Time Lords at the TT

[merv]

1983 Bill Biber/Phil Payne, was this the year the bike missed post race scrutineering as someone had to be dropped off at the airport and some people reckoned it was so they had time to replace the "illegal" parts with the stock ones before the bikes were pulled down? I'm sure there's more than one story like that about different winners and bikes.

I doubt it somehow because they weren't the fancied runners that day but their bike survived while the other Hondas fell by the wayside. I'd say there was luck involved and maybe they weren't so hard on their motor.

[merv]

Hey just to keep you interested who's this on the H2 at last year's Wanganui races?

[LB]

It's Tony McQueen from Wgtn - he's always been into Kawasakis - a real nice bloke. He very occasionally has the 750 at Manfeild.

[What?]

...some people reckoned it was so they had time to replace the "illegal" parts with the stock ones before the bikes were pulled down? I'm sure there's more than one story like that about different winners and bikes.

I reckon there were such stories every year, probably dreamt up by those who felt personally slighted that their favourite team didn't win.
A lot of the issue with pre-race fave's in the 6 hour was that it was an endurance race; being fast was not enough to win. Consider Aaron Slight and the oil leaking FZR1000. Or Robert Holden taking the award for being the only man ever to run out of gas twice in the same race! And the Aussie race was won by a BMW R90 one year... hardly a fancied bike.

[RavenR44]

No the T250 was the Hustler, the T350 was the Rebel - you got the Titan right and the Apache was the TS400 dirt bike. I was mainly into dirt bikes then so remember TS90 Honcho, TS125 Duster, TS185 Sierra and TS250 Savage - great names huh.

The smaller road bike was the T125 Stinger.

Ah, memories. My first mo'sickle was a Zook Rebel. Although '350' was stretching it a bit since displacement was 315cc.

Had a mate with a Hustler and the performance of the two bikes was almost identical. Except the '250' was marginally quicker than the '350'. So you paid more for the Rebel for the priviledge of going slower. Never could work out Suzuki's marketing.

Still, the tank on the Rebel was better looking than the one on the Hustler.

Reminiscing can be such sweet sorrow. *Sigh*

[vifferman]

Or is it Robin?

No - it's that new kid: Raven.
Actually, thanks for that, Sir! Dunno if I'd read that thread before, but it brought back some memories for me too - I started riding in '73 or thereabouts, and rode some of the bike models mentioned, plus some other weirdies.

[RavenR44]

Or is it Robin?

No - it's that new kid: Raven.
Actually, thanks for that, Sir! Dunno if I'd read that thread before, but it brought back some memories for me too - I started riding in '73 or thereabouts, and rode some of the bike models mentioned, plus some other weirdies.

Cripes. I had no idea it was especially ancient. In fact, I was idly experimenting with the search facility when I stumbled upon this thread and naturally I came over all misty-eyed and nostalgic.

But yea verily vifferman, I had a few miles upon many of those rice-burning beasties in my youth as well. Those were the days... [mandatory old fart comment to be inserted into any and all threads featuring machines from the time when sex was 90% of a young man's fancy with the rest dedicated to 'bikes' of the non-organic variety]

BTW, I believe you were referring to Fatman and the Boy Blunder.

[SPman]

Guess it pays to look at the date....was reading away and thought "hello, Linda Blair's back on............" oops!

[Dadpole]

You can tell the age of the thread by the tone of the posts. No abuse, slagging off and general 'toy > cot' TM.
It is a good read though - especially as I am of that generation and started on a T350.

[Motu]

Yeah but it still went off topic.I was trying to explore the idea that when we come across something different,and far beyond our experience,we tend to take a negative view.A few years down the track and the radical becomes everyday....we now think it's normal and the only way to do it.

Looking back at this thread where I was thinking that Hailwoods Honda was a very good handling bike...that no one else could ride.Now we have a Ducati that only Casey Stoner can ride,all the other world class riders think it's shit.

History never repeats.....

[Bender]

Motu: I was going to say "is it Eric Bone"!! Honestly. He was at the very first race meeting I ever went to, he used to be around all the time. He kind of mentored Croz for a while there, when Croz started racing on the triples. I caught up with Eric again at Paeroa a couple of years ago when he was there on an H2. I couldn't believe it was him - had my photo taken with him I was so stoked. He's a real enthusiast. A neat guy. And he still wears those same leathers that he wore back in the 70's!

I well remember those triples. Ah, the smell of Castrol R. Can you still buy it these days? And rattly, yes, very much so. But go like stink (till you had to stop for gas - yet again)

Alan Collison was I think the only guy to race in all of the NZ Six Hours. (I may be wrong here but he did ride in heaps of them).

This thread has come up after someone linked to it. I've been going through some of my old photos and scanning the prints - these are from the black and white days.

Eric Bone indeed, here at Baypark Raceway with Chris Woodmass. I worked with Eric and Graeme Crosby at Laurie Summers in (guessing a bit here) 1974. Was not popular when I bought a T350 Suzi, rounded tank model, from their Onehunga branch. Shoulda been a Kwaka apparently, but the things scared the bejasis out of me from the time I rode the first "ridged tank" Mach III.

[merv]

You are quite right Motu, what we are used to is what we are comfortable with, but that may feel bad to someone else. There is always accusation in racing "they built the bike for ...... and it doesn't suit me hence my poor results" and anything radical, style or technology, is just so wrong. Years later they do look normal. I find that with car design - yuck when they come out, then they grow on you. The VFR1200 is probably a bike like that.

In the old days that jump from front engine to mid engined race cars was like that - look how long they held on at Indy with the old Offenhausers.

Then there is tyres, we all remember the Simon Crafar story.

You mentioned the first pro-link Hondas too, yeah tall, soft weird. I remember the same thing when I had my twin shock XL175 in the late 70's a mate got a PE175 with the laid forward twin shocks - latest thing - man it felt awful, I tried to turn it when stuck in a tight spot on a trail and tried to lift it around and the back wheel just dropped down and stayed planted on the ground because of the "long" travel suspension. Now they are all like this, long travel that is, not twin shock - try lifting them around in the garage, but man are they good over rough ground.

Bender that is a great pic.

[MSTRS:Me]

Then there is tyres, we all remember the Simon Crafar story.

CRAFT has set in...please enlighten.
My first proper bike was a TS125 in 1973. Went to a T500. Then a CB500/4. In those days I just 'did' - never thought about this new-fangled handling lark...
Wasn't until I rode a GSX400 in more recent years that I felt frame/swingarm flex. Prolly would have given the GSXR back after just sitting on it, back then.

[merv]

CRAFT has set in...please enlighten.

Remember he beat Doohan in Pomgolia on the Yamaha, then they changed tyre brands and the boy never got close to winning a race again. Was it the tyres, who knows? Whatever, it is what Motu was talking about what suited one person doesn't work for another.

[Blackbird]

Just out of interest Merv, it WAS the 500 Honda that was evil handling. I saw Hailwood on it a number of times and am of the opinion that it would have killed a lesser man. At that stage of development, Honda couldn't design a frame to take the power. Ken Sprayson, the Reynolds frame design god offered to make a frame for it and Honda declined as it would have involved loss of face.

However, I'm pretty sure that subsequently, John Cooper rode a semi-works Honda 500 in non-GP events and it had a Reynolds frame. Guess there was less face loss in short circuit racing.