Featuring a safety wire hole.

My friend Ellen sent me this quote, it is beautiful poetry about poetry. It made my day.

A motorcycle is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment and is designed for the special use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils and lunatics.

The full article seems to have first been published in the San Fransisco Call on June 10 1912. The full text is below.

MOTORCYCLES

GEORGE FITCH

Author of “At Good Old Siwash”

A MOTORCYCLE is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment, and Is designed for the special use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils and lunatics. The motorcycle is equipped with a motor small enough to be put in a large pocket and loud enough to fill a coliseum comfortably. This motor is connected with the rear wheels of the bicycle, and when it is in the mood will revolve the wheel with tremendous speed, thus causing the bicycle to proceed from hither and yon over buggies, pedestrians, fences and small outbuildings.

A motorcycle is really a miniature automobile with full sized noise, smell and dirt output. It is not started by cranking, however, but by pedaling the whole machine along the road until the motor emerges from its coma and gets on the job. An automobilist can be detected by his vast overhanging shoulders and calloused hands. A motorcyclist, however, may have arms

like pipestems, but his legs are seven sizes too large for him.

A motorcycle is not as comfortable as a camel or a lumber wagon, but it is very swift, and there is nothing that feels more like flying than to ride a large barytone motorcycle over the country roads at 50 miles an hour, leaping lightly from bump to bump— except to leave the machine when it has struck a rock and to soar swiftly through the unstable atmosphere until some jagged section of the United States interferes with further progress.

Motorcycles are very useful and have almost annihilated distance and cheap clothes. They should be ridden in costume, except by very wealthy and careless men. A pair of leather pants with asbestos lining and a two bushel hip pocket for tools, a padded vest, heavy gloves, a pair of goggles, and nose and shin guards make a tasty and useful rig for the cyclist. Dressed in this fashion the enthusiast can enjoy himself to the full as he caroms from tree to tree and gorges himself with dust, oil and excitement.

Motorcycles are not as fatal to pedestrians as automobiles, because they can only run over him with two wheels. But they should be treated with respect at all times and should not be interfered with when in a hurry.

Marvelous records are made by intrepid mahouts who have driven large double barreled motorcycles 90 miles on a board track, and most of the way up the golden stairs in one hour by the clock.

Motorcycles are much cheaper than automobiles, and there seems to be no practical remedy for this, and the industry is unfortunately not in the hands of a trust. A good machine can be purchased for $150. However, if the devotee does not possess $150 he can get almost as good results by drinking a little lubricating oil, inhaling a vacuum cleaner and setting off two bushels of firecrackers between his legs. (Copyright, 1912, by George Matthew Adams)

We only went down for Sunday this weekend. I was rusty since it was my first time on track all year and I was running a different set of tires than I’m used to. My carb broke a needle clip again and I had to pull out of race 3 half way through and I missed race 4. It was pretty hot so I was hanging in the shade of the trailer. Here’s a snapshot I took.

It was a very hot and humid weekend down at NJMP for round two. The threat of rain loomed both mornings and Saturday started with very wet practice sessions but by race time the track was dry. We were wet the entire weekend though, we just never stopped sweating. The recent mountain-bike training paid off and I took a podium spot in all six races I entered. Saturdays GTL race was great fun as I had to battle the entire 25 minutes with another SV, a 125 and a 250, it was the most racing I’ve done in a long time.

Here is Theo and I with our Lightweight Formula 40 trophies.

I never did a report on the first round, it was also a pretty good weekend with 4 podiums in six races. I dont remember many details but it was drama free.