A friend of mine is looking at buying said motorcycle. However we need some help verifying its authenticity. Does anyone know how we would find out any information? I have several photos however they are crrently on my partners phone and I cannot work it, will post them soon.
I will look through the album there is sure to be some of that day. I was with a group in the grandstand who saw the accident but realised the marshalls were unsighted so we leapt the fence trying to attract some reaction but with Cal prostrate he was basically invisible to them. Sadly while we attended to him the worst happened. He was a definite star to be. I spoke at length to him prior to the meeting and did take some photos of the bike so I will dig deep this week-endOriginally Posted by seaqnmac27
I would be contacting Rob Ianucci - Team Obsolete....if they are still around?
I read it quickly but I think it said there were 6 bikes.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...b/viewall.html
http://www.teamobsolete.com/
Last edited by Haga; 02-01-2013 at 09:17 AM.
I should add I suppose this is a replica built in Oz by Bob Jolly.
Thanks for that, the photos would be great, although he was riding a Suzuki that fateful race at Puke, some sources I have seen allege its the same bike Geoff Perry was killed on in Tahiti.
References say Geoff Perry killed in plane crash not on a bike. I was a huge fan of his at the time and remember the news at the time. Check with Steve Holmes, he did a painting of him.
Last edited by John McKechnie; 02-01-2013 at 10:44 AM.
Why would you do that ? The bike was built in Adelaide, based around a set of Sportster cases in a featherbed frame. It has never been to the US, is not a factory bike and has never been raced : built as a tribute by the late Bob Jolly for Grey Chandler who has lamented for years that he didn't hang on to it.
WHAT ?
Yeah I know, it was clearly someone who did not know what they were talking about.
I was at the same meeting, but over by the hairpin at the time. We were stunned! He was riding a local TR500 Suzuki running on methanol. Getting in his hand before taking up a Suzuki works ride. Not Geoff Perry's.
Interestingly, a guy I worked with here in Perth, was at the same meeting (he also rode a TR500 Suzuki). He reckoned that Cal's mechanic adjusted the carbs, just before the race, but inadvertently leaned them out, as he would have on the Harley, instead of making it a bit richer. Lack of experience with 2 strokes?? The bike seized at speed.........!
If I've read the thread correctly, then seaqnmac27 is looking for info on the original US built bike so that he can verify how close the replica is to the original.
Read the 1st thread mate, which all I had to go on....did not say replica at that time......grrrrr
Last edited by Haga; 02-02-2013 at 08:01 AM.
Right now I am trying to work out the value of this bike. The owner believes that it has additional value as he thinks it was built for Rayborn himself to ride in series that he was killed prior to. This I believe to be wrong as everything I have seen says he had ended his association with Harley Davidson, that being said, this bike was built up around a Norton frame.
Indeed. After a couple of years of being blown off by the Japanese two-stroke fliers, Rayborn had left Harley and signed for US Suzuki for the 1974 season. The one-off ride in NZ on the TR500 Suzuki was arranged by series organisers and Ron Grant as Rayborn was in New Zealand to drive an outdated Lola T190 in the Tasman Series, and the opportunity to get his eye in on a two-stroke seemed irresistible. The folly of learning a new bike, then attempting to convert it from petroil mix to methanol on race morning was soon evident. The stark horror of the crash was compounded by repeated calls over the PA for a doctor to please attend, none was in place for the event ! NZ bike racing's darkest day.
As a positive, with this crash coming in the same season we lost Saarinen and Pasolini, track safety standards finally began to improve...
That is almost beyond belief about the doctor...
I could be wrong, but I thought Geoff Perry and Alan Woolfs son John were both killed in the same plane crash.
John Woolf was killed in a rally crash, not a plane.
And quite a few years apart.
So I was wrong.
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