Musings Of A Motorcycle Aficionado.....
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Indian Dragster
This is one of the coolest drag bikes ever, I believe it started as a 1937 Sport Scout. It was built and raced by Stan Dishong of Vallejo Calif. I have had it on here before but it sticks in my mind because I used to ogle it every time I went into Stan's shop as a kid.
I need to get more particulars as to engine size and what kind of speeds it turned out and will upgrade as I go.
It is a '37 Indian Scout Dragster that Stan put the first ever racing slick on. This was back in 1953. The Indian ran mid 11-sec runs day in and day out. A truly wild an amazing bike. It evidently went 118 mph in the quarter. I wonder what it would have done at El Mirage ?
Vintage Fuel
Some very cool old iron, these bikes had style and speed. I am currently trying to get my hands on a vintage Triumph mill that I came in contact with last year. A reluctant seller but persistence..............
These pictures were appropriated here and there on the world wide web including Google Search and The Jockey Journal
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tether Car Racers
Push Starting A Car
A Vintage 1940's Dooling
60 Meter Track
While I realize that this is not motorcycle related, it is interesting from the mechanical point of view. I first heard of this sport from a gentleman who purchased a Triumph T100 from me. He was telling me that he raced tether cars, I had never heard of them before and he proceeded to explain the whole deal to me. These little cars that are not much longer than 12" can go in speeds in excess of 200 mph !
I didn't think much about it until I can across another very cool old er guy who has more off the chart motorcycles than I would have expected. He was telling me he was selling some motorcycles to buy a tether car, these things are not cheap and can go well over $3000 for a vintage car such as a 1940's Dooling.
He invited me to check out the cars race as they are holding the National Races here in SOCAL at Wittier Narrows Park. I went over and watched for a while and I have to say I was impressed. These guys are building cars with what amounts to model airplane motors and I saw a couple go well over 200 mph and some of the vintage cars from the 40's went over 100 mph with one going 135.
The car is run on a fixed concrete track and is tethered to a center pole so the car is stable. The car is then started by the pusher who uses a stick to get the car going. At the pole end of the tether cable another man controls the cable to give the car a good start and to keep the tether off the ground until it gets up to speed. When the car gets going the man in the center hops up onto a little step and the car can run unimpeded around the track. When the run is over, the car is shut off with a broom which trips a switch shutting off the fuel.
It was pretty amazing to watch these cars go. Incidentally I met a man who had traveled fro Switzerland to watch the races.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
101 Scout Update
I have not done much with the 101 Scout lately, I have been traveling and tied up with other things. I did find an original brake lever for the bike, a pretty nice score as these are fairly rare.
I also ordered a high quality reproduction Jiffy Stand, I have been trying to use original parts but this is one item that I don't mind updating. Some of the original side stands can be metal fatigued and can break leaving your bike laying on its side.
It reminds me of an incident that occurred when I was a lot younger. I had just gotten my tins back from the painter for my 1947 Harley WL and went for a ride. Naturally I had not registered the bike yet and got pulled over by a Vallejo police officer. She was being pretty hard core and wanted to impound my bike. While I was pleading my case the bike tipped over on its side, I was completely freaked out because of the fresh paint. It turned out that the paint was undamaged and the police officer had mercy on me and let me go with a warning. God bless the V.P.D., sometimes everything just turns out okay !
