ACE FROM THE START
Doohan, Dirt Quake, Jonathan Rea and the state of Motor Cycle News. All come up as Dave Croxford works on the Expresso machine while simultaneously extolling the virtues ofTroy Corser's ride on a hand-change BMW at Goodwood a couple of years ago, as featured elsewhere in this issue.
I've pulled Dave from the garage where, neglecting the Triumph car gearboxes he's been doing since the 1960s, he's had the back wheel out of his latest Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200, which Euro 4 emissions regulations have evidently made rather thirsty. Not something to be sniffed at, given the mileage he's just clocked.
"Most years, the end of April to the end of July, we go to Portugal;' he said. "We'd stay longer but the prices treble after. Once you get off the boat at Santander there's no traffic, just nice long roads where you can do 250 miles before you have to stop and fill up. Right down to the Algarve. Me and Pauline, we don't bother with travel insurance though. If you're gonna ask 'What if?' don't go. "
Indeed. And you get the impression Dave didn't have many 'What if?' moments professionally either. If there was a chance he went for it, making his own luck as he went. Like asking the passing Frank Perris if he had a spare ride - while broken down at Mallory Park- and being offered a works John Player Norton in reply. Two pairs of those iconic white leathers hang in the garage and the stories from that period are legendary. It's from where most remember him, myself included. The bloke who made Barry Sheene look dull. But there was plenty of life before the fag money started rolling and
