Malc Wheeler RIP

Andy J

Andy J

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Location
Isle of Man
Malc passed away on 9 September having been fighting ill health for a few years.
Malc worked for Freddie Frith in his early days before later working at Morton's Media, editing among other things Classic Racer and organising the Stafford Show etc. Former President of the TTRA, Malc holds the lap record on a Laverda at the TT which may never be beaten.
 

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Andy J said:
Malc passed away on 9 September having been fighting ill health for a few years.
Malc worked for Freddie Frith in his early days before later working at Morton's Media, editing among other things Classic Racer and organising the Stafford Show etc. Former President of the TTRA, Malc holds the lap record on a Laverda at the TT which may never be beaten.
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What was the average speed @Andy J
 
Andy J said:
Malc's average speed in 1983 was just under 104mph and his fastest lap was nigh on 105mph, which was a very respectable speed for the time. In fact, it was faster than he managed on a F2 Ducati and a 600 Kawasaki in 84 & 86 respectively.
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Was that also on a 500 Monty Andy? Mighty achievement!
 
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motoddrob said:
84 and 86 were the years I was at the TT races so would have seen him.
Was there any Laverdas racing? can't remember seeing any.
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As mentioned by t'other Rob, in 1984, Alan Cathcart was riding Maurice Ogier's twin Laverda in the F2 class, a version of the bike that he rode to victory in the BOTT at Daytona, probably the last international victory for Laverda in period, not 'classic' racing. Vojic Prinic was also riding his Laverda twin in the same race but failed to finish. He borrowed the LH yokes off my bike (I was acting as pit crew for a Brummie from South Africa riding a Ducrappi in the F2 class) to try and help improve the awful handling of his bike, over the bumps, fitted with the standard 500 yokes.
Ironically, the Brightman bike, that Malc raced in 82 & 83, was lost during the Balkan Wars after Vojic borrowed the bike to race in Croatia etc.
I took a year off in 1986 to get married, hence the lack of a Laverda entry at the TT that year.
 
Andy LH yokes? Longer trail dimension for slower steering and stability at speed. Sounds like why SFC trees were swapped into the non-parallel yoke-equipped bikes. From what I read about the Ogier's bike, it was fast but built right to the edge of reliability. What was Cathcarts' record like on the Island, track knowledge?
 
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Malcolm Wheeler`s Brightman bike .


I have a vague recollection of a German importer special " 600 SFC " which used a similar mono-shock frame to this ..... ( maybe Harris ? ) .......plus a SFC lookalike fairing and seat unit etc. ........ although the seat unit was more " squared off " ...........

Not sure how many were produced ..... not many I would have thought .

This was around the same time as those German black/gold wire wheeled SFC 1000`s ......
 
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rocketonarail said:
View attachment 99478

Malcolm Wheeler`s Brightman bike .


I have a vague recollection of a German importer special " 600 SFC " which used a similar mono-shock frame to this ..... ( maybe Harris ? ) .......plus a SFC lookalike fairing and seat unit etc. ........ although the seat unit was more " squared off " ...........

Not sure how many were produced ..... not many I would have thought .

This was around the same time as those German black/gold wire wheeled SFC 1000`s ......
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This is a Harris frame build in 1982. As far as I know there is one build. I have a magazine “Motociclismo” December 1982 with an article about the bike.
The German importer special were build around end eighties. Five where build, I have one with a 500/600 engine.
 

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Vince said:
Andy LH yokes? Longer trail dimension for slower steering and stability at speed. Sounds like why SFC trees were swapped into the non-parallel yoke-equipped bikes. From what I read about the Ogier's bike, it was fast but built right to the edge of reliability. What was Cathcarts' record like on the Island, track knowledge?
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The standard set up, especially with the bloody awful rubber bushes in the swing arm pivot, and no steering damper, made the bike flap about over the bumps. Fixing them made the bike a lot more rideable. You should be able to clearly see in the photo the different offset between the standard and LAverda Husqvarna (LH) yokes (the actual set lent to Vojic).
As for Sir Al’s results, they were fairly presentable. 7 finishes out of 10 starts at the MGP and TT, mostly on classic machinery. His best results were on an Aermacchi and Hardly Worth It, 4th & 5th respectively. In his last race on the TT Course, in 1985, he finished 8th in the MGP Classic Senior on a Paton.
The Ogier bike was definitely fast enough, it won at Daytona by a country mile, and reliable enough for Cathcart to finish two TT races on it.DC0CC895-667E-41DD-ADEE-FCA8E1F0086B.jpeg
 
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