Month: July 2012

Idiotic AMA snub of Nobby Clark. I don’t often go “there” but….

I just followed / stumbled across the whole Nobby Clark Hall of fame slap in the face and the reaction of Speed TV’s Dave Despain. Mr Despain has just earned my sincere respect and admiration in his response to all of this. For those of you who don’t know who Mr Clark is and what his contribution to motorcycle history encapsulates please do some googling. There’s plenty of info but know that he was a legendary rider and later in his career he was the bike builder for that other guy known as Kenny Roberts.

The whole story is here on the Cycle World site. WTF is wrong with the AMA?

Mr Despains reply is reprinted below:

Motorcycle Hall of Fame
13515 Yarmouth Dr.
Pickerington, OH 43147

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter and the enclosed medal commemorating my induction comprise my immediate resignation from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. I expect my name and picture to be removed without delay from all Hall of Fame materials and representations.

I take this action in response to the Hall of Fame’s unconscionable rescinding of the nomination of Nobby Clark, a motorcycling legend more than worthy of Hall of Fame membership. I believe we Hall of Famers have a special stake in the integrity of the institution and its nominating process. I have lost all faith in that process and, more importantly, in the individuals who apparently now control it.

I am deeply suspicious of media speculation that Clark’s “criminal record” is somehow grounds for the withdrawal of his nomination but given the absence of any clear and official explanation from Hall of Fame officials, that apparently is the brush with which Nobby is to be tarred. This raises a couple obvious questions: What changed in the short time between the announcement and the rescinding of Clark’s nomination and why would Clark’s ”criminal record” be grounds for a blackball when that clearly was not an issue for a number of previous inductees who also have criminal records.

I suspect the answers to these questions, if they were truly known, would do nothing to restore my faith in the integrity of the institution but in the end my resignation does not turn on those answers. Instead it is based on a simple and inescapable conclusion; given everything Nobby Clark has accomplished in this sport, if he doesn’t belong in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame then I sure as hell shouldn’t be in there.

Sincerely,

Dave Despain

Overdue for some wanderlust pics…

This one came from the always excellent Lost Rider Site. He’s volunteered a few shots to me in the past and they always get my mind to daydreaming. Be sure to check them out.

Close call/reminder. Motorcycles are invisible.

This guy was a lot nicer than I’d have been.

The latest from our old friend Murph!

Sorry Murph (and a LOT of other folks) for missing this originally but apparently my spam filter has gone insane.  I now check it almost more often than my inbox.  Here’s the latest on our old friend.  If you’re new here, do yourself a favor and bookmark his site and check in on it often.  Murph’s a renowned world traveler, adventurer and photographer par excellence!   Here’s his latest on the sidecar build and on his travels.  I especially enjoyed the Leno interview!  Looking good Murph!  Nice workspace too!

 

 

 

 

Steve, hi.

Hope this finds you well my Florida friend and fellow mosquito swatter.

I had been meaning to send you some of my BMW 1150 Duo-Drive build pics, but then I slipped and fell down some stairs with Macbook in hand, needless to say the laptop did not fare well. Screen is bust. I have an article on the blog explaining what happened. I’m trying to offset the repair cost by selling some decals, maybe some of your readers would like to get a cool sticker set for their moto’s.

Meanwhile, in other news we’re 1/3 of the way into my Duo-Drive sidecar conversion, so here’s a few pics to show the difference from when I started to now.
The first pic is right before teardown, second pic is a shop overview, and third pic is a mock-up we did yesterday to see how the whole outfit is shaping up.
I can’t give too many detail pics at this stage Steve, as the build article is already sold to another publication, but you, MPOTD and your readers have always been very supportive of my blog, so I’m happy to share these with you. Nobody else has these yet, not even the ‘other’ publication.

The second “Murph’s Mobec Duo-Drive BMW Sidecar Conversion” is now posted here on the blog.
There’s a lot of trick stuff that we decided to add, one of which is a locking hub on the sidecar wheel taken from a Suzuki Vitara 4X4.

Steve, best regards as always, and greetings from LBS Sidecars here in Elsendorp in the Netherlands and a big thank you to all who are reading this.

Murph.

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Published picture links:

Another Exquisite Honda 500 Flattracker from Metro Racing!

It’s hard to believe that a bike that looks that great is actually being raced regularly!  The latest from “Donzilla” at Metro Racing!

Hey Steve;

I used this 500 Honda in a VMC Racing Frame this Saturday for a calendar shoot. It is the current points leader in the AMA National Vintage Dirt Track series in the 500 Masters class piloted by Craig Estelle. It’s next stop on the circuit will be at AMA Vintage Days in Ashland Ohio on Saturday the 21st.

Enjoy, Don

If you like what I do or have done, Please click the link to my web site below and make a purchase. Your kindness will allow me to keep doing what ever I did to amuse you.
Don “Donzzilla” Miller
Metro Racing Inc.
3828 Quaker Lake Road
Brackney,PA 18812
Purveyors of Motorcycle History
www.metroracing.com
toll free 877 746 3876
Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/metroracing

A pair of nice triumphs.. Taken today in the parking lot of a local classic shop.

 

A Stunning “back yard” built XS 650 Tracker!

Sorry, I was told recently that I use the word “stunning” too much in my posts but I’m struggling to find a more appropriate word for this bike.  Andrew raises the bar for a back yard build to a new high. If I wasn’t such a 2 stroke junky I would be all over these XS 650’s. They’re possibly the best blank canvas in all of motorcycledom.

Just completed this one. Custom aluminum tank, custom triple clamps, 03 gsxr forks, rotors calipers and hot wing glass seat pad is custom master cylinder, custom made exhaust, barns style hubs, radian swing arm, stainless steel bars, LED tail light, Piaa eye ball lamps, custom rear brake hanger, sun rims, Buchanan spokes, Maxxis tires, Mikuni carbs, Braille batterie, Progressive shocks. Andrew Elia Solon Ohio