Classic Festival at Hampton Downs

[scrivy]

Ya gotta admit it's a friigging good show tho'

Any time you want to line up on equal machinery Scrivy, just let me know....but then it would be a scrap over who was gunna get Bob as a swinger ....and sadly I'd probably loose

I'll swap Bob for Jo. I'd lose 60 kgs just like that!!! Doesn't sound 'unfair' to me!!!

[sidecar bob]

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...

On the weekend at the classic festival, we floated the idea of introducing a pre '82 Jap classic sidecar class. there was immediate interest, but with whom to run them was the big question. It seems that MNZ's angle was that they must run with moderns, (and fair enough) to the detrement of the classic register, as at least a few pre '76 racers will make the change to pre '82.
Im the "next generation" of classic racer, at closer to 50 than 40, & to me, an old bike is a '79 Suzuki GS1000.
Something needs to be done, the classic scene is too much fun to die out.

[sidecar bob]

I'll swap Bob for Jo. I'd lose 60 kgs just like that!!! Doesn't sound 'unfair' to me!!!

What!!! youre trading me like a cheap plastic container now???

[scrivy]

What!!! youre trading me like a cheap plastic container now???

Well, grow some tits then........

[swarfie]

I'll swap Bob for Jo. I'd lose 60 kgs just like that!!! Doesn't sound 'unfair' to me!!!

I gota admit there is a slight weight penalty , but that can be a distinct advantage on my skinny tyred big wheel sitter sometimes. It's not easy trying to get round slow left-handers on the Matchy with only 45kg of ballast. That said it's going to be hard work trying to replace her when she goes overseas....I'm going to miss my little mate In fact she's irreplaceable really

[HenryDorsetCase]

I prayed and prayed but nobody answered.

and here is why:

[HenryDorsetCase]

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





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

Look to Goodwood my son. The stars of their shows are people like Kevin Schwantz and Freddie Spencer and the big crowds go to see the stinkwheels from the 80s and 90s. Or, as someone suggested, a Honda 6.

phwoar.

[swarfie]

Well, grow some tits then........

Thought he had

Keep ya eyes on the job ya dirty OLD BASTARD

[scrivy]

Thought he had

Keep ya eyes on the job ya dirty OLD BASTARD

Dude..... 3 things.

1. Yes, he has grown tits, and a baby belly......
2. You're older than me..........
3. Yes I am dirty.....

[jellywrestler]

Dude..... 3 things.

1. Yes, he has grown tits, and a baby belly......
2. You're older than me..........
3. Yes I am dirty.....

officially they're known as 'He Hooters'

[Grumph]

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...

Now that right there about still seeing original Manxes and 7R's running is where I start to go off....
I'm old enough to know first hand that that is not representative of NZ roadrace history at all !!!
As soon as a Manx or 7R arrived here - usually VERY second hand - it started to change. Bits weren't available, motors blew, bits were made and remade locally. Now all the register wants to see is a flock of poxy original bikes which are IMO false history....and what are we doing, I thought it was supposed to be representative of ACTUAL NZ racing history....

And when someone (spyda) gives them an opportunity to showcase ACTUAL NZ race history - they bloody ignore it.

[sidecar bob]

Someone also recently pointed out to me that my pre '76 BMW boxer sidecar would have never existed in the real world, as by the time 1976 rolled around, your sidecar was either a Z900 Kawasaki, a TZ750 or Waterbus.
Anyone that turned up on a 15 inch wheeled BMW R90s outfit would have been laughed off the track.
These outfits such as mine, were built to a set of rules that specificaly exclude Jap engines, which makes it not true period racing, rather racing to appease a set of recently made rules.

[Voltaire]

In the UK Reliant Robins and other three wheeled 'cars' were only due to the you could drive them with a motorcycle licience...... small bore british engines came about due to a bore tax... Superchargers were banned when BMW kicked Nortons arse at the TT .......didn't the IOM come to be due to racing not being allowed on the mainland?.....so the Register are only following British tradition...
To change the Registers rules would involve being voted on to " a committee"

[calmone]

I went down on the Friday as I did for the Barry Sheene when there are less spectators and you can view the machinery and talk to the riders without getting in the way. I had a good chat to Ron Chandler and he told me that his wife will not let him race anymore, but he is allowed to ride as fast as he feels is comfortable, he was feeling comfortable on the Friday and the few laps he did between Track Repairs were pretty good and fast.

I believe that post Classics should be able to run as we have both Pre and Post.

The unfortunate thing about the weekend was the Track condition a problem they are going to have at
Hampton Downs from over use in the hot weather unless they spread the meets out a bit, which of course as a commercial venture will not happen.

[Paul in NZ]

Now that right there about still seeing original Manxes and 7R's running is where I start to go off....
I'm old enough to know first hand that that is not representative of NZ roadrace history at all !!!
As soon as a Manx or 7R arrived here - usually VERY second hand - it started to change. Bits weren't available, motors blew, bits were made and remade locally. Now all the register wants to see is a flock of poxy original bikes which are IMO false history....and what are we doing, I thought it was supposed to be representative of ACTUAL NZ racing history....

And when someone (spyda) gives them an opportunity to showcase ACTUAL NZ race history - they bloody ignore it.

Eh? Who said they were replicating NZ racing history???

I mean when sammy millar rode the Moto guzzi v8 there that wasnt really replicating anything other than celebrating a stonking bike...

It just a bunch of blokes with more money than sense that like a certain type of bike and have made a great show of it. If other like a different type of bike and want a similar show well then go for it...

Another option is to run alternate years. Current formula one year - pre 8? next year