BARRY SHEENE, LEGEND, RACER

BARRY SHEENE, LEGEND, RACER

Classic Motorcycle Racer

Barry Sheene was born in London England, September 11th and was the second child of Frank and Iris. Barry was a "Pommie" that endeared himself to Australians in and out of Motor Sport. Barry used his charm and good looks, his smile, and that crazy English accent that was so very unique, that made Barry loved by "Aussies" all over.
Barry's rise in popularity jumped when he moved from Channel Nine, sitting with the explosive Darryl Eastlake, to Channel Ten to cover the Grand Prix series, after that Barry never looked back. Barry wasn't short at coming forward and was arguably on of the first motorcycle racers to score large endorsements from sponsorships.

DATONA
At the start of 1974 Barry rode at Datona and drew the starting no7. which he made his own. One year later at Datona........

LEGEND takes on DATONA

This crash took Barry into the realm of dubious records,that it arguably was, at the speed of 175mph the fastest crash on record, and the other was that he was lucky to survive at all. His injuries included, broken left thigh, right arm, broken ribs, and damage to several vertibrae.
Barry was recorded in an interview later,and asked what he thought about his crash, and in his own way with that smile and accent he said, "If I'd been a race horse, I'd have been shot, apart from that, I'm fine."
Barry was up and about (all be it on crutches) a week after the operations to pin him self back together again.

SAFETY ISSUES
Not widely known, Barry contributed to bike racing in other than a competitive way. Barry was responsible for designing and manufacture of the prototype "Back Brace" used so commonly today. He gave this to an Italian manufacturing company Dainese, to produce and distribute through out the world.

Barry Sheene died of Cancer March 10, 2003 leaving his wife Stephany and two children.
THE RACER LIVES ON.

Classic Motorcycles and the "Fonz"

Classic Motorcycles and the "Fonz"

One of the best known situation comedy shows “Happy Days” which is still showing as repeats in various countries of the world, is still to this day an all time Classic TV. Show.
The leading character known as “The Fonz” (Arthur Fonzarelli {Henry Winkler}) dressed in iconic leather jacket, tight jeans and that white T shirt, rode a Classic British Motorcycle or three in the series. If the series was repeated in Australia. or U.S. today, only bike heads would notice the change in motorcycles and models used on the show.
The show Happy Days, was most popular towards the late seventies and ran for a staggering 11 seasons. (1972 the pilot, to the series end in 1984).
There were conflicting opinions as to what motorcycle he had from show to show. For example, the Happy Days Picture Gallery had him next to a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle and the in later episodes, a pre-unit 500 Triumph Twin (more on this later) and even a B.S.A. motorcycle.
Google Groups thought that one motorcycle was a Triumph, unspecified model, and the other a Harley Davidson Knuckle Head (doubtfull, because of the size) and not a Harley Davidson Sportster (more likely) So where's the evidence, it seems however, the Fonz was a man of many.....classic motorcycles, some even went so far as to name him “the father the son and the wholly Fonz”, of Fashon, Television, and Classic Motorcycles.

Classic Motorcycles and Handle Bars

A Triumph with two sets of Bars?

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES, LEATHER JACKETS and WHITE T SHIRTS

CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES, LEATHER JACKETS and WHITE T SHIRTS

The most likely motorcycle featured on Happy Days would arguably be the Triumph, as it seems to stick in every ones memory. View the attached video closely, listen to the classical music of it's pipes, that certain growl, and make up your own mind. The Fonz’s clothing started a fashion industry craze in the late 70’s with a plain white t shirt under a leather jacket styled in that WW2 Bomber look. The Fonz made everything cool and sexy. The girls loved the look!.... I digress.
The motorcycles mainly featured were Triumphs and were most likely the 449cc TR5 Trophy Twin first introduced at the 1948 Motor Cycle Show.
For road use, it was a low compression version of the Grand. Prix. engine. This model was entered by Allen Jefferies, in the 1948 International Six Days Trial and the Triumph cleaned up this event.
The Knucklehead Harley Davidson that was also a contestant, t'was given it’s name by Harley because of the exclusive shape of the rocker covers, like a shiny set of knuckles on a clenched fist. This had a twin pushrod motor that replaced the previous Flathead (no not a fish) and in turn replaced by the Panhead engined model in 1948. The Fonz was also pictured along side a Harley Davidson Sportster. Most likely all but the Triumph, were purely promotional events to seize the moment of the day.

Classic Motorcycles on Reishi Ganoderma

Classic Motorcycles on Reishi Ganoderma

Besides Classic Motorcycles, I also write an interesting Blog on Reishi (Ganoderma), and other facinating health subjects that you should take a look at, after all Classic Motorcycles and your good health go together.
You may view this site on http://reishi-lingzh.blogspot.com

Classic Harley Davidson Motorcycles not Depressed.

Classic Harley Davidson Motorcycles not Depressed.

Harley & Davidson's intention was to be dominant in racing and won its first race with a motorcycle that had a one cylinder combustion engine in 1905.
The famous "Bar and Shield" logo was first used in 1910 and this further established the "brand" of Harley Davidson.

The fabulous sidecar outfit was developed by Harley Davidson Motorcycles in 1914 and their potential was realised by the U.S. military. Harley Davidson motorcycles and sidecars alike, saw service in WWI and interestingly half the Harley production was used by the military.
By 1920 Harley Davidson was the most popular of motorcycle producers in the world and were in over 65 different countries of the world.
When the depression hit, Harley Davidson, like all manufacturers of the time, had stay on top. It had to stimulate it's sales by offering something that was ground breaking. H.D. came up with the iconic "Eagle graphic". The Eagle, being most powerful, helped H.D. through the depression. It effectively put a new emphasis on design, 'Personalised tank graphics'.

Legendary Classic Motorcycles Harley Davidson

Classic Motorcycle Harley Davidson

There was another time back in 1935 when all things American, turned Asian.
Harley Davidson licenced everything to Sankyo, this in turn initiated the Japanese to set up a new motor cycle manufacturing industry, after all they had every thing they needed, but thats another story.

1902 Was A Very Good Year.

Back in 1902 a young William Harley designed a one cylinder motor cycle. As it happend one year later he met up with Arthur Davidson and together they created Harley Davidson.
Their first factory was a small wooden shack but importantly it had Harley Davidson sinage on the front.
William and Arthur had no idea they were birthing of one of the greatest motor cycle companies in the world Harley Davidson, a true classic motorcycle company.