It was motorcycle-theme day at Portland Cars & Coffee and Josh indulged me with the barest hints of skepticism when I said we’d ridden in on the same bike— with 44 years of heritage between them.
His lucky number is whatever others consider unlucky. He used to enjoy riding fast on unassuming bikes (perhaps he still does.) And the 53 year old V7 he brought to show is the one and only bike in his garage — which has slowed him down in a way not wholly unwelcome.
“I like the world when I’m on a motorcycle”
CZ: [Speaking over loud engine noises.] What are you riding and why do you like it?
JC: My current ride is a 1972 Moto Guzzi Ambassador. It is anything but factory, but it is a very nice vintage bike. Paint scheme is designed after a V7 Special from Europe, with a little bit of a flair of an earlier model bike with the red frame.
CZ: Does your bike have a name?
JC: She is named Sophia.
Josh’s 1972 Moto Guzzi Ambassador - “anything but factory.”
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Named by the builder after Sophia Loren.
PC: Loomis Dean/ British Vogue
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CZ: What’s your name and how long have you been riding?
JC: My name is Joshua Clark and I’ve been riding since I was 17 years old, which would put me at riding for … 22 years– 32 years! 42 years? – 32 years.
CZ: What’s something you do every time you ride?
JC: Get the smell of gasoline on me. Make sure, whatever I do, I can smell the engine. The gasoline. The fuel mixture. I want to know I’m riding a bike; I don’t want to think I’m riding a bike.
CZ: It’s rush hour, do you take the car or the moto?
JC: Rush hour? I’d probably take the car, because drum brakes in rush hour traffic and an iffy clutch are not fun.
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We wound up riding together to a “Cornfield Concourse” later that day. As we pulled in, Josh did indeed have to turn his bike off to get it into neutral.
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CZ: Does shaving your beard make you faster?
JC: No, it just helps you with your temperature control.
CZ: Do you have a dream bike?
JC: I own it.
CZ: Is it this one?
JC: It is.
CZ: What’s the next thing you’re looking forward to learning?
JC: This is a life general answer? It is to be more patient. In everything I do.
“Learn how to be confident in what you’re doing. The minute you lose your confidence, like in a corner or in a vehicular situation, you’ll panic and make a mistake.”
CZ: We’re halfway there. Do you wave to other riders?
JC: Absolutely.