Leroy Winters Memorial Ride

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 48Th ISDT

The 48th International Six Day Trial (ISDT) was held in Dalton, Massachusetts September 17-22, 1973. This is the 26th Reunion Ride to celebrate that event. If you love old dirt bikes or compete in vintage events, this is one not to miss.

The proposed date and details are hopefully more accurate than not but this is only the first draft, the updated information will be located on the Leroy Winters Memorial ISDT Reunion Ride facebook group.

I will try and keep any updates current.

Mark your calendars!

The 2023 Dakar has finished.

The Dakar is over and this synopsis of the bike (& quad) portion is the best I have seen. If you missed it, this will catch you up. Links to ADVmoto Dual Sport News for the halfway and final reports follows. Congratulations to the winners!

Paris - Dakar first years First Years 1979 - 1997

Sometimes I dream of riding the (old version) of the Dakar, from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. On a big BMW motorbike! But if the physical demands and navigation seem impossible, keeping the motorcycle running for that distance through unknown terrain is unimaginable to me.

Some photographs my friend sent me that might interest other vintage Suzuki PE owners…

From my friend and fellow Suzuki PE owner Mat; "Took the 1982 Suzuki PE engine apart and found the cylinder was ported by DG back in the day. On the other side of the cylinder is SW which were probably the initials of the guy doing the porting.”

It must be so cool to discover that! DG Performance was a started by Dan Hangsleven & Gary Harlow in 1974 which is where the name DG - for Dan & Gary came from.

Fred Hoess puts USA on top of scratch results

The FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy is an event for vintage bikes and riders as the name implies and pays homage to the International Six Day Enduro upon which it os derived. Definitely cool seeing the old bikes and riders still going fast and competing in a multiday event testing both machine and rider.

Team and individual results follow below along with more video of vintage bikes!

The past weekend September 23-25 saw the Motocross of Nations at the Redbud race track in Michigan. It's an international event that takes place once a year and of course it was even more special it was held in the United States this year. There were a lot of expectations from Team USA after a great outdoor MX season particularly between the close fought 450 MX class between Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton which was decided at the last race! Then there was controversy over who should ride the 250 class at the MXoN. With all that I made my predictions for the race.

MXoN Pre-qualifying predictions, Top 6:

• 1) USA
• 2) Australia
• 3) France
• 4) Netherlands
• 5) Italy
• 6) Spain

Read more about this beautiful build at Pipeburn. I'm a sucker for most things Suzuki! Love the look especially the steel fenders that really give the retro look.

Even more builds by the artist Kengo Kimura /Heiwa Motorcycle at BIKEEXIF

I've borrowed this from Helmut Clasen's Facebook page. Just a simple gear ratio calculator when changing sprockets on the motorcycle. Serves as a reminder what changes causes what result.

One practical example of it's use as described by Helmut:

"On my Zuendapp the standard GS ratio is 14-46 = 3.29 Ratio. But the chain was cutting through my front swingarm. In order to get more clearance I chose a 16 tooth front sprocket. To go back to the proper ratio of 3.29 ( or close to it) I had to increase the back sprocket to 53 = 3.31 which is almost identical."

Helmut is the most knowlegeable Hercules rider/owner/mechanic.

In the early 1980's I owned this nice BMW R100 I bought from a friend. I loved the basic black color of this motorcycle, it was, to me, one of the best classic looking motorcycles along with the Norton Commando I had owned. Of course, I always dreamed of owning the BMW RS100 model in the following story but I was spending most of my time with my dirt bikes so the dream never became a reality. Great story about the RS100 from Cycle World follows.