Sorry to be a stickler but how could a bike be running when parked without a carburetor? That was a sweet trick six years ago. It would be a miracle today. Also the ad reads, “The bike is all there.” Well, that is except for the missing carb! You can find a carb on eBay for a song and the rest of the bike does look pretty good. The seller has an asking price of $123 and I have no idea what that means. Most likely a typo. If you…
The Hannah/Howerton slugfests. The Johnson/Bailey Anaheim Supercross. The bar-in-the-face Weinert/DiStefano berm battle. The Jimmy Mac/Monty Roy 3-Foot-Trophy Day 250 Junior Race. I’ve witnessed hundreds of exciting races, but if you ask me to name my favorite all-time battle, I have no hesitation in answering. It was Rex Staten versus Mike Hartwig at a CMC Carlsbad race in 1974. MEMORY IS NOT RELIABLE I know my memory is questionable and unless you’ve got a photogenic memory (like Jody Weisel), your memory may not be totally accurate either. That’s why before I…
While this is technically a Running When Parked offering, it is not consistent with the rust buckets, parts bins or multi-year project bikes that so often grace our pages. No, this 1959 Harley-Davidson FLF was not parked because the owner had surrendered to the task of getting the bike running. I’m guessing that the owner experienced health or personal issues that required the bike to be parked and stored. Although the majority of RWP’ed ads claim a new battery and a carb cleaning is all the bike needs, this is…
Imagine the stories that former owners of this running-when-parked BSA could tell about the places they visited, the freedom they felt twisting its throttle, the thrill of ditching the cops and the look of bliss on the faces of tripping passengers while leaning on the padded sissy bar (can I use that term in 2020?). This relic deserves to be on display in The Chopper Graveyard or any motorcycle museum. Or better yet, somebody should grab this beauty, get it running and add to the stories that have already passed…
UPDATE AUGUST 4, 2020: So many people have continued to request the Scott Face Mask that Curt Evans (the artist behind the project) agreed to produce another batch. Here is Curt’s message and how you can get a few masks… Wow! Thanks so much for your interest in the Scott Face Mask and helping out Dave Miller’s family. We appreciate your patience. We didn’t think the response would be so great after our initial run of over 400 masks allowed us to donate over $3,500 to help his family! (Unfortunately,…
I like Yamaha TT500s because they are the epitome of what a run-what-you-brung dirt bike should be. It is not uncommon to see them in pickup truck beds and on trailers headed to the California desert 40 years after they were first purchased off the showroom floor. These beasts just keep on running and running and running. Even a Running When Parked TT500 shouldn’t be too tough to get purring again. But I’ve got a problem with this one. Somewhere in the bike’s past a hydraulic chain tensioner was fabricated…
July 28th, 2020: Today’s article from Bloomberg News, “Harley-Davidson Investors Sour on CEO Jochen Zeitz’s Turnaround Plan” confirms what I predicted for the company’s new CEO in my story dated May 10th, 2020 (in its entirety below). After announcing its first quarterly loss in more than a decade, Zeitz’s says that he “aims to increase the brand’s desirability by putting quality ahead of quantity.” Those are not words that growth-hungry investors want to hear. Bloomberg intelligence feels that, “New management may be embracing its history and core rider demographic, while…
Robbin, this bike’s seller, got sick before he could finish his masterpiece. He doesn’t say how serious his illness is but I’m going to assume it is nasty to pull him away from this bike. I love it. Robbin tells you it is not a Show Bike. This is a very personal, one-of-a-kind creation that shows plenty of creativity, ingenuity and humor. I don’t know Robbin, but I’ll bet I’d like the guy if we met. I hope he doesn’t find a buyer. I want this bike to stay with…
While I was working at Suzuki in 1979, a few motocross team mechanics asked if I would shoot photos of them with their riders’ bikes on the grass in front of the Suzuki pagoda in Santa fe Springs. When the slides came back from the lab, they were pitch black. I had totally screwed up the exposure. I was tempted to throw them away but for some reason, I held on to them. The slides popped up again recently so I sent them to my pal Pat Carrigan. If there…
There is no doubt that Hodaka motorcycles introduced a legion of riders to the joys of off-road riding. Trace the history of most American motocross stars of the 70’s and there is a Hodaka Ace 100 somewhere in the pages (usually in chapter one). This sweet example appears to be complete and I don’t see signs of abuse. The price is a little bit high but what asking price isn’t? That’s why it is called an “asking” price. This is not the first Hodaka we have featured and it won’t…