Dale "Lynn" James vintage motorcycle photos
Back in the OLD days I used to race motorcycles. I raced
from 1970 -71 very competitively and a few years after just for fun until the mid 70's.
Most of the races after 1972 were marathons and enduros with my dad (who was quite
fast by the way :-) I raced a 250cc Bultaco most of the time. It was
a very fast and reliable bike for it's time. Here are some pictures taken
by a professional photographer (John Ramos) who went from race to race taking pictures of
everyone. I was fortunate that he took a few of me (96H). BTW I went
by "Dale" back then.
There are two motorcycles pictured below that I raced. One
was a 1970 Bultaco Pursang Europa model that I used for motocross the other one
was also a 1970 Bultaco Pursang Europa but had been 5 ported. Sometimes I
would race a TT or a short track on a Friday night and a motocross on a Saturday
or Sunday. Having two identical bikes made it easy to do. In California it
was easy to race Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the 70's.
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This was a rider profile from a small but informative magazine. This publication was done by a fellow racer. |
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Not my first race but close to it. Alviso is in the heart of Silicon Valley. I should have bought the track, I would be retired now! |
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If you never raced at the Hayward Speedway you missed out on some very exiting times. Very small fenced track, no room for error and very fast! |
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Still a novice and the number under the red tape is 279H. This is the picture they used for the rider profile and wanted to use my new Amature / Expert number 96H |
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Lodi Cycle Bowl. It's still running races today. Back in the early 70's it was mostly noted for the tree at the end of turn 2. |
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This is the same turn a few months later in my first amature race. I placed 1st. |
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Uvis Dam or Cycle Hills. They filmed sections of a movie here; Little Fauss and Big Halsy. |
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I finished 4th in this race at Vallejo Speed Way. I'm 96H. |
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Vallejo. First place finish. |
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In the winter I did alot of Moto Cross. These three pictures were taken at Carnegie before it was a state park. |
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Sideways on the back wheel
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One of my first jobs was working at Correa Sales in Hayward, California as a mechanic. I was 15 at the time mostly tuning 350 & 450 Hondas
but also servicing the new bikes as they came in. That's where I met Rick
Hocking. Rick belonged to the Hayward motorcycle club and had the keys to
the race track. He invited me to come out on a Wednesday evening and take
a few laps with him and his buddy's to see if I would like TT racing (scrambles). I
showed up with a new 250 Bultaco Europa with a 21" front wheel and knobies.
After about an hour of burning those knobies off Rick said, "You should
change your tires and come out this Saturday and race, I think you will do pretty
good." That's all it took. I scrambled around for a 19" front wheel and
bought some Dunlop K-70's, borrowed some leathers and a full face helmet from
Steve Benedict and was ready to go. Rick invited me several more times to
come out on a Wednesday and we had some pretty good times, we would race for a while
and then switch bikes and go for some more. Rick was riding a 200 Bultaco
Sherpa S. Great times.
I did a lot
of "cow trailing" with some very fast people, some you may recognize. Jim
Foley, Paul Johnson, Elmer Johnson, Rick Schell, Marty Lewis, John Fry, Steve
Benedict, Bob Rivenbark and all who road with the Valley Trail Riders form
Livermore, Ca.
A bicycle I built and entered in the 1969 Oakland Roadster Show. There's a
story behind this. I built this bike in late 1967 and modified it
continuously. I rode it to the local Schwinn dealer where a distributor
saw it, asked a million questions and 6 months later the Schwinn Orange Crate
came out. See any resemblances? That dealer is probably still
living fat on my design.
I'm going to list some other bikes I raced at the time and when
I find photos of them I will post them.
1969 Yamaha TD1C
1965-67 Italjet 50cc GP bike. I believe the model was a Vampire.
Cool fun bike.
1974 Bultaco Pursang
1965 Aermacchi Harley Scat 175cc
A bicycle I built and entered in the 1969 Oakland Roadster Show. There's a
story behind this. I built this bike in late 1967 and modified it
continuously. I rode it to the local Schwinn dealer where a distributor
saw it, asked a million questions and 6 months later the Schwinn Orange Crate
came out. See any resemblances? That dealer is probably still
living fat on my design.
