Archive stuff

rocketonarail said:
No Laverdas here , I afraid ......... but a nice pic I`ve just come across .........

Don leads Yvon .... ( Triumph Trident versus Yamaha ) , Daytona 1970 ............

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Can you imagine the wind noise & buffeting in those crap old lids with taped up scratched visors? Percy Tait & Dave Croxford used to wear those when everyone else had gone full face, no ear plugs- your ears would be ringing for days .
 
Even worse was the earlier pudding basin and goggles .......... Giacomo Agostini went straight from those to full face if I remember correctly , bypassing completely the jet style and visor seen above ........

Perhaps some of those racers preferred the open face to the fully enclosed full face ......... depends what they had been used to in the past , maybe ......

I believe Croxford`s last race was an endurance event , maybe the Bol or an event at Le Mans ....... He was riding something like a JapAuto , I think ....... Anyway it suffered a crash which destroyed the massive full fairing .

The remains of the fairing were ripped off , and Croxford found he was lapping faster on the naked bike than he had been when it had been encumbered by the fairing ......... Maybe it`s all in the mind ..............
 
Maybe the last successful racer to wear an open face 'jet' helmet was Cook Neilson, who wore one to win the Daytona Superbike race in 1977. I remember reading something to the effect that he was claustrophobic in a full face helmet but there are lots of photos of him wearing one taken more recently.

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rocketonarail said:
Even worse was the earlier pudding basin and goggles .......... Giacomo Agostini went straight from those to full face if I remember correctly , bypassing completely the jet style and visor seen above ........

Perhaps some of those racers preferred the open face to the fully enclosed full face ......... depends what they had been used to in the past , maybe ......

I believe Croxford`s last race was an endurance event , maybe the Bol or an event at Le Mans ....... He was riding something like a JapAuto , I think ....... Anyway it suffered a crash which destroyed the massive full fairing .

The remains of the fairing were ripped off , and Croxford found he was lapping faster on the naked bike than he had been when it had been encumbered by the fairing ......... Maybe it`s all in the mind ..............
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Crox was a one off, he was two wheel drifting before anyone else- didn’t over think things, just did it. He had a horrid pudding bowl that he swapped for a horrid open face, every picture of him he’s gritting his teeth. Doing six laps of the IOM in a pudding basin with megaphone exhausts must have been exhausting- even early full face were rattly and noisy and the visors steamed up.
 
Finally ...... a couple more regarding varying attitudes to headwear .......... Paul Smart leads the race ( and Mike Hailwood ) at Daytona 1971 , peering through a pair of goggles ...... ( he went full face shortly after ) .......

Gene Romero open face and visor Daytona 1971 ...... ( Gloves obviously optional ) .........

Paul Smart again , needing help getting going ... ( pesky hi comp squish pistons ) ..... whilst still styling those goggles ........... Gary Nixon sparks up and takes note ............

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rocketonarail said:
Finally ...... a couple more regarding varying attitudes to headwear .......... Paul Smart leads the race , and Mike Hailwood at Daytona 1971 , peering through a pair of goggles ...... ( he went full face shortly after ) .......

Gene Romero open face and visor Daytona 1971 ...... ( Gloves obviously optional ) .........

Paul Smart again , needing help getting going ... ( pesky hi comp squish pistons ) ..... whilst still styling those goggles ........... Gary Nixon sparks up and takes note ............

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Romero also wearing lace up Redwing boots! As for goggles, Chas Mortimer was always jet helmet & goggles- that is a bad combination, still you’ve got to hand it to them, one last one - Ken Hanson in a WW2 battle smock!
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There was a bloke who used to frequent the pub called Speedway Nick , who was a speedway fan ........ ( the clue`s in the name ) .........

He used to say that he would turn up at a meeting , maybe here at Bristol , and if the home team were short of a rider for whatever reason , he would put on a helmet and bib , and go out and ..... " earn a few points " ........... ( So he said ..... ) .............



Dave Croxford said that if a meeting was held at Brands Hatch , as it was just down the road he would spend most of the morning in bed before eventually getting up and making his way to the circuit ......

An exasperated John Player Norton team manager Frank Perris ... ( an ex -Suzuki factory rider ) .... would phone him up , asking where he was and wanting to know when would he get down to the circuit .

Dave would reply ....... " It`s ok Frank , I`ll be there soon ....... You couldn`t go out and do qualifying for me , could you ? " ........

When Dave arrived , it would be ..... " Hi Frank , what did you get me ...... Eighth on the grid ? ...... That`s fine , that`ll put me on the inside for Paddock Hill Bend ........ " ........... :) ...........
 
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rocketonarail said:
There was a bloke who used to frequent the pub called Speedway Nick , who was a speedway fan ........ ( the clue`s in the name ) .........

He used to say that he would turn up at a meeting , maybe here at Bristol , and if the home team were short of a rider for whatever reason , he would put on a helmet and bib , and go out and ..... " earn a few points " ........... ( So he said ..... ) .............



Dave Croxford said that if a meeting was held at Brands Hatch , as it was just down the road he would spend most of the morning in bed before eventually getting up and making his way to the circuit ......

An exasperated John Player Norton team manager Frank Perris ... ( an ex -Suzuki factory rider ) .... would phone him up , asking where he was and wanting to know when would he get down to the circuit .

Dave would reply ....... " It`s ok Frank , I`ll be there soon ....... You couldn`t go out and do qualifying for me , could you ? " ........

When Dave arrived , it would be ..... " Hi Frank , what did you get me ...... Eighth on the grid ? ...... That`s fine , that`ll put me on the inside for Paddock Hill Bend ........ " ........... :) ...........
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Ole Olson from Denmark visited our track on a practice night, two years after retiring. Said he hadn’t ridden on a track since.

One of our team talked him into having a ride, so he jumped onto a borrowed bike and after a sighting lap. Went to the tapes, took off with the best wheelie away from the gate, did four laps, breaking the track record on the third 😳

He came into the pits, literally fell off the bike and while laying there, took off his helmet and said in his broad accent “I am now fucked”
 
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