Subject: Steve McQueen Bike
Hello paul
I'm back from vacation and finished my Steve McQueen bike. I have a few photos. We placed the bike in the San Diego Automotive Museum
the Saturday before last. We met up at the museum with Matt Stone. Matt Stone is the editor of Motortrend magazine. Matt is planning
to add the motorcycle to his second book "McQueen Machines II" . I can thank him for these photos.
As some of you know we have been doing a delicate clean up of the bike. When I say WE, I had the help of Don Ince of Vintage Viking who
had all the documents for this bike and Marty Tripes. For those who don't know Marty, Marty won 11 AMA nationals in his career and most remembered for winning the
Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum in July of 1972, just a few weeks after turning 16. That race was considered the
first true stadium Supercross race.
I fixed whatever had to be fix and did everything I could to keep it original. One of the main things
I did was rebuild the internal parts of the engine and transmission without altering anything external. With me being in New York and the bike
in San Diego I chose what to do from photos and had Don and Marty do the work. I did have the engine done here in New York.
The main goal was to get the bike running.
When the time came the bike fired up on the second kick. Matt and I took the bike for a ride around the parking lot
before handing it over to the museum. It was a thrill. Matt rode around the parking lot and stopped in front of me. With the bike running and
still sitting on the bike he took out his cell phone. To my surprise he called Chad McQueen. Chad heard the noise in the background and
asked what it was. When Matt explained I found his dads bike he responded with "No F......g S.....t. He was happy to hear it survived.
Before I go I have very interesting story about a finding with the bike. A little something for your imagination.
Just prior to putting the engine back in the bike. Marty went to clean the area of the rear engine mount. Anyone with bike experience
knows this is an area where dirt and grim can collect. Marty saw something in the dirt and sand and plucked it out. It was a round Plexiglas plastic case
about the size of a quarter. Inside the the case was a un-circulated Lincoln head penny.
The year of the penny was 1960.............here is where, for fun, you let your imagination go. 1960 was the year Chad McQueen was born.
Was McQueen superstitious and placed a penny there for good luck ?
Well enjoy the photos. This is the real deal. You all are getting an exclusive. Press release goes out later this week.
Rob Phillips
http://www.huskyrestoration.com/
