Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125578
Meet the
cyclist:
motorcycling's
goodwill
ambassador
By Thomas D. Austin
John Wiley extends his interest in
motorcycling far beyond the job of being
manager and part owner of a large
Honda-Yamaha-Trlumph dealership In
Ventura, California. He Is active In promotlng motorcycle safety campaigns
clubs and races.
'
,
Wiley first became Interested In motorcycling when he was looking for a job
after receiving his discharge from the
service. He was a mechanic by trade,
but modestly says he "didn' t Imow the
first thing about w 0 r kin g on motorcycles." With or without specific knowledge, he landed a job with the Honda
shop In Oxnard, California. "[ started
out uncratlng and putting together the
new bikes as they arrived In the shop,"
says Wiley.
That job began an interest In motorcycling that led him to become part
owner and working manager when the
Ventura shop was opened. " By the ti me
the market In the county was big enough,"
he says, "I'd found out that I enjoyed
workin g around bikes . When the chance
was offered to Invest In this shop, I
didn't think twice - I jus t scraped the
money together and plunged in. At first
we had strictly Honda. We started out ~
a vacant service station, and as business
grew, we added mor e makes of motor cycles and moved to our presentlocation. J '
When his Interest in motorcycling took
root, John not only made it his job - he
made It his hobby as well . He began raeIng and entering endurance trials. "I did
pretty well for a while," he says, "but
now the only lhlng I enter Is an occasional endurance trial."
.
Although not personally as active as
before In racing, Wiley maintains a lively inte rest in the sport. In connection
with other Ventura county dealers, he
helped to sponsor a race at the county
falrground. His enthusiasm for r acing Is
s o catching, many of his employees regularly race at Asc ot Park. "Most of the
guys that work here started racing professionally because they got interested In
the sport from working around bikes and
hearing others talk about the races "
says Mr. Wiley. "One of the emPlO s ,
yee'
Alex Chrzanowski, re g u1a r 1y enters
Amateur class events at Asco t, anddoes
well In both flattrack and TT events."
Wiley is modest about his part In the
racing ambitions of his employees. The
fact Is that his Instruction and inter es t
has been Instrumental In getting mos t of
them started. When Alex Chrzanowski
first came to work at Mr. Wiley'S shop,
he had a small bike and a natural flair
for riding. Mr . Wl1ey encouraged that
flalr, taught Chrzanowski a few tricks,
and soon found the young man excelling
In every phase of riding. " It didn't take
Alex long to outstrip me right down the
line, " grins Mr . Wiley. " You might say
that's one of the major reasons I quit
racing."
Because every employee at the Ventura
shop Is a racer or an avid fan, Wiley has
found that his shop has become more than
just a dealership - it is the mecca for
Ventura's motorcyclists. They drop by to
ask questions about how to fix somelhlng
on their bike s, or to check with one of
the regular racers for tips about how to
perform a particularly difficult feat.
"We don' t mind," he says, "In fact,
we enjoy It. We try to an s wer all questions and give help where we can." In
addition to being a center for the younger
crowd who are Interested in r acing,
Honda Ventura also conducts a public
education program on Motorcycle Safety .
Employees of Honda Ventura show
films put out by motorcycle manufacturers, explainlng safety pointers. "Most
of the call for the service," says Wiley,
"Is from schools. We feel that motorcycling has gotten a bad name because
of lack of favorable publi city. Youhardly
ever read about trai l bikes, races , or
other inter esting and exciti ng things done
by bike owner s . All you ever see In the
paper s are stories abou t how someone
was kill ed or Injured . We started the
safety program because we felt that it
would do a ser vice both to our business
and to motorcycling in gener al."
Another facet of Mr. Wiley's work towar d gaining popular acceptance for
motorcycling as the safe and Inte r es ti ng
sport It can be, is his effort, in conjunction with personnel at the Honda Shop In
Oxnard, toward forming a family style
motorcycle club,
Wiley Is enthusiastic about the posstbUlties of this new idea. " The younger
crowd that enjoy s raclng would be Interested in motorcycling no matter what, "
he says. "What we are trying to do Is
reach an older group. We'll have cycle
hikes on weekends, and choose an Interesting place. as the goal . We plan to do
Classic Bike Meet
By George Ha s
The first meet of the Southern CalIfornia chapter of the Classic and Antique
Motorcycle Ass 0 c ia tI 0 n was held In
Bloomfield Park, Lakewood CalIfornia
on Sunday, September 25. A'flne colle c:
tion of 23 rare bikes showed up, exceed mg' the expectations of Fred "Rob"
Robbins, CAMA Secretary of the chapter,
who spent many hours phoning writing
and chasing down the owners ~ the old
machines.
Several new members were signed up
at the meet, and some very interesting
and unusual old bikes were shown including 5 Vincents, a Harley with ~ Indian
Four engine, 2 Ariel Square Fours 2
Zundapp shaft-drive opposed twins 3 ~1d
Henderson Fours, a 1913 Indian: 1912
Pope , 1915 Indian, 1940IodianFour 1946
Indian Chief, and a 1909 Excelsio;. Almost all the machi nes were beautifully
restor.ed and in good running condition.
Durmg the course of the afternoon
many of the old bikes were started up
and given a trial spi n around the park,
and the younger members of the association were treated to the shond of exhaust
notes long absent from the scene. The
starting procedure for the old beIt-driven
jobs with bi cycl e pedals was to open the
compr es sion release , pedal fur iously to
get the works chur ning over as rapidly
o
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