OK Phil, Let's see what I can come up with.
"Racing home (?)" from Laguna Seca, Ca., summer of 1983
A group of friends, I and the guy I had built the bikes for , Matt, headed west (a long ways) to attend Matt's
first AMA pro race on his 750 Interceptor. I had previously built a 1980 CB750F for Matt that he went 13 straight
races undefeated in 750 Superbike including the WERA Natl. no.1 title at Road Atlanta. After buying the Interceptor
the F was retired to the street but we took it and all the hardware necessary to put it back race ready as a backup
to the VF750F. I was using it as transportation back and forth to our hotel in Carmel. The Superbike race was on
Saturday and Matt had fought his way up to 1st privateer (behind all factory team bikes when he suddenly lost it
at the bottom of the "Corkscrew" and went flying into a stack of haybales about 50 yards off the track.
The crash almost totaled the bike but Matt got his bell rung pretty badly. Still, he wanted me to get the CB750F
converted back to race form for the F1 race on Sunday. Fortunately we all convinced him that he was in no condition
to be racing and to sit this one out and just relax and watch the race.
It had been a long boring trip from Dallas to central California in either the van or packed in a Ford Bronco and I didn't
want to ride back in either so I asked Matt "hey, let me ride the bike back". He said "you'll never make it back on that
thing" ! Sure I will" confidently. "Don't forget who built it"! Problem is I don't have enough money so he reluctantly
agreed and handed me $80 and a Phillips 66 credit card and Monday morning I rolled out of Carmel and headed solo
into the unknown.
I wanted to take HWY 1 south along the coast but it was closed for construction so I had to take 101, the hot inland
route to San Louis Obispo where I headed east to Bakersfield and then across the hot as hell Mojave desert to the small
town of Needles at the border with Arizona. I had a great time crossing the mountain range from S.L.O. to Bakersfield.
The east slopes were barren grassland and you could see the twisty curves sometimes 3 turns ahead and I got a good chance
to let it rip, one of the few times I'd had a chance to do so on that bike. But the desert erased all that fun and entering AZ.
it got worse. The road dropped off a plateau and it got unbearably hot. I stopped at a convenience store and bought a
couple of "tall boys" and sat down on the curb and got my map out. The temp. was 113f so I got out my windbreaker to
keep from getting windburn and checked the bike over and back on the road. I had to slow pace out of fear of overheating
the motor which had run flawless all day cruising 70-90mph.
It was late afternoon and I figured I would try to reach Kingman AZ. by dark and call it a day. I had covered a lot of territory
and I was starting to feel it but the wide variety of scenery kept me from thinking about it.
It was the long straight stretch of hwy coming into Kingman that I ran into a little trouble with the HWY. Patrol. Pulling over
I got out all the necessary documentation to present to the officers, a man and woman who were very polite but the first
question "do you know how fast you were going"? I explained why the bike didn't have a speedo, where I was coming from,
where I was headed and sheepishly said "70-75 ? " How about 95" the Cop said. I had no answer so I just shrugged. "Well,we're
going to have to write you a citation" and I braced myself but as I went to sign it I had to fight off a smile as I looked at the
charge "Failure to Conserve Energy" !
I asked where there was a motel in Kingman and they told me what exit to take with motels and restaurants and wished me
well and said slow down.
A good nights rest and breakfast recharged me so I did a little preventive bike work, mainly tensioned the cam chains, tire press.
etc. and looked at the map again and then looked at the cash situation. I hadn't seen a Phillips 66 station yet and I figured
there would be one more motel stay and it was looking pretty grim cash wise but away I went crossing AZ. and half of New Mexico
and finally, a Phillips 66 !
The trucks on I-40 had beat the road up badly wearing grooves the made changing lanes like crossing a boat wake. The stiff race
suspension was beating me to death but I still managed to clip along with the abundant trucks at about 80-85mph. On long empty
stretches I kept looking at the tach needle that kept creeping up. I would back off the throttle but it would creep right back up
to about 7500rpm, sometimes 8000. That's just where it wanted to run with no effort at all. I had thought about toughing it out
and trying to make it all the way home that night but I was beat and didn't want to ride that far in the dark so I stopped in Amarillo
TX. I didn't have enough money left for a motel room and food and of course some beer so I went to a La Quinta, called my wife
and asked her to go to the nearest La Quinta and pay for a room in Amarillo. Next morning I hit the road again and rolled up to the
house about 3:00 in the afternoon Where I grabbed the wife first, then a cold beer and sat down to begin absorbing what I had just
been through. In the segment between Kingman,AZ and Amarillo, TX. I nearly made the 1000 mile club in one day.
The bike ran flawlessly the whole trip. As promised I did a complete tune up on it and the only thing. I found it needed was 3 valve
shims that were just barely out of adj. It had used about 1/4 qt. of oil and the plugs looked almost new. I hated to give it back to
Matt.
We totally rebuilt the Interceptor but this time we went all out on it, Carillo rods, Arias pistons, Megacycle cams, oversize stainless
valves and I had already done the port work. Matt went on to earn the WERA Natl. No.2 title with it 1984 losing to a Canadian rider
on an RGV500 four two stroke. I thought that should have been ruled an F1 only but it was allowed in 750SB. there was no one behind
Matt for quite some distance.
It took me nearly 3 days to get back from Cal. but it took about 2 weeks to recover from it. Leisurely ride you say ? Try it on a race
bike. I'm sure there's still a warrant for me in AZ. I never paid the $25 citation.
