AMCA Dania Beach FL

[Fire-medic]

Lots of bikes! I saw many people I know, two of-whom were judges for the judged show, both were long-time Yamaha factory mechanics. Now they work for a wealthy patron who has a $$$$ collection of bikes and cars. They maintain the stock and get to drive and ride a lot of neat stuff.

The 2nd pic is from the Markham Park/Sunrise (City of) Toys for Tots run, & is my bike by the rotary-aircraft parking lot. On the way home I was passed by a guy w/one of those 'fat-tire' H-D's, to ones w/a 300 mm tire, or whatever they are, he was a real 'scooter-tramp,' or at-least he thought he was, all-stretched-out over the tank w/his shirtails flapping in the wind, no-helmet, no-gloves, no riding jacket, feet stretched-out in-front of him on the highway pegs, and weaving in-and-out of traffic like a madman. I saw him coming-up fast in the rearview. He went roaring by me in a big show of noise and not-much passing space. He soon found himself riding side-by-side w/a bike that was worth probably as-much as his wheels...
I let him make the first move, he lunged ahead about a half-front wheel, and I nailed it. When I looked next to me in about 5 seconds, surprise-"no Harley custom wide-waddler!" He was about 300 ft. back, trying furiously to keep-up. I rolled out of it, and as he finally pulled-up, I rolled back into it. He went backwards like a missionary from a cannibal's cooking-pot, but he was twisting that throttle tighter than a guy-wire on a broadcast tower. I let-off, he caught up, and we rode side-by-side for a bit. Again he tried, and this time I just left him. He turned-off at an exit, I saw in my (very) rear-view mirror. I think his ego was bruised and he wasn't as-sure of his bike's "hotness-potential" since he got dusted by "some Jap-crap!!"

There's a charity auto and bike meet in Boca Raton coming-up, http://www.bocaratonconcours.com/bocaratonconcours/details.php
there will be tens of millions of dollars' worth of cars and bikes on display, last time I went there were three supercharged Duesenbergs, among other marques. Supposedly production of the SJ Duesenberg was 36 total, so at that show were 8% of the total production ever-produced from about 83 years-ago (start of production)! My two acquaintances who judged this show are responsible for selecting the entries for the Boca Raton Concours.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/duesenberg-cars2.htm

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z13531/Duesenberg-Model-J.aspx

So as you can see from these pics, a great variety of bikes were at the AMCA show. The shots of the pro-stock looking dragsters are all owned by one guy. Two had the bodies on & one didn't. The bare one is a 1500 cc MTC cyl & custom head. It has Gast carbs & a Gast tranny. It runs 7.80's, all-motor. He's owned the three of them for many years, he rides them himself.

The BSA Firebird scrambler (#70) was about the hottest thing on the road when I was hanging-out at my friend's who had a Bultaco dual-purpose bike. We used to ride over to his dealer's who was a guy whose kids we went to school with, even their daughters rode motorcycles to school, the older one, Jan Robinson, rode a BSA Shooting Star. Her older brother Dave Robinson, rode in Europe for Bultaco in the 1960's. Their family business was on Big Ridge Rd. outside Rochester NY. There was a scrambles track behind the shop that was my intro to offroad riding.

I posted some other stuff but when I tried to update prior to posting, it wouldn't take. So, instead of risking losing all these pics I am just gonna try to upload what I still have.

So, let's see if these pics will load.

 

[The Beekeeper]

Great pics FM!!...........I know it sounds crazy but I like the Benelli 750!....Never knew they did a 6cyl bike!!.....It was in good company with the KZ1300 and Honda CBX!!..............Tom.

 

[Fire-medic]

TOM, glad you enjoyed the pics. The Sei was a copy of the Honda 500/550 but w/the Italian styling & components, & 2 extra cyl's. That guy likes 6-cyl bikes, I guess. He had the Kawi, CBX, & the Sei.

I liked the 360 Yamaha Enduro, just like the one I bought new from M&M Cycle in Kalamazoo, new, in May 1972, $1016 o.t.d. That's a '73. The friends who were judging the show said the English bike quality & # of entries was down, while the Japanese were 'up.' Seeing the two-strokes, & hearing them run sure reminded me of living in MI, using my 360 for enduros in SE MI, then bolting the lights back-on to ride to work. One of my college roommates had one of the first 500 Kawi Mach III's & he promptly threw-on some slugs to the downtubes to extend them & to make it a 'chopper' in profile, but few choppers of that era ever had its performance (unless they were Mach III's!) .

If only I had the time to work on my stuff, I have a lot of projects just-waiting!

One of the thinks I always like to see are the AL alloy fuel tanks on bikes of all-ages. I'd like to get an English wheel and a TIG, and learn how-to use them.

I have a bunch more pics but even w/my dsl, it takes about 4.5 minutes to upload ea. one, sometimes less, it's funny how it can vary. I have a fast AMD CPU tower I just had-built, w/a SSD hard-drive, so it's not the computer's fault.

The BSA Spitfire Scrambler was the hottest thing on the street when I just had gotten my D.L. in the mid-'60's, and I like the clean design of the 'egg' unit construction engine. I always thought the design was very appealing, and if I struck it rich I'd have one, or maybe the Hornet, which was basically the Spitfire, but even-hotter, and competition only. For some reason, I have always liked the Victor's (BSA 441 scrambler) because I recall John Banks still giving the two-strokes a run for their money in scrambles on one. They have a clean design and can run well, but are supposed to be difficult to start, like any bigger single. My Yamaha 360 Enduro was difficult-enough on its own, I think I had a cracked tarsal bone in my right foot from kick starting it. If the timing was a bit off, as the points rubbing block on the crankshaft wore, it would occasionally kick-back and end-up running in reverse, quite startling when you grab a big handful of throttle, and release the clutch, only to find yourself w/5-speeds in-reverse! Always a popular event when trying to impress your dirtbike-ridin' buddies at the races or a sandpit where you're riding recreationally!