Track Oldies

When I was a kid my dad used to take me to the track to see car and motorcycle races and to this day I still love anything with speed.  My heart would race, my adrenalin would shoot up at the screaming sound of the late 60's and early 70's motorcycles.  It was an amazing feeling to be around all these privateers and their smoking 2-strokes machines.  I was born in Mozambique, we never had any major championship compete there, all racers were privates and races consisted of a plethora of different motorcycles.

Last year I attended an event at the New Jersey Motorsport Park and these are some of the motorcycles at the track.

My dad had a BSA before I was born, I never got to see it but have heard lots of stories about his adventures.

 

I have a large collection of diecast model cars and will be posting pictures of some of them on another post but a few years ago, just before my son left for college, we were cleaning his room and found a stash of toys.  In between all the toys there were a few diecast cars which I kept and a few plastic motorcycles.  I couldn't throw them away so now they sit on a shelf in my office.

Gathering of the Nortons

Last year I promised my dad I would take him to Washington State Park for the "Gathering of the Nortons" and then something came up and we missed the show. This time I made sure we didn't miss it.
The 18th Gathering of the Nortons was held at Washington Crossing Historic Park April 17 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  I decided to go with the family instead of riding my bike.  The five of us got on the cage at 9am and headed to the Brass Ring Cafe in Hopewell for breakfast, my brother, on his bike, meeting us there.  I didn't take any pictures but next time I go there I will take pictures as the place is a big hangout place with the bikers on Sunday mornings.  After breakfast we headed straight to the park arriving a few minutes later to see the place packed with Nortons, Triumphs, Vincents, BSA's,  Royal Enfield's and a plethora of Japanese motorcycles.

My dad had a BSA before he got married and all my life I have heard great stories of his rides with friends.  He talks about how great the bikes were back then and how most were single cylinder with the occasional dual cylinders. His BSA was a single and he was all happy when we saw this beautiful BSA.

My dad at 76 is in great shape and remembers all the adventures and road trips he did with his buddies.  BSA's, Norton's and Triumphs all screaming down the road with open pipes he recalls.   Sometimes I think they had more fun with these much simpler bikes than we do today with full fairings, panniers, electric starters, fuel injection, ABS, GPS, satellite radio, IPod and all kinds of technology that detract from enjoying the sounds and scenery of the ride.

Obviously, there were quite a few Nortons at the event, some still in original form, others converted to Cafe Racers.

A Cafe Racer Royal Enfield and a beautiful Triumph Bonneville

A Suzuki RG500 Walter Wolf 2-stroke spewing out blue smoke as all 2-strokes do and a Honda NS400R.  Unfortunately they were surrounded by bikers and I couldn't take a good picture.

Next we see this Triumph contraption, I think it's a custom bike and only the engine is from Triumph

There were quite a few Japanese bikes at the event, 2, 3 and 4 cylinders, 2 and 4-stroke engines.  Some of the nicer examples on display.

As the bikers started leaving, I took a walk to the edge of the main road and took a few pictures as they accelerated out the park, engines screaming and revving to the red line.  The first three pictures will shock my international readers as Pennsylvania has a no helmet needed law if you are over 21 and have operated a motorcycle for at least 2 years.

A Triumph Daytona 955 and a Honda CBX

This beautiful automobile rolls by, not sure what it is but it was well maintained and sounded nice.

Some old timers enjoying the day and the ride, white beard flowing in the wind.

The beautiful Norton John Player Special, air cooled, four stroke, parallel twin cylinder, push rod 2 valves per cylinder.

It was time to go home, but first we walked to the edge of the Delaware River were I managed to convince my beautiful daughter to pose for me.  In the background is one of the bridges crossing into New Jersey and close by is a replica of one of George Washington's boats used to cross the river on December 25, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War.  It was the first move in a planned surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey.  Wikipedia