Paul’s Race Diary

When I was young, I never realized how competitive I was. That came out later in life: racing mountain bikes in my thirties, and then switching to motorcycle road racing when I was 44. Yes, I am a late bloomer.

I raced an Aermacchi 350 for about 5 years until it got stolen. No, I never did get it back. However, the “emptiness” was soon replaced with the Excelsior project. The bike with no clutch, no brakes, no transmission. It always was my intention to build a 750 class Vintage Racer with an Excelsior powerplant. It started out being called 358 Vintage Road Racer. As our relationship evolved and matured, I renamed her Ruby Racer. We had adventures; sometimes even ending up on the podium! My Race diaries are a log of the racing, teardowns, modifications, and evolution of Ruby. Her engine will be 94 years old next year!

For 2013, she will become Ruby 2.0 (two point oh!) A new frame, a downdraft carb, and new livery. Ruby will be new from the waist up, and she’s very excited about that.