Brown-nose a "Living Legend" right here folks

[Clivoris]

Saw a thread, correctly praising up Bruce Ansty on this very site and it triggered thoughts about the other living legends involved in road-racing Motorcycles, with a connection to our awesome whenua, New Zealand. So why not break out of our colonial and Maori humility and devote a little energy to praising some awesome Racers up. Racers who are still alive. Let's not wait till they die.
I have two daughters, 13 and 15, getting into racing. I doubt that at their age, I would have had the courage to race. They spend money on petrol instead of phone-credit, They crash, they lose, they always come back faster. My absolute heroes right now:love: They already talk about racing at the Isle of Man. Nutters.
Hell, every racer that races the Winter Series deseves a medal in my book, but who are your living legends?

[GD66]

Jeez, you'd have to reckon Hugh Anderson'd be top of the list, wouldn't you ?

25 Grand Prix wins, four world titles, and plenty of history in NZ motocross as well.

Up till recently, still a man to beat in classic road racing.....even got round Phillip Island in not much over two minutes on a 1937 BSA Empire Star.

He's a lad....:clap:

[Clivoris]

That's exactly the type of geezer I'm thinking of. Ginger Molloy, Graeme Crosby and some cranky old bugger called "Curly" (I think) who I met at Paeroa are carved from the same stump. Bob Grover is a local VMCC member who is a Bridgestone Winter Series regular. He isn't winning anything nowdays, but he is out there rain hail or snow. I hope I have that much juice in 5 years time, let alone at his age.

[Pussy]

Russell Josiah. You never hear him blowing his own trumpet, either. And a bloody good guy to boot. His brother-in-law is in the same vein.

[Pussy]

And good on you and your daughters, Clive. :)

[BIG DOUG]

Tui morgan

[Edbear]

Richard Scott.

[jasonu]

Ivan Mauger

[tri boy]

Gremlin.
Always reminds me of the lil bugger in "Ice Age" defending/saving his prized oak nut.
Tenacious and full of energy.

[Clivoris]

Tui morgan


Richard Scott.


Ivan Mauger
Tell me more guys.

Gremlin.
Always reminds me of the lil bugger in "Ice Age" defending/saving his prized oak nut.
Tenacious and full of energy.

For sure. He's done huge things at the Isle of Man and helped a lot of people out along the way. One of my girls is using a pair of his donated leathers.

[pritch]

Hempleman, Boote, and our own Shaun.

[Pussy]

Trevor Discombe. Also another VERY talented rider, and a good bastard.

[jellywrestler]

T Bob Grover is a local VMCC member who is a Bridgestone Winter Series regular. He isn't winning anything nowdays, but he is out there rain hail or snow.
I don't know whether Bob has ever won anything, kind of makes him even betterer in my mind, that he's been there like you say rain hail and shine to simply line up and ride.
Oh and another legend, Margaret Grover, been along side Bob at probably every meeting he's been to too, and it is't warm and cosy down at Manfield in the winter either.

[jellywrestler]

Tui morgan here's da man

[jellywrestler]

Alan Woodman, hands down for me, here's an article I wrote on him.
The first Kiwi to set foot on the ISLE OF MAN to race in the T.T. had a little more trouble than most stepping off it again, that was way back in 1910. South Islander; Alan Woodman had ridden the Brooklands board track event in April of that year, his bike, a 639cc V-Twin Indian, propelled him to second and third placings. One of them in the 500-1000cc Handicap race. These results generated a lot of interest amongst the English and there was much speculation about how this rider from the other side of the world would perform at the T.T.
The same machine was packed up and sent off for the ISLE OF MAN T.T. races scheduled for late May. The races in those days ran on the St Johns Course, just over 15 miles long with the only common section to nowadays runs from Ballacraine to Kirkmicheal. Despite being shorter than the current course it was still a gruelling ride. Bikes had to be pushed up the steeper sections like Creg-Willeys hill and the road surfaces were all gravel. It was that hard some teams used up to seven sets of tires to do the event! The gravel between Cronk-y-Voddy and Kirkmicheal had not been rolled and was particularly hazardous and this was destined to be Alan’s downfall.
On the 19th of May Alan punctured his front tire on some loose gravel just past Cronk-y-Voddy. He stopped, repaired it, then set off again. While descending a hill and taking a corner near Kirkmichael the tire let go again throwing Alan from the bike and into a wall. His right leg bore the brunt of the impact leaving it badly fractured and was later amputated near the hip, official practice that day was practically called off so officials could to attend to Allan and his injuries.
Alan didn’t let the missing leg stop his riding ability, He tried his best to secure an entry for the 1911 ISLE OF MAN T.T. too; fellow riders even organised a petition to support him riding, this however was rejected on safety grounds by the organisers. He went on to compete in England for a couple of years before returning to New Zealand to race.
Back here he raced for quite a number of years on the Speedway and also did long distant events throughout the South Island, then raced power boats after retiring from motorcycling.

[Shorty_925]

I don't know whether Bob has ever won anything, kind of makes him even betterer in my mind, that he's been there like you say rain hail and shine to simply line up and ride.
Oh and another legend, Margaret Grover, been along side Bob at probably every meeting he's been to too, and it is't warm and cosy down at Manfield in the winter either.

Let alone all the work Bob does at CHB mx meetings be it start gate, stewart or waving the flags. Usually see him doing 3 out of the 3 there and always good to have a chat to.

[roadracingoldfart]

Ok i am old so i will use a few time warps to split my names here....
Absolute fav still living is a split for Aaron and Croz.
Ernie Cudby , old , gritty , determind and always bloody fast.
Eddie Kattenberg , almost as old , just as gritty etc etc etc.

Newish riders , Leigh Tidman (not just cause hes in my team) Morris Beagley, both guys are always in the numbers somewhere and both know how to promote and be general alround good bastards.


Passed riders are simple to me .... Mr Holden , Dr Freeth.
Stay upright people.

[quickbuck]

John Woodley has to get a mention.
Simon Crafer, and Scott Buckley spring to mind too.

I must say Karel Pavich has a pretty amazing story too..... She used to have a 1000cc Tow Vehicle for the race bike....

[MIXONE]

John Ross' dad Larry.

[Clivoris]

Ok i am old ....
Absolute fav still living is a split for Aaron and Croz.
Ernie Cudby , old , gritty , determind and always bloody fast.
Eddie Kattenberg , almost as old , just as gritty etc etc etc.

Newish riders , Leigh Tidman (not just cause hes in my team) Morris Beagley, both guys are always in the numbers somewhere and both know how to promote and be general alround good bastards.


Passed riders are simple to me .... Mr Holden , Dr Freeth.
Stay upright people.

Haha. Good line-up Paul. I remember coming second to Ernie at a PMCC meeting, before I knew who he was. To which you said something like "You're not going to be the last guy to come second to Ernie". I love how the fast guys stay faster than most even when they age.
Fred Merkel is another world class guy who fits in great in Unzud. Always friendly at the track despite having done some flash stuff on the world stage. Aaron Slight is always cool and friendly. Truth be told I can't think of any fast buggers who have been pricks.

[Pussy]

Aaron is bloody awesome. A great ambassador for the sport.... and NZ. The best rider ever to not win WSBK

[sidecar bob]

I cant believe we got this far without somebody mentioning Robbie Dean,
He put in some wild rides on a yellow 750 Commando, beating hotrod Suzuki GS 1000s on it.
Later on he rode a wire wheel Katana & GSX1135 efe, that was a weapon for 4 laps until the rear shock overheated.
In '87 he won the F1 title on a virtually stock GSXR1100k.
That guy is most of the reason I became a bike nut.

[ktm84mxc]

I'd say anyone who raced a world Championship level or TT Isle of Man etc eg
Stu Avant, Dennis Ireland, Dave Hiscock, Simon Crafar,Richard Scott,
team managers Mike Sinclair, Bob Toomey
In motocross Darryl & Shane King, Darryl Adkins, Josh Coppins, Ben Townley
Off road Stefan Merriman, Paul Wibbley,
There are many others but I've stuck to those who have put in long service to their chosen fields on the world stage.

[Fast Eddie]

good thread and good read..

anyone know about other kiwi TT riders? I'm pretty sure there was another solo rider over there this year, was down in places maybe 40 something? someone Jensen..

can't find any info.. could be mind playing tricks on me but heard the commentators sometimes when watching footage.

[jellywrestler]

good thread and good read..

anyone know about other kiwi TT riders? I'm pretty sure there was another solo rider over there this year, was down in places maybe 40 something? someone Jensen..

can't find any info.. could be mind playing tricks on me but heard the commentators sometimes when watching footage.

there's been around 140 Kiwis turned a wheel at the TT, daniel jansen from nelson, he did the SI rounds of the nats here this year too

[jellywrestler]

I cant believe we got this far without somebody mentioning Robbie Dean,
He put in some wild rides on a yellow 750 Commando, beating hotrod Suzuki GS 1000s on it.
Later on he rode a wire wheel Katana & GSX1135 efe, that was a weapon for 4 laps until the rear shock overheated.
In '87 he won the F1 title on a virtually stock GSXR1100k.
That guy is most of the reason I became a bike nut.

Robbie is my all time favourite rider, not cause of his wins just cause of they way he got away with it all hence Rubber Deans or Ragged Robbie being a couple of nicknames

One of the best dices was him and slight in the mid winter wet cemetery circuit simply stunning how these guys rode their bikes lap after lap out of the flower garden.

as for winning the 87 title on a GSXR1100K, they didn't come out till late 88 as K is the 89 model.
I was helping Brian Bernard at manfiled when they were both running these bikes. Robbie was over snooping at Brians bike and saw the forks were sticking through the triple clamps a bit further than standard so he raced back to the bits and dropped his.
First lap through splash (right hander before the hairpin) he went down in a big heap, he may have seen the adjusted forks but didn't note the faring had been tucked a little to prevent scraping on the ground, Robbies one decked out and he lost his front end.

[sidecar bob]

It must have been the black H model then. I bought his G model ex race bike in '88 & did a lot of racing on it.
It had chassis number 0000003 & was apparently the first Gsxr 1100 Suzuki let out of the factory.
I remember Rob & Brian having a fairly tense relationship & "production" rules were stretched to near breaking point.

[Grumph]

I can't remember which year Robbie won his F1 title...it's all a blur now...but it was the last year of the 1300cc F1 anyway.
Kirby and I ran him in the SI to the point where all he needed to win was something like a 3rd at the last round at Manfield.

I hadn't had much to do with him up to then but I found him to be one of the most memorable characters I've ever worked with.
And a real trier too - which is always encouraging for the team.

[GD66]

And he's still got that Commando in the shed....:eek:

[Dreama]

I'd have to agree on all the accolades for Robbie. I remember the Suzuki Winter Series with Robbie often bringing his truck down laden with bikes, not only ones that were for sale and viewing but plenty of guys would get their race bikes taken down free (I think). He was always super friendly and helpful ...and still a bloody hard charger on the track. I may be wrong here but I think, in the end, he had his license revoked simply because he was crashing so much, had so many bad injuries but refused to stop. Something about being a danger to himself .. legend.
One of the highlights of my mediocre racing career is passing Robbie around Jennian Homes corner, Puke, just as drizzle had set in, unbeknown to me at that stage. I noticed him slow down significantly and wondered why, tried to apply some brakes myself to avoid him but a head shake over the hill had flicked the pads out a bit. The only option was full speed under him ... made me realise how fast you can actually go on a wet surface (sometimes anyway). In the pits Robbie marches up to me and sticks out a gnarly hand to shake ... ha, I never told him it was all a sheer fluke .
So, yeah, good bloke.
Fast, tough, dedicated and dignified.
Where is he now ?

[sidecar bob]

And he's still got that Commando in the shed....:eek:

Not entirely accurate, but suffice to say, it is being taken VERY good care of.
Rob is working in Aussie, I am in frequent contact with him & would rate him & Jenny as true close friends.

[Clivoris]

This is the kind of stuff I want to hear/read about.

[Deano]

I have two daughters, 13 and 15, getting into racing. I doubt that at their age, I would have had the courage to race.

I learnt to ride when I was 10 on a mates farm hack. 80cc automatic. My dad bought my sister and I a JR50 when I was 9 and she was only 4. After I started thrashing it, dad bought me an RM80. I'm a little embarrased to say it scared the crap out of me and I kept fowling the plug (the hottest one my dad could find). When I finally got the courage to open it up and put it into the power band, I nearly put it into a fence. Dad asked if I wanted to try racing.........I said no....which is something I have regretted ever since.
But anyway, the point of this story is to introduce my 4 and a half year old son Rex. Since coming back from the South Island rounds of the Nationals he has asked a few times when he can start racing. (He has been riding his PW50 for about 8 months now). The last time we went out he started getting his inside leg out for corners, and pins it down the straight, head down in race mode.
He and his mate Keiran (White Trashe's 4 y/o son) are having their first race on Sunday at Moonshine in the introductory 50cc class. I'm so proud that he has the courage to give this a go at his age. I'm not surprised though - while down south we visited Orana Park in CHCH and when I offered to take him on the flying fox, he said he wanted to do it by himself. Needless to say his mother grew a couple of grey hairs that day LOL. I can't wait to see the boys in action this weekend. Future stars in the making perhaps.

[Crasherfromwayback]

team managers Mike Sinclair, Bob Toomey
In motocross Darryl & Shane King, Darryl Adkins, Josh Coppins, Ben Townley
Off road Stefan Merriman, Paul Wibbley,
There are many others but I've stuck to those who have put in long service to their chosen fields on the world stage.

Yeah and Bob was an awesome racer in his day as well.

Great off road choices too. I flatted with Meriman in Aussie for two years...he's a real GC to boot.

[Kevin G]

good thread and good read..

anyone know about other kiwi TT riders? I'm pretty sure there was another solo rider over there this year, was down in places maybe 40 something? someone Jensen..

can't find any info.. could be mind playing tricks on me but heard the commentators sometimes when watching footage.

From down south way...Noel McCutcheon (way back in the 50"s) Doug Bell in the 90's, Johnnie Hepburn, Paul Williams (Junior TT winner) Stuart Murdoch (sadly killed at 99 IOM)
Also did not see any mention of Rod Coleman, may have missed it...

[Pussy]

Yeah and Bob was an awesome racer in his day as well.

Great off road choices too. I flatted with Meriman in Aussie for two years...he's a real GC to boot.

I'm good mates with Paul Whibley's old man.. Graham. If Paul is anything like his Dad, he will be a GC too!

[Pussy]

Brian Bernard and Ray Clee.... also two good guys.

[roadracingoldfart]

Pete Mcdonald was always a good racer , but he was a total tosser off the track .

[jellywrestler]

From down south way...Noel McCutcheon (way back in the 50"s) Doug Bell in the 90's, Johnnie Hepburn, Paul Williams (Junior TT winner) Stuart Murdoch (sadly killed at 99 IOM)
Also did not see any mention of Rod Coleman, may have missed it...

correction Paul williams TWICE junior TT winner

[Crasherfromwayback]

, but he was a total tosser off the track .

What do you mean was! :bleh:

[wharfy]

Jeez, you'd have to reckon Hugh Anderson'd be top of the list, wouldn't you ?

25 Grand Prix wins, four world titles, and plenty of history in NZ motocross as well.

Up till recently, still a man to beat in classic road racing.....even got round Phillip Island in not much over two minutes on a 1937 BSA Empire Star.

He's a lad....:clap:

What he said, and Ginger Malloy :)

[SWERVE]

Just to put a vote in for the younger generation...............
Avalon Biddle...for taking the first #1 international podium for NZ for a while
Jake Lewis for taking an international #2 podium last year in France
While they might not be "Legends" just yet............... they have taken big steps on the path
Oh and Mr Anstey.... for conquering the toughest race of them all.

[Rcktfsh]

1st. Hugh Anderson, 25 GP wins and 46 podiums its a no brainer.
2nd. Croz
3rd. Kim Newcombe
4th. Simon Crafer
5th= Ginger Molloy & Keith Turner
7th. Aaron Slight
8th. Stu Avant
9th. Dave Hiscock
10th. John Woodley
11th. Richard Scott
12th. Dennis Ireland
13th= Trevor Discombe & John Boote
15th. Andrew Stroud
16th. Robert Holden
17th. Neville Hiscock
18th. Glen Williams
19th. Roger Freeth
20th. Bruce Anstey

NZ's top 3 spannermen.

1. Mike Sinclair
2. Ken Fletcher
3. Dale Wood

[roogazza]

1st. Hugh Anderson, 25 GP wins and 46 podiums its a no brainer.
2nd. Croz
3rd. Kim Newcombe
4th. Simon Crafer
5th= Ginger Molloy & Keith Turner
7th. Aaron Slight
8th. Stu Avant
9th. Dave Hiscock
10th. John Woodley
11th. Richard Scott
12th. Dennis Ireland
13th= Trevor Discombe & John Boote
15th. Andrew Stroud
16th. Robert Holden
17th. Neville Hiscock
18th. Glen Williams
19th. Roger Freeth
20th. Bruce Anstey

NZ's top 3 spannermen.

1. Mike Sinclair
2. Ken Fletcher
3. Dale Wood

Great list there Rcktfsh, another hero in my eyes was Dale Wylie from Chch. I'd put him around No9 Dave Hissy, who incidently also rated him.
So many names from that 70's to early 1980 era, hard to make a list.

[Crasherfromwayback]

1st. Hugh Anderson, 25 GP wins and 46 podiums its a no brainer.
2nd. Croz
3rd. Kim Newcombe
4th. Simon Crafer
5th= Ginger Molloy & Keith Turner
7th. Aaron Slight
8th. Stu Avant
9th. Dave Hiscock
10th. John Woodley
11th. Richard Scott
12th. Dennis Ireland
13th= Trevor Discombe & John Boote
15th. Andrew Stroud
16th. Robert Holden
17th. Neville Hiscock
18th. Glen Williams
19th. Roger Freeth
20th. Bruce Anstey

NZ's top 3 spannermen.

1. Mike Sinclair
2. Ken Fletcher
3. Dale Wood
Well thought out and great list!

[Rcktfsh]

Great list there Rcktfsh, another hero in my eyes was Dale Wylie from Chch. I'd put him around No9 Dave Hissy, who incidently also rated him.
So many names from that 70's to early 1980 era, hard to make a list.

Good point and just realised I've missed Geof Perry also.

[Clivoris]

Well thought out and great list!

+1. It is so good to see some of these names and hear about the achievements of our legends. I'm embarrassed to say that I am hearing some of these names for the first time.

[GD66]

It's a pretty fair effort, maybe missed a couple of hard men from the 50s.
But chase down Rhys Jones' book Cliv, plenty of background info on most of the abovementioned dudes, good men all. :msn-wink:

[nosebleed]

...

NZ's top 3 spannermen.

2. Ken Fletcher

Although technically speaking, no longer living in NZ

Great thread, should be renamed "Great Cunts of NZ Motorcycle Racing"

[Fast Eddie]

there's been around 140 Kiwis turned a wheel at the TT, daniel jansen from nelson, he did the SI rounds of the nats here this year too

I missed the nats cause sidecars didnt take part, would like to meet him.

rattle off some of the 140 names for me, I love the TT and I need a history lesson lads

[Trudes]

Glen Skachill. Not only is he an awesome racer whose riding I love to watch (because it makes me want to bite my nails!), he also knows how to fix the stuff he (and others ;)) break! He's also a bloody nice guy who has helped me, and many others, heaps over the years with our bikes and racing. :niceone:

Vicki Streifler-Bourne. Not much to say really because if you've met Vicki you know already what an awesome chick she is. She's fast and smooth, always encouraging and got loads of helpful tips on how to improve and enjoy your riding, gorgeous to boot and has wicked good taste in bikes :heart: