DEATH OF A VINTAGENT

My friend James Johnson died last night, after a riding accident on his favorite, a 1924 Sunbeam Model 5. James has been featured many times on these pages, as he was a true Vintagent, and had honed his Sunbeam from a neglected but cosmetically-passable old bike, into a comfortable and useful touring motorcycle. As he was not a mechanic by trade (but a building contractor), his mechanicing skills were hard earned through sheer cussedness - all of his friends were amused by the great number of piston seizures and 'dnf's' on rides he joined on his Sunbeam, rigid Velocette MAC, Ariel Red Hunter, Royal Enfield Model J, or BSA Sloper, almost always in the company of his wife, Kumi, who rode close by. He spent most of his time recently on the Sunbeam, which had eventually become a reliable bike on which he would tour distances incomprehensible for a 1920's machine, even to those dedicated to Old Motorcycles.

Indeed, when we recently compared our Vintage Sunbeams side by side, (see the 'Sunbeam Shootout' and 'Sunbeam Redux' posts), I was impressed at just how easy his machine had become - while my Longstroke was still many, many hours of toil away from this state of utility. I asked if he would spend countless hours on my bike as well, so I could enjoy it in the same manner; he repliced with a laugh and a curse - getting a motorcycle 'sorted' is no easy task.

James had organized a 'run what you brung - illegal p.o.s.' ride for New Year's Day on Thursday, to explore the excellent riding roads north of San Francisco, in Marin County. The day was passably fine and dry, although quite a bit of mist was encountered at 3000' on Mt. Tamalpais - this cleared up at the coastal Sea Level of the legendarily beautiful Hwy 1.

The other legendary aspect of our California Highways is two decade's worth of neglected maintenance - our roads are in mediocre-to-appalling condition; apparently safety comes second to keeping our taxes low. The group of riders all experienced a sharp road rift on a stretch just north of the invisible town of Bolinas (they keep removing the signs to keep tourists out). While the bikes all took a wallop, James' bike had a fatal weakness.

James took two risks with his riding; he chose to wear a 'pudding basin' helmet, and he retained the 'clincher' tires on his Sunbeam, as he (like me) is a fan of 'period' correctness. These old tires were superseded in 1928 by the 'modern' wired-edge type (still in use); 'clinchers' were considered unsafe even then. As they rely on air pressure to keep the tire on the rim, a sudden loss of air through puncture or compression-blowout will rapidly have the tire wrapped around the wheel like a rubber band.

Thus, after hitting this sharp rift on Hwy 1, James' tire wrapped around the front wheel, and he rode/skidded on the rim for quite a ways - it is estimated he was moving at around 55mph at the time. When he inevitably hit the ground, he hit his head, and although the Davida helmet he wore was fairly new, this design has not been certified as safe for road use since the 1960's. It gave no protection, and he cracked his skull. A one-two punch of bad luck and risky equipment, and James was down.

As they were on an isolated and no-cell range spot of the coast, it took nearly an hour for a helicopter to lift him to the nearest hospital, and while the surgeons did their best, it was clear that even if he survived, the damage to his brain meant that James-as-James was gone.

His wife Kumi, who had been following on her '48 Velocette MAC, shortly came upon the scene, and was inconsolable. James' mother arrived from Texas, and in concert with the assembled friends, we agreed that James would not wish to have his body survive his mind, and decided to 'pull the plug' last night. As James had a rare blood type, his organs will extend the lives of several more fortunate people.

I'm sorry if going into such detail is disturbing, but I feel it's important to sit with the consequences of some of James' decisions about his motorcycling, which are decisions that each of us make when we choose to ride older machines. All motorcycles are dangerous, granted, but we can certainly mitigate some of the danger by choosing a bit of safety over style. I'm certainly not pointing fingers, as just like James, I have been known to ride with an ancient pudding bowl helmet, on a Sunbeam with clincher tires. Very suddenly, a rather mundane solo accident became a major tragedy, which impacts many, many people. I'm not going into 'what ifs', just what happened.

We've lost a good friend, the world has lost a Vintagent, and our prayers are with Kumi.

A selection of photos of James doing what he loved best can be found here.

Photos of the wake can be found here.