http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TG7f2imRQo&feature=related

I've never before heard this....

In Memoriam, Mike Hailwood, (*) 02-04-1940 - (+) 23-03-1981.

Great photo, Mike "the bike" Hailwood, the greatest!

Good morning,

a V8 (a replica made in Mandello) took part in Schotten a couple of years ago.

Well, the sound isn't that spectacular, is it ? Always had the impression that it was never running on all cylinders...nevertheless a splendid piece of engineering after bikes with 1,2,3 and 4 cylinder motors

my favourite is the V2 as campaigned by Stanley Woods in the pre war era and still successful till the mid-fifties..BTW, would like to start a pre war thread if there are enough gents who are interested and who can contribute...problems are (own) pics and contemporary witnesses of course..

Yes, Mike Hailwood was a one off.
RIP Mike. Those of us who were lucky enough to witness your enormous talent were blessed indeed. You will never be forgotten.

Originally posted by Rennmax


BTW, would like to start a pre war thread if there are enough gents who are interested and who can contribute...problems are (own) pics and contemporary witnesses of course..

I'll gladly come and play on that one!!

Even the tin ware was better back then...... I wonder if that's the Mellano Trophy?

Morgen, having never heard it before Renn, I was surprised by the engine note, but as you say it didnt always appear to br firing on all cylinders. I think what most impresses me about such a creation is the obvious love of the building and racing of them shown by the relatively small organisations involved - Guzzi's racing credentials being well established before they embarked on what must have been the enormously expensive V8 project.

Yes, lets get going with a pre-war thread......

well, the exhaust pipes are straight tubes with no megs , due to space problems I guess,thats probably the reason for the somehow "squeezed" sound... I thinks that Carcano,the V8 designer, once said that the next engine he would construct after that complex encounter would be a single ... the V8 was something of an overkill trend IMHO which resulted in the withdrawal of Guzzi, Gilera and Mondial and MV abandoning their 500 cc 6 cylinder project for good...the sound of the V8 is on one of the "TT highlights" records commented by Murray Walker BTW when Dickie Dale rode it in the IOM

That sound grab is on vintagebike.co.uk, along with plenty of other audio delights.....

Yes Rhodie ,I agree whole-heartedly with every word you say,I was lucky to observe the great man on numerous occasions , probably the one which sticks in my mind is the Senior TT in '67 when I was at Glen Helen and seeing him out of the footrests wrestling the brute -- the Honda 500--up the hill I will never forget --a genius and a gent --The best without question

Nice sound of the Guzzi,Russell but while we are on the subject of Mike I think him on the Honda 6 at Union Mills is the most terrifying and amazing bike sound I have ever heard.

I saw Mike many times in cars, but just the once on two wheels, and how! He raced the 250-6 at Brands in about 1966/7? Needless to say, he won by a country mile and made it look so very easy, it must have been terrific to see him on the I.O.M. A sporting legend, taken to early

Yes Stirling , and with his daughter , on his way to a fish and chip shop in a very, very cruel and unjust manner

You have probably all seen this, SMB at Spa in 64 with an onboard camera before Ecclestone et al cut up the track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4Vi0T5Bko&feature=related

frightening, but he made it look so easy, as all maestros do, he won by a fair stretch too

Do you think you could start a new thread with this picture? I am sure the "car" guys would love to pay their respects to a great sportsman and a much missed guy. A great photo by the way.

Just for those of you who might not have seen these pics of Mike in the Macauley book titled simply, "Hailwood".
The cover pic is by Nic Flower



And these ones by the late Volker Rauch are amoung my favorites of the great man. The quality of the paper wasn´t the best and the pics have become grained. Worth seeing though.

I think the problem with the pictures of mike is that they have been copied from a book rather than the original paper quality. I have encountered this problem in the past.

I am in touch with one of Mike's closest lady friends who always remembers to send me something on the anniversary of his death. This is what she sent me on the 23rd.

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood
April 2, 1940 - March 23, 1981


We've heard the news, it's hard to bear,
He was the one respected by all,
We weren't expecting the final call.
Memories of the past come flooding back,
Dicing with Ago lap after lap.
78, the TT and he did it again,
The Island alive with the sound of his name.
Alas, no more will see his face.
Alas, no more will we see him race.
The end of an era, but a legend forever,
Perhaps God is getting a team together.
It matters not how a man dies,
But how he lives.
The act of dying is of no importance,
It lasts so short a time.
Author Unknown


The King

Hillberry was the place I chose, to sit in the hedgerow with a rose.
The countryside was strangely still,
We sat in silence til.....
A noise was heard up the hill from Kate's,
to cause in crowd debates.
Was it Gary? Was it is Mike? A noise I've never heard the like.
Down to Creg to the hands that wave.
Up four gears then down five, out of Brandish to the dive.
And down to Hillberry flat on the tank, the noise was like a wine you drank.
A Honda Six on full song, like an arrow through the throng.
Cronk ny mona no respite, keeping the throttle cable tight.
Skipping like a stone on pond, round to Signpost, Governors beyond
It was Hailwood, first on the road, an experience time will not erode!
Ambition is a funny thing, I'd been to Mecca and seen the KING.
And this is how I'll remember the man, fate had a wild unruly plan.
Author Unknown

I've never seen those before , how apt , how true still missed after all these years RIP Mike
Thanks for posting those

WWW

A man who Mike Hailwood referred to as, "the supreme stylist".
A great shot by Brian Nicholls copied from Mike´s and Murray Walker´s wonderful book, "The art of motorcycling".

Alan Shepherd ?

Alan Shepherd indeed Rennmax.

Is the #42 Cyril Smith?
No idea who the other two fellows are, but cash must have been tight as they could only affort one crash hat. The passenger has a leather scull cap by the looks of it.

Another shot of him some years later...





I think he was on the verge of becoming a Honda works rider but crashed in Japan (Suzuka?) in '65 when testing a Honda six which ended his career....he will always be remembered over here for his fine performances on MZs, winning the 250 cc GP in Daytona in '64 and finishing 2nd to SMBH at the Sachsenring in '63 in the 250 cc class
Always interesting how riders are rated by their competitors...do you know whom admired John Surtees most, at least from his period ?

Hi,
I think No 42 is Eric Oliver

Peter

Hi Rhodie, the passenger of the outfit in the left pic isn't shown in this shot they had to wear lids in these days when racing was dangerous and sex was safe....and it's not Cyril Smith in the right pic, but a man to whom this event was decisive for his career...

Great pic of Alan there Rennmax. Where was it taken? I heard Alan was very poorly for a while before his passing. Was there any truth to that rumour, because he certainly looks fine in that pic?


Can´t say I know off hand, but I wouldn´t be suprised if it was also Alan. He gave John and his MV 4 a torrid time in the 1960 350 Ulster GP on a vastly inferior 7R. That must have gained his respect

The pic showing Alan was shot in Hittnau/CH, close to your neighbourhood ? in '98.

I also heard that he had to live a modest life, obviously he didn't pull a fortune out of racing and he never fully recoverd from his injuries and probably no sufficient insurance cover, who knows...

I know a gent who has quite a impressive collection of MZs works bikes and he regularly staged a gathering of the MZ people including Shepherd, Kaaden etc. in the nineties over here

Now the rider that John Surtees regarded as a outstanding one

Yes, it's Oliver..any ideas who his passenger is or the gent on the left side looking like a senior accounting clerk in leathers...and the race was a rather crucial one for Oliver...

Ah yes, John Hartle was rather special, wasn´t he.

I think the driver of the BMW is Wilhelm Noll?

yes, world champ in 54 and 56 and runner-up in 55 passengered by Fritz Cron. I had the privilege to attend a gathering when he was guest of honour. Amazing how vividly he rememberd such a lot of details and you still felt the rivalry he had with Oliver, esp when he talked of the starting money Oliver collected, worth every penny of course, but a fortune in these days....

And welcome to this forum, I want to add...

Yes and a big welcome from me also

Oh yes , Oliver was quite a character...
Jenks (Dennis Jenkison, his old passenger) has written some wonderful stories about Eric and his doings.
Oliver was no mean solo competitor by the way.

Thanks for the welcome guys!

BTW, he competed in more solo than sidecar races in the TT...

http://www.iomtt.com/TT-Database/Events/Ra...ALL&ride_id=814

"Now the rider that John Surtees regarded as a outstanding one"...........of course is John Hartle.

John was a very stylish rider, he had more than his fair share of bad luck, I saw him at the TT in 68 the year he dropped the 500MV, a close friend to John Surtees and his MV team mate.
He rode the old Gilera very well at the 1963 TT runner up in both 350 and 500, It would have been interesting to have seen him on equal machinery to Mike that year!





Another very stylish rider, arguably the best ever on any bike!

Thanks, John.. also for the fine shots of Alan Shepherd and SMBH in the post-TT event in '78

Ssssh, CP, don't let those Rossi-worshipping cretins hear you, they'll burst into tears and whines.....
Happily, I suspect they lack the good taste and thirst for historical knowledge that would lead them onto TNF...

On second thought....there were not many TT sidecar races prior to '54

Anyway, the pic showing Oliver was shot at the Feldbergrennen (close to Frankfurt) in '54 and it was the turning point of his career...he crashed there and couldn't defend his title (Noll became worldchamp) and after the '54 season he didn't figure in the GPs any more (3rd place in Spain in '55 the last GP result, IIRC)

You forgot this one:

"Oliver had a surprising appearance in the 1958 Isle of Man Sidecar TT race on a standard Norton Dominator 88 with a Watsonian "Monza" road sidecar with Mrs Pat Wise in the sidecar, finishing a creditable tenth ahead of many specialised race machines."

Not really... please take a look at page 53, # 2094 ...

This was the last time I saw and spoke to Mike. Very sad indeed.

Regarding Eric Oliver, I saw him at a classic meeting at Mallory, dressed in suit, normal shoes probably wearing at tie (fading memories) thrashing round on a vintage Norton outfit much to fast for his own good, front wheel flapping as he entered the Esses! What a brave and skilful rider. I never saw him race in anger but it must have been quite a spectacle. The earliest sidecar racing I saw was at Cadwell in 1956 and boy that was exciting. As a youngster I had a 650 BSA A10 with a Watsonian Monza chair, my mates used to come out with me and hang off the chair a play at racers, very dangerous on the roads but we were young. What the hell! Great fun. I'm still here.

As for Rossi, he's bloody good. A close second to Mike (in my humble opinion).

Hopefully you're right GD

I became embroiled in a protracted thread on the SpeedTV site on the subject of who was the greatest. It actually became downright nasty. As far as I am concerned there is no question but that it was Mike, a point of view which Jim Redman endorses.

Yes a lot of these people just don't get it do they ?? They seem to be focused on these easier to ride ,traction controlled missiles and think things were always like that.....if only they took the time to check up ... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr