The People We Meet…
Weather: Sunny and warm, 87°F (31°C)
Road Conditions: The scooters are breeding like rabbits! Lots of motorcycles too.
Mr. Robert Cox and his wonderful Lakes Roadster. Bob is also a Rider.
It was Ramble Plan Alpha for the ride home again tonight. This might get boring if there wasn’t so much beautiful scenery along the way. The scooters were out in force, and motorcycles were everywhere as well. Add the eye-popping bounce of the lycra-clad trotters along the jogging paths, and there was an awful lot to look at. So much that I rode right past the incredible Lakes Roadster in the photo above before I even realized what I was looking at.
Frogwing and I were a block down the road before the little lightbulb lit above my helmet, telling me that this was an opportunity too rare to miss. We did a quick U-Turn and headed back to park behind it.
I had intended to simply stop and photograph this unique hotrod for my own collection, but then I noticed a fellow sitting alone at a picnic table in the park, reading a magazine. He was at the table closest to the car, so I took a chance and walked over to introduce myself.
As I got closer, I knew I had the right guy. The magazine he was reading featured custom cars and hotrods. Now before all you hardcore bikers get yourselves all worked up, you must realize that I wouldn’t be writing this unless there was a motorbike angle.
The man said his name was Bob Cox, and yes, that was his roadster.
I settled in on the bench beside him, and thus began a conversation that could have lasted for hours.
We quickly established that we are both well-acquainted with the man you know on these pages as Buster Brown. Another local fellow whom we both admire goes by the name of Steve Hamel. He happens to be the current holder of a Land Speed Record on his Vincent Black Shadow. Watch this space for a feature on him sometime later this Summer. It soon became apparent that Mister Cox and I had a LOT to talk about…
Authentic details abound in the cockpit.
I’m an old gearhead from way back. Bob’s Hotrod is my favorite kind of four-wheeled conveyance. I would rather have something like this than a sidehack motorcycle rig, if I have to be brutally honest. The engineering is so much better, the balance and handling is superior, and yet you are still out in the elements with plenty of horsepower under that “hammer-down” throttle.
If you click on the photo above, you will also notice the distinctive shifter. It was made from a transmission gear and a case cover from Mr. Hamel’s Vincent. The more I looked at this incredible Lakes Roadster, the more cool details revealed themselves. Unfortunately, the close-up I took of that shifter was out-of-focus. My poor old digital camera is starting to show its’ age.
Here’s the best I could do with that image, tonight…
When Bob isn’t driving this impressive machine, he rides one of several motorcycles. He has owned a KLR in the past, and his current stable includes both a BMW GS and a Suzuki DR650, among others. He cast an expert eye over Frogwing and pronounced him worthy, appreciating the utility of the various farkles I have selected to enhance his mission capability.
Before I left, we exchanged cards, and promised to keep in touch. Next time you see Bob on this page, he will be in his motorcycle gear.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
This rules! I grew up around old cars and hot-rods. My 75 year old Dad still owns a ‘31 Model A Roadster, and a ‘15 Model T touring. I would have stopped too.
Pretty cool that you guys connected with Steve Hamel in common, and I’m looking forward to more on Mr. Cox and his slew of cool rigs.
Have fun,
Bill
May 11th, 2007 at 7:01 am
What a great story and reminder that there is a lot more along the road than the obvious. I’m still not able (or willing perhaps) to strike up conversations while riding and I know I am missing a lot.
My father longed dreamed of building a Model A Roadster but he finally ran out of “maybe next year” opportunities. When I read things like this I am reminded of a similar tendency and that the clock is ticking…..
May 11th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Cool!
May 11th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Bill: I find that a lot of motorcyclists and scooter folks are into hotrods as well. We are all gearheads, to some degree. It is only after we have made our decision to purchase our vehicle of choice that we join a “tribe”, as Bob so eloquently put it. Only then do we develop our prejudices against other tribes, and I suspect that is simply to keep our circle of friends to a manageable level. Events like our own First Thursday are a testament to that.
Steve: I really admire your ability to capture the visual grandeur of your experiences on the road. But for me, that is only half the story. Nature and geography are little more than “trees and mud” to me, especially when you consider the human stories that exist in these places that we visit. There are some exceptions to that, of course. The Badlands of South Dakota come immediately to mind.
But it is the way in which people come to terms with their lives, in their chosen or default environment, that fascinates me. Meeting an interesting guy like Bob, by chance, on my way home from work, is one of life’s little gifts of fate.
SGP: Indeed!
Ride well,
=gc=
May 11th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
It does not surprise me that Cox turns up with a street rod that is very much like the one I used to dream of, when I used to dream of such things. As long as it has a flathead V8 under the hood.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Glad to see that the 2 wheeled word is getting out and they are breeding like rabbits. Gas hitting $3.29 today will make more folks look at scooters/cycles. I still need to figure out where to start putting my toe in the water.
Anyone know where I can comapre the emissions are on modern 4 stroke scooters (and motorcycles) — it’s been a bear to find out test results for emissions. I know most are getting certified with EPA minimum emissions. Also some scooters seem to be already meeting 2008 Euro standards. I am trying to balance MPG and overall emissions impact in my scootering decisions. Along with engine size and performance…. Gary do you know if RTW has a chart with scooters rated by ‘greenness’ and size/mpg. (Green as in low emissions… not the COLOR for some of the rowdier regulars around here.)
As for the street rod – looks like a great project & that Bob took the time to add personal touches. I am beginning to wonder how many people would notice (let alone stop and look at) such a treasure. We are coming to a point where the average person wouldn’t even fathom such a dream… let alone start to build it. If I had time, there would be so many of these types of projects.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Buster: Bob tells me he has a Flathead in the works for it, but it’s running a Chevy crate motor at present. And yes, that’s exactly the way I would want to build one too. He really did his homework…
MatL: I’m hoping to pick up my Vespa GTS today, finally. I had to purchase one because they are selling as fast as the dealer can get them in. They didn’t have one that they could loan me for the season. That was a hard lump to swallow, but in the end, I think it will be worth it. They are impossible to find used.
As for emissions, CO2 is the big one, for “greenhouse” gases. The 4-stroke, 250cc scooters emit the least of any (freeway-capable) motor vehicle out there.
No matter what kind of junk-science propaganda the auto companies are putting out right now, you only have to look at mpg figures to get the REAL answer. Burn X-amount of fuel per mile, and you will get X-amount of CO2 emission. They can scrub it or recirculate it or whatever, but in the end, it all goes into the atmosphere. There’s no other place for it to go!
So when a scooter gets 70 miles from a gallon of gas, it emits less than half of what your average car -and- less than a THIRD of what your average SUV or pickup truck does. Only when people carpool 2 or 3 to a vehicle does the cage begin to make sense, and even then they are not nearly as much FUN!
Finally, people only notice things like that Lakes Roadster when they are “tuned into that frequency”. Otherwise, the noise of their frantic daily scramble for something to fill the existential void prevents them from stopping to appreciate the beauty and life that is going on all around them.
They are so narrowly focused, with their “eyes on the prize” – whatever that may be on any particular day – that they don’t care to notice anything anybody else is doing unless that anybody is trying to get ahead of them.
That’s when they awaken from their little fantasy box-world and attack!
Yeah, I mean that in jest, but in many cases it is all too true. This reply is becoming a blog entry in its’ own right. Better leave off now…
Ride well,
=gc=