August 27, 2011

CYCLE WORLD ROLLING CONCOURS: INDY 2011


Its generally considered 'demanding' if a Concours d'Elegance requires its vehicles to drive over the podium to collect awards, as if proper use of a restored vehicle is unusual...and in some circles - both bike and car - it is.  Cycle World came up with a better idea, conducting its 'Rolling Concours' sporadically and in various locations over the last dozen years; gather a bunch of shiny old bikes together, go for a ride of ~70miles, then judge the machines according to loose categories of chronology and country of manufacture.

The rider of the machine is honored as well as the actual motorcycle, rather than simply the owner, as owners tend to enter multiple machines!  My 1925 Norton flat-tank racer took Best in Show in 2000; after hammering the not-perfect old ferret around the hilly roads of Sonoma, she was slathered in lubricant and smoking like a gun, but use of the machine 'as the maker intended' impressed the judges (note for future entrants...).

As the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts a MotoGP this weekend, Indy seemed a good place to hold a Rolling Concours, and CW editor Mark Hoyer asked if I'd like to be a judge this year....never having been to Indy, the answer was obvious. After a very late night post-Double RL Brough Superior party in Los Angeles, my 4:45am wakeup was painful, although I did catch sleep on the long flight.   Slightly bleary on arriving at our hotel that afternoon, I failed to recognized the first person I bumped into; current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo...

Judges for the 2011 Cycle World Rolling Concours included editor Hoyer, renowned and long-time CW columnist and author Peter Egan, and your humbled narrator.  Hoyer and I had thought to ship our own bikes to Indy with the CW roadshow truck, but that proved difficult, and threats of a Ural as our mounts failed to materialize.  It was left to Mark's wife Jenn, who takes care of press and publicity for Harley-Davidson, to source a few H-D V-Rods for our journalistic pleasure.  With a natural aversion to cruisers (two of which have unceremoniously dumped me on tarmac after the skinny front wheel of a 700lb bike lost traction), I was curious about the only 'performance' bike left in Harley's stable, after the gifting MV Agusta to the Castiglionis and dumping Buell in the trash.

The entrants to the Concours began arriving at 8am, a good-natured bunch of Midwesterners mostly, although some travelled all the way from Baltimore, of course for the MotoGP, bringing their old show bike for extra fun.  Most bikes were post-1950s, although a '47 Indian Chief and '37 BSA 250cc B21 made up the 'antique' category.  This left a gaggle of 70s two-strokes and big-bore Japanese fours (now eligible for AMCA membership!) to accompany a typical range of 60s/70s Britbikes - Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons.

Finding standout machines was made easy by a double-engine '74 Triumph Bonneville (on which I snuck a ride - it felt like a long-wheelbase twin!  With 1500cc of power...), an outrageous 'Willie's Latin Thing' over-dressed Harley FLH in purple metalflake double-Jesus, and several smartly restored beauties.  Let the ride begin...

Indiana isn't Cali, so the roads were pretty straight, but the countryside was green, the day fine, and we settled into 'just enjoy it' mode, as I got used to my H-D's feet-first riding position.  That dohc powerplant certainly has urge, and one-handed 15mph corners were free of drama.  A decent bike, which looks pretty racy with a human on it; although I found the gearchange notchy and the front brake grabby, it didn't pitch me off, and I grew comfortable having my butt pressed hard into the seat back when twisting the throttle.

Our support team somehow wangled Ducati Diavels as their mounts, which seemed entirely unfair, and a protest at lunch brought a change of mount, so my Road Test of Duc's newest 'what-the-hell-is-it' was begun in earnest.  While the Diavel is also considered a 'cruiser', its performance and riding position were anything but laid-back.  In typical Ducati fashion, its a rocket with superior handling, feeling far more nimble and self-assured than its looks imply.  The enormous 'tank' made the front end invisible while riding, but ignoring the visual experience had my body thinking this was a much smaller sports bike.  Odd, but fun.

Our ride concluded, it didn't take long to pick our winners, and riders seemed pleased with the day and the results.  No points were lost from oil mist, gas stains, or bits fallen off (just a couple), and the pleasure of the day meant nobody seemed too bent on winning (or at least, nobody tried to bribe me).  Would that more Concours were conducted thus.
Lunch stop under the spreading trees, serenaded by cicadas and katydids
Bates jacket goes well with a '67 Triumph Tiger 650
BMW R60/2 with Touring tank
Lovely restored '37 BSA B21
Motive unit of the 250cc ohv BSA; a mini Empire Star.
Super-clean 750cc Norton Commando, with matching yellow bungee holding the primary cases together, as he'd lost the bolt on the long journey to Indy...
The long shadow of the law...was confined to the track, as we saw none other during the day.
Riders of the 'Bonne-Bonne'...motorcycling keeps love alive.
The remarkably refined 'Bonne-Bonne' primary drive and extended tank with 'mouth organ' badge
A hefty lunge on the extended kicker brought the Triumph double-twin to life; it sounded like a ride with a friend on another Triumph, with shared vibes.  It handled surprisingly well for the extra 7" of length, and had plenty of urge from two 750cc T140 engines...
Matching helmet included.
Cutting the grass to avoid a rock-strewn road...
The mighty '47 Indian Chief
The two-stroke mob; Yamaha RZ350, RD350, and Suzuki X6
Perfect day for a ride in the park...
Rare Harley Pacer in 'original dust' condition. 
Peter Egan with the silver V-Rod...
Picnic lunch in the park...
It says, 'Ride Vintage'...
Indiana is a green and pleasant land...
Corner workers at the Indy 'Brickyard' track
'74 Kawasaki Z1 custom with extended swingarm and 'tail of the dragon' paint
Proof of location...
Best in Show '74 Kawasaki H1 MK3...

August 24, 2011

BROUGH SUPERIOR, DOUBLE RL, BONNEVILLE



Mark Upham, ceo of Brough Superior, with Jay Leno and the 'Retro'

An international crew of Brough Superior enthusiasts, supporters, and well-wishers descended upon Los Angeles in August, coalescing at Jay Leno's 'Big Dog Garage', ready for a look at the newly-built Brough Superior 'Retro', a tool made for an attack on a Bonneville speed record.  It all centered around the ambition of Mark Upham, ceo of the newly revived B-S marque, to re-establish the Brough Superior name at Bonneville after an absence of 62 years, and to show the world that his handbuilt 'SS101' models aren't simply toys or show bikes, but machines developed to be ridden.
Leno aboard his Brough Superior 11-50 model, recently restored by the Works.
Jay Leno is well-known for his love of Broughs, and has been photographed for 20 years riding an SS100 to the Rock Store, when not driving one of his other outrageous confections.  Leno is also a generous man with a seriously equipped warehouse - capable of making or refurbishing any part on a car or motorcycle - and offered space for the Brough-Bonneville effort, as a 'staging area' to sort out tuning and development of the 'Retro' racer.  Thus, the Brough technical crew (and plenty of other interested parties) arrived in Burbank for their first look at the motorcycle designed by Alistair Gibson, former Honda F1 chief, around a postwar JAP racing engine, which had a few Bonneville runs already under its belt.
Alistair Gibson tries out the 'Retro' racing crouch...
Upham brought along several other machines, 'standard' SS101 models such as the Pendine and TE Lawrence replica, some sold already to customers, all in LA for a concentrated display at Ralph Lauren's 'Double RL' store on Melrose Ave.  
The Brough Superior 'Pendine' and 'Retro' at Double RL
DRL is Ralph's recently revived sub-brand, which mixes genuine vintage clothing with new, carefully researched and reproduced designs from mostly American sources.  For decades, Ralph Lauren scouts have traversed the USA, looking for cool stuff: clothing yes, but also jewelry, signs, accessories, military gear...all of it sitting in gigantic warehouses in New York.  Many of these pieces have been the inspiration for RL clothing, but Double RL (named after Ralph's ranch in Colorado), goes a step further, and makes outright recreations of designs which should never have left men's closets.  Not just the patterns; with Lauren's massive clout in manufacturing, they've commissioned or simply revived old mills and machinery to bring back long lost fabrics, weaves, and weights of cloth or yarn, with authentic 'period' dyes or distressing.  The mix with Brough Superior makes sense; both are high end, vintage, and expensive.
Brough Superior wallpaper behind their clothes...created specially for the night, from blown up photocopies, stained with tea!
Four Broughs arrived on DRL Melrose for an evening's celebration; call it a début for the expanding Brough Superior collection, call it a branding exercise for Brough and Double RL, call it a bon voyage party celebrating the team's impending foray on the salt, it was all of the above. 
A rare invite!  Double RL does no advertising or press releases, and relies on events and word of mouth to spread word of their brand...
The store's forecourt (left over from its days as an auto repair garage) was filled with Brough Superiors, fashionistas, vintage bikers, and TV stars, mingling happily and increasingly drunkenly as the evening wore on.  'Bikers drink a lot of beer!' was the refrain from the DRL crew...certainly no surprises there.  Highlight of the evening was the Retro's basso bellow, as Gibson happily annoyed the neighbors by revving the 1100cc beast in the warm night air.  It sounded terrific, with a sharp edge to the unsilenced v-twin bark...healthy, strong, and ready for a go on the Salt.
Salt rider Eric Patterson on the Retro
As Los Angeles is the historic ground zero for American speed culture, the differing worlds of the 'fashion', 'entertainment', and the 'vintage bike' contingents mingled easily - one could hardly discern them, unless they arrived on a motorcycle (as Jared Zaugg, Alain de Cadenet, et al certainly did), or had their movements strobed by paparazzi flashes.  An interesting contrast with the previous Double RL/Brough party on the Blvd St Germain last year, where Haute Couture shook hands with Hotrod Kulture, making a glorious noise in the courtyard of Ralph's Paris flagship.


Like a bunch of kids at the circus...
Jay Leno's steam tractor; just a local runabout.


The Double RL staff, always willing lend a hand.
The Retro, revealed.
Spreading out Brough bits in the Big Dog Garage...
Every Brough Superior comes with a handy carry-box!
Regarding the '27 SS100...
Twin Amal Type 26 'track' carbs used on the Pendine, modified with jet needles for smoother running...
Rider Eric Patterson...
The 'Pendine' now has an experimental electric starter...
Retro at Rest
Jay Leno drives his steam tractor around the neighborhood.  Steam power may be relatively quiet, but huge steel wheel with hard rubber treads shake buildings!
The TE Lawrence Replica outside DoubleRL

Jay Leno with Alistair Gibson and the Retro
The Vintagent tries out the Retro...and volunteers to ride it on the salt!
Engine room of the 'Retro'; a postwar, magnesium crankcase 1100cc twin, with two Amal Mk2 carbs, and two BTH magnetos



A Triumph Daytona already lives at DoubleRL Melrose, but is rather overshadowed here...
A 1927 Brough SS100...the oil drips may add value to the clothing!
Alistair Gibson regards the Retro after its first American fire-up, still burning off surface oil...

Mark Upham and his Retro
Upham tries out his first pair of DRL selvedge jeans...
The Brough Superior wallpaper...not available in stores.
The Ace Cafe's Mark and Linda Willsmore, along for the fun of it, co-sponsors of the Bonneville run.
Alain de Cadenet arrived on his Crocker...
...and this fellow arrived on his own Brough!
Tivoli lights and motorcycles on a warm evening...must be LA.
AdC's Crocker engine; America's answer to Brough.
Crockers, actors, papparazzi...
A local vintage bike club makes the scene
Michael Jackson, former Works scrambler and co-owner of NVT, discusses Jeff Decker's Vincent custom
The Pendine certainly catches eyes...
Jared Zaugg, Alain de Cadenet, et al, arrive on wheels
Trying out Decker's minimalist Series 'B' Vincent, with lots of cool details.

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