Kevin Cameron (KC as he signs his correspondence) has
written an excellent book about some of his past motorsports related
experiences—a thoughtful compilation of Cycle and Cycle World TDC and other articles,
plus past and current technical and social narrative. I received my copy from Amazon.com (also available signed from
CycleWorld.com) last week and enjoyed finishing it in two nights. The last time
I read that lengthy a book in two nights was when, at the age of 12, I
discovered a paperback copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in my older sister’s
stuff in the attic. TDC was equally absorbing, but in a way even more enjoyable
for a 58 year old with two-stroke oil sludge under his fingernails.
We DynoTechies are fortunate to have had Kevin Cameron as a
friend, advisor and contributing editor for more than 15 years. In the DTR
archives there are maybe 30-some TCD (The Cellar Dweller) articles that dealt
with then-current issues, to help us understand the mysteries we encountered.
Many archived TCD articles on our web pages are part of our current
understanding of things relating to two-stroke performance. But it’s still good
fun to go through them once a year for refreshment and enjoyment. New difficult-to-comprehend
issues continue to arise, and KC continues to help us. When he doesn’t have an
exact answer, he tries to find that answer from someplace or from someone who
does. All performance snowmobilers are fortunate that KC has chosen two-stroke
engines/ design/ racing to be one of his favorite fields of ongoing study,
instead of Tournament Bridge.
But how was KC’s built-in encyclopedia of two-stroke ideas
and theories created? And who were and are the people in his life that have
helped add chapters/volumes to his encyclopedia, and even today provide ongoing sources
of answers and information when we bug him for that?
Kevin Cameron is a modest person, and rarely discusses his own
past—he seems to be more interested in the backgrounds of people he’s with at
the time. But in TDC we get to see rare glimpses of KC as a young man in his
home cellar workshop, rebuilding from the ground up perfectly O.K. new factory
two-stroke racebikes, hopefully to make them better. We get to understand his
relationships with people like Erv Kanemoto who did amazing things out of tiny
garages to make racebikes racier and engines more powerful. And there are more, equally interesting
relationships with volunteer teammates, unknown and well known motorcycle
racers, many of whom began their event travels as privateers with Kevin in
rusty vans with malfunctioning heating systems, and a very few of whom would ultimately wind up
in million dollar Prevost motor coaches. A lot of that, and lots more technical
information is in his book TDC. And very few can tell those stories like Kevin Cameron
can.