49 MILE RIDE

The weather gods smiled on the 7th annual 49 Mile Ride, and we had a perfect day out, snarling up traffic and generally having a good time on the roads of San Francisco. The '49' has inadvertently morphed into the largest urban Vintage motorcycle ride in the US, which has necessitated that the Yerba Buena AMCA help organize catering and chase truck duties, and have someone at all junctions to mark the route.

The horde has grown to 150-plus machines, all pre-1974, and most considerably older than that. Oldest bike present was Kevin Burrell's '29 Norton Model 18, followed by Kim Young's '30 Velo KSS, and my '33 Velo KTT.
Plenty of oil was shed on Treasure Island, our starting point, where coffee and pastries awaited anyone who wasn't busy taking photographs of the amazing variety of machines (and people!) who showed up at 9am on a Sunday for a ride.


Top pic is a classic California shot - a Norton Commando Roadster under the palm trees on a clear blue sky day.



Next is Craig Howell's lovely BMW R60/2, in Dover white, with the SF downtown skyline in the background. Lurking menacingly beside it is Phillipe Murat's Kawasaki H1, the BMW's polar opposite! I've added a pic of Uwe Goedereis (taken by Craig) - Uwe was visiting from Germany, and timed his stay for the '49' and All-British Ride.

Even scooters are OK!













Your scribe on his KTT, with downtown in the back (Treasure Island is 4 miles inside the bay, and has a great view of the city). I'm trying out my new/old green German racing jodhpurs - lined with felt, very comfortable, but a bit warm today. Second pic of the Mule in action courtesy David Blankenhorn... thanks!







The rider's meeting - somewhere in there Pete Young is standing on a truck bed trying to be heard. Bikes as far as the eye can see.







I didn't catch everyone's name (so if you're pictured, send me a note!), but I enjoyed taking pix of some of the characters on the day.











This ranger at Fort Point was happy to see us; his Harley FLH was parked nearby. Unfortunately, we had to move our machines out of the fort's parking lot, as someone had chosen this lovely day to jump off the GG bridge, and the emergency crews soon filled up the lot in our stead.

Fort Point was built in 1798, and can be wonderfully gloomy in the fog, as the walls are 10' thick, and most of the Fort is empty, with no glass, just open gun ports to the foggy sea. The Golden Gate bridge was built directly over the Fort, but soars several hundred feet above the squat brick structure. Most bridge jumpers choose to walk mid-span and jump over water, but some jumpers don't walk far enough, and land on the coastal rocks, or the fort itself. Thus the heavy presence of emergency vehicles (and one fake cable car!) in the photo. The bridge authority tries to downplay all this, but the facts are pretty odd; no one jumps from the Marin side, always the SF side of the bridge, and always facing San Francisco rather than the Pacific ocean. It's the world's #1 suicide spot, apparently - 85% are locals though, and about 30 of the 1300 jumpers have survived. There a great article here.







That's Sonny and his hotrod Norton/Matchless/custom hybrid, still running on ex-dirt track tires, fast as hell, and sounding like tearing calico when wound up.









Behind double trouble here you'll see the fire trucks and cops (note scowl on butch ranger in background). Paul Zell on his SS-ed Ducati GT and Max Schaaf on his completely cool Harley Knucklehead bobber '4Q' - a bike which really warranted a second and third look. The detail shot at the bottom is the 'mating snakes' exhaust system, and tiny custom taillights; a lot of thought and effort went into making this Knuck.















Kim Young trying to find husband Pete, whose sidecar outfit ran out of sparks on the Bay Bridge - frightening enough in a car, potentially lethal on a bike. I've broken down twice on that span, and thus always ride in the side lanes!








After we left Fort Point, we rode along the Great Hwy, and watched the surfers contend with the 50degree water and nasty cross-currents. It looked tempting today though, with 6' waves and no wind.













We're up on Twin Peaks here, overlooking the city from SF's highest point, and hoping the tour buses don't crush our bikes.





Kevin Burrell and his '29 Norton Model 18, running very well, with it's funny silencer (one year only?). The bike was purchased as a very incorrect and ill-running machine, and Kevin's done a nice job with it. He had the tanks repro'd in England.











That's Lynn Miller and his Velo Venom Clubman model. Lynn makes and repairs bagpipes for a living; talk about a niche market! He also likes vintage watches... I see a complication connection.













Chris and Felicity Bonk, and Kim Young, with Philippe Murat in the background.









The road off Twin Peaks can be taken with the engine off for almost a mile, which makes the hairpin corners more exciting. We're on our way to Lindley Meadows in Golden Gate Park here, for our lunch stop.

Lunch was catered, and although they ran out of
food (why is catering so hard to arrange on these rides?), the locale was perfect. The afternoon sunlight slanted through the Monterey Cypress trees, the grass was green, and the lineup of bikes looked great. More motorcyclists (who couldn't get out of bed on time?) joined us, from hotrodded mopeds to real 1% types wearing club colors. An interesting mix.

For more great pix of the ride, click here:

49 Mile Pix

MIKE KANE, UPDATE

Mike has the 'Harley Chopper' back on the road, and his own words say it best:
"After 3 days work my
Harley Chopper is back on the road. No real serious
damage except the head lite, it took 3 lights to fill
the void left by its absence. I had to remove the
cylinders because there was dirt inside the carb and
all the way to the intake valves. About a pint of dirt
was inside the exhaust system. I want to thank all the
people who helped retrieve my bike from the cliff that
tried to swallow me. Ian Davidson sent me photos and a
new accessory for my bike. It's a incline Gage, or as
I like to call it, a inclinator. It measures lean
angels. Next time I will be able to tell exactly how
steep the cliff I ride off is!"
If anyone reading this can locate an oval headlamp, as pictured in the previous post, please contact me and I'll get you in touch with Mike. I think they came off a 30's car?
I love the Inclinator! It looks entirely home made, yet totally period.

POZO MELO VELO RALLY

The Melo Velo rally was moved to Pozo (actually Santa Margarita Lake) this year from its previous home in Ojai, where it had been originated in the late 70's by Pat Peddicord, then taken over for many years by Tim Kenney. Tim has been seeking to pass the baton, so Pete Young and I decided to hold the event near Atascadero, as we had attended some pre-16 rides in the area and thought it rich in potential, with good roads, good weather, the Pozo saloon, and some excellent camping areas.

About 30 Velocettistas arrived on Friday night and Saturday morning (I pulled in at 2am), and we had an excellent ride through the hills and vineyards of Atascadero/Creston/Paso Robles, to the ocean and back. The trees had turned autumn colors (especially the poison oak - vivid red!), the grass was brown, and the vineyards were full of shades from green to red.

Our route included Hwy 229 ('Rossi's Driveway' - a single-lane ribbon which almost loops on itself), Peachy Canyon Road (full of peach trees in bright yellow), and Old Creek Road (which zig-zags to the ocean dramatically). Between the beautifully paved canyon racetracks were stretches of gently rolling hills covered with vines - the old ranches and orchards are making way for the inevitable grape.

We had a catered lasagne dinner under the stars on Saturday, and the weather gods smiled on us, as it was foggy early in the morning, but the sun shone all afternoon. It had been raining on Friday, so I was a bit concerned that no-one would show up, but I needn't have worried. Many rode from LA or the SF bay area to Santa Margarita Lake, including Mike Jongblood, Larry Luce, Joe Powers III, Dana Shatts, and John Ray. They all left Sunday morning under a cold fog. Ironically, we stayed away from Pozo proper and the infamous Pozo Saloon, as there was a Black Crowes concert scheduled for Saturday, and we didn't want to wade through boozed-up country-rockers at the end of our ride.

(Header pic shows a lovely Vincent Rapide engine - see below)


Pic 1 shows the indomitable George Hays, lately of Port Angeles WA, previously hailing from Alaska. George gave a dissertation on the funny peaked caps used by welders on the Alaska pipeline, showing us how the cap is rotated to keep welding slag out of ones' ears when working underneath a pipe.


Pic 2 is our lunchtime lineup in Paso Robles, where we intersected briefly with a Vincent o/c ride. The mishmash of 'VOC' members was quite a sight, and much oil was shed onto the tarmac. The old town square in the center of town, now renamed 'El Paso de Robles', has been upgraded to a tony sh0pping/eating district, so finding a good eating spot was no problem.


Pic 3 shows Velo owners Mick Felder, Joe Powers III, Satchi and George Shoblo. Note the 'Norton' construction sign we're all parked beneath.






Pic 5 is a lovely Black Shadow. There were about 10 Vincent/HRD's parked near us, in varying states of restoration, from immaculate to merely very nice. They all seemed to be Series C Rapides and Shadows.









Pic 6 is 'Vin Rouge', cabled to several modern sentries for protection. It's a Touring model Rapide, with valanced fenders, smaller diameter wheels, and full luggage, although the 5" diameter Black Shadow speedo sits prominently above the handlebars.







Pic 7 shows a clever topbox, covered in Rexine, looking rather period, if a bit fussy. I like the big latch, but I think if Phil Irving had designed this box, it would have had quick-release tommy bars!












Pic 8 is the big rock out in the ocean, must be Morro Bay, with Velo on the left riding Hwy 1 between Old Creek Road and Hwy 41, which climbed back to Atascadero.







Pic 9 is the unfortunate Dirt Streak which accompanies a 'flying W', and a mildly bent KSS with bruised rider... no names, no recriminations! It all turned out fine, and no it wasn't me this time.

MIKE KANE, CLIFF-DIVER

Mike Kane has a very nice Indian special, built up from various years and models, and decorated with a lot of great period lights and accessories. He attended our Yosemite AMCA ride, and I took a lot of pix of his bike as it is unique and visually compelling.

Mike had an epic spill on Wards Ferry Road, a totally avoidable one as well, but it has a happy ending (or at least not a tragic one!). Mike stopped to assist another rider on the narrow and cliff-clad road - there is certainly no shoulder or guardrail, just a rock wall on one side, and a 150' drop on the other into the canyon below. All riders on our rally were given a detailed 'heads up' on what to expect on the road, which is only 20 miles long, but due to the possibility of going over the side, needs to be ridden with respect.

After helping the other rider, Mike rode off, forgetting to tuck away his side-stand, which is a very stiff item - stiff enough to pogo a 500lb motorcycle towards the edge of a cliff when trying to get around a left turn! Mike did his best to haul the bike to a stop and keep away from the edge of the world, but his front wheel hit the soft dirt verge, and even though he was essentially stopped at this point, the front wheel began to slide down the cliff face. Mike tried his manly best to keep the wheel up, but the rear wheel began to crumble the road edge as well, and soon he was sliding vertically down the dirt cliff face, struggling to keep the bike upright so that it wouldn't crash end-over-end down to the rocks below. It must have looked like he was riding a dirt elevator down the hill!

Somehow the bike caught on a less-steep spot on the hillside, and stopped about 40' vertically down the hill. Mike climbed back up to the road, dirty but unharmed.

It took about an hour for the tow truck to arrive, and after much negotiating, Mike and the driver came up with a plan - 'I can't tell you to get on your bike as I tow it up the hill, but I won't stop you if you do', was the compromise. A cable was lowered from his truck on the road, we removed as many of the fragile items from the bike as we could (horns, lights, one half of his gas tank, speedo, etc), before wrapping a large nylon strap around the forks and steering head. It took some heaving, but we managed to get the bike pointed up the cliff face, and Mike got on it and managed to keep it upright all the way, with lots of yanking from yours truly who was also taking pictures, and keeping out of the likely path of the bike should the strap break! Climbing up and down that cliff six times, hauling tools, bike parts, straps, etc up and down, in leathers on a hot day, was fairly exhausting.











The last pictures really give an idea of how steep was that hill. If Mike had gone over the edge ten feet before or after where he did, it was a sheer rock face for the first 40' down - it doesn't bear imagining. He must have a guardian angel with a sense of humor!