PAVED HILLCLIMB
"This is the fourth yea r for the Paved
Hi llclirnb, which s tarte d ou t with th e '
AHRMA and 22 vin tage mot orc ycl es.
Now we' re ge tting mor e of the Buell s,
Ducatis and regu lar s treet bikes ," said
eve n t organi zer Saylor, "this year w e
expect 100 motorcycle s." This event is
the only on e of its kind in the nation.
Three-m iles, 37 tu rn s, 1088 e leva tion
and a high degree of danger ad d up to
an Isl e of Mann-style o f race. A true
"run w hat ya brung" race, there was a
variety of mot orcycles as well as several
"Legend s" cars and a shifter ka rt. Bikes
went off one every couple of minu tes
and were tim ed u p the lon g hill. Th e
250cc Yamahaand Aprilla roa d ra ce
bi k es looked fas test , but th e timer
would show that a talented '(and brave)
rid er could get up the hill quickly on a
variety of bikes .Tncluding big twins
su ch as the Buells. Ducatis and Honda
Hawks and of co u rse, all manner and
mak e of fo ur-cyli n de r s u per b ikes .
Ther e were even a number of two and
four stroke motocross bikes fitt ed wi th
roa d race tires. Th e s idecars p robably
attracted more than their share of atte ntion, incl u d ing fro m th is au thor w ho
watched a " co - p i lo t" getting what
appeared to be his first lesson in hanging onto (and off of) a purple striped rig
in th e p its o n Saturda y morn in g and
doing his gradua te wo rk lat er that day
on a real course.
By all accou nts, the course was protected as well as cou ld be expected by
straw bales. But all the bales in California could not guara ntee to keep a rider
from running o ff th e cliff .or in to th e
Yet anothe r of the Motorcycle Days' unique even ts is the dangerous Paved Hillclimb (above). So mewhere in this cloud of dus t (below) Is
Dusty Beer, winning the Dirt Hillclimb's 700cc class.
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