A Report from Seattle International Raceway, Wash. June 9 '96 and The Chilliwack Grand Prix , Chilliwack Airfield , B.C., June 16 '96

SEATTLE

After covering last year's terrific Vintage Days at Daytona for Canadian Biker, I was curious to see how vintage racing is developing closer to home in the Northwest U.S. and in B.C. I started off by attending one of the "SOUNDS OF THE PAST" vintage races - the second in a series of six vintage events put on in Washington and Oregon. They usually run on the same race day as the current bikes and have their own heat and main events like any other class.

I was prepared to be dissapointed because the last time I visited S.I.R. in '94, when the vintage heat was called, a grand total of about five ratty bikes showed up. What a difference two years and a change in organization and enthusiasm makes! This time there were almost thirty bikes on the grid . I was impressed by the variety and quality of the machines entered which were divided into three classes - 250cc, 500cc, and unlimited.

The vintage riders try to pit in the same area , to give a "Concourse" feel for anybody who is a fan of the older bikes. Most pits had an information sheet posted that gave details of the bike and a brief bio of the rider. This sheet was a good starting point to begin conversations with the riders, who usually weren't shy about describing their bikes or their race adventures.

Initially I found myself in 'Norton country' where Fred Eaton's Commando, Leslie Cook's modified P11, and Digger Stockslager's rare N15 twin looked better than the day they were built. Across the road there was a cluster of early 60's Honda lightweight 160cc twins, which ended up having a race long scrap with Mark Bundy taking the light weight win.

Digger Stockslager and his Norton N15

Still in the pits my eye was drawn to a pair of red Honda CB350 racers riden by Greg Everheart and Daniel Jones. One was a rare Yoshimura built Lowboy special from the early Seventies. One of the advantages of running the 350 Honda twin is the low cost of building a bike. There were a lot of these sold in the 60's so when Greg and Daniel found a batch of six 350's for low bucks, they bought them all and now have no shortage of spares.

Greg and Dan with Dan's Honda

Besides Hondas there were also Ducati and B.S.A. singles, BMW and Yamaha twins and lots of Triumph triples being prepared for battle.

The ten lap main event was run with all three motor classifications running at the same time. This was not a problem and the Triumph Trident of Vancouver's Tom Mellor took the overall win over Matt Marici's Norton 750 and James Stacey's BMW 750. The race wasn't marred by any accidents and only two bikes dropped out which means the preparation was good. And one other thing - those old bikes really do sound good!

CHILLIWACK

The following weekend found me at the inaugural Chilliwack motorcycle Grand Prix. This will probably be the only road race in B.C. in '96 - which is better than all the years without races since the Westwood track was torn up in 1990.

As in Seattle, there were races for vintage bikes. The Harley 883 class was also combined to make a total grid of about a dozen bikes. Virtually none of the American riders from Washington and Oregon came up for the race, with the exception of Bruce Bille who brought his 1966 250cc X6 Suzuki. This lack of grid size was more than compensated for by a higher level of competition in the open class than Seattle.

Tom Mellor of Vancouver ( British/Italian M/C ) who is leading the points in the American S.O.T.P. series found he had to ride a little harder to stay in the top three in Chilliwack. He cultivates a Darth Vader image in his all-black leathers, helmet and bike, so it was fitting that the flawless all-white 'Eurotech' Laverda 750 twin of Mick Hart (feel the power Luke) shot into the lead at the green flag. Charging into second and harrassing Mick Hart was the beautifully prepared Honda 500/4 ridden by Vic Osers.

Tom Mellor #240 and John Martin #124

At the halfway point of the race it was Hart in first, Osers in second, and Mellor in third. In fourth and riding the first 883 Harley was Tim Coughlin. A little farther back was the first 250cc class rider - Ron Kirkham on his TD3 Yamaha twin, scrapping with a couple of bigger bikes. These were the B.S.A. Gold Star of Swiss Neiderberger and a rider on a Kawasaki 750cc two stroke triple.

The top four riders stayed in the same order while they continued their quick pace - cutting through lapped traffic and keeping the shiny side up. After ten laps they collected the checkered flag, ran the cool off lap and couldn't get their helmets off fast enough to run the race again, this time as bench racers. It looked like fun and I can say that Vintage racing is here to stay .

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