Beauty of Speed ::: The Track :::> Bikes, events, history....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

A word from the President
October 20th 2000

If he only had a single word to say, the President of the Flathead Racing Association would certainly choose this one : AT LAST ! ! (O.K. it's two words·)

At last we're a bunch of guys who want to have fun in paying a well earned tribute to vintage American motorcycling, and we want to do it in another way than in parading on Main Street, with an attitude and our buts well installed in Corbin-made ostrich leather seats.

At last the opportunity to revive, more modestly, one of the most fabulous adventures of American motorcycle history, the " Class C " races introduced in 1933.

At last a good excuse to gather from time to time with real enthusiasts, not just regular Harley enthusiasts but rather Flathead enthusiasts !

At last the opportunity to work seriously on those good old 45'' Flatheads, trying to get more horsepower out of their guts, which by now have always been deserted in favor of their incredible reliability. Our main goal is to have a good time and good time only, because none of us really wants to take a spill on the track and instantly ruin his beloved Flathead Racer !

Having real fun and doing things seriously, but never taking things too seriously, that's what we deeply want to achieve ! By the way, talking about taking things seriously, if there's one thing we don't want to take too seriously, it's ourselves. I must admit that I feel quite honored but also a little embarrassed of suddenly being the President of some organization· It's almost like having a form of hierarchy where we just want relaxation, far away from the stress and the restraints of our regular jobs.

But we have founded an association to organize those races and therefore need minimal regulations to avoid a total anarchy, particularly concerning safety and tech specs of engaged racing bikes. And of course there must be someone checking that these rules are being more or less respected. I'm not alone in this dirty job, I'm glad to get some help from Eric Mathieu, host of this great site, co-founder and #1 supporter of our association, who is also regularly writing articles in our newsletter, as well as Jean-Marie Poutz, our Treasurer who does his best to manage the association's resources. It seems obvious that each one of us will also be on the track with his old handshifter. Could you really imagine we'd like to handle all the lousy paperwork just to watch others having all the good time ? !

Awaiting to meet all of you on a racetrack someday, I wish you a pleasant and hopefully interesting time with the different columns of these pages!