Photo from the Don Emde Collection

“Slidin’ Al Gunter,” written by Cycle World Technical Editor Kevin Cameron and published in an upcoming issue, benefitted from the encyclopedic knowledge of 1972 Daytona 200 winner Don Emde. Looking for artwork to support the story, I contacted Emde, who e-mailed me the accompanying image of Gunter posing with fellow racer Tony Murphy.

About the photo, thought to have been taken in 1964 or ‘65 at a race promoted by Floyd Clymer in Dodge City, Kansas, Emde said, “A couple of things that make this photo interesting are the two Japanese mechanics and also the helmet on which Al is leaning. The mechanic on the left is Mack Kambayashi, who was a factory Yamaha mechanic. He worked on the race team in the U.S. until 1971, when BSA hired him; he was my mechanic that year. Later, after BSA cut back, he opened a shop in Brea called Mack’s Cycle Center, and my younger brother Dave rode for him. In 1977, they won the AMA 250cc National Championship.

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As currently planned after the end of the 800cc era, MotoGP bikes displacing 1000cc in 2012 will be given 25 liters of fuel, up from the present 21. The point of this larger allowance is to make it possible for those factories building bikes with production-based engines not to have to deal with fuel-conservation software. This might be negotiated down to 24 liters if the primary builders want it so.

It appears no limits on MotoGP electronics are planned, hope being that the mandated 81mm bore will put a stop to ever-higher rpm, and the large displacement will make it unnecessary to seek ever-greater horsepower. Everyone will be glad to say goodbye to the tight fuel conservation game. Also, new entrants and manufacturers who have not won two races in the previous year will get 12 engines per season instead of six. BMW is confidently expected to enter MotoGP “in three years.”

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Recently, I found a text on the history of development of gear and bearing steels since 1940. In it, I found the answer to something from long ago.

In 1969, John Jacobson took me along to the Yamaha dealer show in Washington, D.C., where we hoped for a meeting with “Reo Rake” (Leo Lake), who was then Yamaha’s racing manager. I did get a couple of minutes with him, during which he said that Yamaha big-end bearings had to be set up slightly loose, as the rollers swelled up slightly and permanently at first running. My eyes widened, but what did I know? Leo contrasted this with normal practice with roller big-ends in British Singles, which were always traditionally fitted to zero clearance.

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Photos by Mike Doran

Don’t look too closely at that picture just yet, okay? The true beginning of this account was when Danny Walker, headmaster of the dirt-track academy known as American Supercamp, asked the student body why they enrolled for the course.

I told the foolish truth.

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