Comments for Black Watch

Comment on The Turtleneck | From Beatniks to Bullitt. by Joy

Joy — Sun, 08 May 2011 08:46:22 +0000

Perfectly preppy. This is great.

Comment on Mad Max Bubeck & his Chout | Hell on Hybrid Wheels by Lee Branch

Lee Branch — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:40:28 +0000

Ed Kretz told me of having the Scout with him at the Pomona Fairgrounds when he was stationed there in WWII to instruct in a course for military dispatch riders. He said when VIPs were present the C.O. would ask him to put on a demo around the 1/2 mile horse track. After the war as racing recommenced, at Pomona, Ed said his several years of practice on the track made him pretty much unbeatable. He was probably among the very few G.I.s who stayed at home during his military ‘hitch.

My good buddy Bobby Fleckenstein purchased the Scout from Shell Thuett. Shell had tuned for Ed Kretz and kept the bike when Ed moved on to Triumph.

Bob and I took the Scout, in it’s last appearance at a Class C event, to Tulare, for a Saturday night 1/2 mile event prior to the Sunday race at the Sacramento Mile, in I recall, 1968. Our rider almost transferred to the Main but a quick Harley rider who had slid out earlier came back to get him at the finish wire. By that time the Scout was not capable of winning against bikes of twenty years newer vintage but it was a great ‘crowd pleaser’.

Bob sold the bike as a ‘collectible’ more or less, to a nice couple, Bob and Maria Novotna~ they were a professional musical duo who lost their lives in a street bike accident. Apparently, from their estate the bike went into a museum and then into private ownership. Nice to encounter the little jewel again. Bobby did some interesting work on it including use of lightened (drilled) H.D rods with the requisite larger crank pin, et al.

The outstanding Harley tuner Tom Sifton has been quoted as saying there were three Scouts with power output he “never could match” with his WLR;s~ One was that of Bill Tuman~ the others were no doubt also members of ‘The Indian Wrecking Crew’ of the post-WWII years. Interestingly, Tuman worked at a Harley agency during racing’s ‘off season’ I’ve often wondered what features of engineering gave one 45″ flathead more potential than could be developed in the competing but quite similar, lesser engine~ Possibly Shell Thuett would be knowledgeable on the topic. Few others are with us who actually were heavily involved in the ‘Class C’ racing of the earlier decades. I gather he, approaching 100 is living in the High Desert area of So. Calif.

Nice to see your wonderful site. Continue in good health and spirits.

Lee Branch

Comment on Sports Illustrated Vintage 1966 | Steve McQueen Reviews the Hottest New GT’s by STEVE McQUEEN REVIEWS THE HOTTEST NEW GT’s | 1966 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED « The Selvedge Yard

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 03:33:19 +0000

[...] the Blackwatch [...]

Comment on Donald Sutherland | The Stylish Artistic Homicidal Maniac by A LOOK BACK AT 3 UNDER-APPRECIATED STYLE ICONS FOR DETAILS MAGAZINE « The Selvedge Yard

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 14:40:18 +0000

[...] piece on three under-appreciated style icons of days gone by (Paul Simonon, John-Paul Belmondo, and Donald Sutherland) for DETAILS magazine’s online blog– The Daily Details [...]

Comment on Ancient Matters | “Dapper Dan” Mug Shots of Real Cads by Murph

Murph — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:53:46 +0000

Haunting haunting images.
The closest to capturing a tiny sense of what was going on then,but not.

Comment on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade | A Photo Archive by susan

susan — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:58:30 +0000

Hello, My daughter, Mary Railey Binns, was in the parade in (we think) 1990. She rode on the Santa float and dressed as a package. One can imagine the excitement of being in the parade because we are from Columbus, Georgia. A friend who worked for Macy’s, Mary Howard, arranged for our daughter to be in the parade and we had such a wonderful weekend in NYC . It was Mary Railey’s first trip and it was magical from beginning to end. To make it even more special, my father and I have had the longtradition of watching the parade together on Thanksgiving morning as my mother scurried around the kitchen preparing the feast to come. At this very moment in 2010 I am at our Beach house with Mary Railey, now aged 28, her fiance, Rick Bartlett from Burlington, Vermont and my wonderful father, William Nevels who will be ninety in a few weeks. We are, of course, watching the parade, enjoying Bloody Marys and enjoying our wonderful traditiion. Thank you Macy’s for creating this for my family. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Susan Binns

Comment on Donald Sutherland | The Stylish Artistic Homicidal Maniac by Will C.

Will C. — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:06:40 +0000

Er, I vote for either a shaven or a mustached Sutherland. First and third picture down are certainly interesting – and I haven’t read any good reviews of that Fellini film but I must see it for the sheer oddness of Sutherland being in it.

Nice blog

Comment on Noel Coward | Desert Dandy by Loomis Dean by EVEN COWBOYS GET THE BLUES | VINTAGE PHOTOS OF DUDES IN DENIM « The Selvedge Yard

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:19:28 +0000

[...] at the very end of his reign– many not surprisingly taken by LIFE photography giants like Loomis Dean, and Ralph Crane to name a few. Some, unfortunately, are uncredited. If you know the pic, give me [...]

Comment on About Black Watch by Scott Brown

Scott Brown — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:33:30 +0000

Great styles, quote’s and original posts !
enjoy reasing it.

Best,
Scott

Comment on Ancient Matters | Jaon La Coste had a need for speed. by p.j.o'furey

p.j.o'furey — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:07:51 +0000

you know that a chic is a real motor head when she robs the place to get her horsepower fix-
hope there,s more like her around.