Byrne/George Taylor Family Racing History -- 1948 to 1963 [Archive]

ezryder

01-27-2010, 08:01 PM

Wayne (Master Oils) suggested that I start a new thread here. So I have done so.
See the Kim Newcome thread in "videos" to see my earlier posts.

Please bear with me as I'm 71 years old now, and there is every possibility that I'm not always accurate with my dating of events, or even the total story.
But what I convey will be as accurate as I can make it from what I remember from all those years ago.
Please feel free to correct me if you detect any errors caused from my 71 year old memory! :)

So let's get started with my story ----- I hope you enjoy!

My dad, Byrne Taylor, was a Doctor and a Flight Surgeon in the Navy during WWII.
After the war we returned to our home town of Orlando, Fla. And my dad renewed his medical private practice as an eye surgeon.

One weekend in 1947 we went for a family outing and found ourselves in Lakeland, Fla. Just by accident we drove by lake Hollingsworth, where they were racing boats.
As you old times know, this racing venue was quit famous to
outboard racers as it had the perfect record setting one and 2/3rds mile course that filled the lake entirely.

We stopped and watched some of the races. And my dad was "hooked"! This was the beginning of the Taylor Family's boat racing adventures.

(Stay tuned - it's my bed time -- hey, I'm 71! Cut me some slack! :D)

I'll add more soon.

Regards,
George Taylor

ezryder

01-28-2010, 06:25 PM

Hi Everyone,
I'm back to add some more to the Taylor Family racing history.

At the time I had no idea how it had affected my Dad. Behind the scene he was "at work" making his "dream" come true. And as it turns out, mine too!

I guess he was a bit concerned about my mother finding out about his decision to go racing until the "last minute", after he has already made his decision not reversible.

I was in for a "suprise" too. But I already knew what was in store. But my dad didn't know I knew.
But I did! That's because, as a kid, you tend to be just a bit "nosy" about things. And a couple of months before Christmas, I discovered all these racing motors that my dad had purchased and then "hidden" in the loft in our boat house, down by the lake we lived on.

But my mother didn't have a clue! Until she got up Christmas morning in '47, to find three hydros parked
on our porch. And a racing trailer sitting out in front of our house.
Of course, I was "pumped". But for some reason, I don't recall my mom's reaction. I'm just assuming that I probably disappeared when mom started in on dad to
avoid all the "sparks" that I'm sure followed! ;)

To make a long story a bit shorter, my Dad had purchased Joe Swift's entire racing package, including the trailer.
I'm sure most of you old timers remember Joe Swift, the guy that built the "production" A/B stock hydro that made Stock Outboard Racing so popular.

The package included a custom "bubble hydro" that Joe had built himself, along with a Fillinger hydro and a Mishey "M" hydro for me.
And four engines. A Johnson PR, SR ,KR and an "M" motor for me.

I have a lot of photos to add. But I'll have to do that when I have the time to go through them and scan some into my computer.
Most of the photos I have, I've not looked at in probably 20 years or more. So it's gonna be a challenge to even find them! :D

Oh, by the way -- I'm a native of Fla. Grew up in Orlando and currently live in Lady Lake. About 25 miles from Mt. Dora, where Joe Swift had his boat building shop.
I visited his shop on numerous occasions during my youth.
And also owned three models of his hydros.
The original Swift A/B hydro he introduced for Stock Outboard Racing, I believe in 1951 or 52.
And also his "Atomic A" hydro and "Big Bee" hydro.

I still have the invoice for the Atomic A and Big Bee boats.

How many of you know that Joe Swift woodworking actually began by manufacturing the old wooden clothes pins that had no springs?

Gotta quit for tonight -- more later.

Regards,
George

Mark75H

01-28-2010, 07:26 PM

How many of you know that Joe Swift woodworking actually began by manufacturing the old wooden clothes pins that had no springs?

Knew that ;) ... that's what the Swift logo is, a clothes pin

I can't wait to see some of this stuff ... you were right at one of boat racing's big turning points. A lot will be learned from you pictures and memories

Thank you for telling your story

Master Oil Racing Team

01-28-2010, 07:54 PM

........I figured you had some interesting parts of outboard history to plug in, but what a start.:cool: Can't wait for the pictures, but I can already tell...this is going to be one good thread.:D

Gene East

01-29-2010, 05:04 AM

George,

Good to see you here.

Quite a surprise to learn a few days ago that you are EZRYDER after all the e-mails we've exchanged

Keep the stories coming.

Gene

ezryder

01-29-2010, 03:37 PM

Attention BRF Guru's !!
HELP!!

I've got all sorts of cool stuff from my past that I think you guys would enjoy. But you have to be able to read it.
I ran a test today on an old Swift Brochure I had in my collection.
I scanned it into my computer.
Then checked it out with my XnView graphics program. And I could easily take it out to 100% size and easily read it.

Next I tried posting it to the bbs. Then downloading it back to
my computer. Then using my graphics program to enlarge it to a size where you could read it.

That proved to not come CLOSE to working. I guess, in the uploading process, the scan is reduced considerably in resolution. And when you try to blow it up, you just get useless images.

Is there any way that I can make my scans available to the members in a format where they can download them and then use a graphics program to allow them in the same
resolution that I scanned them into my computer?

EZ

Master Oil Racing Team

01-29-2010, 04:57 PM

George...a number of us have gone through that type of situation,although I don't know what bbs and some of the other things you mention are. Scroll down below where the encylopedia section is and you will find a section devoted to posting. Getting the right size is one of the biggest problems. I scan jpeg and I learned that negatives, transparencies, and prints will size up differently than if I do just a black & white scan where I want it to be clean and readable. On my scanner, if I go for black & white in order to adjust the contrast and get the background white, it will not let me do jpeg, so I have to size it much smaller. I can't tell you why...I just learned it from trial and error. BRF has done more to get me to learn a computer by 10X more than any other source. So try out some of the threads in that section and Sam or Jeff can help with technical stuff if you can't figure it out.

Mark75H

01-29-2010, 05:17 PM

The best parameters for direct use are 1,000 X 1,000 pixels and 72dpi; if you have an option for "jpeg compression" use medium or low.

You can make prettier scans by scanning larger and reducing before uploading, but if you want quick and simple use the above settings.

ezryder

01-29-2010, 07:48 PM

Thanks Sam,
I'll see if I can figure that out tomorrow.

I've got a bunch of stuff to post -- If I can just figure out
how to do it where everyone can read it.

I have lots of newspaper clippings that will be of interest. But their not worth much if you can't read them. And the
ones I tried to scan just didn't work out.

I'm only used to sending pictures to my friends via e mail.
If I send them hi rez, they get hi rez. They can download them and do whatever they want with them in their graphics package.

It quickly became apparent to me that BBS's don't work that way.

EZ

ezryder

01-30-2010, 01:46 PM

Hi Sam -- and everyone else interested.

I spent the last three hours trying to figure out how to play games with what I want to post, so people could read my postings. Tried every trick I could think of. I manipulated my scans every which way I can imagine in my graphics program. But was never able to come up with anything that I could actually post as a test on the bbs, and be able to read it. Downloading and attempting to increase the size didn't work either.
At this point I'm just out of ideas and also kinda "burned out" trying to figure out a way to do it, quite frankly.

It's a shame too, as I have a lot of old clippings that I was hoping to be able to post. But if you can't read them, what's the point?

Anyway, I've posted the best results I was able to achieve in all the efforts I've made since noon today.
But they just are not quite large enough to actually read them.

I'm "all ears" if someone can guide me as how to make newspaper clippings readable.

This is a Swift Hydroplane Brochure from 1954.

Regards,
EZ

ezryder

01-30-2010, 02:20 PM

Some more memorabilia from EZ --

Leesburg Races from 1948.
My dad is listed in the C hydro entry list
at the bottom.
Some well known racers listed also. Like the Hagood Brothers and Joe Swift.

The Venetian Gardens race location is only about
8 miles from where we currently live.

Enjoy!
EZ

Mark75H

01-30-2010, 02:22 PM

I'm "all ears" if someone can guide me as how to make newspaper clippings readable.
EZ

To start with, we would have to know what software you are trying to use. There are probably 500 different programs out there.

ezryder

01-30-2010, 03:03 PM

Hi Sam,
Here's what I have for software:

XnView -- which I am by far the most familiar with.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 -- don't really know much about how to use this program.

And my scanner is an HP PSC 1310 series printer/scanner
combo.
EZ

Mark75H

01-30-2010, 04:29 PM

What software do you use while scanning?

ezryder

01-30-2010, 06:29 PM

The software that comes with the HP Printer/scanner.
ez

Mark75H

01-30-2010, 06:40 PM

OK, good. Hopefully someone else using the same software can help you with the settings.

In the mean time, if you just scan stuff big, you can email it to me and I can size it to show up good here on BRF

email to me at Mark75H@verizon.net

ezryder

01-31-2010, 07:06 PM

Some more ramblings from EZ ---

My mom was none too happy when she was so rudely introduced to the world of boat racing on that Christmas day
back in '47!
Just imagine her shock when she realized that dad had just purchased a complete racing package.
Four Motors --- Evinrude "M" for me. And a KR, SR and PR for
him!
And three hydros, to boot! A Mishey for me. A Fillinger A/B Hydro and a Swift (one off) C hydro for his motors.
And a large custom trailer built by Joe Swift.

After a period of time passed (and dad recovered from his injurys! ;>) she finally came onboard and the Taylor Team was borne!

ezryder

01-31-2010, 07:46 PM

Upps, hit the wrong button and I wasn't finished yet! :eek:

Now I was only 8 years old so I had not yet become totally dedicated to the sport. I didn't really get to that point until I was around 12 years old. That's when I began to realize that I seemed to have a knack for the sport.

So I was not a "regular" at every race my dad went to. But I sure remember the first M Hydro race I ever went to. It was in
the early part of 1948. The race was held in Pensacola, Fla.

By some totally "blind luck", I guess, I won the first race I ever competed in! I don't recall the details, except remembering that it was quite rough that day. And It was a race in salt water.
My guess is I most likely "backed" into winning by surviving.:o
And I remember I was a big "hit" to all the kids that were watching. I remember a bunch of them following me up the
beach as Dad brought my boat back in.
My mom took 8mm movies of all this. I still have them. But have not viewed them in probably 30 years. They may not even be usable any longer, as it was color film.

Then I hit a LONG dry spell before my next win!!:rolleyes:

To be continued ****

I've attached some clippings of a race on Late Stark in Ocoee, FL back in 1948
These guys were all friends of my dad.
EZ

ezryder

01-31-2010, 08:00 PM

Here's the Program from that day in Lakeland back in '47 when the Taylor Racing Team was born in my dad's mind. Less than a year later it was a reality. This was the first race run on Lake Hollingsworth since the war was over.

In 1936 the first race was run on Lake Hollingsworth. Over the next 5 years 16 new records were set on the perfect 8 pin one and two thirds mile course.
There were no races run from 41 until 47 due to WWII.

EZ

ezryder

01-31-2010, 08:18 PM

Wow, can't believe all the kool old stuff I'm running into. Most of
this stuff I've not seen in probably 30 to 40 years ago!
I'm having "FUN"!
EZ

Mark75H

01-31-2010, 08:41 PM

We are having fun too ... this is great!

I think you've got the scan and post thing down pretty well ... they look great now

Master Oil Racing Team

01-31-2010, 09:48 PM

I agree with Sam wholeheartedly.:cool: I've been doing some research in old magazines for info that Mike Ward needs regarding John Ward Trophy races from back in the 50's and while carefully thumbing through those crumbling mags I found a couple of articles mentioning your wins and one with a pic of you accepting a trophy. When I get the computer fixed I will post it here.

Allen J. Lang

02-01-2010, 07:21 AM

George, keep the posting coming as they are great, especially us old timers. :D

ezryder

02-01-2010, 03:35 PM

EZ here again -- with some more memory's of my "misspent" youth! :)

How about this really "old" program!
When I discovered it, I wondered "why would this be in my dad's collection" ?
Then I opened it up and realized why. My dad and others in our boat club organized a lot of races back in the day. And he used this program as a way to "block out" how they wanted to organize the ads for the program that they were preparing.

You can see some of his ink marks on the front.
I copied one of the inside pages (see below). You can see his handwriting all over it, blocking out the areas and sizes of the ads they had sold. It was marked like this on every page of the program.

Look at the page and note the name Ralph Hagood on the entry list.
Ralph is the guy that maintained my dad's racing Johnsons until Dad started using Walt Blankenstein, when he moved to
Florida.

Ralph Hagood was one of two of the three Hagood Brothers that were involved in racing.
Tommy Hagood was the B Stock Hydro champion in 1951, if my recall is correct.
The three brothers were named Ralph, Jerome and Tommy.
Their dad started the first Mercury Motor Dealership in Orlando, I believe in 1949 or 1950.

They rented a space from Bob Lester's Welding Shop. Bob is the guy that built up my Dad's short track stock car racers.
(Yes, my dad was a "racing" nut!)
He didn't drive them. My mom wouldn't let him. But he had a good friend, Phil Orr, who was a great driver, and won a lot of races for my dad.
I also raced the stock cars from time to time after I turned
14 -- but my mom never knew about that. Or my dad would have been "dead meat", believe me! :D

That's it for now -- enjoy,
EZ

Danny Pigott

02-05-2010, 12:16 PM

I remember George an Doc. as most people called his Dad.They raced some SEBA races tn SC an Ga.they did very well at the races i saw. I hope George can tell more History of SEBA very few people seem to know much about it.

ezryder

02-05-2010, 03:07 PM

Hi Danny and everyone else following this thread.
A few more musings from EZ --

"I remember George an Doc. as most people called his Dad".

I laughed when I read your comment Danny! My dad HATED being called "Doc" at the races. But he was stuck with it! He never complained to anyone but my mom and I. He wanted to be known as Byrne when he was at the races. When he went racing he wanted to leave his MD badge behind. But he was never able to.

As I got older I understood why. He wanted to separate his being an MD during the week from his status as a boat racer on the weekends. Racing was his "safety valve".
A place where he could blow off all the steam that built up during the week.
And he was a totally different person at the races that what he was like as a doctor.
At the races his language was a lot like a "sailor" when things didn't go his way. At home that was a TOTAL "no/no". Decorum was the rule!

When I was a youngster I didn't understand this, as I was a racer "all" the time. That's all I did -- except go to school. My life consisted of going to school, coming home and dealing with preparing all our equipment for the next weekend of racing.
I was living in my "dream" world 24/7. But Dad was having to live in the "real" world - except on the weekends. Then he was able to slip into his "alternative universe" as a racer until he got back home on Monday morning.

I imagine everyone reading this thread understands the "alternative universe" you move into as soon as you pack everything up and head out for your next racing challenge.
I know I sure did!
As I reached adulthood, from the time I would leave for an event I was no longer George -- I was "Ezryder" -- and I was in the "Ezryder time warp".

You can't imagine how many friends I "pissed off" temporarily when it was getting time to go racing.
My concentration level was so high that I could be walking through the pits, have friends acknowledge me, and never even realize they were addressing me.

But the best part of all was after the race starts and you get into the "zone" where everything that's happening turns into "slow motion". When that happens, your in business!
You can do "no wrong". At least "most" of the time! However I do have numerous broken bones to prove your not always successful at reaching the "zone"! :D

Superstars get into the "zone" every time out. That's why their Superstars.
Mortals like me don't get there every time out -- but we DO
get to the "Emergency Room" more ofter!! :o

Enough musings for now ..

I've attached some more clipping from my youth--

For the life of me I can't remember what boat that was that I was driving with the Merc Hurricane w/ standard unit? "CRAFT" disease I guess!

The other clippings cover the only boat race ever ran on Lake Faraview. We lived on that lake. And I did a lot of "testing" there. But mostly stock outboard stuff. When we tried to test our alky's we usually attracted the Gendarmes and had to cease and desist! :D

Oh, by the way -- The clipping that has the headline "Orr Captures" is the results from the stock car races that weekend. Phil Orr drove my dad's stock car. That was one
"way kool" race car! It was a '34 Ford with a flat head Ford
V8 with Eddlebrock heads installed.
Enjoy!
EZ

Master Oil Racing Team

02-05-2010, 09:52 PM

You have a very good way with words in telling us of your youth George. All of us kids growing up at sometime yearn to drive a car, then when it comes....we get into the hot rod stage. But boats are different. There's something about the sensation of speed on the water, and I can tell that from your story...you felt it as a youngster. That drove you to become the racer that you were "all the time". I'll bet that most boat racers have felt the Zone you accurately describe. I have seen, and have photos of, the top drivers who shouldn't be too worried.....zoned out like they were trying to sleep before a heat. Once you get on a plane and start looking for which bouy you want to pass before milling ahead of the start, that zone you mention kicks in.

The thing about your Dad is most true. My Dad could get away, and did, but his name didn't bring up his occupation. It just goes to show the character of your Dad that even though he didn't like it...he never mentioned it to anyone other than you guys. Their generation was like that. For you to tell us makes for all the more interesting story George.

ezryder

02-06-2010, 07:14 PM

Hi Wayne,
Thanks for the kind words about my musings! I hope everyone is enjoying them. Lots of the details are coming from memory's reborn when I started reviewing all the notes, clippings, and photos that I have not reviewed in MANY years!

My Dad and I were always very close. I was never as close to my mother as I was with my Dad. As I progress with my story, everyone will come to understand why.

My Dad and I were very strong willed individuals. And this led to many confrontations between us at races.
Dad was "always right" and I thought I was "always right".
So we would have these heated exchanges at the races. And I'm sure a lot of our racing friends truly thought we hated each other. That was not the case!!!
Dad usually "was" right and I was wrong. But every once in a while I would be "right". It was sure cool when THAT happened -- cuz it didn't happen often! :cool:
Whatever the case, even though we would go head to toe, then turn around and just walk away, within five or ten minutes, all was forgotten, like it never happened, and things were "back to normal".

As a side note --- How many females do you know that can do that? --- But that's a story for another time:D
Humm !! Do I detect a "brickbat" headed my way?? :)

That's it for EZ's musings for tonight.
More later,
EZ

ezryder

02-10-2010, 07:43 PM

Hi to everyone from Ezryder.
Just wanted to let everyone know that for the next month I will not have time to post on a regular basis.

I'm currently spending a lot of time in my race shop getting my Yamaha GP bike all set up to race at Daytona on March the 1st and 2nd.
I've retired from riding myself, but will be sponsoring a young friend of mine that will be able to hold up the banner of 2Old Racing.
I'm looking forward to playing the roll of team manager rather than rider.

Stay tuned! After Daytona I'll get back on track with my musings.

For now, I'll write up some updates on my preparations for Daytona.
And I'll also post my annual "Daytona Reports" that I've been doing for the last 15 years during the course of "Bike Week".
Enjoy!
EZ

ezryder

02-25-2010, 07:39 PM

Hi Everyone,
Here's my first report, as promised earlier.
Boy, I've been in a Tizzy for the last week, for sure!

2010 Daytona Report #1

Hi Everyone!
Well, it's Daytona time again -- and I'm "pumped"!! As most of you know, this is my 51st year of racing at Daytona International Speedway.

I'm no longer riding -- I retired after my 50th year, but my trusty Yamaha TD3 250cc GP bike will still be in the F250 races come the first and second of March. My close friend, Chris Spargo, will be handling the riding duties.

This will be my first experience at being an "owner". I always said that if I wasn't capable of riding the bike, most likely I'd "quit" cold turkey! Didn't work! I still LOVE tuning the bike to go racing, even though I'm no longer riding!
Once a racer, ALWAYS a racer, even if your "over the hill" !! hehe

I've been busy getting the bike ready over the last couple of weeks. And all the work is just about finished. And it will
be finished by tomorrow!

Then on Saturday, Hooterville will "host" a bunch of my racing friends that are down to go racing at Daytona. Gonna "treat"
them to "George's Custom Chili". And it's a "Texas Chili" that will melt your gonads!! hehe
Hope they enjoy it.

Then on Sunday morning we head out for Daytona and Tech Inspection time. The Monday and Tuesday are RACE days!!
HALLALULIA !! I "LOVE" Daytona race time!
Been do'n it now for 51 of the 71 years I've been around!!!

Stay tuned -- more later.

The "Grey Fox" of Daytona

ezryder

03-04-2010, 03:06 PM

2010 Daytona Report #2

Hi Everyone!
Here’s my Daytona Update #2.

Saturday 2/27/10

Around 11AM my friends started showing up. First to arrive was my rider’s (Chris Spargo’s) mom and dad showed up.
Shortly thereafter Chris and Glen Christensen showed up
Next Joe Lachniet and Fleta showed up.
Then Marty Lunde arrived.

And the “FUN” began! First off, Joe announced that he thought his crank has gone south in his Yamaha TD1 GP bike.
So we made room for Joe’s bike in the “Hooterville” race shop.
In the meantime I put Chris to work getting my TD3 ready for tech tomorrow. There were a number of “issues” to be resolved, all of which Chris resolved over the next 8 hours.
Meantime Joe was busy disassembling his TD1 to install a new crankshaft. Luck was not with Joe for this years Daytona. After disassembly it was discovered that it was not a crankshaft problem, but rather a gearbox problem. And it was a problem that he did not have the parts to fix.
So Joe’s “Daytona Experience” for this year is over before it began – But for his girlfriend, Fleta, it’s a bonus! Now she can “chase” the Daytona Experience like females like to do – which means NOT being stuck in the paddock for two days while Joe plays with his “boyz toyz”! Fleta’s a “happy camper”!

The day was spend basically enjoying all the “tall tails” that racers tell along with a lot of last minute work. And all “warmed” with plenty of George’s “Texas Chili” for dinner, and of course lot’s ‘o beer and other “stiff” drinks! (Just ask Glen! Hehe).
Then the “BS” began and continued until we all ended up “crashing” around midnight.

A GREAT time was had by all!!!!!!!

Sunday 2/28/10

7AM --- Everyone is “up and at em” --- Kinda! As much as you can be when it’s 32 degrees in Hooterville.
All I heard from my Minnesota and Michigan friends was what is THIS all about. And I told ‘em --- this is the way it’s been ALL winter in Florida.
And believe me, I’m a native of Fla. And this year has had more freezing weather that I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime!

Next we finished loading up everything and off we headed for Tech inspection over in Deland, Fla – not far from the speedway.
On schedule for today was Tech inspection of the race bikes along with rider’s meetings for the following two days of racing.

After these formalities were complete Chris, Glen, and Marty continued to the speedway to unload our bikes and tools in our garage area so that we are set for tomorrow morning.
Chuck and I hit the road to return to Hooterville for the night. I have to be home on
Monday morning to hydrate my kitty cat (Myrtle). She’s 21 years old and requires special medical treatment.

Chuck and I will be heading back to Daytona tomorrow morning at 6am so we will be there for the first practice session. Racing starts after lunch.

That’s about it for now everyone!
I’ll be doing a final Daytona wrap up report next Wednesday. I’ll be spending the night at Daytona tomorrow so that we can all do our yearly “Brick House Grille” dinner get together.
Having LOTS of FUN!
Stay tuned for my wrap up report later in the week.

The “Grey Fox” of Daytona.

ezryder

03-04-2010, 03:15 PM

2010 Daytona Wrap Up Report.

Hi everyone,
Huge disaster occurred in my writing up this report a short while ago! Microsoft Word ate my complete report. Apparently “lost forever”. I am one “PO'd" writer about now!
So you will have to be happy with the “shortened” version as I’m not up to doing up another 2 hour plus write up. If I attempted that, most likely my brain would completely “melt down” !!!

So here’s the “short” version:

Monday:
Lots of “drama” went into today. And lots of work to make things happen. The weather for today was COLD but clear.
All sorts of “issues” arose during the morning practice sessions. The worse one was the fact that Chris forgot to take the carburetor covers off my TD3 and attempted to start it.
Two hours later we finally got it started again after draining out over a quart of raw gas out of the crankcases.
Then Chris made the second practice session. But, alas, our problems were not over.
He had to catch a ride back to the pits with the pick up truck when the motor quit.

After a lot of serious troubleshooting, we found that there was a lot of “krap” that ended up in the carburetors caused by the new fiberglass tank we had installed.
Anyway, we went to work and cured those problems just barely in time for the F250 race.
Chris finished second! HALLALULIA! All our work paid off in the end!

Next came the F500 race. Chris was riding Marty’s TR in this race. And things did not turn out like we hoped. Chris pulled in after a few laps complaining that it felt like it was trying to seize up.
Further investigation on our part proved that was not the case. The problem was with the ignition system.

So I made a note to bring along my Motoplat spare ignition to install on Marty’s TR on Tuesday morning. Then Chuck and I headed back to Hooterville for the night.

Tuesday:
Well, the predicted cold front arrived during the night! Lots of rain and really HIGH winds persisted for most of the morning. But as luck would have it, by race time the rain had stopped and all races were done on a dry track. And that’s something we didn’t believe could happen from the info we had received on the weather report on Monday night. The storm was traveling at over 50mph, so it blew over Daytona by around 11am, and the track dried out quickly due to the high winds that persisted all day.

I helped Marty install my spare ignition on his TR while Chris worked on adjusting the shifting drum on my TD. He was not happy with the way it shifted during the race on Monday, so he cured the problem.

Next we tested the new ignition on Marty’s TR and found that it had cured the problem. Great!

Next up was the F250 race and Chris grabbed another 2nd place!
Thanks, Chris!

Then it was F500 time again, with Marty’s TR. Things didn’t work out like we had hoped. Turns out that the ignition change had cured the ignition problem, but created another problem. Now the TR was experiencing detonation, so Chris pulled in rather than destroying the engine. Good choice!

So that was it for this years “Daytona Experience” . And we all had a great time!
Looking forward to next year, God willing!

Regards,
The “Grey Fox of Daytoan” – my 51st year!

ezryder

03-04-2010, 04:52 PM

Here are some photos taken during our adventure:

Pix # (17)
Marty's 1965 Ford Window Van. Marty bought this van back when it was new. But never sold it. In later years he shipped it to the UK where he did a total "restore" on it.
Now it's back in the states again. And he used it to transport his vintage Yamaha TR3 to Daytona for the races.
It was a HUGE hit! You would not believe all the people taking pictures of it and asking questions about it!

Pix # (09)
This is a photo of the garage area at Daytona. This picture only covers 20 garage spaces. The total garage spaces available were over a hundred. And they were all full of bikes.
Along with a lot of race bikes that did not pay for garage space and were set up in the paddock area.
Total entries for the races were 400 bikes.

Pix # 4982b
Yours truly sitting on Marty's restored TR3 along with his 1965 Ford Window Van mentioned above.

Pix # 4988b
Left to right -- Chris Spargo ( our rider). Ron (a friend from the UK). Marty Lunde (my racing friend from when I started racing in 72). And Glen Christensen ( A fellow vintage racer I've know for years)

Next I'm going to get back to documenting my boat racing history that I started a while back, before "Daytona Time" caught up with me.

Stay tuned,
George (The "Grey Fox" of Daytona)

Gene East

03-04-2010, 07:52 PM

George,

I know from our e-mail exchanges that # 637 is YOUR BIKE. Very nice!

Sounds like you guys had your share of problems but had some success and some fun as well. Kind of like boat racing, huh?

Congratulations!

P.S. I like the Ford!

Master Oil Racing Team

03-05-2010, 06:20 AM

I've been exactly where you've been while writing your report George and know the feeling well. You pour all you got into getting all that happened into a concise report and are happy to have finished only to find out it's gone forever.:mad: It just takes it all out of you, and you just cannot duplicate the effort to put it back together like it was. You did a marvelous job on the short version though.

Here's a hint you might find comes in handy sometime. When I start writing a story here on BRF that takes some time and I have to think about something during the writing, or if I have to take a call or whatever that takes time before I finish, I have found that when I go to submit the story I am logged out. I wrote several long stories a two or three times before I could do them without being logged out. One was "Billy Zimmatore" and it just took too long to get everything in and it was a year after I started before I finally got the thread on because I kept getting frustrated. It was then that I found the solution. If you have completed your story and get the screen that comes up showing you are logged out, don't go to the upper right to log in. Scroll down below the copy you have written and you will find another slot to log on just as you normally would. When you log in there, your stuff will be saved and will be properly posted.

Enjoyed your Daytona piece very much and look forward to you getting back to where you left off with the outboards.

Danny Pigott

03-05-2010, 08:05 PM

Wayne, i thought the story you did about Billy Zimmatore, was one of the best i have ever read . He was the most Amazing person i have ever heard of. Sometime when things are going bad for me, i think about him an say why am i worried about this small problem . You should put it on a sticky or somewhere where everybody could read it, i know a lot of people here have never read it, but they should.

ezryder

03-09-2010, 04:36 PM

Thought everyone would enjoy a story about 2Old Racing that a European friend of mine posted on his vintage m/c racing page:
http://www.classicyams.com/personalities/personalities/george-taylor-2old-racing.html

Ludy Beumer is the guy that made things happen in Europe, with regard to Yamaha GP racing back in "the days".

EZ

ezryder

03-11-2010, 06:55 PM

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I posted any more of my boat racing history. But I did keep you informed of my Motorcycle Racing "Daytona Adventure". Had a GREAT time with all my friends!

I'm going to head over to Ocoee for the stock nationals on Saturday and meet up with John Schubert. Really looking forward to meeting him!!
He started racing in my era, in the 50's, but we never met. He was mainly stock outboard at the time I was doing Alky. so our paths never crossed.

I've dug up some more stuff out of my past to post. Hope you enjoy it!

Pix: Geo & Byrne's APBA cards.jpg
Oh MY, Now you have an Idea of just how "old" I really am! hehe.

I've included some pictures that I took at Lake Alfred back in Jan of 1954.
Just right click on the image. Then left click on "save image as". You will now have a short comment on the photo to read.

You'll notice some pictures of Archie Golson's rig and a shot of him ready to head out for a race.

I met Archie in '53. He was a Master Sgt. in the air force and was stationed at our AFB in Orlando. Archie was a real "trip", believe me! He taught me the meaning of "WFO", big time!

We were at a race over in Cocoa Beach, Fl. It was a stock outboard race. And the race was held in the inland waterway.
Yea, salt water! And ROUGH as hell!!!
Any way, in the first heat of BSH Archie took off and won. I "pussy footed" around due to the rough water and finished way down field!
When I pulled in Archie started in on me. He said "your a pussy"!!! Get your "**** together"!!!!
He took a piece of wire and walked over to my Swift hydro and wired the throttle wide open. Then he said " that's the way to win", and walked away.
Well, I got the message! And when we went out for the second heat, I really hit the start perfectly, or so I thought!
Got to the first turn first, rolled out onto the back stretch WFO, head down -- and I was in the lead!!!! WOW!

Then I noticed a problem! The horizon was no longer horozontal, as I looked out the side of the cockpit. Why, you
ask? Because the nose of my Swift was pointing straight up!!

After they towed what was left of my hydro and motor back to the pits, I was informed that I also jumped the gun! So I was never even part of the race.
Well, what do you expect from a 14 year old with balls larger
than his brain!! hehe

My dad was really "pissed" since I still had the throttle WFO when the motor sucked in the first of the salt water.
Needless to say, a huge explosion followed. The motor --- AND my dad!!!

Of course, I profited from this experience. I didn't do another one of these types of mistakes for a couple of months!! :o

More later ---
EZ

ezryder

03-12-2010, 04:12 PM

Remember back a while ago when I posted some information on the fact that my Dad was involved in Stock Car Racing. And had a driver named Phil Orr that won a lot of races for my dad?

Well, here's a couple of photos of my Dad's stock car and me. These were taken in 1953. I was posing with Dad's car. But I also began racing it on dirt tracks the following year myself.
My Mother would have "killed" my Dad had she known!

Carter Frame and Wheel was a company in Orlando that did wheel alignments. They helped sponsor our driver, Phil Orr.
Their family members still own the company to this day.

These photos were taken in front of Bob Lester's Welding Shop on Pine Street. Notice that back then almost all the roads in Orlando were brick roads.

Bob Lester rented out a portion of his welding ship to the Hagood Brothers. They were just starting up their Mercury outboard motor dealership. This was in 1951.
It did not take long for them to move into their own facilities as Mercury outboards were starting to sell very well.

One of the Hagood Brothers, (Tommy) won the BSH championship I believe in 1952 or 1953.

I've also attached some photos of the races in Lake Wales in
1954. They were held 1/17/1954, and were part of the Citrus Circuit races held every winter. The week before the race was at Lake Alfred. That's where the pictures for my last posting were taken.

There's a picture of me and my boats on my trailer. The Hydro is a Swift. And the runabout is a Sid Craft.
I finished second to Archie Golsan in the BSH, and won the
BSR race using my Sid and my Merc KG7H.

The other pictures are of (first name escapes me) Webster. He came down from Ontario to escape the cold. I don't have a clue as to why I remembered his last name, but for some reason, I did.
Maybe because my middle name is Webster???
Who knows!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, he finished second to me with his Sid Craft and Merc
KG7H.

More later ---
EZ

FurnalFlyer

03-12-2010, 05:27 PM

I think the Webester that you are talking about is John .He still shows up at boat races and might be at Ocoee.
Leigh

ezryder

03-12-2010, 05:32 PM

Hi Leigh,
Thanks for the info. I'm heading over to Ocoee in
the morning. I'll ask around.
Regards,
EZ

racnbns

03-12-2010, 07:47 PM

Really enjoying your boat racing exp. If your not busy you should come to Tavares or maybe you are. There is a pretty decent showing of antique otbds. I will have my display which is a 2man Desilva with a 4-60 for power and a PR with Hubbell Looper kit and also an "M". I also have my trailer which has the inside walls lined with pics from the 30's to the present.

Lady Lake is what about 15-20 miles from Tavares. Come on down and I'll give you the tour.

Bruce C. Summers

The dates are Mar. 25-28

Master Oil Racing Team

03-12-2010, 09:17 PM

Enjoyed your Daytona musings and the B&W photos of the stock cars and boats.

You're doing such an exceptional job...I'm sorry you only have such a short time of your boat racing history to share with us. I've found a couple of articles in an old boat racing magazines with mentions of you and your Dad and John Schubert that I will post when I can. In the meantime..,:cool:

ezryder

03-13-2010, 02:31 PM

ezryder

03-22-2010, 01:58 PM

Hi Everyone,
I've not posted for a week now. But I've been quite busy, so thought I'd give everyone an "update" on my boat racing "rebirth".
Bottom line? It's totally "outa control"!! But BOY, am I ever having FUN!.
Hey, I'm 15 again, going on 71!! :D

Attached are some pictures of my 1953 Swift A/B Hydro and Mercury KG7H BSH combo.

The boat will need restoring to make it like I want it to be. But it is in basically very good condition as it is.
And the motor is also unrestored and still has the Mercury seal on the crankcase and cylinder.
And I also have the bottom cowling for it.

I just picked all this up from Joe Welch yesterday. Brought it home. Moved it into my race shop.
Then decided to take the time to temporarily mate the boat and motor up for the photos you see here.

Am I having FUN????? :D

EZ

ezryder

04-07-2010, 06:30 PM

Hi Everyone,
Wonder what happened to me lately?
Well, here's an update -----

As those of you that have been reading my missives know, M/C racing took up half of March.
Then the last half of March was taken up with me "jumping" back into my boat racing past in a BIG way!

I've attached a couple of photos to explain part of my trip back into my past.

The Champion Hot Rod photo is of the engine that I never sold from my boat racing days in the 50's.

The other photo is an "update" of where I'm at currently. And what I've added to my collection. I think it's obvious that I have had a "mental" breakdown.
But what a COOL breakdown it's turning out to be!!

I'm having FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

More later -- when I manage to drag myself out of my race shop!! hehe

Geo

ezryder

04-19-2010, 06:39 PM

4-19-10
I stripped down the power head of my Champion Hot Rod today. I'm in the process of rebuilding it.
And it didn't take much compairing to understand why the Hot Rod took
the measure of the Mrecury 20H when it was introduced in '54.
It was "way" ahead of it's time!

I've had this Hot Rod since 1954, but had never dis assembled it until today.
I won a lot of races with it back then. But I was quite young at that time, and didn't have a good "grip" on two stroke technology. Back then I was more a "racer" than a mechanic.

But over the past 40 years of my racing 2 storkes, I've become a lot more knowledgeable of what makes a 2 stroke produce lots of power. So opening up this piece of my "past" was like opening up a "time machine" for me!

Here's the reasons I consider it to be ahead of it's time. And I've included photos to support my views.

Reason #1: It uses rotary valve induction. And that is a huge plus!
Reason #2: Look at the pictures of the exhaust ports. The Mercury 20H
had only three holes. The Champion had four!
Reason #3: Look at the pictures of the intake ports. The Hot Rod only used two intake ports, but their total intake area was at least 20% more than the 20H.
Reason #4: I can't support this claim, but it makes sense to me. Just by "blind luck", the designers of the Hot Rod just happened to "resonate" the exhaust system, which produced a bit more power to go with all the
other subtle improvements they had built into their engine.
Reason #5: Their entire engine package weighed almost one half what the
20H weighed. Think about it --- the less weight on the back of the boat, the higher it could ride out of the water!

Oh, by the way -- Ain't it just a "thrill" to have to keep track of 64 bearings for each "cracked" rod!

For you "old timers", exactly what IS a "cracked rod"?? hehe
I'll buy the first guy with the right answer a 6pack next time we meet! hehe :D

Ok, guys -- now it's time for you to "shoot me down" on my observations!

EZ

ezryder

04-19-2010, 06:44 PM

Much to my surprise! As I dis assembled the rods I discovered that the rod bolts were METRIC in size!
EZ

Mark75H

04-19-2010, 07:49 PM

BRIAN HENDRICK

04-19-2010, 08:56 PM

I think the Webester that you are talking about is John .He still shows up at boat races and might be at Ocoee.
Leigh

John Webster is very much alive and lives on a lake in Ontario near Toronto.
He is the current and long standing Commodore of the Toronto OB Racing Club.
John stopped racing his A&B hydros 4 years ago, but still attends most of the races in ON&NY,
with his family, and sets his 'popper' up for guest drivers.[ie; Brian Rossman]
John's son Ross won Bmod at the Nats in 2008,
and he has a grand son about to start J hydro.
I have copied that pic and will give it to him.
This pic of John is at Crystal Lake, NY in 2008.
NB; -he is one of the few that got a Carter to work, and work it does for him.

ezryder

04-20-2010, 08:44 AM

Hi Brian,
Thanks for the update.
Hopefully he will post on this thread and let us know if
my memory's were correct.
EZ

BRIAN HENDRICK

04-20-2010, 03:37 PM

Hi Brian,
Thanks for the update. Hopefully he will post on this thread and let us know if
my memory's were correct.
EZ

I will see him in three weeks at a TORC swap meet in Picton, ON to start off our season. John gave up his computer when he stopped racing.
I was wondering if the date was 1954 ?
as [I think] John is about 75, and the man in the pic looks 25 or so. It can not be much later as he was one of the 1st to buy a 20H.
When i get back to FL next fall I will come up to see your stuff, that is if the tornadoes clear out:)

ezryder

04-20-2010, 05:21 PM

Hi Brian,
I think that photo was taken in '54 as you stated. I'm not 100 % sure, but I think it was. The photo was taken at
Lake Alfred, Fla. I know that for sure. Don't know why I know that, but I do.
Looking forward to any comments he may have about the photo.

When you get down this way, give me a call at 352 259 0682 and I'll be sure we can get together. It would be great to meet you!

I noted your avatar -- looks like your posing with either a PR or SR Johnson racing motor. My dad had both motors back when I was racing with him.
He started me racing in M hydro in 1948, when I was 8 years old.

Thanks for sharing your memory's.
EZ

BRIAN HENDRICK

04-20-2010, 06:49 PM

I noted your avatar -- looks like your posing with either a PR or SR Johnson racing motor

1933 Johnson PR65,
a west coast motor,
Toprahanian/Hubbell.

ezryder

04-21-2010, 06:19 PM

A cracked rod is formed as one piece and broken into 2 for the big end split. The broken edges match back up to bolt together.

An odd thing about the 20H specs a lot of places ... it is incorrectly listed as weighing 3 times as much as a Hot Rod where the real weight difference is closer to half.

I think you are correct on all counts.

Hi Sam,
You win! I'll be at the world championships in Lake
Alfred later this year -- and I'll pay off! "Cracked rods" are history now days.
Still, a good idea for the time.
Only a total idiot could have bolted the rod together wrong.
But I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that more than one idiot did! Hehe!!

EZ

BRIAN HENDRICK

05-09-2010, 06:44 PM

Hi Brian,
Thanks for the update.
Hopefully he will post on this thread and let us know if
my memory's were correct.
EZ

I had a chat with John Webster at the TORC SWAP meet in Picton, ON yesterday. He says that he 1st went to FL in 1957, did run a utility then, but never took one to FL, only hydros. He was not absolutely certain, but did not think
that was he in the picture you are posting.
So I am sure you raced against him in the late '50s,
and probably he is in some of your pix.
I should be back in Sebring by NOV,
and will call you then.
Brian

ezryder

05-10-2010, 06:07 AM

I had a chat with John Webster at the TORC SWAP meet in Picton, ON yesterday. He says that he 1st went to FL in 1957, did run a utility then, but never took one to FL, only hydros. He was not absolutely certain, but did not think
that was he in the picture you are posting.
So I am sure you raced against him in the late '50s,
and probably he is in some of your pix.
I should be back in Sebring by NOV,
and will call you then.
Brian

Thanks for the update Brian. I took another check of the pictures and the year was definitely 1954. So I guess that rules him out.
Looking forward to meeting you this fall.
George

ezryder

05-24-2010, 06:25 PM

Hi everyone,
Just thought I'd post a short note to let everyone know that I'm still around.
Been so busy with my "re berth" and working on my projects in my race shop that I've not had the time to add to my thread.

I'm busy building up a 20H "popper" from all the stuff I've acquired in the last couple of months. And having LOTS of FUN doing it!
I've kinda "dropped the ball" on my musings about my past. But have faith --- I'll be back!
Regards,
ezryder

Master Oil Racing Team

05-24-2010, 07:56 PM

looking very much forward to your musings George. I timed out on my pm to you, but I think it should go through. If not....do it again.

ezryder

06-12-2010, 01:05 PM

Just when everyone was drawing a sigh of relief, thinking I had vanished for good too! But like your worse nightmare, I'm BAAAACK, with more of my musings from my "misspent" youth!

Been really busy ever since my Daytona adventure working with my recently acquired collection of old race boats and motors.
Having lots of FUN in my race shop these days.

However, right now I'm stuck in the house, recovering from going "under the knife" a few days ago. Nothing major, but I did have to get
a chunk of cancer carved outa my face. Basel cell type, so I should be
ok after the plastic surgery heals up. This in not my first go round with this.
And not my last either. I have another to go through in a couple of months. Most likely my problems have been brought on by my life style
in my youth. Always in the sun, you know. Hell, I never even had to put on any protection from sun burn because I never lost my tan. Being a surfer tends to do that to you, don't 'ya know!

Anyway, I figured this is a great time to tell a bit more of my ongoing story. And I'm going to do it mostly in pictures.
Years ago Sheila did up a great colleague of my racing history to hang on our wall.
You will have to excuse the quality of the pictures as I did not want to destroy the colleague by removing all the photos from it to scan into the computer.
So what I did was take photographs of all the pictures and then do as much photo shopping as I could to make them look decent.

I'm going to limit each post to one picture. That way I can comment on it in a meaningful way.
It's meant to be a short summary of my racing history into the middle eighties.

I hope everyone enjoys it --- Looking forward to your comments.
It begins on the next post.
Regards,
EZ (George):)

ezryder

06-12-2010, 01:35 PM

Here's a picture that goes way back to just about the beginning.
It's my Dad and I, taken by my mom. It was taken in 1949. I don't remember what race we were going to, but you can see that we were
not in Florida due to the rolling hills in the background.

'48 Packard convertible towing the racing rig that my Dad bought from Joe Swift. My Mishey M hydro is the one on top.
What a kool trailer that was. All sorts of storage room for motors and supplies.
The other two boats were Fillingers. An A/B hydro and a C hydro.
Joe Swift began building stock racing hydros soon after this point in time.

The engine line up in the trailer was as follows:
Evinrude Midget for me
Johnson KR for A hydro
Johnson SR for B hydro
Johnson PR for C hydro
My Dad never did anything "half ***"!:D

Click on the thumbnail to see full sized.
Stay tuned,
EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 01:41 PM

Hey, did I mention I started riding motorcycles at an early age!:D

Here I am on my Dad's Indian Scout .
It was 1951. Soon after Indian closed it's doors.

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:07 PM

Here's a shot of me taken in June of 1959. We were all loaded up and ready to go to the first boat race ever held in Lake Lloyd, in the Daytona International Speedway.
The speedway opened with the Daytona 500 in February. There was also an Indy Car race held there in April. My Dad and I attended both.
That was the only Indy Car race ever held on the banks. The cars were not
up to the g forces due to their high speed.

That's me looking in the back of the trailer. The trailer used to be owned by Doug Creech. My Dad bought it and some boats and motors from Doug in '54.

I used this trailer for my boats for years. It started life with the boats stacked on top of one another. Then I converted it to on their sides.
Rumor had it that the boats were less likely to distort their bottom shape if they were hauled on their sides. Was that true? I don't have a clue!
But it looked cool!!

The runabout was a DeSilva A/B alky boat that the brothers built to my
specifications. The hydro seen was my Sid Craft "D" hydro that I ran my
factory Konig C engine on.
The boat that can't be seen is my Sid A/B hydro that I set a couple of world records with in '58 and '59

Just a few days later my world was turned upside down when my Dad was killed in the second heat of the C Racing Runabout class at Daytona.

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:19 PM

This is a picture of me taken at Daytona International Speedway in 1962. I had attended a drivers school earlier in the year and got my provesional
SCCA racing license.
The car I'm in is a Fiat Abarth Allemano. A production racer that was quite common in those days. Now days they are quite rare!

This was the beginning of my SCCA sports car racing years.
I raced sports cars until 1965 and had good success. And lots of FUN.
Then I went back to college and got my degree -- and got married.

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:26 PM

We have now arrived at my "dirt dobber" days! Better known as Motocross.
This shot was taken in '71 at the Orlando Sports Center MX track.
I raced motocross from '69 until '71. Then switched to motorcycle roadracing in '72.

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:36 PM

Here's a picture of me in my first professional AMA roadrace at Daytona
in 1973.
That was a BAD day! I didn't qualify for the final. And when we got home,
we found that our beloved kitty had been hit by a car. She died in my arms!
That was a HUGE downer!

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:48 PM

Daytona 1974. My second year of pro roadracing.
This is a picture of myself and my friend "Tricky Dicky" as I called him.
I'm on the right. Wow! Hard to believe how young I looked back then! Think it had something to do with actually BEING young! hehe.

This was a GOOD year. We both qualified for the final international lightweight 100 miler. And we both finished in the top 20.
Quite an accomplishment for two young guys with only a years experience racing in the big time.
There were 140 entry's for the race. And only 80 starting positions. And half
the entry's were from overseas. Qualifying was an achievement in itself!!
60 riders never even made the show.
We were both "over the moon" as they say!

FOND memorys of my miss-spent youth, don't 'ya know!! :D

EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 02:58 PM

Back to car racing for a few years.
Here's a photo of me in my Merlyn FF open wheeler taken at Roebling Road Raceway close to Savannah, Ga in 1979

I temporarily retired from m/c roadracing in 1978 and decided to give
sport car racing another try. It was fun, but it broke me financially for a SECOND time.
Anyone reading this -- take my advice. Do NOT get involved in car racing unless you have VERY DEEP POCKETS!!! :mad:

I had a lot of fun, but ran outa bucks in '85. Been there, done that -- before!

ez

ezryder

06-12-2010, 03:04 PM

Success! And it's costs! I kinda "wonder"!!:confused:
EZ

ezryder

06-12-2010, 03:17 PM

I've not touched on my 20plus years of racing vintage motorcycles. That's for later.
But I have returned to my "roots" starting earlier this year.

Take a look at my 1952 Swift A/B hydro and my Merc KG7H.
The combo that created stock racing of the 50's as we knew it!

That's it for now --- more later
Regards,
EZ (George)

A/B Speedliner

06-12-2010, 05:00 PM

ezryder

06-12-2010, 05:59 PM

George,
I thouhgt I had it bad but you are over the top. Alan and I raced boats and cars but never MC. We ran a 1960 A/h Sprite with a Buick 215 engine, built like an Indy car engine but less the blower. Along came marriage, kids and having to make a living with a real job, LOL.

Keep the great stuff coming and I look forward to another fine conversation like we had at Tavares a few weeks ago.
Your friend
David Van Weele

The Fiat Abarth was just my first race car. The following year I bought a Lotus 11 (1958 model) from a guy in Alabama for 1500 bucks.
BOY, do I WISH I had never sold it!!!
Then in '64 I went the long dollar and bought a brand new Lotus 23.
For the next two years I won races everywhere. I did get an offer of a
pro ride at the end of '65. But the ride vanished when Alcoa Aluminum decided not to sponsor the program that they had earlier committed to.

That was the end of my attempt to make it to the big time. I did sign a contract. But back in those days, contract's didn't mean much if the sponsor bailed out.
Anyway, at that point, I was "broke". Supporting a competitive Lotus 23 at the pro level had sapped my bank account. And I was done!

But in the end I still made my dream of making my living in motorsports come true. Just in a bit different fashion than I had hoped for.
I ended up in motorcycle racing. And although I was never a super star rider, I did have one talent that carried me through.
When I was racing cars, I earned my living building fiberglass bodywork for sports racing cars. I produced all the bodywork that was ever made for the "Formcar" formula V kits that were sold in the early sixties. That was how I was able to afford my Lotus 23. I paid $12000 bucks for my Lotus 23 in '64. That was a HUGE amount of money for that time.

But I was single, didn't mind working 18 hours a day and I wanted to
race a car that could win "so bad" you can't even imagine. In short,
I was "eat up" with my dream! Damn good thing I didn't get married 'til I was 27!:D

The car deal didn't work out. But the M/C deal sure did. My company, Taylor'd Fairings, built most all the roadracing fairings built for motorcycles in the US from 1974 until I sold the business in 1985.
And along with that, my products were used to win both 250cc and 500cc World championships during that time.

And the biggest bonus of all was that I got to "live" my dream from my
youth -- to make my living in motorsports. I was able to support my family while living my "dream".
What more could you ask for??
EZ

ezryder

09-05-2010, 01:06 PM

Hi everyone,
Been a while since I've added anything to this thread. So decided to at least do some short notes today, before we head to my mother-in-law's for dinner.

I've been spending a lot of time in my race shop working on my "Mustang Sally" restoration. It's a slow road, but making progress.

Also spending time on my 20H "popper" project. And it's also coming along very well.
I'm basically building this engine from the bottom up. I bought the power head and 16/21 gearbox from Joe Welch.
Got the mid section and bracke assembly on eBay. It was in great shape, but was not the correct long reach transom long reach brackets.
I found a 20H bracket assembly on eBay, complete with a 20H I.D. plate in place.

I'm currently working on the paint job. Then I can assemble it into a complete package.
I'm doing the paint job just as it would be if I had bought a conversion kit from Mercury in "the day", and installed it on my motor. And that includes everything, including the fuel pump and carb conversion.

I just recently found a 16/21 prop for it courtesy of John Schubert, so
I'm set have a go with it as soon as I finish up the assembly.
Thanks John!

I've also been spending a lot of evening time on BRF exploring the late sixties on up into the 80's via Wayne's postings and photos.
Thanks so much to everyone for adding to my knowledge of my "lost years" after I was forced to quit boat racing (another story for another time). And moved on into cars and then m/c racing.

"Random pit shots" and "Random pit shots 2" have been a great help. And I'm still not all that far into them.
Same for Konig thread and the Tim Butts thread.
As some of you already know, I drove Konig's for Deter and Walt Blankenstein in the 50's.

I'll try to get busy and scan some more pictures to post soon. But don't expect the "Wayne" treatment. We took very few pictures back in those
days.

Regards,
George (AKA "ez")

Master Oil Racing Team

09-05-2010, 07:20 PM

Thanks for the kind words George. You have already contributed mightily to outboard history. We welcome your pictures, but the main thing is your remembrances.

I complained to Joe Rome last week that "I wish I would have taken more notes" and I didn't say more pictures, but Joe countered "We did more than most of them." Joe is a packrat too, but he doesn't scan. His wife Karen does that. If Joe could speak to a computer and his words would turn to typestyle, he would have a thread that even the fastest spider couldn't spin with.

So while we want you pictures George, more importantly, you can fill us in on the details of how the racing was back then.

ezryder

09-08-2010, 05:16 PM

Around late 57 or early 58, don't remember for sure ---

Walt was a great guy, but he could be a bit "crotchety" at times when
you "messed" with his mind!!
Walt had bought a Volkswagen "Beetle" to carry him from home to the race shop every day.
Man, he preached to me every day about how fantastic that "beetle" was!

Didn't impress me much! At the time I had a Chevvy tow car with a "heated up" engine in it. I could do the 1/4 mile in less than 12 seconds.
So I spent a lot of time "deriding" his Beetle. Boy, did he ever get "hot" under the collar when I kept giving him ****!

Finally, one day I decided that I was going to bring this whole gig to a boil!

As usual, Walt would keep preaching to me about how reliable the "Beetle" was! And deriding my Chevvy because I had done a "power shift" and blown the transmission. My dad was "pissed" and Walt was "over the moon" with insults to me about my Chevvy.

I got fed up, so I plotted out a plan to get even! And boy, did I ever!!.
Most of you "old timers" will remember the "car bomb's" you could buy back then. The ones you wired into the ignition system. Then hung around and waited for your target to start his engine??

Well, I wired one up in Walt's beloved Volkswagen without his knowledge. And then hung around until he closed up shop to leave for home.
OH MY!!!
First the siren went off --- followed by the huge explosion -- then the smoke!
By that time Walt was in the next thing to "cardiac arrest"!! :D

FUNNEEEEEEEE!!!! He "banned" me from his race shop for a week!
But he needed me to finish a project I was working on for him, so I got off "light"!

It took Walt about a month to get over that stunt! hehe :D

And this is just one story of MANY really funny stories I have to tell about my days hanging around Walt's race shop when I was driving for Konig.

George (aka EZ)

Master Oil Racing Team

09-08-2010, 07:03 PM

ezryder

09-09-2010, 05:15 PM

That's very funny about Walt. I could picture him hounding you beforehand, and the result of what you did.:D

I was looking through some old Roostertails reading all about the younger Johnny Dortch when I came across some mentions of you and your Dad. I had thought I posted a couple of results earlier about your racing, these seemed to be different. While I reviewed your thread I came across some of the motorcycle and auto racing pics I had not seen before. I was very impressed and it's not the first time something has happened either to me or the computer that I have missed something. Anyway...I will post the Roostertail stuff I found hopefully in the next few days.

Great Wayne! I'd love to see the Rostertail comments!

I have a rather large box full of all the stuff I collected from my boat racing days. Haven't looked at in years. But there is a lot of stuff there.
Boat Sport, Speed and Spray and other memorabilia.
Hopefully I'll have time to drag that box out sometime soon and post some of the results. Won't be like your "in the pits" photos, but should be interesting none the less.

If I remember correctly Johnny Dortch started making a name for himself in the latter days of my boat racing. I remember racing with him a few times, but he was so far north of where I raced, I didn't really know much about him.

It really hit home to me when I heard about his demise, and the story behind it. Made me realize just how lucky I am to still be around!

My wife, Sheila, is diabetic and I worry about her all the time! We have been married now for 48 years.
I could easily be Johnny Dortch all over again should I lose her!

I keep telling her that I'm gonna "check out" before she does -- but NONE of us know when we're gonna "check out"!

Considering the "type A" personality I've chased all these years, its truly surprising I'm still here! I really didn't expect to be!

I remember thinking, when my dad died at 52, that I would be really lucky to make it to his age considering what I was doing.
But somehow, God looked after me -- and I'm still here.

And enjoying getting older too! --- cuz the alternative really SUCKS!!
hehe :D

EZ

Master Oil Racing Team

09-09-2010, 06:55 PM

ezryder

09-10-2010, 06:18 PM

...you look at your birth certificate and see it has an expiration date.;)

I like your attitude George. And prayer will keep you guys going for a long time.

It's sad you're Dad passed at such a young age. Johnny and Liz had a great life together although toward the end, it was tough on both Johnny and Liz. I talked to her a while a few months before she passed and at first she sounded so down and tired, but before we were through talking she was laughing and telling me all kinds of stories. You need to get Sheila to help collate your boat racing AND motorcycle stories and photos so we can see what all you guys did back then.

Here's one of the Roostertail articles I found.

Thanks so much for your post Wayne!
That was a very special time of my life!
The story failed to mention the fact that I had crashed big time in practice on Sunday morning.
I hit a log while testing my Konig B hydro set up. The motor ended up in the boat. But I went out the side of the boat and ripped out all the combing on the left side of my "Big Bee" hydro.

I was one "beat up" dude! But when your that young, you can bounce back faster. And that I did! Until Monday morning, when we headed home!
My dad had his trailer of boats and I had mine. And when we would get low on gas, dad would pull into a gas station to get filled up.
He would fill up his car, and mine!
I could hardly move -- I could drive the rig, but that was about it. It was one painful trip home!

EZ

Master Oil Racing Team

09-10-2010, 06:54 PM

So true George. When you're hot and rarin' to go, a setback like taking out the side of a hydro isn't going to stop you. Then when it's over and you cool down and get a good night's sleep......the stiffness sets in. Unfortunately I experienced a bruising incident in qualifying at the nationals. Having flown above the far tree line from the pits at DePue racing C hydro and landing in two feet of water in a silt filled river, I came back to win my qualifying heat in B hydro. At his last Pro race before going full time OPC Billy Seebold told me "You're not going to race tommorrow!" I assurred him I was, but he was right Billy knew from experience. I love all the side stories you have surrounding the racing itself, such as the trip home. How many times have we headed out to the races full of enthusiasm, and all kinds of opportuntities and things we could do, only to head home downhearted, broken and ready to get in our own bed. It was your youth, enthusiam, and talent that got you to the finish line. I cannot imagine what it took to get you up and going the next morning. Keep the stories coming.

ezryder

09-11-2010, 04:59 PM

ezryder

09-11-2010, 06:05 PM

I'm back at it again - remembering my "past". But this "past" is not all that old when you consider how long I raced.
Fact this "crash" happened in 1997 at Daytona as I was trying to qualify for a position in the starting field for the AMA Pro 600 Super Sport race.

I had failed to qualify for this race for two years running. And I was really "bummed out". There were always 80 starting positions available. But the problem was, there were always over a hundred entry's trying to qualify for the race.
And they were all "crazy young'ns" who didn't mind "throwing it down the road" in their quest to qualify.
Qualify or CRASH trying - that was their motto!

Unfortunately for me, at 58 years old, I was thinking like a "28" year old.
And when the TV interviewers came around to chat with me since I was so "old", it really "pumped me up" just a "tad" more.

Being a "poor boy" racer and not having the "latest" equipment in my previous attempts at making the field, 1997 was a totally different deal for me!
I had a close friend that I had helped out when he was a kid just getting started in roadracing back in the '70s. Now he was a Honda dealer and he supplied me with a brand new race bike to take to Daytona.

I was "over the moon".!! What a chance for me! I could make history being the oldest "stupid person" to ever qualify for the final of a professional 600 Super Sport AMA race.

On Thursday qualifying time rolled around. And I was "in the zone". Fact I was "in the zone" just a "bit" over my head, as it turned out.

Ever had that feeling that you were gonna "win" or crash trying? In this case, for me, it was "qualify" or crash trying.

We rolled out for the first of two 30 minute qualifying sessions. The 80 fastest times of the two sessions would make the final.
Every one else goes home.

On the first lap I warmed up the tyres. Then at the beginning of the second lap I started "pushing" really hard! Got down to turn 5 in the infield and headed to turn six, which dumped you back up on the west banking of the NASCAR oval.

That is the last I remember. Everything else was permanently erased from my memory.
My next memory was hearing my son, Chuck, asking "Dad - wake up"!
I was in the track hospital. And I didn't have a "clue" as to what had happened -- other than remembering that the last thing I recalled was coming out of turn 5 and heading for turn six and the banking.

I don't remember much for the next couple of days. They had me set up so I could punch a button and get a "boost" of pain killers. And Boy did I ever push that button a LOT over the next few days.

This was by far the WORST crash of my entire racing life! I broke my shoulder, 4 ribs and my ankle in this crash.
But believe it or not, I was back on the track in just two months! Was I
stupid? Yea, you bet! "Possesed" with the desire to win at Daytona on a Motorcycle, as I had already done with a boat and a car.
My life was not complete yet.
I didn't fulfill that dream until 2000.

But my dream finally DID come true in 2000!!!

Oh, by the way. I don't remember anything about that crash. But the corner workers told me that I got sidways, then the bike snapped back and I got the typical "high side" get off you get when that happens.
They said that I flew into the air at least 15 feet before I came down on
the pavement.
My bike continued on up the banking and hit the wall, totally destroying it.

I had another crash that was almost that bad back in '76. But I was younger then and I only missed one race due to a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone.

Was I "crazy" most of my life? You BET!
But now I'm retired --- Finally figured out my type A problem!! hehe
:D
EZ (stupid)

Allen J. Lang

09-11-2010, 08:20 PM

George, you were just working on a bucket list. :D

Master Oil Racing Team

09-12-2010, 07:41 AM

So how exactly did that dream go down in 2000 George?

ezryder

09-12-2010, 01:29 PM

So how exactly did that dream go down in 2000 George?

Hi Wayne,
I've attached my "Daytona Report 2000". You can read all about it. A VERY special day for me! In fact by FAR my MOST special Day of my entire racing career!!!!
I wrote the report the day after the win -- and believe me I was still on a "high" for another three weeks after the race!
Surprising when you consider that I was the APBA A alky Hydro National champion in '58. And set the A hydro 5 mile competition world record in '59 along with the NOA A hydro straightaway record in '59.
You would have thought that those achomplishments would have had more meaning. But they didn't.
I think the reason why was the fact that I've known from the beginning that I was always a much better boat racer than I ever was as a m/c racer. I was a "natural" in boats. Not on motorcycles though. I really had to work hard to become truly competitive in cycle racing. In boats it came easy for me.

I became obsessed with winning a m/c race at Daytona back in the 70's, but could never make it happen, although I made it up on the podium a number of times.
But I just refused to give up! And here I was, in 2000, with a chance to win a m/c race at Daytona at 60 years old. And I did!
That's why it was my "DREAM COME TRUE"!!!
Here's a side note -- once you finally "break through" it takes the pressure off. Up until 2000 I had finished second at Daytona in a m/c race a total of 7 times.
Then, after 2000, I won two more 250 races at Daytona before I retired.
My last win was when I was 67 years old.

More than you probably wanted to know --- but then, you just "had" to
ask, didn't you!!! hehehehe :D

Master Oil Racing Team

09-12-2010, 01:50 PM

And I'm going to keep on asking George. What a great story. How fast did those bikes run on the straights and what speeds through chicanes and hairpin?

ezryder

09-12-2010, 04:41 PM

Hi Wayne,
My 250cc Yamaha TD3 GP bike was capable of around 148 mph on the "walls". The slowest speed on the entire track was through the international horseshoe as it is called. That was at around 65mph.
After the international horseshoe was what was called the "dogleg" turn to the left. The speed through the "dogleg" if you had HUGE balls was WFO.
Of course the "walls" were WFO all the way through.
Our average lap times were over 100 mph in all categories.
In short, we were "truck'n"!

Back in the middle seventies I road a Yamaha TZ 750 GP bike in the 200 race a couple of years.
The TZ was capable of 185mph on the banks, even back in those days -- if you had the "balls"! And it truly took HUGE balls to do it because the HP of the TZ 750's far out stripped the ability of the chassis to handle it.
The first time I roda a TZ 750 on the walls, it scared the living **** outa me! I wasn't willing to even hold it wide open because the bike was shaking so bad.
I came in and asked my much more experienced friend about the problem. And this is what he said:
"Just hold it WFO" and "hold on tight".
So I went back out and tried it. It worked! We had to put knee pads on and turn them sidways to absorb all the banging that the fuel tank was hitting our knees with.
Oh, and by the way, don't "pop up" from behind the fairing at 180 unless you have a "death grip" on the clip on's. And that might not even
be enough!

When we rode the walls of Daytona with our TZ 750's and right on through to this day, you really can not see where you are headed very clearly. For one thing, due to the walls banking it limits how far ahead you can see. Then, there is so much shaking going on that everything is a huge blur.

Crazy?? Yea, big time!!! But we all had the same disease -- Type A personalities that require living on the "edge".

Like I said earlier, I don't have a clue as to why I'm still around???

EZ

ezryder

09-12-2010, 05:24 PM

Hi Wayne,
I spent around an hour today looking at your photo posts on "in the pits". I've been there a lot of late.
I'm so happy that you took so many pictures back then. Especially the ones from the 60's and 70's.
It's really filling a huge void in my boat racing past. A past that I would have LOVED to have been a part of!

My mother gave me a choice. Quit racing boats, or move out.
I was 18 at the time and decided to honor her wishes.
To this day, I wonder if I made the right decision?

I had full sponsorship from Konig and Walt Blankenstein. And they made it clear that the choice was mine.

I continued to race boats up into the early sixties. But it was carried out in the "stealth" mode and all I could do was race occasionally in stock outboard races under an assumed name - and with no support.

Over my lifetime of racing I've come to two different "forks in the road" where I had to make a decision. Now you know of my first decision.

Down the road I'll tell you about my next "fork in the road".

EZ

ezryder

09-14-2010, 12:43 PM

I was reading through the early postings on Dan's thread and it set me to thinking about the SEBA (Southeastern Boating Association)

Here's some comments on my experiences racing SEBA.
Oh, and please remember - I'm 71 and suffer from advancing CRAFT disease, so if I repeat some stories, please cut me some slack! ;)

Hi everyone,

I read some comments on Dannys early thread about SEBA.
So I decided to “update” my thread with information regarding SEBA and Dan’s comments.

To you Dan:
Your Lake Haar photo was so KOOL! Thanks! Raced there MANY times in the 50's with the SEBA guys.
As I recall it was a man made lake. Not very big. Kinda like racing stock cars on a 1/4 mile oval!

That is where I first met Deter Konig. And that led to my association with Deter and the importer, Scott Smith, in Dallas, Ga.
And ending up as a sponsored driver for Konig.

Deter was "spot on" when he said the "tough guys" were in SEBA.
But what a lot of the guys of today didn't know was why SEBA was so competitive.
Very simple answer! They paid damn good money at all their races!

The minimum was $20, 15, 10 and 5 in each heat at most races. And probably 40% of the time the pay out was more like 35,25,20 and 15 per heat.

Meanwhile, the APBA was doing lots of stock outboard races all over the country. But they were amateur, and only gave out trophies. No cash allowed.
Alky races meant paying money, so guess what happened. Pro racing in APBA slowly wilted.
The Florida "citrus circuit" was still around in the winter. but NOA and SEBA was where the money was.

That's the whole reason my Dad and I were racing SEBA. They paid "hard cash"! And we were racing 20 or more weekends a year in Georgia and
Alabama mostly. With a few races in Fla that my dad helped organize.

And making damn good money doing it, if you had competitive equipment.
As a teen during the years 55, 56, 57 and 58 I used to win an average of
100 bucks each race weekend. For those times, that was good money.
I always had cash to chase girls with!
And afford motels and meals too! And not have to sleep in my car at the
race site.

Those were fantastic times!!! But, being a "jerky kid", I never fully realized that until many years later!

In the late 50's I concentrated on APBA alky racing as I wanted a chance at setting some records. And I did.
Won the APBA alky A Hydro championship in '58. Then, in '59 I set the World 5 mile competition record in A Hydro at 60.060mph.
And also set an NOA A hydro straightaway record of 71 mph.

Then my Dad was killed racing on Lake Lloyd at the Daytona International Speedway on June 14, 1959.

That altered my life's path considerably.

Geo (EZ)

ezryder

10-16-2010, 12:40 PM

Ah, YES! Retirement is great!

Went up to Barber Motorsports last weekend to attend the Vintage motorcycle races.
We sure had a great time! First time I've ever been up to Barber when I was not racing. When your racing, as
you know, you don't get out of the paddock much.
But this time we only spent about an hour in the paddock with Chris and Carl, and other friends.
The rest of the time we were doing the "Barber" thing the way it needs to be done. Lot's o' walking!!
And it wore our asses OUT!
Barber has added LOTS of stuff since I was last in the Museum three years ago.
We had a FANTASTIC time!!
And now he has added outboard racing motors also.
It is the largest motorcycle Museum in the world. ! He has 1500 vintage bikes in his collection. And 750 of them are on display at all times.
And he's up to 75 vintage race cars now too.
I was in "Lotus" heaven with all the Lotus' stuff Barber has added!!!!!
I took over 200 pictures in the Museum.
I've posted some with this posting.

This was the largest Vintage m/c racing gathering in the last decade in the US. Over 600 entrys. As can be seen in the photos, the paddock goes on forever. And that is only ONE row. There are a total of 4 rows.
Over the two day, there were over 60,000 spectators!

The HD mc with sidecar and 50 caliber machine gun is exactly like the one that I have to protect "Hooterville"!! hehe :D

The Lotus 23 pictured is the same model I drove in the early sixties
The Lotus 11 is the second race car I ever owned.
And the outboard motor pictures -- well, I'm sure everyone recognizes
the ones in the pictures.
The midget racer #18 is powered by an Evenrude 4-60. A very common power plant for midget racers of the 30's and 40's.
Enjoy!!

Oh, on another note -- I was doing some research this morning into my SEBA racing past. And I found some very interesting information about
Lake Haar, up close to Pooler, Ga. We raced there a lot in the 50's.

Follow these links. And Remember. String all the data togather before entering it in your browser:

http://www.goingoutside.com/lake/102/1025465_Haarley_Lake_Georgia.html

http://maps.google.com/?sll=32.14,-81.495&spn=0.05,0.05

http://www.placenames.com/us/p337203/

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Ellabell&state=GA&zipcode=31308&country=US&latitude=32.14&longitude=-81.495&geocode=LATLNG

Geo (EZ)

Mark75H

10-16-2010, 12:45 PM

Evinrude sold more 4-60's for midgets than they sold 4-60 outboards

ezryder

10-16-2010, 12:46 PM

Something happened -- my pix didn't post.
I'll try again. AGGGGHHH!:p

ezryder

10-16-2010, 12:53 PM

More pictures and MORE pictures!

ezryder

10-16-2010, 12:58 PM

Hav'n FUN yet? hehe

ezryder

10-16-2010, 01:06 PM

Sorry 'bout that!! When I got done posting I realized I'm not too good at posting when I went to look at the results.
Seems as though you'll have to do a lot of "slider bar" moving to see all my
posts.

Hey, cut me some slack -- I turn 72 in 37 days!!! AGGHHH
But hey - every day I wake up and realize I'm another day older, I'm a "happy camper"!! Even with all the "aches and pains"!! Because the alternative SUCKS!!!

Regards to all:
Geo (EZ)

Master Oil Racing Team

10-16-2010, 01:18 PM

You are able to do more on the computer than many 30 years younger George. You can play around with sizing. I learned more about posting pictures and using the computer after I discovered BRF than anyone could ever teach me. I had an incentive to learn.:cool:

You know you're really having a bad day George when you happen to stumble across your birth certificate and find it has an expiration date on it.:eek:;)

ADD: That looked like a fantastic racing facility. Did you ever race on the road course at Firebird Lake near Phoenix? The last time I went by there, there were in the middle of a motorcycle road racing weekend.

russhill

10-16-2010, 02:06 PM

EZ Rider,
Beautiful collection. Not with the intent of arguing or criticizing, but in the interest of what I think is accurate, I have a couple comments.
First, using 72 as an old age excuse—hell, I got socks older than that. I screw up things also, but it’s not due to old age, I’ve always screwed things up.
You VR50—I don’t believe there was ever a VR50 (1930), just a VR55 (1931).
Your 1931 PR was a 1933. Vincent heads, etc. were for PR65 (1933).
Your 1936 KR was only 14 Cu in. There was really only one KR, it came out in 1931 as a KR55. It was built in subsequent years as a KR60 (1932), KR 65 (1933), etc.
I may very well be wrong on this stuff. I have no documentation, just memory, and understanding of the Johnson Model # / year relationship.

Mark75H

10-16-2010, 02:44 PM

There were 2 KR's; one in 1928 and then in 1931 as a series thru 1937.
The first KR, the KR 40, was an opposed twin like the other Johnsons and was just under 20 cubic inches, the later series were inline/alternate firing, KR-55 thru KR-80 with very minor improvements along the way, not necessarily yearly and not exactly 55, 65, 75 ... but Russ is correct, they were 13.9 cubic inch, not 15. The class size was 15 ci and under, and many people make the mistake of assuming the manufacturers went right up to the last little bit with every motor.

There was a VR 50 in 1930 and a VR 45 in 1929.

russhill

10-16-2010, 03:25 PM

Sam, You're right, as usual about the old opposed K40 (I didn't know there was a KR40.)

I don't agree about the Vs. Yes there was a V45 and V50, but I don't think there was a VR until '31. What gearcase did it use? The V45 was a "small valve" 25 HP. It used a full speed rotary valve, as contrasted with the "big valves" which ran half engine speed and were called 32HP. I don't know which valve was used on the 1930 V50s.

As for the class rule, it was definitely 14 inches. We helped get the rule changed allow the Mercuries to compete legally in the early '50s.

I wish this stuff were better documented.

ezryder

10-16-2010, 04:27 PM

ezryder

10-16-2010, 04:48 PM

The pictures I posted and the plaques were all posted in the Barber M/C Museum.
I am a casual friend of George Barber. We raced against each other in the 60's in SCCA sports car racing.

The people he has working for him are very knowledgeable about motorcycles.
The director of all their m/c restorations is a friend of a very close friend of mine.

But their venture into outboards could use some help with the history I'm sure.

Same with the race cars -- some of the stuff I see from my era is not entirely correct either -- according to my memory.
The bottom line is the fact that Mr Barber has invested
mega millions of bucks into his love of vintage motorsports.

He truly is a "one off". Until you visit his racing venue, you don't have a clue as to how beautiful it is.
The road race circuit is one of the best I've ever ridden. And the Museum is fantastic. It's 5 stories high.
And they plan to expand it in the future.
The entire facility is maintained exactly like Disney World.
You have to see it to believe it!!

Regards,
George

Mark75H

10-16-2010, 06:11 PM

ezryder

10-27-2010, 12:29 PM

Hi Everyone,
Some more of my memory's ---

I was reading a letter posted by Sam Cullis back in '99 on the Oliver Outboard site.
"Quote": 10/10/99 Email from Sam Cullis:

"Although Peter Crowley is very correct in connecting the popular use of the pickle fork nose hydro design with the late 60's/early 70's time period, my research found that the idea's roots and application dates back a stunning 20 years earlier!"

Joe Swift built a few C/D "pickle forks" in the early 50's. He didn't call them pickle forks, but we quickly named them that.
Less than a handful were ever built. A friend of ours, Archie Golson, bought one from another owner that was not happy with it.
Archie had a lot of luck with it racing in D modified hydro in the SEBA.
I drove it a few times myself. It was great in rough water! While everyone else was backing off from too much lift into the wind, you just kept it WFO in most cases. It incorporated a longer cockpit than the regular Swift CD hydro also. Not a "cabover", but the beginnings.
However, it was just not fast enough in smooth water to get the job done.

Archie raced this boat for a number of years whenever the water was rough. Then, in late 1956, he was headed back to Montgomery from a race at Lake Haar, close to Savannah, Ga.
He had it on the top of his 3 boat trailer. During a rain storm while he was driving along the edge of the Okefenokee swamp, it came loose
from the trailer and off it went into the swamp.
Archie didn't realize it at the time and didn't discover it missing until he stopped for gas about 30 min. later.

He re-traced the route looking carefully along both sides of the road, but never found it. Boy he was upset!
End of story --- right??

Well, not quite!! -- A year later Archie was headed back to Lake Haar for another race. And guess what? Here was his "pickle fork" sitting along side the road with a "for sale" sign on it.
So Archie stopped and went up to the house to have a chat with the country boy about his boat.
Archie told me that the guy told him he found it floating in the swamp while they were out catching gators back about a year before.
So Archie told him it was his boat and that it had blown off the trailer.
But that country boy wasn't having any of it. He wanted money, or no
boat. So Archie had a few nasty exchanges with the 'ole boy and left.

End of story now, you ask?? Oh NO -- not by any means! Enter Sheriff Hatten! Now, just who is Sheriff Hatten, you ask? He's a boat racer. And
let me tell you, he had the best of everything when it came to racing equipment.
You might wonder "where could a Georgia Sheriff get that kind of money?" Well, not from his salary, that's for sure! He was big in the "protection" business. Remember, in the 50's Moonshine was still big
business.
And this "country boy" that had Archie's "pickle fork" was a moonshiner that paid Sheriff Hatten for "protection".

So Sheriff Hatten and Archie stopped by this moonshiner's place as they were headed back home from the racing, and picked up the boat, no problem -- and no BS!!

NOW it's the end of the story! :D

I've attached the only photo of the Swift X-100 "pickle fork" I've ever
discovered. The very few boats that were built were done in 1952.

Geo (EZ)

ezryder

10-27-2010, 12:50 PM

Here's another memory that just popped back into my head.

Back in 1954 there was a guy named Don Christie that showed up in Orlando. He talked the Hagood Brothers into opening another satellite Mercury dealership in Winter Park, Fla for him to operate.
The Hagood Brothers were the first Mercury dealers in Orlando. And the family still own the dealership to this day.

This has been so many years ago that I don't remember too much about Don Christie except to note that he was involved in stock outboard racing, not as a driver, but as an owner.
He had a really "weird" hydro for the time that I dubbed a "four point" hydro from looking at the bottom design.
It was what I would call the forerunner to the F1 "tunnel" design.

It had a tunnel from front to back that was about 4 or 5 inches deep. Then it also had sponsons up front, just like a three point.
The boat was only about 8 or so feet long. Not near as long as
my Swift AB of the time.

I remember everyone calling him "Christie". And I remember him talking my friend Archie Golson into driving it in BSH for him on a number of ocasions.

As I recall, it was not "up to speed" with the Swift's of the day. But not
a complete bust either.
There was just this one boat that I know of. No more were ever built
that I'm aware of.

I'm wondering if any of you old timers recall anything about this early tunnel boat, and the history behind it.
(Wow --- sure wish we would have had digital camera's back then)

Yep, I'm an "oldie" as most of you readers have come to realize. But my mind is still kicking out all these really kool, old memory's.
I'm have FUN!!

Regards,
Geo (EZ)

Mark75H

10-27-2010, 12:54 PM

Don Christie from Maryland was a very good driver. He accumulated the greatest amount of points ever scored in a single year in Stock racing. The only one who comes close is Fred Jacoby in the pre-WW2 era of alky racing. He still lives in Baltimore. Maybe not the same guy.

ezryder

10-27-2010, 04:28 PM

Thanks for your comments Sam.

Couldn't be the same guy. This guy was way overweight for
boat racing. No way could he have been competitive.
He was only around my area for a couple of years.
The Hagood Brothers got fed up with him and closed the shop he
was running for them.
My guess is he was a "wannabe" of some kind.

But that boat he had was really well built and thought out. I know for sure that he did not build it himself. Someone else built it -- but I don't have a clue as to who.
It was for sure a "one off" boat!

My story was just one of those "brain fart's" that us "oldies" have from time to time and I thought I'd throw it out there and see what might bounce back.

Geo

Danny Pigott

10-28-2010, 02:22 PM

Geo. I remember Archie Golson mostly from what Dad told me i was a little younger than you.. He said at first some people saw the Swift Pickle an they called it a claw hammer boat then i guess pickel fork.the last time we saw Archie was in Sav. Ga. around 1970 he had a C Konig. i guess most people on here never heard of him but Ann Strang Wrote about him haveing some good runs with the Swift Pickle. She said the first person to look down the claws of a Swift Pickel was a guy named Davidson he ran 67 mph i think this was in a propeller mag. that she wrote for . Few people know that Archie was in the death march of batan i think that is the name in WW I I an lived throught that, an later was in a plane crash i think it was his own plane an was hurt bad but lived thought that. later i asked someone that knew him how he was doing the guy said his wife shot him point blank i said is he dead he said no he now doing fine. i guess he was not ment to die in those days. i guess he is gone now .

ezryder

10-28-2010, 05:11 PM

Hi Danny,
Can I "pick your brain" a bit about Archie and the time period from
1962 up until you lost touch with him. I would really appreciate it!
You don't have to publish it here -- just send it to : gwt@2oldracing.com

I can also fill you in on a lot of stuff that went on with Archie prior to '62.
Archie quit communicating with me in in late 62. It's a long story. As I have time I'll fill you in.

Archie was in a plane crash your mentioned in the late 50's. But it wasn't his own plane.
It was an Air Force plane that he had hitched a ride on. But it damn near did kill him, I know that for a fact. He was never the same.

It basically destroyed his lifestyle from that point on. It was an alcohol problem brought on by all the pain he suffered for so long after the crash.

I'm short of time tonight but as I have the time I'll relate his story to
you. My dad and I always considered him a very good friend. I still
do to this day. Archie was "way cool".
And your right about his WWII experiences. He told me all about it.

But the alcohol really messed his life up after that plane crash in North Alabama.
It's a LONG story!

Regards,
George

Bill Van Steenwyk

10-28-2010, 11:05 PM

George:

My wife Eileen and I want to thank you for the information/pictures you put on BRF of the Museum. We stopped there on Thursday morning on the way home from Lake Alfred and really enjoyed the visit. I was most amazed by the condition of the majority of bikes and cars on exhibit in the museum. You would normally expect that a good portion of them would be showing their age, especially those that are 50+ years old, but they have all, or the most of them, been completely restored and look like they just came off the showroom floor.

Absolutely Amazing exhibit and well worth the trip.

The only two down sides to the visit were faulty information on the Museum web site, showing the opening time in the morning as 9:00AM this time of year. It actually opened at 10:00AM so we had an hour to kill at the nearby Bass Pro shops, which cost me an extra 50 bucks in things that I just HAD to have after I saw them.

The second down side, and the most disappointing to us, was the unavailability of the basement area for viewing. This of course as you know is where the outboards are kept on display along with quite a few cars and bikes, some of which are undergoing restoration. I really wanted to see that area, but we were not allowed to go there as it is "only open for special events" we were told. Evidently the swap meet you attended there several weeks ago met that criteria. Oh well, as they say, you can't have everything.

Eileen and I were talking when we first started the tour, about how neat it would be if they would have one of the 500CC Road Race bikes with the Konig engine ridden by Kim Newsome, but we thought "no chance" since there were very few made. Lo and behold, we found the one that is on display there and it is just amazing they managed to have one. I would surely like to know the story of how that bike came to be in the museum, but the person on duty did not know the story. Looks just like the one I saw in Dieter's factory on a trip to Berlin all those many years ago now.

We highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in bikes, cars, etc., and hopefully they will put the outboards on display with the rest of the exhibits so they are always available for viewing, and not just during "special events"

Bill

Allen J. Lang

10-29-2010, 07:43 AM

George, thanks for the run down on Sheriff Hatten. Always wondered where he got the money for all of his equipment. He had the first 6 Merc with pipes I saw at a SC SEBA race. After a NOA north/south championship race in GA, as we crossed the state line in SC, the good sheriff pulled us over. After a racing BS session he said that our Ford pick up was slower than our boats in jest. He was on his way to visit relatives in SC.
The good old days. :cool:

ezryder

10-29-2010, 10:46 AM

Hi Bill,
Glad you enjoyed your visit to Barber.
The event we attended was a yearly event. The largest gathering of vintage m/c
racers in the US. Happens every Oct.
It's a huge event with over 70,000 atendees for the three days.
Sorry about your not getting into the restoration area.
It would be worth your time to attend the event next year
And it was great getting to meet you at Lake Alfred.
Regards,
Geo

ezryder

10-29-2010, 11:09 AM

I'd like to know more about you. Were you racing with SEBA in the
50's, during my SEBA days?
If you were, please forgive my memory loss.
Regards,
George

ezryder

10-29-2010, 11:45 AM

Hi Danny,
I'm guessing Archie would have been in his late 30's when we met him in '54. I was only 14 at the time and anyone older that 20 looked "really old" to me!:D
I always wondered why he had upper dentures -- here's why.
Archie told me that when he was on that death march, that he complained about a tooth ache. No problem for the japs! They yanked all his upper teeth out without any pain killer. And that was that.

Archie never drank any alcohol when I was around him at races, or anywhere else. Until one weekend when we went down to Miami together. It's been so many years that I don't recall why. Vaguely I
think it was to see some family friend of his.
This was also the only time I was ever with Archie on a trip when his wife, Mildred, was not with him. Every race he ever went to, Mildred was with him.
Anyway, now I was 16 and starting to "feel my oats" and I talked Archie into buying me some liquor.
We went back to the hotel, I got drunk, and went out chasing girls. When I got back to the hotel, no Archie. This was early Saturday morning. And I didn't see him again until Sunday morning.
He was totally "wasted" when he finally showed up. and was a HUGE handful for me to deal with. I knew I couldn't let him drive. I ended up
feeding him more whiskey. Then got him in the car where he finally passed out.
I drove him back to Orlando and turned him over to Mildred. The next
day he called and asked that I come over to his place. That's where he told me that he was an alcoholic and could not control his drinking.

Soon after Archie and Mildred got transferred to Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Ala.
I spend lots of time staying with them in 56 and 57 because that was a lot closer to the SEBA races than Orlando.
Never once ever, did I see Archie drunk again.

But after his plane crash and the never ending rehab, he slipped back into drinking. Mildred kept me abreast of all these troubles.

Finally the AF mustered him out of the service, I think around 63 or so. They moved back to Birmingham, where Archie was from. And for the most part, I lost touch with them.

I'd like to know as much about you comments of Mildred attempting to shoot him, as you know. And also, I was really surprised in your comment that he was still racing with a Konig in 1970.
That was past my boat racing day. I was already heavy into m/c racing by then.

Regards,
George

ezryder

11-03-2010, 08:33 AM

George, thanks for the story on Archie i never knew none of that. I don't remember Bill but i was firends with Danny Critchfield until his death, Danny build OPC V bottoms that were very fast an was a good driver i don't know if he was Bill's son or not. I went to the race at Jesup Ga. this past weekend i have a C MOD Hydro an a guy that drives for me . a lot of old timers show up at this race i don't know if you remember him but Robert Galeta (sp) a SEBA driver showed up i have not seen him sence in the 50's my e mail is Danny44z@yahoo.com Good to here from you Danny

HI Danny,
Yes, Danny was Bill's son. I remember him from when he was first born. And that goes way back
to the early 50's.
Danny and Bill went their separate ways as far as boat building went. Danny had his shop in Jacksonville, as I recall.
In fact if memory serves me correctly he died testing one of his OPC's.

It's kind of ironic that Danny turned out to be a really good driver considering the fact that Bill only ran one boat race his entire life.
I remember the race -- it was at Ocoee, Fla around 1952 or 3.
Bill had built a hydro and bought a KG7H. I remember him being so nervous that I was surprised that he actually managed to answer the 5min gun.
When he came in from the race and got out of the boat, I'd never in my lifetime seen anyone shaking that bad.
That was his only racing attempt ever.

He went on his own building boats around 54. They were named "Scat Craft" boats. Later he changed the name to Critchfield Marine, and started building in fiberglass.
Over the years I drove some of his OPC stuff and built hydros and runabouts in his shop for
racing customers. Also built hydro and runabouts for myself. I even built a few quite successful hydros and runabouts.

There was a driver named Chris Enerston from down in the Lauderdale area that was very successful in the stockers. He built a runabout of his own design and won all the time with it.
He let me copy the design and I built one for myself. It was FAST. But a bit prone to "taking off". Since I was racing SEBA and modifieds I quickly discovered that it was not enough boat for the power. But it was great for AU or BU.

I also built a Sid Craft hydro "knock off" that I had a lot of success with in SEBA.

Over the years I always stayed in touch with Bill.
In fact he was how I ended up in the Fiberglass business building race car bodies in the 60's and motorcycle racing fairings back in the 70's and 80's.

Yes, I remember Robert Galeta. But I can't remember what classes he ran. ??

Regards,
George
PS: I posted this to my thread figuring others would be interested in my remembrances of Bill Critchfield.

Master Oil Racing Team

11-14-2010, 02:18 PM

George, I had some cabinets put up in my darkroom so I could organize boat racing magazines and I came across this article you might get a kick out of. It was from June-July 1958 Aqua Sport.

ezryder

11-15-2010, 05:32 PM

Thanks so much for posting the aqua sport story!!

Being that I'm such an 'old fart now, could you tell me where this race was held"
I'm sure it was part of the winter "Citrus Circuit" racing, but I don't recall the name of the lake mentioned.
And I don't recall ever reading the story either.

Now lake Maggorie in St Pete was very familiar to me. We had the outboards there every year back in "the day". And they paid "BIG BUCKS" also. And they paid everybody with silver dollars back then.
The "real" kind of silver dollars!!

One year my Dad and I won over 600 silver dollars at Lake Maggorie.
We took all our racing buddies to "Las Nova Datis" in Tampa on the way home for dinner.
When it came time to pay the bill, Dad and I took the "money bags" that held the silver dollars we won, and pored them on the table.
Then counted them out to pay the bill.

You, know, I don't have a clue as to why I remembered that evening so well, but it is burned into my mind for some reason.
The Las Nova Datis Mexican restaurant was renowned for it's "Cabanza Soup".

Almost all the drivers names mentioned we knew very well. We nicknamed Don Baldicinni "bug eyes" because his eyeballs stuck out so far.
Chris Erneston -- Scott Ritter -- Bill Tenny -- Bud Wiget --- Wally Adams --- all guys I knew very well.

Those were FANTASTIC times for a "jirky kid" that was only 16 years old!!

Thanks SO much for your post!

Regards,
George

Master Oil Racing Team

11-15-2010, 06:47 PM

Thanks so much for your stories George. Those little tidbits are like spices on an otherwise average meal.:) I will go pull the magazine to find the beginning of the story.

ezryder

11-26-2010, 05:13 PM

Hi everyone,
Now here's something different. I'm sure that most of you youngsters won't have a clue as to what this spark plug is all about.
I know the history. Because I just found this spark plug today. It is a NOS plug that I happened across stored in all my really OLD memorabilia from my boat racing youth.
Hint! --- my dad used these spark plugs in his early racing days.

Hey old timer's!! Tell me all about this plug!!

Regards,
Geo

Bill Van Steenwyk

11-26-2010, 06:52 PM

made so you can change the insulator portion of the plug and consequently the heat range without replacing the whole spark plug? Looks like it would be easy enough to do if it were to be cost effective, i.e. the insulator portion 1/2 or less the cost of a complete plug.

It would be easy enough to miss the capability of the plug to be disassembled by not noticing the two hex portions at first glance, especially if it had a boot of some sort on it.

Will look forward to your telling what motors they were used on.

Bill Van Steenwyk

11-26-2010, 07:03 PM

You got me really curious, so I did a little research and found out this plug will fit an old Harley race bike, perhaps a "shovelhead"?

Anyway, I would still like to know if the reason the plug is designed the way it is, is so the insulator section can be changed to change the heat range.

By the way, there is one listed on E-Bay for $40.00, "Buy it Now". There is a picture shown of one that has holes all the way around the bottom steel portion of the plug that seats against the head. Very unusual design.

Mark75H

11-26-2010, 07:53 PM

This 4 piece type plug was common in the 1920's thru early 1950's - its the way plugs were made before the modern crimp together or molded in insulator plugs came out.

The flush end with the side wire ground gap was common for racing applications. They came in a number of thread reaches and both 14 and 18 mm sizes and several heat ranges. This kind of plug would have been used in 4-60's etc. Motors as late as the early Konigs used 18 mm thread plugs with the side wire ground and the first plugs recommended for 20H's and 55H's were this type too.

ezryder

11-27-2010, 12:35 PM

This plug (and three others I have) are spares that my Dad had
for his Johnson PR race motors.
The more common plug used in the PR was the R-1
The R-11 was one heat range colder than the R-1. Fact it was the coldest racing plug Champion made.

The replacements for these plugs were the K series. They were the same heat range, but could not be dis assembled.
K58R = R-1
K55R = R-11

The K58R was the plug recommended for the early Champion Hot Rod's.

Ron:
I can't be sure of this but I think after the war Champion did not make any more take apart plugs.
I remember my Dad having lots of R-1 plugs that were take apart and also crimped.
Apparently Champion had lots of race plugs left from before the war.
But the war stopped most racing, so they put the left overs back on the market after the war.
Although I'm not sure, I think the K racing series that replaced the R series, came along in 1950 or 51

The fact that the plug came apart had nothing to do with heat range.
My guess is that they were made that way prior to engineers figuring out some way to crimp them without cracking the porcelain.

I still have my old Champion gap tool for setting the gap on those internally grounded plugs. Without the tool you couldn't do it.

As a side note my first Yamaha GP race bikes were still using internal
ground pins into the 70's. Most common race plug was the E54R.
A 14mm long reach plug.

Ah, the good old days! I never paid for a Champion racing plug in my
life. They gave them to us. They attended all the national races in the
seventies.

Then things started changing and "exotic" became the buzzword. Platinum -- Chromium -- most likely even "cryptionite", although I never had one of those! hehe

My last modern GP roadracer was a Honda RS 250R, 2000 model.
It was "state of the art", and so were the plugs.
They were custom made for Honda by NGK. They were stamped
NGKRS10.5. And they cost $55 bucks each -- and that's if you got
the discount. Retail was 95 bucks!!:eek:
Geo

ezryder

11-27-2010, 12:38 PM

Upps, Sorry!
I should have said "Sam", not Ron
CRAFT disease, ya know. hehe

ezryder

11-30-2010, 05:29 PM

Hi Everyone,
I just received an e mail from Dave Haman with a great picture attached.
I'm posting it here, along with his and my comments as I think it will be
of interest to the BRF members.

Hi George,
Hope all is well with you today.
Attached is a photo for you. Recognize any of these guys? Were some of them friends and competitors from the "Good ol' Days"?

Dave

Oh MY Dave!
That's a way cool photo for my memorabilia! Thanks!
Did I know any of them?
Na, they were all strangers to me! :-D

Those guys were my idols -- And I was just a "jerky kid" to them!
But at least I was already good enough that they would at least
talk to me. Lots of "mind" games went on.
They always let me know they were gonna "kick my ***" come race time.
And they did! For a while.
Then I got more determined than ever -- and the next thing you know, they weren't even talking to me before the race. They had figured out that I was not very attentive to their comments.

Hey, when your 16 and you don't "give a damn", all the mind game **** just goes out the window!

Fantastic memory's for me!!!

From left to right:

Bill Tenney
Jack Maypole
Millford Harreson
Harry Vaught
Homer Kincaid
Clement Landis
Clyde Brickner
Frank Vincent

These are all guys I knew and raced against. \

I probably knew Bill Tenney the best. We spend an evening together in Bill's motel room after dinner,drinking rum and talking "BS" til two in the morning at a Citrus Circuit race in Sarasota. I believe the year was
1956.
I beat his *** the next day cuz I was younger and "bounced back" from my "hang over" quicker than he did the next day.

Oh MY, I take all these comments back -- never happened! Everyone knows that a sixteen year old can't legally drink! - Don't they???

AH, those were the GOOD OLD DAYS!

Regards,
George

Gene East

12-01-2010, 05:52 AM

Great picture, some of the best ever are shown here. Without being prejudiced against anyone, Clem and Homer are 2 of my favorites of all tme. I liked Millie too. He just put the thottle on the wrong side of the boat!

ezryder

12-14-2010, 06:14 PM

More adventures from my "misspent youth"!! :)

12/13/10
I was going through all the pictures in the Harrison CD that James Gardner sent me a while back.
The first time I went through these pictures I spotted it – and was pretty sure it was Chris Erneston’s boat. Now, with a second look, I’m positive it is!

He was one of the top guys in AU and BU back in the early 50’s in Fla. As I recall, he raced out of the WPB area.
He built the boat himself. And he also built one for Jack Sellers, a racer from Tampa.

I knew Jack quite well and he let me measure up his boat. And I built one for myself. It was FAST. But not so good in windy conditions. That was my fault as I managed to get a bit of a rocker in the last couple of feet of the bottom. So it tended to ride real high!
It worked well with my KG4H, but not so well when I got my Mk20H.
I did a bit of swimming when I tried to run my 20H on it!

I ended up fixing the bottom and sold it to a local racer from my area. He had good luck with it until he made a trip to a race and didn’t tie it down properly on his trailer.
He was following me up to Lake Haar in Georgia for a race. And I remember noticing in my rear view mirror that it seemed to be a bit unstable. Before I could warn him, it did a back flip off the trailer and landed on the road nose first.
It split wide open right down the middle into a couple of pieces and went flying off the road. Luckily it missed the car that was following him.

Of course, there was not chance to repair the boat. Way too many pieces ! We never even found them all! :D

George

A/B Speedliner

12-14-2010, 07:53 PM

Hi George
I love the stories you and Wayne get to tell on this site. I thnk many of us have similar experiences. The picture of the 20H on the 5 F boat is only the second picture I have seen showing the original white fuel lines. They are the same as the ones I used in 1959 putting together our first 20H conversion.
David

BRIAN HENDRICK

02-13-2011, 08:36 AM

George; -maybe its elsewhere, but I was expecting to see some pix
of that nice KR you picked up at the meet in Suwannee last month.
We could also continue the discussion of;
'was it the 'Citrus Circuit', or the 'Grapefruit Circuit" :confused:
Pic of me, John Schubert and you at Suwannee :)
-and the Sturgeon warning at the dock
-only in Florida :rolleyes:

ezryder

02-13-2011, 05:46 PM

Hi Brian,
Sorry about that. Until I saw your post, I just completely forgot to post
some pictures of my NOS KR55.
See the attached pictures.

This is a very special motor to me as my dad had one just like it back in
the early days of his racing. And I drove it also in the early fifties.

My dad bought his KR and a Fillinger Hydro from Doug Creech when
he retired. Actually, my dad bought Doug's entire trailer of racing equipment. Two Neal three pointers and a Fillinger three pointer. Along
with Doug's winning KR, SR and PR racing motors.

This is the first motor like one my dad owned that I have been able to
include in my collection of Mercury motors.

I have already stripped her down to bare bones and begun the restoration process. When I finish up, she is going to look great and
also be a "runner" too!
Lot's of work ahead of me, but it's gonna happen.

And a big THANKS for all the support that Doug Penn is giving me in
getting this great piece of boat racing history back up to speed.

Regards to everyone,
Geo

PS: Oh yea, another note in my ongoing adventure of re captureing my youth.
I just last week bought a "barn fresh" Whizzer Motorbike. I've already named her "Miss Whizzer".
She is a 1948 model Whizzer. She is quite rare as she is one of only around 2000 Whizzers that the factory assembled, and sold, using a Schwinn commissioned frame with them.
A vast majority of the Whizzers sold were motor kits for you to install on your own bike.
I had one of these Whizzers when I was 12 years old.

My plans are to attempt to do a "survivor" rerstoration on her. This means that you can't paint or re chrome anything. But you can do
careful detailing.
As you can see from the photos, she is in great shape for a 63 year old bike that has not been touched.
She is totally amazing to me. She has great compression and I'm sure that as soon as I install a new capacitor in the ignition, she will fire right up and run fine.
There are a few missing items, but not much. And I've already found all the parts necessary to have her back on the road.

Ah, YES! Retirement is "Way Kool"

ezryder

02-13-2011, 06:00 PM

Hi Brian,
I forgot to add this note to my above reply to you.
Yes, you and John are correct!
It was the "Grapefruit Circuit".
My "CRAFT" disease finally "kicked out" briefly!!
But don't count on it being like that for very long! :D
Geo

ezryder

03-28-2011, 04:25 PM

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I added to my thread.
Lots of things have been going on in the first three months of 2011.
Been to the "Old Town" gathering -- had a great time!

Then I took my entire family to the "Tiger Lake" gathering in Lake Wales.
It's a shame that this was the last gathering at this location.
It was my first time there. And it's really a shame that it went into bankruptcy

We had a great time cooking out at our cottage and just generally having a
great reunion of a lot of our family members.
Along with the chance to enjoy all my new friends in vintage outboards and
racing.

I'm just about finished with my restoration of Mustang Sally. Another couple of
months and she will be set to go.

I bought a Johnson KR55 racing motor from Doug Penn at the Old Town meet.
So I busy beginning her restoration.

Soon after the Old Town meet, I found a new project to enjoy. I found a 1948 Whizzer
motorbike that is in amazing shape for her age.
She is so nice that I have decided to do a "survivor" restore on her rather than
just starting over.

Boy, do I ever have a LOT of projects going on right now! I LOVE it!

Now, here's a bit more personal information about me that I hope will help others
as they grow older, to adopt.

After my last motorcycle roadrace at Daytona back in 2009, it didn't take long for me
to become quite depressed. I felt that a "black hole" was trying to consume me.
There was no longer any "spark" to my life. Just an "oleman" waiting to "kick the bucket"!

I quit roadracing because I was no longer competitive with all the "old" vintage
guys my age, that I used to beat every time out.
I "thought" that I could just go race for "fun" and enjoy still be involved. Didn't work.
I had always promised myself that when racing was no longer fun, I would quit.
And that is what I did.

Then my depression set in -- life was feeling really "stale" at this point. And I knew
I had to find a new direction.
And as luck would have it, I did!!

Below I have posted some "musings" that I began writing about back in February, after I got my life back "on track".

Hope you enjoy them ---

Musings from the “OleMan Of Hooterville”
2/13/11

Lots of my younger friends have derided me for "living in the past" due to all my interests in my vintage collection of racing boats, motors, motorcycles and other memorabilia out of my past.
They tell me the "past" is behind you -- think only of the future. Get on with your “life”!!

Well, let me tell you something youngsters! When your my age you are just
"one day closer to death", as the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon"
points out.

This is when you need to respond to that "different drummer" you’ve been hearing in your head!
That's exactly what I have done. And it has elevated my "quality of
life" a hundred fold!
I am no longer “depressed” and just waiting to “kick the bucket”!

Let me tell you why:

That “future” view may be fine for the "youngsters" out there, but not for me.
For me it required me to re connect with my youth. And my youth “is” my past! My "re berth" has totally re activated my zest for life since I retired from m/c racing back at the end of 2009.
When I retired from active racing it created a huge "black hole" for me. And I jumped right in. Dealing with the realization that your “over the hill” and you just can NOT keep the pace any longer really hurts mentally. And is very HARD to admit!
Believe me, I know only too well. It took me two years of racing as a “back marker” before I was able to accept the fact that I WAS a back marker!
Then I realized that if I wanted to recapture my enjoyment of life that I would need to forget the immediate past and discover NEW enjoyments for my future. As it turns out the NEW enjoyments for my future came directly from my past!!!

Now I've come to grips with the loss of my youth. And replaced it by simply surrounding myself with items out of my past that are not just pictures, but three dimensional objects that I can actually TOUCH - - And RESTORE - - and RELIVE the days of my youth when they were part of my life.
It is great medicine, believe me! Far more potent than any depression drug a doctor can ever subscribe for you!

Now I’m at peace with my inner self – and re-living the dreams that I was able to achieve in my youth.
At my current age of 72, there is no way that I can actually achieve those goals again. But I can sure re-create the environment that was required to make them happen many years ago.

It makes no difference how many projects you don’t finish when you pass on. You just have to be sure that you have MORE projects than you can finish – that way every day you wake up is another GREAT day!!

None of us get outa here alive anyway. So enjoy life while you still have it.
That’s the reward!
As far as what you didn’t finish up before you “checked out”? Not a problem! You will NOT “give a s**t” after you go “horizontal” anyway! ;>)

The “Emperor of Hooterville” said that – and he’s sticking with it!!

Danny Pigott

05-09-2011, 11:33 AM

F-12

05-09-2011, 12:09 PM

ezryder

05-09-2011, 05:57 PM

I don't how many people know this an I hope George does not mind me posting it. The first time i saw it was 2000 while at the Karting World Championship, Out side Dayona USA at the speedway there is a memorial Tower honoring the people that died at Daytona. I have a friend who was killed there many years ago, while looking for him i wondered if Doc Tayor's name was there due to it being a boat race. Sure enough there it was Byrne Tayor / powerboat race. i was proud that he was on there being a boat racer.

I was not aware of that Danny. Thanks so much for posting that information!!
That really gives me a warm feeling way down deep inside me.
My Dad was so SPECIAL to me!!!

Was your friend listed also? And what was the story?
Geoi

ezryder

05-09-2011, 06:03 PM

George............You are what you make of your past, present, and future. With your family history, I don't see anything but good things for you. Looked for you at the Eustis meet and didn't have any luck. Thought sure you would be there rattling some cages. I still haven't had the pleasure of meeting you face to face even though we only live an hour apart. One day soon..............

Hi Charley,
I've been wanting to meet you too! I'll be at Tavaries in a couple of weeks. Let's put a
meeting together.
My Cell is : 407 324 6493.

I was at Tavaries for the vintage show last month. But was only there on Saturday.
Chashed my Harley on the way home and spent the next two weeks recovering.

Geo

ezryder

06-07-2011, 01:04 PM

Hi Everyone,
Thought I'd bring you up to date on some of the current goings on in Hooterville.

After 18 months I'm close to having my 1953 Mustang Pony Motercycle restoration complete.

I've attached some pictures to go with my comments.

6/3/11
Mustang Sally sprung to life today around 3pm!! I am one "happy camper"!!
Here's the details:
Sheila took videos of this entire deal. But I've not got enough experience with our new 1080p camera to
understand how to make up a short video that I can send just yet.
I'll work on that in the next few days.

On my first attempt I discovered Mustang Sally was just as ornery as she was when I attempted to kick start her
all those years ago. She backfired twice!! But due to the fact that I am now 185 lbs rather than 85 lbs, she
was not able to flip me over the bars! But it was a damn good thing that my leg was still bent some when she
"hit" me or I might have been off to the emergency room!!

Bottom line? She is one very difficult motor to start with a kick starter. In fact I had to re position the
kick starter for more swing before I brought her to life.

It's amazing how close my carburetor set up worked out. I just "guessed" at how high to set the slide for
idle. But I hit it perfectly!
And she seems to respond to the throttle as she should. But, of course, this is just running her in the race
shop. I did engage 1st gear, and she responds no problem.

I did experience some carb overflow when she was on her kickstand. But when I picked her up straight, that
problem went away. I'm assuming that the needle and seat don't like that angle she's at on her kickstand.
Whatever, just shut the fuel off, and no problem.

The next step is to load her up in my van and take her over to my mom's place in the villages and ride her
for the first time from there.
That way she won't get all dirty from riding her out to our paved road on a dirt road.

I'm currently machining an adaptor to allow me to mount a air filter on her. Then I'll do the final carburetor
tuning.

Am I having FUN!!! YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! THIS WAS A FANTASTIC DAY FOR MY. 18 MONTHS OF
LOVING WORK HAS PRODUCED "MUSTANG SALLY" AS I ENVISIONED HER!!!!

Regards,
Geo

Master Oil Racing Team

06-07-2011, 06:53 PM

Beautiful George. What's your Mom going to say about wasting all your time working on that bike?;):D

ezryder

06-07-2011, 06:58 PM

I finally figured out how to post my 4 minute video to You Tube. Enjoy!
It's been a huge labor of love!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_sCbL_4ay4

Geo

ezryder

06-07-2011, 07:02 PM

Beautiful George. What's your Mom going to say about wasting all your time working on that bike?;):D

Upps, sorry! She's not my mom. She's my mother in law. So she don't count!!
I'm retired and I run on my OWN wavelength at ALL times!!! hehe!!
Until Sheila "hits me up side the head"! Then "reality" finally sets back in!!!!
;>)
Geo

Bill Van Steenwyk

06-07-2011, 09:33 PM

A beautiful job George. There was a kid in my neighborhood in Little Rock in the late 40's that had one like that except for the color. Best I remember they were quite the performer for their day too! I wonder if the "hard kicking" was a common problem with them. I seem to remember him always having a gash on his lower right leg right above the ankle and he blamed it on trying to start the thing. He also had a Servicycle, so he was very popular in the neighborhood as well as all us kids thinking his Dad was a great guy also, that he would let his kid have a motorcycle. This was only a couple of years after WWII, and disposable income was still tight with a lot of family's.

I know I remember seeing a Servicycle or maybe more than one at Barbour Museum, but I don'r remember if they had one of yours also. Have to go back and look thru my photos Eileen took.

ezryder

06-08-2011, 08:23 AM

Hi Bill,
They were, and still are a bitch to kick start. But my Mustang "guru", Jimbo, set me straight on how to get her started easier.
I've always been a two stroke guy. And "Mustang Sally", being a side valve 350cc 4 stroke takes a totally different approach.
I'm starting to get the hang of it now.

Bill Van Steenwyk

06-08-2011, 05:00 PM

George:

I had some friends in the 60's that I used to ride my 500CC Triumph Twin with, that had BSA, AJS, I think they were called, and another brand or two that had single cylinder 500CC "Thumpers" that were also difficult to start if you did not have the procedure down just right. I seem to remember that a couple had compression releases that helped considerably. Don't remember now whether they came that way or were put on afterwards, but they certainly made the starting job easier.

One of my friends used to get raised right back up over the seat and messed his knee up good because he tried to "lock" it while kicking down on the starter lever. A "D" Konig could be a bear also, but pulling that starting rope knot thru your fingers is an entirely different type of hurt than a kickstarter on a bike.

I always thought that was the scariest thing about running the one (Konig) I had, was cranking it!

ezryder

06-08-2011, 06:24 PM

Back in "the day" when I took my first ride on a Mustang, I was only 12 years old. My friend, Sam, offered to let me ride his Mustang.
So I mounted up and proceeded to kick start her. Well, she "kick started" ME! She backfired and launched me over the handle bars.
Sam was laughing his *** off -- he says -- you want me to start her for you?
I said NO WAY. If I can't start her, I won't ride her.
On my next attempt I got her going and took my FIRST ride on a REAL motorcycle.

I never owned a Mustang in my youth. But that day marked my memory forever. Now I have a Mustang. I named her Mustang Sally when I started her restoration.

As you can see from the video, she gave me the "boot" again. But I got her going a few kicks later.
Oh, yea! Wore my *** out too! I was lucky to get her going as I was about "outa gas" when she finally fired up!
Fantastic memorys for me!!!

When Deter left me his three motors to race when he returned to Germany back in
57, one was a three cylinder 30cubic inch C motor.
Now talk about FUN to rope. All I can say is it was a damn good thing I was in my
teens! Wow, what a "rip" that motor took!!!
:D
Geo

ezryder

06-13-2011, 11:39 AM

My “Second” Ride On Mustang Sally
6/12/11

Note: This is the story of a FANTASTIC day, and a “horror story” all wrapped into one! Read on:

This is not the way I planned my second ride ever on a Mustang. But it’s the way things ended up going down.

As most of my friends already know, Sheila and I already did a YouTube Video of Mustang Sally’s first start up.
We had planned to do a video of my “second” Mustang ride ever. (My first ride on a Mustang was in 1952.)

But a video didn’t work out. Here’s why:

Right from the first start up I’ve had great difficulty getting Mustang Sally to start up. Jimbo gave me some tips on how to get her started easily. And I thought they would work since they were totally different then the method I used to start my two strokes.

WRONG!!

I’m still struggling mightly! Jimbo said to buy some engine starter spray to help out. Didn’t help. In fact today I was unable to even get her started in the race shop using kick start!
Quite frankly it appears that a Love/Hate relationship is developing between myself and Mustang Sally! AGGGGHHHH!!

After completely wearing out my right foot from kicking I decided that one way or the other, Mustang Sally was gonna start and we were going to go for a ride!!!!!!
So I proceeded to push her all the way from my race shop, out to our paved road. That in itself is a quarter mile push!
When I got to our road I then pushed her uphill another quarter mile to the top of the hill.
My logic told me that if I could start rolling downhill, then kick her into gear, I’d be able to get her started!

Well, guess what? That didn’t work either!! I tried bumping her in every gear, but the best that would happen is one stroke then she would just skid to a stop.
By now a couple of young ladies and a older girl that was out walking her dog were watching all this unfold.

I could see the pity in their eyes as I “sucked wind” BIG time, struggling to start Mustang Sally! But NO GO!

I was about to give up when I heard a male voice ask “need a push”? I turned and looked and there was a guy probably about 30 offering the help. I had never seen him before in my life!
I said “probably won’t help, but lets give it a try”. I put Mustang Sally in neutral and he started pushing hard. I dropped her in gear and she immediately came to life when I let the clutch out. YAHOOO!!!!!

I quickly took the choke off, slowed down and turned around to go back up the hill and thank my benefactor. But he wasn’t there! Not a trace! The girls were still watching and holding their thumbs up, but he was gone! Really weird!

I finally realized after I had finished riding Mustang Sally for only the SECOND time in my life, that most likely my “pusher” must have been an angle send by God. To prevent me from committing hari kari!!

Once Mustang Sally was running, she just purred along perfectly!! And We had a GREAT ride together!!
Now, if I can just figure out how to start her, and still have any energy left for the ride??? AGGGGGHHH!!!
That’s why I commented that Mustang Sally and I are developing a HATE/LOVE relationship!!

ezryder

08-13-2011, 01:59 PM

Hi everyone --
It's been a while since I posted on my thread. Some really KOOL stuff has
happened since my last post.
Read on:

I recently found a NOS Konig 350cc racing motor and put a deal together
to purchase it.
This is the exact same model motor that I raced from 1957 through 1959, when I was a factory
driver for Konig.
This is at the top of my list of fantastic finds for my boat racing collection.
This motor has NEVER been raced. Or even powered a boat. And I bought it from the original owner.
It's been run on a test bench a few times, and that's it. Why? The owner tells me that he was never able
to get it to run for more than thirty seconds way back when he got it. And he knew of no one that could
help him.
He was not a racer. He was just a young kid that wanted to go "rat racing" on the lake he grew up on.
So he had no way to understand the problem. Of course I knew the answer -- but that's another story.

Anyway he was headed off to college. Then he got married. And that was it. All these years he just kept
it in the crate it came in.
There's lots more to the story than this, but that's all for now. I'm eventually going to display it mounted on
a Sid Craft Hydro (the same model I drove back then). And do an occasional "display" run with it.

Everything you see in the pictures came with the motor except the stacks. Those were just recently
added. They are configured the same as the ones we used on the factory motors.
I even have all the tuning documentation from Konig to go with it.

This is a VERY rare racing motor. There were only a couple hundred of these ever built. And I can
assure you that this is most likely the ONLY one of these that will ever re appear as a NOS engine.
The chances of that happening are a million to one, I'd guess.
Used ones? Possibly. But a NEW one? NO WAY!

The pictures you see are exactly as I purchased it. No restoration needed. Just a very careful
cleaning up is required. And it RUNS too! See the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT-tSVKYQxI

I'm truly over the moon with this find. As you can see, even the crate it came in is with it. And all the accessory's that were included with the motors when they were shipped to Scott Smith in Dallas Ga, the importer.

ezryder

08-13-2011, 02:03 PM

More Konig photos!

racnbns

08-14-2011, 06:34 PM

Thats an unbelivable find. Look forward to seeing it at some of the Fl. shows.

Bruce

ezryder

04-08-2012, 07:37 PM

It's been quite a while since I posted on BRF. Not because I lost interest but because I have spent the last number of months finishing up the cosmetic restoration of my 1957 Konig 350cc motor that you can see above.

Most of you know that I drove for the Konig factory back in the late fifties. So I never owned one of these motors back then. But I did see them come through Walt's race shop in exactly the crate you see in the above pictures.

Last year, I found this NOS 1957 350cc Konig race motor. It's the same model I raced for the factory back in "the day".
The motor has never been on a race boat. It has only been run about 15min. in a test tank. The previous owner
bought it new in '57. But never raced it, or even ran in on a boat! Basically it is a NOS Konig racing motor.
I have the crate it was shipped in along with the tool kit, fuel tank, propeller, and throttle assembly that was shipped with the motors.
There were only around 40 of these motors ever imported to the US. So they truly are very rare.

I did a "cosmetic" restore on it. And also set it up on a Mercury clamp bracket assembly as the factory racers I drove were configured.

It truly is a BIG part of my past racing history! I also have a Sid Craft hydro that is exactly the same model
that I used to race this motor on. I have to pick the boat up this July in Wisconsin. It is being restored for me by a master wood working craftsman that rebuilds vintage racing boats.

I've attached pictures of the finished restoration. I showed it, along with other motors
and boats I've now collected at the Tavaries Vintage Boat Show.
Here's a few of my display photos.

George

Master Oil Racing Team

04-08-2012, 07:44 PM

Wow! Very nice George. I've been wondering about you. Glad to see you back.

ezryder

04-09-2012, 09:29 AM

Another try -- the earlier attempt didn't attach the pdf's.
Feb 1957 issue of "Propeller". The monthly SEBA mail out.
Enjoy!

Danny Pigott

04-10-2012, 04:31 PM

Geogre, I have a race program from a race at Waycross Ga.. I'am not sure what year but it had to be 55/57 I will try to find it an send you a copy.

ezryder

04-16-2012, 04:19 PM

That would be great Danny!
How is your wife doing?
Regards,
Geo

ezryder

09-20-2015, 05:24 PM

Been a while since I posted some of my memory's on BRF. So they don't match up with my thread back when I last posted.
But wanted to let everyone know I'm still "kick'n" and having FUN going FAST with my Mk55H and Sid D Hydro on a regular
basis, down here in Florida. I'll be at Winter Have (Lake Shipp) in October for the Fla Chapter of AOMCI's national event.

I was recently cursing around the internet and came across this history of Pop Willis and his racing runabouts. So I decided to post the Willis CRR,CSR story, along with comments from my memory's of that time period when my Dad raced a Willis runabout in CRR

http://woodenboatassociation.com/willisboatworks.html

Beautiful Boats!!! Cosmically they were beautiful! The smooth lines and Mahogany planking did the trick. The same was true for Neil, Fillinger, Mischey and others. My dad raced Willis runabouts in the early '50's.
But the Willis runabouts did not have the speed needed after De Silva brothers runabouts were discovered in the eastern part of the US. The DeSilva's were around 3 to 4 mph faster than the heavier Willis mahogany planked runabouts. The Willis CRR/CSR boats were around 200lbs. The DeSilva's were around 150lbs. And the Willis runabouts had another issue that I remember observing when watching my Dad race his Willis in CRR races. If the water was "choppy" enough the Willis would "trim" out. But if the water was smooth then it would "porpoise". That was a speed killer.
The DeSilva's could "trim" out in any water conditions.

DeSilva boats ruled on the west coast well before eastern drivers discovered them.
Bill Tenny and Bud Wiget, among other drivers, showed us easterner's the extra speed of the DeSilva's during the Citrus Circuit Florida winter races starting around '54. Bud Wiget knew all about the the DeSilvas as he had recently moved to Fla from Calif.
George