Ed Milich reads from his new book 'Fueled'

Wednesday, May 18, 2011: Put on at relatively short notice, Ed Milich, contributor to GuzziTech and a number of other web and paper publications, read from his new book of poems and short stories at Portland’s Moto Guzzi dealership, Cascade Moto Classics. Only a handful of people were there although Janice & Kelly, the proprietiors, had taken their usual trouble to set out hors d’oeuvres, soft drinks and cookies and plenty of chairs for the show.  

Liz from Cascade helped Ed set up his movie show on the store projector screen and the show got going right around 7:15pm.
 
For those who don’t know Ed, he’s a tall, boyish fellow with perpetual enthusiasm for the world he inhabits, which is mostly track, track and more track interspersed with episodes of tragi-comedy in his shop where he prepares improbable machinery for vintage motorcycle racing victory.
 
Ed likes to set the mood with video from the cockpit of his various rides such as a $600 Moto Guzzi V65 with more or less standard frame and a tweaked engine and a Ducati Pantah. He reads selections from his first book ‘Wrenched’ and his latest, ‘Fueled’ to the background din of these two bikes howling their guts out around Willow Springs about 80 miles north of LA. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Ed is prouder of his bikes’ voices than his own as he generally likes to keep the video sound track running while he reads to the audience.
 
‘Fueled’ comes in two parts, first the free verse, prose type poems followed by a collection of short stories that he claims are just a tad too long for a book reading, but can be enjoyed at your leisure if you acquire his book afterward. Subjects cover the addictive sights, sounds and smells of vintage motorcycle racing, the colorful characters among the track junkies and their volunteer support staff and the ups and downs of horsetrading, preparing and racing the machines on which he competes. He confesses he’s nuts about motorcycle rallies, too and even fell in love at one. He finishes his poem ‘Rally Lust’ with the following: ‘Rally Lust, though compelling, is nowhere near as strong as Rally Love’.
 
Ed’s writings are a little like a new piece of music. You are not sure you like it as much as something else you know or the artist’s previous works; then, on further exposure, it grows on you and takes its place as the new favorite. I parted with $20 for a copy of ‘Fueled’ (as I also did with ‘Wrenched’ at an earlier reading), partly to support a fellow motorcycling nut and put a few gallons in his trusty F150 for the trip to his next gig, but also to be able to enjoy his work in quieter surroundings.
 
Whether you like to ride track or you just spend time tinkering with your Moto Guzzi, you’ll find in Ed a fellow traveler whose skinned knuckles, seared flesh and face full of WD40 (read his poem ‘Tears’) may poignantly remind you of your own shop and roadside dramas. Keep on trackin’ Ed !  

Here’s a link to a news item in the Insurance Journal.

One comment on the article mentioned that this move was no problem as long as the injured party had private insurance.

Not so ! Insurance premiums will go up due to costs of hospital ICU and long term trauma care. Next, health insurance companies will begin to discriminate against or worse, refuse to insure motorcyclists.

The solution: give motorcyclists the freedom to wear jet style helmets to improve hearing and peripheral vision. They already enjoy this right under the current law and they can even wear the worthless plastic salad bowls that pass for a helmet if they like, but leave the law in place. It’s as much for the protection of those who already wear helmets willingly as well as of those who would otherwise not.

Agree ? Disagree ? Post a comment below.

The One Motorcycle Show. Here are photos of some of the participating bikes:

Norton Commando 750

Ducati

1995 Ducati 900SS SP: Brian Moyer

1963 Ducati Cadet

'Rusty Rocket' Honda CB160

Dutch Trash Yamaha XS650 x2

Yamaha XS650 Chopper

HD Shovelhead Sportster Chopper

Late 50's Matchless G80S 500cc

1968 Honda CL450: Randall Swann

1968 Ducati 350 RS

BSA DBD34 500cc Gold Star

BSA A50 500 Royal Star

1963 Honda Dream

Honda CD175

1975 Honda CB400F

1975 Yamaha RD350

Custom 1971 Honda CB750

1969 BSA Starfire or Barracuda

Triumph 750 For Sale

1968 Triumph 750 by DJ's Cycles

The area in question is Arunachal Pradesh, a little heard of corner of northeastern India, east of Bangladesh and north of the state of Assam, famous for its tea plantations. The region is politically and geographically remote and the subject of a more than fifty year old dispute between India and China. China believes the area to be essentially southern Tibet.

Sobi with the author at the NW Vintage Car & Motorcycle Museum

The journey begins in Guwahati, Assam where five members of the Mumbai based 60Kph Club gather to start their journey on Royal Enfield motorcycles. These are current versions of the classic 500cc four stroke single cylinder machines that had their heyday in post second world war Britain and survive today manufactured exclusively in India. Laden with everything but the kitchen sink, the troupe sets off in the west of the state headed for its easternmost drivable point.

The riders might be characterized as the product of India’s burgeoning professional and middle classes: smart and educated with lively minds, opinions and a very necessary robust sense of humor. The challenge is no small one: to safely complete and visually document a journey through an often trackless terrain without maps, GPS, film crew, support transportation or the usual trappings of ‘reality’ documentary.

The result was huge success. Some 90 hours of filming were condensed into just under an hour and a half of gruelling jungle and back country riding on machines ill suited to the purpose. The journey is a roller coaster ride over apparently insurmountable physical obstacles, flimsy suspension bridges constructed from jungle biomass, dejection brought on by failed engines and the unconditional hospitality of some of the world’s materially poorest souls.

For this filmgoer, who grew up with the original British ‘one lungers’ and once spent a day riding a small four stroke into the jungle north of Thailand’s Chiang Mai sans map or companions, I felt a lump rising in my throat. Here was forgotten territory: times when all care was cast to the wind, when progress depended on a fortuitous meeting or lucky timing, when something ventured paid off in spades. This last is the point that the film’s director and narrator makes during the journey’s closing moments: departure down a road filled with apprehension can often lead to new and immensely rewarding experiences – the opium of travel addiction.

But bravery comes in many shapes and sizes: each and every rider on this adventure gave up jobs to ride not once, but twice in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Especial kudos goes to the one female member of the gang, Nicolitta Pereira, who missed her brother’s wedding to make the trip and risked opprobrium from a society that still has deep misgivings that a woman should be in any state other than at home, barefoot and pregnant.

‘One Crazy Ride’ is beautifully filmed and edited. We are not talking OmniMax here. The video camera was oftentimes handheld, subjected to appalling treatment and failed at least once. The digital media were at risk of submersion in muddy rivers, general exposure to the elements and potential theft by criminal and terrorist elements that hold sway in the more lawless areas. People, their possessions and perseverance made it through; this is their story.

‘One Crazy Ride’ is available on DVD from Dirt Track Productions. A trailer can be watched on YouTube.

No surprise, then, at the return of the recurring dream in which my wife, Ann and I sip a capuccino on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, with motorcycle history but a stone’s throw away. In the real world there are usually some logistics on the way to realizing a dream, so it was time to get out the maps and surf our options on the Internet.

Eventually September rolled around and the excitement of the June 2010 MGNOC National Rally in John Day, OR was already fading into history. I needed another fix. The plan was to ride from England through France and Switzerland then drop into Italy and stay two days in Como, some 25 miles from Mandello del Lario, onetime home of the Moto Guzzi marque. Another two days in Bolzano would allow us to take in the legendary Stelvio Pass and the Dolomites to the east.

Our entrance to Como at around 7:30pm was a little dramatic. A massive alpine storm had gathered to the north as night fell and we crawled in heavy traffic to the Italian border where the heavens opened and a downpour of biblical proportions began. As if by magic, we found the exit to the city by the lake and descended onto its streets. The waters were a sheet of gray steel in a plasma sphere of lightning bolts. The surrounding hills loomed in the distance, every tiny light on their slopes defying the aerial attack.

Next morning, we pulled back the drapes to cloudless deep blue skies, the pink and ochre pastels of neighboring houses strong and serene in the new day. With an inner ‘Yeah, baby !’ we breakfasted and made our way through the hills and corniches to the fabled Mandello and our first port of call, the Agostini Moto Guzzi dealership on Via Statale, the main road through town.

A lone Breva stood on the concrete in front of the store – nothing unusual here. Then I noticed a gentleman standing by what I thought to be a Falcone. I asked him if the bike was his and he admitted proudly that it was. It was an unrestored but functioning 1951 Airone. Not yet having had the time, money or opportunity to work on bikes of this vintage, I’m more novice than connoisseur and Herman, of Club Merelbeke in Belgium, told me about the bike in fluent English. ‘Are you here to go to the factory museum ?’ he asked. I told him I was and that I figured it was one of the high points of the trip (the next one being the Stelvio which was slated for the following day). ‘Well, you might want to take a walk down the road first. They have the fairing off one of the 500cc V8’s that was built in the 50’s. They are loading it on the truck about 12:30pm to go to a demonstration track day in Assen, Netherlands’. I thanked Herman for his time and his tip and told him I’d best be on my way. ‘Don’t worry, you will see it. This is Italy… nothing happens on time !’

Nevertheless a few minutes later I strode off in the direction he had indicated, oblivious to the trucks and cars bearing down on me on the sidewalk challenged (read: none) Statale. My better half reined me in and said: ‘Let’s go together !’. This would take another couple minutes but I conceded and soon I was standing in front of an unassuming shop that appeared to be full of commercial vehicle tires.

Giuseppe & Francesco in the shop with the Otto

My Italian vocabulary running only to the usual ‘please, thank you and another glass of wine’, I blurted out something about ‘Moto Guzzi ottocilindri’ and asked if they spoke English. The young man said ‘Yes, but not good’ but he understood why I was there. ‘Pino !’ he shouted to the back of the shop. Moments later, a fellow clearly in the middle of an involved mechanical task came to the office, smiled and asked ‘Can I help you ?’. I repeated my request by asking if he could spare a few minutes and let me look at the V8. ‘Of course, this way, please’ he replied.

What followed was an in-depth description and history of a classic motorcycle perched regally on its oily pedestal some 6,000 miles from the place I now call home. Pino told me how only six were ever made, that the machine went from drawing board to prototype in four months and a slew of other technical information that clearly came from living in close proximity to its origins and many hours wrenching on the type.

The engine’s left side. Two sets of four points. An expert takes 75 minutes to time the ignition

The centerpiece of the ‘Otto’ is a 90 degree V8, double overhead cam, two valves per cylinder, watercooled, four stroke engine. Each cylinder is fed by its own 21mm carburetor and ignition is via eight coils energized by two sets of four breaker points driven off the ends of the intake camshafts. The front and rear cylinder carbs alternate, cheek by jowl, between the two cylinder banks; each has its own aluminum intake trumpet. The cylinder heads are made from a specialized copper-aluminum ‘Y-alloy’ and have no valve seats, using the same technology as the Merlin engine that powered the British Spitfire WWII fighter plane. Intake valves are 23mm, exhaust are 21mm. Bore is 44mm, stroke is 41mm, slightly oversquare. The crank is a work of art and assembles using keyed surfaces that mate with one another. Each of four journals supports two tiny side-by-side connecting rods. Simple math determines that each piston displaces around 60cc and under race conditions there’s a lot going on within a confined space, so failures were often no surprise. There are two power bands, of which the main one is at 9,000 RPM. Valves start to bounce at 14,000 RPM. Transmission is dry clutch driving a 5-speed gearbox and the engine will start with a turn of the rear wheel in first gear. Dry weight is 135Kg (237 lbs), oil is in the frame and top speed is a claimed 294 KmH (183mph).

The Otto’s multipart crankshaft. The keyed mating surface is to the left

Two other gems in the shop were the above mentioned 350cc and a 1946 Falcone predecessor. Guzzi designers, engineers and test riders came up with nicknames that expressed the character of each machine: ‘Dondolino’ (Rocking Horse) and ‘Gambolonga’ (Long Legs).

The ‘few minutes’ I had asked of Pino had by now turned into more than an hour. Francesco, his accomplice, had brought me a flat piece of wood, pen and paper to write down the torrent of detail. More than once I felt like Moses on the mountain: ‘Hang on, what was Number Four again ?’.

1946 500 Falcone Sport predecessor

Within half an hour I was walking beneath the 15 foot high poster of Sean Connery astride an Eldorado in the entrance to the factory on the nearby Via Parodi, then up the stairs to the gallery where icons of Moto Guzzi’s past were being admired by other visitors. ‘Huh’, I thought to myself smugly, ‘if they only knew…’.

1956 350 Single in race garb. Recognize the ‘Tenni’ style green paint and white number roundel

My heartfelt thanks go to Giuseppe and Francesco for their hospitality and the time they took from their day to spend with a stranger and indulge his passion for all things Moto Guzzi.

Afterward, Ann and I stopped at a little café to enjoy the dreamt of capuccino and a snack before heading back to Como. ‘Aren’t you going to wash your hands ?’ she asked. I told her: ‘After shaking hands with those guys, I likely won’t be washing them till we get back to the States !’

Postscript: A few days later the Otto did indeed show up in Assen as witnessed by a video on YouTube. A minor correction to the above article. Things can and do happen on time in Italy, except when an Englishman steps in and causes a delay !

Two weeks of work separated me from the morning of the breakfast and the day of reckoning. Those too passed, but man, they dragged ! Right up until the end of the second week, I agonized over which of two bikes to take along. To me it was a ‘Triumph’ event, because without my RAT club association I wouldn’t have won the ticket, so I felt obliged to take the Rocket. Then a small red guy with horns appeared on my left shoulder and whispered ‘So, gonna take a knife to a gunfight, are we ?’

Rob Burch giving ‘hands on’ instruction on rider positioning

Oh dark thirty on Saturday morning found me rumbling eastward on I-84 at a steady clip on my 2002 Guzzi V11 Sport. The lights of Crown Point hung in the inky blackness above the freeway like a UFO ready to abduct and it wasn’t till Hood River that silhouettes of the basalt bluffs gave a clue to my surroundings. It was 40F and I broke my journey there at Bette’s Place restaurant on Oak. Coffee and a pancake helped to stave off the desert chill as the sun came up over Biggs Junction and I headed south into the canyon to Grass Valley.

First stop was to check in at the track entrance kiosk to sign a waiver and pick up my wristband for the day. Then on to the pits to put the bike through Tech. Tires, pads and hydraulics checked out OK. Lights and indicators were taped off for safety. Kara Burch completed my registration and I went to join some 40 other eager bikers gathered to hear Rob’s welcome and orientation from the deck of the track offices. ‘No wheelies, no stoppies, we leave them on the street’ (yes, officer, he was kidding…) Rob quipped, but he was being serious about track protocol. Safety is a recurring theme at the Park and those not willing to recognize it risk being shown the gate.

Next we learned to decode the flags that the track marshals would wave at us during our session, the rules of entry onto and exit from the track, passing distances and so on. Groups are divided into three colors: Green (Beginner / First Timer), Blue (Intermediate), Black (Advanced). Rob introduced his fellow instructors, recognizable by their orange vests. A nicer bunch of guys you could not wish to meet – no prima donnas here.

Raceway Park Track Layout

Marshals are all in radio communication with one another, the first of whom controls entry onto the track which takes place at Turn 1 at the southern end of the pitside straight when ridden clockwise. Depending on machine and rider, bikes on the track will be travelling anywhere from 70 to 140mph before braking for the turn, so you are politely but firmly asked to stay on the outer edge of the track until Turn 2 which will slow down even the fastest riders as it’s a tight ninety. Then comes the westside straightaway that blind crests before dropping down into a series of dips, turns and corkscrews that will deliver the best fun you can have with your leathers on.

The first lap session was somewhat crowded as some folks got used to the track. I found myself coming up on a string of bikes I wished were running a little faster, but patience paid off. Later in the day there seemed to be less bikes on the track and there was plenty of space to let it go, receive instruction and to have one’s clock cleaned by other more able participants.

After roughly 20 minutes on the track, Green group reassembled back at the track offices. Rob had us sit on his Gixxer 750 while he demonstrated correct body position and stressed the importance of relaxing the arms ‘chicken-wing’ style and letting the running gear do what it was designed to do. Pat McGill, another ORP ‘veteran’, chimed in with his advice on being a good passenger to the bike.

Moto Guzzi V11 Sport Scura in the turn

Having drunk from the firehose of information thus far, I set out on my second session trying to do what I was told and made a real pig’s ear of it. It appeared the much anticipated epiphany was going to have to come later. I leant the wrong way, dropped one too many cogs and unstuck the back tire, early apexed and headed for the rough stuff – you name it. But I learned to love my bike with greater passion than ever before. It braked, handled and powered me out of my mistakes and Session 3 went much better. Rob was kind enough to spend a couple laps with me. I was shocked when I saw how aggressively he tipped is bike in on the last right hander before the home straight, then realized I might just have done something similar as I followed his line – I like to think – turned and pinned it up the hill with a massive grin on my face.

Session 3 was followed by further instruction which covered other techniques we’d want to try as we gained in experience – a glimpse into the world of the Blue and Black groups, if you will. Working out is recommended and yoga breathing techniques have their place. There’s no definitive regime; what I heard was that it pays to keep an open mind, give every technique a try and pick out what works for you. Recognize that though you’ll always be subject to the laws of physics, you can learn to harness them and get a kick out of what mastery you achieve.

Rob and his team have done great things with MotoFit Group out at the Park. I’d characterize the operation as a diamond in the rough, but strides have been made and no effort is spared to make it a fun and safe experience. They welcome feedback and are constantly looking to improve. At times some of us were not sure when and where the groups were meeting and when the next track session would start, though there is one blast on the horn for Green, two for Blue and three for Black. It’s easy to get caught in animated conversation with a fellow enthusiast or be listening intently to an instructor in an informal aside and miss cues for the next step. Mounts Hood and Adams are visible from the track and you just might find yourself at the north end of the pits daydreaming into the blue yonder with the howl of motorcycle engines in your ears and thinking it just doesn’t get any better than this.

Daydreaming, of course, has little place out on the tarmac. If you’re not used to riding track – other than a very pedestrian courtesy lap at PIR, it was my first time – you’ll slake your thirst on a heady elixir of concentration, tunnel vision, sound and silence, physical exertion, anticipation and situational awareness, defeat and victory that helps you understand why some folks sell their homes to do this stuff.

If you want to learn more, visit the website at www.motofitgroup.com or take a ride out to Grass Valley one weekend when there’s a motorcycle event on and do a little spectating. Watch a YouTube video from the day. Per an announcment from Rob at the December 2010 breakfast, there will be other track days to be won by RAT members next year. Don’t wait on Lady Luck, though – carpe diem, seize the day !

* RAT or TRAP (Triumph Riders Association of Portland) is sponsored by Cascade Moto Classics, Triumph and Moto Guzzi dealers at 13705 SW Farmington Road, Beaverton, OR 97005. Tel: 503 574-3353

A record, standing room only crowd showed up for the November meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Board on Motorcycle Safety at the Kaiser Permanente Town Hall Ballroom on Portland’s N Interstate Avenue. The task was to hear opinion on the proposal to fund a survey among road users on the legalization of ‘lane splitting’ or ‘lane sharing’ by motorcyclists. Commonplace in both first and third world countries, the practice is illegal in all states but California.

Van Moore chaired the meeting; hardly had he finished his introduction when the first public speaker stepped up to the podium, eager to testify. Each was given two minutes to make their case and, while some ran over, a number had prepared their statement and got their points across more or less within the allotted time.

It was a motorcyclists’ meeting, encouraging in that many in the community simply want to be left alone to ride for pleasure or out of necessity without having to become politically active. If you grew up in a lane splitting culture you have difficulty in imagining it any other way, much less stopping to think of the many benefits of the practice beyond the obvious convenience of getting to your destination earlier.

The main concerns were overheating of air cooled engines and the wellbeing of riders in extreme conditions of cold and heat, the fear of being rear-ended while stationary, environmental concerns and the poor use of available road surface in ever denser traffic. Much of the testimony was from those who had ridden in California and Europe and had found the practice to be safe based on their personal experience and anecdotal evidence.

A few voices expressed their opposition, one of whom was worried that speed and convenience would trump safety and courtesy. Notably absent was anyone from the non-motorcycling side. Whether they thought they would be shouted down or (more likely) they have no strong feelings about the matter, it was hard to say. One lady brought with her results from an OregonLive poll which showed 380 against and 401 for the practice. This is surprising if your perception of the car driving public is one of ‘You get to wait your turn, just like me’.

More than once speakers recommended to introduce the practice only in congested areas to avoid resistance to a blanket and untested imposition which would alienate auto drivers and be expensive to implement. Education of both drivers and motorcycle riders was held to be key.

The evening was not without its humor. A man best described as a gentle giant stood up and spoke passionately about his fears of motorcyclists being unheard and eventually legislated out of existence. Naveen Mundanda raised a chuckle as he stated: ‘I am from India and we don’t have lanes…’, then went on to note that the accident rate was extraordinarily low given the apparent chaos of traffic in the overcrowded cities of the subcontinent.

Support for the survey turned out to be overwhelming, with the caveat voiced by many that the legislature should be careful to ask the right questions and address the right audience. Would it not be more appropriate to ask Californians what they thought of lane sharing ?

One speaker reminded us that Oregon had been here before in 2001, but if the meeting’s outcome has anything to do with it, it looks like the state will be going there again in 2011.

Cascade Moto Classics, Triumph and Moto Guzzi dealer in Beaverton, OR held an evening Open House to launch Triumph’s revamped / remodeled Sprint sport touring motorcycle.

Original and earlier versions were known as the Sprint ST. Now, with the manufacturer’s emphasis moving more to the touring than the sport side, the latest model carries the suffix ‘GT’.

Among the big changes are the exhaust path. Pipes and mufflers that used to exit under the rear seat have moved further down the bike to the more conventional can-either-side position. The mufflers sit snugly under the expanded hard luggage. Whereas on some other machines in its class, one side has less capacity than the other, both panniers provide a healthy 31 liters, enough to fit a full face helmet in each. An optional top box holds two full-face helmets. There’s enough room for gas for 200 miles, ABS brakes are now standard and a 12 volt power takeoff eliminates the need for aftermarket fiddling with the electrics.

MSRP is $13,199. If you were budgeting $15K+ for another brand of sport tourer, that would leave enough change for next year’s two weeks in the saddle and then some.

More information ? Go to Triumph’s website