Editor's Blog: A Brief Hiatus And A Listening Recommendation

By David Emmett |

No doubt you have already noticed, but content on the site is a little slower to be posted. I am in Italy with my wife in between the two Misanos, and am alternating a vacation during the day and work in the evening. Pieces are being written, but they are taking a little longer than normal. With neither MotoGP nor WorldSBK this weekend, there is a chance to catch our breath.

To fill the void, I can highly recommend the Cycle World podcast, available as both an audio and video podcast on YouTube. Editor Mark Hoyer speaks to motorcycling's biggest brain and deepest thinker, Kevin Cameron. Cameron's encyclopedic knowledge of the history of motorcycling and motorcycle racing, plus the history of the combustion engine and everything involved in producing a powered two-wheel vehicle provides incredible insight, into subjects as diverse as the history of Ducati, the development of suspension, the mystery of metals, and how BMW's GS became such an iconic vehicle. Something for everyone. 

Thanks as always for your support, and thanks especially for your patience.

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Comments

I hope you and your wife are enjoying your time in Italy. A little quieter than trackside?

Thanks for this pointer and recommendation for the Cycle World podcast: I had forgotten about Cycle World... I used to purchase their magazine (early 60's through late 70's) and devour the articles and advertisements. (I was fortunate to have a bicycle, a part-time job, and the loose change to get to Harvard Square and purchase motorcycle and music magazines. A motorcycle was seemingly untouchable.) I saw the Dunstall Commando in one issue (early 70's) and wrote to Paul Dunstall. I received an oversized envelope in the mail a month or so later with a few folded posters and a note from Paul thanking me for my interest. Yet another reason to explore my parent's attic! 

about Kevin Cameron, and Dunstall Norton's brings me back to my days as a motorcycle mechanic working in Boston. I worked at a place called Boston Cycles. We were the Yamaha/Norton/Ossa shop, and Kevin was the service manager at Arllington Cycles, the Kawi shop. Kevin instructed me how to convert my S2 from a tractable street bike into a light switch.

Speaking of the Dunstall, we had an 810 that wouldn't keep a head gasket in it no matter what we tried. It would blow out at the back, melt the fuel lines, and the bike would burst into flames. It became a Dunstall 750.

Seems a hundred years ago.

Well deserved vacation, even if it is only daytime.  

Two of the Cycle World podcasts I recently caught up with were the mysteries of carburetors and the rules of MotoGP. Both very good of course. Kevin being one of my favorite writers from back in the old Cycle magazine days. 

I'm listening tot he latest Paddock Pass Podcast this morning as the team review the latest racing and incidents from Magne Cours WSBK. 

Back over at Advrider, they've run low on fresh clean high fashion purses and have gone back into the dusty backs of closets digging out old wornout bags filled with long in the tooth and tired arguments. HAhaha

And how many tiramisu have you enjoyed? Pizza?

I grew up reading Gordon Jennings’s tech articles in Cycle World. Kevin Cameron really came along in my adulthood, when I was in my career as a mechanical engineer. I learned a lot about engines from Jennings but I’d say Cameron is the best at explaining technical issues in an engaging, readable and accurate way. And I say that based on attending a world class engineering university and decades of reading stuff for my job. He’s Number 1. And good to listen to as well. David, you’re pretty darn good too 😀.