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July 2002
KNOB NO. 55 |
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ON THE AVENUE |
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KNOB MOUNTAIN NORTH CAROLINA MOTORCYCLE CHAPTER OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER BMWRA # 53 BMWMOA #216 |
ELECTION TIME
NEARS
by Shelba Murray
The time has come to begin the process
to elect new club officers for the
2003-2004 term. This year, the election
commitee consists of Norman Lowman and
Boogey. According to our club bylaws,
election commitee members cannot be nominated for any office,
and if nominated, election commitee members are ineligible to run for
office. Please think carefully about
who you want to nominate as club officers.
Then fill out the nomination form
found in this newsletter and mail it back to Norman Lowman, the election commitee’s chairman.
The nomination period will run from
the moment you receive this newsletter through September 15th. Nominations
for officers shall be accepted from any regular or associate member. Each member may submit one name for each elected officer position. No
member may nominate the same person
for more than one office. The members
of the election commitee will then contact the nominees at least by September 30, 2002. Nominees may verbally accept or decline the
opportunity to run for the office for which he or she was nominated. If a member was nominated for more than one
office, he or she must select the office for which he or she wishes to run.
The name of each nominee who accepts
the nomination will appear on the election
ballot which will be in the next newsletter to be published early in October. Ballots will need to be mailed to the election committee’s
chairman and must be postmarked by
November 1, 2002. Boogey and Norman
will then tally the votes, and the names of the newly elected officers will
appear in the November newsletter. The names of the new officers will be announced
at the annual Christmas party, and new officers will take office during the
January business meeting.
Please take the nomination process
seriously and nominate the members who you feel will make good officers. If you are nominated for an office, please
run. This is your chance to take an
active part in the leadership of your club.
* * *
NO SWEATT
RACING -- Deland, FL
by Walt Sweatt
It was a cold and frosty morn. Actually, it was the coldest morning of the
year in Gainesville, Fla. as we pulled out at 5 AM en route to Deland for the
opening of the 2002 AHRMA Road Racing season.
By 7 AM when we arrived, it had warmed up to freezing. It was rather unbelievable that people were
going to race motorcycles in this weather, but there were about 200 other
people standing around the gate, and I figured, if they could do it, we could
do it.
Shortly, the Asheville contingent,
Ken Pitts, Scott & Suzanne Olofson, Jeff Gundlach, et al gathered round and
with heavily gloved hands we got the bikes unloaded, the tents setup, and began
to ready things for racing. By now the
sun was up and beginning to spread a little warmth our way. The weatherman had promised nearly 60 degrees
by late afternoon, and we were keeping our fingers crossed. Tech inspection opened about 8 o’clock, so
we set out like refugees with our motorcycles and carrying boots, leathers,
helmets, back protector, paperwork, and so forth. Although the bikes have to be inspected at each race, the
equipment check is done only at the first of the year.
After a quick riders meeting to
explain track conditions and pit procedures, practice got underway around
9AM. The combination of being old and
cold didn’t make the first session very attractive to me, since it was still
around 35 degrees, and my heated vest wouldn’t plug in to the race bike. As I prepared to go out for the second
practice session, I made a startling discovery–the bike wouldn’t start unless
it was turning almost 3000 RPM, much too fast for human push power. A fellow racer across from us took pity, and
volunteered his car powered roller starter operated by his willing wife. The push starting team was eternally
grateful. At speed the bike was running
perfectly and the new brakes (double piston instead of the single piston I ran
last year) were allowing some much later braking points for the corners. (Thanks to Bob Wooldridge for his generous
sponsorship of the new brake disc.)
After lunch I ran two more practice sessions which were uneventful
except for the new bumps that I discovered on the back straight, that kept
knocking my feet off of the pegs. I
would have to remember to avoid these during the race.
Although all other classes race on
the following day, our class, Historic Production, is slotted for the last
event of Thursday the practice day. My
main competition, Ken Pitts on his Moto Guzzi, had worked feverishly all winter
to install a new engine, a new transmission, and bigger brakes. We hadn’t had a chance to spar any in
practice, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but of course I was
concerned. Our Yankee buddy Eric was
also there with his Suzuki. Lined up
behind us were three guys on the grid in lightweight Historic Production,
Scott–BMW, Bill–Suzuki, and an unknown rider on a Yamaha 305.
When the flag dropped I got a good
start and lead into the first turn and down the first straight. Avoiding the bumps, I was feeling quite
confident that I was going to run away with this one. Just before our braking marker at the end of that straight, Ken
sailed past into the lead. I followed
him for two laps, watching and trying to figure out what I could do to get back
in front. He definitely had top end
speed as I couldn’t catch him on any of the straights. It was obvious that the only chance I had
was to make up time in the corners.
Coming into the corner where he had first passed, I held off on the
brakes until I was really scared, and managed to squeak inside and take back
the lead. The same approach to the rest
of the corners for the next three laps brought me to the checkered flag with a
win.
The bike is back to the bench
to fix the starting problem. And,
maybe, add a couple of speed tricks to boost my competitiveness. The next race in our area is at Kershaw, SC,
June 7-9. It is at Carolina Motorsports
Park, and we will be camping at the track.
Come if you can, and join our pit crew and the great fun we are having. You can contact us by Email at lsweatt@pipeline.com
or 828-628-4769 to reach a live human.
See you at the races.
NO SWEATT
RACING-- Kershaw, SC
by Walt Sweatt
From freezing in Florida to
sweltering in South Carolina, the NO SWEATT RACING TEAM arrived in Kershaw on
June 6th for Round #2 of this year’s AHRMA Road Racing Series. Later that Thursday evening, we were joined
by the other big names in Asheville Vintage Road Racing: Carl Nyberg, Scott
Olofson, Ken Pitts, Jeff Gundlach, Steve Kropelnicki, and newcomer Russ Coble
previously from Asheville and now from Knoxville. Lydia took charge of paddock setup. Soon we had two 10X20 canopies, complete with sides adjoining and
staked to the ground. This site will be
our working space for the next three days, complete with gourmet kitchen. In addition we have workspace for each
racer, and coffee and conversation areas to accommodate all including
guests. Sleeping quarters are spread
out nearby. After camp was setup, Lydia
dashed to the store and came back with enough fixings to feed the whole crowd
steak and veggies and a dessert of homemade cookies. We all bedded down early after a long day’s travel, in
anticipation of tomorrow’s practice.
Although the weather had been hot and muggy when we arrived (temperature
94), by evening the clouds had thinned and we expected a warm and calm
night. What we got was a short-lived
but tremendous thunderstorm, which soaked everything within our canopies,
though most of the tenters were snug and dry.
Fortunately the cold (cool front) behind the storm brought bright
sunshine and moderate temperatures and soon dried out the camp.
Shortly after 8:00 our contingent of
riders with their equipment and bikes sailed through tech inspection. As you will recall practice is done in four
groups, roughly according to speed and engine displacement. We had riders in groups 2, 3, and 4. Carl has abandoned his Honda 175 and taken
oven the R50/2 BMW from Scott, who has moved up to Middleweight Superbike with
a 1979 R80/7. Ken and Jeff and Steve
and I are still in the same old rut with the Moto Guzzi, BMW and Yamaha. But Hallelujah, practice was totally
uneventful, nothing broke, nobody wrecked, and by the end of the day,
everybody’s lap times were just about where they wanted them to be. I suppose by now you are wondering if I ever
solved the starting problem that plagued me in Deland. As it turns out, the
answer lies in no mysterious mechanical function, but in a (you guessed it)
mechanic’s mistake. It is a little too
complicated to go into here, but if you want to call, I will confess to you on
the phone. Suffice it to say, that this
BMW engine when assembled according to specification runs well and
flawlessly. But, just to be sure, I
added a REV limiter this time to prevent any ill effects from overuse of the
throttle. On Friday evening, our
legions of fans began to crowd our camp—well, really it was Terry and Shelba
Murray long time friends from Marion, NC, and Jeff’s brother Tim who had ridden
from Pennsylvania. We cooked in camp
that night, and served Polish sausage stew, fresh real vegetables in salad
including some fruit, and steamed cauliflower and zucchini for the whole
gang.
By Saturday morning, the front was
getting to be a SERIOUSLY COLD. Instead
of rushing out to the first practice session, we all ganged up to make sausage,
eggs, toast, fruit and coffee (we forgot the grits). Again, practice was uneventful for the morning sessions. During lunch, Ken and I checked the grid
posting, and discovered that we had a new rider in our class. Some fellow from Easley, SC on a BSA was set
to start beside the usual suspects, me, Ken, and Bill Vernon from Vero Beach,
Fla. We then roamed the paddock area
trying to locate this new adversary, but he was no where to be found.
The afternoon of racing began after
lunch. After three years of slow racing on his small Honda, Carl Nyberg
took a 3rd place points winning position in Lightweight Historic Production in
Race 4. Next up was Scott Olofson on
the R80 who blazed his way to a 1st
place finish in Middleweight Superbike.
Ken, Bill and I lined up for Race 6, and lo and behold, there was a 650
BSA right beside us. At this point I
was a little concerned, because even in stock trim the BSA would outhandle and
outrun any of the other bikes on the grid, and of course, I knew nothing about
the rider’s capabilities. There was
little time to think about this,
however, because we were the third wave in a huge field, and found ourselves
gridded about ¼ mile away from the starter’s tower. The problem this presented was that I could barely see (I race
without my glasses) the person holding the 1-minute sign. Now, this sign is held aloft to indicate
that the start time is imminent, and just before the flagman signals GO with
the green flag, this 1-minute card is turned sideways. I tried vainly to see what was happening,
but wasn't quite ready when the flag waved and left me about 1/2 bike length
behind at the start. The wave in front
of us was not quite as fast as the starter thought they would be, and our group
and they arrived at the first turn together.
Somehow, I managed to get through this gang of eight and lead my class
through the first turn. The bike was
running like a song—the track was dry, the tires were hot, and I was laying
down laps as fast as I could. So, I
thought that with things going so well, maybe I can catch one of the first-wave
bikes. I almost got one on the last
lap, but the poor fellow crashed out right in front of me, just before I got
the checkered flag. Race 8 saw Jeff
Gundlach take a 3rd on his Moto Guzzi Sportsman machine. In his first race ever, Russ Coble took his
MuZ Skorpion to last place; from the grin that he had when he came into the
pits, you would have thought he had won the US Grand Prix. We closed the kitchen for the evening meal,
and drove in a caravan to a local Japanese restaurant, where we had food
prepared by a world-class chef.
Most everyone, except Lydia who was
getting her beauty sleep, was up at dawn on Sunday just as the sun made its way
through the pines—it was chilly again.
As we stood drinking coffee and talking of the day’s events to come, I
reflected on just how fortunate we are to be able to be with our friends and to
race these motorcycles. To add to the
feeling, our good friends, Troy and Barry from Touring Sports in Greenville, SC
arrived ready to race their BMW R75 in the Sportsman’s Class against Jeff’s
Moto Guzzi. As we finished greeting
Troy and Barry, the crew from Strick’s Cycle Shop, our local hangout, pulled in
just before lunch with a Kawasaki 650 to run in Middleweight Superbike against
Scott. Behind them came Bill Clayton
and his friend Beverly, accompanied by Lamar.
They rode in looking for race food lunch. After lunch they headed to the track, eager for the afternoon of
racing.
In Sunday racing, Carl repeated his
3rd place finish, Ray on the Strick’s Kawasaki was victorious in Superbike and
Scott was a valiant 2nd. My race was
gridded closer to the flag this time, so I was able to see and get a clean
start and lead the race from start to finish with Ken taking a 2nd. In the Sportsman’s Race, Troy brought the
Touring Sport BMW home in 3rd, while Jeff garnered a 5th. We thought Russ was going to finish next to
last, however he could not hold off a late challenge, and he still finished with
a wide grin.
It would be hard to imagine a more
perfect race weekend. No one crashed,
no one broke down, and everyone enjoyed clean racing both days. It is not likely that many of you will be in
Mid Ohio July 19-21, but we will look for you just the same, and you will find
us racing both on Saturday and Sunday.
Maybe you will come.
You may have noticed that Steve
Kropelnicki was not listed in the results, though he was with us all
weekend. During practice on Friday,
Steve pulled in early and mentioned having a strange pain in his chest, that he
was sure was indigestion. After a long
nap in the afternoon, he reported feeling better. Mechanical troubles plagued his motorcycle all weekend, forcing
him to sit out on the races. The
following week Steve experienced a similar pain, although this time more
familiar and severe enough to compel a visit to the hospital. His timing was perfect; he had a mild heart
attack while on the examining table and we are happy to report that he is now
recovering. We will look for him to be
back racing with us again.
2002 Race Schedule (from
today onward)
August
17-18--Putnam Park Road Course, Putnam, Indiana
October
4-6--Grand Prix Raceway, Talladega, Alabama
October
18-20--North Florida Motorsports Park, Jennings, FL
See
you at the races. *
* *
SWAP SHOP
For Sale: 10 LEES-URE brand Tent
Trailers for motorcycles. Call David
Whitner or Gary Clark at (828) 396-5080.
* * *
KNOBBIES CHIT CHAT #5 (2nd
Quarter 2002 Chit Chat)
by Sharon
Wilson
Well the Knobbies have been
on the Road!!!
We had a big group to go to Cherokee, last weekend
of April for the Harley Rally and had a lot of fun. Sam & Pam Chester,
Norman Lowman, Ron Lancaster and Paula Matthews, Hal and Bobbi Smith, Crystal
Gibson and Jerry Rector, John and Gloria Hayes and their daughter and her
husband, Tricia and Lamar Strickland, Joey Winkler and Lisa, Gene and Patsy Smith,
and Danny and Sharon Wilson. We
even had a couple of winners in the Casino, Pam Chester and Crystal Gibson.
We won largest club at the CASS Rally, West Virginia
with 23 people for the 4th Year in a Row. It was a great ride, no rain, we had Terry & Shelba Murray, Tim & Susan Hudspeth, Bob & Helen
Steel, Bobbi & Hal Smith, Dot & Warren Brey, Paul & Susan Hoshyla,
Ron Lancaster, Charles & Linda Potts, David & Susan Robinson, Norman
Lowman, Sharon & Danny Wilson, Elwood Miles, Jim Baker and Mike Cooper.
Haskel Shealy has taken his dual sport
bike to Idaho and had a great time, plans to go back next year. He and Chris
Rhyne rode down to Morehead City for a nice plate of fish, camped and just
rode.
The National Rally in Canada, the Knobbies were
present Tim & Susan Hudspeth, Ed
Blackwelder, Gene Knight, Pan and Mike McSwain, and I’m sure there were
probably more but those are the names I’ve heard.
Gary Clark has been out, I think it
was West Virginia, Tennessee, he goes some where neat almost every
weekend. Tom Hildebran and Haskel Shealy are joining him on a trip to Idaho.
Tricia &
Lamar Strickland had a very sucessful Poker Run in June. Tricia had never
ridden in a poker run, nor had she attended one. But she did a super job, served sloppy joes with all the
trimmings. Tricia has worked very
hard and has collected almost $2000.00 for the Ride for Kids. The evening ended with a Surprise 50th
Birthday Party for Bill Clayton. Beverly
had a great looking cake prepared for it.
Kay Sinclair showed up for
the party on her Harley, Skip has
converted it to 3 wheels on the rear, Looks good and it has Kay back on the road. Lots of Knobbies and friends attended.
Dave Huey worked very hard and we
collected around $400.00 for the Beautiful Afghan, with the money going for the
Ride for Kids Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. On July 14th he had the drawing and Freddie Powell won the Afghan. It was
her first breakfast out with the Knobbies since she got out of the
hospital. She was very excited.
Ron Lancaster,
Paula Matthews, Sam & Pam Chester, Dirty and his wife made a trip the week of the
July 4th and had a great time.
They went up through Front
(Continued on
page 9.)
KNOB MOUNTAIN MOTORCYCLE CHAPTER
2002
NOMINATION FORM
I (regular member),
__________________________________________________,
nominate the following
members for the following offices:
President:
_________________________________________________________
Vice President:
_____________________________________________________
Secretary: _________________________________________________________
Treasurer:
________________________________________________________
Activities Director: _________________________________________________
*******************************************************************
I (associate member),
__________________________________________________,
nominate the following
members for the following offices:
President:
_________________________________________________________
Vice President:
_____________________________________________________
Secretary: _________________________________________________________
Treasurer: ________________________________________________________
Activities Director: _________________________________________________
ATTENTION: To
be valid, this form must be signed by those who are nominating.
stamp
Knob
Mountain Motorcycle Chapter Election Committee
Attention:
Norman Lowman
5690
Mineral Springs
Valdese,
NC 28690
(Continued
from page 6.)
Royal,Virginia. What is this about a Wishing Pool and Ron Lancaster getting a Harley?
Terry and
Shelba has
been on the go, they have attended 2 of Walt
Sweatt’s Races, Ohio and SC. Bill Clayton & Beverly Martin along
with Lamar Strickland also went to
SC for the race. Walt is continuing to win his class Hands Down.
Danny and
Sharon Wilson
rode to Colorado, it was a great trip but it was very hot. We made it to the top of Pikes Peak and it
was nice and cool up there. Attended a
Motorcycle Rally in Pueblo, CO, was hoping for long distance but they didn’t
have anything like the BMW Groups. We
took the Yellow Brick Road out Hwy 54 and came back Hwy 36 the Pony Express
Route.
Freddie Powell is scheduled for her hip
replacement in a couple of months.
We have a group that rides every Wednesday, that being Red Murray, Alabama, Norman Lowman,
Sonny Mobley and any others that show up at Alabama’s House.
Patsy Smith has just gotten a good
looking R850R BMW. She looks really
sharp on it. Then Bill Clayton purchased a R1100RT.
Can’t wait to see it. Lamar
Strickland also has a New Kawasaki Mean Streak. Kay Sinclair’s sister Carol purchased a Victory.
We have a group planning to ride out West in August,
Ron Lancaster and Paula Matthews, Lamar
Strickland, and Norman Lowman.
Terry Murray is also planning a trip to
the RA National.
Our Sunday Breakfast and Ride has continued to grow, with 10 to 30 members showing up. Some just eating breakfast and others out for the ride. We are riding anywhere from 100 to 300 miles through beautiful countryside. It is at Timberwoods Restaurant at the 106 exit off I 40.
Don’t
forget the Knobby CampOut September 6-8 at Blue Ridge Motorcycle Camp Ground,
Cruso, NC.
Until
next quarter, everyone RIDE SAFE and enjoy this warm weather.
* * *
ASHEVILLE RIDE
FOR KIDS COMING SOON
The 2002 Asheville Ride for Kids, which raises money for research in children’s
brain tumors, will be held Sunday, August
25th, rain or shine. If you’d like to
ride in this event, be at Biltmore Square Mall parking lot (1/2 mile south of
exit 2, off I-26) by 7 AM. The minimum
donation to ride is $35, and riders will be provided with coffee, donuts, and a
light lunch. Eligible riders raising
$300 or more earn a chance to win a Honda motorcycle.
Walt and Lydia Sweatt usually coordinate
parking and lunches for this event. If
you’d like to help this year, please contact them at lsweatt@pipeline.com or (828)
628-4769.
* * *
The Knobby website can be
found at the following address: http://home.att.net/~knobmtn/index.html
CALENDAR OF
EVENTS
August 8-11 Boone
Rally, Boone, NC
15-18 BMW RA National Rally, Red River,
New Mexico
For info, try website redrivernm.com
16-18 Hard
to be Humblr Rally, Pontiac 4-H Park, Pontiac, IL
For info, e-mail bmdoublue2@aol.com
25 Asheville
Ride for Kids, Asheville, NC
30-Sept.1 Sherando Lake Rally, Sherando Lake,
VA. For info, (804) 730-1583 or www.RBMWR.com
Sept. 6-8 Knobby
Campout, Blue Ridge Motorcycle Resort, Cruso, NC
13-15 Beemers
in the Bluegrass, Stllwaters Campground, Frankfort,
KY. For info, call (859)223-5459 or visit www.angelfire.com/ky/bluegrassbeemers
20-22 Ozark
Hillbilly Campout, Three River Campground, Pineville,
MO. For info, call (417) 455-1542
Oct. 4-6 28th
Return to Shiloh Rally, Pickwick Dam, TN
For info, (901) 388-3040 or visit
www.bmwrams.com
11-13 27th
Falling Leaf Rally, St. Louis, MO. For
info, call
(314) 892-7012 or visit www.gatewayriders.com
11-14 Colonial
Virginia Motorcycle Rally, Jamestown Beach Campsites, across from Jamestown Settlement, VA.
Terry L. Murray, President stamp
5110 Old Linville Road
Marion, NC 28752
tlm@wnclink.com
KNOB MOUNTAIN NC MOTORCYCLE
CHAPTER
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
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