Today in motorcycle history, July 22, 1990

  



  

  On a hot and humid Florida afternoon, Doug Chandler wins the inaugural Camel Motorcycle Grand Prix of Miami.

  Riding for Muzzy Kawasaki, Doug Chandler wins his third AMA Superbike race in a row, this race just happens to be the inaugural Camel Motorcycle Grand Prix of Miami. Doug beat his Kawasaki teammate Scott Russell by 19 seconds, in front of an estimated crowd of 20,000 in Bicentennial Park.

  He would be in the lead during all 31 laps around the 1.51-mile temporary circuit through downtown Miami. The event, which had been scheduled to last 40 laps, was halted due to a breakdown in communication with workers around the 11-turn course. Race officials blamed a blown fuse for the communications snafu.

  Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing National wins at a mile, half-mile, short track, TT and road race.

  He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2006.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 21, 1972

   

 
  

  Derek Hine of Palo Alto, California, applies for a patent for his "Kit for converting a conventional motorcycle into snowmobile."

  From Brunswick, Maine to Duluth, Minnesota to Malmo, Sweden, bikers have been searching for a way to make a beer run in February when the old lady (or old man, to be fair) has the truck while outside a foot of snow has covered the path to the closest liquor store. Search no more! Grab some wrenches and a bottle opener!


  Mr. Hine's conversion kit is quick and easy. Attaches to any conventional motorcycle frame and power plant from your neighbor's 50cc Honda Cub to your 110" Harley shovelhead.






  ''The conversion kit includes a drive track assembly and steering ski unit attachable to the conventional frame and forks of a motorcycle from which the wheels have been removed. The drive track assembly includes a rigid tubular steel frame on which are suitably journaled two sets of drive track sprockets adapted to engage a pair of continuous twin tracks.


  A drive mechanism is secured to the track frame and operatively engages one set of sprockets with primary source of power to effectively drive the endless tracks over the surface of the snow. A bike frame mounting beam is mounted on the track frame for controlled pivotal movement about a generally longitudinally extending lean axis inclined to intercept the surface of the snow ahead of the track assembly. Torsion bar means are provided associated with the mounting beam to resiliently control leaning movement of the motor frame in relation to the track frame. Means are also provided in one aspect of the torsion bar means to adjust the effective length of the torsion bar to increase or decrease the force required to be applied to lean the motor frame in relation to the track assembly. Increased stability and maneuverability of the snowmobile is provided by arranging the ski unit in relation to the fork structure so that the steering axis intersects the lean axis at the surface of the snow on which the snowmobile is to operate."








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Today in motorcycle history, July 20, 1948

  




  

  I came across this 'letters to the editor' in "The Times" from San Mateo, California, dated Tuesday, July 20, 1948. I thought you might find it interesting.

   'Motorcycle Gangsters Must Be Removed From the Roads'




  Disgraceful performances by hoodlums on motorcycles, this year at Riverside, last year at Hollister, and with monotonous regularity in our own San Mateo county, are bringing precisely the result that might have been expected. A lot of folks are giving voice to those fateful words: "There ought to be a law '." Motorcycles, while not objects of beauty, are in themselves inoffensive. The trouble with them is some of the people who ride them. There seems to be something rather too exhilarating about getting astride a motorcycle and riding off in a cloud of gas fumes and noise. At least it is far too wearing on those of us who prefer the comparative safety of four-wheeled vehicles or the reliable "Shanks' mare."

  After each outrageous episode there are always letters from duly organized motorcyclists' associations in which they disclaim responsibility for the outrages. These letters always deplore the misbehavior of the supposedly unorganized riders who are blamed for raising "hell on wheels.'' Rightly enough, the motorcycle associations hold the fear that the bad name being gained by the hoodlums will bring laws in restraint of the peaceful and reasonable use of motorcycles. They may well entertain such fear. Luckless motorists who have been driving lawfully are frequently struck by motorcycles ridden by persons who not only proceed without caution, but careen crazily about under the impression that the highways have been created for their sole use. When this happens, the motorist often finds himself surrounded by a gang of other motorcyclists bent on insisting that he is drunk or wholly to blame for the collision. Many times members of these gangs are themselves drunk or anxious to start a fight. This sort of behavior cannot be tolerated and. while no doubt the careful riders of the motorcycle associations deserve some sympathy, it is obvious that the laws governing the use of motorcycles must be made more stringent. The associations admit that they have no control over the marauding gangster type of riders, and, if they cannot control them, the only alternative is to allow the law to do so.

  When the legislature convenes again it should be a first order of business to consider changes in the motor vehicle code which can effectively put a stop to motorcycle gangsterism. Whether this is to be done by outlawing these vehicles for pleasure use, by requiring the use of sealed speed governors, by changing the age limit for riders drastically upward, or by some other means, is a matter upon which state highway officials should be fully prepared to advise the legislature. The decent law-abiding motorists of California, and the people in both cities and rural areas, have the right to demand such a change in the law.

  Mr. Donald Peterson, San Mateo

  Thanks, Don...

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 17, 1974

  

 

  Buck Owens' right-hand man, Don Rich, is killed when the 1972 Harley-Davidson Sportster he's riding crashes in Morro Bay, California.

  One of country music’s most distinctive guitar players, a rock solid fiddler, tear-jerkin' tenor harmony singer and an accomplished songwriter in his own right, Don Rich was equally as important as Buck Owens in creating the 'Bakersfield Sound', one of the few sustained commercial alternatives to Nashville. 

  After finishing work at Buck Owens' Bakersfield studio, Rich left to join his family for a vacation on the central coast of California. For unknown reasons, his Sportster hit a center divider on northbound Highway 1 at Yerba Buena Road in Morro Bay. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the then Sierra Vista Hospital in San Luis Obispo at 10:37 that evening, California Highway Patrol officials stated that there were no skid marks and no apparent mechanical problems.


  Donald Eugene "Don Rich" Ulrich was 32.





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Today in motorcycle history, July 16, 1972

   



  

  Evel Knievel jumps 13 buses at the now-defunct Minnesota Dragways. 

  Montana's favorite son, friend to Presidents and Elvis, motorcycle daredevil extraordinaire, Evel Knievel successfully jumps thirteen buses placed side-by-side on a blisteringly hot afternoon at Minnesota Dragways in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.




  It wouldn't have been an official Evel event without some sort of memorable drama: one longtime Anoka County resident, who was eight months pregnant at the time, passed out in the inescapable heat, and came to in her car in time to hear a loudspeaker announcement about the “lady who needed assistance.”

  Moments later, Evel Knievel himself appeared at the window to ask if she was OK, and she was, but she was unable to get back inside to see him jump. 

  Oh yeah, a private Lear jet crashed into Knievel’s trailer while landing at the drag strip.












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Today in motorcycle history, July 15, 1973

 

  Back in the saddle for Yamaha, West Germany's Dieter Braun wins the 250cc Class Czechoslovakian Grand Prix at Brno Circuit enroute to his 250cc World  Championship.

  After a disappointing 1972 season riding for Maico, Braun returns to the 250cc GP Class on a works Yamaha.  Not sure if it was the bike or the lucky rabbit's foot he kept tucked under the Yamaha's saddle, but something clicked in 1973 as Dieter would win the Yugoslavian Grand Prix, Dutch TT, Czechoslovakian and Swedish GP's plus a hard-fought second in the Finnish Grand Prix. All the frustration of '72 became a distant memory as he is crowned the 1973 250cc FIM World Champion.

  His lucky rabbit's foot was allegedly lost after a minor scuffle in Paris in 1974, but Braun would never win a Grand Prix Champion title again. He would finish second in '74 and third in 1975.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 14, 1935

  

  

  The first TT races in New Hampshire occur in Keene, New Hampshire.

  Held at Keene's Safford Park on the same weekend as the 1935 Keene AMA Gypsy Tour, the first race was a 200-miler sponsored by the NEMDA and by Fritzie's Roamers Motorcycle Club. Keene was such a success it was host to the 1936 200-mile race as well.


  Fritzie Baer started Fritzie's Roamers Motorcycle Club in 1933 in Springfield, Massachusetts. If ever any single individual did everything that could be done in motorcycling, it was Baer. He was a racer, a dealer, a club president, a race promoter, an announcer, a sponsor, a mechanic, an AMA official and a tireless promoter of motorcycling in New England.



  Safford Park is now known as the Cheshire Fair Grounds. Twice a year, May and October, there is a swap meet on the grounds. At one time it was the swap meet in New Hampshire, and one of the best on the East Coast. A beer-swillin', deal-grabbin', good time.






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