Of course.... I had a conversation with Ron Chandler yesterday, some of which touched on quick and less quick Kirby 7R's/G50's. It seems he fell out with uncle Tom over this.........

Evening all
I remember Fritz on his Egli Vin at Mallory in the late 60s.Could have been the R O Y.He was going fairly well but stepped off (at the hairpin,I think)and picked the Vin up and restarted.This seemed to have the desired effect!You would expect 'Italian pin-up boy' to have at least caught and possibly lapped him.But no,old Fritz rode the wheels off the thing and didn't seem to losing too much ground to Ago on the 500 3.Can't recall his times or race position,but I do recall thinking its a brave man to take one of those and really wring its neck.
HW

Russell, IIRC didn't Jim Harvey have the same issues with his Tom Kirby bike and finish his championship winning season on a Yamaha??

Hi Club, Can't remember to be honest. There are some big gaps in my recollections from around that time (no, not because I hit my head too often ! ) because I was in the Antipodes. I do though recall Jim putting up some really good performances on the G50 Mettise, which, as you know, by the early seventies was too slow. I think he was a really classy rider - how did he go later on with strokers?

I remember him on an ex Kenny Roberts TZ700 in 1975 Russell, got a pic I will put on other thread.

I worked with Jim's nephew Steve Harvey out in the Gulf, Steve also raced a classic Norton and a TZ so I'll contact him and ask him for his recollections.

I remember that Jim Harvey went to South Wales dealer "Two Wheel Services" shop after the Kirby split, for a ride on their T500 Seeley Suzuki (which Roger Nicholls had been riding). Don't know how many outings he had on it though.

Reminds me a little bit of Alan Barnett and his career...was impressive on Kirby's bikes and on a Seeley in '70, but somehow vanished when he had to turn to smokers (Yamsel)...is my impression justified ?

Yes Renn, Barnett wasn't anything like as successful with them. Having said that, he was leading the '71 Junior TT until put out with mechanical problems, and he got a third in the Lightweight in the same year. His rides on Syd Lawton's Aermacchi's were a bit special as well; in 1970 he came within a knats todger of lapping the island at 100mph on a 40bhp pushrod single. After consulting my trusty Seeley book, I'm reminded that Alan was the first rider to lap the Island at over the ton on a TR2 powered bike (practice '71). So, there little doubt he could ride strokers, but he was less consistent and they did break a lot compared to Macchis/ Seeleys etc. A brilliant rider though, be it on short circuits the, Island or GP's, eg second to Ago in your GP 1970.

The 'Ring' in the wet, 1970.

....which was held at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in '70, which must have been in first outing on that demanding circuit...

Something completely different: There was a landsdowne round at Brands last Sunday..wonder if these bikes a genuine ones, replicas, old ones with modern parts or what...thanks for enlightenment

a meeting which instantly reminds me of one of the last Norton campaigners



Photo Copyrighted to Paul Mckelvie

All sorts there Renn.....don't know what the regs say.

Yes, I think he was horribly injured, as in missing limbs before he died. Wasn't Rob's Norton rekoned to be one of the quickest....Unless my memory is going, someone fairly well know bought it.

Thanks for the scans, Russ

http://www.lansdowneclassicseries.com/

shows the eligibility rules, but I'm still not sure if the preciuous genuine ones (the replicas are not cheap either!) are risked in real competition....

BTW, at

http://www.bemsee.net/


you will find a real comprehensive result chart of that particular event

another victim of the armcos...I think he was on a 350 Manx in that fateful practice session, there were very few left in GPs as late as 1970....

Thanks Renn. There were certainly one or two original 7R's out there, albeit a bit mucked about with; they look so much better with 19 inch wheels.

Renn, as president of the Alan Barnett fan club, I feel I should remind us all that he also repeatedly lapped at over the ton in the Senior TT of 1970, and was in second place behind Ago, just ahead of Peter Williams, when brought down by the wet tar at Doran's Bend. Apparently the crash, which saw Alan fly over a stone wall, looked so horrible it induced Peter Williams to almost stop. After being flown by helicopter to Nobles with head injuries, he was soon out of there, and just a few weeks later he got the Seeley across the line in 4th place at the East German GP, ahead of of a swag of HIR Kawasakis.

The Lansdowne sreies is for genuine era bikes with safety mods only......but Fred Wallmsley also runs his Matchless replicas in it too so yes to both Renn. :\

Graham, did you not make it there on Sunday ?

I was going to go, then I got the impression no one else was going, so I could not be bothered to go on me own, as "Modern" racing does not float my boat any more either, and to go just to see a few bikes being paraded was not all that inspiring...but looks like I missed a good weekend? so I now have the right "ump"

Then I find out you were there, & Paul was there....was it something I said!!!

Perhaps they were trying to tell you something Buster
After all , their silence before was deafening

And there was me looking quizzically at everyone with a bald 'ed....well until my misses told me to stop. Actually, I wasn't absolutely certain I was going myself until the last knockings. I had hoped to meet Pilot Legende, Michel, but he missed the Sunday due to the threatened strike action. Next time perhaps. It was a good day though, even old Lutonboy was there ;)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Russell Burrows
[B]And there was me looking quizzically at everyone with a bald 'ed....well until my misses told me to stop.

Does anyone know If the old style frame ever housed a 350 motor- outside that is of Syd Lawton bike from around '65?

Oi!! I have a shaved head...there is a subtle difference!

They'll 'overhaul and tune' but only for a good rider..... Still cheap relative to present day racers? Although a new Manx was about £500 in '61.

Mouthwatering...the purchase would have been quite a good investment I guess... 500 GBP...any idea what the average yearly income was then ??

re landsdowne...can't get over the pic at the top of the page displaying the Manx the wrong way round, sorry for being pedantic... and the competitor Karl Heinz Kalbfell, not a common name even over here. The only one I know was prominent at BMW Motorsport...

Hi Renn, The only info I can find on wages in '61 relates to the mimimum payable to agricultural labourers...£8/12/7 per week ! Poor sods. Perhaps the average was around £20 pw ? That's a guess though......

Did you notice where Herr Kalbfell was from ? Perhaps he's at the Military College ? Thinking about it, that's not very likely :\

As a trained HVAC engineer I left Britain in 1957 to take a job in Rhodesia at GBP 90/month (I broke the GBP 1,000/year barrier!) which I could not have made in Britain at that time. A bike costing more than half a year's pay would be beyond a lot of people then!

Strange coincidence that this chap has a namesake in the motorsport world...on the other hand, didn't they say that Germans are fond of militarism

Thanks Maridadi and Russ for putting it into perspective...I think most of us over here would have to spend more than half a year's pay (net at least) to afford a Molnar,Allen, Beale bike. (ca 22k GBP exl. VAT...)..and thinking of modern racing, it's a amount which will bring you not very far, I suppose

Edit : 22K would be a bargain...

Original AMC specification complete G50 / 7R can be built to order, but unfortunately
although it is a nice, simple engine the AMC design of chassis is extremely
expensive to produce. This results in complete bikes costing from £27,500 to
£31,000 depending on specifications.

copied from Andy Molnar's website...

Wasn't this a snip!

!

http://www.classic-auctions.com/lotdetail....367&aucid=26903

nice one ...fit and propper for my living room

Photo copyrighted to Rolf Eggersdorfer


Happy birthday to the gent on the left !

Herr Duebel?

No Russ... a rider from the good old Commonwealth

Jesus..... Erm..I wonder which counrty ?

NZ

It's not Ginger Molloy?

I can hear you brain working, Russ ...

Oh good, cos I didn't want it to be him..... I haven't got a clue.

Initials JH

Hang on, I'm assuming it's a rider and it's not Sir Edmund Hillary or somebody ? Oh, cant be him.....

Ah Hemplemen....?

Yeah, it's his 76th birthday today

The pic is taken in Germany. His ancestry is German?

Well Renn , it 'aint Hugh Anderson could it be a certain Mr R Haldane perchance ??

Oh late again , almost as bad as Mr Fu

The pic was taken in Germany when he was there for the celebration of the 80th birthday of the Sachsenring in 2007... he raced MZs in 1960, wouldn't have known that...and the lady in the middle is his wife, I would like to point out