Sportin' Wood

SPORTIN’ WOOD

A different kind of beach cruiser

JOURNALISTS ARE NOTORIOUS FOR missing deadlines, but this story is 16 years past due. Way back in 1983, a customer coerced Ron Wood into building a street-legal version of one of his Rotax-powered dirt-trackers. Not long after, however, that same customer got Wood going on another project, the "Blank Check" Harley-Davidson XR-750 featured in the December, 1990, issue of Cycle magazine. And while the Wood Rotax garnered a mention in that article, no photo of it has ever appeared in print—except, paradoxically, in a Japanese magazine.

Insert humble apology here. We-the current generation of Cycle World editors, that is-became aware of this bike quite by accident. Returning from lunch one day, we spotted the brilliant red street-tracker sitting at an

intersection, Ron Wood himself in the saddle. A few days later, we had it in our photo studio. The owner, Dave Reese, is a passionate dirt-track enthusiast who in the 1970s campaigned Yamaha twostrokes on the now-defunct Southern California circle-track circuit. When, after hanging up his steel shoe, he found that his dirt-track passion still burned, he approached Wood about building a streetbike. At first, the answer was no, but Reese persevered and Wood acquiesced. The resultant “Newport 560,” as the bike was christened, is a rolling showcase of workmanship. Not content with merely cobbling something together, Wood and his in-house machinist, Steve Jentges, spent countless hours making sure all the necessary street equipment fit just right. The only

obvious omission is a speedometer. Six years ago, Reese had Wood upgrade the 560cc, kick-start engine to 600cc, electric-start status. Built to slightly less than race-spec, the fourvalve Single pumps out more than 60 horsepower, ample thrust for the diminutive, 235-pound machine. What price Reese’s obsession? “Originally, the bike cost me close to $10,000, and then I spent another three or four grand upgrading the engine,” says the proud owner. “It’s well worth it, though, because it’s a unique piece, turnkey and bulletproof. And it’s so cool! I’ll never sell it.” The Blank Check XR, meanwhile, is for sale, for an undisclosed sum. Says Reese, “It just sits under a cover in my garage because I never ride it.” Too busy sportin’ his Wood, would be our guess. —Brian Catterson