1951 Pirates Treasure Run won by Ted Johnson - 2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1951 Pirates Treasure Run won by Ted Johnson - 2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 9" x 12" (23 cm x 30 cm) each page
Condition: Good
TED JOHNSON of Detroit, Mich.,
won the fifth annual Pirates’ Treas-
ure Run which was held at Montgom-
ery, Ala., Friday and Saturday, Nov.
24 and 25. Johnson rode his Matchless
through the 500-mile Enduro, which
covered the “pirate” land of the Deep
South, with a total score of 937 points.
Earl Robinson, Harley - Davidson
mounted, of Detroit, Mich., 1947 win-
ner, came through to win the Class A
Solo with a score of 917 points and was
followed by Claude Owens riding BSA,
of Butler, Ala., with 897 points. An-
other Alabama rider, Myron Annis of
Montgomery, was third on his Harley
with 869 points. An Austin, Tex., lad,
Jack O’Leary, riding Triumph, placed
fourth spot while Clarence Gray of
Montgomery, Ala., was fifth. These two
had scores of 773 and 716, respectively.
The class B riders were topped by
George Everett, Baton Rouge, La., who
rode his Triumph through with 900
points. A South Carolina rider, Her-
man Brown, followed him with 779
points, while third place went to Wil-
liam Jeffries of Mobile, Ala. Fourth
and fifth places went again to Texas
riders, both on Triumphs, Edward
Brammer of Ft. Worth and Bill Oat-
man of Austin. Their scores were 476
and 469, respectively.
The winner of the Sportsman Award
was decided by the officials and promo-
ters of the run, and their choice met
with everyone’s approval, as they se-
lected William “Mutt” Jeffries for this
honor.
Winner of the Class A sidecar divi-
sion was Dot Robinson, riding her
newly built 45 Harley job. Her passen-
ger was Les McKay. Both hail from
Detroit, Mich.
The team award was won by the
Montgomery team composed of Clar-
ence Gray, Harvey Justice and Mike
Innis.
The Class B sidecar honor was won
by a Montgomery, Ala., team of Walker
Hobbie and Wallace Williams. Nickie
Hero and passenger, Otto Seigrist,
came second in this class. Pensacola,
Fla., is home spot for these two. The
winner of the 125 class was Pat Boat-
right of Shreveport, La.
The festivities of the occasion began
with a banquet Thanksgiving night
which was attended by the riders and
friends. Instructions were given and
rider numbers were drawn.
The founders of the Treasure Run,
George Balmer of Savannah, Ga.; Otis
Lee of Mobile, Ala.; and B. W. Barfield
of Memphis, Tenn., were introduced
along with other prominent guests.
At 6:01 Friday morning the first of
the 68 entries representing fourteen
states left the starting line at Rabun
Chambless Harley-Davidson shop. The
weather was brisk and just right for
the run. The entries included 22 class
A riders, 38 class B, 1 class A sidecar,
2 class B sidecar, and 5 125’s; seven
different makes of machines were en-
tered.
The course was well marked and var-
ied from the start with hills, wood
trails, water crossings, broken bridges
and sand. All went well until around
9:00 a.m. when a light rain began
which lasted just long enough to wet
the riders, then with a steady tempera-
ture drop the rain turned to sleet. The
riders became solid sheets of ice and
the weather change also had drastic ef-
fects on machines as controls and car-
buretors froze up. The trail became a
treacherouus course due to the icy condi-
tions. This resulted in the first major
loss of points, and noon check saw many
riders eliminated. The expression was
made by spectators that to see a rider
fall was like seeing a tree cut down—
machine and rider alike just hit the
ground with no effort made to break the
fall. The riders were practically frozen
into riding position and nothing was...
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