AMA's Robert Baughman led the Vetter Challengers north to the Hall of Fame Museum on a wet morning in Ohio.
Updated Aug, 3, 2015
One hundred and forty miles later, Alan Smith won again on his Streamlined Ninja 250. As usual, Vic Valdes was right there with him, demonstrating that these figures are no accident.

The Electric Riders ran their own course to the Museum
Benjamin Nelson, Vectrix with Nissan Leaf Batteries
55.8 miles. 6,130 Watt-hours, 109.86 Watt-hrs/mile, $.0132 / mile + road tax.
Professor Richard Goff, 2013 Zero DS with Corroplast Streamlining
135.4 miles, 13.140 kilo-Watts from the wall, 97.05 watts-hr per mile, $0.0116 / mile + road tax. Ride there averaged 40-45mph, Ride back averaged 45-50mph.

It takes years of formal education to create such a machine.

Kraig Schultz, Delta-11 Prototype with Chevy Volt Batteries
64.14 miles, 5.920 kilo-Watt-Hours from the wall to recharge, 92.3 Wh/Mile (from the wall), $.0111/Mile + road tax.
The electric bikes rode much slower. Figuring the road tax is just too difficult here since they also ran different distances. Professor Goff probably still owed 16¢ or so for road tax. With the price of gasoline so low, Alan Smith and Vic Valdes still did better than the electric Challengers.
We all arrived at the Hall of Fame Museum in the sun
The electric bikes plugged in while we adjourned to see what was new at the museum. Our Leader, Rob Baughman had pizzas delivered.

A collection nobody had ever seen before:

There it was: The new Hall of Fame display featuring the original BSA Rocket 3 of 1968, the Vetter Rocket 3 of 1969 and a production Hurricane of 1973. These bikes have never been together before. Ever.

While we ate pizza, the electric bikes charged and I rambled on about what things were like in the summer of 1969 when I designed and made this motorcycle.

Then it was time to return to Bellville and fill up

Charging Time

Kraig Schultz says that "Charging time" is a good time to slow down and chat with friends. And so, we did. I certainly enjoyed our time discussing - what else - the future of electric vehicles. Kraig is a very smart guy and his streamlined electric motorcycle is loaded with clever features.

Finney Wagaman did a very sanitary job on this Chinese Helix but the air didn't seem to be happy with it.* Finney did only 61mpg (5¢ per mile) spending $7.43 for the round trip while winner, Alan Smith spent only $2.43. Amazing.

Scott Endler demonstrated the value of a strealmined tail on his CBR250. 117mpg (2.4¢ per mile) is quite promising. The CBRs offer the only challenge to the Ninja 250s.
* To be fair, Alan reports: The engine was cutting out and running very badly in the heavy rain. Finney dropped behind the pack of bikes.  Eventually the rain cleared and it started running better again, good enough to catch up. I'm sure that the lower fuel economy was caused by the rain.

Riley Dog, my motorcycle poodle who thinks streamlining is really a dog house, caught Tiffany Richards' attention while I made a beeline for my annual brat and sourkraut.
Thank you, AMA. Vintage Days is always a highlight of the year for me.
The shape of streamlining is becoming more familiar and interest is growing. If energy ever pecomes precious, we will all want to be streamlined.

Updated Aug 3, 2015

Posted July 31, 2015

HOME