1970/71...MACH III Style !!!!!

**nudemetalz** · 27th March 2007, 21:49

Kept looking through old albums and found these !!!!
They were titled "1970-71 season at Ruapuna - 1/2 production race"

He (Dad) is the one on with the green helmet (I know, hard to tell with B&W pics)on that 3-cylinder beast from Kawasaki !!
Dale Wylie (on the Commando) and Owen Galbraith feature in those pics too if that means anything to you older guys here on the forum.

Bugger being this photographer on the outside of a corner !!!

**Mr. Peanut** · 27th March 2007, 21:57

Oh man, I wanna go back!

**Jantar** · 27th March 2007, 22:15

That first photo on the T500 Titan looks a lot like Alistair Perry, with that face mask and white helmet.

**nudemetalz** · 27th March 2007, 22:20

Originally Posted by Jantar

That first photo on the T500 Titan looks a lot like Alistair Perry, with that face mask and white helmet.

Just had a look on the back of the photo and it says it's "Guy".
That would be Warren Guy. He and Dad raced against each other back then. Warren went on to run motorcycling at Ruapuna in the 80's and 90's plus I did one of his road-riding courses in 1985 to get my full licence.

**Maha** · 27th March 2007, 22:23

Originally Posted by MrPeanut

Oh man, I wanna go back!

Yip.......you can almost smell it...!!

**Ixion** · 27th March 2007, 22:25

Sigh. Racing was FUN back then. No plastic anywhere, howling two strokes engines, smoke, no brakes. They don't even have tape over the lights.

Just jump on y' bike, ride to the track, race y' mates, and ride home.

The next day jump on the same bike, ride a few miles, head off road, spend the afternnoon trail riding, and ride home.

The next day, jump on the same bike, and ride to work.

Somehow it was so much more fun that way.

**RantyDave** · 27th March 2007, 22:27

Holy shit. Men were men and helmets were rudimentary. You brave buggers.

Dave

**Paul in NZ** · 28th March 2007, 08:34

Originally Posted by RantyDave

Holy shit. Men were men and helmets were rudimentary. You brave buggers.

Dave

The handling was a bit different too... Must have taken some balls (not to mention some room) to try and ride around the outside of a Kawasaki Triple...

**Crisis management** · 28th March 2007, 08:41

I'm with Paul....I had an H1 for a brief period in the late 70's, scariest handling bike ever! I sold it after an afternoon ride round the Firth of Thames saw me weaving from gutter to gutter trying to go around corners, talk about a hinge in the middle!

Your Dad was a far braver man than me

**Pwalo** · 28th March 2007, 08:49

Ahh the old Mach 3. The speed, the acceleration, the sound, the smell, the handling. The only bike that I nearly shat myself on.

Yep bring back the good old flexi frame days. Every corner was a new adventure.

**beyond** · 28th March 2007, 09:24

The infamous widowmaker

No full face helmets back then either. Imagine sliding down the track using your chin for brakes. The dirt, the flies and midgies whacking your face and getting stuck in your teeth.

Real bikes back then...... until the GSX1400 came along of course.

**Motu** · 28th March 2007, 09:57

Full face helmets were around,but they were harder to find than Levi jeans (when a pair of Levi's wore out the label would be picked of and sewn onto a pair of Wranglers,label slaves even in the '60's),they cost 3 weeks wages or more too.But we didn't need them on the street,so who cared?

**Paul in NZ** · 28th March 2007, 10:40

A mate of mine had a white BELL full face and we were in awe of it... I started with a helmet I found in the back of the garage - it was made of cork covered with leather and had a little peak - wish I still had it. It did up with snap domes that were completely useless but still...

First new one I purchased was a powder blue (oh the shame) jet style with a snap on vision that distorted in the wind and made everyting look wibbly wobbly - but that was OK 'cos we were all on mind altering drugs anyway so it kinda cancelled out.

**Pwalo** · 28th March 2007, 10:57

Originally Posted by Paul in NZ

A mate of mine had a white BELL full face and we were in awe of it... I started with a helmet I found in the back of the garage - it was made of cork covered with leather and had a little peak - wish I still had it. It did up with snap domes that were completely useless but still...

First new one I purchased was a powder blue (oh the shame) jet style with a snap on vision that distorted in the wind and made everyting look wibbly wobbly - but that was OK 'cos we were all on mind altering drugs anyway so it kinda cancelled out.

My Dad still had his old cork helmet when I started riding. He made me buy a new helmet. Red jet style, with a motocross peak and goggles (oh yes).

My last helmet before I stopped riding back in the early 80's was a lovely sky blue Nava with the self closing visor.

Remember Line 7 motorcycle gear?