Corsa MotoClassica, cont'd.

Joe Michaud

Among the other local San Diego racers that regularly ride the Corsa event are Paul Lima (number 900, shown below) and Geoff Hawkins  from GPMotorcycles. They sponsor a group of local riders plus build some great race bikes. Lima and his 750 Sportsman Atlas won every class event they entered while Hawkins rode an early Triumph 650 racer belonging to Gordon Menzie. Racing, for these guys, is a family event and their pit is full of friends and family.

Menzie's pit included a 500cc BSA racer that Don Vesco  rode to victory in Southern California in 1968. The “little” BSA beat every 650cc bike in attendance that day at Carlsbad Raceway and was featured in prominent BSA advertising of the late ‘60’s. Vesco had not ridden the bike since those days and was riding the newly restored racer for the first time since its Carlsbad race. His smile was contagious.   
   

The Menzie/North pit was the scene of constant hijinx---including Vesco riding an eccentric-hubbed bicycle---as the famous and not so famous wandered through. Don Vesco, Don Emde, Jody Nicholas and scores of less famous folks  came to see the new North machine.
   

Corsa MotoClassica featured a swapmeet with a very nice selection of parts, bikes and related material for sale. Unlike some swapmeets which favor “motorcycle-related” articles, this one had useful parts and machines for sale.   Kudos to John and Donna Mulrean for their hard work in putting the swap meet together.  

John and Donna were also responsible for organizing the Concours d’Elegance which, although small, was very nice. It featured some very tasty Brit Bikes, including some cafe Nortons, Tritons, an unrestored Rokon and a very early Honda. (John and Donna had a digital camera/PC available for capturing bike images and printing the pics on a Corsa MotoClassica calendar template for interested bike owners---quite a nice touch and one that many clubs could do at their own shows with very little hassle. It was very popular.)   

Other race classes run over the weekend filled the days with noise. Our favorite classes were well represented and we met many old friends from previous events.  Doc Batsleer ran his ‘37 Indian Scout tankshift racer. Local San Diego motorcycle painter Blake Conway rode his Atlas 750 Sportsman race bike on his first race weekend although he had a few mechanical problems.    

All the racers and pit crews worked together to get all riders the maximum amount of track time by sharing parts and sweat. It was not uncommon to see folks from one pit hard at work in another helping keep the machines running.  Corsa is a great event. All the racers are friendly and their bikes are available for public scrutiny. Yoshi Kosaka and the Garage Company deserve a tip of the editorial visor for putting on a great show. If you missed this event, you missed a good weekend in the Mohave desert.