CONTENTS

Report to Our Readers ......................... Page 3

The Publisher's Page ............. Page 5

Lone Star Enduro. ..... ............ Page 6

Braithwaite Wins Riverside TT. ............Page 7

Chann Sets Track Record

by Ted Hodgdon . Page 8

Robinson Wins Turkey Run . Page 10

On the Western Racing Front Page 12

Men & Maids of Motordom

by Louise M. Scherbyn............................  Page 14

30 Years Ago by Van................................Page 15

Stalling with Steele Page 15

Battle of the Motors.............................  Page 16

Theory and Practice in Motor Balancing

by Uncle Frank..................................   Page 17

Here's What They Say.............................. Page 19

Club News. Page 19

8

December, 1945

9

The MOTORCYCLIST

CHANN SETS TRACK RECORD

GRANITE STATE PARK MEET

DOVER, N. H., October 21st: Three

thousand racing fans were treated to an-

other perfect day of sport on the Granite

State Park Race Course in the heart of

New Hampshire, where they have seen

the cream of dirt track riders from seven

states battle through a program of nine

fast events.

This morning dawned clear and sunny

in New England to warm the hearts of

racing fans who went to bed last night

dreading that the weather-mans’ predic-

tion of rain might come true. But the

weather-man was all wrong and by 10:00

a.m. there was a steady stream of motor-

cycles coming through the gates to the

Park, some ridden solo, many with two

young folks riding buddy seat and a num-

ber of fancy sidecar outfits with extreme-

ly well dressed riders and passengers. It

is now noon, and the parking areas arc

virtually a sea of brightly colored motor-

cycles. We wander amid the dazzling-

array of motorcycles and see Indians,

Harleys, Ariels. Triumphs, B.S.A.’s, and

others . . . reminding us of the old days

when there were still a dozen American

manufacturers turning out motorcycles.

Above it all we can hear, off through

the trees of the park, the drone of rac-

ing motors on the track. First, the crisp

snarl of a racing Indian Scout—its rider

trying out the motor for the afternoons

races, then the whine and howl of a Tri-

umph as its rider opens the throttle down

the straight. With small son trotting

along side, we climb the bank to the track

and there in the clear sunshine of the au-

tumn da}' is a sight to gladden the heart

of any racing fan. The big mile oval dis-

appears behind the tall grass but here in

full sight is the black oval of the half-

mile, with riders making practice laps,

putting up spectacular broadsides which

bid fair for a wonderful and thrilling per-

formance when the races are started. The

yowling of the Triumph and the musical

drone of that Ariel out there on the track

make the pulse beat faster, and we quick-

en our steps to reach the pits, teeming

with riders and their mechanics who are

unloading motorcycles or are busy tuning

and grooming motors. We reach for the

camera, and the day’s work is on.

There are riders here today from seven

states. There is George Heck and his

red-and-white Indian, all the way from

by

TED HODGDON

Pottstown, Pa. Over here is the stocky

Jim Chann with his white Harley from

Bridgeton, N. J., Carl Crannell with his

gleaming chrome-plated Triumph from

Glens Falls, N. Y., Dick Libby from Port-

land, Maine with his Triumph, not to

mention Babe Tancrede and Harley from

Rhode Island. Mattie Keevers, Indian

Advertising Manager, from Springfield,

Mass., and Fred Marsh from Hartford,

Conn. In all, there are twenty-one rac-

ing riders here today.

These boys are true sportsmen and en-

thusiasts. Are they racing for the money?

Not at all. They are here because they

love the racing game—because they live,

breathe, and thrive on the thrills that

motorcycle competition riding gives a red-

blooded man!

We look over the entries and are de-

lighted to see that there are eight distinct

makes of machines entered in the day’s

races. We find Indian, Harley, Ariel,

Triumph, Velocettc, Norton, Excelsior,

and a Mack Special. What a show this

is going to be! And how dull it could be

with only two makes entered!

We hear that familiar voice over the

loud speaker system, the voice of the old

maestro, Fritzie Baer; the voice that has

thrilled crowds of motorcycle fans for the

past fifteen years in events far and wide,

for its enthusiastic commentary and its

exciting announcements during the pro-

gram of many a race. “All riders out for

the Time Trials. Will Bob Fisher come

up to the line, please, ready for his trial?”

Bob Fisher from Glens Falls, N. Y. . . .

that is a story in itself . . . for only two

short weeks ago. Bob Fisher was still in

the U.S. Army out on the gray Atlantic

aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth, Army

Transport, straining his eyes for his first

sight oi the good old U.S.A, in four years.

He laid away his racing Triumph four

years ago and has spent those years in

the famous First Army in Europe. Fie

saw the whole show fighting clear into

Germany. You should see the sparkle in

his eyes today when he kicks over his

Triumph for that time trial lap. He has

earned all the fun he can get here today.

The time trials arc carried on with no

lost time and not a dull moment. The

crowd in the stands is now over-flowing

and the fences are lined with spectators.

A roaring motor flashes down the

straight; and suddenly the Baer voice

quickens its tempo, “Folks, that is a new

track record! Babe Tancrede, the flying

cop from Woonsocket, R. I has just

knocked 59/100 of a second off the rec-

ord set here two weeks ago by Jim

Chann of Bridgeton, N. J.!” The crowd

cheers as the smiling Babe coasts the

Harley down the straight and into the

pits. But the new track record was short-

lived, for Jimmy Chann is the next man

out, and he makes a spectacular whirl-

wind lap of 30.38 seconds—just under 60

miles per hour—to again capture the

track record for himself.

J he crowd is now standing, stamping

and cheering, eager for the races to start.

The first event, the 3-milc Class A, was

exciting from start to finish. When Bill

Griffith dropped the flag, Carl Crannell

darted his Triumph into the first turn a

lull ten yards ahead of the pack and held

his lead for two laps. On the third lap,

Chann on his white Harley, passed the

Triumph on the outside of a turn and

held first place until the fourth lap, when

the hard riding champion, Tancrede, took

Chann on the far straight. From that

point until the checkered flag it was a

neck-and-neck battle with Tancrede the

winner over Chann by a scant six feet.

The crowd was on its feet, craning necks

and howling with excitement at this su-

perb exhibition of speed, riding ability

and sport ... a fine start to the day’s

racing program. Crannell on the Tri-

umph was third with Mattie Keevers of

Springfield on his Indian, fourth, and

Fred Marsh, Indian, of Hartford, Conn.,

fifth. That is the kind of racing that will

make the sport flourish. Each of these

five men was from a different state—

three makes of motorcycles were involved

in the first four places, two of the riders

were dealers and one of them a factory

executive. Truly our sport is open for all

who have the physical prowess and the

enthusiasm to partake in it!

The first Class B event got off to a fast

start and on the second lap caused great

excitement for all spectators and riders

alike. A large brown dog, weighing at

least 125 pounds appeared from nowhere,

rushed barking out onto the track, di-

rectly in front of the pack of riders com-

ing down the straight at better than 60

miles an hour! Not a rider shut off, but

they were obliged to dodge and weave,

narrowly averting a bad pile-up. One

rider missed the hind quarters of the

dog by less than a foot. If he had struck

the animal, a serious accident would al-

most certainly have resulted. Even be-

Matt Keevers, Factory Exec, and Rider.

What factory? Guess.

fore the dog reached the center of the

track, the Baer voice boomed out, “Get

that dog off the track. Show the red

flag; all riders hold positions until the

animal is secured.” The dog was elusive

and could not be quickly collared, so two

riders dropped out. The crowd clamored

loudly for the event to be run over

whereupon Mack McConney, the pro-

motor, generously agreed to re-run the

event for the benefit of all concerned.

The second Class B mile race was spec-

tacular in more than one way. The line-

up of riders and motorcycles was of great

interest to all. There was Dick Libby of

Portland, Maine on a Triumph, George

Heck from Pennsylvania, on an Indian,

Waiter Balchumas of Brockton, Mass.,

on his Ariel, Harry Mullen of Melrose,

Mass., on a Velocette and Alex Sweet of

Methuen, Mass., on a good old Super X

45.

This variety of makes of motorcycles

entered in the event caused considerable

buzzing in the stands ... it is what the

crowd wants to see. On the first lap,

Sweet and his Super X over-slid, he tak-

"Whitey" Westerberg, holder of New

England 25-mile TT championship.

ing a terrific tumble, rolling over and

over, the motorcycle pitching end-over-

end for fifty feet. Out went the red flag

as the ambulance hurried across the in-

field. Alex was on his feet but collapsed

and was placed in the ambulance. Fie was

given first aid and taken to the hospital,

although as far as could be seen, he was

not too seriously injured beyond a very

severe shaking up and abrasions. Dick

Libby on his Triumph won the event,

closely followed by George Heck on his

Indian, with Walter Belchumas on his

Ariel third.

Space does not permit us to give a com-

plete description of all of the remaining

events, but we will touch on a few of the

thrilling moments.

In the re-run of the 3-mile Class B

event which was stopped by the errant

dog, Whitey Westerberg of Springfield,

on his light blue Indian 45, took the lead

and held it to the finish. His riding is so

smooth that he looks more like a picture

just drifting around the track rather than

a live rider actually working hard. Wes-

terberg's riding style is superb which ac-

counts for the three first places he took

here today and for his title of New Eng-

land T.T. Champion. In this event he

set a pace so hot that Cam Renaud of

Woonsocket, R. I. on his fast Harley,

over-slid and took a header off the bank-

ing. Cam disappeared from sight; but his

machine stayed on the track, righted

itself and continued on, riderless, for 100

feet, then hit a hummock on the edge of

the bank and turned end-over-end three

times. At this instant Cam appeared on

the banking, waving that he was O.K.,

refusing to even enter the ambulance.

The winner was Westerberg, Indian, fol-

lowed by Lloyd Berry of Portland, Maine

on his Harley, with Archie Farnell of

Watertown, Mass., also on a Harley.

The dashing riding style of Babe Tan-

crede of Woonsocket, R. I. was easily

the most spectacular of the day. In win-

ning the 5-mile Class A Final, he demon-

strated to the crowd that he is still the

“champ,” well worthy of the proud 200-

mile and 100-mile National Champion-

ship titles which he holds. In speaking

of Babe’s prowess and dashing style, we

do not mean to take away from the ex-

cellent show put up by all the men pres-

ent. We cannot speak too highly of the

skill displayed by that enthusiastic rider,

Jimmy Chann from Bridgeton, N. J. and

know that the crowd also received much

satisfaction by watching the smooth rid-

ing and strenuous effort of all who par-

jimmy Chann, winner of three-mile Class

A Event and holder of new track record.

December, 1945

, h DEALER guide

bpace in this section S10 00 nOr , **

------------------------------P Year for three line notice. Each additional line S3.00 per year.

ALABAMA

MONTGOMERY—Capital Indian Sales Company

Complete stock of parts for motorcycles and

motorbikes. Fully equipt machine shop render-

ing accurate service. 204 No. Court St., Leon

R. Sims, Owner.

ARIZONA

PHOENIX—Bill Kennedy s Harley-Davidson Sales

Co., 1234 East Washington Boulevard,

PHOENIX—INDIAN Motorcycle Sales <5, Service.

Complete line genuine INDIAN parts. Acces-

sories, oil, and service for all makes. All riders

Welcomed. Located on Highways 60-70-80-89.

1517 East Van Buren St. Floyd C. Nev/, Prop.

ARKANSAS

NORTH LITTLE ROCK—Complete line of parts

for Indian Motorcycles. Accessories, oil and

competent service for all makes. We'll treat

you fairly. All riders welcomed. Van Pelt

Motorcycle Service, 1501 E. Washington St.

CALIFORNIA

FRESNO—Indian Sales 6 Service. Well equipped

shop for your needs. Good supply of parts.

Drop in and let's get acquainted. Indian Motor