One of my industrial design profs occasionally brought his Pentax Single Lens Reflex 35mm camera to class. The Pentax was among the best cameras in the 1960s, so much so that his was covered in electrical tape so as not to draw attention to its near $500 value. Remove the lens cap, set the lens opening, then the shutter speed and double check the asa; you changed to fast Kodak Tri-X for prints instead of slides. Focus. Is there enough light, how’s the depth of field? Bulky, heavy, somewhat fragile, what you see on the pages of old motorcycle magazines probably came from an interchangeable lens SLR Nikon, Pentax, maybe a Yashica. Those shots of Dick Mann on a BSA at the Charity Newsies, Mert Lawwill on a KR, maybe some photos from a 1960s tradeshow illustrating the latest from Japan or Great Britain. Amazing, the invention of photography, the making of a “fixed image.” In its various iterations photography goes back to 1826 in France, also the origin of the DOHC engine, Peugeot 1912. Soon after its invention, photography gave us lasting documentation of the Civil War.
Larry Barnes’ Father’s Day story in this issue wouldn’t be anywhere near as interesting without the forethought of three generations of family photographers. Dain Gingerelli’s story on mini-bike racing also brought up this recollection, and prompted a quick refresh on the amazing technology photography has been and is. I have no photos of me on my go-kart or homemade mini-bike from the 1960s. Mom was there with her camera in 1966, and I’m standing behind my flat bar, chopped back fender, Bates trumpet megaphoned-1962 Honda Dream. So, all those kids that raced mini-bikes in California, many of them are documented. Dain gathered old photos from a few shooters of the era and let us bring the short history to you in this issue. I’m sure you’d agree that while The New Yorker magazine readers are fine with page after page of text and some cartoons, we like and need photos reminding us of motorcycle designs, their racetrack sightings, and factory assembly scenes. Think of a world with no fixed-in-time images useful for countless situations, including magazine publishing.
Today, as it is cheaper and easier for anyone to engage with and share images, I hope you will take plenty of smartphone photos of your kids and grandkids as they motor through life. Then, as with Larry Barnes’ family and all those SoCal mini-bike racers, your family can look back on the collection of images and see an actual perfect, locked-in-time capture of where they began their riding experience; their bike, their helmet, their jersey, their smile.
