The other Roman …

As far as I know besides me in the Tri-State area there is only another Roman regularly attending road racing club events: my friend Luciano.
The first time I noticed him it was several year ago at one of the Pocono events organized by Nesba while inspecting bikes right after the registration. I believe that he had an old H1 or H2, a 3 cylinder Kawasaki, in perfect conditions and as soon as I opened my mouth to compliment him for that beauty he ask me in perfect Roman dialect: “ ma sei de Roma?” (but are you from Rome?) . Since that time I cannot recall how many perfectly restored bikes he has been bringing to the track over the years. I believe that he has a nice collection of 4 strokes but I have recently discovered that he has a boundless enthusiasm for 2 strokes. At the last event that we had in Pocono I had the opportunity to ride his gorgeous yellow Yamaha TZ 250: I had so much fun in shifting up and down those gears thru the twisty turns of the East Course. The bike is light and nimble, very conducive in carrying extra speed at the entrance of the turn to remain in the power band for the exit of the corner. And what about that urge to tuck as much as you can behind the windshield with the elbows tight against the tank? Only that generation of racing bikes can give you this kind of feelings. Modern four stroke bikes have shrank over the years to dimensions that we would have never imagined ten years ago but as Luciano claims a TZ 250 … “with 240 pounds wet and more then 85 hp on the wheel it is a joy to race it. In the right hands a well running TZ can give hard times to a liter bike”.