Brown-nose a "Living Legend" right here folks

[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....

[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 ?