MotoGP

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Unfortunately, Old man and his brothers, used up all the talent genes from the gene pool before we could take a swim. Gary got the most of those genes.

????

 

Well, at least you're honest about that

[Wannabe]

They were all very talented, both on and off road.

And some stand up guys, to boot.

[Gnarly]

Well, at least you're honest about that

 

I have actually NEVER ridden a road bike, well only a MB5. Raced a little off road and MX, but started very late as my Mom wouldn't let us race.

 

Maybe it skips a generation, my lightie has proper technique. Not to fast yet, but good technique.

 

Anyway, back to MotoGP.... Great ride by Binder. He's progressing nicely in race situation due to his wrist injury. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by Gnarly

[Wannabe]

post removed, not relevant.  

Edited September 28, 2017 by Wannabe

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I have actually NEVER ridden a road bike, well only a MB5. Raced a little off road and MX, but started very late as my Mom wouldn't let us race.

 

Maybe it skips a generation, my lightie has proper technique. Not to fast yet, but good technique.

 

Anyway, back to MotoGP.... Great ride by Binder. He's progressing nicely in race situation due to his wrist injury. 

Can you even call an MB5 a road bike? 

 

But yes. Great recovery from Binder so far... he has a great career ahead of him, IMO

[Patchelicious]

Can you even call an MB5 a road bike? 

 

But yes. Great recovery from Binder so far... he has a great career ahead of him, IMO

Careful, that the bike my dad used to seduce my mom in 1982! If it worked for her, then it must be cool

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Careful, that the bike my dad used to seduce my mom in 1982! If it worked for her, then it must be cool

maybe it was the high frequency vibrations through the pillion seat that got her interested... 

 

[Wannabe]

Careful, that the bike my dad used to seduce my mom in 1982! If it worked for her, then it must be cool

 

 

You whippersnapper, you. In 1982 I was seducing a few young ladies myself, with the aid of an MT5. (see, I was just that bit more hardcore then)    

[Patchelicious]

We actually found him the exact same MB a few months back, bought it and had it restored back to original. Even got paint out of Japan for the exact blue.

 

So now, 35 years later, he is buzzing around on his childhood bike again.

[Andymann]

Unfortunately, Old man and his brothers, used up all the talent genes from the gene pool before we could take a swim. Gary got the most of those genes. 

Definitely the opinion amongst the guys at Yamaha when I was there (Alan North, Steve Thompson, Dave Harris) was that Gary was the most talented of all.  I loved working with Rob - he is so decent.  But he used to make our Motorcycle GM mad when he ran our race team,  because if that was the rule, then that was the rule.  No wriggle room whatsoever. 

 

Our MD once used the analogy that if all the other Race Team Managers were traveling to a race, they would be going along at 131.9kph in a 120 zone, because, hey you have 10% while Rob would be religiously travelling at 120.....

[Patchelicious]

Definitely the opinion amongst the guys at Yamaha when I was there (Alan North, Steve Thompson, Dave Harris) was that Gary was the most talented of all.  I loved working with Rob - he is so decent.  But he used to make our Motorcycle GM mad when he ran our race team,  because if that was the rule, then that was the rule.  No wriggle room whatsoever. 

 

Our MD once used the analogy that if all the other Race Team Managers were traveling to a race, they would be going along at 131.9kph in a 120 zone, because, hey you have 10% while Rob would be religiously travelling at 120.....

Is this the same Dave Harris who went into property development?

[Andymann]

Is this the same Dave Harris who went into property development?

I do't think so - This Dave Harris  ran the Yamaha Technical Academy up until a few years back when he retired.  He started with Yamaha back in the Charlie Young days, and I still bounce a few questions off him from time to time.  He has an incredible knowledge of Velocettes, and of course Yamaha.

[Patchelicious]

I do't think so - This Dave Harris  ran the Yamaha Technical Academy up until a few years back when he retired.  He started with Yamaha back in the Charlie Young days, and I still bounce a few questions off him from time to time.  He has an incredible knowledge of Velocettes, and of course Yamaha.

Oh yes, how silly of me, I know who you mean.

 

I just knew a another Dave Harris who raced for them back in the 70s.

[Andymann]

For those who have a bit of time - take a read of this  - was from Alan Harris' obituary.  Alan was also in the Petersen brothers bracket - we had some talented racers back then....

 

In 1960 he obtained a 350 Manx Norton which he campaigned with great success. This success attracted the notice of the local Velocette agent in Bulawayo, Mick Gammon, who offered him a Venom to race in the 500cc class. As an added incentive it was agreed that Geoff Lacey would look after the bike. Geoff had had a very successful racing career on KSS, KTT and MSS Velocettes in Rhodesian racing and was acknowledged as one of the best tuners in the country. This was a continuation of a lifetime friendship between Alan and Geoff.

 

The Venom was a 1957 model which had been raced on the local circuits by several riders, including the local champion, Ken Robas and Jim Redman. Geoff took over the bike and during 1961 he constantly improved its performance, aided by the technical  feedback from Alan. This work resulted in many successes for Alan and the Velo on the track, in hill-climbs and sprints. However, the Venom frame and brakes were not up to the performance of the motor and Alan’s riding ability, but a quirk of fate changed all of this. Returning from a race meeting in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, a motor accident severely damaged the Venom and the 350 Manx which were in the back of Alan’s van. Alan was still an apprentice at the time, so lack of funds forced him to sell the remains of the Norton and the van and plead with Geoff to help repair the Venom.

 

Geoff found a wideline Norton Dominator frame together with swinging arm and front forks amongst his spares in his workshop and together he and Alan grafted the Venom gearbox and motor into the frame, together with the Venom’s wheels. This transformed the Venom into a competitive racer again and when his friend and fellow competitor Gordon Keith offered him the long term loan of a Manx front wheel and brake, the Velo notched up win after win in both Rhodesia and South Africa.  During late 1962, Mike Hailwood and other international stars came out to race in Southern Africa, Hailwood bringing  an Ecurie Sportive Norton with 6-speed gearbox with him. The close battles at Kyalami, Zwartkops, Pietermaritzburg  and finally Bulawayo between the international riders and Alan on the Velo shook up the racing fraternity and when the season ended, Mike Hailwood suggested to Alan that he take the Velo to England to “show them how a Velo could go”.

 

So with the 1962 Rhodesian 500cc championship under his belt (Alan won every race that counted towards the championship) and with encouragement from Gary Hocking (who had ridden the Velo and knew what it could do), Alan and Geoff set about preparing the Velo for the 1963 season in the UK. At this stage of development, the motor was still basically standard and fitted with off the shelf Velo components. It was running a 1 ¼ inch TT carburettor with standard cams, valves and piston but shortened barrel to give 10:1 compression ratio. For the UK visit, Geoff and Alan decided to raise the compression to 11.5:1, use a 1 3/8 inch GP carb with a lengthened inlet port tapering down to 1 ¼ inch and to modify the bottom rockers. Both valves remained standard.

 

On arrival in the UK, Alan used a letter of introduction to Bertie Goodman in the hope of some support for the racing season. Gentleman Bertie explained to Alan that the factory did not support racing any more, but referred him to Reg Orpin of Stevens in London. Reg kindly agreed to meet Alan at a Brands Hatch practice day to evaluate Alan’s riding ability and the performance of the Velo, against the Orpin Velo piloted by an experienced Brands rider. Alan later wrote “After circulating behind the Orpin bike while I settled down to the conditions and the circuit, I figured that their bike was having trouble so I passed him and pulled away at about 3 seconds a lap, circulating at the same times as Derek Minter and Dave Downer on their Nortons”. The result of this exercise was that Reg offered Alan a place to work on his bike at Reg’s London shop, which was the start of a long friendship.

 

Alan’s riding ability and the performance of the Velo managed to get him two entries for the 1963 Isle of Man TT, a factory ride on a 250cc Greeves and in the 500cc  Senior race on the Velo. He finished 8^th on the Greeves, but after 4 laps in the Senior on the Velo, the magneto points disintegrated and he had to retire. However, his riding ability had not gone un-noticed and he was offered some sponsored rides for the 1964 season in the UK, so he returned to Rhodesia, sold the Velo to boost his limited finances and started preparations for the next year.

 

Returning to the UK in 1964, Alan continued his racing career also became involved, together with others, in the development of Reg Orpin’s racing Velo’s. One of these, ridden by Alan and Howard German, won the 500 cc class in the Thruxton 500 event, also finishing 3^rd overall, beating many of the 650cc twins in the process. The development of this bike and its performance persuaded the Velocette factory to look at a high performance version of the Venom which resulted in the birth of the Thruxton, appropriately named after its success in the Thruxton races. Alan also rode a G50 Matchless into 12^th place and a first class replica in the 1964 senior TT, which was won by Mike Hailwood on the MV. Also riding in this event was none other than Paddy Driver, also on a G50, who finished in 26^th place.

These highlights in Alan’s racing career were sadly brought to an abrupt end when riding a Norton in a race at Aberdare Park in Wales, he was involved in a serious accident which broke almost every bone on the right side of his body, putting him in hospital in Wales for two months before he was able to return to Bulawayo, where he underwent thirteen operations to fix the damage to his right arm and leg. 

 

 The accident ended Alan’s international racing career but, while doctors warned him that he may never walk again without the assistance of leg-irons and crutches, his sheer determination got him through and he recovered without any disability or damage. In the final stages of that recovery, Alan threw away the crutches and leg-irons, against doctors’ advice, because he refused to become dependent on them. Alan’s survival and recovery from that crash evidenced his iron will and extraordinary determination.

 

Alan’s recovery enabled him to pick up on his racing career again and in 1968 he purchased his original racing Velo from Godfrey Rademeyer, who had earlier purchased it from Alan’s brother Dave.  During this period Geoff  Lacey had developed the motor further, modifying a 350cc Viper head so he could shape the inlet port, the squish area and the valve angles, although he still used standard Venom valves. He also used a stock Matchless G80 CS piston which had enough aluminium above the rings to enable him to machine a far more accurate squish band.

 

Although now a 10 year old bike with a tough racing career behind it, the Velo was even quicker than before and Alan soon recovered his riding ability, surprising many in local and South African races and scoring wins at Zwartkops, Kyalami and Welkom.  Alan also tried his hand at speedway in Rhodesia and also raced 250cc  Suzukis and Yamahas in South Africa before he realized that he needed to settle down. He retired from active racing at the end of 1970, married Shiona whom he had met back in 1963, and picked up on his process engraving career.  

[Andymann]

For those that are following my Velocette Scrambler build in the Motorcycling Thread, the Tank I was given belonged to Geoff Lacey and was off an original Racer - which is why I decided to keep the orange color.  And my Venom Special had the motor done by Geoff too, which is why it would give a few modern 450's a bit of a fright!

[Wannabe]

We actually found him the exact same MB a few months back, bought it and had it restored back to original. Even got paint out of Japan for the exact blue.

 

So now, 35 years later, he is buzzing around on his childhood bike again.

 

That is stunning. 

Lucky dude, your Dad.