Archive stuff

There was a bloke who worked for , or had an association with Norton Villiers ... ( can`t remember his name right now , Tim Something I think )... who used to take a " works " Commando green-laning ..... ( unmetalled rights of way ..... anything from dry downland chalky ways to narrow bramble infested bottomless bogs of mud ) ......... Knobblies and Renthal bars , and that was it ........

There would have been more suitable choices I would have thought ........ Those Matchless framed Atlases ( P11`s or whatever they were called ) ... for a start ............ or an AJS Stormer with a number plate nailed on the back ............

Tim Stevens I think , now I sort of remember .............
 
Which is as good an excuse as any for a re-showing of this absolute classic ........

Tim Stevens he ain`t ..........

You would think there`s enough space at 6:10 for him to drag the bike around and retrace his steps , instead of carrying on and getting himself into even more trouble ........ but no ...............

 
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Exmoor beast said:
More like it!
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Looking at this again reminds me of a story related by Alan Clark ( ex Tory MP and Junior Minister ) , who was also a motoring nut ...........

It refers to a Ferrari new model launch at a circuit in Italy .

Assembled motoring journalists were teamed up with a test driver, who would take them for a " demonstration " lap or two around the circuit .......

One English journalist in particular was teamed up with an Italian ex Formula One driver ...... not one of the big names , but still quick enough through his chops , thank you very much indeed ........

In less than halfway through the first lap , the bulging eyed , white knuckled , terrified journalist passenger had already had enough of being driven around by this madman .......... and started shouting out " BASTA ........ BASTA .... " .... ( Italian for STOP , ENOUGH , JESUS F*CKING CHRIST SLOW DOWN .... ) etc etc .........

Unfortunately , the lunatic at the wheel thought the journalist was calling out " FASTER ..... FASTER ... " in English , so encouraged by his passengers obvious enjoyment of the ride , embarked upon the second lap of the circuit with even more enthusiasm than the first .........

When eventually the Ferrari was slowing down on it`s return to pit lane , the quivering journalist had already opened the passenger door and ejected himself onto the tarmac whilst the car was still travelling at 20 mph , such was his desperation to escape .........

True story ...............
 
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rocketonarail said:
Looking at this again reminds me of a story related by Alan Clark ( ex Tory MP and Junior Minister ) , who was also a motoring nut ...........

It refers to a Ferrari new model launch at a circuit in Italy .

Assembled motoring journalists were teamed up with a test driver, who would take them for a " demonstration " lap or two around the circuit .......

One English journalist in particular was teamed up with an Italian ex Formula One driver ...... not one of the big names , but still quick enough through his chops , thank you very much indeed ........

In less than halfway through the first lap , the bulging eyed , white knuckled , terrified journalist passenger had already had enough of being driven around by this madman .......... and started shouting out " BASTA ........ BASTA .... " .... ( Italian for STOP , ENOUGH , JESUS F*CKING CHRIST SLOW DOWN .... ) etc etc .........

Unfortunately , the lunatic at the wheel thought the journalist was calling out " FASTER ..... FASTER ... " in English , so encouraged by his passengers obvious enjoyment of the ride , embarked upon the second lap of the circuit with even more enthusiasm than the first .........

When eventually the Ferrari was slowing down on it`s return to pit lane , the quivering journalist had already opened the passenger door and ejected himself onto the tarmac whilst the car was still travelling at 20 mph , such was his desperation to escape .........

True story ...............
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Was once riding a Norton Wasp motocross outfit and was getting quicker each lap, when I finally got the outfit fully sideways on a left hander, chair wheel up , using all the track and really flying!
Passenger shouts “ That’s it!” to me, which I took as - “..That’s it! You’ve cracked it, good lad! “
What he meant was-“.. That’s it, I’m fucked, I can’t hold on any more!!!…”
Those next two laps must been hard….still laugh about it today!
 
From Alan Clark`s ... ( him again ) ... 2001 book " Backfire " ........

Taken from the chapter discussing over-priced and over-rated ( his opinion ) " Supercars " .......

Nice to get a mention ..........

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Another snippet from Backfire regarding " enthusiastic " driving which I couldn`t resist ........

( Gow was a PPS in Margaret Thatcher`s government , and was killed by an IRA car bomb in 1990 , BTW ) ..........


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Came very close to going through a barbed wire fence on a balloon tyre Honda trike once. My first ride in a paddock with a big slope, I couldn't get it to steer at all; the front tyre would just plough ahead, ignoring any attempt to steer it. The slope kept pulling me toward the fence, I braked just in time. Never rode it again, 2 wheels are way safer.
 
chrisk said:
I somersaulted my 64 Mini Cooper. Not a pleasant experience 🙄
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Haha talking about mini racing, we just buried a good mate of mine, who used to race speedway stockcars. Going through his photos and found an action shot of a pile up as it happened, circa 1980 at Waikaraka Park, my mate in 73 probably caused it 🤣

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Brno `72 ........

Agostini ( taking a tumble ) , Saarinen ( " MV put in a protest , but it`s ok " ) , Read , Gould .............

MV ( who were starting to be rattled by Yamaha in the 350 class ) complained ...........

MV claimed Saarinen was using an oversized engine ....... maybe one of those 351 cc ( ahem ) Yamahas that everyone raced in the 500 class ...... :) ..........
" Where`s my bike ..... I must go open it .... " ... says Jarno ..............

I`ll have to look up the report now to see if any of this is mentioned ...........
 
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rocketonarail said:

Brno `72 ........

Agostini ( taking a tumble ) , Saarinen ( " MV put in a protest , but it`s ok " ) , Read , Gould .............

MV ( who were starting to be rattled by Yamaha in the 350 class ) complained ...........

MV claimed Saarinen was using an oversized engine ....... maybe one of those 351 cc ( ahem ) Yamahas that everyone raced in the 500 class ...... :) ..........
" Where`s my bike ..... I must go open it .... " ... says Jarno ..............

I`ll have to look up the report now to see if any of this is mentioned ...........
Click to expand...
I think Saarinen was the first GP rider to ride out of his skin, before him there was just good riders on a lot faster bikes. He rode how they all ride now- shook them up. Can’t take anything from the others but until then they were just doing enough to win. Same thing happened when the Americans joined in, went up a level overnight. Don’t get me wrong- it was far more dangerous then and you can’t blame anyone for self preservation..might be why Argo’s still about?
 
Jarno Saarinen was elected to F.I.M. hall of fame in 2009 because of the new driving style, not because of his MotoGP world championship in 1972.

I recommend Last to brake TV series. It was published in 2024. Tells the story of Jarno Saarinen. The TV series is based on true story, but there is some simplifications. For example, on the TV series there is a person named "Arwidson". Actually there was no person named Arwidson present. Arwidson was the Finnish Yamaha importer in 1963-2003. The company was found by Herman Fredrik Arwidson in 1911, who sold the company in 1919. I consider that the "Arwidson" in the TV series is any person representing the importer. Some people close to me have a minor collaboration on this TV series. Teuvo "Tepi" Länsivuori is still a member in a local motorcycle club close to my summer cottage.

Jarno Saarinen used to drive motorcycles on snow and ice, to my understanding also without spikes and he used to be the fastest on it. He trained this stuff in 1960's. He was accustomed to drive when the wheels were sliding a bit all the time. At the beginning it was ok to him to use the Yokohama "suicide tyres" on his racers, it was similar driving than on ice until they were very hot. And when they were very hot, he kept them sliding a bit most the time. He said that they "slided much better on the corners" than common racing tyres that had a sort of on/off grip. This was a sort of way to measure the grip all the time and to keep a very small marginal to the very limit.

Jarno Saarinen worked at Tunturi factory at Turku and his family had a funeral home. Tunturi is a big Finnish bicycle manufacturer, who back then also manufactured mopeds and some small motorcycles. Tunturi means in Finnish a mountain rising above the tree line, especially in the Fennoscandian region, in an area once covered by continental ice. Tunturi factory had a great deal with Puch and the mopeds used mostly locally manufactured components with Puch engines and other parts. The small motorcycles were mostly rebranded Puch motorcycles. In Finland Tunturi is a very strong local brand and is probably mostly known of the most reliable alternative of local brands. Those old mopeds about never had any design faults, were repairable almost forever, almost every city and village had a local dealer for bikes and spare parts, all spare parts were quickly available at very low prices. To my understanding any other local moped brand didn't achieved their production numbers and fame, such over 100 000 bikes produced just of their mostly produced moped model.

My dad was known as local "guru" for tuning the Tunturi Puch moped engines in late 1960's and early 1970's. Tuned parts were not commercially available back then, but he made and sold tuned engine components, complete engines and some complete bikes. He claims that he probably took around 8-10+ horsepower out from the most highly tuned engines and up to 14 000 rpm. Electronic ignitions were not available back then, these engines had a Boch magneto, he tightened the spring of the contact point breakers to be able to follow over 10 000 rpm with some other tricks, used certain crankshaft seals to cope with the high rpm, and many other stuff.

-Jouni
 
Some short Jarno Saarinen video on YouTube someone has made (All English or translation available):

30 min. video, at 10:15- Kent Andersson talks about Yokohama tyres. At first he says Yokohama, then second time he says "Bridgestone". (Includes Finnish without translation, English, some Italian if I remember correct):

This one is filmed mostly at Jarno Saarinen museum (Finnish only):
 
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