Yes,Welcome from me also David,theres some really knowledgable blokes on here.I only wish my memory was as good.
Philippe,the name John Warrian is one I've not heard in a long time.Didn't he have an awe inspiring ride on a Ducati 750SS at the Castrol 8 Hours one year?
HW

Nice to hear from you Julian! Hope you enjoy your stay here.

Name's Rob. Unfortunately (although fortunately in other areas), I'm 24, so didn't get to see anything that's overly nostalgic, although hopefully you'll forgive me as it's no fault of my own.

Grew up watching Mick Doohan win all the time. Also remember Aoki winning in the 125s very distinctly. However, I've been seduced by the history, as I have been with cars as well. Thanks to lots of generous contributions here, I've learnt so much from so many people. I wish I could give more back though, it feels like stealing sometimes!

I'm Ray, and I'm.... 16. A bit younger than most of the crowd, but the knowledge a lot of the guys here have is incredible! I'm picking up bits and pieces of live broadcasts I've managed to find DVDs of (with your familiar voice, Julian, going back as far as 1989!), but this place is a great source of knowledge. Started watching GPs in '98 but have always taken an interest in GP racing of the 80s and 90s.

I'm Paul Narramore, 62yrs, and having been riding motorbikes all of my adult life. In 2002 I rode across the US in six weeks from Vancouver down to Nogales on the Mexican border then up to Toronto. In 2006 I returned to the US (my favourite country) and spent three months riding 16,000 miles from east to west and back again. Glorious.

As a youngster my father used to take me along to the Ramsgate Sprints organised by the Sunbeam MCC when I saw riders such as George and Tony Brown and Fred Cooper. Later I went to grass track meetings, all of the motorcycle races at Lydden during their first few years as well as Brands Hatch in the days of Mike Hailwood, Bill Ivy, Phil Read and so on. I finally reached the Isle of Man during their centenary year.

Since discovering this superb forum I've formed an interest in discovering the last resting places of famous drivers and riders, and have visited the graves of Mike Hailwood, Mike Hawthorn and Piers Courage amongst many more. I'm pleased to have recorded in a small way this information as it is so easily forgotten and lost, our heroes of yesteryear.

Goodonya Murray...halcyon days for Aussie motorcycle sport...you and your compadres certainly achieved a lot Welcome.

Hello all

I'm Paul, 53 years old and nearly grown-up...........

I followed my Dad in being interested in cars from very young but he wasn't into bikes, so apart from knowing which ex-bike-racers had made the move to 4 wheels, I didn't follow bikes.

Then when I was a student I bought a bike for transport, and became hooked, spending too much of my spare cash on magazines, going to race meetings when i could afford it, wishing it was on TV more.

The first race meeting I went to was a Bemsee at Brands in '78, then went to a lot of clubbies at Croft when I was working up that way (anyone remember Rob Brown who used to win everything there?), was a regular at North Glos. meetings seeing both Len and Nigel race, and lots of nationals and internationals including Transatlantics. All my road bikes have been stinkwheels...........I love the smell of 2-strokes in the morning!

I scraped together enough money from time to time to do racing school sessions with the Graham Heath, Chas Mortimer and Jeff Crookbain schools. I got to the "rider of the year final" one year with Crookbain at Brands (didn't win, didn't come last), but I was always too cowardly and uncompetitive to try racing for real - so as others have said, anyone who's raced at any level has my serious respect.

I only ever went to the TT once and had such a good time I didn’t want to spoil the memories…….

I used to go to the British GP at Silverstone and then Donington every year; haven’t been since the mid-‘90s but going this year with the missus (got a #46 sticker in my car window).

I met up with some of the other TNF reprobates at the last historic meeting at Brands last year, and I’m hoping to get to some more CRMC meetings. In the meantime, it’s great to share memories and photos on here, and I’ll dig some more of mine out.

Paul M

I don't recall the Ducati ride, but John goes back a fair way. In the sixties he was racing big twins, including the Transac later raced by Trevor Wood, and when living in Sydney he made Saturday night appearances at the Showground Speedway on his Jawa.

Hi folks, I’m John Nowell aged 62 in a couple of weeks.
I went to the very first road race meeting at Cadwell in 1955 and the first ever road race meeting at Mallory in 1956 and almost every one after that up until 1989. My parents marshalled and when I was old enough I did the same. We were at the paddock entrance in the Esses. If you ever watched from there you may have noticed that at the end of practice some bloke wandering onto the track and holding out a red flag to bring the riders back into the paddock. Well that would have been either me or my Dad. Easy job, lots of time for photography, sometimes it got a bit exciting if they 'pinched' an extra lap. It got me into the thick of the action, I could stand on the edge of the tarmac and take pictures all day. Was about 15 feet away from Cooper when he got into his famous slide when beating Ago. Lots of highs and lows over the years, It really was “The friendly Circuit”, but never a safe one. Early meeting the track was surrounded with ditches and earth banks to protect the spectators, later sleepers and scaffold poles, straw bales were expensive back then! I got to know a lot of the riders quite well. Mike was of course one of my favourites a smashing chap he was too. He almost always came down to have a look at the opposition during practice and have a chat with us as did many others, Bob Mac, Derek Minter, Little Bill, Alan Shepherd, John Cooper, Dave Croxford, Chris Vincent, Fred Wallis, Fred Brindley, Dave ‘Ginger’ Saville, Percy Tait, Dave Potter, Bob Gourlay, Mick Grant and Ago who I share the same birthday with and one year we shared a cake at a Post TT meeting. These and many others became quite good friends. In those day we used to go the Club House for a drink with the St.John's lads and most of the riders when the racing finished. Guaranteed to be a lively place after a few beers. I have a great collection of pictures from a then professional photographer Ron Hunt from Leicester. He was a really good friend. We used to ferry him from his home in Leicester to the circuit and back, he never drove. The pictures were gifts from Ron and it was easy for me to get them autographed and they all are bar one Bob Mac. My hobby was photography and I have many pics from ‘the golden era’ of motorcycling. I also used to Marshal at Silverstone for the British GP meetings. Ken Phillips, Brands Chief Marshal, was a good friend of ours and we went to as many Brands meeting as we could, tickets were always readily available form Ken. I still take a keen interest in the sport, I don’t get to many meetings now but read MCN and BSN. I did visit Mallory for the BSB meeting a couple of years ago and I had to pay, never paid before! But it just ain’t the same circuit, all those chicanes, how they have spoilt a good flowing circuit. If the old circuit had bigger run-off areas it would still be a great place.
Thanks for the Forum, I don’t have a lot to say on here, but it makes very interesting reading especially late 50’s to 70’s, the best years for me. I still have the programms from all the meeting I went to. Long may we continue to remember those who gave so much to excite and thrill us with some unforgettable racing. Its been said many times but motor cycle racers really are “the salt of the earth”!

Hi John, welcome to the site, I'm new too and this is the best forum I've seen. I only marshalled a few times. post TT classic at Mallory in '85 or '86 and the Donington Classicfest at which my mate melted a hole in the surface at Coppice when he crashed 'on his way to Redgate' to marshall with us. Trying to get Dave Degens to push his broken Triton OFF the racing line on the entrance to the esses was fun. My mum and dad did get married Dave!

Many thanks for the marshalling, sure you must have been doing it for me,my friends and maybe my son.

David

Hi all,

Thought I ought to add my contribution. I have been around this site for a few years now and occasionally post if there’s a topic that I feel that I can add something to.

My name is Andrew (Greystone comes from Shannon Greystone – the name of my daughter’s horse). I’m 59 and live in North Kent about 5 miles from Brands Hatch. I haven’t done any racing on two wheels although I have done some in saloon cars.

However, motorcycles were my first love and still my preferred choice when in the spectator area. I used to help a friend, Peter Bowers, who raced a Bultaco and Yamaha TZs for a while in the late 60’s early 70’s. Some of you I’m sure will remember seeing Peter race along with others in the group such as Trevor Elliot, Chris McGahan etc.

After Peter stopped racing we attended a lot of race meetings together – mostly Brands Hatch and Lydden and further afield for British Championship, WSBK and the odd MotoGP. Through meeting various like minded people over the years we ended up with a group of about half a dozen of us who would go off on a “lads jolly" to race meetings. We had some great weekends. The years have taken their inevitable toll and the group is now down to three but we still attend race meetings together when we can.

The last meeting that I attended was the Bemsee 100th anniversary at Brands in April. A nice touch was that one of our group was given VIP treatment by Bemsee as he is currently their oldest surviving member with the longest continuous membership.

Welcome to all of the other existing and new members.

A plea to Julian Ryder who joined recently. After last weekend, can you please get Toby Moody back in the Motogp commentary booth with you as soon as possible. In my opinion you two guys are the best motorsport commentators in the business bar none (put cheque in post please). How can I put this diplomatically – with the Mugello commentary at times it was like someone in the booth had wandered off and was talking to the fairies. And thanks for reading out my email about Moto2 and the demise of the two fifties.

Looking forward to reading interesting posts from you all and I hope to be able to contribute occasionally.

Andrew

Warren P. Warner here; pleased to make your acquaintances! Currently on an unplanned hiatus from gainful employment in the IT field, I am able to fill many hours in the shop tinkering with my seemly endless motorcycle projects and pounding away on the computer. This is my story, and I'm sticking to it

Born at the mid-point of the last century, there were many opportunities during my youth to enjoy open roads and few speed limits; somewhat naturally, riding and racing cycles seemed to be the thing to do. Up into my 20's most competitive events were of the flat track, short track, scrambles variety with limited success and excessive fun! A relocation from the Northern USA to Florida provided the opportunity to try my hand at road racing.

During the late 1970's through the 1980's many hours were spent lapping courses such as Daytona, West Palm Beach (Moroso), Dade City, Road Atlanta, Savannah (Roebling Road), Sebring, Mid-Ohio, and the like with encouraging results; several AAMRR & FGP (Florida GP) championships were won, and in 1983 the AMA awarded me the #5 Plate in GP-2. As a poor privateer working at dealerships and/or owning my own Cycle Shop(s), most all my race bikes were budget converted production bikes. Many variations of the SR500's, RD/R5's, and my beloved XS11 were campaigned - I still have the 11!

A hiatus to complete a college degree kept me off the track for a few years, but I still managed to ride daily. As a lifelong vintage enthusiast, a constant flow of various British/European & Japanese restorations and rebuilds passed through my shop, with a smattering of competitive events mixed in; mostly observed trials, and drag racing (I actually made money at the digs!). Post schooling, chasing a P/A job led me to Phoenix Arizona in 1993.

Since motorcycling at large is almost non-existent in the desert Southwest, attention turned to car racing. My first track car was an early Ferrari 308, but it was too heavy and slow to be much fun; then I discovered the Mazda Miata - what an awesome little sports car they are. Our home was located within a mile of Phoenix International Raceway, so I was able to build a relationship with the various clubs that frequented the track, and took a part time position working as Chief Steward for NASA (National Auto Sports Assn). It worked out OK because this was the early 2000's and my P/A job was off-shored to India (no emoticons truly reflect how I felt about that ~ imagine a very very nasty expression incorporating a single digit - haha).

With Y2K behind us, and corporate trends to fatten the bottom line (see above) many Programmers were flipping burgers in Phoenix. Unable to find work and maintain the lifestyle which I had become most accustomed to, (NASA did not pay very well), a modest home in rural Wisconsin became the new location in 2005. Winters are long, and projects abundant, so I went back to motorcycling - YaY!

The roadrace bug bit hard again a couple years ago, but not being quite as young and crazy anymore, vintage road racers seemed the way to proceed so I sold off the car stuff. In short, I now spend much of my time bringing the Yamaha 2-smoke GP bikes back to life. The C&J TZ750 is my pride and joy, with a couple TD1's and a TZ250C to round off the assortment. Locally, Brainerd International in Minnesota is a fantastic track, with Road America being the 2nd option; races are occasional but sufficient to quell the urges.

Now I can be found banging away in the shop or on my computer, and performing the endless (futile) search for a company that will have me. I also occasionally fog for mosquitos and bring the neighbors out to see what the racket is when a test ride is called for - most any day it is not raining or snowing and something will run. I have a few acres of gnarly & hilly forest land, and like to keep the TY250 busy digging ruts and clearing flora when not cutting wood for the stove. I also started a free motorcycle sales & auction website: www.CycleWaK.com.

I have met many face to face and eFriends since getting back into the M/C racing world, and have continuing relationships with the classic restorers. Life is now simple but good in the fast lane of the slow lane!

Cheers,
Warren
aka the Yamanatic

I'll vote for that Andrew

BRADER. SORRY GANG SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS BIT 1ST,MY NAME IS RICHARD BRADER AT THE MOMENT LIVING IN FRANCE,64 YEARS YOUNG,COME FROM A MOTORCYCLE FAMILY AS IT WAS THE ONLY TRANSPORT WHEN I WAS A KID,INVOLVED IN RACING VIA MY BROTHER WHO RACED A 50, IN THE 60S IN WHICH I WAS A GOFFER,1ST TASTE OF THE PROPER STUFF 1962 I.O.M BRILLANT,HAD THE GOOD LUCK TO SEE LOTS AT THAT TIME,GOT INVOLVED MYSELF NOT RIDING BUT THROUGH BUILDING AND SPONSERING IN THE BEGIN 50 DERBI,BUT SWIFTLY MOVED ON TO 125,S BUILDING A MACIO BASED BIKE WITH THE GREAT HELP OF CHRIS KINGSLAND OF MARKET RAISEN,WHO MADE A GREAT JOB OF REBUILDING THE FRAME ALSO THE FIRBEGLASS WORK,CHRIS RODE THE BIKE FOR ABOUT A YEAR,IN WHICH 1 OF MY DAD,S MATES SAW THE BIKE AT CADWELL AND TOLD MY DAD HE COULD MAKE "THAT BIKE GO A LOT FASTER" AFTER MEETING SAM ROBINSON I TOLD HIM "OK SAM PUT YOUR BRAIN WHER YOUR MOUTH IS "AND SO HE DID BECOMING A REALY SPECIAL FRIEND.NEIL TUXWORTH DID THE PLEASURE OF RIDING THE BIKE IN THE BRITISH GP AT SILVERSTONE AND AMAZINLY FINISHED 2ND NURSING THE BIKE AS THE GREAT RIDER HE IS, A NEW RIDER CLIVE HORTON RODE THE MAICO FINISHING 125CC BRITISH CHAMPION UNTILL THE HONDA 125 CHAMPIONSHIP TOOK OVER MOST OF THE TOP 125 RIDERS TIME,THIS LEAD TO THE 2 MAICO,S WE HAD TO BE SOLD AND CLIVE WAS PROVIDED WITH A M.B.A MORBIDELLI AS HE TURNED PRO,

My name is Graham Clayton, 45 years old and a member of the original NF since 2001. I have always had an interest in motorcycles and motorcycle racing. My father competed at club level "scrambles" racing in the mid 1950's on a 350cc BSA Gold Star.

My interest has narrowed to speedway solo and sidecar racing, due to my ongoing research into the history of the Windsor RSL Speedway, which operated on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, Australia from 1949 to 1968. Solo bikes, "stock bikes" and sidecars competed infrequently at the speedway over its 20 year history. I have photos of the competitors, and many programs.

I am also researching the racing career of 1920's motorcycle racer LP Reynolds. Reynolds lived in Richmond, just 5 kilometres away from Windsor, and was the first competitor to record a lap of over 100 mph on the infamous Maroubra Speedway in Sydney, which he achieved with a lap of 102 mph on a V-twin Harley-Davidson in December 1925. I have several photos of Reynolds, including a photo of the trophy that he won for achieving the 102 mph lap at Maroubra.

Welcome to the forum Graham , that looks like a good topic to research , I wish you all the best in your task , Mr Fu might even have a few pics he took at the time

Yes, welcome Graham. Good luck with the research. Many years ago I lived close to the site of old speedway at Maroubra, although it had long gone by then. The wind and the sand must have been a bit of a bugger?

Hi Everybody

My names Mick Robinson, I raced at club, national and the occasional international from 1974 to 2003, I rode in 20 M G P's and 2 TT's with 8 rostrums at MGP but alas never the top step! Gained 29 MGP silver reps which up to about 2000 was the record until the sadly missed John Goodall overtook me. I stopped riding in MGP after 2000 as I did not want to temp fate and concentrated on International classic races, after a back operation in the winter of 2003 I took a year out and decided it was a good time to call it a day!

I have some wonderful memories and have met many lovely people over the years, many who I am still in touch with.

I am now heavily into a much safer passion.....photography and still go to most of the classic meetings generally with the Exactweld team.

My website is www.msrphotographic.co.uk and covers most aspects from landscapes to motorcycles!

That's a lot of Silverware, very well done.

yes Mick , thats a great record to be proud of Well done indeed

Many thanks fil2.8 & Russell

Hi Mick, welcome to the forum! I saw you race quite a bit over the years though I didn't realize that you rode up until 2000. I suppose you still miss the buzz of the paddock and I have often wondered how riders manage to replace something that has been part of their lives for so long. I doubt I'll ever feel that since I never got going so at 52 I'm getting organized to get out there. I think a guy called John Angel started when he was my age and won some 125 races at Brands so there is hope (not that I expect to win anything!)

You must have a million memories, it'd be nice to hear some of them.


David

Hi David, thanks for the welcome, I raced up to 2003 but had a back operation that winter and decided after 30 years riding may be good time to quit.
I am now heavily into photography check out my website www.msrphotographic.co.uk and yes I do have many wonderful memories! Regards Mick

Hello all, Chris here. 55 years old and happily still counting. My first motorcycle was a 1975 Kawasaki H1, a great engine in a not so great frame - though of course I wish I still had it. Did some racing in the 80s in the Midwest (US), had a lot of fun though constrained by budget. I raced bikes because I realized all the consumables cost much less than if I had raced cars, which is what I had wanted to do since my teens. Let's see, two new tires vs. four, a lot less race gas per weekend, haul everything plus "crew" in a beat up old pickup, do all maintenance sitting on an upturned 5-gal bucket in a corner of the garage... what's not to like? Racing at any level was OK for me and I never sought to advance to any sort of full-time program. Raising a family required a steady income and precluded massive expenditure on go-fast stuff or speculative pursuit of a sponsored deal. Some of my friends got hurt and I realized it wasn't right to take on that sort of risk with a family. The best I did was 2nd Lightweight Superbike at a WERA Endurance Challenge 6 hour which featured a 2-hour thunderstorm right in the middle. I still have my RD350 (Vintage Eligible!) racer and my '86 GSXR750R which has been rehabbed very gently from Camel Pro Superbike back into street-legality.

I have lost interest in current pro-level motorcycle racing due to the extremely corporate atmosphere; the promotion of Superbikes as the premier class in the US and 600s running the premier event, the Daytona 200; and the replacement of two strokes by the overly complex and boring MotoGP machines. This sort of sums up what has happened to auto racing also over the years - every participant's interview is a commercial and the machinery has become homogenized and in most cases, butt-ugly. Not that I hold any negativity toward the current state of things, it's just that I personally don't see the attraction to racing defined by extremely restrictive rulebooks or pay-to-play "homologation" schemes (scams?).

I have taken loads of pics (unscanned) from bike and car events spanning the late 60s to early 2000s from events in the Midwest that I will eventually get around to scanning and posting - though that task is pretty far down on the to-do list and will be accomplished in fits and starts.

Looking forward to participating in this and the 4-wheel Nostalgia forums.

Hi there Chris welcome to the site , we look forward to seeing your pics , I think most of us agree with your comments

Hi Chris,

Don here from Pennsylvania. Welcome, you'll love this bunch, great guys all. I certainly share your thoughts on the current state of motorsports. Looking forward to seeing your pictures...........well the bike pictures.

(WERA Lifetime Member EX#34)

Hi Chris, you can't be too far from me I'm in Illinois. looking forward to seeing some photos of racing in th USA too. Welcome, there are some great guys on here. I'm going to be at Mid-Ohio Vintage Days just watching on 24/25th Anyone else there? It would be nice to meet up. Didn't realize you were in Pennsylvania Don? I used to have a relative there (in about 1842!)




David

Hi All,

Thought it about time i put in my pennys worth !
Started racing in 1979, first race was at the old RAF airfield circuit Keevil in Wilts.Had a pretty much one mile long straight and thought i was going really well until Bill and Rob Marks and Mike Trimby came past lapping me at what must have been 60 mph more !! that was a big bump back to earth !
I was working at the time as a mechanic for local Italian Dealer Three Cross Motorcycles and was just about to bite the bullet and buy a Read Titan 750 Honda when they offered me a Moto Guzzi Le Mans to ride.My fellow mechanic was Graham (cant remember his surname) who used to work for Sports motorcycles in Manchester and who knew Guzzis inside out having prepared George Fogartys at the island.We stuck in a close ratio gearbox, 950 barrels, PR Camshaft,40mm carbs, lightened the flywheel, pinched the front forks out of a 750 MV Agusta that was lying around(imagine doing that today !), TWO steering dampers !!, Lanfranconi pipes etc etc.It was a complete animal to ride and i did all the NGMCC meetings as well as Brands clubbies.For the next two years i had a 900 SS Ducati which i proddy raced which was a much nicer bit of kit.During the day i would measure the compression of customers SS`s in the workshop and then at night on my own exchange various bits including cranks and pistons and heads, gearboxes etc !
For 1982 i thought it was about time i bought something competitive and purchased Trevor Nations Peckett and Mcnab Suzuki 1000.Started winning because it was just so easy after hauling those unwieldy lumps about !
Managed to win the 1983 Marlboro Dunlop Daily Express 1000cc Championship despite missing the first round as i didnt get my Snetterton entry in on time and missing practice at Thruxton when the half shaft and wheel of my trusty bedford CF van disappeared in to the shrubbery near Salisbury on the way to the meeting !
Started from the back of the grid and somehow managed to win so i thought i had better enter the third round at Donnington.Had never even seen the place before, it was legging it down with rain and i had one set of wheels ! Bought a set of wets which were a revelation and managed to get on pole.Sitting around for the race it was getting drier and drier and i really didnt fancy swapping tyres again.luckily it was still damp and i managed to win beating the two leaders going into and out of the chicane before the dash to the line.
Somehow managed to win four more rounds and second in the other two at circuits i had never even been to, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and lovely Carnaby !
Wrapped it up by winning the final at Silverstone and obviously must have impressed my then Sponsors who coughed up for Steve Henshaw`s MK 7 Spondon RG 500.
Now that was a proper racing bike, i had never ridden ANYTHING so awesome as that and entered the TransNational series, even mangaged to qualify on the front row at Oulton, alongside Steve Parrish, Kieth Heweun, and Yer Maun, only to snap a chain on the warm up lap !
Then it started highsiding me at Snetterton and then the Bill Ivy Trophy meeting at Cadwell Park, dislocating my shoulder and breaking all my fingers, a week before i was due to walk down the aisle, Mother In Law distinctly unimpressed and made me take my arm out of its sling and hide my plastered hand behind a bunch of flowers for all the wedding pics !
1984 and 85 i started Endurance racing with Steve Colville (mad as a box of frogs !), at first on a GPZ 750 Kawasaki and then in 1985 on the new Suzuki GSXR.Managed to somehow come 8th at the Monza 8 Hour and baled out big time at the Osterriechring when it went from a controllable weave into a tankslapping huge getoff !
It was then that we found that you could flex the standard wheels by hand and that flexing would also push the pads off the discs - Nice !
Good old CMA wheels were purchased and we went to Barcelona for the 24 Hours of Montjuich.What a place that was, entered for the F1 race before the 24hrs and get up to 6th in front of Geoff Johnson on an F1`d Yamaha RD500, only to run out of ground clearance and launch it into an ornamental fountain with me trapped underneath and the exhaust burning through my leathers.After screaming at the Spanish marshalls for what seemed like an eternity, they lifted the bike off me and we duct taped the fairing up for the 24hr race which was starting two hours later.
It was steaming hot (as i am sure fellow rider rider Mike Capon will testify and we managed to get up to second, only to lose 20 minutes with a clutch problem and finish 4th.We than got the Harris brothers to build us a rocker arm chassis based on RG500 dimensions with the GSXR engine and had some reasonable results.I managed to shoehorn a GSXR1100 engine in and went and did the Southern 100 race in the IOM, incredibly dangerous but excellent fun, managed to get the fastest lap by a fourstroke and finished third to Kenny Harrison and Ian Lougher in the Founders race.

Then got to ride with Phase one Endurance till 1991 which was a absolutely brilliant, an assortment of FZR750`s and then the fabulous Honda RC30 which was my all time favourite fourstroke and got to ride against the Worlds best with Fogarty, DuHamel and the late great Steve Hislop who got me into Viz Magazine !
Was also doing some tracktests for Superbike magazine and had to ride Niall Mackenzies Armstrong 250, the owners of which seemed to be impressed with my times and booted out their regular rider and got me a reverse cylinder 250 TZ which was also a cracking bike.Then it was the v twin RS250 which i loved and had a lot of fun on and a bit of success at the SuperCup Series and North Glos and Oulton Park championships (my sponsors were from oop North !)
Managed to break my left arm in 53 places testing for the magazine in Oct 1991 and although i rode at the Spa 24 Hr in 1992 really thought it was time to call it a day.
I now support my son who is very successful in Supermoto and who is really hankering after racing properly,he managed to qualify for the RedBull trials in Valencia, which was agreat couple of days, but he didnt make the final 15(probably because his surname wasnt Pons !)
Today i run around the UK buying and selling motorcycles and have a very good contact in Germany who buys Classic race bikes, including Yanagawas WSB Kawasaki and some ex Works Bimotas.I love what i do and still get a buzz out of finding rare bits of kit that take me back to those great days in the 80`s.

Well thats really more than enough of my inane ramblings, i will promise to stick up some photos soon so that i can REALLY bore the pants off you all !

Steve

You couldn't bore me Steve! Endurance riders like yourself didn't get enough coverage in my opinion, except by Bike who remain my favourite mag by far ( I'd forgotten Viz or had I?) Three Cross wouldn't lend us despatch riders a bike to play with despite lots of pleading when I was at Fedex. Definitely a good move since we sort of ruined the others. I'll have to pick your brains on the GS1000 stuff, you went quite well on that!


Nice to hear your happy too. I mess about with old bikes over here in the States, you can always give me a shout if I can help ever. (Same goes for anyone on here of course)



David

Hi Steve , thanks for that , look forward to your piccies especially any North Glos . ones

Hi David,

Small world, isn't it! You may see me at Mid-Ohio. Not sure yet because of conflicting (sp?) events.

Don

Hi All,
Don't quite know my way round these forums yet but this looks like a good place to start.
I have written books about the late John Britten and Burt (The World's Fastest Indian) Munro. I am currently working on one about Kim Newcombe. It's been a while coming but I am nearly finished. I'd love to hear any Kim stories, or Konig stories, or whatever. Right now I am writing about a Junior 500 race at the Nurburgring in 1969. Don't know who was there or what they were riding. I do know Kim was doing very well when his BSA Konig stopped. It was his first road race.
I have had my trusty touing, scratching/racing 750 Fastback for a very long time and there's a Rickman waiting for a Commando powerplant - hopefully from the proceeds of my next book.
That's me. Cheers.

Welcome to the forum Tim

A quick "search" produced the following - just click on the link and you'll have two pages of various old posts mentioning Kim - probably nothing very new for you , but who knows...and maybe there are some members you may want to contact .


http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?act=...ite=%2Bnewcombe

Hi Tim, some pics in there probably of interest to you

http://www.classic-motorrad.de/wbb3/wbb/da...-harald-florin/

Kurt Harald might know a thing or two about Kim and Königs , if you need an interpreter please contact me

Hi Tim

I know a guy who i think was friendly with Kim Newcombe, his name is Jerry Lancaster and i believe he also rode a Konig at G P's at around the same time, I will be seeing him at Chimay in a weeks time, He may have some info that could be helpfull to you?

Regards Mick Robinson

Mick.

Do you have a link for info on the Chimay meeting please?
I'm based in France and at a loose end so if next weekend I'll take a drive up there

Cheers.

Another Mick

Giday Mick,
Indulge a duffer. Who reads this? You obviously. Who else? Am I talking to everyone hanging on this thread? Be good if I was.
Tim

Hi Tim,

and welcome to the forum. It might pay you to put a post out in one of the other threads, such as the 1968-90, or the books one!
Good luck, I look forward to reading it.


Nigel

Hi and welcome Tim, as Nigel says really, the other threads are the most active.

Its fine mate, I log in every night and enjoy a read. For what its worth I spent my early life"proud to race with Kim's KIWI emblem on all my helmets. Oddly it was'nt til I watched the Kim movie that I had a fair dinkum understanding off what he achieved.

Hi Mick

Try I. H. R. O. (google it) should give info, if not mail me again with any questions relating to Chimay. Practice Friday 17th, racing 18th & 19th, short 2 mile circuit, damn good weekend, if you want to look me up, i'll be with the Gourlay Paton sponsor Roger Winfield.

Regards Mick

Thanks Mick, got that sorted, if I manage to make it, I'll look you up

Giday,
My name is Tim Hanna. I am from New Zealand. I have been trying to communicate with people about Kim Newcombe, Koenigs, GP in the early seventies etc. I'm writing a book. Have published John Britten and One Good Run.
I ride a Norton.

Hi Tim,and welcome.
We met at Spa a few years back,when Mark (Newcombe) was there.Have you been in touch with Hans about things Konig?
Have sent you a PM.
ATB HW

Howdy Herr Wankel,
Good to have your response. Indeed I refuse to be ground down. I have as a result of my battles in court recovered an interview I did with Janeen Newcombe. The interview is upbeat and joyfull - all the things she was when she was not dying and being hounded by horrible little people who wanted to break her down and record the results. I fully intend to make a new film that properly celebrates Kim's fantastic achievements using this interview as the heart of it.
In the meantime the book on Kim is going well. I hope to have it published in the next couple of months. If anyone has any GP stories from 72 or 73 that would add colour I would love to hear them.
We had Rod Tingate riding his replica Konig in demos at the Classic Festival this year. I was commentating from the Gods and could see his lines from above. He put in some seriously fast laps and it looked and sounded wonderful. When I do my book tour I hope that Hans will join us for some of it. And any other Konig owners whoi can spare some time. Should be fun especially with a Britten and a Munro rep, both running.

Hi There

My Name is Jez and I live in Somerset (South West England) and my main passion is anything Isle of Man TT related, I currently own a couple of bikes including a 2007 GSXR1000 Isle of Man TT Special and have a small but ever growing TT Collection with many signed and authorised paintings of my heroes ie P McCallum,S Hislop,T & D Jefferies etc etc . Trying to find original Leathers and Helmets of my heroes always proves a struggle but I keep looking Only another 288 days till TT 2010

Cheers
Jez

Hi Jez , and welcome , Somerset I see , not a million miles from me ( Exeter ) . I've spent a lot of time in Somerset , with well known Somerset racers of the past .
Post as many topics as like , will read with interest .

Hi all!

I am Richard from Hungary.I like better the cars,but I like the bikes,because our have a lot of famous drivers.For example:Talmácsi,Drapál,Szabó and more... and Markusovszky who was Swiss driver but origin hungarian.

Jez Welcome from New Zealand, My connection with Somerset is my family is from Frome, my great grandfather come to NZ 1863.

Hi dere.. I am Sammy Rose I ve just returned from Mauritius its such a nice place to hang out...feeling really grt. planning to visit some Asian countries..