Yes, I was at Ascot Park in 1967 when Gary Nixon played possum on the
start line in order to get a red flag and and a restart.
That's how he won the Number 1 plate.
> > Yes, I was at Ascot Park in 1967 when Gary Nixon played possum on the
> > start line in order to get a red flag and and a restart.
> > That's how he won the Number 1 plate.
> well.... that dates you
> what were you doing in those days
Working on computer controlled airborne radar systems, missiles, and
moon robots.
Shorty Seabourne was a national flat track racer, but it didn't pay
the bills, so his day job was production coordinator at Hughes
Aircraft Company in Culver City.
He arranged a Hughes Night at Ascot Park for all of us.
Shorty saw me riding the Yamaha that I was converting from a half
miler into a road racer, but he kept his comments to himself.
He tried to make a comeback in the mid-1980's when he was in his 50's.
I was at Bates in Long Beach being measured for custom leathers and
boots and the lady who was helping me mentioned that he'd been in.
Shorty broke an arm or a leg and retired permanently.
The last time I saw him he was at a retired AMA racers reunion at
Hansen Dam in Los Angeles.
He was selling stained glass windows with a flat tracking motif.
Speaking of retired racers, you might find this site amusing:
So Cal Retired Motorcycle Road Racers
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132121686800255
There are lots of nice pictures of the AFM guys racing at Ontario in
the 1970's.
> > Shorty saw me riding the Yamaha that I was converting from a half
> > miler into a road racer, but he kept his comments to himself.
> what were you converting from half mile dirt
> in those days? That puts yyou
> fairly high up the food chain... ..so my guess
> is a limey bike or an HD.
Hard to say which it was. Can't remember if Yamahas were built in
Britain or by Harley-Davidson back then.
Krusty... you're old.... you probably remember....
Help ol' Philsie out here, wouldja?
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> rake, no gear box in most cases, just a clutch and a one gallon or
> smaller fuel tank.. burning nitro methane. about 110 hp, weighing
> 100 pounds or less as a rule... for the cushioned short tracks, no
> gear box and no clutch.. those were rolling starts.
> Esso, Jawa and JAP were the brands.
> Ascot in person from the stands was almost terrifying to watch.. it
> was fast. I rode it one time in the mid 70's. it was torn down
> sometime in the early 90's maybe.
> For TT races they had a high speed jump about 20 feet high, you
> landed cocked a bit sideways, right next to two or three other guys
> cocked a bit sideways and crossed up... right at the steeply banked
> hair pin turn... it was not a flat track.... It was the most
> dangerous track known at the time. it was down and dirty as you
> can tell from the footage. Many men died on that track. (one or two
> died each year at Lodi Cycle bowl, a much less dangerous track,
> because it is flat... and therefore slower.
>
> Phil scott