I used to love watching these movies in my lunch breaks at school with my woodwork teacher (Mr. Wright) who was a motorcycle fanatic. He bought a Triumph Tiger Cub and a BSA Bantam into school for kids to learn mechanical skills. As a 15 year old motorcycle nutter and being mechanically minded, I got the the job of reassembling them back to running condition. I had a claim to fame of being caught riding a motorbike on the road with no MOT, no insurance and a faulty front brake. The Lichfield Mercury headline read "Boy disobey's parents". I got banned from driving (I never had a licence) and a £5 fine.
The flying Scotsman one of my all favourites loved Bob Mac I'll never forget the 250cc race at the Ulster GP when he was one of 5 or 6 Honda 4s plus MZs Yahamas plus Suzukis he won by a country mile Hailwood was second Redman was third he also was leading the TT by 11 seconds when his Honda blew up. He was runner-up twice but never won a WC but he Will always be one of my all time favorites.
What a great collection of film. I well remember Graham Walker commentating the TT from Douglas, Isle of Man with his son Murray doing the Ramsey bit. I was still at school so my mum used to record the TT from the radio to our tape recorder during the day and I could listen to it when I got home. I now have the old reel to reel tape recorder and a recording of the 1961 250cc race where everyone thought Bob Mac would be the first to break the 100 mph on a 250. Sadly he broke down and Mike Hailwood won. I still have his autograph on a programme from Oulton Park from when I was about 14, he was never too busy to sign autographs.
Beautiful . . Halcyon Days Its a shame they are not here today to see the 200+ BHP bikes of today!!! How far in 60 odd years we have `progressed` (?) .....
The opening of this film shows Bob Mac going round Oulton Park testing his bike, a few years later I was at Oulton Park when Bob came up Clay Hill in a race he went wide onto the grass, his front wheel dipped into possibly a rabbit hole which threw him off and into a tree, he died soon later in hospital, he was a favourite rider of mine which included Duke, Hartel, Surtees, Ago and a local national rider on an Ariel Ron Stretch from St. Helens farther of the boxer Gary Stretch who fought Chris Eubank
Oh yes. The Golden age of motorcycle racing. Those where the days of blood, guts, and glory. Thank you for finding these old footage and sharing them with us.
I've watched 100 or more of these racing videos, from every era, and this one, showing McIntyre in an on-bike film at Oulton, is the best I've ever seen. It shows how incredibly smooth he was, and how different the riding style was back then. Thanks for posting! (The one very slight complaint is with one of Walker's comments. We usually bump-started in second, not first gear. First would usually lock-up the rear tire if it didn't fire right away. Starting in second worked much better, and we'd then slip the clutch.)
I was at Oulton Park the day Bob had his fatal accident. I seem to remember it was wet & rainy & the sliding bike sent him into a tree somewhere near Druids
A really high geared bike would start in first. In the NW200 video you can hear how high first gear was. Sometimes you wonder about the expert in the comments section.
@@nightrider301 I was there too. It was coming into Druids as he left Knicker Brook. At the immediate time of his crash no-ne really knew it was as serious as it turned out to be. But when the news of of his serious condition came across the PA system, you could hear a pin drop. We didn't understand it at first.
Loved it.Can almost smell the Castrol R.Went to classic race meeting at Olivers Mount several years ago The sounds were something else.Jim Redman did several laps on the original Honda Six.The noise was ear splitting.A year or so later John Surtees did some laps on his Norton Proboscis.Great stuff.
My favourite bit is at 6:07 - “and a lamp post in your way if you over do it!” I’d say, and then through in either what looks like a cushion or a post box. I can’t tell! Fearless lads! They don’t get any more careful as the years go by. Just as nuts, but with more power, better tires and suspension and protection. I bet the “lamp post” would still be in your way if you over did it today. Thanks for posting. Really enjoyed it. Top-shelf!!!
Priceless, absolutely priceless. Many many thanks for this. Had a quickish 112 mile ride out this morning on my '92 CBR600 - went out at 0715 , was home at 01014. God bless Mac, and all of those other wonderful riders..
I first saw Bob Mac racing at Errol Aerodrome when my dad took me to my first race meeting as a small boy in 1956. Bob Mac and Alistair King were the stars and Bob won every race he entered with King a close second. The two of them were close friends who belonged to the same club. Me? I was hooked for life. Always preferred bikes to cars. The riders are more down to earth and responsive to their fans and the racing is better. Great video thanks for taking the effort to post it.
Awesome videos guys, especially the first video, as I’m from Northern Ireland, just 2 years before I was born. The other vids were amazing, those old bikes were fantastic, but I was egging them on to go faster lol 😂. Throughly enjoyable videos for any motorcyclist. 😎👍👍👍🇬🇧
Stunning historical record. Interesting that Sammy Miller beat Mike Hailwood in the 250cc class at the NW 200. I have met Sammy a few times and I joined Mike at a cocktail party in Hong Kong once.
*I well remember the Race of the Year at Mallory Park September 1964, and long after the race had finished and the crowds had gone, asking a Marshall if I could drive my car (Citroen DS19) around the circuit, he said better ask Mike (Hailwood) and directed me to him. I asked Mike, who I had briefly met a number of times before, and he said of course you can, and told the Marshall to let me through the top gate (Near Hairpin) - He said come back after we are having a bit of a Party with Chris Barber later. Did two/three laps and then went back. Mike appeared genuinely pleased to see me again and asked how I got on. Had a good laugh together as we found had a lot of common interests (3 years older than me and born on the same date 2nd April) and had been to the Belgian Grand Prix the previous year in my Morris Minor 1000. Stayed until late with many of the riders and "Chris Barber & his Jazzmen" playing. Imagine that today, the pits were open and you didn't need a fancy pass to get in. I was very keen on Jazz Bands, and in fact had an Acker Bilk Beard at the time, and was often mistaken for him ! (Maybe Mike thought I was "Acker") Still got the Program Price 2/6p and signed by many riders then including Phil Read, Jim Redman, Mike Duff, Bill Ivy etc Incidentally Mike Won the race on the MV Agusta and was £1000 richer. Huge amount in those days. So no wonder he was happy. He held the 350cc Lap Record from 62-64 at 84.93 mph and the 500cc Lap record at 53 seconds 91.70 mph in 1962 !*
Wonderful stuff. He was my hero. Ironic that a couple of years after he made that film at Oulton he was killed there. I remember it well. He died about five days after his accident at Clay Hill - I cried for a week. In fact it brought a lump to my throat watching these films. One thing I’m not sure about - what class was the Solitude race? I don’t think Honda had a 500 in 1960. Got a feeling that must have been the 250 race.
I have seen BoB McIntyre racing in Aberdare park many years ago on a Norton a very famous make of Motor bikes I enjoyed watching Motor bike racing in aberdare park and other circuits
Should be titled "Racing Jackhammers"........sweet bikes for this kind of misery......gotta love it. Racing the grand British singles or doubles. Rough way to earn your money.
"and even if you don't get a works contract, you'll at least have had a lot of fun trying". Ah those were the days, when men were men and start line officials had a death wish and - as someone else said - all on tyres that you and me wouldn't want to ride to the shops on
A wonderful rider who made it all look so easy Not much in the way of health and safety in those days, the crowd would have gone down like skittles had a rider made a mistake.
Grandissimo Bob per sola sfortuna nel 1957 non ai vinto mondiale 350cv e 500cv poi il ritiro della Gilera dalle corse saresti stato il più grande corridore del decennio 🥇🏍️
Bruce Daniels was mentioned - he was my first ever autograph, at Mallory, complete with an oily thumbprint. And I had all the riders mentioned in the introductory bit to Solitude.
Saw him race at Crystal palace on a bank holiday meeting cant remember the year but I think he was leading when his bike seized up throwing down the road his bike was I think an AJS great times you were so close to the circuit
Great historical footage. However it is a shame that the motorcycle sounds were so poorly edited. The commentaries were OK if not a bit naff. At the 1960 TT, 4 cylinder MV's with single cylinder 125 Honda sounds and 4 cylinder Honda's with single cylinder 500 sounds. Some single cylinder 4 strokes with 2 stroke sounds and visa versa. A lot of the sounds were overdubbed and out of sync. with the visual footage. I don't know if film makers thought that bike racing fans are idiots. Despite these criticisms I appreciate the upload. The Bob McIntyre footage is excellent, particularly the bike tuning and engine dyno. That is very rare.
The problem back then, and today sometimes, is that the sound editor is rarely a gearhead. So, one tape marked "motorcycle sounds' is the same as another to them. Oh, well.
Apologies if it's been said before , but the presenter is Graham Walker , a real stiff upper lip Englishman , as opposed to his more famous son , the wimpish and mealy mouthed Murray Walker .
Yes Graham Walker, Murray Walkers dad, and the late David Cobham directed it. I knew David personally, and he gave me copies of some his film's including this and Tarka the otter.
Sorry martoon Bobby mac was magic but sorry still think that Mike was a just magic and would never be beaten. Too many world champs have said so!!! spoken with Ago and others and they still think he was the best!!!
I could beat the lot of them, so slow. I ride at this speed when I am cruising. Motor cycling does not really select the best riders, it selects from the riders with parents in a position to support and promote them. The reality is the faster the speed you practice at the better you get. If you can handle a course at average speeds of 150mph then you will murder anyone who only has only travelled at 100mph. Today's best racers would easily beat older racers even on the same bike. The faster you have to react the more skilled you become until you reach the limit of your ability. But an average rider of today would beat some 1920 bike champion because the 1920 rider never had the chance to develop the reactions required when travelling at 170mph compared to a modern day average rider. If the 1920 champion was to train they could beat an average rider but if you were to time transport the 1920 champion to a modern day race track and you both had super bikes, the average rider would win. Which makes these videos interesting for history but you can't be in awe of riders riding at this speed.
Spot on man. And the great tragedy is that everyone knows about McIntyre, Hailwood, Sarinnen, Duke, Surtees, Sheene etc etc and to my eternal shame and embarressment I've only just found out about you.