Genuflecting to Gurus

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I was but a young padawan vintage gearhead, and I went to a european car show. I was travelling in the back of a BMW Bavaria with a crew of friends, only one of which I knew. I remember feeling totally out of my league as these guys discussed a range of topics surrounding BMW in particular. Things like exactly when the Hofmeister kink first appeared, and the exact contents of the 2800CS trunk-mounted toolkit. I simply listened in awe, wondering how many years you needed to spend in the BMW monastery to achieve such mastery. Did they shave your head in the pattern of the Roundel ? Were you forced to wear robes of corduroy ? Vinyl lederhosen ? Did you eat all of your meals from an Isetta hubcap ? Surely such knowledge could come only from years of discipline, study, and self sacrifice.Three of the group continued their scholarly debates, while the driver remained silent and seemingly disengaged. It was not until one of the debates seemed to end in a stalemate, that one of the three turned to the driver and said, "Was it 1962 or 1963 ?" There was hardly a nanosecond of pause, "October 62, the factory made a few and then they broke the die. They resumed production in January 63.". The driver had never changed his gaze or his expression. The debate had been conclusively settled as surely as if we had all jumped into a time machine and witnessed the actual events. The others moved on to another topic. I studied the zen master. Years later, I dubbed him Yoda. 

Once we arrived and parked, we walked toward the showfield/swap meet. This was well before the Internet days, and other than the classified of the newspaper of club newsletters/magazines, this was how you bought and sold parts. Every show was also a swapmeet. At some distance from the show field, one of the guys declared that there was a 1600 in amongst the round light and square light BMW 2002s. This seemed incredible, since all of the cars were facing forward and you could not see the rear. I could barely see the front of the cars from this far away. Plus, at the time, the 1600 looked identical to the early 2002 to me. I was to learn later on the subtle difference between the front grilles that gave away the model. As my tutelage continued, I learned the differences in the instrument cluster, and vent windows. Fascinating stuff. I bought a tail light for my project 02 because it was in slightly better shape than mine. The guys bought an assortment of parts from brake drums to floor mats. 

After a while, they stopped for lunch. I grabbed a bag of chips and scampered off like a puppy to soak up more knowledge. I watched Yoda inspect a header pipe. when he looked up at the owner of the blanket of miscellaneous parts, he simply raised his eyebrows rather than speak. The owner said "They are the stock header, gimme 10 bucks." Yoda looked at him and then handed him a crumpled five dollar bill. He still had not spoken. The owner said "Sure, I'll take five for it." I later put this down to some kind of Jedi mind trick. I later watched Yoda inspect a headrest for 10 minutes before walking away. As I was on the verge of purchasing a shop manual for the 2002, Yoda appeared behind my right shoulder and frowned. I had never seen Yoda smile, so the only reason that I knew it was a frown was that the corners of his mouth moved even lower than normal. I backed away from the deal. Everytime I stopped after that, or had any interest in an item, I looked around nervously.

Several more hours passed, and we all headed back to the car. We loaded up the trunk with the spoils, and the guys snickered a little at the fact that Yoda only managed to bag a stock header that looked well used. As we slowly crawled out along the gravel road, a guy with a pickup towing a very tired 2002 Bauer Cabriolet honked. It was the first time I had seen one in the flesh. The guys oohed and ahhhed. The pickup driver whistled at Yoda and shouted "Now remember, delivery is free as long as you keep it under 70." Yoda nodded.  

NY International Motorcycle Show 2012

This winter has been relatively mild so far in these parts. In some ways, it makes the normal “cabin fever” escapes seem a little less like, well...escapes. While I watched the Dakar Rally this year, I was able to get out and ride (see Dakar during Dakar). And then, the NY International Motorcycle Show came to town while I was still out riding a few days before. However, the show, as always, is a welcome immersion in the two-wheeled world. The IMS is of course focused on the new, and my interest is primarily in the old, but there is plenty that is of interest, and there are also plenty of accessories and gear aimed at the general two-wheeled world regardless of vintage.

A continuing phenomenon is that there are always many exhibits which exploit the old to sell the new. Honda and Harley Davidson in particular, seem to include some old models or racebikes to remind everyone of the rich heritage that makes them worthy of your investment. For a relatively new marque, Victory always has a model or two that directly translate old styles into new models. Their HighBall model is complete with mini Ape hangers, whitewalls, flat black paint, and a bobber style rear. Triumph unabashedly has a line called Classics which includes the Bonneville, the Thruxton, and a Steve McQueen Edition. Ducati only recently discontinued their Classic line. And then there is Royal Enfield. Nobody else on the planet is selling a 1955 motorcycle today as new. They may have recently made a concession to fuel injection rather than carbs, but they were forced into it by the emissions police in their most important markets. They may have finally lost the kickstart on some models (why ??) and gained a front disc brake, but those are minor concessions to convenience and safety. Other than that, they look and feel, reportedly run and stop, and even tap your wallet, like a proper all-purpose British bike from the late 1950s. For no good reason, I want one.

At the other end of the spectrum is Evolve motorcycles with their Tron cycle. This is a working electric bike which is a replica of the famous machine from the movie. Very cool. Very impractical. Also in the future camp was BMW. For a company with a long and rich heritage, they have not really tried to mine their past for reusable gems. In fact, their booth is firmly anchored in the future with Maxi-Scooters, world-leading Superbikes, and Hyper-Touring machines. There was no sign of the coming water-cooled R bikes, but that too will be ushering in the future to the most sacred component of the heritage. BMW also had the turbo-charged center-hub-steering masterpiece created by Sweden's Stellan Egeland. I spoke with him for a few minutes about his creation. He is mad, and we are all the better for it. As if in contrast, the BMW MOA booth featured only a well-traveled version of my R100GS PD. Back to the future, Kawasaki's new ZX-14 will run in the low 9 second range in the quarter mile out of the crate !! The only problem is that you need Ricky Gadsen aboard to make the happen.

Cafe Racers, Streetfighters, retro clothing and gear, were all mixed in liberally with the new. The good news is that very good gear can be stylish and will no longer break the bank. You can get reasonable heated gear for those that need it, or you can go on a moto-tour of Costa Rica if you prefer to wear your warm weather gear during the northern winter. As a sign of the times though, the show was definitely smaller and less well attended. I thought I would see more products and services aimed at keeping your machine on the road longer, but I did not. I thought I would see more commuter and more hybrid solutions, but actually there was more of that last year. Perhaps it is just that fewer vendors can afford to be present at the show. It did not take me a long time to get through the whole show, but it remains an essential break for us northerners during the Ice Solstice.

Opel Manta A

In the late 1960s, General Motors was looking for a way to compete with the newly introduced German-based Ford Capri in Europe. The Capri was a good package with a sporty engine, a sporty body, and a sporty 2+2 cabin. GM responded via its' German Opel subsidiary, with the Manta. The history of Opel has been previously covered (see Opel Kadett), but in the late 1960s they had developed a new platform for their small cars code named project 1450. It was to be the basis for the new Rekord and Kadett. Opel quickly had designer Charles Jordan, fresh off designing the new Rekord, develop a much more sporty package for the 1450 platform. Ironically it became the first version of the new platform to be introduced in September 1970 at the Paris show.

The Manta answered the challenge of the Capri. It was a sporty design, with an attractive silhouette, and 2 door coupe styling. It had sporty wheels, a long nose, and a short rear. It was a more roomy 2+2 than the Capri. If you think it looks a like a 2/3 size muscle car, you are more right than you think. Opel was infused at the time with US management, including general manager, design chief, and sales boss Bob Lutz !! It was also a true sporting coupe. It had handling that was widely praised by the press given the coil springs and sway bar up front. The Manta only weighed 2140 lbs on a 95.75" wheelbase. It had a 1.9 liter engine (in Europe, there was also a 1.5 and a 1.1), but it was somewhat detuned so outright speed was not it's forte. It did have a 5 bearing crank, and chain-driven overhead camshaft, so it was reliable and had the potential to be hotted up. The package overall was a good one. As this German commercial from 1970 points out, it was good looking, performed well, and was practical as well. 

The Rallye model introduced in 1971 was mostly an appearance package with its' black hood, wheels, and graphics, but it looked like a miniature muscle car, and matched the "Baby Mustang" image of the Capri. A Luxus version was introduced in 1973 which had options introduced by many German manufacturers such as corduroy upholstery (I have this in my 72 Tii) and faux wood paneling. In 1975, all Mantas gained Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. Europe also saw the GT/E model which was more of a true high performance variant. Tuning specials and race cars followed of course, with the Ascona sedan version doing well, and second generation of the Manta having great success.

However, the first generation Manta was not very successful in the US. It was the victim of a confusing marketing and distribution scheme for Opel that limited exposure and strangled sales. It was initially sold through Buick dealers and marketed lightly. The Capri only had modest success in the US as well. This seems particularly ironic, as the birth of both of these cars stem from the battle of two US giants in Europe. The Manta did do very well overall though with 498,553 units sold from 1970 to 1975. More importantly, it set the stage for the very successful Manta B to follow.

The Simson Saga

Simson was started in the southern portion of East Germany in the Suhl region by two Jewish brothers. The roots go back to the mid 1800s when they were a weapons manufacturer. Like so many others, they diversified into bicycles around the turn of the century. They then progressed to making automobiles, including the famous Simson Supra. It was not until the depression era in the 1930s, that they entered the 2 wheeled market with a 98cc offering. Although they got off to a good start, the Simson family was forced to flee the country by the Nazis. The factory continued to produce, but WWII quickly interrupted production, as the government was more interested in the continued production of weapons. Simson ended up as part of the Russian zone following the war, and portions of the factory were carted off to Russia as reparations. What remained was slowly returned to being functional.

Their next 2 wheeled vehicle did not emerge until 1952 when they introduced the SR-1 50cc moped under the AWO label. It was followed by the much improved SR-2 model which sold well. The evolution continued into the AWO 425 model which had a single cylinder 4 stroke 250cc motor, shaft drive, and a four speed gearbox. A sidecar version of this bike was also produced. More impressive though was the competition version which began competition in 1954, and came home with the 250cc national championship in 1954, 1955, and 1956. This really bolstered Simson sales in the market, and they naturally produced a more sporting version, the AWO 425S, as a result. Then in 1958, they introduced the Renn Sport model (RS250). This bike, in the hands of racer Hans Wienert, won back to back titles once again in 1958,and 1959. In all, more than 300,000 of the 425 machines were sold.

Shortly thereafter, the eastern block industrial management restricted Simson to machines 100cc or less, while MZ was to be the home for machines greater than that (see Muzings). Along with the dominance of 2 stroke machines, this ended the 425 competition phase of Simson. However, the company continued to produce mopeds and scooters. The Schwalbe model in particular sold over a million units and remains very popular in Europe with a large cult following. Simson remains in business today producing scoters, mopeds, and bikes up to 300cc.

7 Miles of Misery

The motorcycle is the perfect vehicle for urban environments. it is small, nimble, relatively, efficient, and you can always find a place to park. On a recent trip into the city, I experienced all of those benefits, but I was undone by a mighty urban beast of legendary fame.

There are seven miles of roadway in the US which represent the very worst in motoring experiences. The very name of it strikes fear into the hearts of men and beast alike. 10 time Paris-Dakar winner Stephan Peterhansel said of this road "For zis road I am very afraid". The best that has ever been said about it is, "I got through with only minor issues". In 30 years of using this road, I have never made it through unscathed, and this includes all hours of the military clock.

It is a funnel point for the entire northeast. 150,000 vehicles pass through every day. It is even more of a funnel point for trucks which cannot use NY Parkways, so it is probably the busiest commercial corridor in the country. Fully laden trucks are hard on roads, so they exacerbate the problem. In 2007 and 2008, Inrix, a real-time traffic service, declared the road to have four out of five of the worst intersections (exits) in the country. Impressive, yes?

The shoulder is 6 inches wide and has a combo of broken glass, discarded hyperdermic needles, shards of tire-ripping plastic, and spilled nuclear waste. The road surface has a topographical profile unmatched by the Andes or the grand canyon. Modern SUVs have a special suspension mode named after this road. When activated, a Military transport helicopter picks up your vehicle and carries it to safety. There are websites dedicated to documenting crashes on this road, and a movie starring Robert DeNiro was filmed nearby (Fort Apache).

On two wheels this corridor is like running the gauntlet. Even the cars that try to stay in their lane are dipping, heaving, bobbing, weaving. It turns every vehicle into a mad max machine trying to kill you. Horns bleat, people abandon the road in sudden and dangerous desperation, parts fall off and become impossible to clean up due to the traffic volume, all of the overpasses look like they might drop an I-beam at any time. If this were a video game, it would be rejected as too unrealistic.

Because of all of this, the road clogs, and clogging leads to blockages, which really backs things up. Because there are no shoulders, police, fire, ambulance, and tow vehicles take forever to get to the scene. I have been stuck on this road more than once while entrepreneurial individuals walked among the cars selling water, Gatorade, cocaine, and firearms.

Then you get to the GW. It has expansion joints that are more properly called expansion jaws. Because it has two levels, it has exits right, left, up, and down. Because of the confluence of roadways coming on and off the bridge, your GPS says "Can I have some of that Cocaine?". It costs $12 one-way to get into New York and begin your seven miles of misery. It is free to get out, but chances are you left more than $12 in parts behind you. If you do the simple math, assuming only half the traffic comes into NY, the GW collects a little less than $1Million per day. You would think that by now, a few, just a few, of those dollars would have made their way to the Cross Bronx Expressway.