and his work, we spent more than half of my early years living in Germany. Like many Europeans, a love of cars and motorbikes developed early. Working before and after school at a liquor store, I purchased my first motorbike the minute it was legal to ride at fourteen.

A continuous line of motorcycles has followed. Also during this time (the seventies) I befriended an older neighbor who wrenched for a Formula Ford race team. Soon I was traveling to racetracks all over Europe. Some were small airfields, but sometimes we were in the pits at big races including Formula One.


These were great and happy times! One year while at the Austrian Grand Prix, I did a lap around the track at three in the morning on my little 50cc Honda. Two security guards met me upon my return to our pit area with wagging fingers, but nothing else. I don't believe one could get away with that today!

Dad bought me a camera and I still enjoy photography. The attached photos were shot with that old Pentax SLR during the Grand Prix of Germany 125cc World Championship.


I was excited as an American named Marty Smith was to race. Marty had won the US Championship the two years prior. Despite a bad start and track conditions completely different than US motorcross, Marty finished a respectable third against Europe's best riders. I also shot some grainy Super8mm movies of this race.

All the best, David Bradley

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The Moto Morini 500 Turbo

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originally published in "Bike" magazine, July 1982

Throughout last year (1981) the residents of a quiet Bologna suburb were regularly treated to the sight and sound of a scruffy black Morini V twin growling along their streets to and from nearby dual carriageways. It obviously wasn't just another 500cc prototype - it's motor appeared to breathe through a collection of washing machine parts, the steering head was loaded with dials and controls, and the tester riding it occasionally fiddled with various knobs on a small electronic control box. Had those same residents visited the Milan motorcycle show last November, it’s likely they'd have failed to make any connection between the slickly finished machine grabbing all the attention on the Morini stand and that ratty test bike tooling up and down the Via Alfredo Bergami back home in Bologna.


Except that both bikes had Turbo written on their side panels. Morini, the smallest of the Italian motorcycle manufacturers making it’s own motors, just had to be the least likely candidates for the title of First Non Japanese Production Turbo Makers. Committed to moderate production of a standard range of machines of no more than half litre capacity, using 72o V twin motors and a single-pot derivative, the little Bologna factory’s philosophy hardly included assaulting the problem-strewn heights of turbocharging - let alone turbocharging a V twin; something supposedly so difficult Honda only did it to show off. Yet the decisions which sent Morini down Turbo road were taken nearly 10 years ago. In 1974, soon after introduction of the 350cc Sport, Moto Morini began looking at what to do next.


The Sport itself, designed by former Ferrari engineer and designer Franco Lambertini, was introduced in response to the changing world market for motorcycles. The Italian industry saw the writing go up on the wall in large Japanese characters during the late ‘60s. Morini, having been bombed out in 1943, built a steady base by meeting Europe's post-war demand for small motorcycles with a series of 98cc-25Occ four strokes. Convinced that they'd be unable to continue for long in the face of Oriental competition, Morini and the other Italian marques decided to move into areas where the Japs couldn't or hadn't the technology to compete - exclusivity and handling. Laverda went for super berserk mega muscle triples. Ducati brought out its refined and esoteric 90o V twins, Moto Guzzi did its best with its antiquated transverse V twin, shaft-driven motor. Only Benelli (under Alessandro de Tomaso) tried to take on the Japanese on their own ground with a never-very successful range of fours and sixes. Morini's founder, Alfonso Morini, died in 1969 and the business was taken over by his daughter Gabriella. Two years later the first Morini V twin prototype appeared. At the time, it was an ideal move. The company now had a sporty (read 'satisfyingly loud'), slim, nice handling machine with an instantly identifiable powerplant, production of which was easily within the capacity of its small factory. Add a 125cc single (effectively a V motor with one pot looped off), a 250cc twin for rich kids in the home market and a 500cc V for overseas and their short-term future was assured. So far so good. Morini's thinking from this point on was influenced by several factors. For one thing, three-quarters of its production goes to the home market where anything larger than 380cc has got to be pretty exciting to sell well because of Italy's infamous 35 per cent VAT loading on bikes over that capacity.


Morini were determined to stick with the 72o motor which had become their trademark but at the same time it was clear that hogging Lambertini's design out to 500cc for the Maestro was pushing its ability to produce horsepower in the required amounts... Read more



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The Sunday Movie

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Americans in Europe!

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Let's get a post honouring all the young Americans who came over to chase Grand Prix glory in the 70's, 80's 90's. Guys like Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, Danny Laporte, Donny Schmidt, Trampas Parker, Billy Liles, Bobby Moore, Danny Magoo Chandler, Jim Gibson etc.

Marty Moates

Jim Gibson on one of the trickest 125's ever, the 1983 rotary valved OW125 works bike.

The 2nd american World Champ, Danny LaPorte.

Danny "Magoo" Chandler, 1985 500cc World Championships

Broc Glover on a KTM chasing a 250 World Title!

Brad Lackey in his Kawasaki days on the 500 Grand Prix circuit.

And many more on : www.vitalmx.com




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Leather Jackets

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1. 1950 Tomahawk Togs-Rare cream white color
Early two pocket style with side lace Photo, Satin lined with flannel pocket trim,
Extended waistband with square spot work, Rare Buco white kidney belt, Spot work and jewell studs.
$2,000-3,000

2. 1930’s Horsehide with lamb panels-"Grizzly"
Plaid wool lining & Talon zipper, Self belted waist with nickel plated buckle Photo
$1,500-2,000

3. 1930’s brown/Custom made at Peters San Francisco
Back design with gusset & pleats, waist adjust rings
$600-800

5. 1940’s Miller/Brown Horsehide
Four pocket style, Action back with waist adjust buckles Photo
$800-1,000

11. 1950’s Hercules/Sears black & white steerhide
Hercules tag with red satin lining, Contrasting pocket trim/Diamond Conmar zipper
Belted waist with spot work decoration, Action back with contrasting panels
$800-1,200

And many many more at : www.vintagemotorcyclejackets.com

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Harley-Davidson Museum Hosts Cannonball Run Exhibit

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Via : www.motorcyclecruiser.com

What's it like to ride coast-to-coast on a 1914 Harley-Davidson at a top speed of 25 miles per hour on today's roads? Over a 16-day period this past September, Bill Rodencal, Harley-Davidson Museum Motorcycle Restorer/Conservator, joined 70 other antique motorcycle racers in riding from Kitty Hawk, NC, to Santa Monica, CA, to find out. On October 22, Bill will share stories from his cross-country adventure at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. Hosted by Jim Fricke, H-D Museum Curatorial Director, the program will feature Bill's experiences and photographs of the motorcycles, people and places of this amazing journey.


The world's first Motorcycle Cannonball Run kicked off its coast-to-coast journey in September, 2010. Unlike other cross-country races though, this one was run on vintage metal. The brainchild of Lonnie Isam, Jr., owner of Jurassic Racing in Sturgis, South Dakota, the event required participants to ride classic pre-1916 motorcycles such as Pope, Sears, Flying Merkel, Indian, Triumph, or Harley-Davidson's Silent Grey Fellow. The machine must be powered by an original engine: updates could be made for safety's sake, but the core of the motorcycle must be 95 years or older.

For results and more information, see: www.motorcyclecannonball.com



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The Sunday Movie

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In 1967, an idea for a desert race down the Baja Peninsula came together. Malcolm Smith
and JN Roberts entered that first year, and against impossible odds rode a nearly stock
Husqvarna to victory in the first ever Baja 1000. 40 years later, Malcolm and JN team up
again, leading the Racing For Life Team in the 2007 Baja 1000 aboard a monsterous
Husqvarna TC510...and things rarely go as planned in the Baja 1000.


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Vintage Motorcycles Set for RM Auctions

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By Jeff Buchanan, via : www.ultimatemotorcycling.com

Formed in 1991, RM Auctions has become the world's largest collector car auction house, specializing in quality automobiles and classic motorbikes.
RM returns to Hershey, Pennsylvania next month (October 7-8, 2010) for their annual Vintage Motor Cars of Hershey event.
In addition to the impressive roster of four-wheel rolling history consigned for sale, RM Auctions will also be presenting a select array of vintage motorcycles.


The motorcycles range from a four-horsepower 1911 Flanders to a 1960 Indian-Enfield. There is also a 1926 Cleveland Fowler Four, a 1948 Indian Chief Bonneville, a 1930 Excelsior Super X Streamliner V-Twin and a 1905 FN Type A 4-cylinder motorcycle.
These beautiful and rare collector motorcycles all come with appreciatively sizable price tags - which is always good fodder to excite the attendees into zealous bidding.


For those who might be interested in participating in the auction but are unable to attend in person, RM Auctions has a range of remote bidding options, including Internet, telephone and absentee bidding.
The motorcycle auction will stream live online at rmauctions.com, providing real-time coverage of the bidding and sales.




For more information on RM Auctions, from full event details to a copy of the digital auction catalog go to RM Auctions Motorcycles.




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1969 Jawa CZ360

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The bike that would be a star

The year was 1969. American motocross was young and struggling to climb out of obscurity. In October, at the Inter-Am motocross race in Pepperell, Massachusetts, it got its big break: “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” showed up to film the event and expose would-be American fans to the European stars who dominated the sport.


Although Sweden’s Arne Kring won the race on his works Husqvarna, CZ’s American rider, Barry Higgins, became an underdog hero to a national audience. He finished fifth, and top American, on this machine, beating several Euro stars.
“Motocross racers were far from sports heroes then,” says Higgins, who now runs H&H KTM World in Douglasville, Georgia. “We were thought of as hooligans on motorcycles, and getting on TV was a big step to help change that.”


Higgins is quick to credit the bike for his performance. Thanks to trick stock parts and solid reliability, the Czechoslovakian-made CZ was a natural choice. The year before, Jawa had won the 500cc and 250cc FIM World Championships, as well as the U.S. 250cc Inter-Am Championship.


“The Czechs built a solid bike,” Higgins says. “It was bulletproof compared to the Huskys, Bultacos, Maicos or anything else out of Europe. My mechanic did make a downpipe for it and ported the cylinder, and we ran alloy wheels, but everything else was stock—stock forks, shocks, brakes, chassis.” ... Read more



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Royal Enfield Announces California Launch

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via : www.motorcyclistonline.com

Classic Motorworks, the official importer and distributor of Royal Enfield motorcycles in the United States, announced today that the full Royal Enfield model line are now available at authorized dealers in California.


Demand for the vintage-inspired Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle line has been growing sharply in the United States and world-wide since the introduction of Royal Enfield's unit construction engine two years ago, which brought new levels of performance, user-friendliness, and reliability to the world's oldest motorcycle brand. Royal Enfield Motors has responded to world demand with significant investments in production to increase capacity and allow the brand to enter new markets like California, where the bike's retro aesthetic and outstanding fuel economy are expected to make the line particularly popular with riders and enthusiasts.

"It's very exciting to be bringing Royal Enfield to California, especially now that we have an ideal product line and a hand-picked network of outstanding dealers to make a strong entry into this important market," says Kevin Mahoney, president of Royal Enfield USA... Read more




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The Sunday Movie

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Chuck Sun's 1979 Husqvarna 430

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Via the Fabulous website : www.vintageworksbikes.com

Featured here is Chuck Sun's 1979 Husqvarna owned by Sven Åke Engstrom.
Sven Åke worked at Husqvarna for many years in the R&D Department. He was kind enough to share these photos of Chuck's GP bike.


Chuck Sun had two bikes at his disposal which were built specially for him to be used in the GP races in 1979 and this is one of those bikes. Chuck rode on these bikes until the summer when he went back to US.

The crank cases were originally manufactured in a magnisium alloy but those cracked.

During his stay in US he got an injury which made him unable to finish the GP season. He also broke his hand in Lommel early that spring and struggled getting well during the preseason so he had a tough year 1979.

The engine number 430-1

Frame number HMUL 430-1. HMUL stands for "Husqvarna Motorcyklar Utvecklings
Laboratoriet. In english "Husqvarna Motorcycles Developement Laboratory"

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