Tell us your funny stories.

[roadracingoldfart]

I was chatting recently to a few mates and we were recalling some of our funniest racing moments . It was hilarious and i got to thinking there must be so many worthwhile tales that should be aired for all to know and cemented in history somewhere.

I will learn to type faster than the loggin duration and post one of mine soon but lets get the ball rolling.


Paul.

[gixerracer]

I watched Jason Easton race a 600 and a superbike once years ago and yea
I was chatting recently to a few mates and we were recalling some of our funniest racing moments . It was hilarious and i got to thinking there must be so many worthwhile tales that should be aired for all to know and cemented in history somewhere.

I will learn to type faster than the loggin duration and post one of mine soon but lets get the ball rolling.


Paul.

[cowpoos]

I watched Jason Easton race a 600 and a superbike once years ago and yea

How about the chequered flag episode at hampton downs bettween your bad self and Jimmy??

[fuknKIWI]

Watching Stu Mac fall off at Ruatapu & him crawling on his hands & knees to get to the bike & get back on, there were bikes down all over the shop that day.

Seeing John Britten fly past my Bonnie at the Sound of Thunder & thinking how can anybody ride that fast. Later in the race his bike (the cast iron Triumph) was on its side & he was sitting on it watching the race, it was then that I realised you can't ride that fast if you want to finish. That made me feel a lot better cos he really demoralised me when he blew me away, it was the same corner he stepped off at.

[codgyoleracer]

1) Jarod Love, Burt Munro first meeting
2) An extraordinary 2nd riders brief was held (headed by Jarod) - absolutley banning wheelies and risky antics
3) Closely followed a short while later by a flip over bike destroying wheelie whilst showing off after race win .....(by Mr Love of course.....) :-)

Oopps, sorry Jarod

[Biggles08]

I seem to recall seeing a Honda MUV suspended on 4 rubbish bins at Teretonga at this years Nationals...that produced a giggle or two!

[Ivan]

best one I remember would have been either 03 or 04 season of the wellington bucket champs,
Bayden Sprozen ends up with his bike miles up the bank at Kaitoke turn 1 in reverse up in a tree and him on ground standing at bottom looking up hill at it never will forget that would have beeen a good 20-30 foot up bank

[FROSTY]

not funny at the time but 07 nats at levels. Hayden fitzgerald launches his bike into space. Up and over a fairly high fence and almost cuts a nissan terrano in half when it comes back down.
Insane antics back in the late 80's doing the south island nats--Mostly involving water guns and the louge.-and other stuff not for telling the public

[CHOPPA]

1) Jarod Love, Burt Munro first meeting
2) An extraordinary 2nd riders brief was held (headed by Jarod) - absolutley banning wheelies and risky antics
3) Closely followed a short while later by a flip over bike destroying wheelie whilst showing off after race win .....(by Mr Love of course.....) :-)

Oopps, sorry Jarod

Or when he rode around the Taupiri SX track naked with Jenny Caulfield chasing him....

[Robert Taylor]

Last round of the Nats two years back when we built mock electronic suspension servos for Sam Smiths R6. We had maybe 75% of the paddock believing it as Sam was a lot more competitive than he had been all season, that being attributed to it being his home track ( Pukekohe ) and having just installed Ohlins ''NIX 25'' system inside the forks.

There was a look of concern and ''unfair advantage on a rival team managers face and it was a real insight into human behaviour / reaction. ''Its new, it seems to work, we havent got it, lets have it banned.

Craig Shirriffs, privy to this elaborate and convincing hoax played his part beautifully in letting on that we had something special and ears picked up when he made mention.

Davy Cole and I standing in front of the R6 and watching old man Cole walk into the pit, round to the back of the bike and out again without saying a word. Even the ''Puff Adder'' tried to have a sneaky look.

We were wetting ourselves all weekend, it was a lot of effort to make all this stuff but it turned out to be very entertaining.

[Jantar]

1975 (or 76) sprints at Alexandra. I had been given the nod to go but I couldn't because there was this old guy holding onto my hadlebars and telling how he makes his own pistons. Burt someone from Invercargill. :gob:

[Shaun]

I have decided to race again.

[ellipsis]

....on my second visit to the IOM in ,82 I had decided I needed to be closer to the machinery and riders so I planned to take a tent and park up somewhere near the pits and start line. A little brother of a person I'd met in England was pretty impressed with the motorcycle mania I exuded and was keen on lending me his little tent, so I took it and a sleeping bag as my accomodation. I threw my bag over the fence round the pit area at the top of the track up from Douglas and tried to look like I was supposed to be there. A fair swag of riders and bikes were already getting ready for practice and the first road closure the next day, I was doing pretty good looking nonchalant and fading into the background. I took out the tent from its little bag and fuck me if it did'nt have big pictures of american indians with their feathered headdress on. Blew my cover right out the window... still ended up parked up there for the whole two weeks, it didnt seem to bother anyone , especially the Irish bloke who was pitted a few feet away, with the yellow Arai and the fast Honda that seemed to have a smile on his face every time he looked at my tent.

[gimpy]

Craig Shirriffs once told me a story how he was going to win a superbike race ,he even said he was going to do it on a honda , that just sent me into tears of laughter

[gixerracer]

I got told he has fallen off his honda less in 2 seasons than you did in 2 race meetings?????
craig shirriffs once told me a story how he was going to win a superbike race ,he even said he was going to do it on a honda , that just sent me into tears of laughter

[roadracingoldfart]

Wanganui one year and the Honda 455 was cutting it ok in qualifying and I did some good laps to make it on the 2nd row.
I had just made a fairing for it and as it was untried I fitted it after qualifying in case I damaged it .
The race started and every time I got half way through a right hander (common at Wangas) the motor cut out , it would suddenly come back to life when I straightened and the rush of power made it pop huge wheelies out of the corners and I was surprised nobody went past me during the race.
At the end of the race I came round the 1st bend and it cut out again and I tentatively waited for it to come back on song but to no avail . Bugger , dead engine.
As I wasn’t close to the pits (they were on the riverbank in those days) I waited for the trailer. The race caller , Rambling Ray was commenting how the bike that came in 4th had so much power the rider couldn’t keep the front wheel on the road and that was his demise , he had a co- commentator I didn’t know that offered the advice I de-tuned the bike to allow better results.
I wasn’t aware it was me they were talking about as the guys in front had vanished ahead and I didn’t know where I finished. I was wondering who had the very powerful bike and wished I had his engine lol. As it transpired , an earth wire was slipping in and out of its plug because I fitted the fairing with the cable round the wrong side of the main stay but I was super amazed when I found I had come 4th.
Next race , all wiring sorted and I could hear Ray talking about the #74 and watch him out of the corners this race , I suddenly reaslised I was the subject of his previous ramblings lol. The flag fell and I was doing ok , 6th I think and every time I went to accelerate I was nervous but it ran fine , I got a bit relaxed and suddenly suffered from Ground , sky , ground , sky , haybale. (fuck it hurt) .
As I was waiting for the trailer again I heard Ray comment on me quoting my number this time and I was getting applauded for what I thought was the high side so I stood up and took a bow and gave a wave to my addoring crowd. I then realised I was not the reason for the cheering at all as there was a chick with huge tits giving a flash to all and sundry .
I took 3 things from that meeting ,
-Build the bike properly ,
-remember the good times ,
-and
-always put your helmet back on when you make a dick of yourself lol.

Paul.

[woodyracer]

When at the TRRS that woodyracer idiot took off with the classics on a staggered start....

[Robert Taylor]

Craig Shirriffs once told me a story how he was going to win a superbike race ,he even said he was going to do it on a honda , that just sent me into tears of laughter

Your first effort at Tigcraft swingarm reconstruction, that was pretty funny!

[Mishy]

Oh, so many stories !

I crashed mt RS250 at Ruapuna during practice for the John Britten Memorial. Coming out of the sweeper it just came right round on me, and I took the soft option of sitting down instead of hanging on.
When i stopped rolling I got up to look for my bike - and it just plain wasn't there !
I looked out, in, forward, all over the place- no bike ! Very confused, and kinda funny to watch
Turns out that the thing put itself back on it's wheels after I bailed, and kept turning left - like really left. It ended up WAY back behind me in the in field :)

One tme (at band camp) I was lucky enough to hitch a ride back from Puke with Dallas Rankine and Dick Hurdeman.
I can still vividly remeber Dick hanging out the window, wearing his flouro orange and yellow KFC glasses, squirting people as we drove through Te Awamutu with his equally silly gay coloured waterpistol.
Those that have met Dick would get it :)

And then there's the "magic egg" that managed to get thrown (I think by Craig shirriffs) in through the window of Gary Cunningham's van, bounce off Dave Manuel in the passengers seat without breaking, and hit the INSIDE of the van behind them, slatering the inside of the van and the bikes in goo
I think they (hot day and all) discovered that after about 6 hours driving, and gary was still finding bits of egg in his bike the next day after practice :)

[roadracingoldfart]

One really really windy day at manfeild , it had been raining for most of the week before hand and the track had a puddle of water on both sides down the back straight.
You had to hit the centre of the track to miss the water but the wind was coming bigtime from the N.W and blowing us outwards. This one time down the back and the gust was huge and i was blown towards the water , i managed to scrub some speed off and just when i thought i had it sussed the gust intensified and i was waterlogged on the left of the track. Front went out and i was water skiing on my back. I slid for ages and when i was going slow enough i sort of just dug my feet in and stood up . Well when you crash at 150 kmh you actually dont really scrub off speed when water is involved. I promptly nose dived big time and face planted into the grass and water and with a massive splash and bow wave continued to slide. The bike was fine but i was sore and i sat the day out after that . A guy unknown to me came running up all excited at prizegiving and said he had caught the whole thing on his motor drive camera and did i want to buy a copy. He then told me how much he wanted for the prints (all 20 odd) and i knew i could never afford them all so i got 2 , one with a bow wave like a jetsprint boat feet first , and one with me standing on my head in the grass. I got the hard luck award that year for my antics and i think it was in a copy of the Oily Rag as well.

Paul.

[roadracingoldfart]

Oh, so many stories !

I crashed mt RS250 at Ruapuna during practice for the John Britten Memorial. Coming out of the sweeper it just came right round on me, and I took the soft option of sitting down instead of hanging on.
When i stopped rolling I got up to look for my bike - and it just plain wasn't there !
I looked out, in, forward, all over the place- no bike ! Very confused, and kinda funny to watch
Turns out that the thing put itself back on it's wheels after I bailed, and kept turning left - like really left. It ended up WAY back behind me in the in field :)


One tme (at band camp) I was lucky enough to hitch a ride back from Puke with Dallas Rankine and Dick Hurdeman.
I can still vividly remeber Dick hanging out the window, wearing his flouro orange and yellow KFC glasses, squirting people as we drove through Te Awamutu with his equally silly gay coloured waterpistol.
Those that have met Dick would get it :)


Same happened to me , came out of Coke , highsides in the wet and the bike was nowhere to be seen. It managed to get all the way to the old drainage ditch behind the signal box on the infield lol. A marshall found it for me after i gave up .

And i bet Dallas was egging Dick on big time. lol.

[Dreama]

Central BEARs meeting about 10 years ago, Manfield long track, early Feb.
There was maize growing alongside the back part of the track.
Dicing with someone who was trying hard to stay in front and he cocked up that sharp righthand corner before the back hairpin.
He goes straight ahead into a wall of fully grown maize ... as I round the corner I glimpse maize plants flying through the air !!
Laughing so much I barely stopped for the next corner.
Caught up with the victim later who said it was scary as hell ... lotsa noise and couldn't see anything as he smashed into the plants and then a dead stop when he hit something.... he carried on for a bit over the bars then took awhile to find his way out !!

He was still all green hours later.

As the day progressed that track into the maize got bigger and bigger.

[Dodgy]

Oh, so many stories !
And then there's the "magic egg" that managed to get thrown (I think by Craig shirriffs) in through the window of Gary Cunningham's van, bounce off Dave Manuel in the passengers seat without breaking, and hit the INSIDE of the van behind them, slatering the inside of the van and the bikes in goo
I think they (hot day and all) discovered that after about 6 hours driving, and gary was still finding bits of egg in his bike the next day after practice :)

Yes, that was the "magic egg" indeed - Craig was driving the gimp bus and casually threw it over his shoulder and out the window. For all the trays of eggs that were thrown on that trip - that was definitely the winning shot!


I remember (well, not really remember) highsiding over a oil leak onto the rear tyre on my F3 singles racer out the hairpin at the Manfield reverse circuit. Apparently, I kept it WFO even tho I had spun 180 degrees. So it was a goody and when I finally woke up (the beeping of the ambulance reversing did it) - I was somehow convinced that I was lying on the beach and couldnt quite figure out why the hell I had my helmet on! It took a few hours at hospital before I could figure what my name was!