In 1982, I, with a group of other Indy motorcycle nuts, rode through 40 degrees and rain to spend the weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for the AMA Superbike event at Road America. I took a little 35mm box camera with me to snap a few photos. My wife was cleaning out the attic today and buried deep in a long-forgotten box were these photos from that weekend.
I remember my cheap K-Mart rain gear shredded as we went through Milwaukee. It didn’t take long for my leather jacket and jeans to become completely water logged. I was shivering uncontrollable when I rolled up to the crowded track on my Suzuki GS750. The first thing I did was get to the paddock, find my buddy Jim Knipp, who was racing and asked him if I could get in his van. Mercifully the keys were in the ignition. I fired it up, cranked the heat up all the way and laid there in the fetal position shaking uncontrollably for probably an hour. I don’t think I warmed up the entire weekend.
The photos are just fun snapshots taken with a tiny box camera that couldn’t even match the quality of today’s disposable cameras, that and the negatives are damaged from years in a hot attic, but these bring back a lot of memories for me and maybe for you too.
Click on photo for larger version
Rider Files 
I’ll never forget this weekend! I remember waking up in Waukegan in the guy’s basement that we all stayed at, and you and 3 or 4 other guys being there that weren’t the night before. And I knew I didn’t drink THAT much the night before–it was too damn cold. I also remembering your ‘rainsuit’ shredding to pieces as we were rolling up the highway and pieces of it flying back at my car and Brad Mercer’s (we had the support vehicles for the w/e). We stopped in Milwaukee to try and let everyone get warm, find more rain gear, and break out the duct tape to try and tape up what was left of everyone’s ‘rainsuits’ such as yours! It’s amazing after watching Eddie Lawson win the SBK race from the back of the grid in a downpour we all didn’t pack it in and head back south. But the racing was so good it was like the first time you had sex and thinking ‘where has this been all my life.’
Scott Levondoski and his GF and I stayed around for the Monday running of the Superbike School and it was the best weather of the w/e–but no one else was there to believe it! The old campground across the street-or the field as it was-looked like a scene out of Saving Private Ryan after the troops hit the beach and after the bullets and shells stopped raining down. What a disaster….
This WAS my first AMA National, to boot, and I still love it. But I’m not quite as up to the rain since that first w/e. No one could ever consider anyone on that trip anything but less then an ironman after making it through what all the guys on the bikes did for that one!
And I had the pleasure of meeting you and several other notorious individuals for the first time, so all in all it was quite the monumental trip and w/e! Good, but wet times! Thanks for the memories!
Stu
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Stu
Yes! Sleeping on the raw concrete floor of that guy’s basement. Ha, ha, ha. It was one of those milestone moments you look back and and think, ‘man I was young and dumb.’ But we had a blast through it all. So many crazy things happen on that trip. It should be a subject for a feature article someday.
Larry
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I remember that medi-vac helicopter taking off too many times that weekend. Thank goodness we’ve progressed saftey-wise from those often ugly days.
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How cool! I have a Google Alerts set for TZ750 and it found your site. It was a great surprise to find myself in your collection–being a kook no less. And the photo of me standing with Bruce Hammer and Henry Kato there painting his bike was cool too. I am going to forward this link to both Bruce and Geri Kato, Henry’s daughter.
Thanks again!! If you have any more photos from that day it would be cool.
Thanks so much!
Mark
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Bruce Hammers F1 bike was used by Team Hammer Endurance as a practice bike in 1986. The thing was a beast to ride. Short wheelbase/lots of torque. It always had “blue” slicks on it from sitting around. Nobody wanted to ride the thing.
Flat slide carbs would hang up for about 1 second after you shut off the throttle… kinda like a Toyota. It did haul ass though!
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Larry…….that certainly does look like Harry holding up the Racecrafters Kawie
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Hey Mark
Glad you stopped by. For some reason your TZ looks very narrow. Maybe it was the angle I took the photo from, but I was happy my wife found this box in the corner of the garage attic covered over by a trash bag. There are tons of old photos in there. I’ll see what else I come up with.
Larry
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Gary,
I think that is Pierre the late DesRoche holding Harry’s bike.
Pat, no s**t about those flat slides. The year after this, I was at the ill-fated Honda 1983 support team try-outs where Jon Woo was killed. They the throttle on the factory Honda Superbikes set with a high idle trying to overcome that problem. The way those things was VERY problemetic in Laguna’s old turn nine. Either the thing would hold a fast idle and point you at the guardrail on the exit or snap open suddenly making a smooth exit a challenge.
MH
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Mark,
‘funny stuff those carbs. I think I was the last one to ride Bruce’s bike. It highsided me thru the windscreen in practice, where I half saved it and “superman’d” it down the front strait… feet off the pegs, hands off the bars, until the front end tucked and cartwheeled the bike about 20 feet into the air right in front of Ulrich and the Hammer pit. JU was pissed off! I was almost killed…by the bike and Ulrich. LOL
PH
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Anybody have a better photo of Harry from that time period showing his hair style and mustache?
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Great shots Larry, I was supposed to go on that trip and decided not to, But had my own epic trip in 84 with flat tire coming home just outside of chicago! Dale Douglass and I were stranded in a flea bag trucker motel until my Dad bought us up tire and wheel to get home!Keep up the good work.
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Larry…..you still like Guzzi’s,I’m a long time Guzzi rider.Put just over 400,000 street miles on them.
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Gary
I haven’t ridden a recent model Moto Guzzi, but man that mid-’70s bike my friend’s dad owned was a big ol’ touring beast. I loved the side torque the thing displayed when revving the motor. Seems like I hit me knees on the cylinders a few times. The clutch and throttle pull were real grip builders, but I just loved the sound of the bike, the heft of it. It was a cool old motorcycle. I think it was a 1976 Convert 1000.
Larry
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Larry……if the Guzzi you are talking about was a Convert model you didn’t need to use the clutch as the transmission was if I’m correct nothing but a two speed torque converter.Low speed was good to about 85 and high got to maybe 110mph on a good day.Now those square slide Delortto’s were stiff,I always used an reverse pull spring to counter the stiff opening throttle.
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Gary
Must not have been a Convert. It was set up with hard bags and a fairing.
Larry
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The brothers on the Keith Harte Ducati’s are Paul Macmillan on the left, Canadian National Pro Superbike Champ from 1984 and his brother Jeff with the darker hair on the right. Also standing is Johnny I have forgotten his last name but the three did quite a bit or raod racing and endurance racing in the late 70’s and 80’s in the USA and Canada. I am so thrilled to see all these old photos. Incredible shots and nostalgia.
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Steve
Great I was hoping someone would ID those riders.
Larry
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Larry,
I recently got in touch with Harry Klinzmann, who confirms that is Pierre with Harry’s Racecrafters S1. However, Pierre was legendary for his craftsmanship and ingenuity, and was not necessary a “frame guy.” He could, and did, do it all.
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Mark
Thanks for the update. Pierre was such an instrumental part of early AMA Superbike. I need to do a feature on him for Cycle News.
Larry
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I know the guy that’s sitting on dale singletons motor cycle in pit road his name is curtis nichols and he was one of his young mechanics from england and he still owns that shirt and he is donating it to the museum that that bike sitting in Leeds alabama
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