More from old Oz GP pics:
I hope I didn't obstruct Mr JAW's view from the stand...
More from old Oz GP pics:
I hope I didn't obstruct Mr JAW's view from the stand...
I realise I may not know as much about scooter racing as our Aussie friend but he made me go all nostalgic for early PI:
Thank you for making me seek these snaps out and get to work on the scanner.
Eddie was there. He came 5th.
Yeah but on the Yam oh 89 that would be the year of the Honda. With its steering damper jammed onto full.
What year did Gardner crash and ride on? I used to have that poster.
Cagiva Jizz
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/al...p?albumid=4842
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Kinky is using a feather. Perverted is using the whole chicken
Thanks for the effort with the pix Oscar.. good stuff, I'll have to see if I can find/dig out mine now..
The sports fans were out in big numbers for that one, more than show up these days,
& you'd recall that year, Alan Bond even had his fat Swan blimp buzzing about..( no Donna jokes, she wasn't that bad.. well, not in that way..)
Wayne Gardner rode like he was possessed ( no drug testing back then, Hmmm), & won a hard fought race.. good stuff..
He did it again the next year, even breaking the fairing brackets from wresting the NSR manfully back in line, from a vicious tank-slapper..
The G.P. then went to Eastern Creek in Synney for a few years, - for a laugh, I checked the quickest laps list there,
& the current Aussie Superbike record is 'bout equal to the ~20 year old 500 G.P. best lap..
Recently I received Mat Oxley's book "Stealing Speed" which recounts the story of East German Ernst Degner's defection to the West with his knowledge of the technology used by the MZ factory, and with some of their hardware.
Next season Degner appeared on a suddenly very competitive Suzuki. The Japanese two stroke had only ever previously been a dog.
I haven't read the book yet but am familiar with the broad outline of the story which ended well for Suzuki but less so for Degner. He retired to East Germany where he was subsequently found with his throat cut. Suicide apparently.
Anyhoo, while ruminating on such matters the thought occurs that there must be someone in the Suzuki factory that remembers the fastest way to get speed is to steal it from the opposition?
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Ah, technically.. Suzuki paid for it.. Degner was stealing it.. from lousy thievin' Soviet Commies..
Good read though, & those Kaaden MZ's were impressive enough to get a playboy capitalist like Mike Hailwood aboard..
In fact, for peak specific output ( hp/cc) current Moto G.P. mills aint much better than those `60s 2T hotshots..
Sheesh Pritch the entire Jap bike industry is based around stealing each others ideas.
Walter Kaaden is the acknowledged godfather of modern Two Strokes by those in the know but is confined to practically a paupers grave in his hometown.
An honourable man who was fucked over by dishonourable people. (he never let on tho,to his credit)
If by the last sentence in your post E-R, you mean Honda/Dorna - who got 2Ts banned from G.P. racing, yep.. for sure..
I think Kaaden was rightly proud of his achievements, & where they led, even if he personally - was cruelled by circumstances..
( & even if his sonic pulse/resonance ideas had been initially funded by uncle Adolf's Nazi war machine research facilities..)
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