Lifestyle

XtraPix: Never Give Up

1000 miles through Montana.

January 3, 2008

Photography by Chris Cantle

There are a lot of kinds of crazy in this world. There is the really whacko kind of nuts that leads to crime or politics. And then there is the kind of crazy you back into slowly, without really knowing it. So when my neighbor walked up as I was loading my 1954 Velocette into the back of the CW van and asked what I was doing and I said that I was headed to Montana to ride 1000 miles, his reply of "Are you crazy?!" probably wasn't a rhetorical question. I must admit that it did give me pause, but I knew I was sane because I was headed to Montana with 40 other like-minded maniacs from the American arm of the Velocette Owners Club for the annual Summer Rally.

It was a truly grand time, even if I did have my share of mechanical troubles along the way. At least with so many other people around riding similar machines, the kind of spare parts or expertise you needed wasn't but a few minutes from pulling up alongside the road to lend a hand. In fact, most of the bikes that started the rally did finish the full run, although some "rest" stops were sometimes slightly longer than predicted. I'd gone pretty overboard on my bike prep and was glad I did. Otherwise I might have won the dreaded "Crock" award. And it ain't a Crock of Gold, friends. The full story is in the February issue of CW. In the meantime, relax and enjoy a few images of long-distance touring, vintage-style.

Parked at a scenic overlook in Glacier National Park, Bill Getty?s 1964 Venom leads (as usual) Hoyer?s ailing MSS.

"Okay, if you just run alongside while turning that nut with the pliers, I should be able to ride to the next hotel..."

Camp Velo. It took some work, but we actually moved the propane tank into this photo.

Club member eating habits are odd...

Saddle lovingly aged to perfection after 70 years on the road.

Bill Getty supervises Hoyer?s repair work, and it turned out not to be a Dead End after all.

Picnic-table speedometer repair. This lucky instrument has four (helping) hands on the outside for the one hand on the inside.

If you?d been on the rally, you?d be smelling something right now...namely the sulfurous aroma of the Symes Mineral Hot Springs.

Typical timing chest on a push-rod Velo. Well, typical if your bike strips two timing gears in the course of a week.

Read the sign! Temperatures hovered around 100 degrees for several days on the rally.

Gil Loe at roadside. Don?t ask about the orange flag on his handlebar. Many of us came close to flying one.

That?s a Norton, folks. The bike?s owner wised up and by rally?s end had arranged the purchase of a Velocette.

The gorgeous and amazingly original KSS of John Ellis. Pre-war ohc 350cc Singles like this can cruise comfortably at 50-55 mph, provided you watch out for potholes!

Paul and Julie Zell rode the whole rally two-up, with their belongings in the leather saddlebags. What Paul termed the "Ma and Pa Kettle" seat made it possible.

High bars mark this as an American-market Endurance model from the mid-Fifties. Owner Jeff Scott rode his mount all the way from San Francisco.

Cutting your teeth on a vintage bike! There is the offending stripped gear in the helpful hand of Paul d?Orleans, who pulled a spare from his parts stores and got Hoyer back on the road.

Night falls on a Velo bobjob.

Mike Jongblood gives his bike the first kick on a long ride back to L.A. from Hot Springs, Montana.

Magneto drive chain hides behind Made in England. The tube in the background carries the bevel-driven shaft that operates the overhead cam on this 350cc Single. Elegant and exotic stuff on a pre-war motorbike!

When all is right in the world, a man can ride his Velocette through scenery like this without stopping (very much).

A quick roadside stop.

Hopefully the hamburger bun doesn't also need a shave.

Post-1000-mile Concours d?Oiligance was voted by members. Some folks cleaned their bikes, others didn?t. Some people actually drank beer instead of polishing paint...

Kim Young digs through the diminutive saddlebag on her 1930 KSS, the oldest bike on the rally. Husband Pete rode a rigid MSS with sidecar so the couple?s young kids, Sirisvati and Atticus, could share in the fun.

Smiths Chronometric speedometer looks good at rest, better at speed.

Water-transfer decal on ancient paint.

Sirisvati and her mom Kim Young are beside Eric Hassel and his dad Olaf, all at rest with Kim?s KSS. Behind is the "world?s largest truck." It?s big!

Musical accompaniment at a rally stop.

The signature piece on almost any Velocette is the fishtail muffler.

GPS, vintage-bike-rally style. Hand drawn maps were more than adequate for navigation.

"Somewhere out there is the next timing gear I am going to strip," muses Hoyer.

Hoyer contemplates horsepower as it contemplates him.

The lovely Thruxton owned and ridden by Keith Hogland parked in a line of rolling Velocette history.

Speed! No, it?s probably just the bike vibrating in the frame...

Even "modern" bikes like this Norton Commando face the occasional hiccup. The bike?s owner and club president/rally organizer Matt Young contemplates the bits and pieces with a little help from his friends.