Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

,.----------~ I -HELLO I I I AI developed this helmet as the maximum racing headgear. Vision slit is raised to permit forward vision when tucked in. Foam flap fits over nose and mouth ta prevent fagging up visor when buttoned up. talk about. He 'was doing essen tially demonstration racing for a major manufacturer and went down very very hard. He suffered a severe head injury, a contusion of the brain, that unsettled him for some time. His vision was affected and, even today, the head injury is something that has clearly changed him. "It's hard to explain," he offers. "'You hav to experience it to know how something like that can affect you." It's an experience to pass up. Post-accident investigation of the helmet: looking at how much the liner had been compressed, etc. revealed that if he had been wearing a Star, or a helmet with a Star liner, that he probably would not even have been -knocked out. You can tell he still thinks about that crash from time to time. AI Gunter is a complex man. He has many more dimensions than 1\10st athletes, or racers. He was first a racer. Then he got into the engines and was, by most accounts, the best engine-builder racing in the big time. His innovations with frame and tires have already been mentioned. Most people in motorcycling focus on one aspect, bu t he had to have the whole thing working together. Dick Mann indicates in his forthcoming book that AI became a vegetarian to try to stay in better physical condition, rather than eating the greaseburgers that were standard fare while on the road. AI says, no, it was primarily a part of his philosophy. He didn't feel right eating another animal just because it wasn't as intelligent as him. 1L was a hard thing to keep up, though, since it was difficult to get enough protein when traveling pround if you were, in fact, a vegetarian. Even though he has mellowed a bit, there is still the underlying spark, like banked embers, of the AI Gunter who f wouldn't take abuse from a copy that outweighed him by a hundred pounds and, once convinced he was righ t, would fight for something on principle. Both literally and figuratively. It is mainly a re fl e c t ion 0 f the feistiness and aggressiveness it takes to win races. Meeting AI, he is almost shy, naturally modest, and mainly exhibits a very high regard for the other men he raced against. The car racing career never worked ou L He was fast enough and was supposed to ride for Mickey Thompson in one of the factory Corvettes. Among other things, the fact that this motorcycle racer was turning faster lap limes cause some resentment among the other riders and AI isn't the type who backs down from a confrontation. Carroll Shelby indicated that he might have a ride in one of the Team Cobras for AI, but shortly thereafter, Ford withdrew its support from international racing. An onsalugh t of personal problems forced Al out of the active racing scene and. the name AI Gunter was rmembered only by some of the older heads, mainly in the "What ever happened to Al Gunter?" context. One thing that happened to him recenlly is that his old racing buddy, Dick Mann, got Al to build and now test the head for a new BSA engfne. Al got the work done. Mann got tlie engine together and went out and won his first ational Mile. This year, at Homewood, Illinois. Bugs put the same engine in his TT frame and won a National TT the following week. His fifth time at Peoria. They were his first wins on the National circuit this season. That should be evidence that Gunter, and Mann, ar~ alive and well and still doing a job on smooth track motors. Could it just be that AI Gunter is still ahead of his time? I I I I I Before you read this ad, look on the other side of this page and read our l;)ffer for the new and exciting 1972 MOTORCYCLE COMPETITION GUIDEBOOK FOR CALIFORNIA. Dig it? Good. Now all you have to do is fill in the handy coupon (on the other side), clip out this whole mess and fold it up so the mail panel shows. Then staple, tape or, glue it all together with your money inside and drop it in your local mail box. That's all. We'll rush you all the guide books you want. I I I I I I RC I I I I I I· r------------·FOLD I I I I I I I I HERE F I R S T I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I fIRST CLASS Permit No. 2914 long Beach. Calif. BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No ""'1090 .lamp _"lOry jf mailed in tho Uni'-- U

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