Today in motorcycle history, August 5, 1994

                           


            

                                           

  Miramax releases their version of Motorcycle Gang.

 

  A $1,000,000 budget gets them Director John Milius, (Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn) and Hollywood actor Gerald McRaney (Simon & Simon, Major Dad).  Well, they're off to a good start..er.. now we need a bad guy..hmm..how about Gary Busey, he's a nut-job and once rode a bike...no?...busy?..hey, doesn't he have a kid?...yeah, Jake Busey...looks like the old man but, can he ride a bike?...as good as his old man?..we have insurance.....book him.

 

  Gerald McRaney plays Cal, a retired soldier (a stretch there) driving his family from Texas to California.  As they cross the desert, they are terrorized by a gang of heroin-dealing bikers led by their prez, Jake, (Jake Busey) who kidnap his teenage daughter and take her across the Mexican border.   He follows them to their hideout and devises a plan to rescue his daughter.

 

  An hour and a half you will never get back.  Keep that in mind.

 

 

  In 1966 Roger Corman had up-and-coming Hollywood guys, Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern star in his Wild Angels which he made for $360,000.  It made over $15,000,000 at the box-office.  Just sayin'.

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

Today in motorcycle history, August 2, 2003

 

 

  The friendly folks at Guinness World Records are on-hand as Billy Baxter sets the Blind Solo Land Speed Record with a speed of 164.87 mph while riding a 1,200cc Kawasaki Ninja at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, UK, on August 2, 2003. 

 

  Billy Baxter served with the 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (British Army) in Bosnia.  While serving in 1997, he lost his sight after contracting a rare disease.

 

  In 2007 he completed a Blind Solo Lap of Donington Park.  "My biggest challenge yet, I rode my Ducati Monster around the hallowed circuit of Donington, the home of motorcycle racing, raising awareness for Vista, a charity helping blind people in the Midlands, an amazing experience and great fun."

Today in motorcycle history, August 1, 1924

 

 

 The AMA (American Motorcycle Association) is officially established.  "The slogan of the AMA will be: An Organized Minority Can Always Defeat an Unorganized Majority." (Western Motorcyclist and Bicyclist, 1924)

 

  The When the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM) was dissolved after WWI the Motorcycle & Allied Trades Association (M&ATA) was formed.  M&ATA began registering riders in 1919, and by early 1924, it claimed to have about 10,000 members.  On May 15 at a meeting in Cleveland, the directors of the M&ATA proposed to create the "American Motorcycle Association" as a division of the M&ATA.  The new AMA would control rider registration and activities, issue sanctions for national events, and serve motorcycle industry members.

  The registered M&ATA riders were transferred as AMA charter members, while individual AMA membership dues were set at $1 per year.

  The official ratification of the AMA became effective on August 1, 1924, and the first national event operated under an AMA sanction was most likely the second annual National Six Days Trial, held from August 25 through 30 in Ohio and adjacent states.  This was a 1,400-mile endurance run that started and finished in Cleveland.

 

  A "fun, family friendly motorcycle organization" (much like HOG), in an interview with the media after the "events" at Holister, California in 1947 an AMA representative claimed that the problems weren't caused by any of their members, "99% of people on motorcycles are fun-loving, law-abiding citizens."

 

  The 1%er was born that day...

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, July 31, 1962

 

  The final day of engine production for the 1962 Triumph TR6.

 

  For the 1962 model year the only Triumph TR6 produced was the Triumph TR6 S/S Trophy.   Gone were the "C" & "R" designations, leaving the TR6 to become basically a Bonneville without the second carb.  
  The '62 Triumph TR6 introduced new petcocks designed not to stick open or closed like the crappy previous ones had a habit of doing.  The oil tank is completely rubber-mounted.   A Lucas K2F magneto replaced the R2FC competition magneto (Meriden said it was way too expensive).   Handlebars are lower and the seat, though still shaped the same, now has a gray top and lower trim band.

  1962 Triumph TR6 S/S engine & frame numbers ran from D16189 to D20308, & were built from October 26, 1961 to July 31, 1962.

 

  Keep old bikes rollin'!

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, July 30, 1972

 

 

  The Spanish motorcycling legend, Angel Nieto, finishes behind Sweden's Kent Andersson in the Finish Grand Prix but, hangs on to ride his Derbi to the 125cc Grand Prix World Championship, out-pointing Andersson 97-87.

  Nieto also claims the World Champion title in the 50cc Class.  Hours later the Spanish factory announces it is pulling out of Grand Prix racing.

 

   Derbi would return to GP racing when the 50cc class was increased to an 80cc displacement.  Derbi would claim four consecutive world championships between 1986 and 1989, before the class was discontinued in Grand Prix competition.  The factory also experienced racing success in 125cc Grand Prix competitions, winning World Championships in 1971, '72, '88, '08 and 2010. 

 

  The Derbi RSA 125 earned 405 points in the Constructor's Championship in the 125cc class.  The 405 points in 2010 are second only to Aprilia which earned 410 points in 2007.

 

  The name Derbi is an acknowledgement of the company's history as a bicycle manufacturer and is an acronym for DERivats de BIcicletes (derivatives of bicycles).

 

Today in motorcycle history, July 29, 1966

                     

                                 

 

  On July 29, 1966, Fourth Street goes positively nuts when word gets out that Bob Dylan wrecked his treasured Triumph on Striebel Road on the outskirts of Woodstock, New York.

 

  After achieving his early stardom and moving to Woodstock, New York from Greenwich Village in 1963, Dylan bought a 1964 500cc Triumph Trophy T100, much to the dismay of his manager, Albert Grossman.  It was his first bike since a Harley-Davidson 45 when he was 19 and the Trophy soon became his main form of transportation for the next several years. 

 

  Nobody really knows what caused the wreck other than Dylan and his wife Sara Lowndes, who was driving behind him after leaving Grossman's house in nearby West Saugherties.  Whatever happened, the crash ended up cracking a vertebra and giving Dylan some serious road rash.  With the whole thing shrouded in secrecy, the rumor mill went batshit, with fans churning out gossip that said everything from Dylan lost a hand and could never play guitar again to he hit his head and suffered permanent brain damage to he was just plain dead.

 

  In her autobiography, Joan Baez recalled, “He used to hang on that thing like sack of flour (huh?).  I always had the feeling it was driving him, and if we were lucky we'd lean the right way and the motorcycle would turn the corner.  If not, it would be the end of both of us.”

 

  In his memoir Chronicles, Dylan wrote, “I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered.  Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race...."

                                  

Today in motorcycle history, July 26, 1959

 


 

  Westwood, the first purpose-built road racing circuit in Canada opens.

 

  Built, owned and operated by the racers themselves. With land acquired on the southern slope of Eagle Mountain (aka Eagle Ridge) in Coquitlam, British Columbia, the SCCBC (Sports Car Club of British Columbia) members went about building a 1.8 mile track that has been described as one of the four best tracks in the world.  Home to car, motorcycle and kart racing.  A spectacular track that saw legends of the sport of motorcycle racing such as Ted Havens, Dave "Teabags" Wildman and Vern Amor, to name but a few. 

 

  Unfortunately after 30+ glorious racing seasons the need for condo's and golf courses in the Greater Vancouver area outweighed the need for a racetrack, good times and green space.  Westwood closed in 1990.