Classic Festival at Hampton Downs

**sidecar bob** · 13th February 2013, 20:39

The "star of the show" crashed his brains out & last report was in Middlemore & the bike was a bit ruined, so that probably explains that.

**Bender** · 14th February 2013, 07:16

The "star" left because the bike was damaged after a crash.

There was significant tar bleed on the corner and after he went down, the maintenance crews put a heap of cement dust down after that incident. From what I could see the bike wasn't badly damaged but the right handlebar appeared to have snapped.

**trustme** · 14th February 2013, 07:31

I hate that elitist shit , maybe that is why I don't belong to any of those organisations.

Originally Posted by short shins

I was only there on Sunday but I didn’t notice any Neanderthal behaviour from any one, maybe I was at the wrong corner or my T Shirt confused people as it had a bike on it but no brand name (Team Joe Bar CB750)

The whole event seemed to be a bit flat, some of the racing was good and close even if history is being rewritten in a couple of classes.
3 of us rode up from Wellington for this event. We have been coming up since 2009 when Kevin Schwantz came down and rode a Manx. I did come up to the 1998 (whenever Paul Smart came out on his Works Triple. He raced it as well)

We didn’t go last year; we chose to do a SI trip instead.

We have some questions for the organisers of the event (if they read this)

What happened to the advertised 11 Beezump triples race?

Why did the “Star” of the show leave the track with his ex-works Triumph Triple in the back of a van on Sunday at 2:00pm? In fact he nearly ran me over in his haste to leave

How about taking the “blinkers” off and allowing bikes from the Far East to compete. I would pay good money to see a Honda 6!

Good points.. yup, Chandler crashed , bike looks repairable but 70+ year old riders don't bounce like the young ones.

The track was apparently pretty bad , it had just been patched on Thursday, lots of slides, lots of offs. One of the better postie racers was doing demo laps on Triumphs & lost the rear end just on a demo ride, he was glad he was not racing as the new tarseal was so green it had not gone hard. Not the registers fault but frustrating

Long term there is a conundrum facing the classic register. the bikes are getting older , the riders are getting older, most of the better known riders from the classic era are now simply too old to race / ride. Hence no more Hughie or Ginger. Finding star attractions for the event is becoming more difficult / expensive & happened this time because Triumph NZ sponsored the event .
Posties compete at most classic events & the 2 clubs work closely together, The festival is the registers premier event so the focus is primarily on the classics.
The Barry Sheene weekend may well replace the festival as the big event. Both classics & posties are there, a significant number of Aussies came , bloody great.
I can see an arguement for swapping the dates around so The BS weekend was in Feb & the festival was in October, better weather for the event that will continue to grow , with a lesser emphasis on an event that will continue to have reducing fields without changes.

I race with the classics , love it , some can see the need for some change but there is an old guard that hate change . Just my opinion

**Voltaire** · 14th February 2013, 07:41

The track was sure not at its best on the weekend.... was stepping out on Turn 3,4 and 5, had to find new lines..... was well off the times I did at the BSF.
I saw Terry Martin crash his Trident on the hairpin of the Friday.....not a good omen.( the battery fell out on a later race....

)
Swapping the dates is not a bad idea, you'll need to get on the committee.......
How come they don't get more of the modern era international racers having a go on classics ?

**GD66** · 14th February 2013, 21:43

Originally Posted by short shins

How about taking the “blinkers” off and allowing bikes from the Far East to compete. I would pay good money to see a Honda 6!

The NZCMRR do relax their "No Jap Crap" mantra every few years when it suits, they had Hailwood's Reynolds-framed 500 Honda there a few years ago, then an assortment for a 100 year anniversary of NZ roadracing which featured Croz's XR69 and the Roberts weaponry. A couple of years back Hugh Anderson was demoing the wicked Yamaha V4 125 replica. But then "reality" sets in, the huffing and puffing starts and the Jappers are excommunicated for a few years until the drawcards dry up again. Beats me why this has gone on so long when the two movements can co-exist peacefully for the rest of each year....

Presumably you missed the MV 350 six from the 1999 festival, Shins. Yum.....

**Grumph** · 15th February 2013, 05:59

Originally Posted by GD66

The NZCMRR do relax their "No Jap Crap" mantra every few years when it suits, they had Hailwood's Reynolds-framed 500 Honda there a few years ago, then an assortment for a 100 year anniversary of NZ roadracing which featured Croz's XR69 and the Roberts weaponry. A couple of years back Hugh Anderson was demoing the wicked Yamaha V4 125 replica. But then "reality" sets in, the huffing and puffing starts and the Jappers are excommunicated for a few years until the drawcards dry up again. Beats me why this has gone on so long when the two movements can co-exist peacefully for the rest of each year....

Presumably you missed the MV 350 six from the 1999 festival, Shins. Yum.....

Quite agree with this...It's gone on like this because a lot of the Reg guys only come out once a year IMO. If they were involved on a regular basis the reality of the situation may become apparent.

In the SI of course we're a bit luckier with one club covering all Classic and Post Classic periods - at least any problems are ironed out in house, lol...
I was a founder member of the Reg in the SI and looking back now I'd have to say that the CAMS founding and break from the Register was in the end a Good Thing.

**vinducati** · 15th February 2013, 06:34

Went along on Sunday and really enjoyed it.
But was sorry to see the track was so slick.
Made the racing very difficult.
Ron fell, and there was another bike involved.
He took a really big knock.
All the best to him and I hope is is recovering well.
I for one would love to see a rider range of bikes at the event.
As for the "Element" that were abusing people, they are fortunately becoming extinct.
Cheers

**malcy25** · 15th February 2013, 10:28

Originally Posted by GD66

Beats me why this has gone on so long when the two movements can co-exist peacefully for the rest of each year....

GD how's WA!

yes...how true. I've heard some "interesting" reasoning.....

Mind you, my wife does describe the event as "that dangerous meeting"

**jellywrestler** · 15th February 2013, 10:52

Originally Posted by GD66

and the Roberts weaponry.

yep and the did nout to encourage even bikes like that along. I own the Plastic Fantastic and drag along the Alloy bike wherever possible. I approached the club about display area etc several months before the event so they could use them as a drawcard etc and track time with known riders, passed onto another group on the email address and then no reply.
I made sure they ran well took them up to Pukekohe, sorted display boards, got plenty of av gas for the PF arranged known riders of a calibre that could display the bikes at their potential (and i guess i took the risk if they were damaged) sorted them over the weekend and even arranged an early PF chassis in its rawest state to be brought to the circuit for display and then took them back to the Hutt Valley.
What did I get from the Classic Racing Register for this? not a hot dog nor a glass of beer nor a ticket in nor anything whatsoever...

**swarfie** · 15th February 2013, 10:59

Originally Posted by jellywrestler

yep and the did nout to encourage even bikes like that along. I own the Plastic Fantastic and drag along the Alloy bike wherever possible. I approached the club about display area etc several months before the event so they could use them as a drawcard etc and track time with known riders, passed onto another group on the email address and then no reply.
I made sure they ran well took them up to Pukekohe, sorted display boards, got plenty of av gas for the PF arranged known riders of a calibre that could display the bikes at their potential (and i guess i took the risk if they were damaged) sorted them over the weekend and even arranged an early PF chassis in its rawest state to be brought to the circuit for display and then took them back to the Hutt Valley.
What did I get from the Classic Racing Register for this? not a hot dog nor a glass of beer nor a ticket in nor anything whatsoever...

I guess the reason for that Spyda my friend is that YOU don't own a Manx Norton...the whole bloody outfit don't give a flying F... to the ordinary punters and I know all about that being a Classic Sidecar racer!

**jellywrestler** · 15th February 2013, 11:04

Originally Posted by swarfie

I guess the reason for that Spyda my friend is that YOU don't own a Manx Norton...the whole bloody outfit don't give a flying F... to the ordinary punters and I know all about that being a Classic Sidecar racer!

to be fair when I took one of my Hendersons there I got two free tickets, I was two people short of a threesome that weekend so only needed one though.

**scrivy** · 15th February 2013, 11:05

Originally Posted by swarfie

I know all about that being a Classic Sidecar racer!

Do you race sidecars Swarfie???

I thought you just showboated on it!!!!

**scrivy** · 15th February 2013, 11:06

Originally Posted by jellywrestler

to be fair when I took one of my Hendersons there I got two free tickets.

One for Graeme, one for Spyda......

**Paul in NZ** · 15th February 2013, 11:17

One of the things that made the meeting great was that it was one of the few places where you could still see original Manx's / 7R's etc etc racing rather than modern reproductions but of course that changing .... and the fellows that meant something too are becoming fewer as well.

There will come a time when the baton needs to be passed to the next generation and anyone that reads classic motorcycle magazines regularly would have to say that time is soon...

The problem will be fitting it all into one weekend...