Steve Hamel Bonneville 2012

[davidd]

Photos by Steve and Wendy Hamel. Marty Dickerson on left, Steve on right.

The rain

David

 

[Bill Thomas]

Hello David, Talking of Marty Dickerson, In MPH this month there is a bit about www.fiftiesroadtrip.com Which shows Marty riding a Scary Twin, I think Blown, With a forward facing carb' and engine covers, I have not seen it befor, Any idea how well it went, Looks like it could have been good. All The Best Bill.

 

[davidd]

Hello David, Talking of Marty Dickerson, In MPH this month there is a bit about www.fiftiesroadtrip.com Which shows Marty riding a Scary Twin, I think Blown, With a forward facing carb' and engine covers, I have not seen it befor, Any idea how well it went, Looks like it could have been good. All The Best Bill.

Bill,

Yes, that is the Joe Simpson Black Lightning that currently resides at the Solvang Museum, which is owned by Virgil Elings.

I believe the bike is 1C/2535, dispatched to V.L. Martin (dealer) in California. Joe ran the bike stock and took Rollie Free's record in 1953. Rollie came out and took the record back by a few tenths. I think Joe then super charged the bike and asked Marty for his assistance with the mechanicals and the riding. Marty did 177 mph two way average as I recall. It had a giant SU carb with the stack facing forward. Sounds like a good article!

The bike was on the cover of MPH 444.

David

 

[TouringGodet]

Just stumbled across these videos of Steve from last year's effort. 159 MPH, 1000cc on petrol, and still looking for more, that's pretty awesome.

Steve 2012 YouTube 1

Steve 2012 YouTube 2

Steve's bike is, for me, still the sweetest sounding Vincent. Dave Matson's has a raw power sound with the nitro, but Steve's is sweet from an idle all the way up.