Art of Racing Roars Into Town

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Images from the Forest & Ocean Gallery exhibition on motorcycle racing opening next week.
Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola in a 1984 race at Laguna Seca, among the images from the Forest & Ocean Gallery exhibition opening next week. Photo by David Dewhurst

As a teenager, Peter Starr raced motorcycles in his native England and worked for Triumph. When he moved to the U.S., Starr was intent on participating in a Grand Prix race at Daytona. In his luggage, he schlepped a set of special German-made bike brakes to give himself an advantage during his first race.

Motorcycle fan and singer Arlo Guthrie will perform at the gallery's opening reception.
Motorcycle fan and singer songwriter Arlo Guthrie, seen here in 1978, will perform at the gallery’s opening reception. Photo by Peter Starr

When his own Triumph became ensnared in customs and never made it to Florida, his career, too, took a detour. Reinventing himself as a disc jockey and radio host in Canada, he hung out with British Invasion bands, from the Rolling Stones to the Animals. But he also went on to produce television shows and films, mostly about motorcycles and racing. While his first documentary covered the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, “Bad Rock” was the first starring motorcycles.

In 1980, Starr produced “Take it to the Limit,” a film about motorcycle racing that deployed innovative camera work for its day that became a cult film among racers and aficionados.

It roars to life again during the exhibition “Take it to the Limit; A Motorcycle Odyssey,” and the 6-9 p.m. opening reception Thursday, April 9, at the Forest & Ocean Gallery, 480 Ocean Ave.

Gallerist Ludo Leideritz and Starr have curated the exhibition based on the film featuring racing luminaries such as Kenny Roberts, Steve Baker and Roger DeCoster. Motor racing legend Dan Gurney and Daytona winner Gene Romero are expected to attend the reception along with singer-song writer and motorcycle racing fan Arlo Guthrie.

The three-day display April 10-12 entails production stills from the film and racing

An example from the gallery exhibition.
“Big Burn” captures Russ Collins in 1979. Photo by Peter Starr 

memorabilia.

“The exhibition is a two-wheeled version of the exhibition we staged last year based on the 1966 film ‘Grand Prix’,” said Leideritz, who was contacted by Starr about staging a similar show to mark the 35th anniversary of his film.

Starr is bringing in three original bikes from private museums in Las Vegas: Kenny Roberts’ 1975 Indy-winning, four-cylinder Dirt Tracker, Steve Baker’s Yamaha OW31 Formula 750 bike and Barry Sheene’s Formula 750 Suzuki.

“These three bikes may not be significant to most people, but to the motorcycle racing enthusiast they have tremendous history and now value,” said Starr, who is also adding four American-made Indian motorcycles into the mix.

At 72, the Santa Monica resident no longer races, but still regularly rides his Suzuki touring bike, one that he likens to a two-wheeled SUV. Altogether he has ridden the same model through 10 countries and two tours through Taiwan where he rode with groups of older men, often cancer survivors like himself.

While also contributing to Motorcyclist Magazine and related publications, he has shifted his passion to the Healing Arts Education Foundation, an organization he runs to educate men about the possibilities of reversing prostate cancer by natural methods. “I still do tours and work with motorcycle dealers to seek out older audiences. It’s an approach that works very well,” he said.

Proceeds from the show will benefit Healing Arts. Mostly in their 70s now, several participants in Starr’s films will attend the exhibit’s opening. Guthrie, a racer whose “Motorcycle Song” features the line “I don’t want no pickle; all I want to do is ride my motorciccle,” is scheduled to perform.

Racing motorcycles is a lot like skiing, said Belgian-born DeCoster, a five-time World Motocross champion who is featured in the film and lives in Ladera Ranch. “It’s about focusing, dedication and not giving up,” he said.

He first got interested in racing when organizers of a Brussels endurance race set up a checkpoint right at his house, and his career took him to running racing teams for Honda and the Austrian-based KTM team.

Don Emde’s now deceased younger brother David stars in the movie’s opening scene. “Racing was a family business. I started riding at 14 and turned professional at 18,” he recalled. His father, Floyd, won the Daytona 200 in 1948 and Don did so, too, in 1972. “The sport puts passion to the test; it’s a life-style,” said Emde, of Laguna Niguel and author of “The Daytona 200: The History of America’s Premier Motorcycle Race.”

“This is the first time I’ve done a gallery show,” said Starr, who may have stumbled across another career turn.

 

 

 

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2 COMMENTS

  1. […] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAs a teenager, Peter Starr raced motorcycles in his native England and worked for Triumph. When he moved to the U.S., Starr was intent on participating in a Grand Prix race at Daytona. In his luggage, he schlepped a set of special German-made bike brakes to give himself an advantage during his first… The post Art of Racing Roars Into Town appeared first on Laguna Local News . […]

  2. Small correction on the Motorcycle Song lyrics…..
    The sentiment is there, but the actual line is:
    “I don’t want a pickle, just want to ride on my motorsickle”
    Listened to that song many times during my wasted youth!!!

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