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Remembering Bill Ivy


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#1 bella

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Posted 12 August 2011 - 10:31

Bills era was long before i got into bikes so i know little about him except that he was a character and a brilliant rider, it seems when people talk about the greats he seems to get comparatively small mention so how about you guys who knew him and saw him in action posting some tales on here please .

Edited by bella, 02 September 2011 - 09:38.


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#2 Russell Burrows

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 15:40

Bills era was long before i got into bikes so i know little about him except that he was a character and a brilliant rider, it seems when people talk about the greats he seems to get comparatively small mention so how about you guys who knew and him and saw him in action posting some tales on here please .


I certainly didn't know him but as a kid I watched him lots. Perhaps because of his size - he was only about 5 feet in height- there was something particularly heroic about him as chucked around all manner of very quick motorbikes. Perhaps he features less than his contemporaries due to his early death; he was only 27 when he left us.

Back in the early seventies, Alan Peck, a rider from the same era, wrote 'No Time To Loose", a biography of Bill that's worth a read. It was reprinted a few years ago, so it could still be available.

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Edited by Russell Burrows, 19 August 2011 - 15:48.


#3 tonyed

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 17:18

Was racing at Snetterton on a Sunday when the tannoy released the news of the death of 'Little Bill' :(

Much has been reported of the relationship between Bill and Phil Read, but let us have no argument that both were (and one still is) exceptional riders who were at the top of their profession. :clap:

I never raced against Bill but I remember one practice session, must have been a ‘Hutch’ when I was on my Aermacchi-Mettise 350 and Phil came past me on his 250 TD2 towards Westfields. My thought was the ‘Macchi should have similar speed to the 250 and we were both on Dunlops triangulars so no reason why I can’t keep up. For a lap and a bit I did, copied his braking points etc. Obviously he tired of me following him so he pitted and once again I was a little fish on my own. But it was a lesson from a maestro (no not old British family saloon). :stoned:



#4 john winfield

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 18:00

I'm a four wheel man really and don't know much about bikes. But I saw Bill Ivy drive Formula 2 at Thruxton in, I think, April 1969. I believe it was his four-wheel debut, he qualified for his heat on the front row, ahead of many established drivers, and finished fourth. Fantastic for a 'beginner'.

#5 Geoff E

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 19:15

Bill Ivy was the subject of an old thread on TNF http://forums.autosp...showtopic=52116

#6 Paul Rochdale

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Posted 20 August 2011 - 18:49

I didn't much care for the Alan Peck book 'No Time to Lose'. A far better book to my mind on Bill is 'Bill Ivy: The Will to Win' by Mick Walker (ISBN 978-1-85993-680-4)

#7 billbomann

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Posted 24 August 2011 - 06:14

Little Man - Big Matchless!

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For those coming to the Isle of Man for the Manx Grand Prix, may we invite you to our photo exhibition at the Laxey Woolen Mills, Glen Road, Laxey, featuring 200 images of two, three and four wheeled sport here in the Isle of Man. Easy parking, free admission, but a donation to the Manx Grand prix Supporters Club Helicopter Fund would be much appreciated. Showing (but not selling, we do not have the copyright), three short films: 1923 TT, 1957 Senior TT and 'Three Wheels at Mallory' the 1965 Sidecar race of the Year. Open 9 am to 5 pm for the MGP fortnight.

#8 rotrax

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Posted 02 September 2011 - 09:21

Bills era was long before i got into bikes so i know little about him except that he was a character and a brilliant rider, it seems when people talk about the greats he seems to get comparatively small mention so how about you guys who knew and him and saw him in action posting some tales on here please .

Hi, I remember Bill in the early days on the Chisholm Honda. Also him walking on his hands fron the top of the paddock-which was on a fair slope-to the bike. I saw the Italian supercar-Iso Griffo? by the docks in Douglas after the side was ripped up on a fast trip around the course.Rumor was Mike H. was in the car with him. The Motorcycle Sport contributor P.A.D.(IIRC) wrote about Bill at a Brands practice on the Jawa four before Bills final season. He said the Jawa was really quick.


#9 wenoopy

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Posted 02 September 2011 - 10:19

Hi, I remember Bill in the early days on the Chisholm Honda. Also him walking on his hands fron the top of the paddock-which was on a fair slope-to the bike. I saw the Italian supercar-Iso Griffo? by the docks in Douglas after the side was ripped up on a fast trip around the course.Rumor was Mike H. was in the car with him. The Motorcycle Sport contributor P.A.D.(IIRC) wrote about Bill at a Brands practice on the Jawa four before Bills final season. He said the Jawa was really quick.


My mind associates Bill Ivy with a Maserati Ghibli, but it could easily have been Hailwood or somebody else from that era.

#10 Rennmax

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Posted 02 September 2011 - 13:03

Hi, I remember Bill in the early days on the Chisholm Honda. Also him walking on his hands fron the top of the paddock-which was on a fair slope-to the bike. I saw the Italian supercar-Iso Griffo? by the docks in Douglas after the side was ripped up on a fast trip around the course.Rumor was Mike H. was in the car with him. The Motorcycle Sport contributor P.A.D.(IIRC) wrote about Bill at a Brands practice on the Jawa four before Bills final season. He said the Jawa was really quick.


According to Alan Peck's book, Bill drove a (not otherwise specified) Ferrari, accompanied by SMBH and 'a girl from a bar' when they crashed at Greeba castle after passing the Highlander at around 140mph shortly before...I have a LP which was recorded at the GP in Hockenheim in '69, where Bill stated that the Jawa is as quick as the 250 Yamaha, so both around the 70 hp mark, but handles better.

Edited by Rennmax, 02 September 2011 - 13:26.


#11 Jagjon

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Posted 22 September 2011 - 01:38

According to Alan Peck's book, Bill drove a (not otherwise specified) Ferrari, accompanied by SMBH and 'a girl from a bar' when they crashed at Greeba castle after passing the Highlander at around 140mph shortly before...I have a LP which was recorded at the GP in Hockenheim in '69, where Bill stated that the Jawa is as quick as the 250 Yamaha, so both around the 70 hp mark, but handles better.


Rumor was Ivy and Hailwood with two girls put Hailwoods Iso Grifo through the hedge at Greeba Bridge. Hailwood had several Grifos one later owned by Liverpool M/cycle dealer Bob Hannah around 1968. Ivy had a Maserati Ghibli.

#12 Arthur

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Posted 22 September 2011 - 18:32

Rumor was Ivy and Hailwood with two girls put Hailwoods Iso Grifo through the hedge at Greeba Bridge. Hailwood had several Grifos one later owned by Liverpool M/cycle dealer Bob Hannah around 1968. Ivy had a Maserati Ghibli.

I can assure you the car was Bill's and Mike was the only passenger No females involved. Bill insisted on having the car returned to the factory for repair dispite offers to repair on the Isle of Man.

#13 Jagjon

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Posted 22 September 2011 - 21:46

I can assure you the car was Bill's and Mike was the only passenger No females involved. Bill insisted on having the car returned to the factory for repair dispite offers to repair on the Isle of Man.

I stand corrected! Interesting, I guess it must have been the Ferrari.
Bill Ivy had a Ferrari 275GTB which was at one time badly damaged, the story being he was showing off to a girlfriend, again a distortion if he was just with MH.
Seems like too many story versions happened over the years, or there were more accidents!
One of the Iso Grifos, - the red one, turned up one day still drivable but with left front damage having hit a wall.
The yellow one was in S Africa when Mike Hailwood hit a buffalo causing severe damage to the car & lucky not to be injured or worse, I don't suppose the buffalo was a survivor.
Bill Ivy had a Corvette and later a Maserati Ghibli which was met red, EE2676.

#14 larryd

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Posted 22 September 2011 - 23:05

Bill Ivy had .................. a Maserati Ghibli which was met red, EE2676.

Which I believe he called a "Gobbler"

:rotfl:



#15 Ray Oldam

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Posted 27 September 2011 - 20:20

I can remember Bill Ivy having a white or cream coloured Corvette on the Island one year- my brother nearly hit it on his pushbike!

We were at the Bay Hotel hanging around the race team garages after school, (we usually slipped out early in TT fortnight!!), and Dennis was tearing round practicing his racing lines down the access road, maybe hoping someone would notice his talent at 10 years old and put him on the short list for a works ride in a few years!!! I saw the Corvette coming up the road just as Dennis flashed past the bonnet and slotted his bike into the gap between the car and stone wall, missing both by inches. The surprised passenger in the car was none other than SMBH!

They spent a while at the Yamaha garage with Ivy showing Hailwood the fours as the mechanics beavered away getting them ready for the practice later. They both ribbed Dennis about his near miss with the car, but were really good natured and gave us their autographs. They got their own back on Dennis by waiting until he was about to ride off, and lifting up the back of his bike, leaving him pedalling furiously in thin air, much to the amusement of the mechanics!

Can't remember what year it was, 1967 or 1968 I think.

ATB

Ray :wave:

Edited by Ray Oldam, 27 September 2011 - 20:23.


#16 Alan Cox

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Posted 05 October 2011 - 21:51

Previously posted on the 1949-1969 Nostalgia thread, but worth including here, I think.
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An Eddie Whitham photograph

#17 Russell Burrows

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 13:00

Does anyone know if this is thee practice session ?
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#18 tonyed

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 13:22

Does anyone know if this is thee practice session ?
[url="http://xtupload.com/share-8845_4F2D280A.html?username="]Posted Image[/url]

The report was, I think, that Bill was fidddling with his helmet strap, possibly doing it up, when the engine seized. In this shot his helmet etc looks in good order. But who knows. :(

On the Yamaha Racing Bike stand at Newark last month a member of the public was talking to Dean Want about racing and Yamahas etc, when he mentioned that he was wondering how Bill Ivy was getting on these days. Needless to say Deans 'flabber was ghasted'.

#19 Russell Burrows

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 13:46

The report was, I think, that Bill was fidddling with his helmet strap, possibly doing it up, when the engine seized. In this shot his helmet etc looks in good order. But who knows. :(


But not the neck strap on his leathers which is dangling down. Could he have been attempting to fasten this when he went down? He's also wearing racing driver gloves which is odd, maybe? Anyone know the number on Bill's bike on the day?

Edited by Russell Burrows, 04 February 2012 - 13:46.


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#20 Tonka

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 14:16

No 61 if the info on this thread is correct

http://forums.autosp...howtopic=137763



#21 picblanc

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 16:45

That would make that photo from Spain then?

#22 ravenous25

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 16:58

The pictures in Alan Peck's book show it to be number 61

#23 Robin127

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Posted 04 February 2012 - 21:47

The pictures in Alan Peck's book show it to be number 61



The ground looks dry, I thought it was wet that day.

#24 Rennmax

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Posted 05 February 2012 - 10:30

It was wet both at Jarama and the Sachsenring

#25 greg1953

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Posted 05 February 2012 - 17:19

Bill Ivy's death was a bit of a Kennedy moment ( everyone remembers where they were etc,) I was working on an NSU Prima scooter in my mates back yard, rivetting linings to the brake shoes when my dad shouted the bad news over the fence, devastated.
Greg