Date:         Sat, 16 Nov 2002 13:23:11 -0000
Reply-To:     Clive Smith <clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Clive Smith <clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM>
Subject:      Re: SMB Hailwood - genius on 2 wheels
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You had a chat with THE man himself, now I'm impressed - so did I, briefly
in the Isle of Man, 1978? TT, he was 39 or 40 and making a come back after
10 years off and had just won the Senior and had come 2nd in an epic battle
with Alex George in the unlimited event, George on an 1100cc and he on a
500. They were exchanging the lead by 2 secs every lap until he was baulked
coming out of Parliament Square before going up the mountain on the 6th and
last lap by some back markers (37.75  miles behind!), lost about 500 revs he
said and never got it back on song all the way up to the Verandah.
As always, gracious in defeat, he loved a scrap - streets ahead of 3rd
place - none of this hanging off the bike - smooth and VERY fast -you don't
make mistakes on the Island and get away with it - having held the lap
record at 108.77 for years after the works teams pulled out, this pushed it
up to 118 - even he thought it quite unbelievable. Now its what - 120 +
mph? - usually a Scot or an Irishman - the road-racing supremos - romantic
but very dangerous stuff.

Don't remember him as being 'short', balding yes. He signed that classic
picture of himself in '67 on that wonderful 250 Honda six for me, then we
watched the Red Arrows display over Douglas. I'd walked up from Douglas to
the Bungalow as he was doing his PR for Castrol, meeting the fans.

Saw him race 'that' six in both its 249 and 297 form against Read, the late
Bill Ivy, and of course Agostini's 350 MV at Brands Hatch - he won - of
course, giving away over 50cc. What a sound indeed, 19,000 rpm? Music
compared to those Yammy two-strokes. 72 valve springs with 3 or four broken
even before the start! The 125 5 cyl. was neat too - but the 'killer' was
the 1967/8 Honda 500 four - no one else could or would ride it - lethal, yet
he set that 108.77 in the Island on it - most riders he passed nearly fell
off in horror at its antics. Once, after a GP practice, to make a point to
the Honda mechanics he asked to take a lookat its rear shock absorbers - in
full view of all the teams he walked across the track, ambled down to the
nearby lake - and threw them right into the middle. Being Japanese and
'proud' of their engineers they were horrified at the shame as he shouted
'...now put some decent bloody shockers on it, else thats that, I'm not
riding it again'. Nobby Clarke said he'd seen 115 hp on the brake before the
'67 TT, in those days nobody could make a frame to take it, not even
Rickmans.

A few years later, driving his daughter to get some fish and chips, a lorry
pulled right across a dual carriageway at night, in the rain. She lived, he
died - after surviving on the world's most dangerous road-racing circuits
for over 20 years, a stupid lorry driver got him. That pudding bowl helmet
of his with its distictive pattern should be in the British museum.

and...
>Lemme see LFB on RHD, right?  Mine strangely enough is more colonial.
LFB on LHD as well, surely the loud pedal is always on the right -
stabilises the car in so many ways, especially over bumps in the middle of a
corner and by squeezing slightly harder> oversteer, release some brake
pressure> understeer, and after the apex just lift off the brake and the
engine's already at full chat - solves the problem of slow-in, fast out or
fast-in, slow out. Also, engine-rock on the mini being a big problem in
middle of corner, this solves that too.

Clive

PS. Why don't the Americans ever come and race in the Island, surely its
right up their street? Proper racing on real roads! The Manx GP is the
training event and after a few years, maybe give the TT a go. A man's race
that against all odds has survived the n'er sayers.

>The rich stuff of legend indeed.  A mellow voice behind me asked,
> "do you like it"  Without turning around, I said, "this is the real thing,
> mike's championship bike".  Turning around I was greeted with a broad
smile
> by a short balding fellow.  Stanley Michael Baker Hailwood.  Often
imitated,
> never duplicated.  We chatted for a while and he mentioned that at the
lunch
> break he was going to ride a couple of laps on the 250 six.
>
> The sound and the fury.  Simply unreal.  And after lap 1 at a brisk pace
he
> did a scratcher lap that was within 0.5 sec of the winning 250GP time
posted
> on Sunday.  The applause was deafening.  In puddin bowl and black leathers
> on the six, a step into the past.
>
> Not bad for a retiree...