Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

....... - 0. ~ This year's ride was held in cool. foggy, overcast and rainy weather, but it didn't dampen the British bike enthusiasts' spirits. . (Above) A Matchless awaits its rider for the All-British Motorcycle Run . (Below) Classic English bikes li ke this 1957 Ariel were on hand. 2nd Annual BSA Owners' Club Run: Hail Brittania (not to mention rain) By Robert Marich CASTAIC, CA . APR. 6 For the Bri tish m o torcycle enthusiast, it was quintessential English weather. Cool. Foggy. O vercast. R ainy. And do n' t forget that burst of h ail alo n g the back stretch . Welcome to th e second annual All-British Id L Motorcycle R un h e n ear os Angeles and hosted by th e BSA Owners Club of Southern Cali- 24 forn ia . , Die-h ard Lirney bike ent h us iasts d idn 't let the fast-accumulating precipitari on dampen th eir sp iri ts too much . In jolly good British fashion. th ey muddled th rough ri d ing th e crea m o f th e n ow-defun ct British rnotorcycle industr y. The em blems o n th eir motorcycl e tanks ca rried suc h . names as Mat chless, Ro ya l Enfield, T ri um p h , Norton , Ari el , BSA and Vel ocett e, In th e 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, th ese British imports were Am eri ca' s most popular mak es. Bu t they went th e wa y o f din osaurs for a va riety o f rea so ns, so me o f wh ich were apparent a t the all- Bri tis h mo to rcycle bas h . T he re's the saga of Mike ~oo k. age 41. who took three da ys to ride a 1966 vi ntage. BSA H o~n et some 700 mil~s from hi s home m a small tow n m nonhern California nea r the O regon border. H e wasn ' t too far from home wh en th e main jet o f th e ca rbure tor on the 650cc twin-cylinder motorcycle r~ttl ~d loose: H e \~'a~ fortunate to ~md It and rein stall it m w ~a t was a n Im pro m p tu break a t th e side o f th e road. . ' 'I' m happy nothing else r~ttled o ff," sh rugged Cook, wh o drives a logging truck for a living . Brursh -rnot orcvcles are rath er like self-prope lled vibrators because o f th e sha king ema na ti ng from th eir big-bor e single and tw in- cylinder rnotors. Th ey are famous for spou ing ga rage £I oors with o il th a t see ps ever so slo wly from th eir engines. Th ei r rel iab ilityis a lso spotty . T hey don ' t ' a lways sta rt as they sho u ld . T he design- inh erent tenden cy (0 ' ra ttle ma kes fo r many o f th ose re liabi lity problems as Mike H arnm , who . rode a B5A to th e event, ca n testify. Th e gea r sh ift lever o f his 650cc twin vib rated o rr whi le H amm plied th e freeways a t stea dy speeds th at did not require sh ift ing. 50 wh en he was a bo u t to exi t th e freeway, it wa s n o go for downshifting. " It just walked it self o rr rh e shaft," sai d H amm , 30, a telephone co m pan y worker from An aheim. a Los An gel es su bur b. " Where i t fell o ff, l don ' t know. It 's layin g o n th e freeway back th ere so meplace." Bu t with every dark cloud of th e British m ot orcycle co mes a co u nterba la nci ng si lver lin in g. H a mm was a ble to participa te in the a ll -Bri tis h run beca use he fi t his motorcycle wi th a spare lever bo rrowed fro m a n o ther rider wh o trail ered m ot or cycles, tool s an d pans 10 th e event . Was it H arnm 's u n bel ieva ble good fo rtun e to fin d so meone with th e exact, sa me 17-year-old mot orcycle model? Fat cha nce. " Pa rts o ff o ne British bike fit a ll th e ot he~s," winked H amm . " T h at's th e n ice thin g about th ese o ld bikes." Besides th e ability to intercha n ge pa rts between model s an d, in so me cases , differen t Briti sh mak es, th e. classic En gli sh mot orcycle is built to be rebuildabl e. And wh en th e refitti ng is done, th e di e-hard British ent h usiast ins ists tha t th e p roduct is a redoubtable steed indeed . A class ic British 650 twin weighs in a t a petite 360 pounds, wh ich is a good 40 to SO pounds less th an th e four-cylinder road ro ckets o f toda y with about th e same di splacement. The result, claim th e British en th us ias ts , is a motorcycle that is far n imbler in turns and twist s of trea ch erous curved roads. " I've got friends wi th J apanese bi kes who h ave ridden m y (750cc Triumph twin ) Bonnevilleand th ey can 't believe how eas ily it corners," sa id Bob Wetzel , 34, a quality co n trol manufacturing en gineerfrom Whittier, California, wh o was o n th e run . So me may argue th e point. co u nt ering it reall y depends on precisel y wh at models are co m pared. But wh en accelera tio n a nd speed a re a t issue. th ere is no a rg u ment. Today 's motorcycles are cl early su pe rio r. Th ey can mak e a BSA or T riumph seem like Grannv with a ca ne o n a stretch o f o pe n highwa y. T he all -British run traversed roads th at favored agi lit y o ver brute forc e. Rider s ga the red in th e Sa n G abriel Mountain s a bo u t 50 miles north of Los Ang eles . The sta rt ing/ fin ish i ng point wa s a truck sto p park ing lot a lo ng Interstat e 5, th e main roa d be(ween L os An geles and Bak ersfield in cent ra l California . From the start/finish that is 11 50 feet above sea level. ride rs left in sma ll groups to cover a n SO-mi le co urse th at sn aked th ro ug h va lleys in th e shadow of mountain peak s loorn-. in g as h igh as 6000 feet. At so me p oints. th e ro ad str add led th e tops of ridges at elevations o f 3000 feet. The peak s a nd valleys were gr een with fol iage th at sp ru ng to life in wh a t is so u the rn Ca lifo rn ia's ra in y winter season . And rai n it d id . Showers sta rted th e da y before. Th e morn ing of th e run . th e skies became a deceptive part ly clo udv , As riders starte d th e SO-m ile co u rse, the su n peak ed th rough ca us- . in g th e moi st ure o n roads to m ist in p laces. Mid way th ro ugh the event, a modera te rai n began fall in g th a t co n ti nued o n-and-off for the res t o f the day. The end of th e ride was punctuat ed by a n o u tb urs t o f hail th at was, m erci fu lly, limited to very small sto nes . Despite th e wa ter-torture treatment, partici pants see me d to thrive in th e adversit y. In so u thern Cal iforni a wh ere mild weath er spoi ls th e inhabitants, a sh o win g o f 55 rid ers wa s .respectable. a lt houg h down from th e 110 of a yea r ago , th e inaugural event, a nd far sho rt o f th e o rga n izers' expec tation o f 200. " Any body wh o sa w th at rain wh en th ey wok e up thi s m ornin g probabl y wou ldn' t have co me . . . if they had an y sense, " joked Dave Desrl er , publish er /editor o f British Car and Bike, a new quarterl y m agazine. Destler donat ed prizes raffl ed a t th e even t. Th e co u rse brush ed so me la n dmarks . At its midwa y po int, th e ride skirted the Antelope Valley tha t is on the fringe of th e Mojave Desert. This is th e heart of " T he Ri ght Stuff" territory. It 's home o f Edwards Air Force Base wh ere th e Space Sh u tt le lands. and spra wling ae ros pace pl ants of L ockheed , Northrop and Rockwell. Pan o f th e la st leg was o n co u nty Highway 2 th at locals ca ll Fault Line Road . . . a s in San Andreas Earthquake Fault. (O n this particular da y, th e o n ly thing shaki ri' alo ng th e fault were Bri tish motorcycl es. ) For th e la st 25 miles, riders had a ch o ice between Ilat and wid e Interstate 5. or th e unrnaintained O ld Ridge Ro u te. About) 0 heart y riders braved th e Ridge R o u te, which is a n a ba n do ned n arrow road that, in stre tches , is gravel an d dirt. The rain m ~de th e d irt p ort ion a muddy quagmire. " T he road has no sho u lders, so if yo u get o ver to the side yo u co u ld fall o ver th e edge" down cliffs, sa id Sam T ownsend, wh o braved th e nefa rious Old Ridge Route o n a 1971 500cc sing le-cy lin der BSA d ua l purpose bike. " [ found the bes t thi ng to do was ge t in a ru t an d just stay the re. " sai d (Con tin ued to pag e 35)

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