solo1
12-08-2003, 08:23 AM
Some years ago, I won't say when, I was motorin' down St. Joe River Road north of Ft. Wayne. As usual I was on my Matchless 500 thumper. I had on my "Snoopy" hat and was wearing goggles (my eyes water in the wind, even to this day). The day was beautiful, typical summer day sunny and comfortable temperatures.
I notice that I am coming up on another fellow motorcyclist riding even slower than me. As I passed him he motioned to me to pull over. We both stopped at the side of the road (not much traffic back then.)
He was riding an Indian Chief 74 cubic inch sidevalve, the year escapes me. We talked. Evidently he had never saw a British bike before and had a lot of questions about the foot shift and hand clutch. We had a very good conversation as brothers on two wheels even do today. Anyway, the conversation drifted toward acceleration. He asked me if I would like to see what a 30cu single could do against his 74 cu vtwin. All in good hearty companionship. I agreed, although I had my doubts about the Matchless holding up to his Indian.
We lined up side by side. Still no traffic. To make a long story short, I beat him everytime. The faster shifting of the Matchless helped but I plain had him on power to weight ratio even with the thumper's 22 hp!
We stopped again at the side of the road and compared notes. No excuses were made but he finally brought up an interesting suggestion. He said, "Would you ride with me back to my house in Cedarville, I have one other bike that I would like to try against yours?" "Sure" I said.
We pulled into his yard, he parked the Indian, got off, and opened the garage doors, walked in and pushed out a Harley Davidson 80 cubic inch.
"Whoa" I said in my mind, but I was game. We didn't waste any time. We started side by side even before we left Cedarville. I got him on the jump, but after that, forgot it! My old thumper got its hardtail butt beat but good!
We stopped and compared notes again and came to the conclusion. There is absolutely no substitute for cubic inches.
Lamont and all Boss Hoss riders can say amen to that.
I notice that I am coming up on another fellow motorcyclist riding even slower than me. As I passed him he motioned to me to pull over. We both stopped at the side of the road (not much traffic back then.)
He was riding an Indian Chief 74 cubic inch sidevalve, the year escapes me. We talked. Evidently he had never saw a British bike before and had a lot of questions about the foot shift and hand clutch. We had a very good conversation as brothers on two wheels even do today. Anyway, the conversation drifted toward acceleration. He asked me if I would like to see what a 30cu single could do against his 74 cu vtwin. All in good hearty companionship. I agreed, although I had my doubts about the Matchless holding up to his Indian.
We lined up side by side. Still no traffic. To make a long story short, I beat him everytime. The faster shifting of the Matchless helped but I plain had him on power to weight ratio even with the thumper's 22 hp!
We stopped again at the side of the road and compared notes. No excuses were made but he finally brought up an interesting suggestion. He said, "Would you ride with me back to my house in Cedarville, I have one other bike that I would like to try against yours?" "Sure" I said.
We pulled into his yard, he parked the Indian, got off, and opened the garage doors, walked in and pushed out a Harley Davidson 80 cubic inch.
"Whoa" I said in my mind, but I was game. We didn't waste any time. We started side by side even before we left Cedarville. I got him on the jump, but after that, forgot it! My old thumper got its hardtail butt beat but good!
We stopped and compared notes again and came to the conclusion. There is absolutely no substitute for cubic inches.
Lamont and all Boss Hoss riders can say amen to that.