Rider Profile - Al Jones
I suppose I first became enamoured with the mystery of motorcycles when I first read an issue of Cycle Canada in ‘64 or ‘65. The fact that men could control these machines and rail around corners and down straight-aways at super high speeds at places such as the Isle Of Man and our own Mosport track was awe inspiring. I had seen the advertisements in the Sears catalogue for the Allstate motorbikes and could only dream of one day riding my own machine. People like Mike Duff, Mike Hailwood and John Surtees became my heroes. I will never forget one summer day in grade seven when a loud truck went down the road outside of our school and as the downshift for the corner was made, I exclaimed out loud that it must have been a Honda. The class laughed and I knew I was hooked on the magic.
My first ride however was probably about 1966 on a friend's Vespa. We rode around our block for hours at a time any chance we could get. Even after the street lights came on. My very best friend soon acquired a Ducati 250 Mach 1 which was a complete surprise to me when he asked me to help him push it home after school the day he bought it. We took turns “riding” it until we got to his house. There we tried for the first time to bring the beast to life. With the mightiest kick of the left side kick starter my buddy came down and when the resultant backfire flame through the Delorto GP Carb velocity stack singed his clothing and stood him skyward on the handlebars, I knew I was hooked for good. That is typical of the stories that got me riding and keep me riding to this day.
Every time I fire one of my bikes up I never know what adventure lies ahead. Whether it was early days trying to emulate the world's best ISDT riders or trying to strafe an apex properly on an old back road some adventure always cropped up. Almost every time you stop when you're on a motorcycle someone will have something positive to say. The old guys and gals that rode in the very early days are inspiring to the avid child or wannabe adult and are what riding and camaraderie are all about. The romance of the open road calls all the time.
Most of my riding is done locally around Southern Ontario. I commute regularly and think nothing of donning the rain gear for the ride to work. It might be a nice day when the workday is over. I will often take the long way home because riding is a great stress reliever for me. When I lived just ten minutes from work, many were the days that when I got home from the job my wife would say “Go for a ride, you need it, dinner will be ready in a couple of hours”. Of I would go and the stress of the day would be gone when I returned. My wife is a lovely lady for understanding my passion. Over the years I have not done near the long distance tours that many of my friends have done but I nonetheless enjoy every kilometre of the 16 to 17k I put on my motorcycle every year.
The romance of the my heroes of my youth on the race tracks was very inviting to me. Fortunately I realized that there was no way I could trust myself on the track, so I did the next best thing. I became a race bike builder and mechanic utilizing my training as a machinist and learned the trade from an eccentric individual who saw fit to take me under his wing. Those five years or so were like a dream to me. I was trackside watching machines that I had a significant hand in creating being flogged mercilessly by young gun heroes of the day. Yes they were for the most part Ducatis as well. The dream was born with that first 250 Mach 1.