Team Norton - Trevor Nation & Rocket Ron 1991
How it used to be in’t olden days of racing... 🏍️ 🚗 💨
- Thread starter Exige
- Start date
What a glum shower of feckers…apart from Nation !
In Dreams
Guy Martin On The Wilson Craig Retro Honda Superbike which was famously destroyed In a terrifying fireball at Ballagarey In The Senior TT Race
It'll polish out.
David ‘Ginge’ Smith and Colin ‘Angus’ Davis - 60 years apart
Barry Sheene sits on the end of his #42 Bultaco motorbike with two women and his father, mechanic Frank Sheene, March 7th 1969.
Notice the lit cigarette - an addiction he couldn't overcome
Notice the lit cigarette - an addiction he couldn't overcome
Sheene, Roberts and Cecotto.
Steve Baker - OW31 Yamaha
In 1966, the new Yamaha TD1B captivated five aspiring racers at the Earls Court Show. However, its hefty price tag raised questions about affordability. At £526 12s, the Yamaha was significantly more expensive than most other racing motorcycles, especially other 250cc models.
For comparison, a Bultaco 250, which had seen great success including a 1-2-3 finish at the previous year's Ulster Grand Prix, was priced slightly lower at £485. An Aermacchi pushrod 250 was even more affordable at £489.
Despite its higher cost, the Yamaha TD1B offered superior performance. While initial sales were slow in the UK, the two-stroke 250cc model became incredibly popular in the USA.
To put these prices into perspective, consider the average annual wage in the UK in 1966, which was around £1,000-£1,300 for a full-time worker, with some sources indicating a median closer to £750 in 1965.
The average house price in the UK in 1966 had reached approximately £3,500-£3,840.
Given these figures, it's remarkable to consider how individuals managed to afford to go racing. But afford it they did, and within a couple of years, the Yamaha production racers had become a dominant force
For comparison, a Bultaco 250, which had seen great success including a 1-2-3 finish at the previous year's Ulster Grand Prix, was priced slightly lower at £485. An Aermacchi pushrod 250 was even more affordable at £489.
Despite its higher cost, the Yamaha TD1B offered superior performance. While initial sales were slow in the UK, the two-stroke 250cc model became incredibly popular in the USA.
To put these prices into perspective, consider the average annual wage in the UK in 1966, which was around £1,000-£1,300 for a full-time worker, with some sources indicating a median closer to £750 in 1965.
The average house price in the UK in 1966 had reached approximately £3,500-£3,840.
Given these figures, it's remarkable to consider how individuals managed to afford to go racing. But afford it they did, and within a couple of years, the Yamaha production racers had become a dominant force
Jaysus, the lad on the right, looks just like me when I had my rd250 but I would've only been 4 in 1966
Big paper round
Gunter Weber - Muthig-BMW
Muthig compares to you
Ken Taubman ( Matchless ) at Kronk ny Mona 1955 Manx GP
Guy Martin's bike after he lost it and it exploded at 170mph at the Isle of Man Senior TT 2010
He suffered minor spinal and lung injuries
He suffered minor spinal and lung injuries
Dave Potter died on this date, Friday, 18 September 1981 at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire, England, eighteen days after he crashed during the Bank Holiday Monday British Superbike Championship event at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on Monday, 31 August 1981.
While leading the race, on the last lap of the second heat, Potter lost control of his bike, on the approach to the Cascades bend and rammed into a steel fence at a speed of 95 mi/h (about 150 km/h), without straw bales. Potter was defending his two consecutive-year title on his Yamaha TZ750 tuned by Ted Broad and had already won the first heat of the event. It was his first race since a crash one month earlier in which he broke a wrist.
Dave Potter suffered severe head injuries and was found unconscious by the emergency crews that quickly intervened. He was given heart massage in the ambulance on the way to nearby Chester Royal Infirmary. Two days after the accident he was flown in a coma by helicopter to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. In the following weeks, his condition never improved until he passed away.
Dave Potter's accident set off a furious row over safety standards at the Oulton Park track, against the organizers of the event.
31 year-old from Yorkshire, David William "Dave" Potter who lived with his wife Sue and two children in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, was regarded as one of the best British riders of the decade. He started his racing career in 1970 riding a BSA Gold Star. Just two years later, he was crowned the 1972 British Champion, 750 cm3 class in a Norton and was runner-up in the Grovewood Awards for up-and-coming riders.
In 1975 he began his long partnership with his sponsor and tuner Ted Broad. Potter finished second in 1978 and won two times in a row in 1979 and 1980, the British MCN Superbike Championship, riding the same Yamaha for team Mitsui. In 1980 he was the ITV World of Sports Championship and in 1981 he was leading the British Superbike Championship before his fatal accident.
Although he concentrated on British racing, he also ventured on the Continent, making nine starts in World Motorcycle Championship Grands Prix, scoring a remarkable sixth place in the 1981 Dutch TT at Assen, in the 500 cm3 class, two and a half months before his death.
While leading the race, on the last lap of the second heat, Potter lost control of his bike, on the approach to the Cascades bend and rammed into a steel fence at a speed of 95 mi/h (about 150 km/h), without straw bales. Potter was defending his two consecutive-year title on his Yamaha TZ750 tuned by Ted Broad and had already won the first heat of the event. It was his first race since a crash one month earlier in which he broke a wrist.
Dave Potter suffered severe head injuries and was found unconscious by the emergency crews that quickly intervened. He was given heart massage in the ambulance on the way to nearby Chester Royal Infirmary. Two days after the accident he was flown in a coma by helicopter to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. In the following weeks, his condition never improved until he passed away.
Dave Potter's accident set off a furious row over safety standards at the Oulton Park track, against the organizers of the event.
31 year-old from Yorkshire, David William "Dave" Potter who lived with his wife Sue and two children in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, was regarded as one of the best British riders of the decade. He started his racing career in 1970 riding a BSA Gold Star. Just two years later, he was crowned the 1972 British Champion, 750 cm3 class in a Norton and was runner-up in the Grovewood Awards for up-and-coming riders.
In 1975 he began his long partnership with his sponsor and tuner Ted Broad. Potter finished second in 1978 and won two times in a row in 1979 and 1980, the British MCN Superbike Championship, riding the same Yamaha for team Mitsui. In 1980 he was the ITV World of Sports Championship and in 1981 he was leading the British Superbike Championship before his fatal accident.
Although he concentrated on British racing, he also ventured on the Continent, making nine starts in World Motorcycle Championship Grands Prix, scoring a remarkable sixth place in the 1981 Dutch TT at Assen, in the 500 cm3 class, two and a half months before his death.
1983
