No as I’d just returned from the '78 TT and was strapped for cash, but I had twirled the spanners for Asa Moyce* before that race, know that John Cowie’s P+M had a bog standard Z1 motor in it for that race and he also went onto win the F1 Championship that year.
*Asa partnered a mate of mine Keith Buckley in the '76 Production 10 lap TT riding a Z1 and he wasn’t a “Londoner” he was a Jock, we all used to meet up at a The Robin Hood a pub just outside of London on the A11 in Epping Forest on Tuesday evenings.
Keith tried/offered to hire my genuine “Hi Boy” framed 840cc Trident production racer for the '78 F1 TT.
I later twirled the spanners for Keith and Trevor Nation at the Bol D’or in '80 when they raced a P+M framed 16 valve RSC/Moriwaki kitted 1000cc CB900FZ Honda.
Steve R
Thanks Steve.
That bog standard Z1 motor looked very quick down the back straight so the overtake had to come in a braking zone, was the P+M Kwak much heavier than the Ducati and therefore harder to stop, was it down to tyres, or was Hailwood just a bit better on the brakes?
No, I’d gone from helping Sports to return home, and missed Mallory Park, I’d just moved to a new home 3 days before going to the TT!
Mr R - our paths surely crossed at the TT in '78! Also, do you remember Phil Lovett? Met up with him at Goodwood FoS this year, and spent a pleasant couple of hours reminiscing!
Hi Steve/Jilly,
I think that SMB Hailwood was just that good, but his NCR 900 TT F1 was just a bit “Special” as well, it had much better ground clearance as well.
John Cowie raced on a shoestring budget hence the standard tune motor, but the Z1 motor was that good back then, with a decent set of carb’s (29mm Smooth bores) and a race exhaust system they were more than a match for anything that had gone before and the P+M’s were pretty good tackle/the 1st choice of many talented Privateers.
I rode my 840cc “Hi Boy” Trident over for the ‘78 TT (F’ck me that bike was fast back in the day) and was sat on the inside of the course at the Creg watching Mike cream the rest of the field.
The next year I was over riding my new 900SS, I was still only 21 years old and I still own that bike today.
A year later I was selling parts to Steve Wynne for his/Sports’ TT effort.
When I won the prize for “The Best Bike” at the DOCGB Rally Steve Wynne had supplied the prize a service kit for the owner,
but I didn’t need that so he did me a deal/sent me a new pair of main bearings for my 900SS rebuild.
I blew the big ends out of my 900 after 10 months from new and 16,800 miles and then again after another 17,500 miles.
That bike was caned all over the UK and Europe, it never failed to get me home back then, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve rebuilt the motor, I took to rebuilding/replacing the crank assembly at 10,000 miles before it let go, (I’ve got a couple of overhauled cranks tucked away fitted with Carrillo rods) it’s covered well over 135,000 miles now.
Steve R