How it used to be in’t olden days of racing... 🏍️ 🚗 💨
- Thread starter Exige
- Start date
MIKE HAILWOOD on his Honda 350 - 6
Freddie Spencer and Sarie Joubert (Miss Louisiana) alongside Barry Sheene (RIP) and Stephanie.
In the pits at the 1966 Ulster GP
Geoff Duke fuelling the 250cc two stroke Royal Enfield ready to be ridden by Percy Tait.
Geoff Duke fuelling the 250cc two stroke Royal Enfield ready to be ridden by Percy Tait.
Holding a ciggie, which has been edited out!
"Faster Elsie, faster !!!"
Is that her knicker elastic exiting stage left
Lawson on a Yammy speed-block
Robert MacGregor McIntyre was a Scottish motorcyclist.
The first rider to reach an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) for a lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course in 1957.
McIntyre is also remembered for three Isle of Man TT wins and four North West 200 wins.
The first rider to reach an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) for a lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course in 1957.
McIntyre is also remembered for three Isle of Man TT wins and four North West 200 wins.
Geoff Barry was killed during the Killinchy 150 road race, held on the 7.401-mile (11.910-kilometer) Dundrod public road circuit, located north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Barry was leading the 1000 cm3 race when he crashed his 750 cm3 Yamaha at Tournagrough, the fast left hander of the circuit before the Hairpin, on the sixth of the eight laps. The previous lap, when challenging Ron Haslam for the lead, Barry had recorded the fastest Killinchy lap of 111.68 mi/h (179.7 km/h). When the accident occurred, Barry had just regained the lead. His machine somersaulted in the air and brushed Haslam's shoulder as it came down. Geoff Barry, flung high into the air and 30 yards down the road, hit an earth bank. He sustained head injuries and was found dead on arrival to Victoria hospital in Belfast.
Less than two months after his death, George Oates, sidecar pilot and his passenger John Molyneux were killed during the Ulster Grand Prix, almost at the same spot where Geoff Barry's accident took place.
Geoff Barry was a regular to Ulster races where his most notable success was winning the 1000 cm3 class in the 1976 Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod, one of his favorite circuits.
32-year-old Geoff Barry was going to leave his work as personnel officer at Rolls-Royce Associates after 16 years to take up a full-time road racing career. His racing career came to a national level when he rode Nottingham butcher Charlie Oakley's 350 AJS and 500 Matchless. He progressed, having the odd ride on John Cooper's Yamsels and Seeleys, riding the works John Player Nortons on a couple of their troubled occasions and in 1977 he was hired to ride with Tony Rutter in the Honda GB endurance team, and to ride alongside Kork Ballington and Stu Avant in Sid Griffiths' team. After a disappointing Isle of Man TT, Barry finished fifth with Rutter in the Nürburgring Coupe d'Endurance race in West Germany, held just six days before his death. Barry was also closely involved as development rider with Barry Hart's Sparton Phoenix project.
Before his last race, Geoff had hoped to compete in the 500 cm3 class on his Sparton bike, but because of oiled plugs he didn't, apologising to the 12,000 fans on the public address system. Barry left a wife, Alice.
Geoff Barry was one of the five Cadwell Conquerer Golden Helmet winners to be killed while holding the title. The other four were Peter McKinley, Billie Nelson, Phil Bosco, all killed in racing accidents and Ken Redfern, who died in a road accident in 1973. The Helmet was buried with his last winner Phil Bosco in 1977.
Barry was leading the 1000 cm3 race when he crashed his 750 cm3 Yamaha at Tournagrough, the fast left hander of the circuit before the Hairpin, on the sixth of the eight laps. The previous lap, when challenging Ron Haslam for the lead, Barry had recorded the fastest Killinchy lap of 111.68 mi/h (179.7 km/h). When the accident occurred, Barry had just regained the lead. His machine somersaulted in the air and brushed Haslam's shoulder as it came down. Geoff Barry, flung high into the air and 30 yards down the road, hit an earth bank. He sustained head injuries and was found dead on arrival to Victoria hospital in Belfast.
Less than two months after his death, George Oates, sidecar pilot and his passenger John Molyneux were killed during the Ulster Grand Prix, almost at the same spot where Geoff Barry's accident took place.
Geoff Barry was a regular to Ulster races where his most notable success was winning the 1000 cm3 class in the 1976 Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod, one of his favorite circuits.
32-year-old Geoff Barry was going to leave his work as personnel officer at Rolls-Royce Associates after 16 years to take up a full-time road racing career. His racing career came to a national level when he rode Nottingham butcher Charlie Oakley's 350 AJS and 500 Matchless. He progressed, having the odd ride on John Cooper's Yamsels and Seeleys, riding the works John Player Nortons on a couple of their troubled occasions and in 1977 he was hired to ride with Tony Rutter in the Honda GB endurance team, and to ride alongside Kork Ballington and Stu Avant in Sid Griffiths' team. After a disappointing Isle of Man TT, Barry finished fifth with Rutter in the Nürburgring Coupe d'Endurance race in West Germany, held just six days before his death. Barry was also closely involved as development rider with Barry Hart's Sparton Phoenix project.
Before his last race, Geoff had hoped to compete in the 500 cm3 class on his Sparton bike, but because of oiled plugs he didn't, apologising to the 12,000 fans on the public address system. Barry left a wife, Alice.
Geoff Barry was one of the five Cadwell Conquerer Golden Helmet winners to be killed while holding the title. The other four were Peter McKinley, Billie Nelson, Phil Bosco, all killed in racing accidents and Ken Redfern, who died in a road accident in 1973. The Helmet was buried with his last winner Phil Bosco in 1977.
Mike the Bike and Ago at Mallory circa 1967
Bazza probably at Cadwell
Percy Tait - One of the 500cc Triumph twins which were originally built for Daytona
Percy will be best remembered for the part he played in the success of Triumph in racing and also the development work he did on the company’s road machines.
Percy joined Triumph aged 21 and soon progressed to the experimental department, which led to his successful race career.
Never to be forgotten racing moments include the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps, when Percy, riding the factory prepared Triumph Daytona, led world champion Giacomo Agostini for three laps, eventually finishing second with an average speed of 116mph.
Percy also played his part in christening the legendary Slippery Sam Triumph Trident after a faulty oil pump covered him in oil in the 1971 Bol d’Or 24 Hour Race.
It wasn’t just Triumph that Percy enjoyed success on, or played a part in developing. In 1976 he was hired by Suzuki to help develop the RG500 and TR750 race bikes and he took a TR750 to victory in the 1976 North West 200.
He finally retired from racing after a nasty spill at Ballaspur during that year’s TT 10 lap Production Race.
From road racing it was on to rare breed sheep breeding on his Worcestershire farm – and Percy continued his winning ways at all the top agricultural shows.
Motorcycle sport lost a true legend when Percy Tait passed away on November 17 2019 , aged 90.
Percy will be best remembered for the part he played in the success of Triumph in racing and also the development work he did on the company’s road machines.
Percy joined Triumph aged 21 and soon progressed to the experimental department, which led to his successful race career.
Never to be forgotten racing moments include the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps, when Percy, riding the factory prepared Triumph Daytona, led world champion Giacomo Agostini for three laps, eventually finishing second with an average speed of 116mph.
Percy also played his part in christening the legendary Slippery Sam Triumph Trident after a faulty oil pump covered him in oil in the 1971 Bol d’Or 24 Hour Race.
It wasn’t just Triumph that Percy enjoyed success on, or played a part in developing. In 1976 he was hired by Suzuki to help develop the RG500 and TR750 race bikes and he took a TR750 to victory in the 1976 North West 200.
He finally retired from racing after a nasty spill at Ballaspur during that year’s TT 10 lap Production Race.
From road racing it was on to rare breed sheep breeding on his Worcestershire farm – and Percy continued his winning ways at all the top agricultural shows.
Motorcycle sport lost a true legend when Percy Tait passed away on November 17 2019 , aged 90.
Alan Carter
ALAN CARTER became a motorcycle racing sensation at 18, winning his first Grand Prix in France - the youngest-ever GP winner and one of only three Brits to finish on the MotoGP podium for more than 20 years.
His best season was 1985, when he finished seventh in the 250cc World Championship, and went on to compete in 54 GPs until 1990.
No-one doubted he had the talent to go all the way to the top but he failed to fulfil his enormous potential for numerous reasons.
ALAN CARTER became a motorcycle racing sensation at 18, winning his first Grand Prix in France - the youngest-ever GP winner and one of only three Brits to finish on the MotoGP podium for more than 20 years.
His best season was 1985, when he finished seventh in the 250cc World Championship, and went on to compete in 54 GPs until 1990.
No-one doubted he had the talent to go all the way to the top but he failed to fulfil his enormous potential for numerous reasons.
Jack Surtees with son John in the chair - Brands Hatch 1940s
Bike could be a Grey Flash
John went on to become a World Champion on both two and four wheels
Bike could be a Grey Flash
John went on to become a World Champion on both two and four wheels
That is a Grey flash, after some looking up on the internet by 1951 Jack was winning regularly on a 500cc Vincent Grey Flash.
Tom Herron - 250 Yam
Ulsterman Tom Herron made his mark at World Grand Prix level, mainly competing as a privateer against the factory backed riders, and the major road races. Three times winner of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy and five times winner of the Ulster Grand Prix, he clinched a double at the North West 200 in Coleraine.
A Lisburn in Co. Antrim native, Tom Herron began motorcycle racing at age 17. After winning the 1973 Irish 350 cm3 title, he moved up to the World Motorcycle Championship, backed by Moira food manufacturer Jack Finlay. Between 1973 and 1979, he competed in the 250, 350 and 500 cm3 classes, riding various motorcycles as Yamaha, Seeley and Suzuki.
He obtained a total of two victories, in the Senior and Lightweight Tourist Trophy races in 1976, the last year the Isle of Man event was valid for the World Championship, four second places, eight third places and three pole positions.
His best final placement came in 1977, when he was second in the 350 cm3, behind Yamaha works rider Takazumi Katayama.
Tom Herron crashed and was killed at Juniper Hill in the second Superbike race of the North West 200 Ulster, held on the Portstewart-Coleraine-Portrush course on Saturday, 26 May 1979. The first of three fatalities on the North West's darkest day.
Tom Herron was 30 years old. Burial was in Leitrim Cemetery in Castlewellan, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. He was survived by his wife Andrea, née Williams, whom he had married in 1973, and their twins daughters Kim and Zoe, born in 1976. A former secretary at Chelsea Football Club, Andrea Herron was the sister of Norton factory racer Peter Williams. She had been a road racer herself, until suffering a nasty crash during the Mid Antrim 150 in 1972.
Ulsterman Tom Herron made his mark at World Grand Prix level, mainly competing as a privateer against the factory backed riders, and the major road races. Three times winner of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy and five times winner of the Ulster Grand Prix, he clinched a double at the North West 200 in Coleraine.
A Lisburn in Co. Antrim native, Tom Herron began motorcycle racing at age 17. After winning the 1973 Irish 350 cm3 title, he moved up to the World Motorcycle Championship, backed by Moira food manufacturer Jack Finlay. Between 1973 and 1979, he competed in the 250, 350 and 500 cm3 classes, riding various motorcycles as Yamaha, Seeley and Suzuki.
He obtained a total of two victories, in the Senior and Lightweight Tourist Trophy races in 1976, the last year the Isle of Man event was valid for the World Championship, four second places, eight third places and three pole positions.
His best final placement came in 1977, when he was second in the 350 cm3, behind Yamaha works rider Takazumi Katayama.
Tom Herron crashed and was killed at Juniper Hill in the second Superbike race of the North West 200 Ulster, held on the Portstewart-Coleraine-Portrush course on Saturday, 26 May 1979. The first of three fatalities on the North West's darkest day.
Tom Herron was 30 years old. Burial was in Leitrim Cemetery in Castlewellan, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. He was survived by his wife Andrea, née Williams, whom he had married in 1973, and their twins daughters Kim and Zoe, born in 1976. A former secretary at Chelsea Football Club, Andrea Herron was the sister of Norton factory racer Peter Williams. She had been a road racer herself, until suffering a nasty crash during the Mid Antrim 150 in 1972.
unusually, he's not smoking....
Joey -
When his life was tragically cut short in Estonia in 2000, Joey had amassed a staggering 26 TT wins at the Isle of Man and 13 at the NW200.
Combined with five World Championships and over 160 other victories
When his life was tragically cut short in Estonia in 2000, Joey had amassed a staggering 26 TT wins at the Isle of Man and 13 at the NW200.
Combined with five World Championships and over 160 other victories
Percy Tait was estimated to have ridden over 1m miles as senior road tester at Triumph
Gary Nixon
Nixon was AMA Grand National Champion on Triumphs in 1967 and ’68, and came back from injury to become national road race champion in 1973,
He died in 2011 aged 70 after suffering a fatal heart attack.
Nixon was AMA Grand National Champion on Triumphs in 1967 and ’68, and came back from injury to become national road race champion in 1973,
He died in 2011 aged 70 after suffering a fatal heart attack.