Summer 2015 Newsletter – PDF

RiverValleyRamblings
River Valley Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America Inc.
www.rivervalleyamca.com
Summer 2015 Issue
FROM THE PRESIDENT by Mike Skopec
IN THIS ISSUE:
President’s Letter
1
Cavalcade of Wheels 1-2
Marie’s Report
2
1967 Yahama 3
Elspeth Beard
3, 4
1968 H-D for Sale
Arlen Ness
Patti Waggin
5
5, 7
8
I’m sure you all know by now we have lost one
of our long time members, John Richard. Always
a positive attitude and always coming forth with
interesting discoveries. My favorite was the multi
colored lighted sprinkler that generated its own
power using the waters pressure. Rest in Peace
John.You will be missed.
Well, summer is here and the time is right for
two wheeling it or dancing in the streets. Seems
to me there has been more rain than usual,
maybe that’s because I own a motorcycle. I went on
the Lest We Forget ride earlier in the month to honor the Vietnam vets. Met a lot of vets
from all services and conflicts. It was a good ride through the Michigan country side from Niles,
to New Buffalo and back to Benton Harbor where it started. A 90 mile ride.
You all probably know by now that I took over the vending and camping registration for the
Wauseon National Meet. It looks like its going to be an outstanding year. Just about all the spaces
are sold. People from everywhere in the U.S. and Canada are registered to come. This IS the
largest A.M.C.A. meet in North America. Hope to see everyone there!
Guess that’s all for now. Ride Safe
Mike
CAVALCADE OF WHEELS by David Marks continued on page 2.
We signed up three new people at the Cavalcade of Wheels this year. A big thank you
to Marie for setting everything up...AGAIN. Also, to everyone that worked the event,
especially the members that brought their motorcycle to show.
MARIE’S MAGICAL REPORT by Marie Boetsma
APRIL - New members Ken and Katt Rich, said they located
our Chapter through ABATE. We signed up 3 new people at the
Cavalcade of Wheels. The Wolverine Swap meet is Sun., May
17th. David Marks said we will be meeting at The Maple Cafe’
in Edwardsburg for breakfast, then riding as group to the swap
meet. Tony Baranowski to attend meeting in Lima for the
Wauseon meet. Second Saturday in June is a Pan Head Ride.
MAY - Meeting at The Maple Cafe’ to ride to Woverine Swap
meet. Dewey and Russ putting ride together to visit Jim Kersting
and see the museum. They will leave from the Meijer’s parking lot
on Bremen Hwy. at 9:15 a.m. There is a ride at Riley Childrens
Hospital the last weekend of May - Miracle Ride for Kids. Bruce
Guyberson said he went to a Hippy showroom in Saginaw Bay
and bought some wheels and then went upstairs and found some
FXR parts, Simplex frames, and Cushman’s still in the crates.
We need to tell Lisa what we would like to have for breakfast &
dinner for Friday & Saturday at Wauseon. ABATE 3 day event at
Crumstown Conservation Club May 29-31. Fifteen dollars for
members and twenty dollars for non-members. Gilmore ride is
Sunday, June 14th. Looks like 8-9 members will be going.
Will meet at The Maple Cafe’ in Edwardsburg for breakfast.
JUNE - There were about 14 members who went to the
Wolverine Swap meet. They had a good turn out and the
weather was perfect. There were about 8 or 9 members that
rode to Kersting’s. Dewey broke down, so Leroy stayed with
him to wait for ride home. They said the ride was nice and Jim
has added his car collection to the museum. Ricky, Peggy, Robert
& Roxane went on ride to Anamosa, IA. They said they went
to Poopy’s to eat. It is a restaurant, bar & tattoo place all in one!
There were 28 bikes on the ride. They also stopped at the
museum, which they said was great! Remember the National
dues as of July 1st, 2015 will be $40. Moto Block Fri-Sun.
starting June 26th in Chicago. There will be live bands. There
will be a 60 mile ride in Niles, August 20th to benefit Mike Case.
Annual picnic will be at Ken & Amanda Hirsch’s home, on Sat.,
Aug. 22nd. We will have food from Between The Buns. Brain
tumor ride starting at Pinhook Park Sun., June 28th. Donation is
$40. Will be a 60 mile ride. July 3rd Paul & Chris will be putting
on fireworks at 53590 Fir Road. Rain date is July 5th.
CAVALCADE OF WHEELS continued from page 1
OFFICERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President: Mike Skopic • 269-684-6766
Vice President: Tony Baranowski • 574-320-0191
Secretary & Treasurer: Marie Boetsma • 574-291-3447
Lisa Baranowski • 574-320-0191
Bruce Guyberson • 574-234-3817
David Marks • 574-262-2142
Dewey Tucker • 574-256-5977
EDITOR & WEB David Marks • 574-262-2142
2
1976 YAHAMA PROJECT
This is about as rough as they come but it did actually run.
The bike is a 250cc twin cylinder two stroke. It is a 1967
model and was bought on the cheap ($300). After a complete disassembly, the parts were bead blasted to bare metal
and painted. The dents were taken care of and the parts were
primed. Paint was base coat/clear coat automotive paint. The
red was a PT cruiser color. Forks go on first just so it starts to
look like a motorcycle. Put on the rear wheel and it is on its
feet.
The wiring is next. I wonder where that yellow wire went?
Note the new sprocket. The rims and spokes are the ones
that were on the bike after a good wash with a Brillo pad.
The original chrome from Japan still looks good after 46 years
of abuse. I have not replated anything yet although the chain
guard came off another bike. The aluminum parts were buffed
and polished. Drop the motor in before putting those heavy
iron cylinders back on. The pistons and bores looked good
as did the bottom end. I did replace the right crankshaft seal
while I was in there.
The clutch is on the left end of the crankshaft (weird), little
did I know that the previous owner only put 3 of the 5 clutch
plates in which caused a very light preload on the clutch
springs. It slipped like crazy on the first test ride. A set of
new plates fixed that. Notice the plastic oil lines that inject oil
into the intake manifolds. There is no primary chain to get
out of adjustment - just gears from the crank to the tranny.
The oil pump runs off the big transmission gear. When you
are sitting in first gear at a stoplight the oil pump is not
turning. If its a long light you better put it in neutral and
let out the clutch (weird again). Here the oil pump is installed,
as is the air cleaner. The chrome fenders were beyond replating
so the dents were fixed with Bondo and painted Toyota silver.
They actually look pretty good. The oil pump had a small
crack in it which leaked oil. Epoxy didn’t fix it and I finally
had to replace the pump body.
These oil tank decals are always available on eBay. Ready for
the seat and tank. I found some so-so header pipes on eBay.
The mufflers are what was on the bike and need replating.
Fortunately they are not dented or too badly pitted. The
plating will have to wait for phase 2. I had a good seat pan
and found a new foam pad and seat cover on eBay which fit
perfectly (see below). Ready for a ride. Runs good. Cruises
at 60 mph at 4500 rpm in 5th gear. Note the new Bridgestone
front tire.
The generator cover had really bad chrome (not rusty, just
warn off). Since this picture, I found a nice one on eBay.
I bought it cheap and it was the first time that the actual
part looked better than the picture.
3
AIR-HEAD AROUND THE WORLD | ELSPETH BEARD ON HER BMW R 60/6 by Jon Patrick, The Selvedge Yard
She still has the Bell “bone dome” helmet that she’s
convinced saved her life– and which she wore for
the rest of her trek. In Singapore Beard’s luck
ran out again, when all her valuables were stolen–
including her passport with all the visas for the
countries she’d yet to visit, and the registration and
shipping documents for her bike. It would cost her
six week’s time to replace all the lost documents.
Beard then rode up the Thai-Malaysian peninsular to
Bangkok and beyond to Chiang Mai and the Golden
Triangle.
Elspeth Beard and her ’74 BMW R 60/6 that she rode around the world
over the course of three years. “I worked for months in a pub saving the money
to buy my BMW 600.That gave me the bug for travel on a bike. It’s the best
way to get around – cheap, efficient and I enjoy the freedom.” –Elspeth Beard
(photo of Elspeth shortly after returning home by Peter Orme) She also made
her BMW’s lockable top-box and panniers out of riveted aluminum sheets
while living and working in Sydney during her around-the-world trek.
It was a necessary stop when the funds she’d scraped together as working
student ran out– she’d end up spending a total of seven months apprenticing
with a firm in Sydney.
Three decades ago, 24 year old architecture student, Elspeth
Beard, set out to ride her bike around the world– a trek that
would take 3 years and over 48K miles. The young Englishwoman, who’d been riding since she was just 16 years old, had
already taken a few solo journeys to Scotland and Ireland– and
now was ready to take on more before she finished school and
settled down into a career.
Beard’s bike was a used 1974 BMW R 60/6 flat-twin, already
with 30K miles, that she bought from a friend of a friend. Her
around-the-world bike trek began in New York– “It cost $340
to send the bike and $197 for my own air fare,” she recalls. From
NYC she rode up through Canada, then headed south through
Mexico and Los Angeles– racking up 5K miles. From LA Beard
shipped the bike to Sydney, while she first headed to New
Zealand for a visit while her motorcycle was en route.
In Australia, Elspeth Beard had her first big accident on a
dirt road near Townsville, in Queensland. The BMW R 60/6
somersaulted and she suffered a bad concussion which put her
in the hospital for two weeks– but thankfully, no broken bones.
4
With the overland route to India (via Burma) out of
bounds she headed back south to load the bike onto
a boat from Penang to Madras. On the way she had
her second and final big crash when a dog ran under
her wheels from behind a truck, on the dangerous
main road south. The bike hit a tree and Elspeth was
once again battered and bruised but miraculously
unbroken. She spent two weeks recuperating in the
care of the impoverished Thai family into whose garden she had
crashed! “They didn’t speak a word of English and I didn’t speak
a word of Thai, but we communicated with sign language,”
she said.
The Thais were fascinated by the rivet gun with which she
repaired her battered panniers and Elspeth was surprised to
find half the remains of the dog she’d hit in the family kitchen,
having already unknowingly eaten the other half! “I understood
why they were happy to look after me– I’d provided them with
food for a fortnight!” Elspeth also repaired the R 60’s damaged
engine herself– “I took the cylinder off, straightened the bent
studs as best I could and packed the cylinder base with gaskets
and goo to get enough compression back.” via
When Elspeth Beard left England for NY to begin her bike
trek across the world, she was as strong and healthy a young
woman as you’d find– weighing 143 lbs. Life on the road would
take its toll. By the time she reached Turkey, she’d weigh a mere
90 lbs.
Upon returning home, Beard immediately went to work
stripping and completely rebuilding the BMW’s engine herself,
but tragically, she threw out the home-made aluminum panniers when she later left London. –photo of Elspeth Beard by
Peter Orme
Today, Elspeth Beard is still an active and enthusiastic BMW
rider– with her own award-winning architectural practice.
When she returned from her round the world
trip in the mid-80s, Elspeth Beard completed her
architectural studies and spent seven years transforming a completely derelict Victorian water tower into
a unique and beautiful home, while working full
time in London and bringing up a son on her own.
Initially working from the water tower, she gradually
established her own architectural practice and now
has many awards to her credit. Her work has been
featured on various television programmes and in
countless magazines. She has even had two Japanese
TV documentaries devoted to her life and work.
nowonder; she's quite a woman.
1968 HD Shovelhead, fully
restored in immaculate
condition. $16,000.
Contact Tom Bowersox.
574-287-9318 or 574-274-7564
ARLEN NESS’ SECRET WEAPON DURING THE ’70S CHOPPER BOOM by Jeff McCann, The Selvedge Yard. cont, pg.7
Jeff McCann, who discreetly signs his works with his hidden
signature “Motorcycles Forever” got his first bike back in ’65, at
the age of 20. An accomplished artist, McCann began customizing motorcycles a few years later, and soon found himself with
a steady side-gig of painting and customizing friend’s bikes.
By the 1970s, with his incredible skills and the Easy Rider
chopper boom in full force, McCann was in hot demand.
He opened his own custom bike shop in the San Francisco
Bay area – as did Arlen Ness. Arlen, a master builder, was also a
good painter– but nothing like McCann. McCann also brought
serious design, photography, and printing skills to the table–
contibuting heavily to the first Ness catalog and logo. It was a
partnership that benefitted both sides, and that lasted for years.
McCann’s saved personal images and memories of that time are
truly priceless.
And so with $5,000 in the bank we rented a small store front
and made plans for a January 1970 opening. The plan was for
Chris to man the retail store on the weekdays while I worked
full time at the newspaper, then on Saturdays I would be behind
the counter. We really had no clue how the profit margin of a
retail parts business should have worked, both of us had only
high school educations and in 1969 I was 23, married with an
infant daughter and Chris was 19 and two years out of school.
To say we were more lucky than smart is an understatement.
This photograph of Julie, our theme girl, wearing our logo tshirt was taken on January 10,1974 by John Reddick. Exactly
four years to the day after we had opened our first store and at
the height of our business success.
Catalog Cover Shoot. Jeff McCann ~ This is a full view of the setup in my garage
for the cover shoot for the second edition of our parts catalog.That’s me waiting to see
if the photographer needs the bike moved, which is also why I am in my stocking
feet so as not to mar the paper drape. I purchased two white paper background drapes
and taped them together to get a wide enough “infinite” background for the bikes and
models. After advertising in the local newspaper want ads we hired two women who
were inexperienced models but eager to work with the local “chopper guys”.
5
WOVERINE SWAP MEET AND BIKE SHOW by David Marks
A group met at the Maple Cafe’ in Edwardsburg to ride to Woverine Swap meet. A perfect
day to ride and find those treasures. Several members were vending like Mike, Hank, Bruce
and Jim.
6
ARLEN NESS’ SECRET WEAPON... continued from pg, 5
This Panhead was on the cover of our
first 1971 parts catalog for dealers and
retail mail order customers in the US.We
were one of the first distributors of chopper parts for Paughco, Santee Industries,
Cycle Shack and others. At one time we
were the largest reseller of ARCO brand
motorcycle tires in the country. I molded
and painted this bike in my garage during
my “metalflake” period.That’s 20 over
Wayne Engineering girder fork that we
sold exclusively from our shops. Arlen’s
very first handlebars and 2 inch D&D
Distributors drag pipes were cutting edge
parts at the time.
Modesto Store ~ April 1972 we opened our second store in Modesto,CA.That’s DQ, (beard and
vest) my long time riding partner and friend who managed the store for us.The chopper boom
was still building and we were one of the leading retailers in the country. Using mass displays
of merchandise and putting many parts “out front” where the customers could pick them up and
examine them.We sold parts only, no installation available. Every other month I drove to LA
in the shop van with a briefcase full of cash. Manufacturers were always glad to see me knowing
I paid cash and bought in quantity.The face to face way of doing business assured us of the very
latest product releases in a business that was adding new items every week as consumer demand
exploded.
Theme Girl Julie Circa 1974 ~ Jeff McCann’s
“CJ Custom Cycle Parts” t-shirt modeled by
Julie in a photograph by John Reddick.
7
DANCER & MOTORCYCLE RACER PATTI WAGGIN, SHE STRIPPED AND SHE ROARED! by The Selvedge Yard
A young Patti Waggin presenting 1950 AMA
Grand National Champion, Larry Headrick,
with a trophy. His career prematurely ended in
1950 when he was hit by a car while riding his
motorcycle on the street. The accident shattered
Headrick’s left leg, making it impossible for him
to race again on the dirt ovals. The rider from
San Jose, California, was tragically forced into
retirement just has his career was taking off.
“If there’s one word to describe shapely Patti
Brownell, it’s excitement. The young lass lives
by it–and for it. Into her existence, Patti packs
a triple life: During the day, she’s a student at
California’s Chico State College: at night she
draws tremendous crowds into the cafe where she presents her whiz bang strip act:
and on her off moments, Patti is a death-defying motorcyclist. As far as our luscious
blue-eyed blonde is concerned, there’s nothing unusual about her life. Patti’s been
winning trophies for motorcycle riding since she was 14. She loves the sport.
“Bumps are nothing new to luscious Patti–either on
a motorcycle or in the strip tease profession.” Born
Patricia Hardwick in 1926, she also used the stage
name Patti Waggin. Her 2nd marriage was to Chico,
CA local legend, Bill Brownell, a well-loved motorcycle
racer.
David Marks, Editor
1205 Greenleaf Blvd.
Elkhart, IN 46514
[email protected]
574-262-2142
www.rivervalleyamca.com
ON THE WEB AT:
River Valley Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America Inc.
www.rivervalleyamca.com
RiverValleyRamblings
Summer 2015 Issue
8
Show business is also old hat for Patti. Her mother and father were adagio dancers in
vaudeville, and it was only natural that they should teach their little girl the art. Patti
wanted a college education, and she was able to pay her way with her show business
savvy. As for the future, Patti wants a home in the country, four kids–and lots of
motorcycles.”