Topic: Of interest to 'OW31' Bob Hall

[Sam Green Racing]

hi simon , he was older than he looked and much older than he acted . came to see me just after xmas , riding his norton in the freezing cold , i told him he was mad !  mark has taken it very bad , keith lost his wife years ago and was very very  close to his two sons . there was about 500 people at the funeral , a great send off for a great bloke , still in his prime at 75

Sad news indeed Simon, I didn't hear of it and only just caught up with it here.
I've been racing at most of the same events as Keith since the early 90s and we got on very well together, despite his jokes.
One thing I never understood about Keith and I never got round to asking in case there might have been an embarassing answer, why did he allways wear a big thick white jersey over his leathers.
I often wondered if his leathers were in a condition that they would not pass scruteneering, he sure didn't like spending money from some of the tales he told me.
He was still one hell of a rider despite his years and could mix it with the younger guys on more modern machinery, he'll be sorley missed. 

R.I.P Keith Heckles.

Sam.

[simon#42]

yes sam , to be honest i assumed you two would have known each other [ the sprinting scene is not that big an is very friendly ] . the trouble was he died in the off season and the most popular british motorcycle paper thinks ' motorcycle news ' is yet another test of eight 600s that are all the same anyway. a small epitaph would have been fitting an would have let alot more people know . i suppose there will be some stuff in the classic mags next month .
keith had a birthday party every year , he first started it about 7 or 8 years ago because he was fed up only seeing his old bike mates at funerals , it was all arranged for , as usual the first friday in feb [ typical heckles! ]  despite his death his sons decided it should go on anyway and what a good night it was too . they had an open mike and anybody who fancied it could get up and tell a story or two about keith , well it was funny to start with an got better as the beer flowed !. mark has said he is going to keep it going next year , although as he lives in new york these days that might be difficult .
dont know about the jumper , but will ask for you !

anyway....... [ rub hands together in imaginary washing motion ]  have you heard the one about.........!

[fastfred]

Great to read about the 70's racing in the UK.

I raced myself. I remember Alan Stewart from Guisborough. North Yorks.  Had some real dices with him on Norton powered bikes.  I can't remember Peter Broadbent.  I would have done so as I am a Broadbent myself.

Now living in western North Carolina and ride a lot off road and some vintage trials as they are called here.  Have a 76 CB750 (just bought it) and another nine bikes. Some old brits among them.

Keep the stories coming, I have a few myself.......

Regards    Fred

[lordmoonpie]

mark has said he is going to keep it going next year , although as he lives in new york these days that might be difficult .
dont know about the jumper , but will ask for you !

anyway....... [ rub hands together in imaginary washing motion ]  have you heard the one about.........!

What's Mark doing nowadays Simon? We used to follow him in WSB, even some of the continental rounds. We used to look a right pair of idiots juming up and down when he came round each lap and everyone else was sat there wondering what was going on! No passion these Europeans 

[simon#42]

when rumi honda lost some of there sponsorship mark [ or as he is affectionately known ' reckless ' ] bought a ten kate 600, raced that a few times , then rode for neil tuxworth at honda for a year on an sp2 . he didnt have the best of seasons on that unfortunately so in 2004 he went back to european superstock . at the brands wsb round in the worst conditions i have ever seen  he crashed and was run over by jamie morley . in the subsequent carnage darren mitchell was killed , morley lost a leg and mark suffered a broken pelvis and some serious internal injuries . it took him a year to get anywhere near better and his competitive riding days where done . not wanting to finish riding on such a bad note he did a few club races on a superstocker which he enjoyed then a couple of seasons riding a tz250 for a mate of mine , while it was only a bit of a laugh for him he did win the championship and shatter the lap record at aintree .
 his wife was offered a good job in new york and they both moved out there a year or so ago . he has a regular job and does a bit of motor cross to keep his hand in , he is without doubt one of the nicest people i have ever met

[Sam Green Racing]

Resultant court case.

http://motorbikeclaims.org.uk/articles/2/1/Superbiker-Starts-300000-Accident-Compensation-Claim/Page1.html

Sam.