30 Speed Merchant

RRR stands for “Real Race Replica.”

-by Matthew Miles

36 Hyperpro TRX850

Forking brilliant.

-by Alan Cathcart

38 M/ATRX

Where’s our Trixie?

40 Forgotten But Not Gone

When old crocks become collectible.

-by Phil Schilling

58 Yamaha Dragstar

Compact cruiser.

60 Vietnam Experience

Good riding, Vietnam!

-by Sam Mitani

64 Moto Guzzi V10 Centauro

Monster beater.

-by Alan Cathcart

65 Guzzi’s Progress

Italians with attitudes.

66 Cafe-Racer Comeback

Making a modern throwback.

46 Long-Term Wrap-Up

Buell Thunderbolt S-2.

50 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD

Ninja warrior in sumo territory,

45 Wingjammer Commander

Flairing

Craig Vetter’s better idea?

67 U.S. Chrome Cylinder

Repair

Cure for wasted walls.

68 Vanson SRX PROperf

Jacket

The hole story.

70 War Stories

Johnny K and the WSB gang at

Laguna Seca.

-by Kevin Cameron

10 UP FRONT

Nice Hooters.

-by David Edwards

14 L&S&7&GS

The right map for the bike.

-by Peter Egan

16 TDC

Racing disbanded?

-bv Kevin Cameron

18 Letters

20 New Ideas

22 Roundup

82 Service

88 CW Showcase

94 Slipstream

Forgotten but not Gone

Making the case for collectible CB35Os

SO, YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO KNOW WHERE ALL THE

old motorcycles have gone. I thought you might

like to see. We could go to the obvious places like

junkyards and landfills, but you’ve already

savored rotted-out saddles and fuzzy pot-metal.

There are better places to look. Slip on these X-ray glasses

and pull your imagination cap down to your ears.

See here. This is a nice neighborhood street in a terrific

Midwestern town. It was a great place to live in the Sixties

and Seventies, and many people who grew up here stayed

on, got married and started their own families. Sort of

reminds me of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, though we

won’t be bumping into George and Emily tonight.

Here on Oak Street, in the block between Cress and

Randolph, people know who rides motorcycles, and every-

one’s list begins and ends with Ralph Savin. He’s got two

bikes that his neighbors can't name; they reckon one’s old

and the other’s new. We’ll skip Ralph, though, and go sev-

eral doors down and across the street to Mr. and Mrs.

Wheeler’s house, a quiet couple of seventysomething.

Just glide through the Wheelers’ garage door and move

straight through the pile of boxes that seal off some space

along the back wall. How do you like this ’61 BSA 650cc

Super Rocket with 8000 miles? It shows a few nicks and

scratches, flat and dried-out tires, a flash of rust here and

there, yet everything’s in place. And everything's forgotten. I

How could this be here? Easy. Howard Wheeler bought <

the BSA when he was 18 and rode it for two years. He and <

his parents lived in Ohio then. Howie went into the Army in

1963; his parents moved here a bit after that. Setting up the

garage, they put the big BSA way to the back and stacked

old furniture and garden supplies in front of it. Mr. and Mrs.

Wheeler disliked motorcycles; they hoped Howie would

lose interest in them when he got back from Europe. Didn t

happen like that. In 1965, an Army supply truck killed

Howard Wheeler while he was on maneuvers in Germany.

On Oak Street, parental grief gave way to inertia. The BSA,

never talked about, stayed put. . ,

Bet you think Howie Wheeler’s BSA and Ralph Savin s

two motorcycles constitute the entire motorcycle population

s

I

of the 1400 block of Oak Street. Well, you are about half-

right. There are two more complete motorcycles, both

Hondas. At 1430 there’s a ratty 1965 CB160 Twin, left

behind by the brother of Harlan Duezenbury’s first wife.

Harlan has religiously saved everything (his first wife

excepted). You might say the 160 is just a mechanical ball

of string.

Leonard Cvercko, who lives at the comer of Oak and

Randolph, has the other Honda, a pristine ’69 CB350 Super

Sport. Leonard used to be short and stout and strong; these

days, he is short and fat and tipsy. A cautious man. Leonard

stopped riding long ago and pays little attention to motorcy-

cles these days. But Leonard pulls his 350 out once a year

and spends about three hours cleaning and polishing it. He

jokingly calls this “The Day of Exposure.” In case you’re...