Topic: Of interest to 'OW31' Bob Hall

[malcolmgb]

Hi Bob while having a clear out I came across this results sheet from Mallory Park from August 1977, it would have been a National Restricted meeting, there is a Robert Hall down in Race B of the Lightweight (250cc) class is it you?
Can you remember any of the other riders any stories to tell?

[Sam Green Racing]

Malc, Peter Broadbent at the bottom of race four is a mate of mine, he still races to this day, he's off racing in South Africa Shortly with Tony Salt and Mick Grant.

Sam.

[simon#42]

well if it is him he is improving with age , another 30 or so years and he will be well handy .
having trouble reading the print but , keith huewen went on to be british champion and was team mate to sheene , dean martin [ no not that one ] still races with the classic club on occasion , as does les cross .  john loder was killed at the tt 2 years ago . bob is a bit older than me so he will know more

[malcolmgb]

Hi Sam, sorry don't remember Peter Broadbent.
Yes Simon I remember Keith Huewen as Sheene's team mate, think he also commentated and presented on Sky TV also and losing John Loder at the TT.
Thanks for the heads up on the image size, I will try to put a link to the original scan.
The reason I saved it is because I spent most of the 70's helping one of the riders on there, it was a good day for him, I still have a photo another mate took on that day.

[simon#42]

well dont be shy  , tell us who it is and post the picture ! i have some very embarrassing 70s paddock  photos i may dig one out!

[malcolmgb]

It is Richard Brooks, the photo is an action one TZ250D I will scan it in the next day or so. When did you start racing then Simon and do you give your surname out? Richard finished about 1979 neither of us can remember the actual time! As to embarassing pictures, there was usually only the 2 of us and we never carried a camera, great times though and we often compare events as we recall them he has the better memory though.

[simon#42]

hi malc  my surname is bartling , i dont remember richard but i started racing in 1978 so we probably missed each other , in those days there where alot of people racing with 4 or 5 meetings to choose from each weekend . i moved to london in 79 as there was no work at home and did most of my early racing at brands and snet , raced until the mid 80s, when i finally realised i was never going to be any good i packed in . made the mistake of going to watch a race in the late 90s and told my mate they were all slow , he said well you do better then !  bought a tz350 and went forgotten era racing till 2006 when i wrecked my arm . still love it !!!
this is from about 79

[lordmoonpie]

well if it is him he is improving with age , another 30 or so years and he will be well handy .
having trouble reading the print but , keith huewen went on to be british champion and was team mate to sheene , dean martin [ no not that one ] still races with the classic club on occasion , as does les cross .  john loder was killed at the tt 2 years ago . bob is a bit older than me so he will know more

Simon, that entry looks like Dean Kartin to me - not sure Dean Martin ever raced in the junior class at club level? He's an isle of man specialist now, mainly RS250 hondas but some classic and post classic outings, this year on a 350 K4 honda and a 350 TZ Yam. Dean's one of my best mates hence the detail

[malcolmgb]

Hi 'Lord' Simon it is Dean Martin, wasn't he known as Dino back then, you must realise that the National Restricted meetings were a step up from Club racing too, bikes were lent and borrowed a lot back then, ask the question when you next speak.

Simon#42, yes it was possible to race every weekend, same circuit different clubs Sat & Sun, did go to Brands & Snet & what about Lydden. Being central in the Midlands we were spoilt for choice especially with old airfields being used. I assume you are in the leathers, if you could afford an RG the move to London worked well 

[simon#42]

yes thats me in the leathers,  went to lydden a few times [ i seem to remember that there was a lord of lydden meet that paid ok ]  was great on a 250/350 but horrible on the 500 or 750 !!. as for the rg , i had 3 jobs at the same time to pay for that !!   at one point i was riding a 250 a 350 the 500 and a 750 all at the same time , i get worn out watching the gp now !
simon , dont know dean but obviously its a memorable name and have seen him in the results over the years , nice to know the old folk are still having fun !

[malcolmgb]

This is Richard on that day in 1977.

No photo editing software on at moment to tidy picture, red blob on seat etc.

went to lydden a few times [ i seem to remember that there was a lord of lydden meet that paid ok ]  was great on a 250/350 but horrible on the 500 or 750 !!.

Talking to Richard today, he only did Lydden once, an ACU Star meeting got a 4th or 5th, he really liked the slippy chalky surface there, he could control drift the bike easily, very difficult on normal tarmac back then with the narrow treaded tyres.

[simon#42]

it was like a bloody ice ring in the rain !  i went back to watch a classic club meet there a couple of years ago and it was still exactly the same as it was in the 70s .  its also far to far south , another 20 miles and it would be in france!

[malcolmgb]

it was like a bloody ice ring in the rain !  i went back to watch a classic club meet there a couple of years ago and it was still exactly the same as it was in the 70s .  its also far to far south , another 20 miles and it would be in france!

I also forgot to mention a big rival of his at the time, John McEntee, from your area but rode for Fowlers of Bristol.

[simon#42]

strangely enough i was talking to john on tuesday at keith heckles funeral , he still scrutineers at aintree and oulton , still sells stuff for dennis i think !

[lordmoonpie]

Well it must be the same Deano then Malcolm and it's perfectly possible becasue he's the original Dorian Gray and he has tried every race class going!

Simon - I didn't know about Keith passing, that's bad news he wasn't an old boy at all...

[simon#42]

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

[malcolmgb]

strangely enough i was talking to john on tuesday at keith heckles funeral , he still scrutineers at aintree and oulton , still sells stuff for dennis i think !

I didn't know about Keith Heckles either, very sad to hear that, told some great stories at Stafford shows in the mock paddock area, seemed to have a very dry sense of humour.

[simon#42]

he told the worst jokes in the whole world !

[ow31]

  Yes Thats me, God thats a lifetime ago. Heres a pic of the bike I had at the time. It started life as a yds7 road bike on which I made a load of frame mods , fitted some td wheels and spondon disc brake and fitted a td3 top end. Went ok but was a complete b******d to push start because of the wet clutch. Very rare I got good starts with that bike. Loved it when we had the occasional clutch starts.
  
  
  For the following year I converted it to cantilever rear suspension and fitted a watercooled top end, Still with that damn wet clutch though.Had a good year that year though having a season long battle with a certain Donnie Mcleod for a club championship. He won. But some good results at last.
    
 Finally somebody bought me a proper Tz:
  

[simon#42]

didnt think i would see a picture of you looking young , well not in color anyway!
ive still got donnie mcleod's 1988 emc , will put it back to standard at some point , might see if my arm is up to a few laps of oulton on it before it goes in the spare bedroom !

[malcolmgb]

Great pictures Bob, the middle one looks like the top of the mountain at Cadwell, is the top one the drop down to Mansfield?
Richard had a TD3 to start with, from Bill Smith, you could see where Rae Racing name had been removed from fairing. Not sure where in Yorkshire you are from but Richard was a friend of Tony Smith from Leeds, now lives in France, do you know him?
Simon - if you ever take that EMC out I would like to see it, ever thought of something like Parade of 1000 Bikes at Mallory.

[simon#42]

we all know tony smith malc , he deals in secondhand bikes and parts from our era . can still ride a bit as well !  will keep you informed about the emc , if you ever fancy doing a parade on a tz or rotax let me know , i am sure i could find you something to ride

[ow31]

 Top one is start straight at mallory just before footbridge. Rae Racing I guess would be Bill Rae Racing. He had a bike shop in wakefield and sponsored quite a few riders over the years. He let me ride one of his tz,s at the end of 76 and was going to help me in 77 but Steve Ward persuaded him he should back him instead. I had lost out on a club championship in 76 (Graham Atha won it) when my td2 broke its crank in the last race of the series. All I needed was to do was finish in the top 5 to win the championship. Anyway Bill then let me ride one of his tz,s for my last couple of meetings that year. I promptly slung it down the road at croft whilst leading my first race on it (I remember Atha and Alan Stewart being two of the guys behiind me)  and then took it to the last meeting where I Had A best finish of fourth behind Steve wright , I think Pete Banks and Phil Mellor who actually got by me at the last corner.(didn,t want to crash it this time!) Was really looking forward to 77 till I realized Bill was going to back Steve Ward. So back to building the best bike I could afford at the time. I needed a Tz but having a wife and family to support It just wasnt possible. No regrets though. Wouldn,t have missed it for anything and Im still enjoying myself racing bikes all these years later. Just wish I could have afforded the bikes I have now first time around. Didn,t know Tony Smith at the time but do know him now. Born and bred in Wakefield Malcomb. Sad thing is I have very few photo,s from that time as we spent all the money on the bike and photo,s were just a luxury.

[malcolmgb]

we all know tony smith malc , he deals in secondhand bikes and parts from our era . can still ride a bit as well !  will keep you informed about the emc , if you ever fancy doing a parade on a tz or rotax let me know , i am sure i could find you something to ride

Richard recently found a picture of Tony & him with a 125 Villa he had at the time, his current wife/girlfriend is a good racer too I hear. The EMC story reminds me of another local rider, Alex Bedford, the Racing Reverand. Thanks for the offer of a ride in a parade sometime, I may take you up on the offer.

Great stories Bob, I remember Graham Atha and also Phil 'Mez' Mellor, a great rider, he was scary both with helmet on & off. Yes photos didn't seem important at the time, it just seemed the norm and never thought we would look back later in life

[simon#42]

yes alex rode the 125 EMC in gps , when Dr joe died the contents of his workshop where sold , i bought a load of 250 stuff but apart from a couple of engines left the 125 bits , amongst then was Alex's  87 bike . i was tempted but you cant buy everything so gave it a miss . as for photos, yes we never bothered at all  , as you say we never thought we would look back !  mind you nowadays it seems the amount of photos purchased is inversely proportional to the result

phil mellor was far far more scary with no helmet on !