Went over to Oz at Christmas to see my daughter and we were in a seaside resort called Noosa Heads when my Wife spotted "That bloke off the telly that you used to watch all the time".... bugger me, my all time bike hero 3 x WSB champion Troy Bayliss!! Asked him nicely for a pic with him and he just slapped me on the back and said "Sure, no worries mate!!" absolutely chuffed to bits to meet him, WSB was never the same after he retired. Had a canny little chat with him, and said the last time I saw him race was at Brands with his Superman leathers on ( 2009 / 2010 ?? ) to which he replied "Jeez, that was a lifetime ago!!" He even went over to my wife, shook her hand and asked if she was having a nice holiday While he was doing this I was talking to his wife Kim and said that I lost interest in WSB after Troy retired and hadn't watched a WSB race since, she came back with quick as a flash with "No, neither have I" His young Son Ollie ( I think ) took the pic, he was better with the I-phone than I am!! Great to meet him, real nice bloke and Superbike legend.
awesome stuff! i met him the first year he was over here in BSB on the INS Ducati, I was 12 or 13 I think and queued up and expected the normal autograph signing, by the time I got near the front i thought 'this is taking a while' and then realised it was because he was shaking everyones hand, kissing the ladies on the cheek and asking if they were having a nice day out at Thruxton. He chatted to me for what seemed like a lifetime and just seemed like a genuine guy. I remember my dad telling me after to look around at the other races going through the motions. I genuinely loved watching him race, and loved the Troy Bayliss documentary he did 10 or so years back where he genuinely squirmed when his parents were saying nice things about him. him and Edwards for me are my biking hero's I think.
Cool an artist mate of mine here in York is a friend of his, cool guy and he doesn't die his hair :Angelic:
Not jealous, not even a little bit.... So cool, he is a proper legend and by all accounts a real genuine guy.
It's great to meet one of your "Heroes" and I'm glad for you that he is a proper chap who had time for you.So often nowadays you get blanked or treated like a turd by some Superstar who has his head up his arse?
Cool! What a top bloke and great spot by your wife. Mine wouldn't have had a bloody clue who he was, bless her.
Great to see how down to earth he is still. I'm not one for hero worship so it's cool when people are still people after all the awesome stuff.
"the last time I saw him race was at Brands with his Superman leathers on" One of my favourite racing pics ever..
Great pic Borgo! Noticed when we shook hands that part of his little finger was missing, I seem to recall that when he pulled his glove off after a crash somewhere that the end of his finger was still inside the glove!:fearscream: apparently he wanted to keep racing but was forced to go to hospital to get it treated. Double hard bast as well as being a nice bloke!!
think that was at donington. not sure about part of it left in his glove ,but i think he had the end taken off so he could race
I remember watching some awesome race footage with him on a ducati on youtube but am buggered if I can find it now. Anyone?
