tis a aftermarket twin light kwacker fairing bought one from M and P or could have been MPS back in the days before tinternet big black and white double page ads in MCN with tiny blobby pics from a phonebox (remember them)C.O.D Steve p.s wobbly brackets and no relays provided and dirty great coachbolts as part of the fitting kit!
Phil I bumped into Dave Degan at a bike show this year, he was exhibiting some of his beautiful Tritons that he is still making. I took my Triton, that I built when I was an apprentice engineer in the early 70's to his place in London ,and he hand bent the most drop dead gorgeous exhaust pipes you have ever seen. Truly a magnificent work of art, you couldn't get a fag paper between them and the crankcases. here is his business card.
More Bol Pics from 92 this time. 1 - French CBX 6. 2 - line of Ducs. 3 - GG Kawsaki. 4 - Magni Guzzi. 5 - Moto Martin, top of the Col de Galibier on the way down to the Bol. 6 - Moto Martin having some beach time in Biarritz on the way home from the Bol.
View attachment 10392 6 - Moto Martin having some beach time in Biarritz on the way home from the Bol.[/QUOTE] Biarritz on the way home from the Bol? Where were you heading to, New York??
Who remembers the traditional sauerkraut that was always served at the Bol? I mean WTF? What happened to Provençal food? I got so pissed off with it year after year that I wrote a letter to Moto Journal complaining (ranting) and they published it as a star letter. My own letter in French! I was a very proud boy. I was tucking into the sauerkraut again when this guy next to us says in French to his friend "That bloke who wrote that letter to Moto Journal was dead right. It's a disgrace having sauerkraut down here". Whereupon my mate immediately introduced me as the letter writer. I almost had to sign his magazine. Happy days. I can still smell the frying merguez on the improvised BBQs. I never went to the Bol at Magny Cours. What would be the point? But if it was back on at Le Castellet I wouldn't miss it for anything.
I've done a Bol at Magny Cours, it's like having the Bol at Sliverstone......Shite. To top it all I left early and got done 750 Euros for speeding on the way home....
Not New York USA, but not far north of New York in Lincolnshire! My two week tours used to take in the Alps on the way down, Bol D'Or on the middle weekend, then back up the middle of the country, but that year, after the Bol I rode across to Andorra then Biarritz and up the west cost to St Nazaire before heading back to Dover. Different campsite every night, (except for the 2 or 3 nights at Ricard). Those Dymags did over 50,000 road miles before the rear developed a huge crack around the rim.
Found another picture on my laptop. This was the previous Honda 750 F1 with the addition of a dodgy fairing, dented tank, new exhaust and shocks and dubious homemade tail. This was taken on the road up and down to the Supermarché. It w as a manic racetrack with straw bales on all the corners and minimal police interest, some guys spent more time riding up and down this than watching the racing. There was always a local kid ready to show up the posers (usually Swiss in matching leathers). The Supermarket used to clear the aisles and have beer stacked to the ceiling with promotional dolly birds handing out tokens. The other main purchases were usually bread, Mergez (spicy sausage) and cheese The smell of Mergez cooking on a smoky camp fires is one of my abiding memory of the Bol.
truely gutted I never got to the Bol, always skint by the time it came round (September?) spending all spare cash at Hadleigh Customs. my banana F1, 836 big bore kit and action fours cam, wheels & forks from later twin cam, unbaffled anti social pipe, my poor neighbours, and later my GS thou, 1055cc, cams, smooth bores, dymags, s&w shocks, built by Dave Bexley of Hadleigh Customs. nice Bol article http://www.realclassic.co.uk/ridesfiles/rides05013100.html excellent image of Roland Brown struggling to get gsxr back to the pits.
I've got some pics from the Bol, from around 84 / 85, I'll dig them out and post a few tomorrow. They were still racing Guzzis, Laverdas and NCR Ducatis back then.
Sorry for the poor quality, they're old pics that I tried to photograph.. They werent big on crowd control .. this is the start, and a ticket, think it cost about £13 back then.. 750 Ducati? Reversed head Guzzi, later shown in MCN.. Local supermarket..they sold a lot of beer that weekend.. French special, with a Pantah? behind.. Endurance racer copy for the road, lovely bit of kit.. about double the price of a std bike.. RD350LC support race..lots fo crashes.. A pair of works Kawasakis, being chased by a Laverda RGS racer.. The end, some locals brought ladders to make sure got on the track..