One of the coolest but, highly under-publicized bike runs, the Southern California Motorcycling Association's (SCMA) annual USA 4-Corners Tour 2002 kicks off.
This is a self-directed motorcycle tour and the entire distance must be ridden on your motorcycle. Ferry rides are acceptable over rivers and lakes. Motorcycles with side cars and trikes are considered motorcycles for this event. No other vehicles are permitted on any part of this event.
The four official checkpoints for the USA Four Corners Tours are: San Ysidro, California, Blaine, Washington, Madawaska, Maine and Key West, Florida.
You start the event by visiting the first checkpoint of your choice and taking a photograph of your motorcycle in front of any of the USA Four Corner landmarks. The rider is allowed 21 days total time to complete the run. The ONLY exception to this rule are hurricanes. If the state of Florida has the road to the Keys blocked; you may use that barrier as the Key West Hurricane Corner.
You need to have computer generated gas receipts with date, time, location from each of the four corners (write your license plate number on receipt). If no stations are open, a receipt from the nearest open gas station will be accepted.
The SCMA estimates that the average rider can expect a MINIMUM of 8,500 miles on the shortest route (this figure DOES NOT include the distance from your home to the first corner and back). If you want to see more than countless miles of boring-ass interstates plan on adding on another 1,000 miles or so.
SCMA also provides other challenging long distance motorcycle-only rides including the butt-numbing, Three Flags Classic (Mexico-USA-Canada).
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Legendary Irish TT racer Arthur James "Artie" Bell dies at his home in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Known for his short, yet brilliant, post-World War II Isle of Man TT career that came to notice with his second place finish in the 1947 Isle of Man TT on an old, used 500cc Norton he bought himself and on which he managed to lead three of the seven laps.
Riding his 1939 Norton, he participated in several races in the immediate post-World War II period including County Tyrone's 1946 Cookstown 100 where he recorded the fastest lap time of 76.60 mph and winning the 1947 500cc Ulster Grand Prix race (averaging 91.25 mph) in a time of 2 hours 43 minutes 1 second, while setting a new lap record of 94.79 mph. Bell also won the 1947 North West 200.
After his kick-ass performance in the 1947 Isle of Man, Norton picked him up as a works rider for the following season. The '48 season was full of mechanical failures and tough luck but, Artie returned in the 1949 season determined to prove Norton made the right choice putting him in the saddle. He would place third and fourth in the TT as well as taking the North West 200 again.
When Norton introduced the Featherbed frame in 1950 he rode it to a first place finish in the 350cc Junior race and second place in the 500cc Senior race. Bell also claimed the North West 200 for a third time.
Unfortunately, his promising racing career came to an end following a high speed crash during the 1950 season at La Source Hairpin during the 1950 Belgian Grand Prix at the extremely fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Although Artie survived serious injury, he was unable to race again.
In 1996 the Irish Post Office issued a set postage stamps of notable Irish motorcyclists that included a stamp depicting Artie Bell.
1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden.
The eleventh race of the GP season turned out to be one of the most dramatic races in one of the most dramatic Grand Prix seasons in recent history. And as we would've expected it ended in controversy as the championship's two stars of the show, Honda's Freddie Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts , both having won five of the season's ten previous races.
Roberts led Spencer led in points 117-115 going into the race. On the final lap, heading down the back straight, Spencer placed his Honda right behind Roberts' wheel as they reached the second to the last corner, a ninety degree right-hander. As both riders put some weight to their brakes, Spencer came out of Roberts' draft and managed to get inside of the Yamaha but, as they exited the corner, both riders ran wide off the track and plowed into the dirt. Freddie was able to get back on the track first, crossing the finish line just ahead of Roberts for the deciding victory. Kenny Roberts instantly started whining, saying he considered Spencer's pass to be foolish and dangerous and, exchanged, what mom would call "colorful" profanities with him on the podium.
It was a controversial pass by the young Honda rider and one that the two participants still dispute to this day. Roberts still insists that it was dangerous, while Spencer maintains it was a calculated risk he had to take to secure the championship and that Yamaha boy needs to get over it.
The '83 Scandinavian Grand Prix is still referred to as one of the greatest of all time.
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.
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."
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...
