If the 'old man' you spoke to worked for the museum, that would be Brian Slark. Slarkie worked for AMC in the '60s (the Company that owned AJS, Matchless and Norton at that time). He came to the US in the late '60s to run Norton's competition program. He provided the Norton Commando 'S' to Cycle magazine for Cook Neilson's first superbike shootout - The Commando won. Brian Slark is one of those rare individuals who has 'been there, done that', and a really nice, approachable guy with nearly 60 years of experience dealing with English and European bikes. Hopefully, Vicky will get him to come back for her 'fly on the wall' session Saturday night at the Barber Vintage Festival. If you went through the new wing, you would have seen Mike Patrick's Norton P11 - the last 4-stroke to win the District 37 Championship (and perhaps the ultimate desert sled) before the final onslaught of the Husky and Yamaha 2-strokes. Chances are excellent that Slark test rode that bike before being crated up to send to Berliner in '67 for US distribution. Bill Tracy 850 Commando 750 P11 Ranger Matchless G15CS Matchless G80CS -----Original Message----- >From: Mario Baroz <mariobaroz@hotmail.com> >Sent: Aug 8, 2019 11:52 AM >To: Ducati Owners Group <ducati@list.ducati.net> >Subject: [Ducati] Barber Motorsports Park trip report (very long) > >Hey guys, > >Just returned from a 5 day road trip to Barber Motorsports Park. If you haven’t been, you need to go!!! It is an amazing place! From San Antonio, TX to Barber and back (with a couple of detours) was a grand total of 1,858 miles. > >Barber: Again, what an amazing place! I read somewhere that the Park was Mr. Barber’s “love poem to motorcycles” and man, that is absolutely right! It was sensory overload from the moment you walk in the place. I only took pictures of the bikes I really liked or were interesting to me and ended up taking 808 pictures, just to give you an idea of the scope of the collection. Lots of Ducatis of course…the highlight to me was seeing Cook Nielson/Phil Schilling’s “Old Blue” 750SS with Cook’s leathers displayed right next to it. It was disappointing to see it tucked away in a dark corner of the museum though. I think it deserves a much more prominent and well lit display! Of course there was a Desmosedici and a round case 750SS too. I believe I counted three round case 750cc, two of which were clearly in need of some help. There was a lovely 1998 900SS/FE which I was glad to see as it validates my personal choice of motorcycle! Hahahaha…. There was a nice Paso, a couple of really nice Darmahs….lots of cool stuff all round. > >Funny thing happened to me in the gift shop though. I was browsing around when this nice old gentleman came rushing up to me and exclaimed "you're just the man I'm looking for!!!" I was confused because I had never met this man. He said "is that your Himalaya out there?" He was very, very, excited about it. I said "no, that's my Ducati Desert Sled." A disappointed look came over his face and he said "oh, I thought it was a Himalaya..." I said "no, it's a Ducati Desert Sled...do you want to go look at it?" He got this disgusted look on his face, shook his head, and said "oh no...." Then he saw my Ducati shirt and hat and asked "are you a big Ducati guy?" I said "yes" and he said "well, I have something that you might like" and a sly grin came over his face. I asked him what it was and he said "I have the helmet that Paul Smart wore when he won the Imola 200." I said "how did you get that?!?!" He said "oh, Paul Smart is a mate of mine, he stays with me whenever he's in town." I said "wow, that's fantastic!" and then he asked me "Do you know Vicki Smith?" and I said that I had met her several times and that she's the moderator of the Ducati chat list of which I'm a member. He said "well, she's a friend of mine too!!" I asked him his name and darn it...I can't remember it!!! He's old, I'd say mid-70s or older, from Australia or New Zealand, and I remember that I had read his name in stories and reports of Ducati lore. Anybody know who I'm talking about? I'm sure Vicki does. > >They were repaving the track so we didn’t get to see any cars go around. We did walk over the bridge and I saw the nasty little surprise there which caused me to jump out of my skin. The track looks like it would be amazing fun to ride. > >Like a lot of you, I also like cars and Barber has the largest collection of Lotuses, (Loti?) in the world. It was amazing to see so many in one place. > >There was also a tribute to John Surtees so there was the Ferrari F1 car in which he raced. Lovely to see that. > >I could go on and on…but I have to say that my favorite bike in that whole place, and I know this is blasphemy to this crowd, is the Honda NR750. That thing just blows me away. The Britten that is there also blows my mind but I just love that Honda. > >We stayed at the Hampton Inn which is just down the road from the museum. It was perfect. I imagine trying to get a room there during any of the big events would be impossible. But if you go during a non-event time, stay at the Hampton Inn. > >This was the first really long bike trip I’ve been on in 22 years so I have some lessons learned. Back then, I would just put on my leathers, whatever else gear I had, and go. Younger, tougher, more flexible, yada, yada, yada…Plus, there wasn’t the plethora of gear options as there are now > >2017 Ducati Desert Sled: First, I love this bike. For plonking along dirt roads, cruising the Texas Hill Country, hitting the twisties, it’s great at all of that. But…it is not a highway/touring bike. For sure it will cruise at 75mph all day long but it’s not really built for that so there are some issues. Wind blast was ok, I can deal with that. I did buy a Givi windscreen for this trip but after trying it over several long day rides before the trip, the buffeting and extra noise it created would not have been worth the wind protection. The big issue was the seat. I did have mine modified and it’s better by far than stock but it’s still like having a brick shoved up your bum for 1800ish miles. It’s really happy at 70mph but an edginess creeps in at 75mph. We did go on Toll Road 130 right outside of Austin and I tried cruising at 80 and 85 mph. It will do it but at that speed, my helmet started to lift off my head so that didn’t make me happy. I stayed at 80mph for most of 130 but I didn’t really like it. I didn’t really keep track of my gas mileage but Ducati says the tank is 3.57 gallons which theoretically should give 160ish miles at 45mpg (which I average around the Hill Country) but we found refueling at 120 miles was the perfect balance between making time and giving ourselves a break. And, my “Empty” light DID come on once at around 120 miles so that’s probably the safest range anyway. When we hit 120 miles, I usually put in 2.5-2.8 gallons so I had a little extra range. On one stretch my light came on and we went 17.9 miles before we found a gas station. Phew! One nice feature I really liked was the USB plug under the seat. I ran a cord up to my tank bag in which my phone resided so my phone was always fully charged. The big decision I made during this trip is that I’m going to lower the bike. I don’t really want to but it’s simply too tall for me. I haven’t found anybody who makes a ride-height adjustable shock for it though. I believe I can only lower it an inch though because the forks can only come up about that far before they hit the handlebar. But if I couple that with my Low seat (I have to get that modified for comfort too because it sucks) that should give me an additional two inches. That’ll take it from the stock 34.9” seat height to a more manageable 32.9. So if anybody knows where to get a suitable shock, hit me up. I also took off the Pirelli semi-knobbies that came stock (they were almost all wore out after 5,000 miles anyway) and put on some Dunlop Roadsmart 5s. Smooth ride, great traction, no problems. > >Equipment: For luggage I put a Cortech tail bag on the Ducati factory luggage rack I installed. It’s an old tail bag and the bungees are worn out so I had to supplement it with a couple of extras. It wasn’t solid but it worked. I’m going to modify it to take permanent buckles. I added the Ducati factory tailbag which attaches to the seat via some D-rings which you have to thread and un-thread every time you put it on and take it off. PITA. I’m going to switch it to permanent buckles too. It’s waterproof though which was nice as we did get rained on a couple of times. I also had my trusty Marsee magnetic tank bag which I realized during this trip is over 30 years old!!! I bought it for my 1988 Suzuki 600 Katana when it was new so…31 years! It has a little hole in it so maybe it’s time to retire it? Hahahaha…. > >I added a Go Cruise Throttle Control from Aerostitch. It worked….ok. The same capability that lets you slide it down onto the lever also lets it slide back the other way so your speed slowly creeps down after you set it. It was good for giving your hand a break for a couple of minutes. That’s all I really wanted it for and it was cheap so it was good value. > >My buddy and I bought Sena comm devices for this trip, me a 20S EVO, him a 30K model. Pretty easy to install in my HJC RPHA 10 helmet. A couple of days before our trip we tried them out but despite numerous attempts over an hour time frame, we just couldn’t get them to pair up. We took them down to Cycle Gear and the tech guy there did it in 15 seconds. He said they were now paired and we wouldn’t have any problems. Well, the morning we set off they wouldn’t pair. After trying for 30 minutes, we decided to take off and try as we rode. About 40 miles into our ride, I was playing with the volume knob and the option button but I couldn’t get it to work. I went to try again only to discover the unit had fell off my helmet!!! I presume it got smashed into a million pieces on the road. Major league bummer. We resorted to our old hand signals the rest of the trip. It sure would have been handy to have those devices working though. I’m going to buy a 30K model and see if we can get them working together. That’ll just add to the $270 loss of the first device. Sucks. > > Riding Gear: I wore my Fly Racing full mesh jacket so I was always cool. It has black sleeves with a silver body and the black parts did get kind of toasty warm at times but then again, it was over 100 degrees once we got back into Texas. Of course I got really wet when it rained but it’s summer so it was fine. Not sure of the protective capabilities of it but it gave me peace of mind if nothing else. I paired that with my Alpinestars SMX-1 Air gloves and those were prefect for this trip. I wore some armored Bullit riding jeans which were comfortable but not really suited for long highway trips. They got hot and when we got wet, they stayed wet for a long time. Again, it’s summer so that was actually beneficial for cooling if not an entirely pleasant clammy feeling. I wore my Icon 1000 Elsinore boots which were really comfortable if a little hot. All of that was ok but next time I’m wearing a full suit, like the Rev it Sand 3 combination. The Sand 3 comes in a light tan color which would be perfect for summer touring. Which brings me to my helmet… > >I wore my gloss black HJC RPHA 10. I wanted to wear my white Shoei X-2 Hornet but despite a long history of wearing Shoeis in a size Medium, this helmet just KILLS my forehead! I can barely wear it for short rides so I knew I couldn’t wear it for a cross-country trip. So it was my HJC. It’s comfortable, nicely vented, but black is the wrong color helmet to wear in the Texas heat! We were riding in 100 degree heat for hours and I could feel my brain cooking. At one stop, I took it off and put my bare hand on it and could only touch it for a second or two before it became too hot to touch. My friend was wearing a white Arai and when I touched that, it was dramatically cooler. From now on, only white helmets for cross-country trips!!!! > >Route: We took two days to get there, one day in Birmingham, then two days back. Unfortunately, because of time constraints, we had to take mostly interstates. Through Texas we did take 79 which was a nice combination of country road and highway. Once we hit Louisiana though, it was all Interstate 20. Same coming back. 20 took us into downtown Birmingham which is a total mess. They’re building their spaghetti intersections and it’s messy and confusing and crowded. We didn’t know any better though. We eventually found where we were supposed to be so it was all good. Alabama is beautiful as is Mississippi. Their interstates were smooth and nice to ride. I can’t say anything good about Louisiana. I was never so happy to leave a state as I was to leave there. Their interstate felt like riding a motocross track whoops section. Holy Crap…how can a whole state be so bad? After Monroe, LA, we were on Highway 21 headed west in Louisiana into Texas and it was bumpy, rutted, narrow and just horrible but as soon as we crossed the border into Texas, it was smooth and wide. Louisiana sucks big time. Apologies to any Louisiana natives or fans. We took Highway 7, then 79, then Toll Road 130 to Interstate 10 back into San Antonio. > >All in all, a great trip. The museum is amazing, being on the road with a good friend is salve for the soul, and anytime on a motorcycle is fun. Hope you guys get out there and have fun! > > > >Mario > > > > > >To get the links and updates on all today's Ducati news: >http://www.ductalk.com/ >and >https://www.facebook.com/ducnet >_____________________ >Ducati mailing list >Ducati@list.ducati.net >http://list.ducati.net/mailman/listinfo/ducati_list.ducati.net >Mailto: jblconbill@earthlink.net

It sounds like Slarky to me as well. He and his wife are two of my closest friends, we vacation together every year two or three times. (Lucky me) I’m not sure what I am doing this year for the Fly on the Wall but I’m sure Brian will be there. I have a recording I made a few years ago when I was in Wayne Rainey’s van with Wayne, Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola interviewing them for an Italian magazine about racing together back when they were dominating the world racing scene. It’s over an hour long and so interesting I’m thinking it would be great for fly on the wall if I can get a sound system to play it. I’m certain it will generate an interesting discussion. Vicki > On Aug 8, 2019, at 10:04 PM, William Tracy <jblconbill@earthlink.net> wrote: > > If the 'old man' you spoke to worked for the museum, that would be Brian Slark. > > Slarkie worked for AMC in the '60s (the Company that owned AJS, Matchless and Norton at that time). He came to the US in the late '60s to run Norton's competition program. He provided the Norton Commando 'S' to Cycle magazine for Cook Neilson's first superbike shootout - The Commando won. > > Brian Slark is one of those rare individuals who has 'been there, done that', and a really nice, approachable guy with nearly 60 years of experience dealing with English and European bikes. > > Hopefully, Vicky will get him to come back for her 'fly on the wall' session Saturday night at the Barber Vintage Festival. > > If you went through the new wing, you would have seen Mike Patrick's Norton P11 - the last 4-stroke to win the District 37 Championship (and perhaps the ultimate desert sled) before the final onslaught of the Husky and Yamaha 2-strokes. Chances are excellent that Slark test rode that bike before being crated up to send to Berliner in '67 for US distribution. > > Bill Tracy > > 850 Commando > 750 P11 Ranger > Matchless G15CS > Matchless G80CS > > > -----Original Message----- >> From: Mario Baroz <mariobaroz@hotmail.com> >> Sent: Aug 8, 2019 11:52 AM >> To: Ducati Owners Group <ducati@list.ducati.net> >> Subject: [Ducati] Barber Motorsports Park trip report (very long) >> >> Hey guys, >> >> Just returned from a 5 day road trip to Barber Motorsports Park. If you haven’t been, you need to go!!! It is an amazing place! From San Antonio, TX to Barber and back (with a couple of detours) was a grand total of 1,858 miles. >> >> Barber: Again, what an amazing place! I read somewhere that the Park was Mr. Barber’s “love poem to motorcycles” and man, that is absolutely right! It was sensory overload from the moment you walk in the place. I only took pictures of the bikes I really liked or were interesting to me and ended up taking 808 pictures, just to give you an idea of the scope of the collection. Lots of Ducatis of course…the highlight to me was seeing Cook Nielson/Phil Schilling’s “Old Blue” 750SS with Cook’s leathers displayed right next to it. It was disappointing to see it tucked away in a dark corner of the museum though. I think it deserves a much more prominent and well lit display! Of course there was a Desmosedici and a round case 750SS too. I believe I counted three round case 750cc, two of which were clearly in need of some help. There was a lovely 1998 900SS/FE which I was glad to see as it validates my personal choice of motorcycle! Hahahaha…. There was a nice Paso, a couple of really nice Darmahs….lots of cool stuff all round. >> >> Funny thing happened to me in the gift shop though. I was browsing around when this nice old gentleman came rushing up to me and exclaimed "you're just the man I'm looking for!!!" I was confused because I had never met this man. He said "is that your Himalaya out there?" He was very, very, excited about it. I said "no, that's my Ducati Desert Sled." A disappointed look came over his face and he said "oh, I thought it was a Himalaya..." I said "no, it's a Ducati Desert Sled...do you want to go look at it?" He got this disgusted look on his face, shook his head, and said "oh no...." Then he saw my Ducati shirt and hat and asked "are you a big Ducati guy?" I said "yes" and he said "well, I have something that you might like" and a sly grin came over his face. I asked him what it was and he said "I have the helmet that Paul Smart wore when he won the Imola 200." I said "how did you get that?!?!" He said "oh, Paul Smart is a mate of mine, he stays with me whenever he's in town." I said "wow, that's fantastic!" and then he asked me "Do you know Vicki Smith?" and I said that I had met her several times and that she's the moderator of the Ducati chat list of which I'm a member. He said "well, she's a friend of mine too!!" I asked him his name and darn it...I can't remember it!!! He's old, I'd say mid-70s or older, from Australia or New Zealand, and I remember that I had read his name in stories and reports of Ducati lore. Anybody know who I'm talking about? I'm sure Vicki does. >> >>

Yes! It was Brian Slark! I talked to him for a little while but he seemed busy and I didn't want to keep him from what he was doing. I'm sure I could've talked to him for hours. What a fountain of knowledge and experience. Speaking of, one night we took an Uber to a restaurant and our driver was a total inspiration. He said he's 72 yrs old and just came back from a two week bike trip through Vietnam! On 250cc Hondas. With his 68 yr old brother. Dannnnngg...... And he told us his brother is currently on a 30 day trip through Russia riding BMWs. Double Dannnnnggg....... He said he's retired but he drives Uber to fund his motorcycling adventures. He's a retired Marine so that all kind of makes sense. I hope I'm still doing moto-adventures when I'm 72. Mario ________________________________ From: Ducati <ducati-bounces@list.ducati.net> on behalf of Vicki Smith <veloce916@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2019 9:20 PM To: Ducati Owners Group <ducati@list.ducati.net> Subject: Re: [Ducati] Barber Motorsports Park trip report (very long) It sounds like Slarky to me as well. He and his wife are two of my closest friends, we vacation together every year two or three times. (Lucky me) I’m not sure what I am doing this year for the Fly on the Wall but I’m sure Brian will be there. I have a recording I made a few years ago when I was in Wayne Rainey’s van with Wayne, Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola interviewing them for an Italian magazine about racing together back when they were dominating the world racing scene. It’s over an hour long and so interesting I’m thinking it would be great for fly on the wall if I can get a sound system to play it. I’m certain it will generate an interesting discussion. Vicki > On Aug 8, 2019, at 10:04 PM, William Tracy <jblconbill@earthlink.net> wrote: > > If the 'old man' you spoke to worked for the museum, that would be Brian Slark. > > Slarkie worked for AMC in the '60s (the Company that owned AJS, Matchless and Norton at that time). He came to the US in the late '60s to run Norton's competition program. He provided the Norton Commando 'S' to Cycle magazine for Cook Neilson's first superbike shootout - The Commando won. > > Brian Slark is one of those rare individuals who has 'been there, done that', and a really nice, approachable guy with nearly 60 years of experience dealing with English and European bikes. > > Hopefully, Vicky will get him to come back for her 'fly on the wall' session Saturday night at the Barber Vintage Festival. > > If you went through the new wing, you would have seen Mike Patrick's Norton P11 - the last 4-stroke to win the District 37 Championship (and perhaps the ultimate desert sled) before the final onslaught of the Husky and Yamaha 2-strokes. Chances are excellent that Slark test rode that bike before being crated up to send to Berliner in '67 for US distribution. > > Bill Tracy > > 850 Commando > 750 P11 Ranger > Matchless G15CS > Matchless G80CS > > > -----Original Message----- >> From: Mario Baroz <mariobaroz@hotmail.com> >> Sent: Aug 8, 2019 11:52 AM >> To: Ducati Owners Group <ducati@list.ducati.net> >> Subject: [Ducati] Barber Motorsports Park trip report (very long) >> >> Hey guys, >> >> Just returned from a 5 day road trip to Barber Motorsports Park. If you haven’t been, you need to go!!! It is an amazing place! From San Antonio, TX to Barber and back (with a couple of detours) was a grand total of 1,858 miles. >> >> Barber: Again, what an amazing place! I read somewhere that the Park was Mr. Barber’s “love poem to motorcycles” and man, that is absolutely right! It was sensory overload from the moment you walk in the place. I only took pictures of the bikes I really liked or were interesting to me and ended up taking 808 pictures, just to give you an idea of the scope of the collection. Lots of Ducatis of course…the highlight to me was seeing Cook Nielson/Phil Schilling’s “Old Blue” 750SS with Cook’s leathers displayed right next to it. It was disappointing to see it tucked away in a dark corner of the museum though. I think it deserves a much more prominent and well lit display! Of course there was a Desmosedici and a round case 750SS too. I believe I counted three round case 750cc, two of which were clearly in need of some help. There was a lovely 1998 900SS/FE which I was glad to see as it validates my personal choice of motorcycle! Hahahaha…. There was a nice Paso, a couple of really nice Darmahs….lots of cool stuff all round. >> >> Funny thing happened to me in the gift shop though. I was browsing around when this nice old gentleman came rushing up to me and exclaimed "you're just the man I'm looking for!!!" I was confused because I had never met this man. He said "is that your Himalaya out there?" He was very, very, excited about it. I said "no, that's my Ducati Desert Sled." A disappointed look came over his face and he said "oh, I thought it was a Himalaya..." I said "no, it's a Ducati Desert Sled...do you want to go look at it?" He got this disgusted look on his face, shook his head, and said "oh no...." Then he saw my Ducati shirt and hat and asked "are you a big Ducati guy?" I said "yes" and he said "well, I have something that you might like" and a sly grin came over his face. I asked him what it was and he said "I have the helmet that Paul Smart wore when he won the Imola 200." I said "how did you get that?!?!" He said "oh, Paul Smart is a mate of mine, he stays with me whenever he's in town." I said "wow, that's fantastic!" and then he asked me "Do you know Vicki Smith?" and I said that I had met her several times and that she's the moderator of the Ducati chat list of which I'm a member. He said "well, she's a friend of mine too!!" I asked him his name and darn it...I can't remember it!!! He's old, I'd say mid-70s or older, from Australia or New Zealand, and I remember that I had read his name in stories and reports of Ducati lore. Anybody know who I'm talking about? I'm sure Vicki does. >> >> To get the links and updates on all today's Ducati news: http://www.ductalk.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/ducnet _____________________ Ducati mailing list Ducati@list.ducati.net http://list.ducati.net/mailman/listinfo/ducati_list.ducati.net Mailto: mariobaroz@hotmail.com