I raced the 500 Konig engine in 1974 and 75 in Uk with a bit of success - won 24 races and 5th in british championship. With Dave Hutchens we fitted the engine into my Seeley frame in 74 and in 75 made our own frames. All inspired by Kim and the fact that Gerry Boret lived a mile from me and with his brother Nick raced his Konig powered Renwick sidecar outfit in the World Championships. Dave has lovingly restored the 500 Seeley Konig and also our Daval 500 and 750 Konigs - I get to play on them too at Classic racing meetings🙂
Very interesting and thanks for sharing...did you happen to make it to Daytona in '75? I raced a Privateer, fully sponsored ride for me, TZ-350 (D) at Daytona in '75. I had two podium finishes in two amateur prelim races earlier in the week and earned my AMA pro/Exert license right at the track so qualified for and raced in the 200. Kenny Roberts won on his new TZ750. I was an 18 year old and Senior in H.S., ended up racing a partial east coast AMA Road Race season in '75 and then I hung up my racing leathers and was off to Engineering College. I've owned a lot of street Superbikes since then but have never raced again. I recently retired from a large American defense contractor as a Principal Aerospace Engineer. My current scooter is a 2023 Ducati V4R with full race kit...she is pretty sporty, haha.
@@stevefowler2112 Never got to daytona (well not to race did get there a few years back on holiday) but did race in the MotoJournal 200 at Paul Ricard in 75. If anything could go wrong it did - the 680 Konig siezed and the 500 caught light! And the van broke down as well around Paris! Still it's all about the memories🙂
Andy fair comment but so are a lot of other deaths directly or indirectly attributed to this person before and after Nic! "Mike Trimby Motor Sport Magazine The man supposed to be in charge was Vernon Cooper, chairman of the ACU, British bike racing's governing body. ... “Cooper was totally incompetent .." .@@andyb.1026
If you look at his history at the ACU it certainly has many questionable moments. I do not accept peoples personal critism of him just some of his decisions. @@scottcates
The following is taken from my 2 stroke website. At a non-championship event at Silverstone in 1973 he took his customary walk of the track prior to the event. Newcombe had requested that hay bales be positioned before the race on the outside of Stowe Corner but race officials refused, stating they were "not required". Guess what, Kim Newcombe tragically slid off the circuit at that very corner in the race and collided with the concrete barrier, he died from severe head injuries three days later at just 29 years of age. An illustration of British officialdoms arrogance at it’s worst, words fail me! A mark of his incredible achievement is his posthumous second place in the 1973 500cc World Championship.
Cooper. The bastard's name was Vernon Cooper. How could someone be so obtuse, other than an egotistical, hubris fueled desire to be right, Rather than to do what is right? With the improvements in horsepower, speed, handling and riding skill, the obvious next step would be improvements in track construction and safety. That man had no business managing a track.
Totally agree. Have said the same myself a number of times. There are other vids on RU-vid (with human beings doing the narration) that also mention this incident.
Mainly because we were so far away and to get stuff was either really expensive or not able to get, so had to make it. A bit different now with shipping from anywhere in a short time, but the cost still can make it viable to make yourself depending on what it is.
@@BrickNewton Yep, spot on mate. I'm from the era when we had to build it ourselves or go without. That's a stand out combination of skills here in the US.
Did you manage to track down anything on the BSL 3d printed 2stroke 500 gp bike? Made in New Zealand by some of the former Britten Guys whilst he was convalescing?@@wierdbike
I remember him well, and the man who refused to make the track safer with just a few straw bales has Kim's life on his hands. That crash did lead to the start of the movement to make tracks safer......
I was dead certain this was going to be about Britten. What is it about kiwis and fast motorcycles? These two were of course preceded by Burt Munro. Hats off to those who had success with limited budget and loads of hard work and innovation.
It should be the rule for all forms of motor-racing. Design, build and maintain your own machine (buy your components obviously). I'm sick of these bumfluffed F1 youths - their only talent being lucky to be born into a mega-rich family with a silver spoon up their date. Take away the 1000-or-so factory support staff and reduce your "team" budget to your fortnightly dole payment; live and drive to each circuit in a van - sleep between shifts working on the vehicle, attend qualifying with the skin of your knuckles ripped off, extinguish your smoke before you put your helmet on, and let loose one last loud breakfast fart as you climb onto/into your machine.
As a Brit who lived in New Zealand for 14 years and is a citizen of NZ also. Kiwis consistently punch above their weight and their level of ingenuity is second to none. A beautiful country and beautiful people.
Saw this machine and another Kiwi masterpiece, the Britten when i visited NZ 15 years ago when Kevin Swantz was a guest rider at Pukekohe Raceway. I was blown away. Ps I'm from SA.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's were my hay day for going to race meetings in the UK I remember those Konig engined machines especially the side car versions. It's stange that now I live in NZ. Kim Newcombe, John Britten and Burt Munro, such talent. God bless and RIP guys,
Man you're covering stories that no one does and they are interesting and outright insane sometimes ! Hope your channel blows up because in my opinion the subscribers don't match the quality of your content !
I had the privilege of going to the movie preview of "love loss and speed" in Auckland . And seeing Rod and his replica at Pukekohe Classic festival. More than two strokes and you're a wa**er..
It's very disappointing that Kim's tuner and bike fabricator and preparer, Rod Tingate, did not get a mention in this clip. Rod was instrumental in Kim being able to achieve his fantastic results.
Rod was Kim's brother-in-law (and mechanic). He had the Konig engine in a go-cart when I met him in 1995 but he subsequently put it back into Kim's bike and did demo laps at the Historic championships.
paul Eikenberg who also raced the konig lives here in australia..he gave me a copy of a photo taken by a czech photographer of him riding the Konig in 72.
Many years ago I put a Scott Atwater 12 HP outboard engine on a Rupp mini bike, added a cooling system and CVT transmission, I played around with it a lot, it was fast and powerful,,much fun was had with it, I'm sorry I didn't do any scientific testing or record anything, just a fun project for me, I had to take it out on the road to see what it would do and go in trouble with the police, we negotiated a deal because they started laughing when I answered their questions, like what engine is that?,,brand of bike,,obsolete min bike,,outboard engine??,,the officer said,,I'm not going to write this down on a ticket,,it's crazy,,just take this thing back home and we will forget we ever saw you today, OK,, I agreed and went back home,,hurt my feelings and killed my fun,,oh well, funny, true story from my youth.
I had a Scott Atwater 7.5 hp that was branded as a Firestone outboard. My brother in law has it now, it is over 60 years old and still runs! I traded him for an Evinrude Big Twin 35.
When I first stumbled upon your channel, I was wondering if you were going to do this motorcycle. The Kim Newcombe Documentary "Love Speed and Loss" is an incredible but ultimately sad watch. Highly recommended
The response of the track manager is unsurprising. Old farts have been around for millennia. But that the other racers didn't present a united front is less understandable.
Isle of man is a mans race track but you forget back when that started bikes went a lot slower than they do now.. technology has changed so much and men have lost touch with being men..
I was at Silverstone when he crashed. We were further round the track from Stowe so didn’t see the crash - fortunately. Comms in those days were really bad I seem to remember. We didn’t know the story until much later. As several others have commented, the Konig had a much extended life in sidecars
I remember this incident and also Vernon Cooper...who was a bit of a hot headed arrogant man, not a nice chap. Bit like Dave Dixon another know it all, bully. (I knew him) RIP Kiwi...you were a true talent...
Wow just 10 seconds into the video and I'm subscribing. Love the historical film and photo's. Too many you tube videos now days use stock film. Great stuff man
8:35 Barry Sheene always with a smile on his face.. ☺️ I wonder what "magic" this boat engine had that gave it such an advantage, 2 strokes were well understood by then, it was hardly down to the expansion pipes and Kims riding prowess alone ?... 🤔
Sadly here in New Zealand not many people, even among the the motorcycle industry know about kim and what he did a True sporting hero like so many motorcycle engineers and racers through the years punching way above their weight. They are True sporting heroes but unfortunately never recognized because its a motorcycle not a rugby ball. Bullshit really i know who I'd rather idolize.
wow, im a kiwi and just heard of this guy . so we had Bert Monroe, on his Indian, Kim Newcombe with his boat engine racer and then Britten all being world leaders In innovating, impressive,
before I even clicked on this and without knowing this man specifically, I said to myself "I wonder what part of New Zealand he is from..." Clicked the video and literally first thing said... hahaha. Got to love kiwis and their ability to turn a garden shed into a world record breaking bikes. \o
I doubt it. This unfortunately was the era of next to no track safety and promoters not caring. Someone not dying during a race weekend was the exception rather than the rule.
The photo at about 7:50 (Titled Grand Prix of the Netherlands - which we name the Dutch TT!) is absolutely wrong. That is the fatal crash by Saarinen / Pasolini at Monza 1973 in the 250cc class. Please change that, silly mistake!
This is one of those spooky examples of when a person's fear was nearly a direct result of their death. Competing at those levels with traveling at speeds right on the absolute very ragged edge having no control if you become preoccupied with something that you are afraid of it will kill you every single time. The ones that live to talk about these things are the ones that had the smarts to walk away when they became afraid and there is countless examples of people expressing concern or fear about something and then dying shortly after they had talked about it. One very notable example is Dale Earnhardt and Daytona. At a driver safety meeting a year ir two before he died there he stated clearly thst unless NASCAR did something to fix hiw the super speedway tracks n restrictor plate racing was done someone was gonna get killed
Absolutely fascinating, thanks. There must be something in the water in New Zealand for it to produce so many mavericks - think Burt Munro and John Britten. Do we know what the syringe was for on the side of the motor?
So this is a case of a boat engine that got used for a motorcycle. I remember in a popular mechanics magazine back in early mid seventies a fella mafe alterations to a 750 Kawasaki triple so that he could use it for his boat . Alteration involved installing i think an exhaust valve and supercharging or maybe two valves . It ws fifty years ago and i was ignorant of much ice engineering stuff .
I thought Rudi Kurth was the first one to use a "speedboat" motor in racing, 3 cylinder crescent in his outfit and later in his monarch 2 wheeler anyone got any more info plz
Its always the visionary that bites the dust first. It must be the knowledge of a short life that brings about outcomes of incredulous knowledge in such a short lifespan. Like dogs and cats.
Moral of the story: If you're not happy with the safety of something you're doing, walk away from it, no matter the consequences. Your life is worth much more than some stupid event!
What a damn shame..a driver tries to tell someone that has probably never even been on a motorcycle that something is dangerous and the outcome could be hazardous.. think about what a couple of hay bales would cost compared to such a great person and it's actually goes to show why some people should not have authority over something.. especially without a open mind especially when someone could lose their life..
Goes to watch a video about a homemade motorbike taking on the world.... first few seconds in of course its a Kiwi! 😂😂😂 Also as a kiwi I have never heard of him, thanks for introducing us.
@@wierdbike No not sarcasm, I just find it funny when I watch a RU-vid vid on a random bike I've never heard of and it turns out to be a Kiwi inventor/engineer I've never heard of.
This is a sad outcome, the man saw the hazard and was threatened. Kind of makes me think of some large mining companies that I have worked with here in Australia.
