List:
You biker guys who have never seen a Vincent Black Lightning need to make the
effort to see "Ardunbill"s (Bill Hoddinott's) bike.
First of all, Bill is a great guy, and he and wife Jerry are terriffic hosts.
Secondly, the Black Shadow-- the "street" version of the (racing) Black
Lightning-- was the Hayabusa of the '50s. Except that (as Bill and I
discussed),
the Hayabusa is an evolutionary machine-- a natural result of all the technology
and quality development of the entire Japanese motorcycle industry in the last
50
years. On the other hand, the post-war Vincents owed very little to anybody but
their designer and fabricators-- they were full of "breakthrough" innovation in
almost every aspect.
And you should see it! You wouldn't believe that a 150mph "liter-bike" could be
so light and skinny. And unique mechanical aspects everywhere you look. Bill's
is a beautiful example of the type. The Lightning alone was worth my trip to
the
east coast.
I had another "en-Lightning" experience in Bill's garage: I learned what all
this "Ardun" hoopla is about! Racing flatheads have never seemed all that
exciting to me (although I think they are way-cool for street rods)-- but these
"Ardun" things are flatheads converted to HEMIS! (I'm probably the only one on
the list who didn't know that, right?) Well, anyway, they sure seem alot more
interesting as racers now. And Bill's yellow LSR roadster is a doll.
Mechanical
injectors, just like Skip likes.
Lastly, we watched Part one of the Speedvision Bonneville show. We played-back
the Earl Wooden wreck a couple of times, discussing details. As I drove toward
Florida later that evening, that wreck kept re-playing in my mind. I've decided
that in the next few days I want to re-open the "threads" about tires and
traction control-- because I think that both topics have relevance to this.
4 days later I took a "Legends" racing school at Charlotte, NC. It was a
blast--
the little cars really over-respond-- like overpowered go-carts-- so I think
they
should be a good driver training/ skills maintenance tool. Now I have to figure
whether my budget can afford Legends racing as well as starting my own LSR
project.
Thanks, Bill for inviting me. It never ceases to amaze me how nice and friendly
are many of the people in LSR.
Russ Mack
> Hi folks, wanted to mention that my wife Jerry and I had a visitor for
> supper yesterday, Russ Mack of this List, and Crew on the Yellow Rose of
> Texas (AA/GL) team with Skip Higginbotham and Bill Smith last August.
>
> Russ was passing through Chesapeake and stopped to take a look at my
> Vincent and the Ardun roadster. He's a mechanical engineer by
> profession, with special expertise in computers, and helped with data
> acquisition on the Rose, besides regular wrenchin'.
>
> Russ had a lot of interesting stories to tell about the team's Salt
> Flats adventure, Skip built a fine car, and I think Bill's achievement
> of the 253.441 mph record is quite remarkable, especially when you
> consider that he had no prior LSR experience.
>
> Always fun to get together with fellow enthusiasts. Cheers Bill
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