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Motorcycle racing transporters


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#1 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 09 June 2009 - 17:08

Hi all, having been very active on the car transporter thread , I thought it was time to bring on a topic on transports here too. Knowing that MC in earlier times did not need the big ones , it might here be more on vans etc. Unless perhaps someone know of the big Italians in the 50's. Perhaps paddock pictures could find a way here too ? Or their own thread ?

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#2 LamboNZ

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 08:34

My Dad's race van from 82/83 in the background.

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Edited by LamboNZ, 10 June 2009 - 08:37.


#3 stuavant

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 09:44

Hi all, having been very active on the car transporter thread , I thought it was time to bring on a topic on transports here too. Knowing that MC in earlier times did not need the big ones , it might here be more on vans etc. Unless perhaps someone know of the big Italians in the 50's. Perhaps paddock pictures could find a way here too ? Or their own thread ?

My favourite was Borje Nielsons Mercedes 613. It had some wild motor and a hidden 500 or so litre gas tank full of heating diesel. Even had a dummy tank if he got tested IIRC. It was bloody quick but did'nt stop that well and I think he caused chaos on every descent throught Europe. Great bloke!!

#4 ex Rhodie racer

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 11:55

A picture of Patrick Pons´s transporter. Not sure of the year, but it must have been 1975/6. Can´t for the life of me remember where the shot was taken though.
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#5 Yendor

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 12:55

No explanation necessary I think :)

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#6 Yendor

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 12:58

Dane and Rudi Kurth's CatVan

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#7 picblanc

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 13:41

A picture of Patrick Pons´s transporter. Not sure of the year, but it must have been 1975/6. Can´t for the life of me remember where the shot was taken though.
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Belgian flag and the trees/tree line Spa?

#8 Rennmax

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 16:33

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Not sure if this are Smart's and Spaggiari's bikes on board, but they used this showroom bus for their trip to Imola in 72

Edited by Rennmax, 10 June 2009 - 16:34.


#9 fil2.8

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 16:57

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Not sure if this are Smart's and Spaggiari's bikes on board, but they used this showroom bus for their trip to Imola in 72


Yes Renn , I can remember that transporter at Brands , very unique and how different . I was hoping somebody had a pic --I lost my own pics of that era many moons ago............ :well: :well:


#10 ex Rhodie racer

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 18:37

Belgian flag and the trees/tree line Spa?

I have a feeling you are right Mr Fu, only it seemed too level to me. Most of the old Spa paddock was fairly slopping. Patrick must have found the only level site. :lol: :clap:

#11 Tony L

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Posted 11 June 2009 - 08:59

Sorry about bit blurry photo, but that´s how still most racing transport was done in Soviet Union-
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Photo is most likely from 1976 or 1977 and from Pirita-Kloostrimetsa track in Estonia. Can´t make it out 100% from small painted marking on car, but looks like Estonian DOSAAF(Soviet Army supporters sports club)vehicle and bikes.

Even "factory" boys(Vihur was a small workshop in Soviet Estonia, that made about 200 racebikes, using selfmade, IZh, CZ, Yamaha and Rotax engines) had modest transport for their factory bikes in mid 70´s-
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Vihur had later a converted Hungarian Ikarus bus for transport of bikes and team.

#12 picblanc

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Posted 11 June 2009 - 09:23

Great pics Tony :up: :wave:

#13 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 08:05

Thanks very much so far !

link for Assen TT 1964 : www.fotoarchief.nu with Honda ,Suzuki and some private.

#14 Leif A Nielsen

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 02:10

[quote name='Bjørn Kjer' date='Jun 16 2009, 09:05' post='369621
Thanks very much so far !

link for Assen TT 1964 : www.fotoarchief.nu with Honda ,Suzuki and some private.
[/quote]

Hej Bjørn..

A few pictures of my racing transporters:

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Fiat 238, a Kreidler 50 cc, Maico 125 and my 125 Saxon Yamaha.

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Ford Transit, and my 250 TD3 Yamaha, the yellow color’s on car and bike has nothing to do with a certain Mr. Roberts arriving in Europe :rotfl:

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Mercedes 208 and two new Yamaha's (no comments on legs or hair style please) :rotfl:

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Mercedes 508 and caravan, finally getting some where :lol:

Cheers,
Leif :wave:

#15 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 06:16

Mojn Leif , nice pictures , thanks , a date or year would have been nice , and there is nothing wrong with your HAIRCUT.

#16 HEMEYLA

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 10:29

TT Assen 1978

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#17 Leif A Nielsen

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 14:44

TT Assen 1978

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Hi,

Its Børge W Nielsen's yellow Mercedes in the background, and his 350 outside with a special seat and fairing, think it was made in Switzerland, at that time he was sponsored by the Danish Yamaha importer Franz Kroon.

:wave:
Leif

#18 exclubracer

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 19:11

Hi,

Its Børge W Nielsen's yellow Mercedes in the background, and his 350 outside with a special seat and fairing, think it was made in Switzerland, at that time he was sponsored by the Danish Yamaha importer Franz Kroon.

:wave:
Leif


Is that the one Stu Avant mentioned a few posts back, a 500 litre heating oil tank, dummy diesel tank and no brakes?

#19 Leif A Nielsen

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 19:20

Is that the one Stu Avant mentioned a few posts back, a 500 litre heating oil tank, dummy diesel tank and no brakes?


Hi Mick,

Did not see Stu's post, but sure it Børge he is referring to, it was quite commend to add an extra tank for heating fuel (different color) leaving the original tank for regular Diesel. :lol:

-Leif

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#20 fil2.8

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Posted 24 June 2009 - 22:02

Ok chaps :wave: no piccies , wish I had :eek: but more than 1 rider I knew had more than 1 set of number plates for different countries  ;) he visited !!What are your memories of these misdomeanours ???

#21 Leif A Nielsen

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Posted 25 June 2009 - 00:36

Ok chaps :wave: no piccies , wish I had :eek: but more than 1 rider I knew had more than 1 set of number plates for different countries ;) he visited !!What are your memories of these misdomeanours ???


Hi Phil,

There were certainly a lot of creative thinking going on back then to save money, in Denmark there were 2 guys who each had a same size 508 Mercedes, they actually shared the 2 license plates, paid only insurance and road tax for one truck, worked great but they were always careful not to travel together :rotfl:

-Leif


#22 Leif A Nielsen

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Posted 25 June 2009 - 00:50

Hi,

3 pictures form Salzburg Ring 1978.

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My wife walking towards Børge W, properly to give him food or coffee :lol:

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That’s Børges mechanic Peter, in the back ground a couple of busses from Holland and Alan North’s Mercedes.

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If I remember correct that’s Jon Ekerold’s Mercedes and caravan?

-Leif


#23 HEMEYLA

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Posted 25 June 2009 - 01:41

Zandvoort 1972, me flying in front of my Bedford CF230, with Wim (Elvis) Oldenmenger helper from Herman Meijer and the CARACO HEMEYLA Racing V.W. transporter. :rotfl:

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#24 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 10 July 2009 - 05:19

Thanks , from the days when you could see people live AND alive !

#25 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 12:37

On the 1949-1968 nostalgia thread , post 3293 :

AJS Bedford ML works transporter.



#26 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 14:39

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There you go Bjorn.

#27 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 14:49

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And another..... :wave:

#28 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 14:56

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Assen '56, apparently.

#29 Arthur

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 14:58

That looks very much like a Guzzi machine No idea of person or transporter

#30 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 15:04

That looks very much like a Guzzi machine No idea of person or transporter


Cecil Sandford, Arthur, not sure where though. Monster tank on the Guzzi too?

Edited by Russell Burrows, 23 July 2009 - 15:06.


#31 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 15:18

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#32 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 15:20

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#33 Rennmax

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 15:42

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A Ford Transit :D and you ?

#34 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 19:32

Thanks ! Post 28 , who is the big van , and from where ??

#35 Russell Burrows

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Posted 23 July 2009 - 20:04

Thanks ! Post 28 , who is the big van , and from where ??



Not sure...the signwriting may read Wheatcheap and almost certainly Canterbury, Kent. I have a feeling Derek Minter may have been helped by them or at least an outfit with a similar name. Hallets, the bike shop sponsored him also but I think this was later. 1956 was too early for Minter to be doing GP's, so dont think it's him. As you can see, the little Bedord van has Johh Hartle's name on it. Apparently one or both of the Nortons are factory bikes, although by then the full blown factory team had been decommissioned, so these wouldn't have been radically different from a standard Manx.

Edited by Russell Burrows, 24 July 2009 - 08:54.


#36 Leigh Trevail

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Posted 24 July 2009 - 08:20

About fifteen years ago I was driving towards Southend, following what I thought was an elderly Bedford C.A van with B.S.A. stickers on the back doors. However I realised that the front axle was much narrower than the rear, and when I overtook the lumbering van I could see that the front was a Leyland Sherpa. Presumably the Bedford running gear had expired and the van body was grafted onto the Sherpa cab!


#37 philippe7

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Posted 24 July 2009 - 23:52

A picture I had posted a loooong time ago , of Guy Bertin's 2007 sesaon transporter outside my house - a Renault of some kind whose engine Guy had tweaked by getting rid of all the built-in speed limitation factors, and with which he said he could cruise at 150 kph on the motorway.

As to what it was doing outside my house........

Guy Bertin is one of those few riders I was fortunate to meet personally, through coincidence since I had no connections in the racing world and was just a normal Joe Fan cheering from behind the fences. He had been sponsored in 1987 for his 250 Grand Prix season by the "Pavé d'Affinois" , a french cheese (!) brand. At that time I was working for a supermarkets chain outside Paris, and what do I see one morning of December 1987 upon arriving at the store ? A 250RS Honda racer in the middle of the entrance, and none other than Guy Bertin serving samples of Pavé d'Affinois to the clients !!! Of course I promptly went to have a chat with him, and when he mentioned that he hadn't made any accomodation arrangements and that he would need to look for a hotel, I immediately offered him to come and stay at my place for the couple of days he had his presentation running..he gratefully accepted my offer, but as you may guess he was not the happiest of us two..Geee, a famous Grand Prix rider staying at my home !!!!

Within those days he stayed with us, we were precisely due to move from a flat to a house , and when Guy heard of that, he told me he hoped I hadn't rented a lorry yet, because of course I could use his own lorry, which he had driven to Paris to bring his bike, and which was laying unused behind the store.Well I tell you, it was quite a feat to use a Continental Circus lorry, complete with work bench, spare parts , wheels and tyres, and even Guy's leathers hanging inside , to move my furniture aroud !

Here is the lorry in question outside the house I was moving into. That's Guy in the fur jacket. (and my wife in the blue coat, in case anyone cares )

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Edited by philippe7, 24 July 2009 - 23:56.


#38 daveinnola

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Posted 25 July 2009 - 04:45

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Assen '56, apparently. another great picture from the velobanjogents web blog :clap:



#39 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 05:22

Thanks for some good stuff here ! Knowing the talk about copyrights etc, , please if anyone has only links or tips for books etc. , come forward. Having for the first time seen AJS and Norton works transporters , I know the Italians too had some fine vans etc. like MV, Gilera , Guzzi . Or Morini, Benelli , Bianchi , Ducati (1958) ?

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#40 Russell Burrows

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 09:14

Thanks for some good stuff here ! Knowing the talk about copyrights etc, , please if anyone has only links or tips for books etc. , come forward. Having for the first time seen AJS and Norton works transporters , I know the Italians too had some fine vans etc. like MV, Gilera , Guzzi . Or Morini, Benelli , Bianchi , Ducati (1958) ?


http://3.bp.blogspot...any._edited.jpg



#41 Russell Burrows

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 09:20

http://3.bp.blogspot...any._edited.jpg


http://velobanjogent.blogspot.com/

Keith Bryen's pictures on this brilliant blog includes lots of really good paddock/transporter shots.

#42 Rennmax

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 09:22

http://3.bp.blogspot...any._edited.jpg


"Bloody hell, that's where the Nürburgring is supposed to be", Ray is thinking :D

#43 Russell Burrows

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 09:49

"Bloody hell, that's where the Nürburgring is supposed to be", Ray is thinking :D


Hi Renn, yeah, wonderful shot. Do you have any idea where it's taken?


#44 Rennmax

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 09:59

Hi Renn, yeah, wonderful shot. Do you have any idea where it's taken?


http://www.nordhofen...inde/index.html

Somewhere in the German outbacks, on the way from the Nürburgring to Schotten or vv or something like that ??

They should include "our" shot in their site, shouldn't they ?

Edited by Rennmax, 29 July 2009 - 10:05.


#45 Russell Burrows

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 10:34

http://www.nordhofen...inde/index.html

Somewhere in the German outbacks, on the way from the Nürburgring to Schotten or vv or something like that ??

They should include "our" shot in their site, shouldn't they ?


Yeah, they might not have too many famous connections... Near Koblenz then?

#46 Rennmax

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 10:54

Yeah, they might not have too many famous connections... Near Koblenz then?


yes, quite close to the Frankfurt-Cologne autobahn...

Edited by Rennmax, 29 July 2009 - 11:13.


#47 TeeZed

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Posted 01 August 2009 - 00:03

Hi All,

Not a "vintage transporter", but a bit different:

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Don



#48 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 27 July 2010 - 15:14

In the 60's BSA or a dealer had a Mini van with trailer , on the side it said BSA Service , the mini was 2 coloured . Any idea what colours could be please ?

Edited by Bjørn Kjer, 27 August 2010 - 20:47.


#49 Croz

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Posted 28 July 2010 - 22:24

Race transporter of First Montesa Importer.
I believe he did some GP,s and the TT[img]http://thumbp2.mail.vip.ukl.yahoo.com

#50 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 29 July 2010 - 20:44

Sounds very interesting , but I could not make it work. Could you mail me please : kjerbjoern@hotmail.com