Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2023 i Motorcycle Classics

1971-1975 Norton Commando Hi-Rider 750/850 If the FX was a happy merger of two distinct motorcycle styles, what inspired the Hi-Rider’s aesthetic? A bicycle? Four years before the Hi-Rider appeared in 1971, Britain’s Raleigh bicycle company launched the Chopper, a clear adaptation of custom motorcycle styling in a pedal bike. But would it work the other way round? The idea could be considered a bit of a joke. Fortunately, the Commando’s architecture lent itself to reversible customization. From 1971 to 1974, the differences between most models came down to the gas tank, seat, side panels, headlight, and mufflers — to the point where a “genuine” Interstate was only distinguishable from a converted Roaster by whether the Smiths speedometer had a trip meter! So the Hi-Rider used the headlight and gas…

Wind-cheating guru Craig Vetter has long lived by the maxim, ‘Do more with less.’ It’s a philosophy that inspired the legendary designer from an early age, and it’s what initially drew him to motorcycles. Craig was a teenager when he acquired a Cushman scooter, which he attempted to modify with bodywork made of papier-mâché. After graduating from the product design program at the University of Illinois in 1965, and while riding his Yamaha 305 on a highway trip, he discovered the benefits of wind protection when he tucked in behind a long haul truck and trailer and traveled in its slipstream for a few moments. “This experience led,” Craig says of riding in the truck’s draft, “to the Vetter Fairing Company.” Craig built his first fairing in 1966. He worked…

American Triumph tuner Matt Capri, now 82 years young and finally retired from the drag strip and Salt Flats, has been a serious speed-hound all his life. For two decades from 1995 to 2015 his South Bay Triumph dealership on the Pacific Coast Highway just north of Long Beach was a mecca for imaginatively engineered go-faster updates of various Triumph models, in between being Triumph USA’s Dealer of the Year in 2005. These bikes included the street-legal turbocharged Daytona 1200 four on which Matt Capri personally set Bonneville records at over 200mph, or the stock then-new Triumph Daytona T595 triple that set a 1000cc AMA Production record at 173.735mph in 1998, again with him aboard. “It took Yamaha three years to beat that speed with an R1,” says Matt proudly.…

“This was my first bike — not this one, but one just like it. I got it when I was in high school. When I turned 16 my parents were hesitant to put me on their insurance since I hadn’t completed my driver’s education yet, which did provide a discount on insurance. “I asked if I could get a motorcycle, and they said yes. The bike cost $495; I got a loan and my dad co-signed, my payments being $25 a month. I paid for it with my paper-route money, $12 a week. The next year I began racing AMA Sportsman Scrambles and would ride my bike to the closest track, which was Fisher, Illinois. I’d remove the headlight and taillight and put on my 13-tooth front sprocket. In this…

September 11, 2001 was a dark day everyone remembers. The early morning news was riveting: A plane had hit the World Trade Center. Not knowing what happened and while glued to the television screen, we saw another plane hit the second World Trade Center tower. Then we heard about the Pentagon. Finally, we heard about Flight 93, the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. It was a story that would develop over the next several days, weeks, years, and decades. 9/11 was the Pearl Harbor of our time. Beyond the horror, anger, and emotions of that day, the story of the Flight 93 passengers’ bravery emerged. We know now that Flight 93’s intended target was the U.S. Capitol; Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers prevented that from happening. “Let’s roll,”…

Chrome Hawk I read the excellent story in my March/April 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics about Jen Tacy and her 1963 CB77 Super Hawk. I always found that bike to be a real winner and hers is perfect! The reason I’m writing is to tell you that during my combat infantry tour in beautiful Southeast Asia in 1968 I saw several CB77s with the chrome frame and gas tank. They were the bike of choice for South Vietnamese officers and were a status symbol. Usually there would be two Vietnamese officers riding on the one bike. Now whether they’d had the chroming done I don’t know. It could have been a Honda option for wealthy Vietnamese. David F. Gillogly/Mesa, Arizona The perfect motorcycle If we are talking about the perfect…

“I was pretty young when I first saw a CBX,” says Scott Steele. “It was around 1979 when they first came out. I saw one coming down the street, and thought, “Holy cow, look at that engine.” I have a vivid memory of that bike — it was red. What I remember was that massive engine and the six pipes coming out the front.” The Honda Motor Corporation was selling plenty of motorcycles in the late 1970s, but management fretted that its offerings were lacking excitement. Ten years earlier, Honda’s CB750 had taken the motorcycling world by storm, but as the years went on, Honda’s offerings were looking increasingly tame. By 1978, Kawasaki was the leading manufacturer of wild motorcycles, and Yamaha was catching up to Honda in monthly sales.…

As mentioned in the main story, Jim Balestrieri of the Throttlestop Museum bought Mystery Ship No. 5 first and calls it the “promo bike” as it’s seen in several images of Vetter’s glossy marketing brochure. According to the printed “Mystery Ship In-House Record,” which Craig provided, No. 5 was completed on August 16, 1980. It features a stock, naturally aspirated KZ1000 engine and is finished in “Standard colors.” The wheels are Dymag with Michelin tires — and the machine was originally sold to Norman Jones of Engle Motors in Kansas City, Missouri. It was kept in dry storage, with its original shipping crate, until 2000 when Jones sold the machine. No. 5 appeared for sale again in 2004 at auction, and once more at the 2018 Mecum Auction in Las…

What do you get when you take a classic motocross frame, bolt in a Yamaha engine and bring it bang up to date with an electric boot? A bike that gets Derek Rickman’s approval, that’s what. Throw a leg over the Rickman Metisse, squeeze the valve lifter lever to the handlebar and hit the starter button. With the flywheels spinning briskly, drop the valve-lifter and the XT500 instantly thumps into life. Hang on a minute … a Rickman chassis with a Yamahaaha engine, and an electric starter as well? What the heck is going on here? “When I was much younger I used to race a Bultaco Metisse Motocross and the handling was superb,” says Guy-Fabrice Mestrot. “A few years later, that was replaced by a Triumph Metisse, se, so…

When Matt Capri lived in Rye, New York, he raced each weekend at the Westhampton Drag Strip on Long Island. Races were held there from June through October every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a $10 per day entry fee for as many runs as you could get it. With the popularity of the illegal street drags there weren’t as yet so many drag strips to race on — the explosion in their number took place the following decade, as the massive Eisenhower Interstate Highway program rollout saw the completion of many of the favored venues for the street drags — so bikers came from surrounding states including Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts to race there. Fans brought picnics to watch the motorcycle drag races. The car…

Maserati’s place in Italy’s glorious motorized heritage uncannily parallels that of the equally historic Benelli brand on two wheels. Each was founded by a large band of brothers passionate in the pursuit of mechanical excellence, each won Grand Prix races and World Championships with the result, but each played second fiddle in the public eye, both on the race track, and in the showroom, to the more illustrious products of rival single-minded patriarchs named Enzo Ferrari, and Count Domenico Agusta. Moreover, each tasted success in the marketplace, before falling prey to commercial hardship and, doubly ironically, both ending up simultaneously in the hands of the very same Argentinian financial entrepreneur, Alejandro de Tomaso. His efforts to milk their prestige only succeeded in devaluing their appeal even further — but today,…

In 1950, decorated World War II veteran Carl Frank Schmidt was playing cards. Instead of cash, one of his poker buddies wagered a 1941 Harley-Davidson EL “Knucklehead.” We don’t know the hand Carl held — it could have been four aces — but whatever he’d been dealt won him the motorcycle and he rode it home. According to family, the Knucklehead was used on their Delafield, Wisconsin, farm. Apparently, Carl enjoyed herding cattle with it and generally buzzing around the property, and once rode it as far as Texas to visit another war-time friend. Carl used the Knucklehead for many years but began restoring it in the late 1980s. Sometime in 1993, he wrapped up the recommissioning of the machine, and at that point, he occasionally rode the bike, and…

Motorcycles have been designed for and adapted to many and varied purposes. They can offer transportation; provide fun, sport and adventure; go racing; perform haulage and delivery tasks; and keep armies moving. They have even been used as pace vehicles for bicycle racers! Functionality aside, though, motorcycles can also be a fashion accessory, a lifestyle statement, and an aid to courtship. Motorcycles have certainly helped initiate romances and facilitated many amorous relationships. Any doubts about the sensual potential of motorcycle rider and machine should be dispelled by watching Mary Murphy swoon over Marlon Brando’s Triumph Thunderbird in the movie The Wild One. In due course, many of those relationships lead to a wedding and a family. However, most motorcycles can only carry a maximum of two people — developing nations…

It is one thing to build a successful motorcycle, another to market it. When Honda presented their low-piped road-oriented CB160 back in 1965, it met with reasonable acclaim as a sporty small bike at a small price of $550. In 1966 the high-piped street-scrambler CL160 appeared, and it became a major hit because of The Look. Trying to be sporty with a top speed of 70mph was a bit of a challenge, but turning off the pavement and blasting up a dirt road — that was a different image. Changing the CB to a CL, the Honda designers had sensibly left the 160 engine and chassis pretty much alone, although they did do some minor work to make the minimalist frame a bit stronger with the anticipation of some off-road…

Motorcycle Classics wants to know about classic motorcycle shows, swap meets, road runs and more. Send details of upcoming events at least three months in advance to lhall@motorcycleclassics.com 7/7 Find your next bike, part or accessory at the 4th annual WNY Motorcycle Days Swap Meet July 7-9. Hosted by Champion Powersports, the event will take place at 5010 West Shore Rd., Cuba, New York. Spaces are $25 for the weekend if you are looking to clean out your garage. All bikes are welcome. Primitive camping is available as well as food and facilities. Contact Tim Blarr at (716) 968-6067 or find the swap meet on Facebook. 7/9 Visit the Vintage Motorbike Show, July 22-23, during the 41st annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. All classic, vintage, antique and historic racing motorbikes are invited to…