Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Terry Kizer (near lane) beat George Bryce to win the Funnybike final on the R.W. Motors/Race Design/BHP Kawasaki. 'DBA Championship Drag Racing Series: Round 4 A Million Miles Ago By Ne./e Shilton Publishing by H.ynes Publishing Group Distributed in the U.S. by H.ynes Publicetions, Inc. 861 L.vilrence Dr. Newbury Perk, CA 91320 S19.95 plus S1.50shipping Trett, Kizer lead field at Summernationals By George Hoffman CLEVELAND, OH, AUG. 11-12 Elmer Trett in Top Fuel and Terry Kizer in the Funnybike ranks led the action at the IDBA's Summernationals on the eighth-mile strip at Dragway 42. Trett took his "Mountain Magic" Kawasaki Top Fueler and put on an elapsed time show on his way to victory while Kizer, aboard another 9... Kawasaki, moved one step closer to the Number One plate in Funnybike. Saturday's qualifying saw Treu, in his three runs, shake up the Top Fuel field and the other riders who complained of a lack of traction on the track. "I wanted to see what the bike would do on this limited traction," said TretL His first two runs were at 4.84 seconds in the 150-155 mph range. The third run by Trett was a blistering 4.774/158. Brian Johnson met Treu in the first elimination round. The crew had dialed in his Richie Rich/Race Design Kawasaki and he put down an impressive 4.93/155.17. It wasn't impressive enough as Treu 4.789/ 156.52 not only won the round, but was enough to back up within one percent Treu's earlier run and give them both ends of the IDBA Top Fuel eighth-miJerecord at4.77/159.57. Sam Wills met Craig Burns in the other round and put him away with a 4.92/151.77 LO the 5.44/151.51 of Burns. Trelt and Wills, aboard the MRE Kawasaki, staged for the final. When the· green light came on, Treu came 0[[ the line like he was shot from a cannon while Wills' rear tire went up in smoke. Trett's slowest run of the day, a 4.823/155.44, easily downed ~. Wifls"!1.681~~'. •I < L ',1 "I had won the Top Fuel the past two years at this track," said Wills afterward, "but with Elmer running so strong we stayed up last night and changed motors. About 15 minutes beCore the final I changed LO a different rear tire. When I came to the line, I saw I was leaking fuel and tried LO get around the puddles, but there was noway. I had LOride through myown fuel LO get 0[[ the line and couldn't help but smoke the tire." The LOp four qualifiers in Funnybike were the final four when the semis came around. Kizer, on the R.W. Motors/Race Design/BHP Kawasaki, ran the turbo Kawasaki of Bill Timmons in the first race with Timmons off the line first. Kizer hauled him in on the big end for the win. It was Star Cycle versus tar Cycle machinery in the other run with shop owner George Bryce facing off against Bobby Baker, who he sponsors. When the lights came down, it was Bryce, aboard his turbocharged, nitrous oxide running Suzuki out first with the turbo Kawasaki of Baker behind. Baker almost caught Bryce at the finish. It isn't often a 5.058/144 loses to a 5.106/144.92. Bryce's start was the key. In the Funnybike final, Kizer was the man with the start and Bry e was left to play catch-up. He couldn't although he smoked the track in an identical time/speed as his semi. Kizer's 5.0711146.81 was good for the win and allowed Kizer to pad his ~ hj~e ~i\1-~kn5 JII." If English motorcycle factories could equal the abilities of English motorcycle writers there would still be a strong halfdozen British brands on the market. There have been a series of good books in recent times, telling us what happened LO the once-dominant English motorcycle business - and one. by Bert Hopwood - ask the simpif' question, "What happened LO Tht' British Motorcycle Industry?" Ben blamed everyone budailSlo m ntion his own responsible role in the Decline and Fall of the Ancient Marques. Haynes Publishing has a good title by Ivor Davies, a very personable man who wrote "It's a Triumph," and he describes his quarter-century with that famous make. My favorite book is the newest - and I hope the last, for they all sadden me - "A Million Miles Ago," by eale Shilton. By several coincidences Mr. Shilton and I have much in common. While he spent 20 years or so as a Triumph sales person in England I put in 15 seasons with Triumph's Baltimore branch on the East Coast, and was fortunate LO be hired for the selling job by the late Denis McCormack at a pre-show cocktail party in New York, back in 1949. But, let's investigate eale Shilton's memoirs, for after all it is his sLOry we are reviewing... Neale ShilLOn was cut of different cloth. A lifelong mOLOrcycle enthusiast, Neale rode Triumphs, Nortons and BMWs all the days of his traveling career, and he kept a log during his long motorcycle history! Funher, Neale participated in large touring events and the highlights of his exciting life was proably his participation in many of "The Circuit Des Pyrenees," a timed road run that had the f~ eF a~'mOt&c!r06S1 Thi; .< · circuit once attracted rival teams from the crack mOLOrcycle police of almost all the European countri~. In this regard Neale was probably the bestknown salesman for police motorcycles in history. While at Triumph he designed "The Saint," a special 40inch bike that performed yoeman service throughout Europe's mounted police. When the rot set in at Coventry, Shilton quit and was hired to do some consultant work for two momhs by the orton factory. The two months stretched to seven years and early in the period Shilton designed "The Metropole," another policespecial, then went out and stole as many of his old Triumph customers as he could capture. Finally, when NVT (Norton Villiers-Triumph) was created by bankers and other nonmotorcycle types, Shilton made his third and final move - this time to BMW. Again, Master Salesman that he is was reflected in the eventual sales of 2,000 BMWs to various English motorcycle divisions, including 200 bikes to Scotland Yard! These are the hroad facts of Neale Shilton's long life in the motorcycle industry. His book is splendidly written in The MOlherTongue-theone we Yanks can read but do not write correctly - and Shilton has that wonderful English sense of humor that makes even ordinary events seem funny. His respect for Edward Turner, Designer and Managing Director of Triumph is handled with more dignity than I would give it. As the bagman who occasionally ran some cash from Baltimore to The Hotel Plaza in New York, I got to know "E.T." preuy well. He did not care much for Baltimore and generally was more interested in getting out to the sunny West Coast where he could carouse around with his longtime buddy, Bill Johnson, the original importer and' distributor for Triumph. Their friendship went back to the pre-war days. My wife and I treated Neale and his lady to dinner last summer, while staying at his home in Denmark. It was our 43rd wedding anniversary, so' we had a fine dinner near Elsinore, Hamlet's melancholy castle. (How many of you Honda motOCTOssers· knew the source of the name... yes, we know it is a southern California town. but the original location was 'in Denmark.) and J had to admire the fine physical ondition of this 70year-old motorcyclist. He still carries himself with the straight-ramrod uprightness learned through five years as a British officer and gentleman. I asked him if he still rode a bike. His answer was typically English: "Yes, John, I occasionally take a young friend's Suzuki four for a camer. You know, it is quite a nice bicycle." We bored the ladies with our nostalgic memories of long rides under terrible conditions of cold and wetness, and eale repeated something he makes a strong poim of in his book: The perfect rainsuit has yet to be invented. How he ever managed to make almost all of his business calls on a motorcycle in wet old England is some sort of a miracle. One thousand miles he averaged a week, and he showed me his log to prove it! He also helped in designingand making' fairings popular; we sold the Avon Fairing at Triumph-Baltimore, way back in the early '50s, and Neale Shilton tested the prototypes while running his errands in England. The book is loaded with fine photographs and should be part of any serious motorcyclist's library. • Jack Mercer Readers can order this book through their local dealers, or direct from Haynes, which does not accept personal checks... Editor. • . l •• "

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