Ford vs. Ferrari

Race movie, sort of.




The insipid poster for the movie.

The early 1960s long distance racing scene was dominated by Ferrari’s wonderful 4 liter mid-engined V12 motor. A small, high revving engineering masterpiece it was set in bodies that only the descendants of Michelangelo could create. It won everything in sight.

However, during the early part of the decade, a drunken philanderer who had chosen his parents well, one Henry Ford II, decided that “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” would work for the Ford Corporation and set to doing it the easy way. He would simply buy Ferrari and change the prancing horse on the hood to the familiar blue lozenge. No deal. The Commendatore was not about to yield his name to the crass vulgarian from across the pond.

So Ford had to make his own and did it the American way. He threw money at it. The car was large, the engine a crude, low revving 7 liter monster. A few million dollars later all Henry II had to show for the almighty American dollar was a bunch of egg on his face. The cars failed for every reason known – blown brakes, a gearbox made of cheese, awful aerodynamics and even overheating monster motors. The drivers needed work, too. Then Ford chanced on the greatest development engineer and driver of the decade, the Englishman Ken Miles, and the car started to take race shape. After more millions the Ford GT40s came in, line astern, at the 1966 Le Mans race, 1-2-3, and kept winning through 1969 when Porsche finally decided to show them what is what and who is who. Miles never won the Le Mans race and the movie goes on and on about how he was ‘robbed’ by the suits from Detroit who wanted a Real American at the wheel, which is ridiculous when you realize the winning car was driven by an Aussie and a Kiwi. The line astern stunt relegated him to second, for he had traveled a few yards less than the ‘winner’, though he was the fastest driver by a country mile (actually 3 miles as he was a lap ahead before being ordered to slow down). Vive La France!

The movie commits the usual Hollywood faux pas of trying to interject family relationships into car racing. Do we really care that Miles’s wife was a shrew from the Midlands? Or do we want to see cars racing? And that’s what makes this a far weaker racing movie than Steve McQueen’s ‘Le Mans’ which documents the Porsche 917’s win at the 1970 race, driven by an Englishman and a German. The best thing about the new movie, as is the case whenever he stars in a film, is the Welshman Christian Bale, doing a great Birmingham accent. The worst is Matt Damon, if you even notice his mechanical acting, that is. A truly underwhelming, if bankable, ‘star’.

The McQueen movie failed as there was insufficient audience for what is a pure racing movie, the best ever. Ford vs. Ferrari will fail because of awful marketing and a poorly developed script. And, well, it was so long ago who cares? This is, after all, the land of short attention spans.

But for the true motorhead it’s worth catching. Just try to do so at an IMAX theater for maximum visual and aural effect and close your eyes and ears when the shrew is on the screen.

A new tire

Made in England, no less.

I generally alternate the make of tire on my 1975 BMW motorcycle between German Metzelers and British Avons.

One thing of note since moving to the hot Arizona summers from the Bay Area three years ago is that rubber and batteries take a beating over the warm months, where the garage temperature can rise to 130F. On my nephew’s suggestion – he is also a keen rider – this next summer will see me drain the gasoline from the tank and move the bike for display in the air conditioned indoors. The summer months are too warm for riding in any case, and this will save wear and tear.

Anyway, my last front Metzeler lasted but 7,000 miles compared to 12,000 or so in the Bay Area. My riding style is no different and pressure is maintained carefully, so I can only think it’s the heat that is causing the reduced life expectancy.

So on a rare rainy day in Scottsdale it was off to MotoTire with my wheel and new front tire for installation and balancing.




The old Metzeler ME33 Lazer, its tread down to 0.08″, is removed.
The rubber rim strip protects the inner tube from punctures from the nipple nuts.



On with the new – 0.18″ tread depth on the Avon AM26 Roadmaster.
The wheel with new tire is on the balancing jig.

While both tires are tubeless, I have to use tubes with the old, spoked rims on the bike, which leak air. It’s the one thing I would change on the bike if I could, as a puncture with a tubeless tire is far slower – and hence safer – than with a tubed one. Don’t ask how I know.

We will see how the new Avon holds up. I make it a point to buy tires online from a high volume dealer, meaning I get fresh rubber. The molding of this one back in the land of tea and cricket was just 4 months ago.

One strange quirk is that the factory always specified English inch sizes for tires of that era. The closest metric size does not fit well within the wheel well, making for lots of garage language when replacement is due.

I never cease to wonder at the speed and expertise of the mechanics who do this work. Ten minutes and $20 later the old tire is removed, the tube replaced, the new installed, inflated and the wheel assembly balanced. Amazing.

iPhone 11Pro snaps.

Fifteen billion and perfect

Not to mention dirt cheap.

My nephew just picked of one of these 65″ LG LED televisions at Costco (Amazon asks a little more but no subscription is required):




Fifteen billion pixels. Click the image.

With a 4K display and a 120Hz rapid refresh rate and built in OS and cable accessibility, he paid all of $500. It may not be OLED but for $2000 less, who cares?

Now, I spent more time than I care to admit this summer with my son practicing SAT college entrance exam math, and can inform you that a 16:9 ratio display with a 65″ diagonal has dimensions of 56.652″ x 31.867″. Thank you, Pythagoras.

A square inch of a 4K TV contains 3840 x 2160 or 8.184 million pixels. That figures to 14.775 billion pixels in the display, and not a one can be faulty. Now that is what I call manufacturing prowess.

And the price is give-away cheap. At 47 lbs the display is easily wall mounted, to boot. The only challenge is finding space for this monster.

A tale of two tanks

Germania redux.

In the 1970s BMW airhead motorcycles were still very much the gentleman’s ride. Not super fast but comfortable, long legged and superbly made, in contrast to the garbage Britain was churning out and distinct from the increasingly ubiquitous Japanese offerings. The latter, affordable and beautifully made, killed the British motorcycle industry and almost saw off BMW, who migrated to garish colors and weird looks as part of their recovery strategy. Testifying to poor taste, that strategy succeeded and BMW Motorrad is a loud success today. I wouldn’t be seen dead on any of their modern machines.

In the early 1970s you could have your new BMW with either the small 18 litre (4.7 gallon) or 22 litre (5.8 gallon) tank. The looks were quite different and the latter extended the touring range to over 250 miles on a fill up. When I bought my 1975 R90/6 from the original owner in 1990 it came with the smaller tank. I tracked down a tired larger one for touring and when my body finally cried ‘enough’, ending my long distance riding days, I reverted to the small tank. In beautiful shape with pin-stripes hand painted by the ladies in the Berlin factory, it restored pride of ownership. The large tank was trashed, the paint crazed, the inside flaking and, worst of all, the pinstripes were ghastly stick-on types. Sacrilege.

If you want to see the ladies in action jump to 6:06 in this French video of the factory, made back in the day. It loads slowly.

Anyway, the small tank never looked quite right proportionally:




18 liter tank in place.

So I took out a second mortgage, took the trashed large tank down the road to Spooky Fast Customs in Scottsdale, and eight weeks later I had a pristine tank with a new liner, paint job and exquisite hand pin-striping:




With the 22 liter tank.

The knee pads afford a proper grip over rough terrain, and the proportions are better, looking more Germanic – meaning more functional and stolid – in keeping with the character of the nation and the motorcycle. Sure, my bank balance took a blow, but after 30 years of service it was the least I could do for the machine.

The GOAZ 2019 classic show

Some eye candy for the two wheeled aficionado.

The annual vintage and classic motorcycle show at the huge local Scottsdale, AZ dealer GOAZ was yesterday, and there was some really lovely machinery on display, not least my 1975 BMW R90/6 which, unlike many of the garage queens here, is a daily rider and in my 30th year of ownership.




One of many buildings at the dealership. This one has the best bikes!


Without a doubt this 1926 BMW R32 was the star of the show. Here’s the story.


That’s actually a horizontally opposed BMW twin! Note the exposed drive shaft to the rear wheel.


Four speed hand gear change.


Original speedometer. Andreas Veigel also made car clocks …. and photographic enlargers!


Hope and a prayer front brake.


Single seat and pressed steel luggage rack.


My 1975 R90/6, now with 68,000 miles, bought from the original owner in 1990 and ridden daily.


Crunch time. Some tasty Kawasakis.


Classic 1960s 2-stroke Lambretta, with exhaust scent to match!


Quadrophenia and The Who live.


Badge city.


How you know a bike is British.


Lockheed was into the bike brake business.


Jewel-like 1966 Bultaco Metralla club racer.


Moto Guzzi’s design goal was to make sure no one knew what all those warning lights did.


Gorgeous Ducati Mike Hailwood replica with cooled rear shock cylinder.


In the 1970s Honda was king. This is their 1976 flat four water cooled tourer.


The engine is low in the frame for stability, and bulletproof.


Not content, they then designed this wild CBX 6-cylinder marvel.


Then this exquisite 400cc four.


The dealership spares no expense.


The horse with two wheels, a modern Indian.


Beautiful leatherwork on the Indian.


Someone brought along a classic Healey.


Subtlety is not the American designer’s strong point ….


…. but charm is abundantly on display here.


Spooky Fast Customs will paint whatever your heart desires.


Classic pre-war Indian detail.


There were some 100 classic bikes on show.


Vespa no longer makes two strokes, but they do have a fine line of scooters.


Italian Ducatis are all about speed.


Twisted custom.


It’s a lifestyle for some.


Yours truly at the show. No tattoos yet. Photo by Wende Gooch.

All snaps SOOC (except two which had verticals corrected and one with UWA distortion removed) on the iPhone 11 Pro.