Hi Folks, a while back somebody said, what happened at Maxton at the
last meet. It was a good meet, and had I think a large turnout, and
will be covered elsewhere.
Just for the moment I wanted to report, for those who care for historic
motorcycles, that someone brought out and ran a Harley KR 45 Dirt Track
racer. The flathead racejob Harley made in the '50s and '60s. As
ridden by Mert Lawwill in the film "On Any Sunday".
Didn't get a chance to talk to the rider, but the bike had a nice era
"patina" and sounded great. Looking forward to seeing what times it
turned. With 300 lbs and 50-60 HP depending on the skill of the tuner, I
bet they are fun to ride. Some would say this engine is the most highly
developed gas flathead racing engine ever. I recall the compression
ratio was only about 5.75 to get optimum gas flow for the side valves,
they raced on regular gas only, they had maximum lift and duration cams,
and pulled hard to maybe 7000, when the torque would just quit. A late
friend of mine, Roland Pike, a distinguished road-racer in England and
the Isle of Man in the '30s, '40s and '50s, and of later fame as the BSA
factory Development Engineer from '52 to '57, had a ride on one of the
Harley factory KRs at Daytona in the '50s. He told me the weight,
handling and performance at the time were on a par with the 500cc Manx
Norton.
Sorry WOS was rained out, for those who were looking forward to
attending.
Cheers from ArdunBill in the Great Dismal Swamp, Chesapeake, VA, where
it's another beautiful VA morning.
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