As one who was a teen during the 1960s, I'm staggered by the fact that I got to experience those incredible years in my youth. The "car" decade of the '60s, and the beginning of the modern motorcycle era in the '70s, and everything else those decades contained. It was a unique and amazing time to be young and in America...
What a time! As a young man, I idolized these men, rode the wheels off of my bikes all the while pretending I was racing these legends. There were too many tragic endings to many of these men's careers and lives.
I grew up going the San Jose Mile! I remember walking the track after the race and picking up tear-offs and hitting the pits for autographs! best time ever!
cdiaz - The San Jose Mile was a real treat. It freaked a few riders out at first. Mark Brelsford was always amazed that the houses on the outside of the turns were so close. At one race he told me, "I'm sliding by, and I can see houses! And people in their backyards, having barbecues!"
When Lawwill took Brelsford under his wing and both of them racing out of DUD PERKINS HD in S.F. it was like a major transistion for Mark. He had been riding a GS before and not having much success. When he got to ride Mert's Spare KR's then he was really on Track. He always had the talent but the equipment he was racing before teaming up with Mert hadn't been the most reliable. He ended up being the top Amatuer for 68. Back then it was rare that a 1st year expert ever received a National Nimber but #87 was open and I think AMA's thinking was the Top Amatuer/s from the prior season would get a NN's if any were open. I remember him coming to the Boise TT Regional(1970) with Mert and beating Mert and a lot of other top TT riders in his Heat. If he hadn't jumped the start in the Main and got sent to the back; I'm almost positive he would have won the main event. Mert ended up not only winning the feature but also lapping riders like Mann and TT Legends like Vanleeuen,Burris,Nutter and others. He was like a rocket that day and so was Mark on their Jim Belland Framed XLR's Another long time track that is no longer. I remember EPA coming in saying because the track had been oiled for years that it represented a Hazard from contamination. The track wasn't even close to the City Limits. When they started digging up the track and transporting the so called contaminated dirt; guess where they dumped it. Right outside the City Limits;closer than where the Track had been. Another one of your Government's Brain Fade mentality ideas.....s.m.
@@stevematz7354 MY stepdad worked with Mark Brelsford's father and one day we went by the house and there it was sitting in the garage. The #87 750 Harley. I was about 10 years old. Mark and Scott were both so cool. They laughed when I asked if I could ride it. They gave me handfuls of Harley #87 and Bell Helmet stickers. They lived in San Bruno California just a few miles south of San Francisco. Back then there were miles and miles of undeveloped land and you could ride anywhere until the police showed up which was rare.
The soundtrack is epic! I don't ride motorcycles, I'm a musician. But I'm a huge fan of this era of racing legends. I remember Dave Aldana, Gene Romero, Jimmy Rice, Dick Mann, Mert Lawill. Met Gene Romero when I was 14. I'm still awestruck!!
Awesome video, I love all of the old footage. A lot of these guys were my heroes growing up around the flat track scene in the 70's. I wish we could find more video's like this one.
I raced 1\4 mile short track and 1\2 mile tracks in Texas . . . never won enough that anybody would know my name, but I bought Terry Poovey's shorttrack and half-mile Bultaco 360 right after he became #1 (or maybe he got #1 the next year, I forget) but I swear that bike was sweet . . .so fast. . . I loved that thing. . . .only have a couple pictures of it and wished I'd kept it, or more pics, or the bike itself. . . .that was a fun time.
Same as a lot of folk. My pops raced during the 70s around the west coast, nobody you'd recognize but to this day still has his 73 champion framed 360 Bultaco and 75 factory Astro 360
Doyle Sinclair - Terry Poovey (18) The Undisputed Iron Man of AMA National DT Racing. Over 30yrs of Professional DT Racing carrying the same NN 18; A Number that is almost unfathomable in any form of Auto/MC Racing at the Professional Level and a Number I don't expect to ever be surpassed in this current age of Racing. 18 was my favorite number as a young teen starting to Race because it was the First NN for Mert Lawwill and Troy Lee through the 60's ...
Raced flat track in the 70s had a 1972 Bultaco put a compression release in the cylinder head when you go balls to the walls you never use your break to me it was The Ultimate Rush...Fast and Faster..🎬🏍💥💨
Anyone remember a Wide World of Sports (?) wheelie contest out on a dry lake bed? Aldana was the last one up and disappeared into the distance. They had to send the 'copter after him to get him to come back for the trophy. I seem to remember him with one leg over the tank just cruising along. One of my favorite riders, always looked like he was having WAY too much fun.
Always thought these guys were nuts, but it truly IS a form of 'art' if viewed in slo-mo. A friend of my dads' raced FT long before I started riding, his name was Ward Ring, iirc. Motocross was my bag, baby! Nowadays I do the vintage thing, which includes FT, which is a blast to watch.
Flat track is fast and dangerous. My old man told me his factory HD XR750 would do 150 down the straight into the corners on the big mile tracks. That was late 60 early 70's He was National number 28w Jerry Shirley
Awesome !!! Those bikes would Wheelie at 120 - 140 mph . On the Mile tracks the fast guys had average speed at 132 mph for the full lap so, they were going over 157 mph in the straitaways. I saw your dad race at the Mile tracks of Illinois . Wild Racing Action and the Sound !!!
There is nothing like it. Rode only amateur events from 1966 to 1972 and 2004 to 2019, but did get to ride the Sacramento Amateur Mile five times. Old age and The Plague ended my "career".
Thanks to Bart Markel and Joe Aldana for some of the best racing, and their generosity of spirit in the making of this movie. Thanks to Joe Farrell for uploading.
And Tim twice....and beef bashburn... I won't even fuck with Dick Mann his name needs no spoofin lol smalcolm spliff.... Spenny sloberts.....squirt slawill... All the greats .... Spleen Roberto " quesadilla" malt and Pam magoner...
Some comments here are from people who may not know Flat Track has several types of racing forms. Speedway is the traditional true to the old school races on very basic machines and on very small tracks, whilst most of the AMA races are on longer tracks such as the Indy Mile for example and more advanced machines. This is where the racers such as Kenny Roberts learned their skills. Because of these skills the Americans ruled MotoGP for a while until the rest of the world caught up with the new style of riding. Yes the Americans are the best flat trackers in the world as they have the most tracks and riders anywhere in the world, they have however taken a huge fall from the ranks of the MotoGP class and is now the Spanish and Italians who rule that although us Aussies and a few Brits still make a showing, same reason though - the Europeans have the most GP style tracks and the most accessible youth riding championships currently running anywhere in the world. Great film!
Your most alive when your close to death. This is second to none and these guys are the legends of the sport and always will be. Motocross was just in it's birthing stage here in the US at that time and you could win races by being a good rider instead of now you need to ride and have the most money for the top equipment. Feet up powerslide wide open nothing like it. wow thanks for making this public.
That was awesome. Brought back good memories. That sounded like Roxy Rockwood narrating. He was great announcer. He even made their names sound fast "On the number 13 bike rider out of Hartland Michigan Harley mounted RaaaandyGoss".
That was Roxy; back in the old days when Cycle News was called Motorcycling News; he had a weekly column on FT mainly covering ASCOT. he went by Rocky Rockwood. I remember his son Tom battling it out with Brelsford for top Amateur for 1968. At the Season Ending Race at Ascot that year Lawwill won the Expert Main, Mark won the Amatuer Main and the best race of the night was Aldana passing Mashburn on turn 3 after keith's TDIC Bogged off the Corner and Dave giving Keith the finger as if saying "I Finally beat your Ass" Masburn was a terror in 68 as a novice; winning almost everywhere he went...s.m.
Randy Goss's mother in-law was Dee Johnson (Leathers by Dee) I remember she made a clone set of Randy's HD Factory Racing Team Leathers for her Granddaughter when she was just a couple years old. If you have Alan Girdler's Book "Harley Racers 1934-1986 There is a Picture of Randy,Wife and Daughter wearing her # 1 leathers.....She would be a young woman now probably in her 30's...
It's too bad this film didn't get widely distributed after it was made. The interview with Dave Aldana and Bart Markel was a great kicker at the end.The joke about the water in Flint was ironic.
Great video memories about one of my favorite and exciting types of racing. Too bad that Sammy Tanner was not mentioned as he was a terrific rider. I agree with Aldana that Ascot Friday nights were fantastic with very close racing action. I raced a few Ascot Thursday night motos with Aldana on my 69 Suzuki Savage with git kit. Those were the best days!
This Film actually had some better DT Footage than OAS. 1971 the year AMA had to mess with the National Number System and piss everyone off (riders & fans) Thank god they got the message and went back to the old numbering system. Good Film, too bad they didn't have the likes of McQueen to finance the distribution of the Movie. I hadn't seen MARKEL in years so it was quite a shock to see him in his present state. In the 60's he was a Good looking,physically fit athlete.I had a feeling when he lost Joanne in 2005 that he would be close behind.(2007) My 2nd set of BATES Leathers were a Clone of his 1966 Set when he was #1 again. One of the finest DT Talents of the 20th Century...RIP BART...s.m.
A biography of Mr Markel is one of my most prized books. Living in UK information about him is very thin on the ground. I never cared too much for the "Black Bart" cr*p. He was a consummate professional and, as such, a supreme athlete. I seem to remember he was a Golden Gloves champion in his youth. That man could REALLY ride a motorcycle, and became a damn good development engineer as well.
I have to agree with Steve Matz (see below) about the National Number system thing. When the AMA changed it for a short time, it was a mess. Seeing Nixon without number 9, and so on, was a travesty. On the film itself, a clue about why it didn't become popular can be seen in the new intro and outro, where Dave DePain (not a typo) mispronounces Aldana's name, over and over. While I realize that this was added recently, it shows how poorly the film itself was produced. It does have great scenes of flat-track racing, but even when it was first shown in the 1970s, the fans and riders saw it as a cheap imitation of On Any Sunday, which, to be honest, was a good, but not a great documentary. Those of us who raced back then loved it, naturally, as did every motorcycle racing fan, but it was more than a bit cheesy. One bit I enjoyed in The Thrill Is On was seeing Bouncing Bob made fun of. That clown damn near got more than a few of us killed with his loony acrobatics while flagging. At one event he was doing somersaults - at either the San Jose or Sacramento Mile - while me and two other guys were side by side, fighting for position and approaching the finish. Bouncing Bob landed on his feet, facing us, just in time to see the two other guys fly by on his left, as I went by on his right, all of us missing him by inches. One of the other riders was screaming so loud I could hear him over the engines; ... "YOU DUIMB M****F****!!! GET THE F*** OUTTA THE WAY!!!!" Good times.
That's Halarious! Back in 71 when we found out that OAS was booked at our Local FOX THEATER. One of our Local Racers who knew the Manager asked him if he would like to have a DT Bike to Display in the Lobby for the Movie Goers to see and get up Close to.He had 2 Trackmaster BSA's with the whole ball of Wax (ceriani forks,Barnes Wheels,Axtell Head Engine, Mikunis,ARD Mag,etc.) The Manager was more than thrilled at the Offer. I thought that we would just get maybe 4 free Tickets but was I in for a Surprise. You would have thought that we were Celebrities at a Movie Premiere. He had reserve signs on 4 seats in the middle of the Loge Seating and he told the Concessions People in the Lobby;whatever they want is Free. So we take our Girlfriends and loadup at the concession Stand and sit in our Prime seats and Proceed to Watch the Movie. When it Opens with Mert walking down the Street with a Suit I was really in Shock. I had been with him in the Pits at the BOISE Regional TT that he always goes back to since that is his home town. This was in April 1970 and he never said one word that Bruce Brown was making a Film on Bike Racing.Brelsford was there also, and Mert's Mech/sidekick Jack Dunn also never mentioned a word about any Filming of a Documentary. Of course at that time we thought the Film was greater than Sliced Bread since about the only movie that concentrated on Motorcycle Racing was made clear back in 1952 called "The Pace that Thrills" Anyway we liked it so much we stayed for both Showings. We really came out good on that deal for basically just hauling a Motorcycle down to a theater and setting it up. When it came out on DVD of course I had to Buy it. Sure it's dated and not the Spectacular Movie we thought it was in 71; But I still once in a while put the disc in and watch it on a 73" Mitsibishi Big Screen. Seems Strange that Mert will be 74 years old in Sept. I always think of him like he was still in his 20's. He was my idol back in 65 when he won the Sacramento 20 miler and it was televised on Wide World of Sports Back Then....Those Days are long gone but the Movies let you relive how it was back in the Day...
WOW -Great I wonder what ever happened to ACE Signs Bruese and Wane Kerner they painted # plates. And made tee-shirts I know that they painted Dave's plate Thank you for the video brings back good memory's
Those guys right legs must be so strong. Not only do they need to support that body weight to be able to help absorb inconsistencies, but also the added weight from the centripetal g forces.
This may have already been mentioned in the comments (maybe even by me, ... my memory sucks!), but DeSpain's commentary is incorrect about this film not being released until now. It was shown in theaters, at least on the West Coast, right after it was made. It received negative reviews, which were deserved since it was an amateur, and kinda cheesy, attempt to copy Bruce Brown's On Any Sunday. The one thing we all liked about The Thrill Is On was the focus on flat-tracking.
DAVE DESPAIN IS RIGHT,,,,60S AN 70S WAS GREATEST TIME IN MC RACEING,,,,,THEY USE TO BE 6 DEEP ALL AROUND THE TRACK,,,,AN DAVE WAS THE BEST ANNOUNCER,,,,
Back in the day when DT Race Bikes had open straightpipes/ Megaphones and sounded like Heavy Thunder to people in the Grandstands. I believe one of the major reasons that AMA Grand National Racing doesn't have the Popularity it once had was because of the Noise Decibel Ruling instigated by AMA. Putting these Super Trapp type Mufflers/ Canisters made these Bikes sound Quieter than many of your Street Machines. One of the reasons People go to Car/ Motorcycle Racing Events is to hear the thunderous noise these engines make. No real Race Fan wants to listen to something that's quieter than what he rides/drives on the Street. This Noise Ruling seems to be towards Motorcycle Racing in General for Some Reason. How many Fans did you think NASCAR,NHRA,etc. would lose if they made them run Mufflers ...
+rob biddlecombe I don't know how many years you've watched DT Racing, but I raced DT going back to the 60's and if you don't think people came to the races to hear the sound of an H-D KR , BSA Goldstar, or Triumph T100R than your sadly mistaken. AMA putting a noise decibel restriction on bikes lost a 1/3 or more of their Audience. Who wants to hear an XR with a SuperTrapp on it when they originally came w/ open megaphones in 72....... You apparently never saw real DT Racing the way it was intended to be !
+rob biddlecombe - Steve Matz is absolutely correct. I raced in Class C both before and after the sound regulations, and bikes became MUCH quieter. While I realize that it was necessary to keep the local residents happy, it did cause the loss of many fans. Yes, the bikes are still loud, but unless you've heard what they sounded like back then, you really can't understand the difference. One major difference for riders is that you can't hear other bikes around you and behind you nearly as well with silencers as you could in the "old days", and that makes things just a bit less safe. And I guess we all still have some ringing in our ears as a result of all that wonderful noise back then, but it's worth it.
Rob: I came back to add another reply to your comments about exhaust noise not making a difference. I recently went to the Isle of Man TT (I'm a professional sports photographer, as well as an ex-racer), and I spoke to a few dozen locals and racers who were around before and after silencers were added. And every single person said the louder, the better. Some of the non-muffled multi-cylinder "Fire engines" such as Gilera and MV, could be heard for miles before and after they went by. It's the same with AMA Class C flat-track racing, as Steve Matz points out. Though I do understand the need for silencers at tracks where locals live close by, in the days before mufflers it was absolute magic. Loud magic, but still magic. If people wanted less noise, they wore earplugs or headphones. But being able to hear as well as see, smell and feel that amazing power was incredible. Just walking towards the outside gates at the Sacramento Mile on an AMA race day, and hearing those screaming engines from a block away was an honest-to-gawd semi-religious experience. It would get your heart pumping in an instant, and that includes "civilians" and racers alike. Without hearing the power, racing becomes far less dramatic. As I mentioned, I was at the TT, and when they ran the Zero class electric race bikes, people were bored to tears. And those bikes are now averaging around 120mph around the Mountain Course! So speed doesn't matter so much. Anyway, this has gotten way too long. But one final thought. No matter whether you are an old or new fan, the guy to listen to here is Steve Matz. I sorta kinda remember him from our days of AMA Class C racing, but my memory is pretty shot at my age. But what I do know is that Steve really knows his stuff. He's refreshed my memory on a bunch of things from the 60s and 70s, and it's all accurate. Damn, Steve, ... you should write a book!
Thanks for the plug Chuck. I think I still have a Photo you sent me back in the early 2000's. I believe you were on an A65 BSA at speed but not sure at what track. I have that photo along with hundreds on my old Compaq laptop that I have been trying to copy to a flashdrive but with no luck. apparently windows 98 file system is not compatible with 7. and every driver I've downloaded won't let it copy. I will probably have to take out the hard drive and have it copied. Don't want to lose these photos as many are one of a kind that I got from Ralph White, VanLeeuen, and Dennis Mahan,etc.. Mahan's are mostly of Ascot when Keen and Gunter were winning big. we will have to get our emails back to each other as I'm sure you would like to see these old DT Racing Pics.....Have a Good One ! s.m.
Damn, Steve! You read my mind. I'd forgotten that I'd sent you that photo. It's from either the Sacramento Mile or San Jose Mile, in 1969 or 1970. I was probably the last guy to switch from 500cc to 750cc when the formula changed, so I actually rode the only Gold Star at one of the first Miles after the change. Naturally, I got my ass kicked, but a bunch of people said they loved the nostalgic sound. So I guess that's worth something. Have you tried emailing those photos on your old Compaq to your new computer as JPGs? That worked for me when I had a similar problem. In fact, I can't access that particular photo, so if you could try emailing it to me, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to stay in touch anyway, since I would love to find a way to get your recollections of those days online in a blog or something. My direct email is; chuck@2007AC.com
Jammin’ Jimmy Weinert, 1974 & 1975 AMA 500cc MX champion, 1976 AMA 250cc Supercross champion. Good thing he saw the light and gave up on the roundy rounders.
Calvin Rayborn got X thousand miles over here. under vile conditions. and showed us British how to road race against the filthyest conditions that were put up against him He REALLY showed us how to race on tarmac. Does anybody remember the Transatlantic Series of the 1970s?
Tony - Hell yes! That series was a major milestone for us American racers. Until then, as you know, we played second fiddle to all you Brits in road-racing. We knew we had some good riders, but until that series there was no real way to judge how good they were. All we really had was the Daytona 200, which didn't really prove anything. When Cal Rayborn, and the other Yanks stuck it to the best Brits, on your best bikes, and on YOUR tracks, while riding a freaking H-D - and not even on the good H-D road racers that came later, without the iron barrels - we were as amazed as you all were. As mentioned, we knew Cal was a great road racer, but seeing it proven was very cool. I only wish Dick Mann could have gone over there in his prime and raced. He was another rider who never reached his international potential. When I first heard that Cal had been killed a few years later, I finally learned what people meant when they said that they felt like they'd been kicked in the gut. He could have been world champion if things had been a bit different.
It is ironic that the last lime Harley-Davidson won the Daytona 200 was 1969 by Cal. He was actually riding the same KRTT that he rode in 68 when he also won the 200 miler. Tom Sifton had done a lot of R&D in the fall of 1967. The Cams, Dual Carbs,Megaphones were his ideas and changes. The Factory 68 KR's were fast but most of the Team's Bikes ended up with DNF's Cal's Bike ran perfectly the whole 200 miles. I remember Nixon saying he was riding his T100R Flat out at almost 140mph and he said Rayborn went by me like I was standing still. Another Great Guy Gone but not forgotten....s.m.
Cal's 69 Daytona Victory (and HD's last 200 win) was on the same KRTT that he won with in 68. During the off season after 67; Dick O'Brien got famous tuner Tom Sifton to do some more R&D on the old archaic Flathead KR and actually got some more horses out of the old gal. A revised set of Cams (J int & L exh) along with going to dual Tillotson Diaphragm carbs over the old single Linkert MR4A that had been used forever plus open cone megaphones helped get the Factory Team KR's to over 60+ HP. They were fast that year but also unreliable as most of the HD Team besides Rayborn had issues. I remember Gary Nixon saying he was going flat out on his T100R at around 140 and Cal going by him past the banked Oval turn.You are right in that the Yamaha TR2 Twins were the fastest bikes but none of their riders had the RRing talent of a Rayborn so the riding skill overcame the HP advantage of the Yamahas. HD Race dept was supposed to offer this same engine combination to the privateer Dirttrack Racers for 68 but ended up only adding the new Cam set and a single Tillotson Carb. 1969 was the new 750cc Overhead Rule that was implemented by the AMA in the fall of 68. The only reason Lawwill was able to win the season Championship on his dual carb KR was the competition wasn't up to full strength that inaugural year. HD in 70 was using the Iron XR750, which was nothing more than a desroked XLR (883) Engine. Mert would have been better off riding his KR that year as the Iron XR had more DNF's than imaginable. That Bike lost the # 1 plate 2 yrs in a row for HD until the intended ALLOY XR finally arrived for the 72 season ...
AT 57:25 Sorry Bart(R.i.P.), Jawa's were made in Czechoslovakia since 1929. Also, Aldana is incorrect at 1:00:07 The British Villiers Group went out in the 80's.
I still have my NVT card that I recieved when I purchased my new 1976 Triumph T140V Bonneville 750. That bike won every race for 10 consecutive years and she sits not more than 20 feet from me as I type this.
At 1:00:39 The water in Flint was piped in from...Detroit since the early 60's i believe. When Flint went into numerous Bankruptcies recently, the Detroit water pipeline was severed. This is why Flint has had disaturous Water problems as of lately!!! If any of the Flint Flat Track riders were weaned on Flint water, they probably would not have been around to talk about it, let alone win the Numerous National's and Grand National's!!! Also, the Flint G.M. plants were notorious for dumping waste into the Flint Rivers prior to the EPA stepping in to salvage the pollutants!!! The reason Detroit's water is ranked in the nations top 10 is because of the treatment plants and the ancient fact that the Great Lake State of Michigan was formed by Glaciers!
Why is it that those that criticise have never ridden! and if they had they know it still takes balls to throw 150 kg twin sideways into a corner it isn't a Jawa and it all part of the Number 1 plate in late 60s
I have REAL signatures of EVERY AMA Grand National Champion from 1940-1980 ... all on the same page of my American Racer: 1940-1980 book (by Stephen Wright, signed by him too!!). I often wonder what this is worth??? .. any guesses???
Mr Markel was never Mr "Markle", he was always "Markel",as in Markell. He always insisted upon that, and it seems to have been one of the few things he took as a family pride thing. A great man, whose like we see very few times.
Is there a way to purchase a dvd/bluray copy of this video? This is an awesome video with great flat track footage and music. I would love to have it in my collection. Jerry
I have no clue but these old ones have the classic roar and are still probably fast as hell! I just love the nostalgia of these old bikes over the modern ones.
+wheelie w - The lap times of the old bikes from the 1970s is surprisingly close to the times at the same tracks today. The biggest difference is the types of tires that are allowed today. Back then, the rules allowed only a very few street type tires, with Dunlop K70s and Pirellis being the most popular. No one made the specialized flat track tires they use now, nor were they legal to use. All you could do is cut the treads a bit, or "cook" the tires to increase hardness for some tracks, like Ascot. And even that was outlawed eventually. The other reason times have not dropped dramatically is because even with the better and wider tires you can only maintain a certain amount of traction, so having gobs of horsepower is wasted if you can't transfer it to the ground. A perfect example is the monster TZ750 that Kenny Robert rode briefly back then. It was insanely overpowered, and even he said so.
Hi, Would love to screen this on my backup channel, is that ok?, i will credit you of course, the channel is all about historic racing, but i am UK based and think this will go down well with my audience, cheers
I'm not firmiliar with this type of racing, so this might be a stupid question but how come I don't see any Hondas like CLs or SLs or really any japanese motorcycles?
+jackal99 - Good points on why there weren't many Japanese bikes in flat track. Some other reasons were that only the Yamaha XS650 was really the right engine layout for flat track, and even Kenny Roberts said that that engine was too "buzzy" and top-heavy. He was one of very few riders who could win on one. If the Japanese motors had been designed more suitably for flat track, you can bet that guys would have used those engines. Once they started building V-twins, and narrower engines, they did much better. it all has to do with weight distribution and height, and how the power is transferred to the ground. Too much RPM doesn't allow the tire to bite on clay. Keep in mind that tire type and size is limited by the rules. Without a lot of tire, a lot of HP is useless.
You'll see them now. Honda dominated in the mid-80s and Kawasaki of late has the fastest flattrackers. I still miss the sound of a well-tuned vertical British twin, though.
U would be right. The guys that shot the movie developed the sound track by picking whatever albums where laying on the floor next to the stereo. Other music was added years later during post production.
I was just looking for him a few weeks ago, at the San Jose indoor short track. Someone said he was around, but I never saw him. Great guy. I did see Bob Scally and Dave Hansen, who both raced at the event. A bunch of guys who I thought had retired long ago still do the indoor races. And they still know how to get the gas on. Check Google for the next event there.
Such great racing in a great time...oh the love of freedom. Nothing but Honor for these guys.
As one who was a teen during the 1960s, I'm staggered by the fact that I got to experience those incredible years in my youth. The "car" decade of the '60s, and the beginning of the modern motorcycle era in the '70s, and everything else those decades contained. It was a unique and amazing time to be young and in America...
What a time! As a young man, I idolized these men, rode the wheels off of my bikes all the while pretending I was racing these legends. There were too many tragic endings to many of these men's careers and lives.
SAME HERE I GREW UP WITH THESE MEN. THE BEST ERA OF FLAT TRACK....ALDANA IN HIS BONES LEATHERS. UNDER THE LIGHTS...EPIC
I grew up going the San Jose Mile! I remember walking the track after the race and picking up tear-offs and hitting the pits for autographs! best time ever!
cdiaz - The San Jose Mile was a real treat. It freaked a few riders out at first. Mark Brelsford was always amazed that the houses on the outside of the turns were so close. At one race he told me, "I'm sliding by, and I can see houses! And people in their backyards, having barbecues!"
When Lawwill took Brelsford under his wing and both of them racing out of DUD PERKINS HD in S.F. it was like a major transistion for Mark. He had been riding a GS before and not having much success. When he got to ride Mert's Spare KR's then he was really on Track. He always had the talent but the equipment he was racing before teaming up with Mert hadn't been the most reliable. He ended up being the top Amatuer for 68. Back then it was rare that a 1st year expert ever received a National Nimber but #87 was open and I think AMA's thinking was the Top Amatuer/s from the prior season would get a NN's if any were open.
I remember him coming to the Boise TT Regional(1970) with Mert and beating Mert and a lot of other top TT riders in his Heat. If he hadn't jumped the start in the Main and got sent to the back; I'm almost positive he would have won the main event. Mert ended up not only winning the feature but also lapping riders like Mann and TT Legends like Vanleeuen,Burris,Nutter and others. He was like a rocket that day and so was Mark on their Jim Belland Framed XLR's Another long time track that is no longer. I remember EPA coming in saying because the track had been oiled for years that it represented a Hazard from contamination. The track wasn't even close to the City Limits. When they started digging up the track and transporting the so called contaminated dirt; guess where they dumped it. Right outside the City Limits;closer than where the Track had been. Another one of your Government's Brain Fade mentality ideas.....s.m.
@@stevematz7354 MY stepdad worked with Mark Brelsford's father and one day we went by the house and there it was sitting in the garage. The #87 750 Harley. I was about 10 years old. Mark and Scott were both so cool. They laughed when I asked if I could ride it. They gave me handfuls of Harley #87 and Bell Helmet stickers. They lived in San Bruno California just a few miles south of San Francisco. Back then there were miles and miles of undeveloped land and you could ride anywhere until the police showed up which was rare.
Dave Despain is the Sam Posey of American motorcycle racing
Great voice , knowledge for miles and a good interviewer
A HELL of a great feel good movie!!! Thanks!!!
The soundtrack is epic! I don't ride motorcycles, I'm a musician. But I'm a huge fan of this era of racing legends. I remember Dave Aldana, Gene Romero, Jimmy Rice, Dick Mann, Mert Lawill. Met Gene Romero when I was 14. I'm still awestruck!!
These guys appear faster or at least as fast as today and twice the guts and aggression.
Its amazing what guys like Mert Lawwill, David Aldana, and Dick Mann accomplished. Back in those days, you had to have steel cajones.
San Jose, CA MILE back in the 70's and 80's ROCKED!!!!!!
Awesome video, I love all of the old footage. A lot of these guys were my heroes growing up around the flat track scene in the 70's. I wish we could find more video's like this one.
If you want your own copy email Don at ddaniel@austin.rr.com or call 512-789-0465 $36.00 we do pay pal or check.
Good old British bikes, in this film , best bike out there
I raced 1\4 mile short track and 1\2 mile tracks in Texas . . . never won enough that anybody would know my name, but I bought Terry Poovey's shorttrack and half-mile Bultaco 360 right after he became #1 (or maybe he got #1 the next year, I forget) but I swear that bike was sweet . . .so fast. . . I loved that thing. . . .only have a couple pictures of it and wished I'd kept it, or more pics, or the bike itself. . . .that was a fun time.
Doyle Sinclair in
Same as a lot of folk. My pops raced during the 70s around the west coast, nobody you'd recognize but to this day still has his 73 champion framed 360 Bultaco and 75 factory Astro 360
Doyle Sinclair - Terry Poovey (18) The Undisputed Iron Man of AMA National DT Racing. Over 30yrs of Professional DT Racing carrying the same NN 18; A Number that is almost unfathomable in any form of Auto/MC Racing at the Professional Level and a Number I don't expect to ever be surpassed in this current age of Racing. 18 was my favorite number as a young teen starting to Race because it was the First NN for Mert Lawwill and Troy Lee through the 60's ...
Raced flat track in the 70s had a 1972 Bultaco put a compression release in the cylinder head when you go balls to the walls you never use your break to me it was The Ultimate Rush...Fast and Faster..🎬🏍💥💨
It was the golden age of motorcycle racing of all kinds. We just didn't know it at the time, we do now.
Anyone remember a Wide World of Sports (?) wheelie contest out on a dry lake bed? Aldana was the last one up and disappeared into the distance. They had to send the 'copter after him to get him to come back for the trophy. I seem to remember him with one leg over the tank just cruising along. One of my favorite riders, always looked like he was having WAY too much fun.
Dave Aldana is a spectacular rider. I had the humbling privilege to be lapped by him in the 1995 elsinore grand prix. Yes he took first place.
Always thought these guys were nuts, but it truly IS a form of 'art' if viewed in slo-mo. A friend of my dads' raced FT long before I started riding, his name was Ward Ring, iirc. Motocross was my bag, baby! Nowadays I do the vintage thing, which includes FT, which is a blast to watch.
Love the sound of the british twins
THANKS, I attended plenty of DT racing here in Dayton Ohio. It was always a good time
..damm..
great music, great show and what a bunch o kool kats.
thanks man
kk#38k
kansas
no
Flat track is fast and dangerous. My old man told me his factory HD XR750 would do 150 down the straight into the corners on the big mile tracks. That was late 60 early 70's He was National number 28w Jerry Shirley
Awesome !!! Those bikes would Wheelie at 120 - 140 mph . On the Mile tracks the fast guys had average speed at 132 mph for the full lap so, they were going over 157 mph in the straitaways. I saw your dad race at the Mile tracks of Illinois . Wild Racing Action and the Sound !!!
There is nothing like it. Rode only amateur events from 1966 to 1972 and 2004 to 2019, but did get to ride the Sacramento Amateur Mile five times. Old age and The Plague ended my "career".
Thanks to Bart Markel and Joe Aldana for some of the best racing, and their generosity of spirit in the making of this movie. Thanks to Joe Farrell for uploading.
Seconded. In spades.
@@tc19948 no kķ n m ll m o 9⁹p p
And Tim twice....and beef bashburn... I won't even fuck with Dick Mann his name needs no spoofin lol smalcolm spliff.... Spenny sloberts.....squirt slawill... All the greats .... Spleen Roberto " quesadilla" malt and Pam magoner...
Some comments here are from people who may not know Flat Track has several types of racing forms. Speedway is the traditional true to the old school races on very basic machines and on very small tracks, whilst most of the AMA races are on longer tracks such as the Indy Mile for example and more advanced machines. This is where the racers such as Kenny Roberts learned their skills. Because of these skills the Americans ruled MotoGP for a while until the rest of the world caught up with the new style of riding. Yes the Americans are the best flat trackers in the world as they have the most tracks and riders anywhere in the world, they have however taken a huge fall from the ranks of the MotoGP class and is now the Spanish and Italians who rule that although us Aussies and a few Brits still make a showing, same reason though - the Europeans have the most GP style tracks and the most accessible youth riding championships currently running anywhere in the world. Great film!
Dave Aldana nailed it Kenny Roberts could do dirt tracing, any MX, road racing came easy for him.
Love the racing Wow can't beleive I survived the 70's.. I loved the triumps then and still do now.
Amen on the crimes love them then still have a 68 Bonneville
Your most alive when your close to death. This is second to none and these guys are the legends of the sport and always will be. Motocross was just in it's birthing stage here in the US at that time and you could win races by being a good rider instead of now you need to ride and have the most money for the top equipment. Feet up powerslide wide open nothing like it. wow thanks for making this public.
The1Away
Thanks so much for video in my area still love triumphs remember Gary Nixon Jean mamaro Don Castro old part here
"You never know how fast you can go until you fall down" Dave Aldana.
Awesome, been to a lot of these races in that era. Would like to give kudos to whoever selected the music.
I have seen this several times and it is truly brilliant.
That was awesome. Brought back good memories. That sounded like Roxy Rockwood narrating. He was great announcer. He even made their names sound fast "On the number 13 bike rider out of Hartland Michigan Harley mounted RaaaandyGoss".
U would be correct. Roxy watched one showing of the film, and then narrated the entire film in one take.
That was Roxy; back in the old days when Cycle News was called Motorcycling News; he had a weekly column on FT mainly covering ASCOT. he went by Rocky Rockwood. I remember his son Tom battling it out with Brelsford for top Amateur for 1968. At the Season Ending Race at Ascot that year Lawwill won the Expert Main, Mark won the Amatuer Main and the best race of the night was Aldana passing Mashburn on turn 3 after keith's TDIC Bogged off the Corner and Dave giving Keith the finger as if saying "I Finally beat your Ass" Masburn was a terror in 68 as a novice; winning almost everywhere he went...s.m.
Randy Goss's mother in-law was Dee Johnson (Leathers by Dee) I remember she made a clone set of Randy's HD Factory Racing Team Leathers for her Granddaughter when she was just a couple years old. If you have Alan Girdler's Book "Harley Racers 1934-1986 There is a Picture of Randy,Wife and Daughter wearing her # 1 leathers.....She would be a young woman now probably in her 30's...
It's too bad this film didn't get widely distributed after it was made. The interview with Dave Aldana and Bart Markel was a great kicker at the end.The joke about the water in Flint was ironic.
...THANK YOU....such a great movie.....thanx again.....Ride onnn
Great video memories about one of my favorite and exciting types of racing. Too bad that Sammy Tanner was not mentioned as he was a terrific rider. I agree with Aldana that Ascot Friday nights were fantastic with very close racing action. I raced a few Ascot Thursday night motos with Aldana on my 69 Suzuki Savage with git kit. Those were the best days!
A Savage?? No kidding? That must have been some git kit.
This Film actually had some better DT Footage than OAS. 1971 the year AMA had to mess with the National Number System and piss everyone off (riders & fans) Thank god they got the message and went back to the old numbering system. Good Film, too bad they didn't have the likes of McQueen to finance the distribution of the Movie. I hadn't seen MARKEL in years so it was quite a shock to see him in his present state. In the 60's he was a Good looking,physically fit athlete.I had a feeling
when he lost Joanne in 2005 that he would be close behind.(2007) My 2nd set of BATES Leathers were a Clone of his 1966 Set when he was #1 again. One of the
finest DT Talents of the 20th Century...RIP BART...s.m.
A biography of Mr Markel is one of my most prized books. Living in UK information about him is very thin on the ground. I never cared too much for the "Black Bart" cr*p. He was a consummate professional and, as such, a supreme athlete. I seem to remember he was a Golden Gloves champion in his youth. That man could REALLY ride a motorcycle, and became a damn good development engineer as well.
This is a very good video Behind the Scenes thank you for putting this out there
Great interview...thanks!
Thanks for the great video guys
Bart Markle, from my hometown, Flint Michigan 😀😀😀🏁🏁🍺🍺🍺
I have to agree with Steve Matz (see below) about the National Number system thing. When the AMA changed it for a short time, it was a mess. Seeing Nixon without number 9, and so on, was a travesty.
On the film itself, a clue about why it didn't become popular can be seen in the new intro and outro, where Dave DePain (not a typo) mispronounces Aldana's name, over and over. While I realize that this was added recently, it shows how poorly the film itself was produced. It does have great scenes of flat-track racing, but even when it was first shown in the 1970s, the fans and riders saw it as a cheap imitation of On Any Sunday, which, to be honest, was a good, but not a great documentary.
Those of us who raced back then loved it, naturally, as did every motorcycle racing fan, but it was more than a bit cheesy.
One bit I enjoyed in The Thrill Is On was seeing Bouncing Bob made fun of. That clown damn near got more than a few of us killed with his loony acrobatics while flagging. At one event he was doing somersaults - at either the San Jose or Sacramento Mile - while me and two other guys were side by side, fighting for position and approaching the finish. Bouncing Bob landed on his feet, facing us, just in time to see the two other guys fly by on his left, as I went by on his right, all of us missing him by inches. One of the other riders was screaming so loud I could hear him over the engines; ... "YOU DUIMB M****F****!!! GET THE F*** OUTTA THE WAY!!!!" Good times.
That's Halarious! Back in 71 when we found out that OAS was booked at our Local FOX THEATER. One of our Local Racers who knew the Manager asked him if he would like to have a DT Bike to Display in the Lobby for the Movie Goers to see and get up Close to.He had 2 Trackmaster BSA's with the whole ball of Wax (ceriani forks,Barnes Wheels,Axtell Head Engine, Mikunis,ARD Mag,etc.) The Manager was more than thrilled at the Offer. I thought that we would just get maybe 4 free Tickets but was I in for a Surprise. You would have thought that we were Celebrities at a Movie Premiere. He had reserve signs on 4 seats in the middle of the Loge Seating and he told the Concessions People in the Lobby;whatever they want is Free. So we take our Girlfriends and loadup at the concession Stand and sit in our Prime seats and Proceed to Watch the Movie.
When it Opens with Mert walking down the Street with a Suit I was really in Shock. I had been with him in the Pits at the BOISE Regional TT that he always goes back to since that is his home town. This was in April 1970 and he never said one word that Bruce Brown was making a Film on Bike Racing.Brelsford was there also, and Mert's Mech/sidekick Jack Dunn also never mentioned a word about any Filming of a Documentary. Of course at that time we thought the Film was greater than Sliced Bread since about the only movie that concentrated on Motorcycle Racing was made clear back in 1952 called "The Pace that Thrills" Anyway we liked it so much we stayed for both Showings. We really came out good on that deal for basically just hauling a Motorcycle down to a theater and setting it up. When it came out on DVD of course I had to Buy it. Sure it's dated and not the Spectacular Movie we thought it was in 71; But I still once in a while put the disc in and watch it on a 73" Mitsibishi Big Screen. Seems Strange that Mert will be 74 years old in Sept. I always think of him like he was still in his 20's. He was my idol back in 65 when he won the Sacramento 20 miler and it was televised on Wide World of Sports Back Then....Those Days are long gone but the Movies let you relive how it was back in the Day...
I like shots of Dave on the 250 OSSA . I have some OSSA parts from IMPORT CYCLES Modesto
I do believe my dad raced with these guys before I was even a glint in his eye. He raced Yamaha leathers and I think he talked of triumphs too.
#6 Mert Lawwill was the man. In 1969, Lawwill won the AMA Grand National Championship and, was voted AMA's Most Popular Rider of the Year.
WOW -Great
I wonder what ever happened to ACE Signs Bruese and Wane Kerner they painted # plates. And made tee-shirts I know that they painted Dave's plate
Thank you for the video brings back good memory's
The 70s flat track scene: good times.
Those guys right legs must be so strong. Not only do they need to support that body weight to be able to help absorb inconsistencies, but also the added weight from the centripetal g forces.
This may have already been mentioned in the comments (maybe even by me, ... my memory sucks!), but DeSpain's commentary is incorrect about this film not being released until now. It was shown in theaters, at least on the West Coast, right after it was made. It received negative reviews, which were deserved since it was an amateur, and kinda cheesy, attempt to copy Bruce Brown's On Any Sunday. The one thing we all liked about The Thrill Is On was the focus on flat-tracking.
Surely, this is where the American Racers honed their balancing skills. And then onto the Trans Atlantic Trophy Races.
full throttle BSA sounds good!
Has a Little Faus,Big Halsey vibe. Love it.
DAVE DESPAIN IS RIGHT,,,,60S AN 70S WAS GREATEST TIME IN MC RACEING,,,,,THEY USE TO BE 6 DEEP ALL AROUND THE TRACK,,,,AN DAVE WAS THE BEST ANNOUNCER,,,,
Back in the day when DT Race Bikes had open straightpipes/ Megaphones and sounded like Heavy Thunder to people in the Grandstands. I believe one of the major reasons that AMA Grand National Racing doesn't have the Popularity it once had was because of the Noise Decibel Ruling instigated by AMA. Putting these Super Trapp type Mufflers/ Canisters made these Bikes sound Quieter than many of your Street Machines. One of the reasons People go to Car/ Motorcycle Racing Events is to hear the thunderous noise these engines make. No real Race Fan wants to listen to something that's quieter than what he rides/drives on the Street. This Noise Ruling seems to be towards Motorcycle Racing in General for Some Reason. How many Fans did you think NASCAR,NHRA,etc. would lose if they made them run Mufflers ...
+rob biddlecombe I don't know how many years you've watched DT Racing, but I raced DT going back to the 60's and if you don't think people came to the races to hear the sound of an H-D KR , BSA Goldstar, or Triumph T100R than your sadly mistaken. AMA putting a noise decibel restriction on bikes lost a 1/3 or more of their Audience. Who wants to hear an XR with a SuperTrapp on it when they originally came w/ open megaphones in 72....... You apparently never saw real DT Racing the way it was intended to be !
+rob biddlecombe - Steve Matz is absolutely correct. I raced in Class C both before and after the sound regulations, and bikes became MUCH quieter. While I realize that it was necessary to keep the local residents happy, it did cause the loss of many fans. Yes, the bikes are still loud, but unless you've heard what they sounded like back then, you really can't understand the difference. One major difference for riders is that you can't hear other bikes around you and behind you nearly as well with silencers as you could in the "old days", and that makes things just a bit less safe. And I guess we all still have some ringing in our ears as a result of all that wonderful noise back then, but it's worth it.
Rob: I came back to add another reply to your comments about exhaust noise not making a difference. I recently went to the Isle of Man TT (I'm a professional sports photographer, as well as an ex-racer), and I spoke to a few dozen locals and racers who were around before and after silencers were added. And every single person said the louder, the better. Some of the non-muffled multi-cylinder "Fire engines" such as Gilera and MV, could be heard for miles before and after they went by.
It's the same with AMA Class C flat-track racing, as Steve Matz points out. Though I do understand the need for silencers at tracks where locals live close by, in the days before mufflers it was absolute magic. Loud magic, but still magic. If people wanted less noise, they wore earplugs or headphones. But being able to hear as well as see, smell and feel that amazing power was incredible. Just walking towards the outside gates at the Sacramento Mile on an AMA race day, and hearing those screaming engines from a block away was an honest-to-gawd semi-religious experience. It would get your heart pumping in an instant, and that includes "civilians" and racers alike.
Without hearing the power, racing becomes far less dramatic. As I mentioned, I was at the TT, and when they ran the Zero class electric race bikes, people were bored to tears. And those bikes are now averaging around 120mph around the Mountain Course! So speed doesn't matter so much.
Anyway, this has gotten way too long. But one final thought. No matter whether you are an old or new fan, the guy to listen to here is Steve Matz. I sorta kinda remember him from our days of AMA Class C racing, but my memory is pretty shot at my age. But what I do know is that Steve really knows his stuff. He's refreshed my memory on a bunch of things from the 60s and 70s, and it's all accurate. Damn, Steve, ... you should write a book!
Thanks for the plug Chuck. I think I still have a Photo you sent me back in the early 2000's. I believe you were on an A65 BSA at speed but not sure at what track. I have that photo along with hundreds on my old Compaq laptop that I have been trying to copy to a flashdrive but with no luck. apparently windows 98 file system is not compatible with 7. and every driver I've downloaded won't let it copy. I will probably have to take out the hard drive and have it copied. Don't want to lose these photos as many are one of a kind that I got from Ralph White, VanLeeuen, and Dennis Mahan,etc.. Mahan's are mostly of Ascot when Keen and Gunter were winning big. we will have to get our emails back to each other as I'm sure you would like to see these old DT Racing Pics.....Have a Good One ! s.m.
Damn, Steve! You read my mind. I'd forgotten that I'd sent you that photo. It's from either the Sacramento Mile or San Jose Mile, in 1969 or 1970. I was probably the last guy to switch from 500cc to 750cc when the formula changed, so I actually rode the only Gold Star at one of the first Miles after the change. Naturally, I got my ass kicked, but a bunch of people said they loved the nostalgic sound. So I guess that's worth something.
Have you tried emailing those photos on your old Compaq to your new computer as JPGs? That worked for me when I had a similar problem. In fact, I can't access that particular photo, so if you could try emailing it to me, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to stay in touch anyway, since I would love to find a way to get your recollections of those days online in a blog or something. My direct email is; chuck@2007AC.com
Those rolled back handlebars! No way you could get as much leverage. Made the riding styles just a few years later quite a bit different.
Awesome still today !! Loved it true legends even in 2022 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👍 Did it for the love and not like other sports for the Green $!
Outstanding, better than On Any Sunday. Black Bart and The King will always be my heroes. R.I.P. Bart Markel
Awsome!!! Really enjoyed the movie!!
Gold !! Thanks for uploading : }
god i forgot how good BSA's sounded
Jimmy Weinert from Middletown,NY riding Gary Nixon's Triumph Trident loses it at 23:56 and dislocated his shoulder.
Jammin’ Jimmy Weinert, 1974 & 1975 AMA 500cc MX champion, 1976 AMA 250cc Supercross champion. Good thing he saw the light and gave up on the roundy rounders.
"Bouncy" Bob! best flagman ever!
I disagree. See above.
Calvin Rayborn got X thousand miles over here. under vile conditions. and showed us British how to road race against the filthyest conditions that were put up against him He REALLY showed us how to race on tarmac. Does anybody remember the Transatlantic Series of the 1970s?
Tony - Hell yes! That series was a major milestone for us American racers. Until then, as you know, we played second fiddle to all you Brits in road-racing. We knew we had some good riders, but until that series there was no real way to judge how good they were.
All we really had was the Daytona 200, which didn't really prove anything. When Cal Rayborn, and the other Yanks stuck it to the best Brits, on your best bikes, and on YOUR tracks, while riding a freaking H-D - and not even on the good H-D road racers that came later, without the iron barrels - we were as amazed as you all were.
As mentioned, we knew Cal was a great road racer, but seeing it proven was very cool. I only wish Dick Mann could have gone over there in his prime and raced. He was another rider who never reached his international potential.
When I first heard that Cal had been killed a few years later, I finally learned what people meant when they said that they felt like they'd been kicked in the gut. He could have been world champion if things had been a bit different.
It is ironic that the last lime Harley-Davidson won the Daytona 200 was 1969 by Cal. He was actually riding the same KRTT that he rode in 68 when he also won the 200 miler. Tom Sifton had done a lot of R&D in the fall of 1967. The Cams, Dual Carbs,Megaphones were his ideas and changes. The Factory 68 KR's were fast but most of the Team's Bikes ended up with DNF's Cal's Bike ran perfectly the whole 200 miles. I remember Nixon saying he was riding his T100R Flat out at almost 140mph and he said Rayborn went by me like I was standing still. Another Great Guy Gone but not forgotten....s.m.
I caught the last Transatlantic Trophy at Brands Hatch with Cal longer ago than I can remember!
Great days, but I remember that Rayborn won the '69 Daytona only by the grace of God over the Yamaha 350s. The two-stroke writing was on the wall.
Cal's 69 Daytona Victory (and HD's last 200 win) was on the same KRTT that he won with in 68. During the off season after 67; Dick O'Brien got famous tuner Tom Sifton to do some more R&D on the old archaic Flathead KR and actually got some more horses out of the old gal. A revised set of Cams (J int & L exh) along with going to dual Tillotson Diaphragm carbs over the old single Linkert MR4A that had been used forever plus open cone megaphones helped get the Factory Team KR's to over 60+ HP. They were fast that year but also unreliable as most of the HD Team besides Rayborn had issues. I remember Gary Nixon saying he was going flat out on his T100R at around 140 and Cal going by him past the banked Oval turn.You are right in that the Yamaha TR2 Twins were the fastest bikes but none of their riders had the RRing talent of a Rayborn so the riding skill overcame the HP advantage of the Yamahas. HD Race dept was supposed to offer this same engine combination to the privateer Dirttrack Racers for 68 but ended up only adding the new Cam set and a single Tillotson Carb. 1969 was the new 750cc Overhead Rule that was implemented by the AMA in the fall of 68. The only reason Lawwill was able to win the season Championship on his dual carb KR was the competition wasn't up to full strength that inaugural year. HD in 70 was using the Iron XR750, which was nothing more than a desroked XLR (883) Engine. Mert would have been better off riding his KR that year as the Iron XR had more DNF's than imaginable. That Bike lost the # 1 plate 2 yrs in a row for HD until the intended ALLOY XR finally arrived for the 72 season ...
At 16:16 I Hear Blues Jazz Guitarist Magic Sam tearing it up along with the motorcycles 🏁
Those were the days
Surprised not to see Springsteen's name in the top 20 since he was rookie of the year in 1973.
Jay's Rookie year was 1975....he was 18 yrs old
My mistake Wikipedia had 1973.
Great 👍😍
AT 57:25 Sorry Bart(R.i.P.), Jawa's were made in Czechoslovakia since 1929. Also, Aldana is incorrect at 1:00:07 The British Villiers Group went out in the 80's.
I still have my NVT card that I recieved when I purchased my new 1976 Triumph T140V Bonneville 750. That bike won every race for 10 consecutive years and she sits not more than 20 feet from me as I type this.
At 1:00:39 The water in Flint was piped in from...Detroit since the early 60's i believe. When Flint went into numerous Bankruptcies recently, the Detroit water pipeline was severed. This is why Flint has had disaturous Water problems as of lately!!! If any of the Flint Flat Track riders were weaned on Flint water, they probably would not have been around to talk about it, let alone win the Numerous National's and Grand National's!!! Also, the Flint G.M. plants were notorious for dumping waste into the Flint Rivers prior to the EPA stepping in to salvage the pollutants!!! The reason Detroit's water is ranked in the nations top 10 is because of the treatment plants and the ancient fact that the Great Lake State of Michigan was formed by Glaciers!
Love this!
Man those tracks back then were a lot more dirt then clay i honestly don't how anyone you could behind anyone
That was great! Thanks for sharing that!
#77p
Man this was more fun than, "On Any Sunday." Thanks!
Jeremiah Duffy is the future of flat track
That Louisville track must be the most poorly prepped I've ever seen.
Id like to know who was responsible for the soundtrack.. its fire
love it!
We always called him Dave "Crash" Aldana, for obvious reasons, if you saw this clip.
Why is it that those that criticise have never ridden! and if they had they know it still takes balls to throw 150 kg twin sideways into a corner it isn't a Jawa and it all part of the Number 1 plate in late 60s
my dad was the guy who crashed
Daniel j
Bloody good
I have REAL signatures of EVERY AMA Grand National Champion from 1940-1980 ... all on the same page of my American Racer: 1940-1980 book (by Stephen Wright, signed by him too!!). I often wonder what this is worth??? .. any guesses???
Hey Dave, thanks. Enjoyed that. Now if only Ed Herterfelder and his Duct Tapes could be found. Those were the days.
Yes! How did some of his columns go? "Did you ever..."
Yeah. That and his fried egg sandwiches....LOL
I was born in '62, named after Bart Markle.
Mr Markel was never Mr "Markle", he was always "Markel",as in Markell. He always insisted upon that, and it seems to have been one of the few things he took as a family pride thing. A great man, whose like we see very few times.
I don't have 1/4 the balls these guys had lol
awesome ! I so want to build a tracker after my current youtube build bike is finished !
will it be as dodgy as the first?
Absolutely ! I have to maintain consistency from build to build , don't I ?
The best
Is there a way to purchase a dvd/bluray copy of this video? This is an awesome video with great flat track footage and music. I would love to have it in my collection. Jerry
Jerrbot Check down in the comments, there is a gentleman selling them.
80y Pre "King" Kenny Roberts at 4:12
Curious how those old bikes would do against the modern bikes? Speed, handling? How about lap times?
I have no clue but these old ones have the classic roar and are still probably fast as hell! I just love the nostalgia of these old bikes over the modern ones.
+wheelie w - The lap times of the old bikes from the 1970s is surprisingly close to the times at the same tracks today. The biggest difference is the types of tires that are allowed today. Back then, the rules allowed only a very few street type tires, with Dunlop K70s and Pirellis being the most popular. No one made the specialized flat track tires they use now, nor were they legal to use. All you could do is cut the treads a bit, or "cook" the tires to increase hardness for some tracks, like Ascot. And even that was outlawed eventually. The other reason times have not dropped dramatically is because even with the better and wider tires you can only maintain a certain amount of traction, so having gobs of horsepower is wasted if you can't transfer it to the ground. A perfect example is the monster TZ750 that Kenny Robert rode briefly back then. It was insanely overpowered, and even he said so.
But he did kick butt with it the one time it raced.
+R C Nelson that he did, that he did.
Hi, Would love to screen this on my backup channel, is that ok?, i will credit you of course, the channel is all about historic racing, but i am UK based and think this will go down well with my audience, cheers
Speedway eu style on steroides with big bikes,could not bee cooler 🏁🏴☠🏅🏆
Music sounds like a low rent version of "Memphis" by Lonny Mack.
I'm not firmiliar with this type of racing, so this might be a stupid question but how come I don't see any Hondas like CLs or SLs or really any japanese motorcycles?
+jackal99 - Good points on why there weren't many Japanese bikes in flat track. Some other reasons were that only the Yamaha XS650 was really the right engine layout for flat track, and even Kenny Roberts said that that engine was too "buzzy" and top-heavy. He was one of very few riders who could win on one. If the Japanese motors had been designed more suitably for flat track, you can bet that guys would have used those engines. Once they started building V-twins, and narrower engines, they did much better. it all has to do with weight distribution and height, and how the power is transferred to the ground. Too much RPM doesn't allow the tire to bite on clay. Keep in mind that tire type and size is limited by the rules. Without a lot of tire, a lot of HP is useless.
You'll see them now. Honda dominated in the mid-80s and Kawasaki of late has the fastest flattrackers. I still miss the sound of a well-tuned vertical British twin, though.
Was David Aldana actually on the cover of Time Magazine? I looked for it, but could not fine the Issue Date. (About 8:04 of this video).
problem is no brakes
2nd track music is Albert King i think wooooooooooooooooooooooo
U would be right. The guys that shot the movie developed the sound track by picking whatever albums where laying on the floor next to the stereo. Other music was added years later during post production.
Francis Gillespie at 45;58. Anybody know where Frank is these days?
I was just looking for him a few weeks ago, at the San Jose indoor short track. Someone said he was around, but I never saw him. Great guy. I did see Bob Scally and Dave Hansen, who both raced at the event. A bunch of guys who I thought had retired long ago still do the indoor races. And they still know how to get the gas on. Check Google for the next event there.
Bart Markel?!
At 22:23 and 35:16 BART MARKEL!!!!!!!