Man To Man
Man to Man
UP FRONT
David Edwards
I KNEW WE WERE IN TROUBLE AS SOON as I lined the bike up on the judging field. My circa-1950 Triumph T100 desert bike, done up in orange paint and checker-boards, looked painfully out of place among the classic Norton and Velocette racebikes—all in black with gold pinstripes— that made up most of the Competition/ Modified class at last May's Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d'Elegance.
Like a blinkin' circus wagon at a hearse convention, actually.
It got worse. The two blazer-clad judges were both proper British gents, one a well-known builder of replica vintage roadracers. An appreciation of mongrel American dirtbikes was apparently not on either one’s lengthy résumé.
“Now, that gas tank, it’s not really the correct year for the frame, is it?” one said in more of an indictment than a question.
“Well, no, the tank doesn’t match the frame, which doesn’t match the engine, which doesn’t match the gearbox,” I offered. “That’s why the bike is entered in the Modified class...”
No trophy today probably, but poor Paul Adams, owner of the stunning 1948 Velocette KTT parked next to my Tiger, was about to lose a top spot because he hadn’t read the rules closely enough. In a move I applaud (strongly suggested, even), LoM requires that all prize-winners must make noise. No combustion, no trophy. It wasn’t
a case of Paul’s Velo being a prissy trailer queen-he’s vintage raced it-there just wasn’t any fuel in the tank, and gas pumps were in rather short supply on the RitzCarlton resort’s 18th fairway.
Ironic that Adams and I were slotted next to each other at the concours. Twenty summers ago, we also shared close quarters, both part of the Cycle World team of family and friends that crewed for then-Editor-at-Large Steve Thompson at the Isle of Man. As you’ll read in this issue’s Race Watch sidebar, “Island of Dreams,” Thompson had entered a Suzuki GSX-R750 in the 1987 Production TT.
“How is Steve doing?” I asked Paul. Thompson was involved in a horrific streetbike accident three years ago that all but left him for dead.
“Ask him yourself,” Paul replied cheerily. “He’s here today, showing his old Norton Production Racer.”
It should not have come as any sur-
prise that Steve had pulled through in a situation that would have defeated other men. Remembering back to the summer of ’87, I’ve never seen anybody with more sheer mental focus. The man was intense, obsessed with the Island.
Thompson arrived on Man 12 days before his race and spent the time lapping the course by car, bike and foot, always in the company of Terry Shepherd. A 59year-old tuner and former racer, Shepherd handled everything from bike prep to team logistics to race strategy. But primarily he was Steve’s TT riding coach. At times, things got almost metaphysical between the two.
“You must ride here with your mind ahead of the bike,” Shepherd instructed. “You pull the bike along behind your mind, rather than riding it. To do that, you must know the circuit so well that you can visualize every foot of it.”
At 37.73 miles per lap, that’s only, oh, 199,214 feet to memorize.
“You don’t need to worry about the entire road,” Shepherd continued. “Just that continuous piece of it that is a yard wide and 37.73 miles long. And when you begin going really quickly, it’ll compress from three feet wide to one foot, and finally to six inches.”
Before Shepherd clears Thompson for the first official practice session, Steve must talk him around the entire course from memory, noting apex points, danger zones, bumps in the asphalt, damp spots under trees, places where the weather is likely to change, etc., etc., etc. It takes two long hours but Steve passes Professor Shepherd’s oral exam.
What Steve then did with a box-stock (right down to the passenger pegs!) GSX-R amazed us all.. .well, read the sidebar.
Oh yeah, back to Paul Adams and his bone-dry Velocette. Well, what did ya think? A wrench and empty coffee cup were quickly procured, and several ounces of gasoline were soon transferred from my Tiger’s tank to the KTT’s. Paul then bumped it off to a round of applause, satisfying the judges, who rewarded him with a Legends second-in-class medallion. Later, Adams sent me a very nice thank-you note.
You’re welcome, Paul, but no need. Membership in Team Cycle World has no expiration date.
To view a photo gallery of CW’s 1987 Isle of Man adventure, log on to www. cycleworld.com. □
