| Author | Message | ||
     Wiscokid |
Twenty years ago today was the Battle of Champions, I've been trying to upload pages 18-20 of the Volume 2 issue 3 of Battle2win which has a great article on the event. Here are some pictures of then and more recently. Over the last dozen or so years I have had the pleasure of tracking down 4 of the 10 bikes raced that day and have found the location of several more. Here is most of the info I have tracked down on these bikes over the years.       I found the location of this one, this is one of 5 prepped bikes not raced, though it sure would have been neat to see how far ahead it and its rider would of finished!   This was the day after the race, the grand opening of the New R and D building which is the main factory building at 2799 Buell drive of which we go kick rocks at for homecoming  Here are the first and second place bikes of Picotte and Jay Springsteen which I acquired in Mass. and Dallis   and here is the third place bike which may or may not be the actual raced bike which resides currently in a T-shirt companies museum in Milwaukee  I had no Idea when I picked up FMJ's #30 of Tom Wilson in about 08 that I would dedicate the many many hours I've spent since tracking down the rest of them!  Here is the 4th place bike #1 of Scott Parker as it looked a couple years ago, page 20 of B2W tells how the original owner ( who I contacted a week ago) bought it at the race, I even tracked down the $1900 workorder for making it street legal.  And here is Parker's bike as I received it yesterday, on Thursday I took the #21 and #9 to Stretch who did the original graphics and will be looking for the original files or recreating them so I can eventually bring her back to her formal glory. Note the 2 drilled holes in the tail section for the number plates and painted CF ham can which lead to me realizing what it is. So if you ever come across a black framed S1W with a black painted ham can air cleaner and similar holes feel free to contact me!!  I am pretty sure that this Battletrax ride did not end well, it was at the Pilgrim Road Factory on 6/11/98 and the rash on the bike may have happened that day (or later in its drag racing career at Vegas HD) as the gentlemans blog I pulled the pictures from a few years ago said he laid her down. The bike does have and will likely keep some character adding rash on the side of the tank.  and here is Chris Carrs bikee sitting in a Dealership I tracked down. That leaves #2 Jamie James, #6 of Randy Texter, #23 Kevin Atherton, and #50 Billy Graef still unaccounted for. Searching through some vin and recall documentation I have mostly figured out what dealers most went to originally... I also picked up 6 Dunlop D207's (as Steve mentioned in the homecoming thread) that are in new condition except for the left outer inch which are blistered and chewed off to nothing, which Henry Dugga had saved and given to a team racer after this event. So I guess i have to track down atleast 2 more of them! Thanks Mike and Paul!! Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the people who were involved in Buell at the time and since and the only thing more apparent then their love and passion of all things moto, is the unwavering admiration for Mr Buell. (Message edited by wiscokid on June 10, 2018) | ||
| Wiscokid |
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| Dave |
Nice history and collection. Man I love this stuff and those bikes! Good to talk with you. DAve | ||
| Wiscokid |
Yes, it was nice to meet you too Dave and the rest of the homecomers I havent met before. If anyone wasn't aware, the number 46 is the very first Buell designed bike, the RW (Road Warrior) 750, which had been snuck out from under Erik's nose and restored and was presented back to him that day. (it was confirmed at homecoming that it is still in his possession) | ||
| Wiscokid |
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| Oldog |
Thanks! for sharing this | ||
| Crusty |
Oh; the memories! I couldn't make it to the Race of Champions back in 1998, but I wanted to badly. My first homecoming was in 1999, and that was a very memorable experience. The whole atmosphere surrounding Buell motorcycles was magical and it was a great time to be a Buell rider. It's a shame that the MoFoCo lost its way and also lost sight of what they had. It would have been just magnificent if Jackass Wandell could have believed in what we all knew. Just my opinion, of course. | ||
| Airbozo |
Love the ad for Santa Cruz Buell! Of all the dealerships I have ever visited SCHD had the most floor space for Buell's and some of the most knowledgeable staff dedicated to the Buell line. I almost lost my sportster when they went bankrupt though. The guys at SJHD stole it back for me or I wouldn't have it now. Even though they have been out of business for a very long time, I still have their number in my contacts list... | ||
| Court |
That was a fun event… We had a blast building all of the bikes for the event and preparing for it. The story of the restore Buell, that Remington and Lang dead, has taken on a little bit of an urban legend and some of the facts of strayed… But it’s still a great story. It’s one of the times I remember where Erik actually had tears in his eyes… He had no idea what they were doing. I was shooting film back in those days and shot about six or seven rolls of 36 exposures… Somewhere in that barn, which froggy To her the other day, there is a shoebox completely full of race of champions pictures. Also I’ve got the leftover long sleeve T-shirts and the boxes of stuff that the Snap-On people through away afterwards as well as the build records for all the bikes. Those were fun times! | ||
| 86129squids |
Wow. Thanks for sharing!!! Once of these days I hope to acquire a nice old tuber... but THOSE were special bikes in those pics. |
