January - February 2022

Classic Racer

Where legends live on

Classic Racer1 min read
Classic Racer
Bertie Simmonds bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk Alan Cathcart, Don Morley, Phil Aynsley, John Nutting, Mick Ofield, Fred Pidcock, Stuart Barker, Bruce Cox, Graham Lawlor, Pete Morris, Ben Rumbold Sarah Wilkinson Michael Bau
Classic Racer2 min read
Paul Smart: 1943 – 2021
If there should ever be a listing of the nicest people in motorcycle racing, then it is a sure-fire certainty that the name of Paul Smart would be one of those at the very top of the table. Tragically and ironically, after a career covering thousands
Classic Racer2 min read
Wes Cooley: 1956 – 2021
Wester Steven Cooley, AMA Superbike champion in 1979 and 1980, was always going to go motorcycle racing; after all, his father had done so before him. After the normal trials and tribulations of a journeyman racer,Wes was taken on byYoshimura R&D whe
Classic Racer2 min read
Troy Story!
It is now 25 years sinceTroy Gordon Corser became the-then youngest ever World Superbike Champion aged just 24, as well as the first ever Australian to win the title… Troy started racing late by today’s standards at Oran Park aged 18, he would net a
Classic Racer1 min read
Star Letter
Dear CR The latest issue just landed on the doormat and I have to say it’s getting better and better! The inclusion of articles from the 1980s and 1990s is excellent, I know there are one or two people who complain about more modern stuff appearing,
Classic Racer1 min read
If You Want To Get In Touch…
... please do. We read every letter, email and comment sent to us and we enjoy hearing from you whether you’ve an event coming up, a motorcycle you own or just want to let us know about something you find interesting in Classic Racer’s world. ■
Classic Racer4 min read
Readers Write
Dear CR Our modern world seems to change more often and more rapidly, for example digital books and magazines, which in turn influences critical advertising revenue. Throw in the ongoing impact of a world pandemic and you have a perfect storm of tria
Classic Racer5 min read
Paddock Gossip
Yamaha Motor Europe has announced the formation of the Yamaha Racing Heritage Club. Designed to protect and share Yamaha’s racing history with younger generations, the Yamaha Racing Heritage Club (YRHC) will bring together selected collectors from ar
Classic Racer2 min read
Editor’s Welcome
It’s sad to have to celebrate some late-great names in Classic Racer this issue, but our aim is always to be a place where ‘legends live on...’ If the word legend would fit anyone, it would be Paul Smart. I’m sure I speak for all of us in the classic
Classic Racer1 min read
Book Corner
Fitting nowThe Doctor is hanging up his leathers (and stethoscope?) after a stellar 25 year career that saw him win nine world championships, that a raft of books are coming out in celebration. This is one of the first, launched last year. Stuart Bar
Classic Racer3 min read
Whatever Happend To? JOHN HEMPLEMAN
The editor and co-founder of Motor Cycle News, Cyril Quantrill, could hardly have wished for a bigger story for the first issue of the new weekly. The date was November 30, 1955, and the story making the headline of ‘Geoff Duke suspended’ was the dec
Classic Racer12 min read
Beer Monster!
2021 is a landmark year in Grand Prix history, poignantly so with the retirement of Valentino Rossi, after contesting a massive 423 GP races, resulting in 115 victories, 235 podiums and nine world championships, no less than seven of them in the icon
Classic Racer1 min read
Honda NSR500 Specifications
Engine: Water-cooled 112-degree V4 crankcase reed-valve two-stroke, with single crankshaft and electronic powervalve Dimensions: 54 x 54.5mm Capacity: 499cc Output: 195bhp at 12,500rpm (at gearbox) Carburation: 4 x 36mm dual-body Keihin with elec
Classic Racer10 min read
Short Circuit!
In 1980 Joey Dunlop came very close to turning his back on road racing and focusing on short circuit racing instead: had he not won the Classic TT that year, his entire career might have been very different. Joey’s brother-in-law, Mervyn Robinson, wa
Classic Racer4 min read
1966 Honda Rc149
Today’s MotoGP rules limit tyre type and make, bore size, number of engines per season, engine updates, fairing updates, testing, number of teams… and so it goes on. When Honda first entered the GP scene in 1959, there were few restrictions. The five
Classic Racer10 min read
Mr Nice Guy…
Apparently, in sport or business you can’t be a winner and a nice guy: this is not true, we only have to mention the name of Paul Smart to prove that point… He was one of motorcycle racing’s true international superstars, travelling the world in purs
Classic Racer10 min read
Going Commando!
Apart from one-off prototypes, few Norton twins are as rare and mysterious as the Thruxton Club racer. Barely a handful exist: and even those who own them can’t really be sure where the others are. Amongst fans of Norton racing lore, the machine, als
Classic Racer11 min read
Top Gun!
Valentino Rossi’s victory in the 2001 Brazilian GP in Rio on his NSR500 represented the end-game for the 500cc two-stroke four-cylinder motorcycle in the premier class. It also was a final hurrah for the ultimate evolution of what turned out to be th
Classic Racer2 min read
Origins Of The Short-stroke 750 Norton Twin
The idea of developing a short-stroke 750 twin that would have potential for more power, came up after the design of the 850 twin had been completed in 1972. A year earlier, aged 22, Basil Knight had been working as an engineering draughtsman at the
Classic Racer1 min read
Action At Anglesey
Following the Covid-delayed start to the CRMC season, Anglesey’s Trac Mon circuit saw the club running its fourth meeting in the space of just two months. Despite the pressures this put on both human and financial resources, the crammed paddock refle
Classic Racer1 min read
Croft Original!
After a season that saw numerous pandemic-related obstacles hurled in its path, the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club nonetheless found itself completing its full seven-meeting programme on schedule at Croft circuit, with a strong entry and big crowds w
Classic Racer2 min read
Back In The Day
We've teamed up withThe Hobby Company (www.hobbyco.net) which distributesTamiya plastic motorcycle kits in the UK, to offer the sender of the best photos an amazing motorcycle in miniature. So, send in your pictures of your bikes and you could win t
Classic Racer3 min read
The Class Of 2000!
Think back to 2000 and Donington Park, it’s the last meeting of the British Superbikes season. All Chris Walker had to do to become British Champion was finish. We all remember what happens next. One of the most famous finishes to BSB and in fact any

Classic Racer

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