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Jack Wilson and Wild Will Kelley 1972
“How did you do that Kelley?”
This is a little story about a neat conversation I had in 1972 with Texas Legend Engine Builder Jack Wilson. For those that didn’t have the pleasure to know the man, Let’s just say he was something else. Most folks down here in Texas looked at Jack Wilson as Mr. Triumph, deservingly so I might add.
Jack Wilson could make them Triumphs fly. I remember when he was getting up in the years, he couldn’t get anyone to ride at Bonneville Salt Flats so he bought a new set of leathers and went and rode himself. I believe he broke the 200mph mark too. If it could be done to a Motorcycle, ole Jack Wilson could do it.
In 1972 I had started riding a Rickman 250cc which had a Montesa engine in it. Rickman was distributed under the Triumph/BSA Marquee back then, and I talked of this Rickman in my story about Roger Crump at the Big Texas State Short Track Championships at Devils Bowl in 1972. Teddy Poovey won the Championship and I finished fourth on that Rickman. After that Devils Bowl Race I did some more things with the Rickman, and got
S and S Pipes there in Waco to make me a pipe for the Montesa. He made me a couple and made them where I could change the size of the stinger on the expansion chamber.
I finally had that Montesa flying on a half-mile at the Oklahoma City Races that September during the Oklahoma State Fair. I won my heat and made the Main event at the Friday Afternoon’s races, but I just couldn’t get that Montesa Engine to last for a complete program on the Half-mile, as that sucker seized entering turn one and threw me down so Hard. I mean really hard as I ended up with bruises on the backside of my right knee. I was totally banged up, as I looked like a Mummy with my ace bandages on my body for the next night on the Short Track.
After the Oklahoma City and Tulsa races which ran on Tuesday and Wednesday Night after Oklahoma City, there was only one race left that season in Texas. It was an outlaw Indoor race on concrete in San Angelo Texas. Since it wasn’t an AMA Race, I did something different on the Rickman Montesa for this Outlaw Race. I put the toped off my Bultaco 250 (Five Port: Two of them Finger Ports) on the Montesa bottom end. So I guess I had a Montaco, or a Bultesa. Lol
At the indoor races that Night in San Angelo, is where The Texas Legend Jack Wilson asked me. “How did you do that Kelley?” We were sitting in the pits and Jack Wilson was there with his son-in-law, Jon Minono who like I, had a Rickman for the Short Tracks that year.
Jack noticed right off my Montesa looked a little different, as he came over and started looking closer at it. The first thing Jack says is, “Kelley, did you do what I think you did?” He added, “that is a Bultaco top end on that Montesa isn't it." I said, “yeah Jack it is.” Then Jack says, “Kelley, Everybody has always told me you can’t do that.” I told Jack, “Yeah That’s what I always heard, But you know me Jack.” And with that we both laughed.
Then Jack Wilson says, “ Well how did you do it? Did you have to do a bunch of machine work?” Now I was only a young 21 years old as I talked to the famous engine builder that night in San Angelo, and it was pretty neat that he asked me how I did something that he had always been told that you couldn’t do. Jack, he says, “I don’t normally asked for people’s secretes but Kelley, you have got to tell me how you did it.”
It nearly blew ole Jack Wilson away when I told him all I used was a File and anyone could do it in their garage at home. I did no machine work to put the Bultaco Top end on the Montesa Bottom end, except with that hand file. Actually it was so simple I can’t understand why everyone said it couldn’t be done.
So I proudly told Jack Wilson What I did to make the Bultaco top-end go on the Montesa.
Oh You’ll want to know what I told Ole Jack Wilson That night in San Angelo, Texas?
It went something like. Now remember this was really a very simple procedure that I came up with to put the Bultaco top-end on the Montesa bottom-end, and I really had a time wondering why everyone had said it couldn’t be done, at least not without a lot of machining and all.
I told Jack, that I just measured the bolt pattern and quickly saw that the Montesa was just slightly smaller than the Bultaco. The Montesa had short studs holding the cylinder to the cases. Once these were removed, the Bultaco Cylinder slid on with no problem and the ports lined up perfectly.
The threaded holes the studs came out of are the ones Jack Wilson figured I had welded up and moved the Holes out further, and re-tapped them. The holes didn’t like a lot lining up. After a lot of measuring and even more eyeballing, I decided to put the Bultaco long studs in the cases and then I simply filed off about .030 thousandths or so off the inside of each stud. After I got all four of the studs filed off, the Bultaco cylinder slipped on just like it had earlier without any studs in the cases. Like I said, It was really simple and like I told Jack Wilson that night, Anybody could do it in their garage, in one evening, as long as they had a good file.
Now putting the Piston on the Montesa was actually more trouble and time Consuming than the modifications I had made to put the Bultaco top end on the Montesa bottom end.
For those that may not be familiar with the old Montesa, Well the Piston Pin Bearing or the Wrist Pin Bearing wasn’t caged like the Bultaco bearing was. Or any other brand for that matter. No the Montesa had loose bearings, and to avoid dropping a loose bearing in the lower end while installing the piston, I took the engine out and turned it upside down and installed the piston. That way if a loose bearing got away from me, it would fall inside the piston and not in the lower end. That is called Gravity!
That reminds me, I remember doing the top-end on that Montesa Rickman Motorcycle that Saturday after it threw me on the ground in the Main Event on the Friday’s Half-mile, at the State Fair of Oklahoma races before the Saturday Nights Short Track. I bought a new piston from the local Montesa Dealer. A guy named Major’s. I believe he use to build some real fast Hodakas and Montesas. Anyway we set up out in his parking lot that Saturday and proceeded to do the top-end job, with their permission of course. It became quite a site and attracted a lot of attention, as we had several visitors that afternoon. After my friend Terry McDonald and I set up the tarp between our two vans and Our wives were busing playing crossword puzzles, We took the seat and tank off of my Rickman and then turned the complete motorcycle upside down, like a bicycle, instead of pulling the engine.
Yeah a lot of people stopped by that day including fellow Texas Flat tracker Phil Darcy, Yeah of Darcy Racing. Ole Phil hung out a while. This was 1972, and Darcy had gotten his Junior license and was riding a Yamaha 750 on the Half-miles. Darcy and I had been Novices together in 1971, but I was short 2 ½ points and had to repeat as a Novice. That is how I wound up on that Rickman in the first place. Of course I have mentioned Darcy in several of my stories, That is Because He Was There!
Uh Oh, sorry about that, looks like I got carried away there with them memories. I was saying that putting the piston on the Montesa was much more a problem than the Modifications I had done to get the Bultaco
Top-end on the Montesa Bottom-end.
After telling The Legend Engine Builder, Jack Wilson how simple it was to do what I had done, well how do you say it, Jack just threw a fit and kept calling others over that night in San Angelo to show them what I had done, then Jack Wilson would then tell them how simple it was. He would tell everyone, “Kelley said You can do it with a file”.
Well folks that’s another of my memories from long ago about the Texas Legend Engine Builder Jack Wilson, and I hope you enjoyed it.
Willard Kelley
aka
Wild Will
From Stephenville,
The Cowboy Capital Of The World.
Note: The Above Story was First Posted here at Flattrack.com in 2003
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