Get your company in the Cycle Source October 2012 issue!!

Famed Grand Prix motorcycle tuner Derek "Nobby" Clark has been elected to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in a supplemental vote, the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation reports. 

"Derek 'Nobby' Clark stands shoulder-to-shoulder with roadracing's most enduring legends, and played a key role in successes that will go down in history among the greatest of the sport," said Jeffrey V. Heininger, chairman of the AMHF. "It's time for Mr. Clark to take his rightful place among the many legends who embody the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame." 

For 25 years, Clark was one of the world's leading motorcycle race mechanics. In addition to being a part of 17 FIM Grand Prix world championships, earned in classes ranging from 50cc to 500cc, his teams won three Daytona 200s, one Daytona 100, four Imola 200s and eight Italian championships. Clark not only excelled at the highest level, but also worked with some of the greatest motorcycle racers in history, including Hall of Famers Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and Kenny Roberts. 

"It certainly was a surprise," Clark said. "I'm very excited, and I'm looking forward to being in Las Vegas for the induction ceremony and seeing my old friends. I haven't seen quite a few of them for quite awhile, so it's going to be like a family reunion." 

Clark also expressed his appreciation for the support he received during the supplemental vote process. 

"I'd like to thank everybody who supported me," Clark said. "I admire them, and I respect them, and I hope they all come back to the Hall of Fame. In my opinion, all of them are legends, and I respect them not just for what they've done in racing, but for what they've done for motorcycling in general. Motorcycling is a big family, and that is something we are privileged to have."

Clark joins the late Rod Bush, KTM North America president and industry visionary; pioneering female motocrosser Sue Fish; 1975 AMA Supercross Champion Jimmy Ellis; world-class bike restorer Brian Slark; the late Al Wilcox, iconic race starter; and off-road racing legend Ty Davis as a member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2012. 

The supplemental vote for Mr. Clark was implemented by the AMHF, which overseas the Hall of Fame, in response to procedural errors that invalidated Mr. Clark's inclusion on the original ballot. The supplemental vote did not affect the other 2012 Hall of Fame inductees. 

"The members of the AMHF Board of Directors extend our sincerest apologies to Mr. Clark for the mistakes that invalidated his original ballot," Heininger said. "By way of this supplemental vote, we've ensured that Mr. Clark's induction took place with the utmost sincerity and that no one can question his inclusion in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame." 

The supplemental vote was tallied by the independent voting service Votenet. The accounting firm Plante Moran independently audited the results. 

The class of 2012 will officially be inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame on Nov. 16 as part of the AMA Legends Weekend. The weekend also includes the 2012 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Dave Mungenast Memorial Concours d'Elegance on Saturday, Nov. 17, featuring many of the country's most impressive original and restored classic motorcycles. 

In addition to the current class, the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction ceremony shines the spotlight on two previously inducted members of the Hall of Fame, reminding the motorcycling community of the amazing careers of these Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legends. For 2012, the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legends will be 1998 inductees Malcolm Smith, a pioneer in off-road motorcycling and a star in the motorcycle documentary "On Any Sunday," and Mert Lawwill, the 1969 AMA Grand National Champion whose title defense was the central theme of the timeless film. 

Tickets for the AMA Legends Weekend are now available through this online registration form:http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5r7zy8ea4316694&llr=vw9ldxbab or by calling (800) 342-5464. 

The AMA Legends Weekend will be held at the Las Vegas Red Rock Resort, a world-class spa, hotel and casino, featuring a range of entertainment, dining and family-friendly attractions. The facility's expansive ballrooms provide a stunning backdrop for the AMA Legends Weekend. Room reservations are available now at a special group rate by calling (866) 767-7773 and referencing group code RCIAME or AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST. Online room reservations are available at www.redrocklasvegas.com. 

More information about the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame can be found at www.motorcyclemuseum.org.

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Artistic faceplates can be ordered in a variety of finishes, including the finest mirror finish chrome, hand polished and Phantom Cut finished to match Renegade Wheel designs. Renegade uses a space-age filter element which provides an air flow increase up to 20% with resulting increases in horsepower and overall engine performance. Available options include Rain Socks, Black Mesh Screen kits and Mikuni carb adapter. . Kits are available to fit most Harley models. For complete details call 714-998-7241 and be sure to visit their awesome site at www.renegadewheels.com. 

Editor's Note: This story is reprinted from the Fuller Report

We stopped by Lenny’s place in Sturgis while in town. Over the years he has helped people restore vintage tin by reproducing obsolete parts and building complete bikes. Easily, one of the highlights of my Sturgis trips every year!

As we walked past the NOS Indian 18″ Paddle tire from way back my mouth dropped….there was an Excelsior Hill Climber!!

Here’s an excerpt from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America’s website about the “Big Bertha” and Excelsior Hill Climber engine: In the ’20s, the board-track racing era was coming to an end. Motorcycle competition on these massive, banked structures, some of them more than a mile in length, had grown out of the popularity of bicycle velodromes around the turn of the century. But the expense of maintaining the exposed outdoor structures, together with negative publicity following several high-profile fatalities, forced motorcycle racing to take new directions.

The most obvious move was to flat-track competition, conducted on dirt ovals designed for horse racing. But the other big trend of the 1920s was hillclimb racing.

While riding up hills on roads had been a test of motorcycles from the earliest days of the sport, American-style hillclimb racing quickly developed into a form of near-vertical drag-racing. One at a time, riders would launch specially built motorcycles straight up the face of a steep hill. In the early days, the hill often proved too much, and riders were ranked based on the distance they covered. But for those who cleared the top of the hill, the winner was determined on the basis of the fastest time.

The country’s most prominent motorcycle manufacturers—Harley-Davidson, Indian and Excelsior—had waged factory warfare on the boards, hiring the best riders and building exotic, one-of-a-kind machines to claim racetrack glory. In the late teens and ’20s, those teams expanded into hillclimb racing, hoping to demonstrate technological superiority in every form of competition.

One of the rising stars of the new era was Joe Petrali, who had burst upon the racing scene with a win in a prestigious 100-mile board-track race in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1925. That win came in a one-off ride aboard a Harley-Davidson factory racer that became available when one of the company’s established stars, Ralph Hepburn, was injured. But Petrali was quickly signed to a factory contract for the rest of the year.

When Harley withdrew from racing at the end of 1925, though, Excelsior, part of the Schwinn bicycle empire, hired Petrali, who immediately proved his worth as a racer, repeating his Altoona victory in 1926 aboard Excelsior’s advanced 45-cubic-inch (about 750cc) SuperX.

But Petrali was also acknowledged as an engine technician, and he got a chance to demonstrate those skills in 1928, following a serious racetrack injury that took him out of contention in 1927.

In the race shop at Excelsior headquarters in Chicago, Petrali worked with the legendary Arthur Constantine, the man who had designed the SuperX, to develop a new overhead-valve engine for the 45-cubic-inch hillclimb class.

In addition, Petrali combined a crankcase from the SuperX with a set of special racing cylinders developed for the company’s single-cylinder, 30.05-cubic-inch (about 500cc) half-mile racing engines. The main advantage of this “M” type cylinder was that it incorporated an air passage between the cylinder and the pocket containing the inlet-over-exhaust valve configuration. The cylinder, developed by another famed engine designer of the time, Arthur Lemon, helped reduce heat distortion, making for an engine that could be tuned for more power without sacrificing reliability.
With two of the M-style cylinders atop the SuperX bottom end, Petrali created a 61-cubic-inch (about 1,000cc) twin that earned the nickname “Big Bertha.”

Mike Wolfe of American Pickers fame is having Lenny build it
Back into original condition. Tank was found with original paint on it! Rear wheel is an eBay item, and frame is an original Excelsior being stretched into a hill climber length.

Damn, I love this bike!!!

Hello Biker friends,

I'm working on a project that I could really use your help on.

It's my second music video and the theme is going to be women riding with their man – but they MUST be on their OWN bike. Real bikers, classy stuff only, no scantily clad models. I'm looking for photo submissions of male/female couples/friends riding side-by-side (see http://www.traceycramerkelly.com/your-photos-needed-for-biker-project/)

(I’m also looking for as many riding couples as possible for an actual video shoot in mid-September in the Minneapolis area.)

I need help getting the word out to riders… do you think you can make an announcement in your various web sites/newsletters/magazines?

Tracey Cramer-Kelly, Author & Indie Award Finalist