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Most Unpopula r MeOn the R o a d

|iu m-tiHsAt Alt oo iia. l'a ., ii f-'jilir t in ii hi ll-c lin ihi ngconlest plots s bi^ iiiut'lnii.* up llic rii^jzcd

rider bits l h e road during a l.ai-nnia, N . l l . , r a c e . Racors nuisl in'iir Inithrr punis fur prnlaon, earn froni $9(10l> t o $15, fur tbc i^ri

c h y e a r , s o m e 10 ,0 0 0 m o t o r e y e l i s U i a t l c n d t h o N e w E n p l a n f l G v p ^ > T o u r a l L a c o i i i a .l r h e s l b e h a v i o r i l ' l h . \ n i i ' l H ' I m i c . ( o u r nH 'ci i ;i l- l-.iUi- t l n - i r t i n U m i y d i r n u w a y f o r l l

HAL BUETONNo hody-ex cept another cy clis t- l ikes a man on motorcycle. But these clannish outcasts of the liighway have so m uch fun together, on the open road andat the race track, that they don't mind public scorn

MO TORC YCL E rider inTsbirt.duj^arees and low-cut hooLs came stoofaeoiintrylaneinthehillBof NortJersey laat spring, and onto a ouperexuding tbea tern determination of a younginten ds to nrrivc nt bis deutinitinn exaelly ther e. He had juHt finiabed rattlin g bis bninety-ix miles of dirt roads, coupatbs, amountain trails eschewed by all but tbe denizens of the Jersey backwoods. Along be wallowed waist-deep through tbree icybounced bio vebicle over doi'.eiiK of logs andleji|)Gd nimb ly from bould er to boulder tbe fond hope of winning a 100-mile reliabilcarefully mapp ed teat of skill and timing t hmotorcyclisl could relinb. Now be wa on tstreteh, obeying the rulen of the race by tdown well lielow the legal speed limit. Witlixed on liia wrist watch and tbe otbe r on ment ah ead, he was more tba nst urtl ed wbeear hove alongside, a eiren smot j hia eardrutrooper |>eremptorily motioned him to ato

"Wbcre'K y our license pla te, bu d? " tbe omanded in none too friendly a tone . Tbe raquiek look at hid rear fender. Su re enough,was missing ripped ofF, no doubL, as be down a bruaby lan e some miles hack. "TalK)ut tb e registra tion papers for thia bitrooper unfeelingly inquired.The fuming racer, conacioua tbat time wping by, fumbled in bia hip pocket, only thorrifying discovery. "Guess my wallet mslipped out along tbe way," he eonfessec! sb"and my registration was in it."Tb e ensuing conversa tion included cordtion to tarry at the nearest police Htationprisoner linally won his freedom after a anguJBbed explanation. By tben. he was wthe race. To place in a reliability run, a cmust maintain a specified rate of speed Iwseries of ebeck pointa, bowever devilah lhand then must eroHfi the finish line within sa pre-eatahlished time.However oul-searing the incident, it establih th at motorcycling is a aport besculiar and.unpredietiible hav.iirdti. Certain ties will occur to anyone wbo ever bas wmotorcyclu wbip down tbe road. The most of tlietie is a p avem ent bu m, caused w ben voluntarily parts company with bis macbinafter sliding som e distan ce down the concrback or stomach. Otber obvious possibilitiesprained ankle, broken bonea or even sudat n bigb rate of speed. All of tbese unpleatingencies are implicit in a two-wheelcylinder, superboreepowered machine tbacelerate from zero to ninety miles an bou

tban Q eity block. Tbo less tangible hamotorcycling can be aummed up in one Noljody likea a mnn on (Continued ongNoljody likea a mnn on (Continued on P


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: uniformed "Spi i/ f Itoamcn." of Alba.iv. N.Y.. lak.- to the r..a


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MOST UNPOPULARMEN ON THE ROAD(Conlinuceen studied at

of them each year. " Wh at w e'ven little older. They seem

U B , there's always

The ahort but merry life of tbe aver-

; SATUKDAY EVE MN PO STclimb straight up a forty-degree hill ifskillfully guided; plow through terrainthnt would slyinie even a jeep , or (jene-trate into the vvildeat places on thocontinent. Cyclists armed with blindfnith nnd a jug of wntur hnve croasedLhe roadless desert of tho AmericanSouthw est. O thers have traveled onhorse and sheep trails tbe length of theSnimon River and Snake River can-yons in Idaho, botb accounted exceed-ingly remote. In traveling to and fromsuch far-olT places, muny cyclists pileup 30,000 milea a year, nil of it overweekends'nnd holidays. The best: avail-able tigurea indicate tbat 5000 of tbemhave nccumuliiled 500,000 miles, theseIwing individuals who buck tbe trendby refusing to retire at age twenty-two.The more pleasant side of motor-cycling is best seen at a dirt-track race.LaBt April, I went to Reading, Penn-sylvania, to watch one of these events.

The Rending race, an agreeable fixturein the Pennsylvania German country,have [jt-en run since 1930, when theslate's blue InwH were modified to per-mit Sunday racing. As a competitiveevunl, they are no great sbakes whencompared to tho 200-mile NationalChampionships each March at Day-tona Bench, Florida, or the 200-mileNatianals held each July since 1913 atDodge City, Kansas. Novertheless, oilthe major racers were out. The standswere filled witb youngsters in the ac-cepted motorcycle uniform of leather-visored cap, T shirt with club emblemimprinl3d in ilaming colors, and some-times a leather jacket well covered witbmeUil studs. Tbtse are popularly aup-posed to reduce abrasions and contu-Bions wben a pleasure rider sails fromhia machine and goes sliding dofvn tbepavement. Down in the pit, an areanext to the judge' stand, the racers

Agganisgcts ofTa long puut.

The Best PlayerI Ever CoachedBy ALDO (BUFF) DONELUBoston Vniivrsily

HARRY AGGANTS may be-come mure famous ns n finttbaseman for tbe Boston Red Soxthan he was ao Boston University'squnrterbock, but he'll never hemore valuable. No footbnll playerhas ever been more rigbttullycalled a one-man team.Harry, a left-hfinded and left-footed 195-pwundL'r who etimdasix feet two, lived up to expectii-tions as a eopbomore on a goodB.U. team . Then the m arineB tookhim. WliL-n be returned in 1951,our muterinl hnd dwindled untilmost of our foil prospfcL wiiAgganis in jtrflon.An n T-formution quarterb nck,be aotin proved himtlf in thoclass with Sainmy Baugh, SidLuckman and O tlo Graham. Hepiiaeed, punted, kicked off, kickedextra point.-, called pinys and WPHafint-ball hfindler. Assnfely manon defense, he WHS wbat I ciill "figoud centerfiulder." 1 n one season,h intercepted fourteen passes.Tbat kind of play got bim AU-America honors on both ofTensive

Jind defensive teams in the sameyear.Harry was a thinker as well asa physical powerhouse. After ourthird score on a strong College ofthe Pacific outfiL whicb had beiitunQ Clemscin bowl team the weekbefore, wofiguredone more pointwould put the game on ice. Wemissed lbe convt^rsion, but gotanotbur cbiincc bcciiuae of an off-side penalty. So Hiirry, tbinkingfast, switcbed to the bolding po-sition, took the snap, and, whilethf kicktT faked, llirew a paaa forthe twenty-tirat puint. .lust tomake sure, ho went on to help usecoro a fourtb touchdown.In the Senior Bowl, he con-cluded bia career so drnmnticHlIytbat some writers called it the"H arry Agganis Bow l." Hcpa.iisedfor two touchdowns, BCt up twi)others with run and pansva, nndinturcepU'd two passes. Tben.ratber than play pro football forthe Cleveland Browns, ho ac-cepted a $50,000 bonuH baseballcontract with the Red Sox.

were tuning up their machining the movement o parta poa tolerance of a thousandth oadjuating the chain that runs motor to the wheel, inBtallingcleated tirea that grip well onlietening intently for any motor sputter. The noise seemening, since none of the machried muffler.There waa a lull in the proand then the loud-speakerem itted Th e Stan and StripDown the track came a grouand women on m otorcycleblue uniforms, riding in feach carrying a fluttering fiagterlud e broug ht down the hriders, 1 established later, Motor Maid, an organizatiowivea and girl friends of motwho want to ride their own Leading them was Dot Robinpresident, the blond wife of cycle dealer in Detroit. To fpresidential obligatlori, she eled 500 miles between dawn tbe preceding day. "But thaing," observed Mrs. Rohinstraveled seven hundred andthousand miles in twenty-fivWe Motor Maids will ride fget to a big race."Another announcement fjud ges ' stand , and five racerfor a mile run. All of them whelmets mad e of plas tic: leathand leather pants, the latter ament of ftie American Motorcsociation to reduce skin injurieof a fall. O n th e soles of theirmetal plates. In rounding thracers use one foot aa a guide aof brake, which are strippeding motorcy cles to c ut down tA racing machine weighs 30pounds; a standard motorcy600 pounds. The starter lowag and there was a bone-rattas the motorcycles got awayeach rea r tire a stream of dirtout horizontally in the air. Ar

firBt curve they went, pickingsome of them sliding 200 feet,steel-shod foot grinding aga inof tbe track-These racers were novicescome an expert takes three yethe steady accumulation of poon the number of racea in whiwins or placea within th e firstthey streaked around the curvthe g rand stan d, on the secothe run, one racer began to wcould see his front wheel bouand down, leaving the track;machine veered ofF to the rammed into the fence at sixtyhour. He was the first of threcrack u p th at a fternoon, but ahore charmed lives. The worwas a concussion.Then came the expertaPasmith, D ayton a w inner in 195Hill, winner of five national 1952; Billy Reese, another champion. They rode lightlye'ortlessly, at eig hty to n inetyhour on the straightaway, tdown without brakes to fiftymilea an hour on the curvhorses in the Derby, tbey fobeaten groove close to the innThere waH purpose in their rithey were out for the pr2e $500 for tbe winner and leaser the second- and third-place finwafl Hill, this time, a 105-pmarine who looked like a toyhe came charging across thbody bent far forward to redreeBtance.(Continued on Page 13


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TMK SATUHDAV KVKNING( i i i i H H M l r n i n i l i . H i I 2 f t )Now tbirty-oiie, HU has beon racingsince ngg seventeen, with time out forsix year in tbe Marino CorjMi. " Inever hiid a renlly bad injury on mymotorcycle," he remarked "ruefully,"but the minute I gol back in my carliit year, 1 wimin trouble. My wife nndI were on the wny to a race in Cnli-fornia, towing our motorcycle liehindus on a trailer. A fellow coming theotber way swerved out of hi lane andbit UB head on. I was in the hospital formonths with broken rilw and n brokencollarl>one, and my wife was there evenlonger. Guess it proves that tbe safest

kind of a machine is a motorcycle."Hill, like other rncers who mnkc a liv-ing from tbe eporl, lends a bard life.Tbe race oason, except in Ciilifornia,is a short one, starting at Daytona inMarch and ending in mid-October.During tbat period, be may travel 60,-000 mues to races and compete in forty-five of them from coast to coast. As atop competitor, his earnings range Irom$9000 to SI.5,000 a year, but it's a hardgrind. Generally, he leaves liis wife I>e-hind and takes with him two friends usmechanics. Tbey alternate on the driv-ing, taking naps in the back of his sta-tion wagon when not at the wheel. Hillthink be ia good unlit bis niiddleforties. "What you lose in energy youmake up in eavvy," he says.Goldsmith, who has been racing eightyeara, is a gasoline-station owner in St.Clair ShoreB, Michigan, a Buburb ofDetroit. At twenty-nine, he has twicebeen voted the most popular rider ofthe year by the American MotorcycleAssociation. Ever Hince he won lheDaytona run, he has had no troublerounding up mechanics to travel withhim. "They argue al>out who shouldgo," he aays. At Dnytona, before 13,000watcherB, he made a record averagetime of 9-1.42 miles per hour aroundforty-eight laps on a 1.2-me course.There were 111 riders in tbe race lastyear, wben Goldsmith won, the l>estmen from the 2000 ciubs and 100,000-plus members of the American Motor-

cycle Associa tion. There were threedeaths thnt day two riders and an un-wary spectator who stepped out intothe path of Clifford Farwell, killinghimself and the racer to boot. Onecracked akull and a broken leg woundup the camage. Such is the pace andspeed of Daytona thnt it is a rare yearwhen there is not at least one seriousaccident. Pile-ups wben two or threemotorcycles ram into each other arecommonplace insuch races. Some riderslet go of the handle bars when con-fronted with this embarrassing situa-tion, but Goldsmitb prefers to bangon. "I figure I can make a betterhole,"be observes laconically, 'if I don'L leLgo of the machine." Frequently, be hascome up BO close in passing otber racertbat the marks of tbeir tires, throwingup a pattern of dirt and mall stones,are etched into bis racing leathers.The dirt-track race, though the mostspectacular of all, in not tbe most pop-ular with motorcycle ridera. In Cali-fornia, witb tbe larget numljer ofmotorcycles of any state in the Union,the big event is tbe "drng" race, bor-rowed from the hot-rodderB. YoungBteratake their machines apart and pul themtogether again with extra supercharg-ers, a special gear ratio, and an alcohol-benzol compound instead of gaifoline intbe fuel tank. The test is then to seehow quickly a half-mile or mile etroigbt-

HO intense that itBO overcome by the

thought of leaving hi niacbine behindthai, by breaking it down into pieces,he smuggled it aboard his ship. Whenthey docked in Korea, be smuggledthe mnchine otT ngain, put it togetherand proudly traveled Hie highways onlilx-Tty, the only American motorcy-clist in the Korean theiiter. Tbo Army,Nnvy, Marines and Air Forcv all usedjeeps i\n tbeir tninaportation in Korea.In Pennsylvania, Murylatid andOhio, the hill climb is the gala motor-cycle event. The tougbesL hill in tbecountry, a forty-degree job 400 feetlong, is at Akron, Obio. On thin andotber hills, strip|ied-down motorcycIeHcharge straight up, roaring and snort-ing, rearing up on tbeir hind wheels likebucking broncos, and 75 per cent of thetime get over the top, to be judged ontime and form. Since a motorcycle go-ing full tilt ean commit mayhem hytumbling atop a mun who falls oil,riders have a thong from their wrsts lothe throttle lever on tbe handle bare. Iftbe machine upsets, tbey are flung freeand the motor is shut off.

The East and sections of tbe MiddleWest are partial to endurance runs,most notable of which is the OO-mileNational Endurance Run. Thia event,beld in North Central Michigan, leadsthe riders on n wild trip, at the rate of250 milesa day, through tbe pine woodsand sand hilla. The winner last yearwaa Don Pink, twenty-nine, who tookhis first motorcycle ride at the age ofthirteen.Pink, a philosopher of motorcycling,is one of tbe few riders who cnn mantigt?to hit the cb:ck points of an endurancerun exactly when due tbere. " I amell'em," be aays. I watched bim as he rodea 100-mile course iji the hilla l>nck ofPateraon, New Jersey. It was a fiend-ishly conceived route, involving in-numerable deep broolH, tbe crossing ofone amall river on tbe single remainingstringer of an old bridge, and a wildride up one ide of a mountain nnddown tbe other. Midway, tbere waB anendlessly bumpy atretcb tbrough tliewoods, following tbe undulations of anoil pipe line. Aside from tbe ex[jerts,tbia was an average bag of motor-cy diets a crane operator, ii halfdozen automobile mechanics taking aholiday from four wheels, a one-eyedmnn, and a collection of red-faced teen-agers out for tbeir first timed run.Moat of tbe macbinea were British-made, since oiT-road racing is more o aBport in tbat country than it la in theUnited States. All were armored under-neath to protect tbem from rocka.Ligbts, batteries and all trim had beenremoved, including the safety bars

whicb extend along tho aide of moatmotorcycIeH to minimize accidents ontbe highway. These, if left on, form nfulcrum tbat can flip a cycle end overend if tbe man ahoard ho tha had luckto fall. Endurunce riding and thegypHytour seem to attract a certain numberof the handicapped men with poornight, no bearing, a misaing leg orotber pbyuical disabilities."It givea them a chance to feel likenormal human Ireings," said Pink. "OlTtheir moLorcyclea, they're at a disad-vnntage." There has been learnedspeculation whether the roughneckfringe of cycling t^ikes to tbe sport formuch the same reasons. Tbis fringegroup, from my observation and thecommenta of dealers, seems to workout at about 10 per cent, a figure the in-dustry would like to reduce to zero.' ^ ^ Eyp^y lour, being a popular andstrictly controlled affair, gives themotorcycle officials an opportunity todemonstrate by precept how nice it isto behave like a gentleman. The biggestof these vente, held annually in ,Iuneat Laconia, New Hampshire, attracts10,000 cyclists, virtually all of tbemorderly."If they misbehave," saya CharleaW. Cartwright, a representative of oneof the motorcycle companies, "we taketheir muchinea away from them and

lock the machines up until the weekendis over." Laconia, which at firat: quailedat the idea of 10,000 motorcycliata allin one town, now welcomea them withopen arms to it inns, hotels and privatebumes. Hundreds of cyclists camp outon tbe lawns of the Belknap Recrea-tioniil Area, where road racea are heldas tbe climax of the tour.By fnr the largest number of cyclistsprefer to ride on tour with their ownclub members. When you have a ma-chine tbat can thread it way throughtbe thickest traffic, it is a positivepleasure to run down the road 150miles to buy a hot dog or to make anexcursion to a nearby beach fora awim.Since automobileB represent a positivehazard to the cycliBt, most club outingsare apt to take pliice in a park or welloff the main roads. A motorcycle ia atits safest when moving about five milesan hour faster tban the speed of traffie;beyond that point there is too mucbdanger of running into a car that slowsdown suddenly just ahead. An equallyunpleasant situation occurs when amotorist, observing that a cycle takesup only one third of his lane, tries topaB8 by when tbere are care comingfrom tbe otber direction. In view oftbeee diocomforts, motorcyclists tendto draw clannisbly together and to en-

joy themselves in places whietu would he hard put to gspirit permita two strangerscycles to become instant fran unknown thing for one pas another without wavinTbe motorcycle hnB exfraternal Ijond Bince 1885. IGottlieb Daimler, later famoBigner of automobiles, profiret motor bicycle, in Ge1900, the E. R. Thomas MoBuffalo, turned out the firamachine, hut production onhly-line scale originated wDavidson. Working indepeforeign manufacturers, WiHarley and Arthur Davidsgether their first motorcyclthey were producing 3168and, in 1920, an all-time bmore than 28,000. The HarlBon factory now occupies 1.500,000 feet of floor spawaukee and at a plant in Butler, Wisconsin. In recBritiab competition has h700,000 machines in tbe Balone, the industry there produce a lighter-weight vlower price. This led, laat yeend of the Indiim MotorcySpringfield, Massacbuaette,ica'a second motorcycle prodian now haa been taken British firm, serving aa an plant for seven different BriAfl the American motorcycreased in range and flexsome odd coincidence its uarmed forcea baa ateadily dDuring World War I, socourier cyclea were in uee, begiiuiing of World War II, 5number has now dwindled tof which are in tbe service oftary police for traffic control.ish, by contrast, relied heavmotorcycle for courier duty dlast war. A British courier, dmessage to a command post, his motorcycle inside tbe dooguard could watch it. An jeep driver, faced by the samment, would leave his jeewhile carrying his tidings. Fsince Army jeepa are not equipped witb locks, he wback to find his vehicle stchronic shortage ot jeeps in thof war caused this form of pgrow apace and caused thecongratulate themselves wsmugness on tbeir own foresEven t bough the motorcvantages as a courier machineceded, the Army still prefers the jeep, wbicb can go throughbut not all of the roughtraversed by the motorcyclcarry six men with ease. Thallergy to motorcycles seemhad ita effect in military qwell. But there are exceptionrule, and one of these wastrated, just before tbe war, in tlie Carolina maneuver areing lieutenant general, compentourage, was standing in frheadquarters tent when a mcourier whirled up, shoved sinto the hands of a waitinspun his cycle around onetook off, showering the gestafT with rocks, gravel and goThe general, wiping liis face aing his uniform, maintained silence for a moment while awaited tbe explosion. Then "Gosh!" he said. "I wish that!" It is a sentiment thacycliBtB wish were more wide


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