Today in motorcycle history, August 4, 2012

  

  One of those tales you hear in a bar and assume it's bullshit.  Well, it's not.  From The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Washington...

  'Reclaiming an old hobby along with an old bike
Stolen motorcycle turns up 37 years later'

  by Meghann M. Cuniff  - The Spokesman-Review - August 4, 2012




  When Don Arndt’s motorcycle was stolen from the backyard of his old Spokane Valley home in 1975, he quickly lost hope of ever seeing it, but he never gave up his driver’s license endorsement to ride. He hasn’t been on a bike since, but he’d recently been thinking about buying a new one and rekindling an old hobby.

  Now an unexpected reunion has put Arndt in the driver’s seat sooner than expected. And it’s a familiar one.

   The 62-year-old Spokane resident picked up his 1972 Honda XL250 from the Washington State Patrol on Friday – nearly 37 years after it was stolen.

  “It’s unbelievable,” Arndt said.

  Someone who recently bought the bike took it to WSP seeking a title on Thursday. Inspector Donna LaMarca checked the motorbike’s vehicle identification number and realized it was possibly stolen. She viewed a Nov. 21, 1975, report from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, available only on microfiche, and left a message on Arndt’s answering machine.

  His wife sent him a text message that night as he worked the swing shift as an operator at the city of Spokane’s wastewater treatment plant.

  “It totally blew my mind,” Arndt said.

  Arndt said he found the motorcycle’s title about 10 years ago and threw it away. He said he concluded just a couple months after it was stolen that he’d never see the motorcycle again.

  “The police officer the day I filed the report just gave me no hope,” Arndt said. “That was the only contact I’d ever had with them.”

  He’d heard of many bikes being stolen at the time that were stripped and rebuilt. He figured his was one of them. He said he first expected to arrive at WSP’s headquarters and leave with a box of parts.
But the motorcycle, it turns out, is in great condition. It had apparently been in storage for about 15 years before someone purchased it recently and worked to make it road safe again.

  “Previous to that, the trail goes cold,” Arndt said.

  The person who brought the motorcycle in for inspection is not facing charges, said Trooper Troy Briggs, spokesman for WSP.

  “They bought it from somebody who gave them a bill of sale,” Briggs said. “The bill of sale said it had been in storage for 15 years and they didn’t have a title for it.”

  Arndt plans to restore the motorcycle and start riding it again. He owns property at Diamond Lake and hopes to take it out up there.

  “It’s just a matter of getting the bike all licensed and ready,” he said Friday. “I’ll probably ride it back and forth to work on nice days like these.”



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

Today in motorcycle history, August 3, 1967

  

  "The Blue "un" merges with "The Green "un".

  'The Motor Cycle' was one of the first British magazines strictly about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication 'Motor Cycling', which, using a green cover, was known as "The Green 'un". Clever.



  Like everything else, the 1960's brought big changes; 'The' was dropped from the title, being then simply known as 'Motor Cycle', a readers' write-in 'Help Club', technical articles, tear-downs and repair how-to's, new model reviews, practical road riding, accessories, clubs and rally's.

  The biggest change came in 1967 with the merger of 'Motor Cycle' and 'Motor Cycling'. With the merger came the opportunity to change into newspaper format, 'Motor Cycling' had already changed to a broadsheet newspaper format five years earlier. Editor Harry Louis stated in the last magazine format dated August 3, 1967:

  "You'll get it a day earlier, on Wednesdays. The printing will be by the latest process, web-offset, which gives much brighter reproduction of pictures than has been possible in the past. With about twice as much space as in this issue, the new 'Motor Cycle' brings you all the features you expect plus much more extensive coverage of sport and news!"

  The two continued as one in the newspaper format, under the new name 'Motor Cycle Incorporating Motor Cycling'. They eventually realized how silly the name was and changed it to 'Motor Cycle Weekly'.

  'Motor Cycle Weekly' would remain in newspaper-format until 1983 when it reverted to magazine-format. After less than a year it folded.

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

Today in motorcycle history, July 31, 1983

  


 



  




  

  Northern Ireland's Norman Brown and Switzerland's Peter Huber are both killed during the sixth lap of the 500cc Class British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

  As a light drizzle was falling, Norman Brown was seen coming down Hangar Straight with his left arm held straight up. He was riding slowly, about 40-50 mph, clearly experiencing mechanical problems and trying to get to the pits or waiting for a chance to get to the inside of the circuit. Norman took to the outside of the track going through the ever-fast Stowe Corner. Entering the corner he was in full view of riders coming down the straight at about twice his speed. A few riders safely overtook him before the corner, but as he exited Stowe, still holding the outside and waving his hand, he found himself on the racing line in a point where it was extremely difficult for the oncoming riders to see him.


  Three riders came out of Stowe and found Brown about 25 feet from the apex of the corner and 3 feet in from the edge of the track. All three managed to avoid him, two of them by passing on the outside on the small concrete overrun between the grass and the track. Brown continued on for another 100 feet or so when another group of riders approached Stowe. The last rider in the group was Peter Huber who had his view obscured by the bikes in front of him. As Huber exited the corner he turned his head back to check his position, as most riders do. In doing so he did not see the slow bike ahead of him and went full-speed into the back of Brown.


  Norman Brown was pronounced dead at the track. Peter Huber was airlifted by helicopter to the Radcliffe Hospital of Oxford, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. 





  Norman Brown was from Newry, County Down, North Ireland. Peter Huber was from St. Gallen, Switzerland.




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

Today in motorcycle history, July 29, 1972

  

  

  

 

  At *U.S. 30 Dragstrip in Hobart, Indiana, Tom "T.C." Christenson became the first man to exceed 180 mph in the quarter-mile aboard his twin-engine Norton 'Hogslayer'. 

  T.C. Christenson and Norton master-mind John Gregory built their first double-engine Hogslayer in 1970 after being deeply impressed by Boris Murray's double-engine Triumph. Marrying two twin-cylinder Commando motors it became one of the first drag bikes to incorporate fuel injection because they claimed carburetors could not deliver enough fuel to the engines to make them competitive.  


  The awesome 1760cc Snortin' Norton ruled drag strips in the mid-70's, winning every major motorcycle dragrace and attracting huge crowds.  Christenson named it the Hogslayer to taunt/piss off his Harley-Davidson rivals. 


  Hogslayer also made several guest appearances in Britain, running Europe’s first sub-nine second quarter-mile at Silverstone in 1974. 




  "Humiliation on the strips...is what Tom Christenson inflicted on the rest of the world's dragsters. It's hard to imagine it if you haven't seen it." - Motor Cycle magazine

  *U.S. 30 Dragway closed in 1984 and is now a field of overgrown weeds with a 20 year-old "Commercial Property For Sale" sign.  Only one building remains – a small white wooden shack once known as the “Goodie Booth”. The only other standing structures are some light and speaker poles that dot the landscape and a large broken-down set of bleachers, relocated from their original place at some point.

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

Today in motorcycle history, July 28, 1967

  

  On only his third jump using a Triumph T120 Bonneville, America's master of self promotion, Evel Knievel crashes attempting to clear sixteen cars and trucks in Graham, Washington.

  Since trading his Norton Atlas for a Triumph, Evel Knievel successfully cleared sixteen cars in Gardena, California. "Piece of cake." So, when he attempted the same jump in Graham, Washington, the same result was expected. Always expect the unexpected.

  Landing the Bonnie's rear wheel on a panel truck that was serving as the last vehicle, Knievel was thrown an estimated 30 feet from his bike. Somehow he would only suffer a concussion and minor bruising. After a month his mind cleared and he returned to Graham on August 18 to finish the show; "give the people what they want."

  I assume the people wanted to see a crash because that's what they got. Again coming up short, Knievel crashed, breaking his left wrist, right knee and two ribs. That damn panel truck.

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

Today in motorcycle history, July 27, 2007

  




   

  The BMW R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure reach a production record of 100,000 units since its launch in 2004, making it the most popular BMW of all time.

  In 2004 the R1150GS Adventure was made popular after actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman along with the cameraman Claudio von Planta rode from London to New York by going east across Europe, central Asia, Alaska, Canada and the U.S. covering a distance of 22,345 miles. The trip included visits to several UNICEF programs along the route, and formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called "Long Way Round". They continued their association with the GS when Boorman used an F650RR during his 2006 Dakar Rally attempt, which was documented in the book and TV series "Race to Dakar", and again in 2007 when both used the R1200GS Adventure in their journey "Long Way Down", in which they rode from John o'Groats at the northern tip of Scotland, to Cape Agulhas in South Africa at the southern tip of the African continent.

  Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart chose a R1100GS for his 14 month, 55,000 mile self-healing trip, documented in the book "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road", that he made following the deaths of his wife and daughter. Peart also rode the R1200GS (with an 1150GS as a backup) on his 2004 motorcycle trip between gigs on Rush's 30th Anniversary tour, a trip he documented in the book "Roadshow: Landscape with Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle".



  The TV food freak Alton Brown and his crew rode R1200GS motorcycles during season 2 of the television program "Feasting on Asphalt". They rode BMW R1200RT motorcycles during season 1, but found the GS better suited for the rocky backroads they would find themselves on.










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

Today in motorcycle history, July 25, 1972

  

  Under Dennis Poore's leadership, Norton licenses the Wankel design.






  Along with most of the automobile industry, BSA was convinced that the Wankel was the engine of the future. So sure in fact, that in 1969 they hired engineer David Garside to begin exploration of Wankel engines for motorcycles. Garside's small band of engine-minded freaks began experimenting with a Fitchel and Sachs single-rotor engine, and with changes to the intake system, gained a mind-blowing 85% more power, to 32 hp. Suddenly the experimental engine looked appealing. But, economic catastrophe at BSA meant that development was put on a back burner. BSA was pronounced dead in 1973 and the British government formed NVT - Norton-Villiers-Triumph...BSA was dropped from the title.





  The Wankel rotary engine is one of the greatest near-misses of 20th century engineering. It promised to revolutionize the bikes we rode and cars we drove, but despite decades of work never quite overcame the problems that prevented it from becoming a mainstream hit. 

  The basic idea of the Wankel is getting rid of all the reciprocating parts of a normal engine – pistons, rods, valves – and replacing them with a design that does the same sequence using purely rotating parts is mind-twisting, but brilliant. Sadly it’s a genius that’s snafued by a couple of flaws, which have effectively ended its challenge to conventional piston engines.






  Norton would spend most of the 1970's dicking around with prototype rotary-powered bikes, it wasn't until took until 1984 before it would set the machine shop to gear up production, the 'P42'. Alas, the 'P42' model was never sold to the public. Norton's first production Wankel would be known as the Interpol II. But you still couldn’t actually buy one. Not unless you were a police force or breakdown service, that is.

  Norton had a long history of supplying bikes to the police, with the original Interpol Commando built from 1970-77. The Interpol II used Norton's well-developed 588cc air-cooled twin-rotor engine gave 85hp, and was in production from 1984-89, with only around 350 ever built.





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