Byrne/George Taylor Family Racing History -- 1948 to 1963

[ezryder]

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I added to my thread.
Lots of things have been going on in the first three months of 2011.
Been to the "Old Town" gathering -- had a great time!

Then I took my entire family to the "Tiger Lake" gathering in Lake Wales.
It's a shame that this was the last gathering at this location.
It was my first time there. And it's really a shame that it went into bankruptcy

We had a great time cooking out at our cottage and just generally having a
great reunion of a lot of our family members.
Along with the chance to enjoy all my new friends in vintage outboards and
racing.

I'm just about finished with my restoration of Mustang Sally. Another couple of
months and she will be set to go.

I bought a Johnson KR55 racing motor from Doug Penn at the Old Town meet.
So I busy beginning her restoration.

Soon after the Old Town meet, I found a new project to enjoy. I found a 1948 Whizzer
motorbike that is in amazing shape for her age.
She is so nice that I have decided to do a "survivor" restore on her rather than
just starting over.

Boy, do I ever have a LOT of projects going on right now! I LOVE it!

Now, here's a bit more personal information about me that I hope will help others
as they grow older, to adopt.

After my last motorcycle roadrace at Daytona back in 2009, it didn't take long for me
to become quite depressed. I felt that a "black hole" was trying to consume me.
There was no longer any "spark" to my life. Just an "oleman" waiting to "kick the bucket"!

I quit roadracing because I was no longer competitive with all the "old" vintage
guys my age, that I used to beat every time out.
I "thought" that I could just go race for "fun" and enjoy still be involved. Didn't work.
I had always promised myself that when racing was no longer fun, I would quit.
And that is what I did.

Then my depression set in -- life was feeling really "stale" at this point. And I knew
I had to find a new direction.
And as luck would have it, I did!!

Below I have posted some "musings" that I began writing about back in February, after I got my life back "on track".

Hope you enjoy them ---

Musings from the “OleMan Of Hooterville”
2/13/11

Lots of my younger friends have derided me for "living in the past" due to all my interests in my vintage collection of racing boats, motors, motorcycles and other memorabilia out of my past.
They tell me the "past" is behind you -- think only of the future. Get on with your “life”!!

Well, let me tell you something youngsters! When your my age you are just
"one day closer to death", as the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon"
points out.

This is when you need to respond to that "different drummer" you’ve been hearing in your head!
That's exactly what I have done. And it has elevated my "quality of
life" a hundred fold!
I am no longer “depressed” and just waiting to “kick the bucket”!

Let me tell you why:

That “future” view may be fine for the "youngsters" out there, but not for me.
For me it required me to re connect with my youth. And my youth “is” my past! My "re berth" has totally re activated my zest for life since I retired from m/c racing back at the end of 2009.
When I retired from active racing it created a huge "black hole" for me. And I jumped right in. Dealing with the realization that your “over the hill” and you just can NOT keep the pace any longer really hurts mentally. And is very HARD to admit!
Believe me, I know only too well. It took me two years of racing as a “back marker” before I was able to accept the fact that I WAS a back marker!
Then I realized that if I wanted to recapture my enjoyment of life that I would need to forget the immediate past and discover NEW enjoyments for my future. As it turns out the NEW enjoyments for my future came directly from my past!!!

Now I've come to grips with the loss of my youth. And replaced it by simply surrounding myself with items out of my past that are not just pictures, but three dimensional objects that I can actually TOUCH - - And RESTORE - - and RELIVE the days of my youth when they were part of my life.
It is great medicine, believe me! Far more potent than any depression drug a doctor can ever subscribe for you!

Now I’m at peace with my inner self – and re-living the dreams that I was able to achieve in my youth.
At my current age of 72, there is no way that I can actually achieve those goals again. But I can sure re-create the environment that was required to make them happen many years ago.

It makes no difference how many projects you don’t finish when you pass on. You just have to be sure that you have MORE projects than you can finish – that way every day you wake up is another GREAT day!!

None of us get outa here alive anyway. So enjoy life while you still have it.
That’s the reward!
As far as what you didn’t finish up before you “checked out”? Not a problem! You will NOT “give a s**t” after you go “horizontal” anyway! ;>)

The “Emperor of Hooterville” said that – and he’s sticking with it!!

[Danny Pigott]

I don't how many people know this an I hope George does not mind me posting it. The first time i saw it was 2000 while at the Karting World Championship, Out side Dayona USA at the speedway there is a memorial Tower honoring the people that died at Daytona. I have a friend who was killed there many years ago, while looking for him i wondered if Doc Taylor's name was there due to it being a boat race. Sure enough there it was Byrne Taylor / powerboat race. i was proud that he was on there being a boat racer.

[F-12]

George............You are what you make of your past, present, and future. With your family history, I don't see anything but good things for you. Looked for you at the Eustis meet and didn't have any luck. Thought sure you would be there rattling some cages. I still haven't had the pleasure of meeting you face to face even though we only live an hour apart. One day soon..............

[ezryder]

I don't how many people know this an I hope George does not mind me posting it. The first time i saw it was 2000 while at the Karting World Championship, Out side Dayona USA at the speedway there is a memorial Tower honoring the people that died at Daytona. I have a friend who was killed there many years ago, while looking for him i wondered if Doc Tayor's name was there due to it being a boat race. Sure enough there it was Byrne Tayor / powerboat race. i was proud that he was on there being a boat racer.

I was not aware of that Danny. Thanks so much for posting that information!!
That really gives me a warm feeling way down deep inside me.
My Dad was so SPECIAL to me!!!

Was your friend listed also? And what was the story?
Geoi

[ezryder]

George............You are what you make of your past, present, and future. With your family history, I don't see anything but good things for you. Looked for you at the Eustis meet and didn't have any luck. Thought sure you would be there rattling some cages. I still haven't had the pleasure of meeting you face to face even though we only live an hour apart. One day soon..............

Hi Charley,
I've been wanting to meet you too! I'll be at Tavaries in a couple of weeks. Let's put a
meeting together.
My Cell is : 407 324 6493.

I was at Tavaries for the vintage show last month. But was only there on Saturday.
Chashed my Harley on the way home and spent the next two weeks recovering.

Geo

[ezryder]

Hi Everyone,
Thought I'd bring you up to date on some of the current goings on in Hooterville.

After 18 months I'm close to having my 1953 Mustang Pony Motercycle restoration complete.

I've attached some pictures to go with my comments.

6/3/11
Mustang Sally sprung to life today around 3pm!! I am one "happy camper"!!
Here's the details:
Sheila took videos of this entire deal. But I've not got enough experience with our new 1080p camera to
understand how to make up a short video that I can send just yet.
I'll work on that in the next few days.

On my first attempt I discovered Mustang Sally was just as ornery as she was when I attempted to kick start her
all those years ago. She backfired twice!! But due to the fact that I am now 185 lbs rather than 85 lbs, she
was not able to flip me over the bars! But it was a damn good thing that my leg was still bent some when she
"hit" me or I might have been off to the emergency room!!

Bottom line? She is one very difficult motor to start with a kick starter. In fact I had to re position the
kick starter for more swing before I brought her to life.

It's amazing how close my carburetor set up worked out. I just "guessed" at how high to set the slide for
idle. But I hit it perfectly!
And she seems to respond to the throttle as she should. But, of course, this is just running her in the race
shop. I did engage 1st gear, and she responds no problem.

I did experience some carb overflow when she was on her kickstand. But when I picked her up straight, that
problem went away. I'm assuming that the needle and seat don't like that angle she's at on her kickstand.
Whatever, just shut the fuel off, and no problem.

The next step is to load her up in my van and take her over to my mom's place in the villages and ride her
for the first time from there.
That way she won't get all dirty from riding her out to our paved road on a dirt road.

I'm currently machining an adaptor to allow me to mount a air filter on her. Then I'll do the final carburetor
tuning.

Am I having FUN!!! YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! THIS WAS A FANTASTIC DAY FOR MY. 18 MONTHS OF
LOVING WORK HAS PRODUCED "MUSTANG SALLY" AS I ENVISIONED HER!!!!

Regards,
Geo

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Beautiful George. What's your Mom going to say about wasting all your time working on that bike?

[ezryder]

I finally figured out how to post my 4 minute video to You Tube. Enjoy!
It's been a huge labor of love!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_sCbL_4ay4

Geo

[ezryder]

Beautiful George. What's your Mom going to say about wasting all your time working on that bike?

Upps, sorry! She's not my mom. She's my mother in law. So she don't count!!
I'm retired and I run on my OWN wavelength at ALL times!!! hehe!!
Until Sheila "hits me up side the head"! Then "reality" finally sets back in!!!!
;>)
Geo

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

A beautiful job George. There was a kid in my neighborhood in Little Rock in the late 40's that had one like that except for the color. Best I remember they were quite the performer for their day too! I wonder if the "hard kicking" was a common problem with them. I seem to remember him always having a gash on his lower right leg right above the ankle and he blamed it on trying to start the thing. He also had a Servicycle, so he was very popular in the neighborhood as well as all us kids thinking his Dad was a great guy also, that he would let his kid have a motorcycle. This was only a couple of years after WWII, and disposable income was still tight with a lot of family's.

I know I remember seeing a Servicycle or maybe more than one at Barbour Museum, but I don'r remember if they had one of yours also. Have to go back and look thru my photos Eileen took.