{"id":29355,"date":"2025-03-16T00:01:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T07:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=29355"},"modified":"2025-03-15T07:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T14:28:15","slug":"the-wayback-machine-jerry-and-the-jersey-devil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/03\/16\/the-wayback-machine-jerry-and-the-jersey-devil\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wayback Machine: Jerry and the Jersey Devil"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

If you can find a copy of this weekend’s Wall Street Journal<\/em>, there’s an outstanding article in the “Off Duty” section on the New Jersey Pine Barrens.\u00a0 We blogged about my ride through the Pine Barrens with Jerry Dowgin and his vintage 305 Honda Scrambler a few years ago.\u00a0 The Journal article’s lead photo was of the Jersey Devil in front of Lucille’s (read on and you’ll see what I’m talking about), and that had my attention instantly.\u00a0 I had a great time with Jerry, and that ride and visit went on to become a featured article in Motorcycle Classics<\/em> magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jerry went on to his reward a year or two after my visit, and I miss him. Read this blog, and if you can, the MC<\/em> article.\u00a0 Jerry was a great guy and a good friend.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Jerry.<\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019d heard of the Pine Barrens when I was a youngster in New Jersey but I\u2019d never been there, which was weird because the northern edge of the Pines starts only about 40 miles from where I grew up and geographically the Pine Barrens cover about a quarter of the state. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US, but you wouldn\u2019t know it in the Pine Barrens. Pine trees and sand, lots of dirt roads, and not much else except ghost stories and New Jersey\u2019s own mythological Jersey Devil (more on that in a bit).\u00a0 The region is mostly pine trees, but there are just enough other trees that our last-weekend-in-October ride caught the leaves’ autumn color change. That, the incredible weather, and saddle time on Jerry Dowgin’s vintage Honda Scrambler made it a perfect day.<\/p>\n

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Kicking back in the Pine Barrens town of Chatsworth.\u00a0 Check out the leaves changing colors in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 305cc Honda Scrambler, the Jersey Devil, and Lucille’s Country Diner.\u00a0 Life is good in the Pines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Jerry Dowgin at speed in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. He’s been riding the same motorcycle for five decades. Jerry paid $10 for his Honda Scrambler.\u00a0 I offered to give him what he paid for it, which drew only a smile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were other things that made the day great.\u00a0 For starters, that has to include riding with Jerry Dowgin, former South Brunswick High School football hero, vintage motorcycle aficionado, and son of the late Captain Ralph Dowgin.\u00a0 SBHS is my alma mater (Go Vikings!), and the Dowgin name is legendary in New Jersey. \u00a0I didn\u2019t personally know Jerry when I was in high school (he was four years ahead of me), but I knew of his football exploits and I knew of his State Trooper Dad. Captain Dowgin commanded Troop D of the NJ State Police, and thanks to a photograph provided by lifelong good buddy Mike (another SBHS alum), Trooper Dowgin graces the cover of The Complete Book of Police and Military Motorcycles<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 Take a look at this photo of Jerry, and the Police Motors<\/em> cover:<\/p>\n

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In the New Jersey Pine Barrens with former football star Jerry Dowgin and his awesome Honda Scrambler.\u00a0 I only run with the cool kids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Jerry’s father, Trooper Ralph Dowgin of the New Jersey State Police. This photo was taken in 1936.\u00a0 The one above it was taken 4 days ago.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Trooper Dowgin’s original leather motorcycle helmet.\u00a0 Jerry showed it to me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My ride for our glorious putt through the New Jersey Pine Barrens was Jerry\u2019s 1966 CL77 Honda Scrambler. Jerry has owned the Scrambler for five decades.\u00a0 Jerry’s name for the Scrambler is Hot Silver, but I’m going to call it the Jersey Devil.\u00a0 The bike is not a piece of Concours driveway jewelry; like good buddy Gobi Gresh\u2019s motorcycles, Jerry\u2019s Jersey Devil is a vintage rider. And ride we did.<\/p>\n

Honda offered three 305cc motorcycles in the mid-1960s: The Dream, the Super Hawk, and the Scrambler. All were 305cc, single overhead cam, air-cooled twins with four-speed transmissions. The CA77 Dream was a pressed steel, large fendered, single carb motorcycle with leading link front suspension. Like its sister Super Hawk, the Dream had kick and electric starting; the electric starter was unusual in those days.\u00a0 The Dream was marketed as a touring model, although touring was different then. Honda\u2019s CB77 Super Hawk was a more sporting proposition, with lower bars, a tubular steel frame and telescopic forks, twin shoe drum brakes (exotic at the time), twin carbs, a tachometer, and rear shocks adjustable for preload. The engine was a stressed frame component and there was no frame downtube. Like the Dream, the Super Hawk had electric and kick starting. It\u2019s been said that the Super Hawk could touch 100 mph, although I never saw that (my Dad owned a 1965 Honda Super Hawk I could sometimes ride in the fields behind our house).<\/p>\n

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The Scrambler fuel tank. Honda hit a home run with the Scrambler’s styling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Everything on this motorcycle is well proportioned. The ergnomics fit me perfectly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The cool kids removed the Scrambler’s bulbous two-into-one muffler and replaced it with Snuff-R-Nots. Jerry is one of the cool kids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third model in Honda\u2019s mid-\u201860s strategic triad was the CL77 Scrambler, and in my opinion, it was the coolest of the three. It had Honda\u2019s bulletproof 305cc engine with twin carbs, and unlike the Super Hawk engine, it was tuned for more torque.\u00a0 The Scrambler didn\u2019t have electric starting like the other two Hondas (it was kick start only, a nod to the Scrambler\u2019s offroad nature). The Scrambler had a downtube frame, no tach (but a large and accurate headlight-mounted speedo), a steering damper, and a fuel tank that looks like God intended fuel tanks to look (with a classic teardrop profile and no ugly flange running down the center). The bars were wide with a cross brace.\u00a0 With its kick start only engine, the magnificent exhaust headers, and Honda’s \u201cwe got it right\u201d fuel tank, the Scrambler looked more like a Triumph desert sled than any other Honda.\u00a0 In my book, that made it far more desirable. I always wanted a Scrambler.<\/p>\n

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The Scrambler’s speedo. The switch on the left is for the headlight; the amber light is a neutral indicator. The speedometer is accurate; we rode through a highway sign that showed your speed and it matched the speedometer indication.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Scrambler’s front fork damper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Scrambler’s tool storage compartment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Jerry’s wife Karin made the toolkit pouch. Jerry’s toolkit includes the original Honda tools and a few extras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A single overhead camshaft, two valves per cylinder, and threaded locknut valve adjustment. Honda’s casting quality was superb for the time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jerry and I had great conversations on our ride through the Pine Barrens.\u00a0 We talked motorcycles, the times, the old times, folks we knew back in the day, and more.\u00a0 Other riders chatted us up.\u00a0 The Scrambler was a natural conversation starter.\u00a0 Every few minutes someone would approach and ask about Jerry\u2019s Scrambler.\u00a0 Was it original?\u00a0 Was it for sale?\u00a0 What year was it?\u00a0 I had a little fun piping up before Jerry could answer, telling people it was mine and I\u2019d let it go for $800 if they had the cash.\u00a0 I can still start rumors in New Jersey, you know.<\/p>\n

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The Scrambler’s rear suspension has three preload adjustment positions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Relatively sophisticated for the time on a mass-produced motorcycle: Twin shoe brakes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Scrambler’s rear brake was similarly equipped.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Gresh and I are both members!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 305cc Honda twins of the mid-1960s were light years ahead of their British competitors and Harley-Davidson.\u00a0 British twin and Harley riders made snide comments about “Jap crap” back in the day (ignorance is bliss, and they were happy guys), but at least one Britbike kingpin knew the score and saw what was coming.\u00a0 Edward Turner, designer of the Triumph twin and head of Triumph Motorcycles, visited Honda in Japan and was shocked at how advanced Japanese engineering and manufacturing were compared to what passed for modern management in England.\u00a0 \u00a0No one listened to Turner.\u00a0 The Honda 750 Four often gets credit for killing the British motorcycle industry, but the handwriting was already on the wall with the advent of bikes like Honda’s Dream, the Super Hawk, and the Scrambler.\u00a0 I believe we’re living through the same thing right now with motorcycles from China.\u00a0 \u00a0Or maybe I just put that in to elicit a few more comments on this blog.\u00a0 You tell me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always curious about how others starting riding, so I asked Jerry if he inherited his interest in motorcycles from his motor officer Dad.\u00a0 The answer was a firm no.\u00a0 \u201cPop wasn\u2019t interested in motorcycles; he saw too many young Troopers get killed on motorcycles when he was a State Trooper.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Jerry\u2019s introduction into the two-wheel world was more happenstance than hereditary.\u00a0 He was working with his brother and his brother-in-law installing a heating system in a farmhouse when they encountered the Scrambler.\u00a0 Jerry bought his 1966 Scrambler in 1972 for the princely sum of $10.\u00a0 Yes, you read that right: $10. The Scrambler wasn\u2019t running, but the deal he made with his brother was that Jerry would do the work if his brother would pay for the parts (and in 1972, the parts bill came to $125 from Cooper\u2019s Cycle Ranch, one of the early and best known East Coast Honda and Triumph dealers).\u00a0 Getting the Scrambler sorted took some doing, as the engine was frozen, it needed a top end overhaul, it had compression issues, and getting the timing right was a challenge.\u00a0 But Jerry prevailed, and the bike has been a Pine Barrens staple for five decades now.<\/p>\n

Jerry shared with me that he plans to leave his Honda Scrambler to his son and grandson.\u00a0 I think that’s a magnificent gesture.<\/p>\n