Cycle Round Up

August 1 1965 Joe Parkhurst

Cycle Round Up JOE PARKHURST August 1 1965

Cycle Round Up

August 1 1965 Joe Parkhurst

CYCLE ROUND UP

JOE PARKHURST

EUROPE AND THE ISLE OF MAN

AS OF THIS writing I am on the Isle of Man, after a fascinating series of visits to Monte Carlo for the automobile Grand Pnx; Bologna, Italy for a tour of Ducati and Moto-Morini; a quick run to Varese to Aermacchi; a holiday in Greece; a short stop in Munich, Germany, for a look at BMW; and then a grand and oc casionally glorious week on the Isle of Man for the world famous TT races. A complete illustrated report will appear in our next issue, since deadlines prohibit us from presenting a complete report at this time. I again had the pleasure of watch ing the Stanley Schofield Production Com pany putting together another LP record ing of the sounds of European road rac ing. We will have this fantastic album for sale later on this year, through CYCLE WORLD Records. I also settled an arrange ment for the U.S. distribution of Schofield's automobile GP recordings as well; more on this later when we have set up shop.

My stop at Ducati Meccanica in Bologna, Italy, was made a smash by a demonstration of the 125cc Ducati four-cylinder racer developed for use by their Spanish division. I got what was, at the time, an exclusive and first press preview and though I was not offered the privilege of riding it, I saw it rip up a parking lot. Somewhat less fascinating but fun anyway, was a tour on the new Ducati 90, now featuring foot gear change, one of our more salient points of criticism in our Trail Test in the March 1965 issue. I visited almost every niche of the plant in the company of Western U.S. Ducati distributor Bob Blair, and importer Michael Berliner of the Berliner Motor Corp. I was deeply impressed with the Ducati operation. It is an enormous manufacturing complex, very modern and highly mechanized. Lavish attention is devoted to detail operations and finish, owing largely no doubt, to the quality of the end product. My host was Dott. C. Calcagnile, Director of the Commercial Division, who made Betty and me feel most welcome. I stopped at Moto-Morini with Italian journalist Roberto Patrigiani and CYCLE WORLD'S Carlo Perelli, got a fairly good look at the 250cc Morini DOHC singlecylinder machine that has scored many stunning victories in world competition, even against the exotic multi-cylinder Japanese equipment. Patrigiani has ridden Morinis in several Italian races, and finished on a similar make in this year's Sebring race.

Though pressed for time due to an error in our schedule, we managed a short and all too quick visit to the Harley-Davidson Aermacchi factory on the shores of a beautiful lake in Northern Italy. Ducati may be a larger and more elaborate concern, as is Benelli, but neither, and few others in the world for that matter, can boast the neat and lovely locations that Aermacchi enjoys. More like a resort than a factory, among the trees and flowers of a charming and peaceful lake. Equally charming and hospitable was Comm. Filippo Pedote, Director of Aermacchi Harley-Davidson, who received Betty, Carlo and me warmly, gave us a brief tour of the relatively small but tidy and modern factory, and even allowed me a glimpse of one of the 250cc machines being prepared for the Six Hours Monza production bike race which they won handsomely the following weekend. We were forced to cut our visit short, much to my regret, but it was enough time to develop a firm liking for Comm. Pedote and his intriguing motorcycle company in its idyllic setting.

Our next adventure took Betty and me to Greece for a ten-day holiday, only partly for business since I had but a sparse acquaintance with the sport of motorcycling from the Greek standpoint. I discovered the solution to a mystery; where all of the Zundapps of the world go to die. Answer: Athens. Though in truth they are not al-

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lowed to die; rather, they can be seen everywhere, in the company of dusty and tired BMWs and a few other Germanmade bikes, mostly two-strokes. Few paved roads exist, so most serve double duty on and off of the roads. Greece has had traffic laws for only four years, and the economy is on a boom these days so I leave it to your imagination as to what traffic is like.

Before settling at the Isle of Man for the week of racing, we strolled into the BMW factory in Munich, Germany, unannounced, and were greeted by Mr. C. T. Hoepner, Public Relations Mgr. for the German firm. He showed us a few of the details of producing the famous horizontally opposed twins. Though I could make no accurate determination of the rumor that a new 750cc version is in the works, it was a treat to see the corner of the massive BMW concern that was devoted to the making of motorcycles. BMW is primarily an automobile plant. Motorcycles represent only a small part of their, efforts, due primarily to the swift rising German economy and the decline of motorcycles as a form of utilitarian transportation. We might expect a resurgence of motorcycles as a sport one day, though, perhaps as it has happened in America. On the Island I ran into many friends, including CW's Tech. Ed. Jennings who was spending two weeks steeped in the feverish activity of the TT; about 60 riders on Ed Dye's Second Annual European Rally team (clad in blue with Old Glory arm patches); Bert Greeves with a team of production riders; Lou Ellis from Shell-BP and Malcolm Edgar from Castrol, both kept jumping providing fuel for the riders; and of course CW's own B. R. "Nick" Nicholls who again showed us the ropes.

Our party was enlarged with the presence of my old friend Dean Batchelor, Editor of another of my old friends, Road & Track magazine, seeing his first International motorcycle race. I had joined Dean at Monaco in company of R&T's inimitable Henry Manney. We all watched three of motorcycling's stars now driving cars, John Surtees, Bob Brown, and Mike Hailwood. Hailwood is the only one of the three who has not abandoned bikes altogether but I gather from his surly attitude toward them that he would like to do so. I cannot really blame him, or the others. The problem in Europe is a bit similar to that in this country where racing automobiles is far more lucrative than racing motorcycles.

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We dined at racing's immortal Geoff Duke's Aragon Hotel in the quiet and lovely back country of the Island, and laid plans for a return in September for the International Six Days Trial. The TT is indeed the Valhalla of motorcycle road racing and is matched by no other event anywhere on the face of the earth. Each visit strengthens my intense desire to see motorcycle racing attain similar stature and maturity in this country. We, at one time, had several events that could have achieved genuine International status, and well deserved it. One was the Catalina Grand National, another was the Big Bear Run, and another might well have been the lamented Laconia road race held on the old Belknap circuit. None of these attracted the participants the TT does, though all three held a flavor of their own, and each was unique in its own way. Over 100,000 spectators migrate to the Island for the week, on over 5,000 motorcycles, 800 sidecar rigs, and 1,500 automobiles, plus on foot. Most spend at least five days watching racing that is supported by many of the largest industries in motorcycling. WITH MANUFACTURERS who compete in in the World Championship series requesting fewer dates, the FIM Spring Congress held in Moscow has surely found a way to eliminate one of the Grands Prix that will cut down considerably the amount of travel by some competitors.

This is the United States Grand Prix; for although the FIM agreed to a February 27, 1966 date for next year's USGP, the date is only good if the AMA and MICUS can "patch up their differences" and run the race jointly.

The FIM are not satisfied with the job being done by MICUS and realize that except for two or three top notch riders, the word "Grand Prix" is a farce because it does not represent the best we have to offer. However, the serious riders, who are professionals, or attempting to be, are barred by the AMA from competing in the United States Grand Prix.

While our government is spending millions of dollars to beat Russia to the moon, Russia looks like being in a good position to pick up at least two world titles this year, for peanuts — the World Championship ice racing title by Boris Samorodov and the 250cc Moto Cross World Championship by Victor Arbekov, who has a large lead at this time. With the progress of Kiisa on the four-cylinder Vostok, a 350cc road race title is a little nearer.

Let us not forget that the East German Grand Prix attracts 250 thousand spectators compared to possibly 250 at USGP. Unfortunately the people who come out on the short end are the ones who contribute the most — the riders.

With the tremendous growth of motorcycling in this country, the people deciding the future of the United States Grand Prix would be well advised to show a little growth themselves and consider what will be lost if mutually beneficial cooperation is not soon achieved.