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I was watching the new FortNine video , which is always a televisual mini-movie feast ...... It`s about the old BMW 1600c Six which BMW limited to 100 mph because it wobbled too much ......... but forget about that ........

What caught my eye was this , which he inserted into his posting .......

I looked it up and it does exist in it`s own right , in fact it`s been there for about 13 years .... so it may be old hat to some of you.......


Isn`t there a saying that you can lead a Frenchman to water , and he`ll end up on the drink ? ...... Or something like that .............

( Actually , I think he ends up in the boat ........ ) .........

 
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Andy J said:
You could be right regarding Steve Elliot, Toddy should be able to confirm it. The other could be Alex Frost but there were quite a few guys racing SFC’s around that time.
Click to expand...

Would that be the same Alex Frost / Michael Redfern lookalike who I thought came from London but actually lived in Bath and was responsible for organising the ILOC " Hic Mine`s a Triple " trip to Breganze but didn`t do much to organise it which Dennis Kelly went along on but decided to continue at his own pace and I remember seeing behind the counter at Avon Bikes and who recognised me at Cropredy Laverda when he had arrived to dispose of some unsold stock ? .......

It`s a small world ..............
 
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rocketonarail said:
Would that be the same Alex Frost / Michael Redfern lookalike who I thought came from London but actually lived in Bath and was responsible for organising the ILOC " Hic Mine`s a Triple " trip to Breganze but didn`t do much to organise it which Dennis Kelly went along on but decided to continue at his own pace and I remember seeing behind the counter at Avon Bikes and who recognised me at Cropredy Laverda when he had arrived to dispose of some unsold stock ? .......

It`s a small world ..............
Click to expand...
Nearly.
Alex did live in the South East, Maidstone, but does, now live near Bath. He bought Adrian's 750SFC, when Ade got the 1200.
He was tasked with "organising" the 1980 ILOC Factory Trip but, perhaps, failed to persevere.
Alex.jpg

I'd become disillusioned by the poor quality of Laverda Road Tests in British magazines and, as PRO for ILOC, had been in touch with the Editor of Bike magazine, Dave Calderwood.
I invited Dave to join us, pointing out that "If you can keep up with us, you can write about the bike's capabilities. If you can't, you can still write about its capabilities and your lack of them."
Dave, unfortunately, broke his leg six weeks before departure, so delegated the task to Jim Lindsay, Bike's newest writer, who made a fabulous job of recording the trip. The article was a PR gift for Laverda and the Owners Club.

Dennis Dell, not Kelly, a septuagenarian Laverda Rider (back then, that seemed really old!) found our pace, especially in the Bar, a little too punishing.

Dennis.jpg

Jim, now sadly gone, and the rest of us got on wonderfully and much high jinks ensued. I can't put it better than Jim did.

Musketeers.jpg
The 'Hic Mob at Mallory Park:
Mallory Park 1980 Hic Mob.jpg
The surviving Members, 45 years later:
The 'Hic, Mine's A Triple' Mob, 45 years later.jpg
 
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Thanks Andy , and Hamish .... ( I had a feeling you might chime in on this ! ) ........

Apologies for the Dennis Kelly / Dell mix up ...... I should have remembered this from before ..........

Dennis Kelly used to say to me things like ... " I`m a rider / dealer son ... ( son ! ...shows how long ago this was ) .... " I go on trips abroad , over to France and the factory in Italy .... " ......... So when I saw a Dennis mentioned in the article at the time , I kind of assumed it was him ......... my mistake ........

Talking of Dennis .... ( the Kelly version ) .... and his tales of jumping on a bike at every opportunity ......... When I first went to look at the Mirage , I noticed the mileage was 13089 ......... When I went in again a week later to follow up on details relating to the purchase , I received another instalment of the Dennis chapter and verse ........ " Yes , fine bike son , goes like stink ........ took it over the bridge to Chepstow and back yesterday ......... had to come back when I noticed I was low on petrol .... " ..........

I wandered over to the bike and guess what ....... the mileage was still at the 13089 it had been seven days previously ....... I doubt if the bike had even been off the centre stand , never mind over to Chepstow and back ..........

Warning bells ? ....... Maybe , lets just say Dennis`s pre-delivery and bike inspection wasn`t exactly up to Honda standards , which gave me a few problems even as early as the first ride home with it ....... but thankfully Laverdas build quality was easily the equal to Dennis`s bullshit , and his feeble ... ( read non-existent ) ... attempts at preparing a bike for sale ..........

Richard Slater once described him to me as a " lovable rogue " ......... I just smiled and said nothing ................
 
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