Ridin', wrenchin' and shootin'
One shot, three 250 world champions at Brands in October ’70 – #4 Kel Carruthers (who won the title in ’69) and #5 Rod Gould (that year’s champion) chase Phil Read (winner in ’64, ‘65, ’68 and ‘71). pic.twitter…
King Kenny at Donington in ’81 on the rotary valve square-4 OW54 – a knee-jerk reaction to Suzi’s faster RG and by royal proclamation ‘a total disaster’. In reality tho’, Yam never saw the ill-handling 500 as anythin…
Evel Knievel? Nope – a remarkable shot from 45 years ago today when a heavily disguised (and a bit bonkers?) Barry Sheene secretly stood in for an injured Evel in London so as not to disappoint the daredevil’s British fans. Baz cleared 23 c…
TZ350 – the dog’s (Never Mind the) B*ll*cks? The must-have 350 for Punk era privateers, Yam’s water-cooled twin was launched in ’73 and proved an instant hit. Mono-shock from ’76, the TZ remained in production ‘till …
Five-in-a-row TT winner Slippery Sam. Why Slippery? Cos the Trident covered itself with oil during the Bol d’Or. Sam? Cos usual rider Percy Tait was known around the Triumph factory as Sam (Sam, the Transport Man) for his willingness to collect urgent …
TR750 XR11 – the Flexi Flier, first raced at Daytona in ’72. The overstressed early bikes were about as reliable as a politician’s promise, but when it kept going the Kettle racer had plenty of steam and it remained in front-line work…