18 replies to this topic

[joeninety]

Have you ?

Sadly not always my way The lyrics sum it all up sport, love and life .....
Edited by Mrs joeninety by joeninety and under sufferance to Love, Life and then sport

Edited by joeninety, 26 July 2011 - 20:31.

[Russell Burrows]

Have you ?

Sadly not always my way The lyrics sum it all up sport, love and life .....
Edited by Mrs joeninety by joeninety and under sufferance to Love, Life and then sport

I left the cake out in the rain.

[Rennmax]

Not buying all redundant British Singles, Aermacchis etc in the early seventies when you got them for peanuts
On second thoughts: pocket money was my only income then

Edited by Rennmax, 27 July 2011 - 14:06.

[joeninety]

I left the cake out in the rain.

Wonderfull song and sentiment, not too many candles extinguished I hope !

Edited by joeninety, 27 July 2011 - 19:41.

[Hoofhearted]

Regrets are a waste of precious time. But I do have one. I had to pass on two 500 Manx Nortons ( in the late 70s) for 1500 pounds. At that time I hadn't two pennies to rub together.

[Paul Collins]

I regret 1) selling a TD1C for £140, 2) then not putting another £260 to the proceeds to buy a £400 Aermacchi, 3) then a few years later selling a mint TZ750 for £2000

But I certainly dont regret being born in time to race all of those things, when the only road bikes at a meeting were either in the car parks or the production race, nowadays the only race bikes at a meeting are in the classic race or the parade.

[fil2.8]

But I certainly dont regret being born in time to race all of those things, when the only road bikes at a meeting were either in the car parks or the production race, nowadays the only race bikes at a meeting are in the classic race or the parade.

Very well put , Paul , and , sadly true

[joeninety]

A regret.....Maybe that is why we struggle on a higher plane, all these guys on proddie bikes, we should have paid more attention to 125's years ago, the continent have done for years, it is after all an apprenticeship. A fine example is Jamie Whitham, had he been an Italian he quite well could have been a good world class prospect. But no we stick em' on a big bike in the British Championship and come GP status when it arrives it's all too much. Of course it is my personal opinion but look at the track record, the boys doing the business have for the most part come through the ranks. World Supersport.... look how Crutchlow is suffering and how Toseland succumbed it's a different league out there. What intruiges me more is how the British riders are going to get on the ladder to GP status with GP3. Are we introducing a stepping stone at British International meetings, or come to that grass roots level ?

Edited by joeninety, 28 July 2011 - 20:07.

[Ray Oldam]

Joe,

Regrets, I've had a few.....

1. Never racing on the Island - I always feel I allowed myself to miss out

2. Not buying my old Aermacchi for the £600 it sold for in 76!

3. Stopping racing when I did - I will always wonder how it would have worked out if I had carried on - who knows?

But then again....

I may just have missed out on some great things over the 3 decades or so since if I had stayed on the same path. I would do it all over again if I could, so on balance " Je ne regrete rien....."!! You make the best decisions you can with what you know at the time. And it's not over yet either - lots of things I still want to do - a good long list !!

ATB

Ray

Edited by Ray Oldam, 28 July 2011 - 22:21.

[stuavant]

Just one regret, selling all the Guan Hoe RG 500's for a song so I could immigrate to Aus, tempered by the fact that some good blokes now own them and it's still warm in winter in Sydney

[joeninety]

Je ne regrete rien. Danka siv ou plait mon amour an all that, ( still learning) Anyone who has raced to a certain level must have some tale to tell regarding racings regrets even if you haven't enjoyed the pleasures of spending a fortune to entertain you must have loved and lost precious metal along the way

[joepotts7]

Two regrets from my Dad:
Firstly, refusing the chance to test ride Mick Grant's Works KR750 Kwaka (in period). Those chances don't come up often!
Secondly, refusing to ride an ex-team Hansen H1R for his sponsor. He at least got as far as having the H1R in his front room (mind you I wish it was still there).
Ben

[joeninety]

Would you believe it, I had Mick Grant's pudding basin lid and painted it rather badly then lost it, didn't seem to have any value at the time

[rotrax]

Have you ?

Sadly not always my way The lyrics sum it all up sport, love and life .....
Edited by Mrs joeninety by joeninety and under sufferance to Love, Life and then sport

Not buying the ex Fritz Egli Vincent twin after having a go on it at a private Silverstone test day.A pop music millionaire hired the track and my wife and I got an invite. I believe it was owned by John Loring who worked fot Morphy Motors the Laverda people.He offered it for 2K and I declined as it was a bastard to start! Cue sad music.................

[dommieracer]

I must admit i regret the fire at my dads workshop in 76, he lost so much of his racing collection and to me, what would have been my first bike was destroyed in that fire. My dad lost all interest in bikes then and i suffered from it.

[Robin127]

Je ne regrete rien. Danka siv ou plait mon amour an all that, ( still learning) Anyone who has raced to a certain level must have some tale to tell regarding racings regrets even if you haven't enjoyed the pleasures of spending a fortune to entertain you must have loved and lost precious metal along the way ;)

I had a regret for many years. In 1987 I sold a bike that I'd raced since 1981, it was a 250 Rotax single in an Hejira frame. It was the first bike I built and I had my first ever win on it so it meant a lot to me. I decided to step up to ride a 500 and it had to go, not due to finances but due to the fact that I only had a small shed at the bottom of my garden in which to keep and work on my bike and there wasn't enough room for two.

About 10 years after selling it I started to wonder what had happened to it, to the point that I actually started to have some dreams where I raced it again. I moved to the US in 2001 and in the winter of 2008 for some reason I looked at the rulebook for "Vintage Racing" with WERA and indexed into one of the classes was a bike that matched the description of my old machine. I managed to contact the bloke who owned the bike and after numerous emails, exchange of photos etc. it turned out to be my old bike. The best part is the fact that I got to race it again in June of 2008, almost 21 years after selling it.

Edited by Robin127, 03 August 2011 - 02:17.

[tonyed]

Buying a 350 Aermacchi-Metisse in 1972 when I should have bought a TR2B or TR3.

Going Formula 750 racing with an ex-works BSA, when I should have stuck to the Aermacchi-Metisse and bought the ex Rod Gould TR3 but by that time could only afford a TD2B after breaking the BSA.

Not winning eight world titles, not living on my own Caribbean Island, not being insanely rich, not being insanely hansom, having to work for a living, being earthbound and unable to fly like a bird, not owning a vineyard, my own yacht, aeroplane, Gull Wing Mercedes, YZR500, Planet, and being worshipped like god.

Apart from that (and all the other things I have not listed) I am as happy as Larry.

Footnote: Larry was a manic depressive who, at the age of 10, topped himself, when he realised he wasn’t going to:

Win eight world titles, live on his own Caribbean Island, be insanely rich, be insanely hansom, not have to work for a living, be able to fly like a bird, own a vineyard, a yacht, an aeroplane, a Gull Wing Mercedes, a YZR500, a Planet, and be worshipped like god.

What a Bummer.

[larryd]

Footnote: Larry was a manic depressive who, at the age of 10, topped himself

Ehhhhhhh?? What have I ever done to you, Tony?

At least I had 7 good years out of my 'Macchi Metisse!

[tonyed]

Footnote: Larry was a manic depressive who, at the age of 10, topped himself

Ehhhhhhh?? What have I ever done to you, Tony?

At least I had 7 good years out of my 'Macchi Metisse!

Wrong Larry - my apologies.