1951 Yonkers New York Turkey Run / Don Pink - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1951 Yonkers New York Turkey Run / Don Pink Wins - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, Vintage Magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 9" x 12" (23 cm x 30 cm) each page
Condition: Good
DON PINK helped himself to another serving of
turkey this year by riding into top scoring po-
sition in the 20th annual Yonkers M.C. Turkey Run.
This adds one more to a long string of Turkey
Run wins by the able Crotona M.C. rider. Last year
Don copped first place on a Harley 125, proved his
versatility by doing it again this year on a Har-
ley 45.
Apparently taken aback by the sight of so many
machines resting firmly on their rear axles in last
year’s assortment of bogs, the Yonkers Road Com-
mittee pared down the total mileage from 175 miles
to a mere 120.4. But the 83 entrants who started off
at one minute intervals beginning at 10:00 a.m.,
Nov. 18th, had no cause for complacency. The back-
woods explorers who laid out the course packed
enough natural hazards into these 120 miles to elim-
inate all but 28 riders at day’s end.
Fortunately for this story, your re-
porter was not one of those eliminated.
Promptly at 10:35 I slapped my wife’s
trim B.S.A. Bantam into first gear and
took off from home check across the
street from Jack Tracey’s Harley shop.
After riding a few blocks the feeling of
having stuck my nose into a mouse trap
began to dissolve. What if it was my
first Enduro ? The Bantam was barking
away in a business-like fettle, rubber
galoshes were ready to fend off watery
attacks up to the knees, and Navy rain
pants took over from there. My head
and hands were warm and the route
card easily visible on my left sleeve—
this task force was set for conquest.
The first 7.6 miles was a leisurely jog
through the cobbled streets of Yonkers
and north on broad Central Avenue.
There the route shifted off onto second-
ary roads for the first time, and tended
to get worse the rest of the day. To mark
the occasion, the first check was set up
at the turn-off point. For 22 entrants it
was also the last check. Some, like
Larry McConkey and Phil Phillips, got
mixed up in their bookkeeping and
missed the next check. But the sidecar
outfits, of which there were three, just
plain didn’t get through.
The section “what dun ’em in” was
that perennial Turkey Run favorite, the
Ardsley water-splash and the adjacent
geography. It started harmlessly enough
less than a mile from civilized Central
Avenue. A right turn off the macadam
led onto a rutted dirt auto road, but
this pleasure was short-lived. Not far
down the road arrows pointed toward
the woods and brought the Bantam into
combat with pure unadulterated nature
for the first time. A short bounce down
a hill and the Bantam crept up to the
first water-splash, a narrow one but
swollen to better than axle depth by
recent rain.
Although I’d plugged all openings to
the flywheel magneto with putty-like
stuff, I was taking no chances. I killed
the engine, shut the air cleaner opening,
and waded across. A slip and a slide up
the far bank and we were off once more,
the Bantam roaring into life again at
the first kick...
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