Barber

[sdiver68]

Those of you in the Great Plains region who think Barber is quite a hike should read this article:

http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scripts/NewsInsert.asp?insert=4697

I was afraid with a name like Barber it would be a car track first, but it seems like they are taking the Cycles very seriously.  Their on-track museum has "only" 45 cars but 750 cycles in it!

[harb990]

Just plan on leaving room for me & my bike so you can drive through Cape and pick me up on your way down there  ;)

[r1owner]

Where is that track at?

Sounds like the dude is serious about his pavement!  :o

[sdiver68]

Cary,

Sound like we should all rent a motorhome and pull Jason's trailer!

Scott,

Leeds, AL, just East of Birmingham, according to Mapquest 9 hours or so...

[r1owner]

Cool, I see it is on the Great plains schedule.  I will try and make at least one of them.

[harb990]

Steve

Sounds like a plan - I'm sure Jason will be up for it & there is plenty of room in the trailer.

Have you found a trailer yet??

[sdiver68]

Yeah, I picked up an all steel, Delta 6x10 already set up for 2 bikes.  It's built like a tank!  Now, I need to put an aero nose cone on it, and a few shelves and wheel rack inside it and I'm set.

Downside, it's only a 2 bike (with spares and generator trailer)  Upside, its only a 2 bike trailer lol

[FUBAR606]

How much does a nose cone run? And are they manufacturer specific?

I have thought about getting one for my 6x10 to cut down on wind resistence (ya never know when you may be getting drafted by a semi)  ;D

[sdiver68]

www.nosecone.com, and they are generic...can be added to all kinds of trailers.

I'm not sure how much to install yet...I haven't had time to have the local dealer give me a quote.  If it's more than a couple of hundred...I'll pay the gas!

[FUBAR606]

Thanks for the info, and the link. I'll check them out, and if I find out anything before you do, I let ya know what kind of prices I find.

Maybe if I drive my GSXR in fast enough I can dent the trailer so it makes its own "nose cone"...naaa, I bend enough forks on the track. :o

[roadracer797]

Hey guys the nose cones are the easiest things to install, I have installed them on everything from 6x10 to semi-trailers and they work great and that is from the users not the manufactures. If you need help let me know and I will explain how to do it.

[sdiver68]

Thanks!

Maybe I'll bring one up to the first BLackhawk and someone could help...lol.

What do I need?  My trailer is all steel, not Aluminum skin.  I was thinking maybe just a drill and those large rivets?

[Super Dave]

OK, first about Barber's.

George Barber is the owner of Barber's Dairy.  They offer milk and ice cream in the south east.  They have contracts with school districts, etc.

Mr Barber became interested in collecting race cars.  Someone suggested that he collect a few bikes.  Eventually, the bikes became his passion.  In the early 90's, he got hooked up with Stephen Matthews, a road racer from the Atlanta area.  He helped him win the AMA Pro Twins championship, I believe the GP2 class.  Mr Barber's interest moved toward vintage bike racing.  So, he put Steven on a Matchless G50 (about a $55k bike, if you really wanted to race one), and they did well, racing against Dave Roper on a similar bike for Team Obsolete.

Their stable got bigger, and they had some of the most amazing machines.  They had one of their riders, Chuck Hunneycutt race at Daytona, against me on a CB400F, on a early '70's MV Agusta GP bike.  They even popped it in a race.  But what's all that cool stuff worth unless you race it anyway....  Chuck is tuning for the Corona Suzuki Team in his spare time.

So, Mr Barber put his efforts toward WORLD vintage road racing.  There is a series that has races with some GP or WSB races for specific vintage bikes from the early '60's, like the G50.

Next, Mr Barber decided that the US needed a race track designed like a European circuit.  He enlisted Bill St John, a civil-engineer and road racer, to work on the project.

So, if you want to know what it's like to race on a European circuit...this will be the place.

I've met Mr Barber on many occasions, and I've been to his museum many times.  It's unbelieveable.  It's not just a CB750 or something else that represents the era...

He's got Randy Mamola's Bimota TZ250 from the '70's.  Mike Smiths methanol GSXR1100 FUSA winning bike, Dave Sadowski's leathers, with the rip, from his Daytona 200 win, the last bike that Mike Hailwood raced before his death, and on and on.  Way cool...

[roadracer797]

SDiver68
Hey you bring it we will install it.
No serious all you need is a drill and large headed rivets to do the job, and if you bring it I will help but then you will also need to bring beer to get it installed.
Craig

[sdiver68]

Cool  ;D

I will see what the dealer I'm buying it from wants to install it first.  If they are unreasonable, then I may seriously take you up on that, and bring Beer AND BBQ!

[FUBAR606]

Thanks for the info, and the link. I'll check them out, and if I find out anything before you do, I let ya know what kind of prices I find.

Even though it was somewhat difficult to find a price listed on the nosecone.com site, I manage to find a reference to a cost on the ROI calculation sheet they had. The cost indicated was $650. I have no way of knowing if that is a average cost depending on what you get. Or if that is an actual cost because they are all priced the same. In either case, I thought it a little steep...but I'm cheap  ;D