I recently sat with Carman Vaugn(Legend) and chatted about the good old days. I was asked by a fellow member to inquire about the cycle testing he did for Rockford Motors. He spoke of the time that the 60cc cycle was brought over. They sent a protoype and management told him to break it. He said he ran it from Rockford to Freeport many times wide open throttle in the crouch. He could not break it. He said the construction guys working on hwy 20 must have wondered what was going on as this "guy" ran by them many times a day with this screaming little 2 stroke motorcycle.
Rockford Motors as the US factory representative would present an idea of the next new product needed for the US market and in short order a prototype would appear and Carman would go to work. He also did some new dealer setup in the midwest.
As the 175 racer was produced Carman gave them quite a run at the local Santa Fe speedway(
http://www.kalracing.com/Autoracing/Santa_Fe_Speedway_History.htm) . The first night he was announced as a new rider with a 175cc machine running with the 250s. When he placed in the top 5 quite a lot of discussion followed. It also left Carman asking for more torque and this prompted the engineers at Rockford Motors to produce a special crankshaft with both cylinders firing together.
In the movie available on this site showing Bridgestone running and winning at Daytona Carman was there not as a rider but as a mechanic.
Carman has in his possession a near 5 ft high dealer sales/service sign and a 2ft circle sign with BS in the middle of the circle.
As I mentioned in other posts the connection to Carman was due his dealership was contained in a little storage shed attached to a Chevrolet dealership in Fort Atkinson,WI where my Dad was a mechanic.
Carman and his wife have sold their 2wheelers as they have aged but remain excited about the lifestyle. I mentioned traveling to the Springfield Mile and to the Slimey Crud Run and they immediately asked that they be included in the trips.
