Letters
LETTERS
AND THE ANGELS SING
I’ve been looking through back issues of CYCLE WORLD, I like the way you call a spade a spade. For one thing the Outlaws are here to stay. You got to admit there a uniform group, levi jackets and pants and black boots and there machines are 9 out of 10 H-D 74 inchers and over.
Hi rizzers and open meggs and most of them sitting on the frame with 1 Vs gallon tanks. Krazy. One example is the fella they call “Rebel,” Pres, of the Hell’s Angels Outlaws out of Long Beach, Calif. They are straglers of the old bunch of Angels, guys about thirty to forty-five years old. The old bunch I said. They made the name “Hell’s Angels,” at all the A.M.A. gypsie tours and now these young punks and pardon my french are living off there reputations.
Everytime you read the paper there up to some devilery, it gets to where a person is ashamed to fly his colors. Man if you wanted to see a mad s.o.b it was Rebel when he heard about those Angels who raped that girl in Oakland and Venice Calif, and on top of that, they were flying Angel colors but didn’t belong to the Club. (Take note). Denver Colorado, 137 cops arrested, Reno Nevada 103 out of 109 cops arrested, now dose that mean all cops are crooks? Hell no. Well the same is true of bike riders. Oh yes, the group in 1957 Angels Camp Tour in Calif., it was the A.M.A. riders who started dragen in front of the Angels. So Rebel fired up his 111 cubic inch ’47 H-D 74" with drake wheels and lower end and showed them the way home. Right away the papers stated the Outlaws were draggen.
And, when the A.M.A. wouldn’t let the Outlaws into the dance, well they went down town and took over. In Rebel’s crew there were over 600 bikes, all told there were about 3,500 Hell’s Angels. Not counting other Outlaw clubs. One thing you can say for them they stick together in a squeeze.
But these rapes and robberys got to go. The public will stomach so much and no more. And who’s to blame them? Oh Yea, “Rebel” got his name before Johnny Yuma on TV. As a matter of fact no one seems to know his real name but he and other fellas, Spyder, Big Bill, Wild Bill, Rock and Big Al (me) have been flying the Hell’s Angels colors since 1942. We were out of “Berdoo,” or San Bernardino (Calif.) then.
Remember Riverside? We were there! See you in Hollister Calif, again in 1963. Will await your answer.
ALBERT NUNES
Manteca, Calif.
PS: I’m a truck driver as most of us are. They have a very nice A.M.A. club here and all riders ride in competition, they call themselves the Golden Bears. Just thought I’d add they have been kind to me and asked me to ride with them. Like I said before there are all kinds of people. Take note: 1040. I have all the cycle
magazines and hot rod books from the beginning until? Very good. Pardon the spelling.
Big At, you have no idea how welcome your letter is; we have wanted to communicate with your sphere but didn’t know the language. We agree, it takes all kinds of people but we are not certain your group is necessary, at least in the form you describe. We sympathize with your dilemma of identity but fail to detect much worthy difference between yours and the “phony" group, except that you and your friends abhor rape and robbery, a commendable attitude. We fail to recognize the significance of “1040" and “see you in Hollister" and it concerns us. We volunteer the Golden Bears could very well show you the error of your ways, though we are certain yon, and perhaps your buddies, fully realize what you are doing. Ed.
MORE POETRY HIGH FLYER’S LAMENT Daedalus said to beloved Son Scarus. (Flying low on my Bonneville at midnight).
Do not fly too high near Helius.
(I topped a hill to behold a spooky sight), The rash young lad was all too bold, (DETOUR read the sign on the barricade),
The heat was great, and his wings began to fold:
(My ticket to plaster castville was already made: )
Down came Scarus with a terrific splash! (Down came me with the asphalt rash)! J.F. POLLARD Shreveport, La.
SIDE CAR PASSENGERS
Author Tony Hogg states that after several years of following the sport of side car racing in Europe he can think of only a couple of passengers’ names. Well, after only following it for about three years and riding in a couple of races (as a driver, not a passenger) I can think of a great many famous names from the side car circuit.
How about Cesso who rode with the amazing Camathias, and who was killed I think at Monza in 1961? How about Claude Lambert’s wife Marie who was killed in the Isle of Man last year, riding as a passenger in her husband’s rig? I’ll never forget the day I saw Helmut Fath and his passenger Wohlgemuth crack up at the Nurburgring killing Wohlgemuth and costing Fath his leg.
Side car racing is a dangerous and demanding sport requiring much more from the passenger than from the driver. I could not have finished either of the races I entered had it not been for the alert actions of my passenger.
S/SGT. LYLE E. GOODIN Minot, North Dakota And what was HIS name? Ed.
WRONG WAY CYCLE WORLD
They say that when you hit rock bottom, there is no place to go but up. What happens if, as in the case of what CYCLE WORLD has done, you start at the top? Can you still keep on improving? I hope so, but if no improvement is made (how
can you improve a perfect product?), I hope you at least stay at your present level of perfection.
I am a student of engineering at the University of Michigan and recently purchased a Honda 150. It seems we are not supposed to ride cycles; your dress supposedly has something to do with it. According to some sources, if you use gasoline, wear a helmet! Is this really so important for a short trip to class and back?
MICHAEL J. MYERS Ann Arbor. Mich.
Though we don’t think anything is perfect, even CW, we do insist that the urgent need for wearing a helmet knows nothing of the length of the trip to be made. Ed.
NOT TWO-WHEELER
In the March issue of CW you made mention of Gottlieb Daimler’s motor powered vehicle of 1885 (Two-Wheel Museum). If you will look carefully you will see that it has four wheels, and not two, as stated. Also, you said that Daimler’s machine employed the world’s first gasoline prime mover, which is incorrect.
While Daimler’s vehicle was the first of its kind to appear in public in 1885, there was an Englishman named Edward Butler who built a somewhat similar machine prior to this date and from reports concerning the vehicle it was driven by a petrol engine. Drawings of Butler’s engine were exhibited at the Stanley Cycle Show as early as 1884.
GEORGE McCLUSKF.Y Millinocket. Maine
UNO-GUZZIS ARRIVE
We are highly disturbed to find that Mr. Deal (CVV letters Jan. ’63) did not receive his shipment of Uno-Gu//.is. We thought we had written and explained the reason, however, it is this; we arc halting delivery on the '63 models so that we can he one year ahead of delivering the 1964 models.
The 1964 “Sportsman” (illustrated), has
speed gear box. It comes with fairing as standard. For the very way out. sure ’nough cats we can offer ape-hangers in place of fairing.
(Continued on Page 51)
Furthermore, it now incorporates a small kedge anchor with 20 feet of nylon line to facilitate sudden stops for the rider who has not mastered the normal braking procedure (which gives one the flat-faced Uno-Guzzi racing look).
In the illustration, our factory racer, Hector McGoogle, is broadsliding his machine past Bob McDonald on the Greensboro track. He is holding his famed Hanly-McCormick passing stick (patent applied for), in readiness for Ray Durham. McDonald is not broadsliding as some fans suggest, he has been “spoked” as the users of the H-M passing stick say when they refer to use of the device on the machine rather than the rider.
We are afraid the persons desiring the 1964 models will have to send an additional $25.00 to handle expenses. Mail to Joe’s Bar & Grille, Port Said. Suez.
CLIFFORD J. FLYWHFFL District Representative Uno-Guzzi Corp.
HARLEY TEST
I think a road test of the Harley-Davidson 74 is in order; it is worthy if only for its historical interest. I realize this machine is out of the stream of progress in motorcycle design, but there are a lot of them kicking around and I would like to know if all the stories about them are true.
DAVID POTTS Seattle. Washington
A fact finding expose is slated for this Fall; your request expresses the desire of many of our readers.
FOREIGN INFLUENCE
I would gladly buy an American machine if I could get what I wanted. Eventually the imports will scare the big one into giving us something other than stove bolts and foam rubber. If it were not for the foreign invasion H-D would probably still be giving us flat heads and rigid frames.
The Vincent story was something I have wanted to see since I found that even non-believers know the name. Bill Newrock is an artist; his dynamic photography could probably tell the story without words.
ROGER SOUL Chicago, 111.
Thank you for such soul searching (forgive us). You will be pleased to know we will shortly feature an entire salon of photography by Newrock, who is indeed an artist of the highest calibre.
