Vermont to Canada on a 1965 BMW Sidecar! Vintage Racing Adventure Common Tread
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00:00Yeah, good, you've seen this one, right?
00:26This is very seminal.
00:27This is these two guys up at Shubenacadie in Nova Scotia.
00:32So while Arie's dad and I, you know, fought it out on the track, they were doing this.
00:40And they just loved it.
00:41They came back every night in tatters.
00:46He and Arie really kind of grew up with the track, you know, they're real track rats.
00:50They really thrived.
00:51I thought it was a really good environment.
00:55And that's Zach and I.
00:57Yeah, he made a really good passenger.
01:00I don't think he loved it.
01:02But he, and he was starting to ride solo bikes and do quite well at that.
01:07And so he had kind of lost interest in the stuff, I think, but he was nice about it.
01:16The hack itself is resting peacefully across the street.
01:23The bike has been in here, and I have had to do a little bit of remedial work.
01:28I couldn't get it started in the middle of winter, so we fiddled with it a little bit.
01:33Let's get it up where we can see it.
01:35What do you think of their plan to ride this over the Canada?
01:40Well, I wouldn't do it.
01:44I think, you know, Zach's trunk's going to be pulped by the time he gets there.
01:49And Arie's got it worse.
02:02So somehow we have to make Arie comfortable.
02:06You know, theoretically, he could just sit out here on a chair.
02:11I don't know.
02:12It's pretty awful no matter what.
02:14I guess he'll do most of the deciding.
02:19It's his house.
02:23Yeah, there are a lot of open questions, which I have not answered.
02:32Anyway, he's young.
02:34I suppose he'll live through it.
02:49So I'm following you.
03:04I don't know where I'm going.
03:07Yeah, so this is the house that I lived in in middle school and high school.
03:12This is my balcony.
03:14The three windows there is my bedroom.
03:17Oh, my God, empty garages.
03:20I want to fill them with things.
03:24Hot diggity damn.
03:27Well, well, well.
03:28Haven't seen this in a while.
03:31Who do you think is going to be less comfortable, you or me?
03:33We're both going to be suffering.
03:36I guess we'll go over by the shop where the tools are.
03:40Traverse across the lawn.
03:44This is where I'm going to spend the next couple of days of my life.
03:48I mean, it's going to be better than the dumb and dumber bike.
03:51Yeah, it's not a lot of padding.
03:53And it doesn't look like there's room for a shock under this fender.
03:58No.
04:00Nicely streamlined and aerodynamic, though.
04:02Oh, yeah, it's all about speed.
04:04With 42 horsepower and 700 pounds of equipment plus.
04:09Plus all of our man meat.
04:12700 pounds of man meat.
04:15So everything about sidecars is awkward,
04:19including assembling them and moving around with them.
04:28Got to tell those kids to do something meaningful with their lives
04:30so they don't end up like us.
04:32So this is my dad's first racing sidecar outfit,
04:43which he put together with a friend of his in the early 90s.
04:46I guess it would have been.
04:48The bike started life, anyway, as a 1965 BMW R50 Slash II.
04:54And as you might be able to tell, the sidecar itself started life
04:58as a piece of wood with a wheel strapped to it and some handholds,
05:01which, believe it or not, in this type of racing is pretty standard.
05:04And believe it or not,
05:06Zach and I have spent a fair amount of time on this already,
05:09although it was stationary and we were very small children
05:12because when our dads were out racing together,
05:14we were crawling around in this thing pretending we were racing.
05:16So it's been a long standing dream of ours
05:18to actually compete together on a vintage sidecar.
05:21So it's high time we made that dream a reality.
05:24And take our relationship to the next level, you know?
05:26People have been waiting a long time to see that.
05:28Right-o.
05:30To be fair, there is some precedent for me racing sidecars,
05:33which I did later with my dad, on a different rig than this.
05:37But Airy has most definitely not raced sidecars before.
05:41So this will be our own little adventure
05:43and it'll be hard for all of the sort of usual CTXP reasons,
05:46not least of which our clinically diabolical producer,
05:49who has decided that we should ride this vehicle
05:52from here in central Vermont to the race in Canada,
05:55some 300 miles away.
05:58And it feels and looks like even if it was three miles away
06:01just down the road, that would be a bit of a struggle
06:03because obviously the rig needs some work.
06:05It is not appropriate for street use at all.
06:08We have about a day, a day and a half to put lights on it
06:12so we don't get arrested on the way to Canada
06:14and also do something about the rider and passenger comfort
06:16so that hopefully our bones don't get vibrated to powder
06:19on the way to the track.
06:21Yeah, so first things first, we'll bolt up the hack
06:24and then we'll see if it fires up.
06:26Do some brodies in the fire station parking lot.
06:28Yeah, hopefully the firefighters there
06:30actually might need medical attention.
06:32True enough.
06:34Get some tools.
06:36We're gonna need this.
06:44There we go.
06:46Yeah!
06:48All right, there we have it.
06:50Feel solid? Check tire pressures and see if it starts
06:52and then rip it around.
06:56Whoa.
07:03Smells like childhood.
07:05Air-cooled, running rich.
07:09The carbs are out of sync or something.
07:11It's like running heavy on one side, you hear that?
07:17Ugh.
07:19Happens to the best of us.
07:21Oh, it's got a heel-toe shifter.
07:23That's that touring feature that we're gonna need.
07:25All right, we're going to the right.
07:27It's gonna be terrifying.
07:29We're practicing our big drifts.
07:31Yes!
07:33Oh, it's just a little bit squarer here.
07:35Yeah, that's a good one.
07:39Light it up!
07:43Oh!
07:45Oh!
07:47Oh!
07:49Oh!
07:51Oh!
07:53Oh!
07:59As you go this way,
08:01reach to grab here.
08:03Yeah.
08:05And then pull your left.
08:07And then you drop down.
08:09And then as you do that,
08:11you put your right foot here.
08:13So you're all the way down over here.
08:15Yes.
08:17When we're going through right-hand corner
08:19at speed on the track,
08:21it's fun.
08:23Well, I've pretty much always thought that sidecars
08:25were kind of an inherently bad idea,
08:27but racing sidecars especially.
08:29So, I mean, it is so low to the ground
08:31and you have to move around so much
08:33and you're surprisingly close,
08:35which I guess it makes sense why it's like father and son team
08:37that do it or husband and wife that do it
08:39because you're just kind of clamoring all over each other
08:41and not even on the track yet.
08:43Yeah, so just imagine ten times that speed
08:45on asphalt with other of these contraptions around us
08:47and you sort of get the idea.
08:50I think I'm going to feel a lot better
08:52when I've got a full-face helmet and a suit of leathers on.
08:54That should help.
08:56That's a very good point.
08:58Also, we have a road trip to accomplish
09:00before we get to even race,
09:02which means we've got to put lights on this thing
09:04and make it some kind of legal.
09:06Give me a backrest or what?
09:08A pillow?
09:10We're going to have to find something around here
09:12to put on there.
09:14Push it in and get to work.
09:16If the rig was going to pass
09:18for street legal,
09:20we had to add a headlight, tail light
09:22and some form of a passenger seat.
09:24Since our chariot
09:26was only designed with racing in mind,
09:28there were more hurdles than usual.
09:30The electrical system
09:32is a little weird
09:34because it is a
09:36total loss system
09:38as these vintage racing outfits often are.
09:40So there's a battery in there
09:42and the way it works is all the power
09:44goes to the engine that you need
09:46and when you come in off the racetrack,
09:48you plug the battery in and fill it up with electricity.
09:50The bike does not charge the battery typically.
09:52We're not going to charge the battery either.
09:54For a 15-minute race,
09:56all good.
09:58For a 300-mile road trip, no bueno,
10:00especially with lights and that kind of thing.
10:02We're going to have an auxiliary battery
10:04in the hack that will power
10:06the headlight, tail light, that kind of thing,
10:08which will also be total loss
10:10since there's no charging system.
10:12And we'll keep a spare battery charging up
10:14in the crew car or something like that
10:16and we'll cheat a little bit.
10:18So you know how in Alaska we were totally independent
10:20and self-sufficient? We're not even
10:22feigning that on this trip.
10:24We're going to have a battery charging in the chase truck
10:26and a lot of tools and spares.
10:28And snacks galore!
10:42Plug it in.
10:44See if we get smoke or if we get light.
10:46Yeah, tail light.
10:48Is this plate light?
10:50Give the front brake a tug.
10:52Yes.
10:54People will know we're slowing down,
10:56which we're never going to do.
10:58Headlight, check.
11:00Yeah. Classy.
11:02It's pretty hip, I've got to say.
11:04And then horn check. This is probably going to be loud.
11:06Show is.
11:08So if the aforementioned brakes don't work,
11:10we'll be able to tell people we're coming.
11:12But the electrical system is fully functional.
11:14Hopefully the police will accept it.
11:16We'll just kind of blend in with the crowd.
11:18Making progress though.
11:20There is the small issue of comfort.
11:22Especially for Ariel here.
11:24Lack thereof. I don't know how we're going to accommodate that.
11:26It's a good start
11:28and it talks right about the comfort.
11:30In so much as there is none
11:32and it's a hopeless endeavor?
11:34So far, yeah. I've written on that many times
11:36and comfort's not the word that springs to mind.
11:38Ariel's errand top to bottom.
11:42Arie's options for a passenger seat
11:44were limited to what we could find in the shop.
11:46Fortunately,
11:48my dad's never really done much office work.
11:50I think this has potential.
11:52Yeah. Very promising.
11:54I agree.
11:5622 and 3 quarters is what we're working with.
11:58Push it up against the fender.
12:00Oh yeah.
12:08Yeah.
12:10I think that'll work.
12:38Woo hoo!
12:56Woo hoo hoo!
13:08Runs like a peach.
13:10I'm excited to get going
13:12but I have a sneaking suspicion
13:14this is going to be pretty uncomfortable.
13:16Next stop, Canada.
13:18And we're as ready as we're going to be
13:20so might as well hit the road.
13:22I feel tremendously precarious.
13:24All right, off we go.
13:32Oh man, this feels very vulnerable.
13:34I'm glad I've got stuff to hold on to.
13:36And I'm not going to let that stop me from doing it.
13:38All right, here we go.
13:40Woo hoo hoo!
13:42Woo hoo hoo!
13:44Woo hoo hoo!
13:46Woo hoo hoo!
13:48Woo hoo hoo!
13:50It's very vulnerable.
13:51I'm glad I've got stuff to hold on to.
13:53I don't even feel particularly secure
13:55and I'm on the motorcycle, for crying out loud.
13:57I mean, it's a racing machine.
13:58It's not meant for comfort
13:59and it's certainly not made for cross-country travel.
14:02If nothing else, it's a banner day here in rural Vermont.
14:06We got 300 and some odd miles to get where we're going,
14:10but hey, the weather's nice.
14:13Oh yeah.
14:26Uh-oh, we got a vehicle on the road
14:28going slower than we are.
14:33Yeah, it's old town life, you know?
14:35Yeah, I feel fortunate to have grown up that way
14:37and frankly, I feel pretty nostalgic
14:39going back to these rural parts.
14:45What's it indicating for our,
14:47oh, that tachometer doesn't seem particularly reliable.
14:51No, it's not really telling us
14:53anything useful, unfortunately.
14:56Just waving around.
15:00I'm so grateful for these armrests.
15:01This is very crucial.
15:03My right foot's up on the handhold.
15:06My left foot is on the sidecar brace
15:07and I can grip the handholds firmly,
15:09so I feel pretty locked in.
15:12I'm not particularly comfortable.
15:13Mostly, it's the pitch forward thing.
15:15I'm like really leaning on my hands.
15:17Yeah, your hands, anything else
15:19taking a little pressure right now?
15:21I mean, the sheepskin and the gel pad
15:25I packed onto the seat is doing good work so far.
15:28We'll see.
15:29Maybe all the bumps on the road
15:31will warm us up for the racetrack.
15:34Oh, yeah.
15:37It's not like this thing has modern suspension.
15:39This is not modern anything.
15:45Woo.
15:46My back itches.
15:48Little passenger seats vibrating something fierce.
15:52It's not comfortable.
15:53Supposed to be ridden eight laps at a time,
15:55not 20 or 30 miles at a time.
16:04Just a few hours into our ride across rural Vermont,
16:07we noticed the engine seemed unhappy.
16:12It doesn't sound great.
16:14No, it doesn't.
16:16Running issues aren't unusual with old bikes,
16:19and sometimes they just clear up on their own.
16:22But this one didn't,
16:24and we could only ignore it for so long.
16:27Intermittently, the throttle sticks open,
16:29and you can see that the stop
16:31isn't resting against the idle screw,
16:33but there's play in the cable,
16:35and it worked for the past 30 miles,
16:38so it's a little confusing.
16:40We disassembled the throttle looking for a problem,
16:43but didn't find one.
16:47So we checked the voltage meter,
16:49and it's not showing any voltage at all.
16:51So we're going to have to go back
16:52and check the voltage meter again.
16:55So we checked the voltage
16:56on our total loss ignition system.
16:59It was still holding strong.
17:01Why is it doing that?
17:02I don't know.
17:04Finally, we took a crack at syncing the carburetors,
17:07but the issue was still there.
17:10And we were out of time.
17:13All right, well, we can't figure out
17:15what's wrong with the bike actually,
17:17and we're a long way from where we need to be.
17:18So we're just going to ride to the hotel tonight,
17:22and then figure it out tomorrow.
17:25We're going to procrastinate.
17:26♪♪♪
17:42Welcome to New York.
17:47I did not bring clear safety glasses, did you?
17:52I did not.
17:53♪♪♪
17:59We are behind schedule,
18:01and now it's dark, and we only have sunglasses.
18:04And we spent $14 on these horrendous sunglasses
18:08that are at least not super tinted.
18:11I feel like I look like if Napoleon Dynamite
18:13rode a motorcycle.
18:14That's a pretty accurate assessment.
18:16♪♪♪
18:23♪♪♪
18:30♪♪♪
18:37Well, the right cylinder is certainly running richer
18:39than the left cylinder.
18:40Yeah, this is arguably a little too lean.
18:43But it is.
18:44It's interesting that the other side,
18:45it's all shrouded on one side.
18:47Yeah.
18:48We've got a little laundry list of things
18:50that we're going to check up on the bike
18:51since we covered some distance yesterday.
18:53It's an old machine.
18:54Harry made an actual list.
18:55We have confirmation that right cylinder is not running
18:58on the same air-fuel ratio as left cylinder.
19:00So we've got some stuff to pursue
19:02before we hit the road today.
19:03It's a big day because we're crossing over into Canada.
19:07Intake valve's opening.
19:08Should be our next one.
19:09When you see that, you're like,
19:10Intake valve's opening.
19:11Should be our next one.
19:12When you see the piston come up.
19:15We are checking valve clearances.
19:18So we're going to make sure the valves are in spec.
19:21Chasing down these throttle cables
19:22since we were having quite a bit of trouble with them yesterday
19:25with the idle hanging.
19:26So eliminating this one issue by just safety wiring
19:29all the connections together
19:32so that we can't have slack in them.
19:36What the hell is that?
19:40Is that inside the intake boot?
19:44The phantom 10mm wrench that went missing in the shop?
19:48Yeah, we've been looking for this, first of all.
19:50It's probably not helping the bike run.
19:54It's also probably not hurting it run.
19:56We found the 10mm wrench.
19:58Guess we know who to blame.
20:02After checking the bike for more of my dad's missing tools,
20:06we put everything back together and did what we always do.
20:09Hoped for the best.
20:11It was another 200 miles to the racetrack
20:14and it was Ari's turn to drive.
20:17Oh, what a little sweetheart.
20:21Oh boy.
20:22Are you grunting with pleasure over how comfortable that seat is?
20:26Yeah.
20:27To Canada!
20:29I think that's first gear.
20:30No way!
20:32Yes!
20:40On the road again!
20:44Losing nerve sensation in my butt again!
20:49I see what you mean about the backrest being vibratey.
20:54We just got started.
20:56You just wait until I rev this sucker up.
20:58Good point.
21:10Oh, my vision's going blurry.
21:12Oh no.
21:18I can't believe how loud it is with earplugs in.
21:21Yeah, it's really...
21:23I've got the headsets up all the way and it's still hard to hear.
21:26It's hard to hear and I'm yelling.
21:28We are on the bridge headed for Canada.
21:56We've done all the homework we can as far as making the bike legal for road use
21:59in the United States and in Canada.
22:02But, you know, it's a little suspect maybe, right?
22:06I mean, you never know at these border crossings.
22:08Someone could decide to get a hair up their ass and like,
22:10our motorcycle is...
22:12Let's just say it's not really ready to be fully scrutinized.
22:15So, fingers crossed as usual.
22:19Oh, Canada.
22:28Hello.
22:29Passports or identification?
22:31Certainly.
22:35Where are you going?
22:36Shannonville.
22:37With what purpose and for how long?
22:39We're going to compete in a vintage motorcycle race and we're coming back on...
22:43Monday.
22:44Monday.
22:45Have a good day.
22:46All right, appreciate it.
22:49Nice.
22:55I can't believe they let us in, dude.
23:05Are we about to get the rain that we've been worried about?
23:08I felt a couple of drops hit me in the face.
23:12A little wet and more than a little sore,
23:15we had completed the first phase of our journey.
23:22Founded in 1974,
23:24Shannonville Motorsport Park is one of Canada's oldest circuits.
23:28And this weekend it was hosting the Kinte TT,
23:31an event put on by the Vintage Road Racing Association.
23:34The VRRA is a club our dads raced with for years.
23:39The VRRA is a club our dads raced with for years when we were just kids.
23:43And now it was our turn.
23:46If the road trip hadn't ruined us.
23:52Oh my goodness.
23:54That is a unique form of punishment.
23:56The cheap skin, did it help?
24:00What's not helping is the fact that it's very wet.
24:04Not really ideal for racing conditions,
24:07but we made it.
24:08The good news is,
24:10if you're going to race around a track in the rain,
24:14having a third wheel is actually a great option.
24:17It's a good point, in my experience.
24:19It's a practice day here at the track.
24:21In fact, people are already practicing,
24:23so we are well behind the curve.
24:25Zach hasn't done this in two decades,
24:27I've never done this,
24:28so the practice is very important,
24:30but we still have to prep the bike.
24:32We've got a lot of stuff to take off
24:34that we put on to make it street legal.
24:36And all the people in this paddock are looking at us
24:38like we have three heads
24:39because they've never seen a racing sidecar
24:40with all this stuff on it
24:41and they think we're insane.
24:42So, even though we're about to race a three-wheeled vehicle
24:45around a track in the wet,
24:47we're somehow about to uncrazy ourselves
24:49by taking the street stuff off it.
24:54We've got to wear these silly vests
24:57because we're new racers in this club.
25:01Frankly, it's not a bad idea.
25:06There we go.
25:18Okay.
25:19All right.
25:20Traveled a long way for this.
25:23Okay, buddy.
25:24All right.
25:25All right.
25:26All right.
25:27All right.
25:28All right.
25:29All right.
25:30All right.
25:31All right.
25:32All right.
25:33All right.
25:34All right.
25:35Okay, buddy.
25:36Let's see if I remember how to do this.
25:38Yeah, let's see if I can figure out how to do this.
25:48All right.
25:49Transitioning.
25:51Yep, good positioning.
25:55Zach may have grown up doing this,
25:57but it was all new to me.
25:59As the monkey on a racing sidecar,
26:01you are not just dead weight.
26:03If your body isn't in the right place at turn in,
26:05the rig can tip up or even flip over.
26:08So how well the rig corners is largely determined
26:11by how effectively the passenger uses their weight
26:14to balance the bike.
26:15It's a dance that requires careful timing and coordination,
26:18and I was just doing my best not to step on Zach's toes.
26:22Whoa, whoa, there we go.
26:23That is slippery.
26:33That's what it looks like when you know what you're doing,
26:35I guess.
26:47Nice.
27:01Nice job, man.
27:03Thanks, man.
27:04Still struggling with where to put my feet.
27:06I feel pretty good about my hands, though.
27:08Yep, yep.
27:12Okay, man, your first laps of sidecar practice competition.
27:15How'd it feel?
27:16Oh, terrifying.
27:19You did a nice job driving.
27:20I did not expect to be sliding that much
27:22when we were warming up on our first practice laps.
27:24Yeah, well, that's the benefit of three wheels, you know?
27:28For anyone that thought sidecars were lame,
27:30especially old ones,
27:31that is a serious thrill ride.
27:35We survived practice,
27:38which is, you know, always the first order of business.
27:41You've got to choreograph those corners.
27:43It is a two-person operation, absolutely.
27:45I can feel the way my body weight,
27:47being a little closer to the rear tire,
27:48a little outboard,
27:49it totally affects the whole thing.
27:50Yeah.
27:51Yeah, it's not a, you know,
27:52people think that the passengers just like along for the ride,
27:55but that's not the case at all.
27:57Well, it's starting to come back to me a little bit.
27:59Started to get a little rhythm at the end there.
28:01A little bit, yeah.
28:02Struggling with my transitions.
28:03We did get smoked by one guy in the straight,
28:05but then we caught up to him in the infield.
28:07So like, you know,
28:08Zach and I are competitive.
28:09We always want to do well,
28:10but again, this is a very foreign experience
28:13and it's a team activity,
28:15so we'll do the best we can
28:16and try and stay out of the grass.
28:21After sizing up the competition,
28:23it was obvious that we were way off the pace.
28:25So with just a few hours of practice left,
28:28it was time to buckle down.
28:31It was time for Shannonville to birth two more champions.
29:26It was unclear if our skills had improved,
29:29but the next morning the track was dry
29:31and it was finally time for Team CTXP
29:34to line up for race number one.
29:36Any final words of wisdom for me?
29:39No, good luck.
29:40Hold on.
29:41You're doing great.
29:42All right.
29:43Wish us luck.
29:44Daddy-O.
29:45Have a little bit of fun.
29:46All right.
29:47Wish us luck.
29:48Daddy-O.
29:49Have a little bit of fun.
29:50All right.
29:51Wish us luck.
29:52Daddy-O.
29:53Have a little bit of fun.
29:54Yeah, we'll try.
30:03So our sidecar is getting ready to hit the track.
30:08Keep your eye on the 740 machine.
30:10That is Zach Kortz.
30:12His passers are over monkey, as they call it.
30:14Harry Henning.
30:16They actually rode that sidecar here from Vermont.
30:21Zach has not raced a sidecar in 20 years.
30:24This should be fun.
30:30This is it, buddy.
30:31Of all the racing we've done together over the years,
30:34we've never actually done a race together.
30:36No, we've been kind of joking about this
30:38for the better part of 25 years at this point.
30:41Yeah, pretty cool.
30:44Get a little heat in the tires on the warm-up lap.
30:47Warm ourselves up.
30:51All right, man.
30:52Here we go.
30:54Gridding up.
30:55You said row 11?
30:56Wow.
30:57Are you going to be able to see the starter from here?
30:59Seriously, we are at the back of the grid.
31:02Nosebleed section.
31:03Good gracious.
31:05Here we go.
31:06Red flag coming down.
31:08We're racing, everybody.
31:10Here we go.
31:11Oh, look out.
31:12Hands up in the middle of the grid.
31:14Woo!
31:15All right, we're already forward by one position.
31:17Yeah, we already passed somebody.
31:19It's tough.
31:20Got nowhere to go but forward, buddy.
31:23Woo-hoo!
31:30All right, passing in on somebody already.
31:43All right.
31:44All good, all good.
31:47Back straight away for the first time.
31:49Let's go, buddy.
31:55Oh, we got one of them spinning around here.
31:58Into Allen's corner.
31:59Things are getting dicey.
32:00Wave yellow.
32:02Everybody making it by safely, thank God.
32:05Got it.
32:06That's it.
32:08Number 740 there.
32:10We were talking about that.
32:12You're putting on a show from Repzilla.
32:15That's Zach Hortz and Arie Henning.
32:18Oh, boy.
32:19Some serious deforces at race pace.
32:26Woo, Jesus.
32:28I think we're getting them, we're getting them, we're getting them.
32:30Yep.
32:33All right, we made a pass.
32:34Excellent.
32:35Good work.
32:36They got motor on them, so they might get us.
32:39It seemed our skills had improved.
32:42We were finally hitting our stride.
32:44But there was nothing we could do about the old beamer's lack of sprinting speed on the straightaways.
32:50Our only chance of staying in the race was to make up time in the corners.
33:01I'm going to go for the outside again here.
33:03Yep.
33:05You got it, you got it.
33:06Nice.
33:09Got a new fourth place rig.
33:12Making a pass on that back straightaway.
33:19Henning and Hortz now in the road battle.
33:22Oh, look at that move by the 740 machine into Allens.
33:28Watch that passenger as they come through this final corner.
33:31That helmet will almost be touching that kerbing.
33:39Hortz and Henning on the charge.
33:44Nice.
33:45Nice, nice.
33:47Stick your head out there.
33:48They don't want to run over you.
33:50Woo-hoo-hoo.
33:51Woo-hoo.
33:53Nice racing.
33:58109 just in front of us.
34:00John Wilson.
34:02Man, he's so fast in the lefts.
34:04All right, let's second draft.
34:08Woo-hoo-hoo.
34:09Oh, we've got Hortz and Henning now side-by-side for that fourth position down that back straightaway.
34:14Game of chicken coming to the end.
34:16Woo-hoo-hoo.
34:17They break these more phones.
34:23So the 740 has moved ahead of the 109.
34:26Oh, look at that.
34:27Oh, look at that.
34:28Oh, look at that.
34:29Oh, look at that.
34:30Oh, look at that.
34:31Oh, look at that.
34:32Oh, look at that.
34:33They've moved ahead of the 109 and John Wilson.
34:39Ah, came back last.
34:42This may not be over yet as he gathers it into the hairpin.
34:51Hortz and Henning now looking to make the right pass on the back straightaway.
34:54They've done it.
34:55We found ourselves in an epic back-and-forth battle with our friend John Wilson and his nephew Vincent.
35:01John started racing sidecars when we were little kids.
35:04All the more reason to try and beat him to the finish line.
35:07Holy cow.
35:08Oh, no.
35:09They've just been sandbagging behind us for bastards.
35:23Woo-hoo-hoo.
35:24Woo-hoo-hoo.
35:27Well, we did it, man.
35:28Yes.
35:29We raced together.
35:30We've been waiting for that a long time.
35:39We're puking a little bit of something.
35:41Going to have to look into that.
35:44We had a rip-roaring good time, and now the bike is smoking.
35:47So, it's classic vintage racing.
35:49Pretty typical.
35:50Very common that you have to work on your motorcycle when you race vintage bikes.
35:53But, hey, fix whatever precious fluid it is that's spilling out of the bottom of our cylinder and maybe strategize a little bit.
35:58But, overall, man, I'm pretty proud of that.
36:01We worked extremely well together.
36:03Yeah.
36:04Nice job, man.
36:07We'd survived the first race, but sprang an oil leak from the BMW's engine.
36:12So, we set out to find a fix.
36:16In racing, and vintage racing in particular, when you need help, people are willing to give it.
36:21In fact, we found a solution thanks to a handful of fellow racers, including our buddy John.
36:28In the world of old, quirky motorcycles, everyone is kind of on the same team.
36:33This is the thing that was pissing oil.
36:34This is the oil pressure sensor.
36:36Evidently, they fail quite commonly.
36:38So, what we've done is we drilled out the center of it where the oil would normally be,
36:41and we tapped it, and we're going to run this little screw with a brass washer and some red Loctite.
36:45Problem solved.
36:46We're back to racing.
36:52With our bike fixed, it was time for the final race.
36:55And, after studying the track more and talking over a strategy,
36:58Zach and I felt like we might be able to shave a few seconds off our lap time.
37:03Unfortunately, we'd have to do it using sign language.
37:08So, it turns out technically we're not supposed to have anything on the helmets, cameras, headsets.
37:12Yeah, for safety.
37:13Which makes sense.
37:14Safety, which makes sense.
37:15And, we're guests of the club here, so we're trying to play nice.
37:17Also, none of our competitors are using headsets at all.
37:21Sidecar racers, from the beginning of time, have not had the ability to communicate the way
37:24Ari and I have this weekend.
37:25Part of the challenge, right?
37:26Indeed.
37:27So, the final race.
37:29The headsets stay in the pit, we try to find some time, and we do it old school.
37:43I got serious nerves right now.
37:46Same.
37:51High fives and handshakes and bum pads all around.
38:14Okay, final race.
38:16We're going to try and put it all together now.
38:18We don't have the communicators this time, so
38:20I just said that I would lean into him on the left because he can't see me,
38:24so I will lean into him so he knows I'm there and he can pitch it in.
38:29Okie dokie, here we go.
38:32We're going racing.
38:34Hopefully, he knows what I'm thinking.
38:42Okay, this is it.
38:43All right, all right, we're off.
38:51Oh, John Boyd's off the track.
38:53Look out.
38:55Woo, it's hot in heaven.
38:57I mean, we're gaining on him in the infield, but oh, he just smoked us on the straightaways.
39:05Pretty good battle, shaping up for fourth.
39:07Here comes that 740 machine.
39:09Not shy at all here.
39:12Yeah, there he's quick with the turn.
39:14Yeah, we got this.
39:44Oh boy, running wide, running wide in the dirt.
39:47Woo, we're off-roading.
39:49Whoa.
39:54Great battle, shaping up here for second place.
39:58Holy s***, the passenger fell off.
40:01He's still rolling across the track.
40:07We've got Jennifer Currier flying off the 570 machine of Dave Manette.
40:12She's up and okay.
40:25A little throttle down the back straight.
40:27We've got Jody behind us, and they're closing the gap.
40:43It looks like Ford's and Henning have actually made their way into fourth position again.
40:48They've gone ahead of that machine that was ahead of them.
40:52We got him, we got him.
40:55I tell you, from up here in the tower, there is nobody getting lower to the ground out there than Henning.
41:08Ah.
41:12Woo.
41:33It was another tooth-and-nail battle with John and Vincent.
41:37There were just two laps left, and we knew that our finish would boil down to the final corners.
41:44Go Kurt, woo, go Kurt.
41:46Way to go Zach.
41:49I don't know if we're going to be able to hold him on the straightaway, but we got him.
41:57Oh no.
41:58Oh, can't make it work.
41:59Well, he got us.
42:07Oh, man.
42:10Nice job, man.
42:11Well, I don't know where we finished, but you know what?
42:14I'm proud of what we did, because we just gave it our all.
42:17That was a hell of a ride.
42:18Oh.
42:20So, that's a bucket list experience.
42:22I get to check off my list.
42:23Riding a sidecar with my buddy Zach.
42:27Thanks very much, man.
42:28You're welcome.
42:30It was a pleasure.
42:31Absolutely.
42:32You guys crushed it.
42:33Nice work.
42:40That was as much fun on the stairs as I am on the track.
42:50Zach and I have been lucky enough to ride and race motorcycles together all over the world.
42:55But this trip was special.
42:59We grew up at the track,
43:01watching our dads race,
43:03climbing around on their bikes,
43:06imagining the day we'd be able to do the same thing.
43:1725 years later, we finally made it happen.
43:22It was a very literal ride down memory lane.
43:27From visiting my hometown,
43:30to basking in the charms of rural Vermont,
43:33to spending time with the vintage racing community.
43:37Childhood dreams can fade away over time.
43:41But some of them stick around for a reason.
43:44And if you have a chance to make one of those happen,
43:50take it.
44:06For more information, visit www.vermont.com