Norton

Daytona Hangover

Well, I’m almost past my Daytona hangover. It’s not a hangover in the literal sense, as I’ve been surprisingly well behaved over the past couple of weeks. It’s more a need to catch up on sleep, because the Daytona run is just that, a marathon run. Instead of a 10K, this one is a 2000K, with lots of interesting stops and people along the way.

Mt. Dora is where my annual Florida trip usually starts, and this year was no different. Monday and Tuesday I photographed a variety of old English motorcycles. The Piece de resistance was the group shot of three 1950 Thunderbirds. The T-bird was notable not only for its great looks, but because it was the first standard Triumph to come with the 650cc engine.

Three of Triumphs finest from 1950, all restored by master craftsman Bill Hoard.

Tuesday night was even more fun, though a little less productive. Over the years I’ve become friends with a retired federal agent (you know who you are). He and I and his buddy Bill spent the evening sitting on the dock of the bay, shooting at beer cans with an old and very genuine Daisy BB gun. Along the way we added considerably to the number of possible targets lying on the sand. All of which just goes to show that you’re never too old to act like a 12 year old kid.

Sitting on the dock of a bay, a hell of a nice spot to spend a few leisurely hours shooting BBs at beer cans with a couple of the local rednecks.

Thursday morning found me in Daytona having coffee with the infamous Bean’re, followed by a stop at Froggy’s to chat with the equally famous (and much better looking) Kimmy Cruz. Next, it was up to Ormond Beach for the Willie’s Tropical Tattoo party and bike show. The show was great as always, I especially enjoy the fact that pretty much anything goes at Willie’s. From phat-tire pro street bikes to Sporty bobbers and even a neat old Kawasaki three cylinder two-stroke!

Kimmy Cruz, the world’s best-known bartender, making the regulars feel truly welcome at Froggy’s.

Thursday night started at the Dog House, where I attended the great Fusion party, which is actually a fund raiser for Soldiers’ Angels – a non-profit volunteer-led group that provides aid and comfort to active servicemen and women of the U.S. military as well as veterans and their families. Hats off to Ken Conte, the man who put the party together and raised $16,000 for the Angels.

A whole bunch of industry notables helped auction off a raft of goodies, all in support of Soldiers’ Angels.

Thursday night’s party came to a somewhat early end for me, as Friday morning found me south of Daytona shooting a Norton race bike. By the time the morning mist burned off I was back in the mighty Ford ranger, headed for Atlanta and a rendezvous with Brad, owner of a very nice stable of desirable old scooters, including a whole pile of Triumphs and Nortons. Randy Baxter, of Baxter Cycle fame, joined us on Saturday and we photographed seven bikes before the setting sun sent me on my way again – all the way home to Minnesota.

I spent an hour at Willie’s, documenting the fact that Bean’re does indeed know everyone in the world – at least everyone in the motorcycle world – including Dave Perewitz.

How do you say Factory Race Bike? One that still goes 100 mph while it’s standing still.

Just a reminder to all our friends that Wolfgang has TWO classic motorcycle calendars available this year. For over fifteen years I’ve produced a Classic Triumph calendar, first with Bobby Sullivan, then with Randy Baxter of Baxter Cycle fame. This year we have a second vintage calendar: The Classic Norton Calendar, done with help from Baxter Cycle. Though one is filled with Triumphs and the other with Nortons, both calendars share the same format: 16 by 24 inches when open, printed on heavy paper, illustrated with pure motorcycles taken by yours truly. Rather than use studio photos, we like to shoot the bikes in their natural environment. Everything from rural Iowa to small-town Florida and scenic Nevada. Both calendars can be purchased at www.wolfpub.com, just click on Calendars on the upper left hand corner of the home page and the rest is easy.

A Weekend in Iowa

Sometimes it’s nice to get the hell out of Dodge for a day or two, and on Friday afternoon I put the mighty Ranger on I 35 with the nose pointed toward the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, instead of takin’ it all the way to the crescent city, I took a right turn at Des Moines, and continued on to the big metropolis of Marne, Iowa, home to Baxter Cycle.

A sunrise Commando in the wilds of Iowa.

Randy Baxter and I hit it pretty hard and pretty early on Saturday. First we parked a 750 Commando on the edge of a field, with dull yellow corn stubble in the background. Next up was a very neat little Triumph Bobber. The crew at Baxter Cycle started with an old Triumph frame equipped with a period correct hardtail section. After powder coating the frame red, they installed a unit-650cc engine and transmission that Randy scored at a swap meet last year. The rest of the pieces just kind of fell into place, but each one, from the aftermarket chrome tank to the chrome fenders and the handlebars, fit the bike perfect.

Randy Baxter’s little Bobber sits just right, and could easily have been built in 1970.

A 1977 Silver Jubilee found its way into the back of Randy’s work truck for the next photo session. Parked against an old farm building, the photo became a study of grey on grey. Half the fun of these little safaris is finding the old building or the nice backdrop, and making it work. Sometimes it means setting the tires on 2X4s hidden in the grass, and other times it means stealing planks from an old fence to make a platform for the bike.

Last, but as the announcer would say, “not least” is the yellow Norton. Though we missed the fall colors, we did find a few hardy Oaks it the nearby park that managed to hang onto their leaves. The muted colors of the Oak leaves really made the yellow jump, and we deemed the last photo shoot, and the whole day, a success.

Built in limited numbers, the Silver Jubilee was designed to honor the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Sometimes you just gotta borrow a picnic table from the obliging Parks Department.

A busy week at Wolfgang, with a blog that’s one day late to boot.

Monday was somehow consumed by the normal Monday morning BS, complicated by a stop at the printer we’ve chosen to run the Triumph and Norton calendars. Choosing a printer is more than just making a phone call, getting a quote and then saying yes or no. I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes it’s better to pay a little more in order to get the quality or timeliness that’s required. Timing is extra important for a calendar. I always tell people that calendars are like fruit, past its certain date even the best calendar isn’t worth a dime. It reminds me a bit of my truck driving days. The first time we needed a tire fixed at a truck stop in the middle of the night I quickly learned that there’s a list, it’s short and goes like this: Reefer trucks always come first. In fact if there are three trucks waiting for service, a reefer (truck pulling a refrigerated trailer) can butt in line. It’s a rule that everyone understands and accepts without any rancor – simply because those drivers are running under non-negotiable deadlines and the driver (sometimes the owner as well) is often responsible for the meat or fruit being hauled.

I digress. Monday afternoon I drove my (little) truck to Brooklyn Printing where we talked at length about the delivery schedule, the print run itself, and the size of a dot. The “dot” size that a particular press lays down helps to determine the effective resolution. The other topic on the agenda is money of course. How much are the calendars going to cost, what’s included in that cost, and what sort of terms do they require. Like everything else about running a small business, producing the calendar is a balancing act. How many can we sell, how much does it cost us, when do we have to pay the printer and when do we get paid?

The good news is, the calendars will be available through either Wolfgang or Baxter Cycle by late July, watch my blog for the final announcement. With any luck at all they will: look great, contain zero typos, ship on time - and make a profit.

If late July of 2011 seems a little early to produce a 2012 calendar, it is. Though you have to remember that some of the calendars go overseas, and even the ones that don’t still have to work their way through the distribution chain, all of which takes time.

Regular readers might have noticed the missing blog last week, and assumed I was on vacation. You know what they say about ass-u-ming anything. In reality I used my “time off” to make a run to Marne, Iowa, home to Baxter Cycle. Being gluttons for punishment, Randy Baxter and I have decided that one classic bike calendar isn’t enough, certainly two would be twice as much fun – thus there will be a Classic Norton Calendar this year, as well as our standard Classic Triumph Calendar.

As of last week, we have the Triumph Calendar ready for the printer, the Norton calendar however is three months short. Which explains the run to Iowa, to fill those three missing months with images of beautiful Nortons.

2012 will be the first year for our new, Classic Norton calendar.

We got started about 9:00 a.m. on Thursday with our first victim, a 1971 Norton Hi-Rider. If this bike isn’t straight out of the early 70s then I don’t know what is. Check out that seat. Randy says it worked OK solo, but not so well for two-up. As he’s explaining this I’m looking at the seat thinking the shape is going to push your date right up against your back, and that coziness is always a good thing, especially when you’re 18 years old. Randy read my mind and went to explain that the downside to all this two-wheeled foreplay is the close proximity of the gas tank to certain parts of the male anatomy. Which means that by the time you and your lovely arrived at your lavish apartment, it’s likely all you could do is limp around in a bow-legged fashion with a grimace, rather than a wolfish grin - on your face.

A 1971 750cc Hi-Rider with a rather unique, period-correct, seat.

The Nortons I remember best are the 850 Commandos, my frequent nemesis in the stop light grand prixs that occurred back in the day. The one we photographed on Thursday didn’t snort or roar however, but it sure did look good sitting on the railroad tracks in Atlantic, Iowa.

The classic Norton hot rod, 850 cubic centimeters of vertical twin power, enough to make it one of the fastest bikes on the street at the time.

In between Norton number two and three, we had to run back to the shop and photograph an incredible collection of Triumph Bonnevilles, part of a 40 bike collection Randy purchased recently. Then it was back to Atlantic to bag the last Norton of the day – a 1966 Fastback. Today I plan to chain Jacki to her desk until she has the new Norton photos processed. Then all we need is captions - and enough money to give the printer a down payment on two calendars!

Photographing the collection of Bonnevilles meant I got to take a ride – up and up and up higher in the bucket of an old Oliver tractor.

More Triumph Bonnevilles than I’ve ever seen, and all in perfect condition.

A very sexy Norton Fastback from 1966.