Business v Motorbikes

[dasser]

Moral of the story

IN 1923 WHO WAS:

1. President of the largest steel company?
2. President of the largest gas company?
3. President of the NY Stock Exchange?
4. Greatest wheat speculator?
5. President of the Bank of International Settlement?
6. Great Bear of Wall Street?



THESE MEN were considered some of the world's most successful of their
day.


NOW 83 Years Later, the history books asks us if we know what became
of them.


THE ANSWERS:

1. President of the Largest Steel Company: Charles Schwab died a
Pauper.
2. President of the largest Gas Company: Edward Hopson, went
insane.
3. President of the NYSE: Richard Whitney, released from prison to die
at home.
4. Greatest wheat speculator: Arthur Cooger, died abroad penniless.
5. President of the Bank of International Settlement: Shot himself.
6. Great Bear of Wall Street: Cosabee Livermore, committed suicide.


HOWEVER: In that same year 1923, the PGA Champion and the winner of
the most important golf tournament, the US OPEN, was Gene Sarazen. What
became of
Him???

He played golf until he was 92. Died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was
financially secure at the time of his death!


THE MORAL: SCREW WORK! PLAY GOLF!!

__________________________________________________ _____________

dasser.....A cigarette shortens your life by 2 min...

A beer shortens your life by 4 min...

A working day shortens your life by 8 hours!!!!

[WRT]

Given that you are talking about successful business men just 6 years prior to The Great Depression (triggered by the stock market crash of Black Tuesday), it's hardly suprising a great number of them died broke, and often from suicide - not exactly uncommon in those days.

Have yet to hear of a golfing equivilent - the odd Golf Cart Crash doesnt really compare, and is scarcely likely to end in the financial ruin of practically every player!

[Maha]

4. Greatest wheat speculator?

What the hell is a Wheat Speculator?......and how can you become the greatest at that?...

[Drew]

What the hell is a Wheat Speculator?......and how can you become the greatest at that?...

The position was created, so that the six toed folk down south, could feel inportant about doin fuck all but chew on a blade of dry grass.

[Toaster]

THE MORAL: SCREW WORK! PLAY GOLF!!

__________________________________________________ _____________

dasser.....A cigarette shortens your life by 2 min...

A beer shortens your life by 4 min...

A working day shortens your life by 8 hours!!!!

If you start a sect, can I be a member? I'll bring my clubs.

[Arthur]

Golf - one way of spoiling a perfectly good walk...

[SARGE]

10 yada yada

[Drew]

10 yada yada

Fuck that, I hate boats more than I hate golf.

[Bender]

In 1923, Who Was:

1. President of the largest steel company?
2.. President of the largest gas company?
3. President of the New York stock Exchange?
4. Greatest wheat speculator?
5. President of the Bank of International Settlement?
6. Great Bear of Wall Street?


These men were considered some of the worlds most successful of their days..

Now, 88 years later, the history book asks us, if we know what ultimately became of them..


The Answers:

1. The president of the largest steel company.
Charles Schwab,

died a pauper.

2. The president of the largest gas company,
Edward Hopson,

went insane.

3. The president of the NYSE,
Richard Whitney,

was released from prison
to die at home.

4. The greatest wheat speculator,
Arthur Cooger,

died abroad, penniless.

5. The president of
the Bank of International Settlement,

shot himself.

6 The Great Bear of Wall Street,
Cosabee Livermore,

also committed suicide



However,
In that same year, 1923, the winner of the world's most important road race, the Isle of Man T.T.,
was

Stanley Woods.

What became of him?


He won 10 T.T. races between 1923 and 1939,
He lived on the Isle of Man and rode motorcycles all his life. He lapped the island circuit at 82 mph in 1957 (The Golden Jubilee) aged 54
He was a wealthy man when he died aged 90.

The Moral:


Screw work; Ride motorbikes.

[oneofsix]

[Voltaire]

Stanly Woods rode a lot of Nortons....I'm guessing the others didn't.
Conclusion: Nortons are good for you.

[husaberg]

Stanly Woods rode a lot of Nortons....I'm guessing the others didn't.
Conclusion: Nortons are good for you.

Stanley Woods in his own words.
I err... Guess he wrote this before he died.
Note the bike is not a Norton.

[Voltaire]

Stanley Woods in his own words.
I err... Guess he wrote this before he died.
Note the bike is not a Norton.

I err...... guess the article was about Velocettes.....


Date Capacity Make of Motorcycle Grand Prix & circuit Average Speed
1924 600cc New Imperial (980cc)[17] Ulster Grand Prix, Clady Circuit, Dundrod, Northern Ireland 72.71mph
1925 600cc New Imperial (980cc) Ulster Grand Prix 65.26mph
1927 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix, Circuit de Meyrin, Genève
1927 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix, Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps
1928 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Bordeaux, France
1930 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 80.56mph
1930 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Pau, France
1931 500cc Norton German Grand Prix, Nürburgring
1931 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix
1931 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix, Bremgarten, Bern
1931 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 86.43mph
1932 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Circuit of Rheims, France
1932 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix
1932 350cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1932 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1932 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 85.15mph
1933 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1933 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 87.43mph
1935 500cc Husqvarna Swedish Grand Prix, Saxtorp
1939 350cc Velocette Ulster Grand Prix 91.65mph

[husaberg]

I err...... guess the article was about Velocettes.....


Date Capacity Make of Motorcycle Grand Prix & circuit Average Speed
1924 600cc New Imperial (980cc)[17] Ulster Grand Prix, Clady Circuit, Dundrod, Northern Ireland 72.71mph
1925 600cc New Imperial (980cc) Ulster Grand Prix 65.26mph
1927 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix, Circuit de Meyrin, Genève
1927 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix, Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps
1928 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Bordeaux, France
1930 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 80.56mph
1930 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Pau, France
1931 500cc Norton German Grand Prix, Nürburgring
1931 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix
1931 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix, Bremgarten, Bern
1931 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 86.43mph
1932 500cc Norton Grand-Prix de L'U.M.F, Circuit of Rheims, France
1932 500cc Norton Belgium Grand Prix
1932 350cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1932 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1932 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 85.15mph
1933 500cc Norton Swiss Grand Prix
1933 500cc Norton Ulster Grand Prix 87.43mph
1935 500cc Husqvarna Swedish Grand Prix, Saxtorp
1939 350cc Velocette Ulster Grand Prix 91.65mph

I thought I was an anorak.
It was his best Ever race his own words.

You did of course only post the other victories here is the TT results

Isle of Man TT race victories

1923	Junior 350cc	Cotton	55.73 mph
1926	Senior 500cc	Norton	67.54 mph
1932	Junior 350cc	Norton	77.16 mph
1932	Senior 500cc	Norton	79.83 mph
1933	Junior 350cc	Norton	78.08 mph
1933	Senior 500cc	Norton	81.04 mph
1935	Lightweight 250cc	Moto Guzzi	71.56 mph
1935	Senior 500cc	Moto Guzzi	84.68 mph
1938	Junior 350cc	Velocette KTT Mk VIII	84.08 mph
1939	Junior 350cc	Velocette KTT Mk VIII	83.19 mph

Life

His début on the new Isle of Man Snaefell Mountain Course in 1922 was as a promising seventeen year old finishing fifth in the Junior TT on a Cotton even though his machine had a fire at a pit stop^[4] and he completed the race without brakes.^[5] He won it the following year. His association with Norton spanned the years from 1926 until 1934 during which he won four of the 1927 Grands Prix, two more in 1928 and several more in the following years. He became disillusioned with the Norton and rode for Moto Guzzi in 1935 giving them their first victory at the TT Races, only the second time a non-English motorcycle had won (the first being an Indian, ridden by Oliver Godfrey in 1911).
Described by the motor-cycle press at the time as the "Irish Dasher"^[6] his stylish riding style was influenced from watching fellow TT competitor Alec Bennett^[6] Over the years many scraps took place between the likes of Jimmie Guthrie, Jimmie Simpson, Charlie Dodson, Harold Daniell, Freddie Frith and Wal L. Handley during these races. Stanley was a toffee maker and in the Isle of Man TT history it states that he would bring a couple of boxes of toffee with him for the Scouts who manned the scoreboards^[7] on which the grandstand audience relied to follow the races. Stanley was president of the TT Riders Association.^[8] Commandant Stanley Woods is credited with the task of training some of the first Irish Army 4 Cavalry Squadron's Motor Squadron personnel during The Emergency as the presidential Escort of Honour.^[9]
His career record of ten Isle of Man TT victories remained until the era of Mike Hailwood who won 14 TT races. Three riders have equalled his record while another three have had eleven victories, but the most victories goes to another great Irish rider: Joey Dunlop with 26 TT wins.
Woods' standing in the history of the TT was so high that in 1968 a panel of experts named him the greatest of all the island’s competitors. In 1957 he returned to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the TT races riding a 350cc Moto Guzzi round the course at just over 82mph.
In 1996 the Irish Post Office issued a set postage stamps of notable Irish motorcyclists that included a stamp depicting Stanley Woods.
[edit] Isle of Man TT career

After competing in race sprints and handicap races with his fathers Harley-Davidson motor-cycle which his father used in his business as a commercial salesman for Mackintosh toffee.^[10] It was the pre-war Rudge rider Tommy Green who Stanley Woods calls "his mentor"^[11] that encouraged him to visit the Isle of Man TT Races in 1921 with his friend C. W. 'Paddy' Johnston. After watching the races at Hillberry during the 1921 Isle of Man TT Races, Stanley Woods told his friends that "I can do that."^[12] Despite his enthusiasm for the Isle of Man TT Races, Stanley Woods was without a motor-cycle to compete in the 1922 Isle of Man TT. After writing to most of the British motor-cycle manufactures, Stanley Woods was able to persuade the Cotton motor-cycle company to provide a machine for the 1922 Junior TT Race. The Cotton marque had entered a new motor-cycle with a new overhead-valve Blackburne engine. On first meeting Stanley Woods, the Cotton racing manager exclaimed that;- "My God! They've sent me a bloody schoolboy!^[The magic of the Isle of Man has been enhanced by many of motorcycling's wizards but few riders have built its reputation more significantly than Stanley Woods. He was once voted the greatest TT rider of all time, and not without good reason. His bravery, especially in difficult conditions, and mastery of tactical racing brought him ten TT victories and eleven fastest laps.

Above all he was a motorcycle enthusiast. It hardly mattered whether it was a trials bike, scrambler, grass track machine, speedway bike or road racer, he loved them all equally and was outstandingly good on each. The prime of his era was the early to mid-1930s.

He was born in Dublin in 1905 and once old enough to ride road machines convinced himself that he was good enough to race. Always a lively character, his confidence was never lacking. When he was seventeen and had experienced some racing in Ireland, he wrote to the Cotton company telling them that he was good enough to be trusted with one of their bikes to race on the island. He made out that he had already been promised a Senior machine, which was pure blarney. Surprisingly Mr F.W. Cotton agreed but in Woods’ first TT, the Junior in 1922, the engine was ailing when he finished. In spite of that he was fifth and had managed to get round after all manner of problems including a broken exhaust pipe and a moment in his pit when fuel caught fire and briefly set him and his machine ablaze.

In the following year he rewarded Cotton for their confidence by winning the Junior event even after crashing into a doorway in Parliament Square and spending valuable time restoring the front forks to their original shape. From then on his career was to stretch over twenty years.

For the next two years he raced various machines but also spent a lot of time trials riding. In the 1925 Junior TT he rode a Royal Enfield but the handlebars snapped. Not daunted, he steered on with what was left of the bar but the throttle was gone and he had to adjust his speed with the air lever. Not surprisingly, he was ordered to stop.

All the time he badly wanted to get factory support from Norton. The company had been watching his progress with interest and in 1926 they offered him a works machine for the Senior race which he duly won at a record speed of 67.54mph. At the time he combined being a professional rider with his work as a traveller for the sweet makers Mackintosh’s

The 1927 saw him improve Jimmie Simpson’s Senior TT lap record to 70.99mph before being forced to abandon with mechanical trouble. During the race he was aware that he had no idea what his lead had been over the second placed rider until he came in to take fuel. Having been told to continue with the pace he had already been setting, which was hardly necessary since he had a five-minute lead, on the fifth lap he ruined the clutch. His frustrating experience, together with his complaints about a lack of information being provided to the riders, brought about the system of lap signalling.

On the Continent he was highly impressive. On the Norton machines he won four of the 1927 grands prix and two more in 1928 but then he went back to Ireland to join his father in a toffee making business. Not that he gave up racing. In 1929, however, he retired from both Senior and Junior races and in 1930 the Rudge machines were far quicker than the Nortons. Although Norton recovered in 1931 he had mechanical problems in both races

The Nortons made few advances technically until Joe Craig arrived to guide their development. As a result in 1932 and 1933 Woods won both Junior and Senior races. But towards the end of 1933 he fell out with Norton. The problem was that their machines were so dominant that the factory began to decide in advance which rider should win. The matter came to a head at the Manx Grand Prix. He was told that it was not his turn to finish first, but since several of the other team members dropped out, he could hardly avoid winning. The situation led to his decision to leave Norton. Although he rode in the 1934 Senior TT for Husqvarna (recording the fastest lap), the Italian company Moto Guzzi had won his attention.

In 1935 he gave Moto Guzzi victories in the Senior and Lightweight races, including record laps. In the Lightweight race he rode a wide-angled twin with extraordinary skill. However, the Senior race was much more memorable. Indeed, it was one of the classic events in the island’s history.

The Scott Jimmy Guthrie, on a Norton, had led from the start and with a lap to go had a twenty-six second lead over Woods. Guthrie, was a master of the course, but Woods had gradually been closing in on him from the third lap when he was behind by the best part of a minute. By the fifth lap Guthrie was still racing at record speed and looked certain to win. However, Woods increased the pace and began to eat into Guthrie’s lead. In the end he closed the gap and won. In order to do so he had to improve the lap record by four miles per hour and he won by four seconds.

The 1936 season saw him appear in the Lightweight on a German DKW, which blew up when he was leading on the fifth lap, but by then he was hankering to return to British made machines. He signed for Velocette and gave them and second place in the 1937 Senior but he was unhappy about their road holding. Because of his influence Velocette developed the swinging arm rear suspension. By 1938 the machines were far more competitive and he won the Junior race and was second after a tough duel with Harold Daniell in the Senior. His speed in the Junior, 84.08mph, was a record as was the 85.30mph in the Senior.

In the last TT before the war (1939) he again won the Junior TT and was fourth in the Senior, riding for Velocette in both races. His career record of ten TT victories remained until the era of Mike Hailwood. Such was his standing in the history of the TT that in 1968 a panel of experts named him the greatest of all the island’s competitors. And in 1957 he had gone back to the island to help celebrate the Golden Jubilee by riding a 350cc Moto Guzzi round the course at just over 82mph.

Stanley Woods: Forgotten Hero
RTÉ Two, Monday 29th December, 7.30pm
Stanley Woods: Forgotten Hero is the captivating story of one of Ireland's greatest sportsmen. The pre-war motorcycle racing champion boasted a lifetime total of 26 European Grand Prix wins and 10 Isle of Man TT's and held the world stage in motorcycle racing during the 1920s and 30s, bringing great honour to his country. Accompanied by his glamorous wife, Mildred, the sporting legend also enjoyed a superstar lifestyle with continental holidays and glittering social occasions, many of which were captured on film and in photographs.
Stanley had a long and fascinating career that began in unlikely circumstances. Born in Dublin in 1903 and educated at Dublin High School, his first job was with his father who worked for the Mackintosh Toffee Factory. The precocious young Stanley talked his way into a works racing team, Cotton, and incredibly, on an inferior motorcycle, the teenager achieved an impressive fifth place on his first attempt at the Isle of Man TT in 1922.
In the 1920s and early 30s his reputation grew with race wins locally in Ireland, the Isle of Man TT and abroad. He secretly married a French woman whom he divorced in 1936 and then married Mildred Ross, a beautiful young artist born in Canada of Irish parents. Capturing many of their trips abroad on cine film, Mildred's recordings have remained undamaged for over 70 years and provide an insight into their high-profile life including their honeymoon in Egypt and Australia.
His racing took place against a backdrop of a poverty-stricken Ireland and a rapidly changing, pre-war Europe. In 1939, when road racing was suspended for the war, he joined the Irish army as a Commandant in the 4 Cavalry Motorcycle Riders and his last duty in 1945 was to help organise the Cavalry Motorcycle display at the RDS in Dublin. Too unwell to restart his road racing career after the war ended, he concentrated on scrambling and trials riding for both fun and competition. Latterly, he was guest of honour at many important events and races in Ireland and abroad, before being honoured for his achievements at a testimonial dinner in Dublin in 1989. Despite amassing a fortune during his racing career, his fortune dwindled and he sold his collection of trophies to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Co. Down. He died in 1993, just short of his 90th birthday.

[husaberg]

However,
In that same year, 1923, the winner of the world's most important road race, the Isle of Man T.T.,
was

Stanley Woods.

What became of him?

He won 10 T.T. races between 1923 and 1939,
He lived on the Isle of Man and rode motorcycles all his life. He lapped the island circuit at 82 mph in 1957 (The Golden Jubilee) aged 54
He was a wealthy man when he died aged 90.

The Moral:

Screw work; Ride motorbikes.

His racing took place against a backdrop of a poverty-stricken Ireland and a rapidly changing, pre-war Europe. In 1939, when road racing was suspended for the war, he joined the Irish army as a Commandant in the 4 Cavalry Motorcycle Riders and his last duty in 1945 was to help organise the Cavalry Motorcycle display at the RDS in Dublin. Too unwell to restart his road racing career after the war ended, he concentrated on scrambling and trials riding for both fun and competition. Latterly, he was guest of honour at many important events and races in Ireland and abroad, before being honoured for his achievements at a testimonial dinner in Dublin in 1989. Despite amassing a fortune during his racing career, his fortune dwindled and he sold his collection of trophies to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Co. Down. He died in 1993, just short of his 90th birthday.