Drop of a Hat 2006
So it’s 2006 and my first U.S. trip of
the year - I leave the rain at 9am in Britain and after my connection in
“Newark” I land in the evening sunshine in Florida just 14 hours later (11pm
U.K. time but 6pm east coast time), 75 degrees in early February and it’s
wonderful to sit outside a bar in a short sleeved shirt with a cold beer!
Problem was that it was very short lived as early next morning I am back at the
airport to head up to a very cold Michigan – and cold it was! With around Eight
inches of snow on the ground. I flew into Flint and collected a Dodge Ram pick
up truck as I was also collecting an Old Husquavarna near to the airport that
would eventually find it’s way back to England, I was collecting the old bike
for a guy in England that was struggling to get it shipped, the bike was VERY
rough but even old trail & dirt bikes have a large following. The bike is
unloaded at my pal Gary’s in Traverse City and I swap the New Dodge for my old
faithful Sonoma truck and after only a few miles I pull over to the side of the
road to check the map and manage to slide off the road and into a snow drift
L
Even my four wheel drive wouldn’t get me out of the snow and rather than risk
sliding further in I sit back and wait.
Luckily, in Michigan this is all par for
the course and just Two minutes later a car pulled up and offered me a tow out,
I was a little reluctant but just 20 seconds later a truck pulled up and offered
me the same – within a minute I was out and back on the road and heading South
on my 800 mile journey to Springfield, Missouri.
I made it as far as Springfield Illinois
and called it a day. Next day I stop by Brian Hilvety’s and drop some parts off
and check out some of the many H2 projects he has stored for renovation, at this
time he has a couple of 1969 H1’s that were almost finished.
After leaving Springfield Illinois it’s
over to St Louis and on down to Springfield, Missouri. I have travelled through
St Louis a couple of times and always stared in awe at the HUGE Arc that stands
out in the skyline at 650 feet tall it is as tall as all the skyscrapers around
it!
I make good time and arrive late morning
to collect a H2c bought off Ebay, the bike has some issues (not least the 16
inch back wheel and ape hangers) but in general the condition is good with nice
chrome bolts under the crud. It will make a VERY restorable project.
The seller also has a little Yamaha 175
for sale so whilst I am there and have the space on the truck I load that up as
well and head on back towards Michigan.
Once back at St Louis I take a detour to
get a better look at the Arc and am fascinated to see it is made of stainless
steel, a closer inspection is needed and after watching the amazing film of it’s
construction back in the 1960’s I decide to try and conquer my fear of heights
by taking a trip up to the top. I am astounded that the arch is wide enough to
have a small cable lift system inside where 5 “not too large” people can cram in
and ride to the top
Once at the top, the view was stunning
and worth overcoming my fear for !
So,
it’s back on the road and I head West through the snow and blizzards ending up
for the night Terre Haute in Indiana. I hear of a ’75 H1f for sale and next
morning I am heading over to meet up with the seller. The bike is in nice
condition, low mileage and superb original bodywork – unfortunately it is in the
Brown but beggars can’t be choosers. As usual the airbox is missing but it
shouldn’t be a problem to find one. A deal is struck and I now have a dilemma,
my little Sonoma is already full with the H2 and the Yamaha, the seller agreed
for me to leave the Yam until I am passing by again. The H1 is loaded up in the
bitter cold alongside the H2 and I notice that there may be just enough room on
the tailgate to fit the Yam.. . . . . . 15 mins later, the problem is solved
but a new one has arisen, the wheels of the Yam completely blocks out the trucks
rear lamps but with a little improvisation I re-wire the trailer lead into the
H2c and H1f lights and hey presto I am on my way back up to Northern Michigan.
All a little precarious but I am confident that bikes will stay on and the
Sonoma will be fine.
I stop off
along the way and meet up with “board member” Kelly Wright. Kelly is restoring a
’73 H2a and doing a superb job of it, he is one of a growing band of guys in the
U.S. that is starting to do exceptional quality work on restoring old Triples. I
know I have said this before but I still feel that the average H2 restorer in
the U.S. is a few years behind the quality of bike that is restored in Europe.
People such as Kelly are the turning point and all they need over there now is a
few more annual Japanese bike shows and a few hundred less Harley biased judges
at other shows.
So, 550 miles later and I am back up
with Gary in Traverse City and we are unloading the bikes in yet more Snow! The
winter Months are long and cold up in North Michigan, you can figure on REAL
cold and snow being around from mid November to late April – which is great if
you enjoy snowmobiling! But don’t let anyone in the U.K. tell me it is cold
during our winters – the Brits REALLY havn’t seen Cold until you’ve visited
North Michigan or Minnesota!
I
couldn’t decide if this woodpecker was chipping away to find food . . . . or to
try and keep warm! I need to thaw out and as there has been a ride planned out
in Central Florida by some of the guys from the message board and I fancy going
along, I juggle a flight and head for the heat, I don’t really want to go on the
KZ1000 so I have arrange to buy a fairly standard H2c in Orlando, from there I
will visit Tony Nicosia and then meet up with the boys for the ride. I also have
another guy to see that has many hundreds of used H1 parts. So it’s yet another
airport and out of the snow to land a few hours later in the warm February sun
of Florida. Whilst in Tampa I manage to cram in a “flight” in a skydiving
simulator –great fun but I had lousy balance and as either skimming across the
floor or flying up to the roof! With my new found confidence in heights I go
one step further and visit the new ride “Shakira” in Bush gardens, oh my god! I
was terrified, after hanging you face down over a 160 foot drop they let you go
and you plummet to earth only to pull out of the drop at the last second! Give
me something safe like controlling a speedwobble on a H2 at 100mph anyday! The
nutters on the ride with me there throwing their arms around liker they were at
a soccer match! It was all I could to extract my fingernails from the guard
rails when leaving the ride!
So, I
collect the H2c and am a little concerned that the bike has obviously spent
several months if not years in the open air during one period of it’s life. As
the kicker doesn’t return on it’s own I figure I will run it and see how things
go and bank on having to strip the motor anyway.
Next day it is across the state to pay a
visit to the legendary Tony Nicosia. To anyone in the U.S. that was involved in
Kawasaki in the early 1970’s – Tony was a legend, he broke more records on
triples than anyone else in the World, Here in the U.K. he was better known more
for his work and performance parts from the famous DENCO company. I have to
hold my hands up and say that even I had no in depth knowledge on Tonys
achievements other than he was the guy that shook the motorcycling world with
his strip times on a ’69 H1.
After being in the military
in the early 1960’s and based in Japan, Tony had considerable success as a
motocross rider. He returned to the U.S. in 1965 and from there got involved
with Kawasaki and also with motorcycle drag racing. Tony commented to me that he
tested the first pre runner to the Z1’s back in the late 1960’s! He also showed
me pictures of one of the very first 1969 H1’s that he was given to test in
early 1968, the pictures show a very raw H1 with the “Kawasaki” logo masked out
and many items that would not have been on the actual production released model,
not least the fact that the front drum brake was on the opposite side.
Tony went on to tell me of the
motorcycling press’s disbelief of the claimed drag strip runs he had made with
the newly launched H1. The motorcycling press challenged the times and Kawasaki
suggested that they pulled a H1 out of the distribution centre and tested that,
sure enough a top journalist picked a bike from the middle of the stack of H1’s
in the warehouse and they took it to the strip where Tony ran a blistering 12.96
seconds at 100.7 mph on a bike that had just 7 miles on the speedo (and 2 of
those miles would have been put on at the factory!)
an absolute undisputed legend had been born and registered!
Tony also told me of the time that a top
motorcycle magazine was testing the superbikes of the day to coincide with the
release of the new Z1, tests of the biggest Ducati, Harley, Honda, Triumph, Z1 &
H2 would tell the world just which was the best performing bike of the day, Tony
prepared a H2 and in trials before the journalists tested the bikes the H2
utterly ate the Z1! To such an extent that word came from Kawasaki HQ that they
hadn’t poured all this money into developing the Z1 for an old stroker to walk
away as the premier performer, and if Tony let the H2 take the accolade it was
likely that he would never work for them again! Further on through Tonys photo
album and we come across his development of the KZ (Z) 650, In August 1976 he
took a bike to Bonneville and ran the bike flat out at 141mph to achieve yet
another world record, Tony seemed a little concerned when I pointed out that the
tyres that he broke this “speed” record on were the standard road production
items!
Tony is a
fascinating guy, he has lived and breathed motorcycles all his life and has
folders full of testimonies to his lifes work – he has broken countless records
(200?+) and would surely be worth writing a book about.
So, it’s Saturday and the
temperature is in the mid 80’s – As I don’t have a jacket with me and decided to
buy a light mesh riding jacket with body armour in it, I take the H2c for a spin
and all seems O.K. it’s a little down on power and a little bit dry sounding but
most importantly it seems to go O.K. Sunday morning dawns and I head off out to
meet the boys, it’s down to the high 50’s and bloody freezing aboard the H2, the
guys are late and a call reveals that Allen has troubles with his GT380 some 10
miles away I head on over there and meet up with a good handful of triples
consisting of a couple of H2’s, a kettle, and S2, a GT380 a couple of RD yams
and a couple of modern bikes (sincere apologies for not naming all the owners
but I got confused as to who was on which bike). So, am glad of a break to try
and warm up a little, it’s unreal that one day it is 80 degrees and the next it
is less than 60 L.
Once
Allens bike is fixed we head off for a ride to and along the Ozzello trail, a
nice scenic ride (by Florida Standards) out to the Gulf of Mexico. Roads in
Florida are far from challenging but it’s always nice to ride with another bunch
of guys!
A quick photo shot and we all decide
to head for home as some guys have a 150 mile ride ahead of them.
Final day in Florida and I take a trip
to check out some short circuit racing, interesting stuff, BIG V8 motors that
sound good and get out of shape often - I suppose that this is the basis for
NASCAR rookies? Once over with and the track is used for a demolition derby
utilising “Yellow school” Busses in a figure of eight demolition derby! Funny
stuff but not quite as funny as the demolition derby of the cars . . . . towing
the trailer . . . . loaded with a boat! It was all a case of what came off first
– the trailer or the boat that was on it!
Another trip comes to an end and I head
off back to the cold U.K. winter . . . .
L
Keep One Wheel down . . .. .. . . .
Rick
Brett
