Nerd alert: Bayliss' progress at Springfield, analyzed

No reasonable person expected Troy Bayliss to make the Main at his first Grand National. Overall, I'm sure Troy, the Lloyd Bros., and Ducati are all pretty happy with what went down in Springfield, although their weekend would've been a lot better were it not for Johnny Lewis' scary crash.

Bayliss' lap times trended down, although by some measures, all of his improvement relative to the rest of the field happened right at the beginning of the day. From Q1 on, Troy tracked along about two seconds adrift of the fastest guys.

The most interesting statistic is that, in his 8-lap Semi, Troy finished only about 7 seconds behind Jake Cunningham—the last guy to go through to the Main Event. I calculated a "Cutoff Factor" of 102%, meaning that Troy's lap times in that critical Semi were about 2% longer than they needed to be.

For all I know, Troy may make the Main at Sacto; it's a horsepower track that should suit the Ducati, although the Lloyd Bros. and Jake Johnson elected to race their Kawasaki there last year.

If Troy doesn't make the Main, I'll be looking to see improvement in that Cutoff Factor. If he does, I'll use the same statistical analysis next week to analyze his performance vis-a-vis the front runners.

In the meantime, if you want to waste 15 minutes of your life, you can watch a seriously boring and pedantic analysis of his lap times at Springfield. (I promise to get to the point quicker next Monday, after Sacto!)


Monday Morning Crew Chief from re: RevolutionaryOldIdea.com on Vimeo.

More photos from the auction at Steelville and Cuba, MO

Manx Norton was, according to rumors, part of the "good stuff" that got burnt up in a fire at the farm.

Somewhere, there must've been a box with all the missing fuel caps.

Lots of great finds, but only for those willing to buy in volume. This was one lot.

These went for $5,000 a piece. Granted, they were in perfect shape. Not sure if they were rebuilt or NOS.

Even after two months' work, Wood's crew was still overwhelmed by the quantity of material, and the unique challenges of Jerry L. Lewis' hoarding disorder.

Wheels. Again, one lot.

Panther found in Missouri woods.

There were some cool bikes, but the hoarder's taste ran the gamut.

Wooden rims!

Wood pulled several hundred bikes and pallets of parts out of the farm, and moved them to an empty industrial building in nearby Steelville. This was the site of the first-day auction.

Lots of small bikes that I can hardly imagine were that common in these parts. My friend Jim wondered how many had come back with servicemen, from Europe. Fort Leonard Wood is right nearby.

This pretty complete looking Guzzi sold for $20,000. The bidder was buying it for a friend in Switzerland. Later I heard that the friend's reaction was, "You paid how much?"

OHC, twin-ports. Star of show. $30 grand.

Graphic design gems abounded.

This pair sold for over $10 grand(!!!) A few days later, one every bit as good was advertised on Craigslist here in KC for $600. Most of the machines were sold sans title, by the way.

$27,000 worth of 1915 Harley.

Treasure for some Yale restorer. This was one of the few parts sold individually. Another was a Hedstrom carb, that went for over a grand.

Most of the parts were sold like this, by the pallet.

If I was writing a thesis on industrial design, my topic would be these beautiful outboard motors...

Another single lot.

Most of the bikes were in pretty rough shape, but a few crate motors looked ready for gas and oil.

Another star of the show. I think this one went for about $30 grand.

Another bit of sweet logo design.

Sold by Ed "Iron Man" Kretz!

My friend Jim Van Eman scored this Mornini. "I have two Morinis now," he told me. "Does that make me a moroni?"

Patina? Yes. Motor? Sadly no.

Better days seen...

Do you know how fast you were going?

Lights.

Hip, daddy-o.

Jim's genius idea came too late; they should've had a swap meet right after the auction, so the people who bought whole pallets of stuff could swap amongst themselves to get what they really wanted...

Tanks for the memories.

We were evidently not supposed to be here, but...

…we ignored the signs to explore the farm, too.

Burnt up in the fire?

It's hard to know exactly how they decided what to leave on the farm for the second day's auction.

There were a few bikes out there which had burnt or melted alloy bits, but the steel'd survived. (Sort of.)

Subaru Ladybug. Powered by 600cc two-stroke motor, IIRC.

Nice lettering from a time, happily, before vinyl.

Advantage of metal buildings: They don't burn.

Lewis accumulated quite a few bicycles, as well.

'80s Yamaha, ISO motor.

Bottom, ISO top.

I think Lewis had some kind of mobile home that burnt up. I'm not sure if this is where he lived afterwards...

NSU Lux: The only two-stroke they ever made.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.

500 bidders showed up.

There was a box of about a dozen of these, which have to be treasure for the right hunter.

Even Jerry Wood seemed a little surprised by the bids on some items.

Southeastern MO: Rat-tail heaven.

"He was a loner." This guy was one of Jerry L. Lewis' few friends.

Manx Nortons were hot bikes.

When Brownie prepared to unload the Adler from the trailer back in Lawrence, KS, he noticed that the motor had turned 90° in the frame; it had not been bolted in, it was just sitting on the lower frame rails the whole time!