'Daytona here we come. My Sonic Weld, hard tail, Brakeless, DT1 250 Yamaha all ready for the new AMA Vintage Flat Track season opener at the Daytona Motor Speedways new short track on Feb 28th. If you are down there for bike week. Make sure you stop by! Seeing all these old flat trackers out on the track will be worth the trip. Racing starts at 11:00am on Sunday. Followed by an awesome amateur flat track program.Special note for all you vintage fans, The tires on the Yami came from the basement of the late Rex Beauchamp just last summer. Mrs Beauchamp found them during a renovation. Luckily I got the whole stack! Not only will there be great racing at the new short track, the spirit of Rex will still be with us in Daytona.
See you at the races.'
Don Metro Racing
Special note for all you font fetishists, I asked Don about the funky #25 on his bike...
'I guess it kind of goes hand in hand that we dig the 60's and 70's thing. I can't really say that anything inspired me. I am pretty artistic. It just happened. I almost whimped out and got lazy and just went with the 2 & 5 from American money. That was too easy, so I just started to goof around with it.
I constantly drew cars and motorcycles from the time I could hold a pencil. Always in trouble in school for not paying attention. Busy drawing stuff. Teen years, I airbrushed tee shirts and custom vans after school in our garage. Always pinstriped vehicles and painted signs by hand. Restored cars and motorcycles for a living before we got Metro. Did a lot of multi-colored race cars, custom HD paint etc. Now I just do custom cards for friends and special events. The computer and vinyl machines made me a dinosaur.
People always say. "Don't drink and draw" I start drawing after I start drinking,
Ha !!' Don
SWEEEEEEEEET lookin' rig man, real sweet. Have fun-and you should with that set up!
ReplyDeleteI've e-mailed back and forth with Audrey for the last 5-6 years a few times. I sent her some shots I have of Rex from the mid '70s. Very nice lady to say the least. And to hear that these were left over from those days is way too cool. Just like Rex, the king of cool!
Uber-cool!
ReplyDeleteWhere can i get an exhaust like that for my two stroker?
ReplyDeleteNeat bike. White tank looks like a ‘68 DT-1, or maybe a later 125. I had a ’69 DT-1 (second year), which had a candy orange tank.
ReplyDeleteI had a Sonic-Weld rigid frame just like that with a Yamaha TD-1C in it, and I had a real TD-1C road racer too, and boxes of cylinders, pistons, carbs, and other parts. Sold the DT-1 to a guy in Ann Arbor, and all the TD-1 stuff to Joe up in Haslett. Had a bunch of those Pirelli dirt track tires too, still in wrappers, Joe took most of them, but I kept two for my Trackmaster Trident. Sure would like to have some of the stuff I got rid of over the years…
Rex Beauchamp was a great rider. Michigan Mafia again – Markel, Randy Goss, Springer, Ted Boody, Parker, Corky Keener. Rex got killed when hit by a car in Pontiac, Michigan. I lived near there back then.
Speaking of the Michigan Mafia, four of us were up near St. Helen for some dirt biking several years ago, and saw this Harley Davidson Team truck roll into the woods. Then out came Springer, Parker, and another guy I can’t remember, to unload their dirt bikes. KTM’s I think. Just out for a day of fun. We were playing hooky and I guess they were too.
Get yr 'stroker exhausts from Circle F in the 'States circlefexhaust.com
ReplyDeleteA Yam pipe like that costs $270 shipped to the UK.
Thanks for the compliments. I did the tank as a '68 to match my original un-restored "68 DT1 250
ReplyDeleteThe exhaust came from JEMCO in Texas
713 461 3848
Jemco is good stuff, the real deal for dirt trackers. Got a Jemco pipe on my ice bike.
ReplyDelete