Old Irish Road Racing Photo [Archive] - DooberVille Discussions

ÜberDoober

04-07-2008, 10:57 AM

When they say "road race" they really mean it. Looks like Sunday after church as a lot of the men are wearing ties.

The guy on #67 seems almost fairly modern with a normal fairing and stuff but his front tire isn't much bigger than a bicycles. I'm guessing it's a 125 or even smaller?

So, was that NSU a two-stroke? I can only imagine that after grafting 500cc Triumph engine in there, it was a real flexi-flyer.

Cool pic! Thanks for sharing.

Hoofhearted

04-07-2008, 06:44 PM

The bike in front is a 175 Moto Guzzi. The fairing is (I think) was made by a ompany called Peel in the Isle of Man. The rider is Austin Kinsella. He enjoyed a long "career" of road racing in Ireland. The second rider is Owen Sheridan. He started racing in 1934 and when that photo was taken he'd been at it 30 years. He continued racinginto the 70s. He was a sort of "Irish Burt Munro". The NSU was either OHC or pushrod OHV. I'm not sure. NSU made an OHC racer in the 50s but I'm not sure if this was one of them. Owen also made an OHC conversion for a VW engine which he stuck in a racing sidecar. The engine was in the sidecar(with not a lot of room for the passenger!) driving a BSA trans. The last time I sw it he was trying to get homemade fuel injectors to work. One side was injecting but the other side was giving the passenger a gas bath! Owen passed away some years ago and is still well remembered in Ireland. The spot where the photo was taken would be a good place to break down if you had to. And yes its a Sunday. All Irish road racing (except Northern Ireland and the Skerries road race)) takes place on a Sunday. Irish road racing is something you hve to see to appreciate.

If you want skinny tires here a VanVeen Kriedler I had in the 70s. I had it in the Isle of Man at the Jurby road circuit and it was timed at 112mph at the end of the straight. The photo was taken at Turvey Ave. in Ireland. If you look behind the bike you'll see the run off we had! Musta been nuts!! But loved it.

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/8408/img035fc1.jpg[/IMG]

kelstr

04-08-2008, 05:13 AM

that VanVeen Kriedler is just sooo cool.----what a great looking road racer !
112 mph --wow thats flying on that thing.
i still have many pairs of bell bottoms paints like that .

what is that cute little car with the castrol R sticker on it , an Aston , or a BMC ??

man these old pics are great :cool:

Hoofhearted

04-08-2008, 05:59 PM

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/97/img050hv6.jpg[/IMG]The cute little car is an Austin mini. Not a Cooper. Just a plain little mini. Fun to drive. A bit like a motorized skateboard. It hauled the Kriedler and the Norton and anything else I was racing all over the place without complant. Theres a place here in SoCal(Costa Mesa) that specialises in Minis. Its cool to stop by and see how any are still alive and running. The bell bottoms.....well, what can I say? It was a fashion. Glad you like the photos. I have a few more I will post.
I took this photo of a (very young) Robert Dunlop. We were heading over to the Island for a race at Jurby (the road circuit not the airfield). The other guy in the photo is Cal Crowe. Robert won at an average speed of 72.24mph. I managed second at a race average of 69.99mph (that still pisses me of. Why couldn't the timekeepers have said 70?). Robert was timed at 114mph that day.

Hoofhearted

04-08-2008, 07:08 PM

This is the Kriedler at Mondello Park in Ireland. As it wasa short circuit(1 1/4 miles) I didn't use a fairing. Weight saving etc. For road courses I fitted the fairing. I'm sorry I sold it. I won the 50cc Irish road racing national championship with it in 1979.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5011/img013mp2.jpg[/IMG]

kelstr

04-09-2008, 05:04 AM

that kriedler is killing me it is soo bitchen and cool looking . ( i can see why you wished you did not sell it )

i can not believe you had to load your bikes on a boat or fairry and cross water to get to a track , ------that just seems strange to me ----i don't like water ----its cold, deep and has weird creatures in it :confused:

Ireland must have been kinda strange growing up in ?.

i guess it seemed normal if you did not know any different , but man it would take me along time to get used to island hopping .

in that picture to the right of Cal and Robert , there is a large rock on the boat -----what the hell is that doing there ?

those old pictures are the greatest ,-----!

ÜberDoober

04-09-2008, 08:52 AM

This stuff is absolutely fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing what has to be some incredible times and incredible memories. As a junkie for this kind of stuff, thanks for the mainline hit! :D

kelstr

04-09-2008, 10:18 AM

this is really an incredable MAINLINE HIT , i am very nuch a junky for this old stuff also !

the suspenders he is wearing along with that durby is so funny :D
and was there reason the farrings were off the bikes while it was on the boat ?

and what is that round ball that is at the rear of the bike and inbetween the farrings ?

this is such good old stuff :cool:

Hoofhearted

04-09-2008, 01:04 PM

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't grow up in Ireland. My parents were from Ireland. I grew up here in SoCal. My Dad filled my head with storues of "real road racing" and I had to go to find out for myself. What was supposed to be a couple of years turned into 17 years.

That isn't a rock. Its a grey(ish) cover over something and as far as the ball goes. Thats a fender. The island I was referring to was the Isle of Man. The photo was taken in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland as we were heading out. It was the same boat that took Joey's bikes to the Island. This is a photo of of three of the bikes we had in the Island for the race. The green bike is Robert Dunlop's Kriedler. The orange one with the fairing bottom missing is mine. And the red one is a monocoque framed Minerelli. It was owned by Don Carlisle who also made the frame. Very talented guy.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1927/img141ju2.jpg[/IMG]

Hoofhearted

04-09-2008, 01:40 PM

Being a computer neandertal I don't know how to do multiple photo posts. This is a shot of part of the grid as we headed out to the start. It was one of the better days. 26 starters. If you look to the right of the photo you'll see a new(at that time, 1979) VanVeen Kriedler. There were four of them there that day. Absolutely exquisite. As I said Robert Dunlop won with ease. Don Carlisle should have been second but he broke about halfwaythrough the race. So I inherited second that day. It was a pure road course, 4.7 miles. At that time Robert(to us) was just Joey's little brother. We all knew he was fast but we had no idea just how fast and brave he was. And how much he would achieve. Had we known I doubt we would have got on the same race track as him!!

The fairings were off as to get to the dock they had to pull the fairings in order to cram the bikes into a small van. We didn't have he luxury of big trailers or vans. If you go back and look at the photo of my trailer and Mini you'll see what we had to work with at that time.

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/3612/img139bn1.jpg[/IMG]

DooberRoni

04-09-2008, 10:24 PM

Being a computer neandertal I don't know how to do multiple photo posts.

It's easy! Just get the URL to your next photos the same way you got the first one and past it in. Either open a new tab or open a new browser window for your picture host and one for the forum For example, I will use a fake tag called instead of IMG, like it should be.

Just make sure that the URL to your photo has the beginning and the [/IMG] tag at the end

http;//blahblahblah.con/myphoto/pic26
[ING]http;/blahblahblah.con/myphoto/pic351
http;/blahblahblah.con/myphoto/pic405

Again, the actual tag is IMG and /IMG (in square brackets) and the URL's in the above example are fake.

OR - In the editor window, there is a little square yellow icon that says Insert Image if you hover your mouse over it. From your picture host, copy the link to your picture, click the Insert Picture icon and paste the URL in the popup window.

Hope that helps. Sorry for the sidetrack but we love your pictures and stories! PS - try photobucket.com - they make it easy to copy and paste your pictures that already include the IMG tags.

Hoofhearted

04-09-2008, 10:38 PM

Like I understand what you just wrote LOL Building and racing bikes is so much easier.

Hoofhearted

04-10-2008, 10:30 PM

I found another shot from that Island trip. Don Carlisle (red leathers) and Robert Dunlop. The other two I don't know. The guy beside Robert is from Northern Ireland but I can't remember his name. Thats my Kriedler peeping through in between them.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7296/img143wx5.jpg[/IMG]

kelstr

04-11-2008, 05:43 AM

that is another priceless photo , i am amazed at how clear these photos are ,
isn't Robert Dunlop the guy that won the "ISLE OF MAN" manny manny times ,
my god those little bikes are so bitchen , Irland sure looks like alot of fun.

the road racing is taken very to HEART over there ,-----it was difficult over hear in the states to get any reconition and or to be takes very seriously when i was road racing in the 80's ------

the DRAG RACING was the USA thing to do :eek:

Hoofhearted

04-11-2008, 12:36 PM

Its the same Robert Dunlop that won the TT many times. Road racing is taken seriously over there. Particularly in Northern Ireland. You can win the MotoGP championship and all you are is world champion. Win a TT and you're a hero.

When the TT brought back the 125 class the only names on the trophy for the first 8 years was Robert's or Joey's. Regretfully I only took a few photos. I never thought it would be of any interest to anyone except me. Like Robert's undeniable talent that we didn't know about photos were something we didn't think about either. Wish I had.

When I was over there there was only 5 pure road races each year in the south and about 7 in the North. At last count the south of Ireland had 16 road races each year. Wish I was younger and back there.

In the process of diggining out the old photos I came across this photo. It was taken in 1979 at the Faugheen 50 at Carrick, Co Tipperary. The reason I'm throwing it up here is the guy in the photo. If you go back to the original photo I posted and look at the second rider. Its the same rider, Owen Sheridan. The 50s were out first race and Owen's class was the third race. His zipper had burst and he asked me if he could borrow my leathers. To which I said certainly. After he got into them I said "Pose by the bike Owen." His reply was that you should always look like you are working on the bike when you have your photo taken. Hence him kneeling by the Kriedler. Amazing to think when that photo was taken Owen had been racing for 46 years!!

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3119/img023du4.jpg[/IMG]

kelstr

04-11-2008, 04:51 PM

oh my god .
that is another really cool photo,---of old Owen .
so Joey was Roberts brother correct ?

old Owen looks like he was having fun !

i wished i had taken lotts more photos of when my oldlady and myself were racing , it is a time i was the happiest and the healthests.
i really do miss road racing , ---the motocross bikes are fun , and i ride alot of mountain bikes ( bicycles ) to keep in shape, but road racing is a very special discipline and i really love it most of all :cool:

Hoofhearted

04-11-2008, 05:03 PM

There were three Dunlop brothers. Joey, Jimmy, and Robert. Jimmy raced for a bit. But he crashed at Faugheen and managed to pull one of his legs out of the hip socket (I hurt just writing that). He was smart enough to realise he wasn't Joey and called it a day. Robert on the other hand was incredibly fast like Joey and equally brave. Joey won 22 TTs or was it 24? I'll have to check. Most of his rides on the bigger bikes were 6 lap races. At almost 38 miles to a lap thats just on 228 mile for a race!!!!! Even the 125 TT was 114 miles. Absolute iron men.

Owen Sheridan enjoyed his racing from 1934 to around 1982. The NSU you see n the 1964 photo got a 500 Triumph motor stuck in it and Owen enjoyed it. The unfortunate thing is time. By 1982 Owen's NSU/Triumph was nowhere near as fast as the current 500s and Owen was'nt getting any faster either. The MCUI(Irrelands ruling motorcyle body) had no choice but to refuse Owen a road racing license. It was a tough decision that was not agreed with by everyone. But Owen took it in a gentlemanly fashion and said nothing. In the early 90s the Skerries road race was celebrating an anniversary. Over the years the course had changed but a celebration lap of the original 7 mile course was organised. I had the pleasure of following Owen on his NSU/Triumph on a very brisk "parade" lap. A delightful memory that stays with me. Owen passed in the late 90s. Gone but he left many memories.

ÜberDoober

04-11-2008, 05:39 PM

Absolutely fascinating! :D

You are lucky to have photos. I'm sure I could rummage through a shoebox and dig up a few from my old racing days too but they are few and far between. The last thing on your mind is stopping to take pictures and back in the day before digital, having to get them developed and printed was only time spent away from getting the bikes ready.

The machines in your pictures are completely foreign to us yanks. I've been around bikes since the '60's and never seen anything like them. It's all very interesting and your experiences and some of the famous names you've rubbed shoulders with most impressive. Thank you for taking the time to share with us here.

ps.
Kelstr - what the hell did you do to your post? :D I can get somebody to fix it, if you want?

Hoofhearted

04-11-2008, 06:03 PM

Thank you for the kind words. I almost feel embarrassed. I never for a minute thought my photos would be of interet to anyone else. I admit to loving photos of old motorcyces and racers but I just never thought mine would interest anyone. To get one thing straight. On the start line I could rub shoulders with Robert. As soon as the flag dropped he (usually) was gone!! I had to wait until we got to the pub to rub shoulders again.LOL!

This is all my Dad's fault. He left Ireland soon after WW2. Came to California. He raised me on stories of racing on real roads and that Nortons were motorcycles and the rest were for getting to work. I went to Irelandin 1967 to see what it was all about. What was supposed to be a year or so turned into a 17 year trip. My social security is screwed up because of it butI wouldn't change it for the world. I had one hell of a time!

I found this in the search. This is as close as I got to rub shoulders with Mike Hailwood. In the Island in 1978. I went to Bradden Bridge for the morning practice. Hailwood went out on the 500 Suzuki for a couple of laps and then took the 250 Yamaha out. I guess the tires weren't warmed up but he lost the front end on the exit of Bradden and slid into the haybales at my feet. As per normal dumbo here only had one shot left in the camera

Dig out some of your photos. I would love to see them. Like you said we didn't take enough photos. Digital cameras make it so easy.

Kelstr. The reason the Island photos are clear is that when I left them in to be developed the shop made them into slides. They were buried in a shoebox for years. I got a scanner and figured out how to upload them into the computer. That alone is a major acomplishment for me.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/594/img009jf8.jpg[/IMG]

Hoofhearted

04-14-2008, 08:20 PM

Over the week end I went to Willow Springs for the Corsa Motoclassico. As I was wandering through the pits when this stopped me in my tracks! Its a replica of a 1934 500cc Husqvarna vee twin. Husqvarna made five of them. Unfortunately they were destroyed in a fire. A guy in Sweden decided to, from the original blueprints, make replicas. He made five of them. The photos don't do it justice. Stunning is even a weak word to describe it. In 1935 Stanley Woods won the Senior TT on one.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5482/img0679ek3.jpg[/IMG]

Hoofhearted

04-14-2008, 08:26 PM

By coincedence my friend in Ireland sent me some more old photos. One of them shows Stanley Woods after he won the 1932 Junior TT on a Norton. He is the racer that won the 1935 Senior TT on one of the original Husqvarnas. The man in the middle of the photo is Joe Craig, who guided Norton''s dominance for so long. He laft Norton in 1956 and was killed in a car crash in 1957.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4725/stanley3ar1.jpg[/IMG]

ÜberDoober

05-01-2008, 08:12 PM

Hey, in case nobody saw it, I posted a link to a full lap of the TT video with narration in this THREAD (http://www.dooberville.com/forums/showthread.php?p=918#post918)(clicky) It's amazing!

ÜberDoober

05-03-2008, 06:54 PM

Hey Stinky! (Hoofhearted's new nic!)
:uplaugh:

Have you seen this website? http://www.kreidler.nl/forum/roadrace.php

Too bad it isn't in english but there are some cool Kreidler pics. Just came it by accident whilst Googling.

Hoofhearted

05-03-2008, 07:42 PM

Funny you should post that. I was on a Canadian site and a French guy gave me that site address. Too bad I'm monolingual. But I'm fluent in photos. If you want to wander to www.golden50ccracingriders.nl (http://www.golden50ccracingriders.nl) you'll find som more great photos. I was going to change my name to Icemelted but you saved me the effort.

P.S. Dave Jefferies lap is something else!!!!! Thanks for that!!!

I meant to throw this out here. Its a post war photo from Merrie olde England. Its legendary tuner Steve Lancefield and equally legendary rider (first 90 mph TT lap) Harold Daniell. And one of Lancefield's cobbled up post war Nortons. The bit of info I have on it is that an awful lot of the bike came from Lancefield's part bins. In Daniell's hands it was a formidable weapon on the British short circuits.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/5162/dan1ze4.jpg[/IMG]

ÜberDoober

05-04-2008, 03:45 PM

I was going to change my name to Icemelted but you saved me the effort.

Thanks for the link. There are a ton of cool pictures over there but it's too bad you can't click them for bigger versions. It was still nice. :)

Liked the caption on your last pic: "The engine featured a needle-less Amal of unforgiving nature" and "when you opened it up, it really got on with it". Priceless! :D

Hoofhearted

05-04-2008, 04:58 PM

I had an old 500T Norton motor in mine years ago. I ran it on alcohol and at one meeting that had two looong straights I thought it was leaning out at the end of the straights. On gas I ran a 290 main jet in the GP Amal. I had an 820 in it an thought it was leaning out!! Owen Sheridan (of previously posted fame) told me to take the needle out. Being young and dumb I did. The difference was sensational! But it was a 25 mile race and I started with 5 gallons of alcohol and at the end of the race there was about a quart left! But they are right. Its all or nothing. There is no inbetween.

Hoofhearted

05-05-2008, 10:22 PM

Not exactly an old Irish racing photo. This is Frank Byrne, my friend in Ireland. He sent me a few photos from a get together in Skerries last night The Rudge he's sitting on is a 1937 500, 4 valve bronze head. Its a race winner from the 30s. The Rudge behind him is, I think, a build up of bits he had plus a frame he bought. For correctness sake the mufflers on both bike are "Oxford bags". Trust me on that. I don't make up things like that. Frank was also given the secret of making Rudges last forever. "Treat them like sheep dogs. Leave them out at night, minimum fuss, and never a kind word".

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5770/rudgesmay08ee7.jpg[/IMG]

I knew I had it somewhere. This is Frank's Rudge(albeit a poor photo) winning the Leinster 100 in 1937. I trying to remember the rider but for now I'm blank.

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/8761/3620leinster20tg20byrnevw3.jpg[/IMG]

ÜberDoober

05-06-2008, 11:05 AM

...Frank was also given the secret of making Rudges last forever. "Treat them like sheep dogs. Leave them out at night, minimum fuss, and never a kind word".

:uplaugh: Must be the secret to my old age too? Woof! (J/K)

Seriously, your stuff is awesome! I've been around bikes and racing stuff since I was a kid but your world and experience is foreign to me. Thanks for the history, great pics and colorful comments. You sound like quite a character! Maybe one day, we'll just have to do this: :cheers2:

See you got a new green rep mark or two too! Well deserved, IMO! :rocker-001:

Hoofhearted

05-06-2008, 07:01 PM

It s funny that you would say my world and experiences are foreign to you. I always thought I was "normal" LOL. I was fortunate to have Irish parents that emigrated here after WW2. So I got to grow up here in California and listen to stories about racing in Ireland. I went there to see what it was all about. It was supposed to be a short(ish) visit that turned way longer than expected. I met a lot of characters and had a lot of "experiences". Being away that long screwed up my social securitybut I would trade it for the fun I've had. And thank the Lord none of my crashes resulted in sreious injury. Heres another photo Frank sent. Another Rudge with nice looking Sunbeam behind it. The quality of the old models has risen considerably since I was there. When I was there I was a member of the Blackchurch Racing Assoc. (the BRA and pronounced as such). It was a motley crew of that used racing as an excuse to go drinking. Off season vintage runs consisted of meeting at O'Toole's pub in Swords and running around the north county Dublin countryside, winding up at the Neptune hotel (the only hotel that would tolerate us) in Drogheda. Eating and drinking too much and then a mad charge back to O'Toole's before it got dark because none of our bikes had lights. I have a wonderful photo of one such run. I will post it after this.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2125/rudgelespc1.jpg[/IMG]

Hoofhearted

05-06-2008, 07:09 PM

Found the photo. This was another vintage run. The orgainising club was sort of stuffy and had a time schedule. The bunch you see in the photo was supposed to arrive at the finish around 2:45 in the afternoon. I think we arrived aroud 7:30. We were still sober when this shot was taken. Some of the best people you will meet!

Thanks for the bars. But the truth is I've seen more than my share!!

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7231/img004py2.jpg[/IMG]

ÜberDoober

05-07-2008, 11:22 AM

This thread is full of awesome!
:yrok1:

You have my vote for DooberVille's current "Most Interesting Man in the World" award! :)

http://www.dooberville.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=56

funny Dos Equis website: LINK (http://staythirstymyfriends.com/)

Hoofhearted

05-07-2008, 02:03 PM

Now THAT is funny!! Too funny for words!!!!!

I meant to add that the guy on the M21 BSA and sidecar(1926 Hughes, reskinned) is Frank Byrne.

Really. I'm still laughing!! That is hilarious. I can't show it to my wife because she'll start falling around the place laughing as well!!

kelstr

05-09-2008, 05:39 AM

hoofster, this stuff is just in a world all of its own.
i too have been into all kinds of motorcycleing and racing my whole life and i have never seen such cool bikes , or events .

i guess what they say is true "everything is different acrost the pond"

thanks so much for this great thread and all the content you keep adding !!! :cheers2:

Hoofhearted

05-09-2008, 03:51 PM

Its funny but I find the replies kind of curious. Maybe its because my parents were Irish immigrants and I was raised on stories about racing in Ireland etc. When I went back there to check it out it turned out Dad's stories were right on the money. Maybe I was there too long but all the stuff I did over there seemed perfectly normal. Again I was raised knowing about the various marques. Most of which were never imported here. So I can understand them being foreign to many. We (my wife and I) had a great time during that period. Great racers, great friends. A period I wouldn't trade.

I found this photo of my Uncle Bill on a 1930 International Norton. There is a long story behind it but its said to be an ex-works model. It made its way through the family and disappeared. The guy (Owen O'Rielly) in the genuine WW2 German army uniform, standing with the Norton in the group photo remembered it form the late 50s but doesn't remember what happened to it. Soon after the war Uncle Bill and his family emigrated to Canada. Thank the Lord my Dad decided to go to Southern California.

The best part of this lark is I'm looking forward to taking the Norton to El Mirage dry lake the weekend after next and see how fast it will go. Long may it last!!

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8617/norton20works2pp3.jpg[/IMG]

ÜberDoober

05-16-2008, 07:12 AM

Robert Dunlop, brother of the late Joey Dunlop has been killed in an accident. Post and link to BBC news and video is in THIS (http://www.dooberville.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1276#post1276)post.

Godspeed, Robert.

Hoofhearted

05-16-2008, 11:35 PM

A friend in Ireland e-mailed with the news. I don't have words. Some people can come up with profound words. I can't. The only thing I can think of is one of my favorite sayings. "Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened." Robrt certainly happened. Th only thing I can do is think of the good times. One of my favorite viewing spots in the Island was Parliament Square in Ramsey. To see them steaming through Schoolhouse and then down the gear for Parliament Sq, was thrilling. To have seen Robert on the JPS Norton rotary was one of those thrilling moments that will remain with me. Love you Robert.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8908/img161oz9.jpg[/IMG]

Gary

05-17-2008, 07:27 AM

I can't believe both the fast Dunlop brothers are gone, but they obviously loved racing and if (when) you have to go you might as well go out that way.

This is great stuff, Hoof!

kelstr

05-21-2008, 10:33 AM

irishbiker

07-08-2008, 04:50 PM

HI I JUST SCREAMED WITH DELIGHT WHEN I SEEN A PIC OF OUR OWEN SHERIDAN YOU QUOTED ABOUT THE BUSTED LEATHERS AND POSING AT THE MOTORBIKE WHEN A PIC WAS BEEN TAKEN HA HA WELL WITH THE VERY VERY FEW PIC'S OF HIM IT WAS JUST AMAZING TO SEE YOUR BRILLIANT PIC WHAT A BLAST FROM THE PAST MY UNCLE TONY CARTON (WHO I LOVE) IS MY DADS ONLY BROTHER (JOHN CARTON) IM JUNIOR JOHN CARTON CAN NOT WAIT TO TELL THEM IN THE MORNING OF THIS PICTURE I CAN NOT OPEN THE ORIGANAL PICTURE IN THE POST BUT THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH ............:cheers2::rolleyes:

Hoofhearted

07-08-2008, 06:14 PM

Hello John. Glad you enjoyed the photo of Owen. I'd write Onie but no one would know what I talking about. I was very lucky to now Owen for a long time. (Blackchurch Racing Assoc.) Definitely one of lifes characters that is still missed. If you want you can e-mail me at noisynorton@netscape.com and I'll forward it to you. I'm trying to remember the last time I talked to your uncle Tony. As far as I can remember we were standing at the first turn at Mondello in the pissin' rain watching the sidecar practice. He had a flask with some "waterproofing" liquid in it. I'm Bill Anderson by the way. Please pass on my best to him.

P.S. Ask your uncle how many people in this photo he recognizes. He should know at least three. It was a vintage run from the Pheonix Park to Mosney.
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4554/img032yn4.jpg[/IMG]

Motoman_AZ

07-17-2008, 10:59 PM

Wow! I am so glad I stumbled across your post.....! The photos and stories are incredible!! Keep em coming!!!! :cheers2:

irishbiker

07-20-2008, 03:17 AM

thank you very much for the pictures of owen hoofhearted,
owen is burried here in lusk church this is an old pic ,his name is now on the stone...this is tony's mother and father's grave just up the road from tony's house and plant hire business ...my father john carton is tony's only brother (no sisters) owen is there uncle ....owen sheridan what a character he was ..and uncle tony will make you cry with laughter with telling us some of the stories alot of them could not be repeated here ha ha but i do remember one story of oweny racing in the skerries 100 and big Dee over the tanoy saying "here comes oweny sheridan with his pension book in his back pocket ..ha ha owen was not happy!!
and if im not mistaken his bikes would be mostly helped with glue, tape and alot of uncle tony's patience and time .which he is not reknowned for ha ha tony could be up to his eyes under a jcb and owen would ring and become to rely on him and tony did look after him and every saturday shopping and a bottle of gas would be brought up to swords by lorcan or tony till the end ahh thank you hoofhearted just to be able to see such pictures of my family thank you very very much john carton(jnr)

Hoofhearted

07-20-2008, 11:34 PM

Glad you enjoyed them. The last ride I had with Onie was at the Skerries 50th anniversary. A lap of the original course. Onie brought the NSU/Triumph and the Douglas. I think Tony was helping him. I followed Onie and was delighted to see he still had a good bit left.

Some years ago at Fore Onie took a bad tumble at the bridge. He slid out into the middle of the road limp and lifeless. We all thought he'd bought the farm. After a few seconds (that seemed an eternity) his head lifted and he started examining the extremities. The ambulance hauled him away. We were getting ready to head for home, feeling down because of Onie's crash. We went into the pub for a quick one before leaving. To our surprise and delight there was Onie sitting in the corner nursing a large whisky. I asked what he was doing and his reply was "I didn't like the look of the hospital". I then asked if he told them he was leaving and he reckoned the'd figure that out when they saw the empty bed! He cracked a couple of ribs and was heavily bandaged. He reckoned whisky was a much better cure than anything the hopital could supply! He was one of lifes larger characters and it was a delight and pleasure to know him and race with him.

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 01:27 PM

i will await tonys response but my own dad (john carton snr)think's one of your pic's has owen reilly in it ??? is he right bill
here is a pic on my uncle tony at killalane .......

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 01:30 PM

and uncle tony in lusk co dublin in tony's plant hire yard and my dad:rolleyes:

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 01:40 PM

hi bill did you know this man (rip) isle of man his name was danny also a very good friend of my uncle tony
my own dad used to give danny a box of irish tomatoes (and joey and big sam) at every skerries road race and killalane road race as my dad was a tomato grower locally ....i remember joey with his black hands would just take a tomato from the box and scoff it ......it was clean dirt ha ha :D

Hoofhearted

09-23-2008, 01:45 PM

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 02:03 PM

here is uncle tony at ten in the morning singing opera to my stepmum last year 07 on there visit from tenerife .....and no nector .......only a good cup of tea ha ha
that brilliant picture i actually missed Davy Manley in the back ground
i think i was with my uncle tony in an engineering shop in asbourne co meath many years ago i was just floor sweeper in uncle T's garage is this the same man ?bill please

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 02:18 PM

here is a pic of the two brothers in 07 in lusk co dublin (cartons family home ) and my own brother in the background .....philip carton
going back to a brilliant story of owen sheridan and his crash and when you got to the pub there he was owen holding up the bar and not in the hospital as he should have been ha ha i was telling a lusk man (my step dad ) eamon brady he remembers that crash very well ........

and he added that ownie never wore anyting under the leathers and between leathers and the duct tape he was probably had the most hairest body .ha ha he said there must have been some operation to get the leather's off with all that hair attached to the duct tape ha ha

irishbiker

09-23-2008, 02:47 PM

http://www.paddockgossip.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,28/id,23260/catid,1/func,fb_pdf/

Hoofhearted

09-23-2008, 03:07 PM

Thank you for that John. Very sad indeed. The Danny you were thinking of is Danny Shimmin. I think Danny used to leave a couple of bikes with Tony for racing in Ireland. One of the bikes was an RG500 Suzuki. He let me race it once but I didn't do very well. I was terrified of dropping it and having to pay for the repairs! You're right that Onie never wore anything under the leathers. In the photo of him wearing my leathers I didn't say that when he asked to borrow mine I brought them out of the tent and Onie just started to peel his leathers off and true he hadn't a stitch on under his leathers! I said "Onie! There ladies present!" He looked at me and winked and said "Oh! We don't want to get them too excited otherwise I'll miss my race!!" We had to chase him into the tent and out of view. Heres a shot taken at one of the Blackchurch fancy dress get togethers. Thats Danny in the bow tie. My wife, Veronica is beside him and beside her is Rosie Donovan and her husband Mick is behind Danny. The blue arm on the left of the photo is me.

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/2773/img239do4.jpg[/IMG]

Hoofhearted

09-29-2008, 04:55 PM

To go back to the original photo on this thread. A friend in Ireland sent me some photos of this years re-union. 44 years after the original photo was taken. The photo is of a mid 50s NSU Sportsmax 250 racer similar to the one Owen Sheridan is racing in the original photo. This one has the full aluminum dustbin fairing and matching aluminum seat. The guy sitting on it is Frank Byrne. He's in the group photo a ways back sitting on the BSA and sidecar. Sorry I missed that get together.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6332/s8300193ih5.jpg[/IMG]

Rear view of the NSU. The guy in the red sweater is Owen O'Rielly, Norton guru. He's also in the group photo dressed in the German army uniform.
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/9964/s8300194rb1.jpg[/IMG]

This is Owen's 1938 Norton. The same one in the group photo. Its sort of a case od old farts never die. They just smell more.
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1732/s8300187ca7.jpg[/IMG]

irishbiker

04-26-2010, 12:12 PM

Phoenix Park Races 2009, My uncle tony keeping her lit

Hoofhearted

04-27-2010, 11:06 PM

Tony looks well!! Heres a link that might interest you.

http://www.biker.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=92937

When you see Tony you can tell him this is what I'm up to. This is my land speed racing sidecar. 500cc Weslake speedway engine. So far its run a record 122.240 mph at El Mirage dry lake. We're going to Bonneville with it this year to see if we can pound on some sidecar records here.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/749/img1216.jpg[/IMG]

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/737/img026h.jpg[/IMG]

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3514/img030.jpg[/IMG]

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/453/img027e.jpg[/IMG]

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7386/img1548r.jpg[/IMG]

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/1682/img1553h.jpg[/IMG]

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/1920/img1618y.jpg[/IMG]

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/600/img1610.jpg[/IMG]

Hear it run!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ9xPClCCIA