Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Ventura Vintage MIM Races/San Buenaventura Concours • 0110 Ion t Oeten By Andy Saunders VENTIJRA, CA, JUNE 24-25 hile the rest of California baked in a summer heat wave, the fog swirled areund the fairgrounds by the sea in Ventura as the sound of ancient motorcycles drowned out the roar of the surf. Racers came from all over California and the West for the fifth year of this increasingly popular event, bringing several hundred race bikes whose ages ranged from almost brand new to 83 years old. Racers ranged from teenagers to grizzled graybeards, sporting a variety of competition attire from jeans and leather jackets through old-time club jackets to full leathers complete with star-spangled sponsor logos. The oldest machine at the meet was a 1912 Minneapolis V-twin, manufactured in the city of the same name, and ridden by owner Mike Madden. One of the few surviving examples of this marque, the 83-year-old V-twin has front and rear suspension. The rear suspension resembles modem monoshock designs with a rear swinging-frame section that pivots in front of the pedal crank. A linkage connected to an enclosed spring tube provides an inch or so of rear-wheel movement. Old as this machine is, owner Madden had no fear of riding it on the dirt, and he fired the oldster up for the evening's'two heat races plus the main, losing out only to Dee Cameron on his slightly newer J-model HarleyDavidson from 1915. Cameron and his son John, who competed in the 1925-35 event, both listed the 'Booze Fighters Motorcycle club' as sponsors in the event program; older readers will recognize that name from the Hollister era of motorcycle sport. Didn't they make a movie about that event? Wasn't it called "The Wild One"? That Wild One theme was echoed in the names of some of the racers entered this year, such as "Dangerous" Johnny Bristow, riding a Velocette and "Stormin'" Norm Neumann, on Ariel and Harley-Davidson WR machines. The wildest racing would be in the 600 professional class, though the Hooligan class proved the oldsters could mix it up, too. As the practice session wore on, a blue groove developed midway through the track's comers, but the dust clouds started to billow until the water truck came out before the heat races. When the heats began, the fastest line was in the middle of the track. This Line was degraded as the evening wore on and the low ground-clearance vintage bikes bashed holes in the grooves with their engine cases and low-slung frame tubes. This year, the focus of the Shop's Ventura meet shifted from purely vintage machinery toward the modern 600cc singles class. Owners of the (mostly Rotax) singles have complained that official AMA events have been drying up for this popular class since the AMA organized the Harley-Davidson 883 class for dirt track newcomers. Promoter of the event, the Shop's Dave Hansen, claimed that the $2000 purse this year was bigger than some AMA National events, and racers seemed to agree, since the race attracted a field of 36 contenders. From the line in the 600cc main, Jim IU ~ ...... 34 (Above) Dave Duvarney ahows the limits of ground clearance of a Herley-Davldson EL In the Hooligan clelS (Left) Indian Arrow IROC clelS winner Ron Gould holds the winners spoils (Below) Oldest competition bike of the meet: Mike M8c:lden's 1912 Minneapolis, complete with monoshock reer suspension. Rosa ·took the holeshot on his Rotax with Steve Mayfield in close pursuit and the rest of the pack right behind him. A few riders on motocrossers had crept into the event, and the different styles of the pure flat-trackers and motocross riders led to some confusion, as when one Yamaha YZ490 rider almost high-sided through the middle of the pack, almost taking out half a dozen riders. At the front, Mayfield and Rosa were involved in a physical battle for first, with the pack a quarter of a lap behind them. After one hard challenge, Mayfield bumped Rosa out of the way to take the lead, and held on to the end to take the checkered flag, with previous heat winner Rick Pearce moving through the pack to claim third place. In the Hooligan class, over 1000cc machines competed for a trophy. Crowd favorite was Homer Knapp, who has been racing the same 1928 J-model Harley since he first bought it in 1944. Knapp got involved in a tussle with number-one-plate holder Dave Duvarney on a '42 Harley-Davidson EL, and the pair passed and re-passed each other. Knapp's Harley was down on power on the straights, but Duvamey's low-slung EL was bashing its primary case in the comers, and Knapp eventually got past and made the pass stick, causing the crowd to roar. Most unusual of the night's events was the !ROC Indian Arrow race'. Nine men faced off on nine identical 1949 Indian Arrows, all prepared by Starklite Cycle. They competed for the honor of the Indian factory, which closed in 1953, partly because of losses sustained from development costs of these single-cylinder motorcycles and their twin-cylinder siblings. Produced essentially only for one year, the Arrows were a disaster for Indian, but they provided one of the most interesting events at Ventura. As the motorcycles were identical, the event showed the range of talent of riders competing in this event. Each motorcycle - initially 13 cubic inches (213cc) had been hogged out to 15 cubic inches (249cc) to give them a better chance of getting enough power to break the back wheel losse around Ventura's grippy dirt. Fast guys Ron Gould and Dave Duvamey sent the tiny Indians around the tracks in a style that wouldn't disgrace more modern competition, while Starklite Cycle boss Bob Stark, dressed in classic 'Wild One' garb of leather jacket and jeans, set a pace more suited to his mature years. In the final, Gould took a handy lead from the first lap from Duvarney, and Duvarney challenged for the lead on lap two before overdoing the slide, and falling. Wasting no time, Duvarney remounted and rejoined the race, but Gould had solidified his lead, followed by Santa Barbara's Mike O'Neill and Costa Mesa rider Dave Beckman. The top trio lapped several slower riders. At the end of the final, seven of the nine original starters in the evenings heats had finished the event as modem materials and modem restoration by Starklite Cycles made the old Indians more reliable than they were half a century ago. One of the biggest teams in vintage racing, the Acton, California-based Dodge Brothers were out in force. Gan chief Gene Dodge raced his hand-shift 1937 Indian Scout in AMA events more than 40 years ago, and the same bike is raced today by his sons. Four of the six Dodge brothers are dirt track racers, and all of. them teamed the ropes on the old 1937 Indian. In the early '80s, Gene Dodge would take the bike and the boys to the Corona dirt track, where they would compete against modern

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