Archive stuff

1977... and so we have the Jubilee TT...two Laverdas finish in the results...that would be Roger Taylor I guess in 23 rd place , and Barry Roberts in 37 th .

This being the TT , winner Joey Dunlop has plenty of time to hop off his Yamaha , give the rear tyre a quick check , and then continue on his way...

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Performance Bikes magazine 1998...

Jamie Whitham and Carl Fogarty at Laguna Seca ;

Well known pic of Chris Walker parting company with his YZF750 ( both are travelling backwards ) .....

And part of PB subscription form...

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And finally... no images I`m afraid but have just seen an advert for the forthcoming Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at Stafford where special guest will be Enigmatic Individual / Spoilt Brat / The most naturally gifted rider since Mike Hailwood (delete as applicable ) John Kocinski .

Back in 1993 John was riding the Luck Strike RGV Suzuki in the 250 cc class .
Although he scored a couple of podiums the RGV was generally off the pace ( dog slow ) and as the season progressed an increasingly frustrated Kocinski became an increasingly unhappy Kocinski ....

It all reached boiling point ( literally ) at mid point in the season when John ( apparently , he actually denied this happened ) , stopped at the far side of a circuit and in his frustration with the bike held the throttle wide open until the RGV seized , then dumping it and walking away...

It wasn`t until the Suzuki crew later studied the data readout that they realised the cause of the seizure , and they weren`t very pleased...
Needless to say , John didn`t complete in any further rounds that year with Suzuki...

Now it seems that the Stafford show will have on display a number of machines from his racing career , including... wait for it...his 1993 Works RGV 250.....

I`m just wondering how many people it`s going to take to stop John from walking over to it and kicking it off it`s stand...

Kevin Schwantz on Kocinski..." I helped arrange that 250 ride for him in `93 and this is how he repays people...what an ungrateful little so and so he is..."
( Not his exact words but pretty much what he meant )

Carl Fogarty on Kocinski........." He`s a f*cking spoilt little baby and he needs a f*cking slapping..."
( His exact words and exactly what he meant )

John Kocinski on racing the Yamaha YZR500 ...." Believe me...you will get tired long before it gets tired "...
 
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rocketonarail said:
And finally... no images I`m afraid but have just seen an advert for the forthcoming Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at Stafford where special guest will be Enigmatic Individual / Spoilt Brat / The most naturally gifted rider since Mike Hailwood (delete as applicable ) John Kocinski .

Back in 1993 John was riding the Luck Strike RGV Suzuki in the 250 cc class .
Although he scored a couple of podiums the RGV was generally off the pace ( dog slow ) and as the season progressed an increasingly frustrated Kocinski became an increasingly unhappy Kocinski ....

It all reached boiling point ( literally ) at mid point in the season when John ( apparently , he actually denied this happened ) , stopped at the far side of a circuit and in his frustration with the bike held the throttle wide open until the RGV seized , then dumping it and walking away...

It wasn`t until the Suzuki crew later studied the data readout that they realised the cause of the seizure , and they weren`t very pleased...
Needless to say , John didn`t complete in any further rounds that year with Suzuki...

Now it seems that the Stafford show will have on display a number of machines from his racing career , including... wait for it...his 1993 Works RGV 250.....

I`m just wondering how many people it`s going to take to stop John from walking over to it and kicking it off it`s stand...

Kevin Schwantz on Kocinski..." I helped arrange that 250 ride for him in `93 and this is how he repays people...what an ungrateful little so and so he is..."
( Not his exact words but pretty much what he meant )

Carl Fogarty on Kocinski........." He`s a f*cking spoilt little baby and he needs a f*cking slapping..."
( His exact words and exactly what he meant )

John Kocinski on racing the Yamaha YZR500 ...." Believe me...you will get tired long before it gets tired "...
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Just tell him the RGV is haunted, he will keep well away.

bazzee
 
The Sock said:
Alex (Centre, with Laverda hat, bottom photo SFC's rear behind the Alpino) did, in fact, own Adrian O'Meara's old SFC750, with which, and whom, I travelled to the Le Mans Bol d'Or, on mine, in '77. Ade sold it to Alex in '79, when he bought his 1200. Funnily enough I met Adrian a couple of weeks ago, at The Black Swan, Ockham at the 4th September Breakfast meet.

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According to my files, Alex bought his Electronica SFC new in 1975 and sold it to Adrian O'Meara 1977. Could it be that he sold it back to Alex later or are my infos wrong?
Looks like the orange bike in the background is a 500 with SFC seat, possibly a Montjuic.
Marnix
 
rocketonarail said:
Explains itself really , Italy and how to get there....Bike magazine guide to Europe .

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Well, that is a load of balls.
The A25 Dunkerque to Lille was one of the first French motorways built by laying down concrete slabs, which with time subsided unevenly. Any sort of speed on a motorcycle would have your dentist rubbing his hands in view of the work you were giving him. Not to mention the important lorry traffic from the UK.
I'm not about to forget the 12 year old English boy we received in hospital after his car with his two parents and his sister, freshly off the boat, went under the trailer of an artic on the A25. He was the only survivor and didn't know it whilst I contacted the British consulate in Lille.
Not a place to go speeding. (you can't much any more because of congestion anyway.)
Austria and Switzerland applied on the spot speeding fines.

Paul
 
I always now go down to Breganze using almost that non French route, a bit longer but no tolls, (I have only ever paid the Swiss motorway sticker one time in 50 years, all other times entering on non motorway routes) its not the best of rides but its a means to get there and that always excites me, I never make it there in one day, so stop (anywhere) when I have had enough and get a hotel on spec, recently using booking.com from the hotels own car park and on their own wi fi! coming back I am able (or I was) to do it it in a day a trip of 1600 kilometres, but on a recent continetal trip I found that half that was more than I should realy be doing.
CLEM
 
CLEMTOG said:
I always now go down to Breganze using almost that non French route, a bit longer but no tolls, (I have only ever paid the Swiss motorway sticker one time in 50 years, all other times entering on non motorway routes) its not the best of rides but its a means to get there and that always excites me, I never make it there in one day, so stop (anywhere) when I have had enough and get a hotel on spec, recently using booking.com from the hotels own car park and on their own wi fi! coming back I am able (or I was) to do it it in a day a trip of 1600 kilometres, but on a recent continetal trip I found that half that was more than I should realy be doing.
CLEM
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When I go down by car, I also go via Belgium but there can be important delays due to road works on the motorways, a chronic Belgian malady, then down through Luxemburg, cut across Eastern France to Strasbourg, cross over into Germany for a short hop down to Basel, cross Switzerland paying the vignette, the price of a few drinks for 1 year, cross Switzerland and into Austria, where there's a vignette, via the Arlberg where road works are over then the Brenner pass into Italy. The alternative is the Gothard but you risk delays on that motorway from Milan to Venice.
I give the cross Germany route a miss due to traffic jams around the large towns and irate Germans hooting at you if you overtake on the motorways with a trailer which is strengst verboten. About 1400 km.
On a bike, it's 3 days via secondary roads.

Paul
 
Paul Marx said:
Well, that is a load of balls.
The A25 Dunkerque to Lille was one of the first French motorways built by laying down concrete slabs, which with time subsided unevenly. Any sort of speed on a motorcycle would have your dentist rubbing his hands in view of the work you were giving him. Not to mention the important lorry traffic from the UK.
I'm not about to forget the 12 year old English boy we received in hospital after his car with his two parents and his sister, freshly off the boat, went under the trailer of an artic on the A25. He was the only survivor and didn't know it whilst I contacted the British consulate in Lille.
Not a place to go speeding. (you can't much any more because of congestion anyway.)
Austria and Switzerland applied on the spot speeding fines.

Paul
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Sorry to hear about that story regarding that accident , and probably many others you dealt with in your line of work...

That Bike magazine article dates from 42 years ago , and probably refers to trips made in the mid `seventies ( 80 quid on petrol ! )...
 
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MarnixSFC said:
According to my files, Alex bought his Electronica SFC new in 1975 and sold it to Adrian O'Meara 1977. Could it be that he sold it back to Alex later or are my infos wrong?
Looks like the orange bike in the background is a 500 with SFC seat, possibly a Montjuic.
Marnix
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Error in your info, Marnix.
I rode to the '77 Bol d'Or, in Le Mans, with Adrian who, I believe, owned it from new. I established my 'burnout credentials' by doing one on Ade's SFC, to clear some oil pumped out of the breather on to the back tyre.
Alex bought it from Adrian in '79 and sold it back to Adrian. "I have often wondered if Adrian kept the SFC or if he sold. He bought it back from me about 1982 or thereabouts, as I had need of four wheels by then."
{Email from Alex on Saturday 24th Sept '22}
Next time I see Adrian, I'll fill in the rest of the story.
 
Formula Jota 120.... Only 6 or 7 produced I believe....I seem to remember a story about a guy from Sweden ( I think ) who on seeing this picture travelled to Slaters to obtain one , camping in the orchard next to the Collington works .

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