Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal
“In the late 1970s I lived in Ottawa, Ontario and rode a red 1969 Rocket 3 BSA motorcycle. They were all red, so that part doesn't matter; I've only seen the slime green version in books. The 1969 / 70 Rocket 3s are as ugly as sin with a 'shoe box' gas tank and unmistakable gaudy mufflers nicknamed 'Flash Gordons'. They're high maintenance, expensive and, even then very, very rare. But they're a great bike and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. Back then I used to race it a bit and removed the (fairly) high stock handlebars so I could use flatbars instead and fitted bar-end mirrors on both sides. Bar-ends were also fairly rare and I had to buy mine mail-order from Toronto. As full face helmets were just coming in and not popular, most riders still rode with an open-faced brain bucket, not a white Honda line, like myself. I also wore -- and this was habitual to me at the time -- a Canadian Army surplus khaki green bush jacket; and although there were plenty of 'genuine' motorcycle gloves available, I used cheap tan leather work gloves, known as 'ropers'. I was pretty distinctive, by anyone's standards. Just before dusk in mid-summer, I was riding west through the city on Hwy 417, locally known as the Queensway and looked across into the east-bound lane. There was another motorcyclist there, he road a 1969 or 70 BSA Rocket 3 with flatbars, bar-end mirrors, stock tank and exhaust system, wearing a white full face helmet, army bush jacket and ropers. I'm not saying anything, one way or the other, I'm just asking. What are the odds?” RS
“In the late 1970s I lived in Ottawa, Ontario and rode a red 1969 Rocket 3 BSA motorcycle. They were all red, so that part doesn't matter; I've only seen the slime green version in books. The 1969 / 70 Rocket 3s are as ugly as sin with a 'shoe box' gas tank and unmistakable gaudy mufflers nicknamed 'Flash Gordons'. They're high maintenance, expensive and, even then very, very rare. But they're a great bike and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. Back then I used to race it a bit and removed the (fairly) high stock handlebars so I could use flatbars instead and fitted bar-end mirrors on both sides. Bar-ends were also fairly rare and I had to buy mine mail-order from Toronto. As full face helmets were just coming in and not popular, most riders still rode with an open-faced brain bucket, not a white Honda line, like myself. I also wore -- and this was habitual to me at the time -- a Canadian Army surplus khaki green bush jacket; and although there were plenty of 'genuine' motorcycle gloves available, I used cheap tan leather work gloves, known as 'ropers'. I was pretty distinctive, by anyone's standards. Just before dusk in mid-summer, I was riding west through the city on Hwy 417, locally known as the Queensway and looked across into the east-bound lane. There was another motorcyclist there, he road a 1969 or 70 BSA Rocket 3 with flatbars, bar-end mirrors, stock tank and exhaust system, wearing a white full face helmet, army bush jacket and ropers. I'm not saying anything, one way or the other, I'm just asking. What are the odds?” RS