March 2012 part 1 - NZ Post Classic Racing Association

NZPCRA NEWSLETTER MARCH 2010
CONTACTS
Tech Queries
Jason Voice
E: OnTrackMotorcycles@xtra.co.nz
President
Kevin Grey
E: kgrracing@hotmail.com
Membership
Graham Moorhead
E: g.moor@xtra.co.nz
Editor
Tony Haimes
T: 021 907 844
E: haimes.family@xtra.co.nz
Hi all and Welcome to 2010 and
a new year in Postie Racing
Firstly I hope the
Christmas season
was kind
to you and your
families. It’s
been a busy
time since our
last newsletter
and we have
had some great
events since then
with many more
planned for the coming
months.
The Post Classic GP
at Taupo was a great
success and although
numbers were a little
down in some classes,
great racing was had by
all.
The stewards, event management
team. Club members,
marshall’s and the great weather
ensured the meeting ran like clockwork
and was memorable for all.
My thanks go out to the many sponsors
and supporters who got behind the event
like Bike Rider Magazine and the Lion
Foundation to name but a few.
What impressed me was the great presentation
and turn out of machines
across the classes and obviously the
many hours of preparation that had been
put in to get there.
Many clubs have had some great events
recently with Victoria and AMCC hosting
rounds that have scored towards the #1
Plate competition. There has been great
racing with some real contenders for the
title, showing their form early on.
The Boxing Day races at Wanganui was
a great event, fantastic turnout of Pre82
and 89 machines to do battle in front of
a great crowd. We had a constant stream
of people through the pits talking about
the bikes and their history. Well done to
Sean Donnelly, fantastic riding and skills
to be unbeaten at the end of the day.
The guest of honour, Dave Hiscock, a great champion from the
era, did a few laps on the Plastic Fantastic, as well as being
available to chat in the pits. He is very interested in the growth
of the sport here and could be keen to attend one of our events
in the future.
The meeting did however have its low points and this is now is
an appropriate time to mention our mission to stop ‘eligibility
creep’ in our class.
I had occasion to be involved with the exclusion of a competitor
from the Wanganui Post Classic class who despite repeated
warnings over the previous 24 months has chosen to ignore
them, and run a machine that was clearly not within the rules.
The nett result was this machine was protested under the rules
for Post Classic Racing, and excluded from the result’s.
One thing we all need to keep in mind is the rules as written
in the MNZ Manual of Motorsport applies to all competitors in
Post Classic racing at all permitted meetings. This is whether
it is a club, national , international or street meeting, the rules
still apply.
Another point is that scrutineering, by meeting officials, is
typically for safety, not that your machine is eligible for a particular
class.
On a more positive note, a number of other competitors that
have been approached by the Technical Committee, have now
corrected any issue’s with their bikes.
So looking forward, we are going ahead with the #1 Plate meeting
at Hampton downs on the 14th March. This will be a joint
meeting with the AMCC with shared costs and logistics to make
this event possible. For Post Classic it will be a full race programme
and for all National Championship Classes , it will be a
full practice day in readiness for the NZTT/National Championship
meeting a fortnight later.
While this will be a race meeting for us, it will also be a chance
to test the circuit and meeting management for future meetings.
Finally. It was great to catch up with the NZPCRA team members
that were packing up for Phillip Island last Sunday.
Alastair Wilton, heads up another good team of Kiwis heading
across the ditch to bang heads with the “Aussies and Pom’s”
again in the international challenge races. Good luck team
from all of us and hope you have a great event.
So what’s next for us staying home – Paeroa – “Battle of the
Streets”. This again promises to be a great days racing, I’m
looking forward to seeing you all there.
Cheers for now
Kevin Grey
President / NZPCRA
www.nzpostclassics.org.nz
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 1

To all our members please use these people as they help in making our racing
happen.
A Note to our Sponsors
We would like to give a special thanks to all those
who sponsored races at the NZPCRA GP at Taupo
this year.
To all our members please use these people as
they help in making our racing happen.
ON TRACK MOTORCYCLES
JASON VOICE
NZPCRA 2009 GP Taupo
We have now run our own GP for the second year and I think we now all
appreciate how much of a debt we owe to the Auckland Motorcycle Club
for all the years that they have overseen our event. Thanks!!
The 2009 GP went off extremely well due to the fine efforts of our organizing
committee and a good turnout of willing helpers. The weather
was even great and this was evidenced by the lack of accidents. The
timetable was tight so it was straight into the practice sessions after
the riders briefing.
ON TRACK MOTORCYCLES
JASON VOICE
Next up was the first of the Pro-twin outings and it was a very impressive
Paul Dobbs who dominated on a very fast Ducati 999 which was
lapping at 1.36. The second guy home was Sam Smith who made his
Ducati 749 fly lapping for all but the first lap in 1.38 give or take 0.04
of a second. Third home and completing the Ducati tri-fecta was Dave
Cole on the Ducati 851 Corsa.
This was a classy field and the race times were showing this.
Last minute Instructions Photo courtesy of Terry Stevenson
The class of the field is shown by the lineup. Photo courtesy of Terry
Stevenson.
The programme called for three races for each class with the only concession
to time being the amalgamation of the Pre 72 class in with the
Pre 82 Juniors.
Race one saw the extremely quick Peter Sale on his Honda XR500 take
off chased by Carl Hanna on his TT2 Ducati and Chris Sale on the
evergreen TM400. These three pulled away from Graeme Moorhead on
his TZ 350. The race was great but the end positions stayed the same
over the whole race.
Race two was the first time out for the Pre 89 Juniors and it was a
quick change for Chris and he was out on his Honda XR500 and off to a
great start to the day with a start to finish win. Chris Fry on his Honda
VFR 400 followed home by Scott Findlay on the Kawasaki ZXR 400. The
positions were unchanged from the first lap and the gaps were even
throughout the field
Race 4 saw the time for the Pre 82 Seniors to shine and we saw a great
start by Paul Brigham on his Suzuki GS1100 who charged to the front
ahead of Sean Donnelly on his Z900 Kawasaki and Dave Freeman
on another Suzuki this time a GSX1100..Lap two saw Dave Freeman
make his move on Sean and slip into second place while Russell Barker
dropped two places to Graham Moorhead and Phil Clarke but managed
to claw back one place by displacing Phil Clarke on the last lap. The
end of the race seeing Paul Brigham in first, Dave Freeman in second
and Sean Donnelly in third place. Seven of the first eight places were
filled by Suzuki’s.
The last race of the first round was the Pre 89 Seniors and Dave Cole
on his Ducati 861 Corsa was first out of the gates followed by Phil
Duxbury on the GSXR7/11 and right on his heels was Peter Smith on
his GSXR1100. The race developed further as Jaden Hassen moving
Page 2 The Post Classic January 2010

into third on his Yamaha RZ500 as Phil Duxbury dropped down to fifth.
It got worse for both Phil Duxbury and Peter Smith had been judged
to have jumped the start and both incurred a 20 second penalty thus
making the finish order, Dave Cole first, Jaden Hassen second and Darren
Calder on his Yamaha FZR100 finishing in third spot.
Round two was the GP round which meant that the races were now 10
laps and it was no longer a sprint. The Pre 72’s and Pre 82 Juniors were
the first again and the race started with Peter Sale once more getting
the jump off the line and leading from lap one, behind him was the
Pre 92 of Andrew McDonald and close on his heels was the first Pre
72 of Chris Sale. Chris slowly edged past Andrew on lap 4 and managed
to pull out a two second lead to end up in second spot behind
Peter. With Andrew finishing a close third spot )but second in the Pre
82 Junior Class) it was Trevor Discombe who ended up with the last of
the podium spots in the Pre 82 Junior class with Eric Bone and Dean
Beat6son finishing second and third in the Pre 72 Class.
The Pre 89 Junior GP was a carbon copy of the first race with Chris Sale
pulling away to register the win and Chris Fry and Scott Findlay finishing
in second and third spots.
The Pro twin race was not a GP event but that did not mean that the
racing was less than spectacular even though it was a start to finish
win to Paul Dobbs who again threw down 1.36 second laps. Sam Smith
was valiant buy the 750 lacked the pace and there was nothing that
Sam could do no pull on the 999 of Paul. Daniel Kempthorne on his
SV650 Suzuki looked very good to lock down third spot in front of the
Ducati 748 of Jason Green.
third and fourth spots. Peter Smith initially seemed to have second
place to himself while Jaden Hassen held the third spot ahead of Phil
Duxbury who had a horror start and had to work overtime to get past
Jaden. Once past he put his head down and reeled off a series of quick
lap’s withy the last two laps being down in the 1.41 second class. This
meant he eventually ended up third only 0.36 seconds behind Peter
Smith who was second.
Again the days racing was a great success and we thank all those who
willingly gave of their time to make it happen.
Pre 82 Seniors doing battle in race one. Photo courtesy of Al Wilton
The last two races were the two Senior fields and the Pre 82 Seniors
were on first. With Paul Brigham taking his accustomed first spot for
the first three laps until Dave Freeman managed to inch ahead on lap
four and hold the advantage. Lap 9 though spelt the end of the day for
Paul and this let in Sean Donnelly who had been close behind for the
race, into second and he held on to finish in that position. There was a
ding dong battle taking place for the third spot between Graham Moorhead
and Russell Barker who were trading places throughout the race.
Someone had to succeed and it was Graham who brought the GS1100
home ahead of Russell on the GSX1100
The final event of the day was the Pre 89 Senior GP) and we had the
first place going to Dave Cole on the Ducati with a fight for second
The Pre 89 prepare for battle. Photo courtesy of Terry Stevenson.
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 3

Pukekohe AMCC rounds 12th & 13th December.
Day 1 Saturday 12th December
The Saturday dawned overcast with intermittent showers but the signs were that the weather may clear. The rain held
off for scrutineering but as soon as the first practice session started the showers began so it was a matter of waiting
for your practice session to see if you needed to fit wets or not.
The first race was for all in Seniors and the track was dry but overcast. Phil Duxbury (Pre 89 GSXR 7/11) edged away
from Russell Barker (Pre 82 GSX1100) and Graham Moorhead (Pre 82 GS1000) with Brian Deadman and Randall
Dixon battling it out behind them. The speed difference between the Pre 82 and Pre 89 bikes was not that great with
both Graham and Russell running within 1 second of Phil and ahead of the rest of the Pre 89 bikes. Graham managed
to get past Russell 3 laps into the race and then pulled away while Phil built up a good lead over everyone. Randal
pushed into 4th place and Phil Clarke moved into 5th by the end of the race.
The first three in each class were:
Pre 82 1st Graham Moorhead, 2nd Russell Barker, 3rd Phil Clarke
Pre 89 1st Phil Duxbury, 2nd Randall Dixon, 3rd Peter Smith
The weather had settled down by the time we were ready to run out the Juniors so everyone was prepared to push
things a little more than in practice although it didn’t make the result different as right from the start Trevor Taylor on
his Yamaha TZ350F ran away and hid from the opposition. Trevor Discombe riding a Yamaha TZ350C was the only one
who was on the same straight by the end of the race. Again the Pre 82 bikes seemed to be that much quicker than
their younger cousins the Pre 89 class with 3 of the first 4 bikes home being Pre 82.The man to split the pre 82 bikes
was Scott Findlay who finished third on his Kawasaki ZXR400
The first three home in each class were:
Pre 72 1st Terry Waite, 2nd Eric Bone, 3rd Ashley Rouse.
Pre 82 1st Trevor Taylor, 2nd Phil Bagshaw, 3rdPhil Duxbury.
Pre 89 1st David O’Halloran, 2nd Rory Garvey, 3rd David Smith.
Trevor Taylor heading for the win with Phil Bagshaw giving chase. Photo courtesy of Highside photography
Page 4 The Post Classic January 2010

Race two for the Seniors saw the weather clear up and
the racing increase in intensity. The man at the front
again was Phil Duxbury who by now was getting down to
1.05 laps, but the opposition were also on the same lap
times with the first three riders home finishing within 2
seconds of each other. This time Peter Smith was able to
get his GSXR1100 up to second place right behind Phil,
and Russell Barker was swapping spots with them both
coming home in third spot. The pace of Russell’s bike
down the back straight was a thing to behold.
Finishing positions were:
Pre 82 1st Russell Barker, 2nd Graham Moorhead, 3rd
Phil Clarke. Pre 89 1st Phil Duxbury, 2nd Peter Smith,
3rd Randall Dixon.
Race two for the Juniors was a lot closer as everyone
started to get the feel for the track but it was still Trevor
Taylor who finished in first with Trevor Discombe in second
only 4 seconds behind and Scott Findlay under 1
second away in third place. The race for 4th and 5th was
really close with Randy Scott just beating Phil Bagshaw
on the last lap by 0.41 seconds.
Pre 72 1st Eric Bone
Pre 82 1st Trevor Taylor, 2nd Phil Bagshaw, 3rdPhil Duxbury.
Pre 89 1st Randy Scott, 2nd Rory Garvey , 3rd
David Smith.
The last race for the day was a real epic with Phil Duxbury,
Russell Barker and Peter Smith nose to tail. The day
ended badly for Phil on lap 4 as his engine decided to
throw a conrod through the cases and expire as he went
over the start finish line, this left every one wondering
how much oil was on the racing line going into Jenian.
Luckily Phil had known what was happening pretty much
as it occurred and pulled over to the edge of the circuit,
way off the racing line. This left Russell Barker to take
first with Peter Smith in second and Graham Moorhead
in third and Patrick Hansell on his GSXR1100 who came
from 8th on the grid to finish in 4th on the track.
Pre 82 1st Russell Barker, 2nd Graham Moorhead, 3rd
Brian Deadman. Pre 89 1st Peter Smith, 2nd Patrick
Hansell, 3rd Randall Dixon.
Race three for the Juniors was with a smaller field as
none of the Pre 72 bikes and a few of the others decided
to save themselves for the next day and sat out this race.
The result was the same as had been all day with the
current NO 1 Plate holder Trevor Taylor leading from start
to finish with Trevor Discombe sitting in second and Phil
Bagshaw in third. The first Pre 89 bike home was Randy
Scott on his CBR600 and second was David O’Halloran
on his TZR 250 with Rory Garvey in third on another
TZR250.
Pre 82 1st Trevor Taylor, 2nd Phil Bagshaw, 3rd Phil
Duxbury. Pre 89 1st Randy Scott, 2nd David O’Halloran
3rd Rory Garvey.
Day two Sunday 13th December
The day was beautiful, if a little on the windy side but
really a great day to go racing. All those who had survived
the previous day were out again looking forward to more
close racing. The race format was the same as for Saturday
so it was up to the Seniors to start off the day’s competition.
Phil Duxbury and his crew had done a tremendous
job getting another motor fitted overnight and for a
while it looked like normal service had resumed with Phil
at the head of the pack for the first few laps only to have
his back up motor stop on him. This left Russell Barker
to bring home the field with Peter Smith in second and
Phil Clarke in third. The results per class were:
Pre 82: 1st Russell Barker, 2nd Phil Clarke, 3rd Brian
Deadman. Pre 89: 1st Peter Smith, 2nd Randall Dixon,
3rd Patrick Hansell.
Race one for the Juniors was more competitive than day
1 with Trevor Taylor again leading from the start but this
time Trevor Discombe was working harder and ended up
only 0.16 seconds behind at the finish and Scott Findley
a further 0.17 seconds behind in third. The race result
really showed how competitive the racing can be. The
class results saw Trevor Taylor in first, Trevor Discombe in
second and Carl Hanna on his Ducati TT2 600 in third.
The Pre 89 class was won by Scott Findley with Steve
Groom on his FZR600 Yamaha in second and David
Scott on his CBR600 Honda in third.
Phil Duxbury on the charge with Russell Barker and Peter Smith in close
company Photo courtesy of Highside photography
Russell and Peter battle it out again. Photo courtesy of Highside photography
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 5

Pre 82: 1st Trevor Taylor, 2nd Carl Hanna, 3rd
Phil Bagshaw. Pre 89: 1st Steve Groom, 2nd
David Scott, 3rd Randy Scott.
The second Senior race saw Russell take a
start to finish win with Peter Smith in second
and Graham Moorhead, who had to battle from
8 after the first lap, to come home in third
place. The result started to sort out the points
for the weekend with the class results for this
race being:
Pre 82: 1st Russell Barker, 2nd Graham Moorhead,
3rd. Phil Clarke. Pre 89: 1st Peter Smith,
2ndPatrick Hansell, 3rd Randall Dixon.
Race two for the Juniors saw a change in fortunes
as the Pre 89 class got faster and for the Trevor Taylor at the front of the pack again. Photo courtesy of Highside photography
first time we saw a Pre 89 bike get in front of
the Pre 82 brigade. Steve Groom led from the start and it looked like an upset was on the cards as he battled with
Trevor Taylor for the first 4 laps before Trevor managed to stick his head in front and hold on to take the win by just
over 1 second from Steve Groom and a hard charging Trevor Discombe and Scott Findlay. Pre 82: 1st Trevor Taylor,
2nd Phil Bagshaw, 3rd Carl Hanna. Pre 89: 1st Steve Groom, 2nd David Scott, 3rd Randy Scott.
Being the last race for the Seniors the fields were a little depleted but this did not stop the racing from being as fierce
as it had been all weekend. Russell Barker was out to finish on a high note even though the race was only a 3 lapper
and Graham Moorhead was out to stop his charge. The end result was another first for Russell but only just as Peter
Smith finishing just 0.38 seconds behind and Graham coming home third. The results were:
Pre 82: 1st Russell Barker, 2nd Graham Moorhead, 3rd. Brian Deadman. Pre 89: 1st Peter Smith, 2ndRandall Dixon,
3rd Patrick Hansell.
The last race for the NZPCRA was race three for the Juniors and it turned out to be a clean sweep of the weekend for
Trevor Taylor who had shown all weekend why he is the current NO 1 Plate holder. The name of the game is consistency
and 6 out of six is as good as it gets. The result is spectacular but he was pushed hard all weekend by Trevor Discombe
who again ended the race breathing down the neck of Mr Taylor with 0.32 seconds separating them. The race for third
was just as close with David Scott beating Phil Bagshaw to the finish line by only 0.2 seconds. The results for each
class are:
Pre 82: 1st Trevor Taylor, 2nd Phil Bagshaw, 3rd Carl Hanna. Pre 89: 1st David Scott, 2nd Randy Scott, David
Smith.
Page 6 The Post Classic January 2010

GSXR 7/11 For Sale
This is an accurate for age Pre 89 Class GSXR 7/11. It has a 1986 GSXR750
frame fitted with 18 inch wheels and a 1986 1052 GSXR 1100 motor fitted with
Flatside carbs and Pod filters. Spares include a spare frame and rear wheel
plus 34mm vacuum flatsides with filters. Thers is also clutches seats and other
sundry items that go with the deal.
Make me an offer and I will consider
it. Does not come with the tyre
warmers
If interested please contact:
Tony Haimes
Botany Auckland
Phone (021) 907 844
Email; haimes.family@xtra.co.nz
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 7

From the archives we have amanged to find two articles about our own local legend Eric Bone. Article 1
END OF SEASON MEETING AT PUKEKOHE (July 1974)
A wet greasy track at Pukekohe for the Auckland Motorcycle Club’s last meeting of the season provided some hairraising
moments for both the rider’s and spectators. One of the riders who didn’t finish the day’s racing was John
Woodley of Blenheim. The following paragraphs depict the accident that put him out for the day. He fell while leading
the Open A Grade even to this Yamaha TZ350. Earlier in the day he had won the Multi Cylinder Class Race on the
same machine.
Picture 1:
On Railway Corner Woodley gives it just that little
bit too much and hits the ground at this stage a
close following Eric Bone (Kawasaki 750) wonders
which way to go to elude the sliding bike.
Picture 2:
By now Woodley had slid right across to the outside
of the track unfortunately right across the
path that Bone had elected to take. Fortunately
these two had opened up a 30 yard lead on the
following riders.
Picture 3:
Unable to do anything else Bone collides with
Woodley and is sent into the grass ending his ride
in a cloud of mud. This was the second time in
the day’s racing that Bone had to take evasive
action to avoid fallen riders. In the re-start Bone
finished third but Woodley was not so lucky and
was taken to hospital.
Article two is and interesting insight into Eric and his racing record
THE LEGEND OF ERIC BONE
(Article from NZ Motorcycle May 1975)
His style is smooth. He is often over shadowed
by the flambuoyant riding of Alan Collison, or the
super-fast Graeme Crosby, but not too often. He
had been around the production racing scene for
so long he is often forgotten, but one thing is for
sure, his rivals never forget him once he is out
on the track. The man is Eric Bone – he rides
the red Kawasaki, and always has done. He is
often the guy in front, and unless he has fallen
off or had a rare mechanical breakdown, he will
be dicing with the top men in the open production
class, a position he has often visited in the
past few years.
This virtual father of the production racing scene
had his first ride on a motorcycle in a race in
1963 on a Triumph GT650, 1956 vintage. He
rode it on Pukekohe’s 2.1 mile circuit but it did
not lead to much. Then I just used to go out to
the races to watch and look in envy,” says Eric
Meeting with the greats Bones two pupils (from left) Graeme
Crosby and Roger Freeth talk to Alan Collison while the man
himself contemplates
Page 8 The Post Classic January 2010

Pukekohe did not see Eric Bone after that for about four
years, but one more trip to the race circuit had him again
champing at the bit to have a go. He used to think that if
he had the money, he would be out there on the bike, not
in the crowd riding a hard wooden seat. “When I heard
production bike racing was coming I thought ‘if only I
had the money’,” says Bone. “I used to go and watch the
production bikes when they came out, I’d look and think,
I could be at them”.
Then came his big chance, when he bought a Kawasaki
A7 350cc with a spare $1,000 he had lying around.
“I raced some meetings on that bike at Pukekohe and
Porirua, but I never went any good,” he says. “I think
weighing 15 stone had something to do with it, and I got
bored with racing. I thought it might not be such a good
thing after all, and I sold the A7”.
But in typical Bone fashion, he got the bug months after,
and started looking around for another bike. His saving
came from Seeley Panelbeater’s in Auckland. The firm
bought a right-off A7 Kawasaki, and asked Bone to do
it up for them. “I told them not to pay me for the bike,
just give it to me to ride,” he says. Seeleys did just that,
and this started a long association between the firm and
Bone, that lasts to this day. The Kawasaki was a midnight
candle affair, and Bone finally finished the bike
the Friday before the 1972 Castrol Hour long production
race. With no pit crew and precious little preparation he
entered the race, and was winning his class after John
Wellsford fell off his Kawasaki S2 350, and he blew a
plug.
A young Graeme Crosby helps Bone out with the Castrol Hour long bike,
at Pukekohe and Porirua, but I never went And this shot shows their
high spirits after winning the 500 class.
“I pulled into the pits, no pit crew and all, and ran all
over the pits looking for a spark plug. It took me ¼ hour
to get back out, but I managed 6th place in the 350
class after all,” he says.
That was the start of Bone’s racing career, and the A7
took quite a few more places for him before it was sold
to a newcomer to the racing scene – a very inexperienced
Graeme Crosby. At that time Bone was giving Crosby
riding lessons, and teaching him what the scene was all
about. The only time Bone rod the A7 after this was
when it was giving Crosby some trouble. He took it to
a fourth, but discovered a piston circlip had fallen out
causing it to cut out round right hand corners.
Bad luck in December 1973 - Bones first crash in six years of racing,
After an inexperienced rider got in his way.
The next season was undoubtedly Bone’s best. Impressed
by the performance of Bone on the A7, Laurie Summers
gave Bone a right-off Mach 1, one of the old red tanked
beasts, that Bone had to build up. He did so, and lost three
stone, and it wasn’t long before he had it ready to take to
his favourite test track – the Waitakeres in Auckland. So,
followed by a Norton 750 on which Graeme Crosby was pillion,
he took off up the windy scenic drive. The Norton rider
fell off at 70 trying to catch the Kawasaki!
“I won every 500cc race I entered that year, including
the 500cc class of the Castrol hour race, the ½ hour
production at Bay Park, Tauranga, the B grade at the first
Hamilton road races, and was second with first 500 over
the line, at the open production race at Gracefield”, he
says.
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 9

Summers had obviously made the right decision with
that bike, so when it was time for Bone to move up again,
it was the Kawasaki agent that came forward with a Z1
900 Kawasaki. It was turned down by Bone, because he
“didn’t think it was his scene”. However, spectators at
the Castrol Hour Long Race at Pukekohe in 1973 saw
Bone’s brilliant ride on a Kawasaki 750 in the wet to
grind other riders, virtually into the dust and finish miles
ahead of his nearest competitor Alan Collison.
But since then, Bone’s luck has hardly been on form and
he hasn’t won a race. After having an accident free ride
for six years, Bone was obstructed by a less experienced
rider at Pukekohe in December 1973, and he broke this
record. Since then he has fallen off three times during
racing, and his bike has given considerable trouble.
He may not be flamboyant, but he sure is fast. Bone goes around Dick
Bedford on Pukekohe’s bends.
“I always used to tune my bikes by ear, but I gave the 750 to a guy to tune with all the tools, and it hasn’t gone right
ever since, although I am starting to get it going okay now,” he says. This is proved by the fact this his 750 is now pulling
1500 revs more that it ever did. His other main problem hss been the “young whipper snapper” Graeme Crosby.
“The other reason I haven’t won is because Crosby has been there all the time”, he says. “I teach him everything I
know and then he goes out and beats me”.
“I got lots of places, but it was not a good year last year – it must be better this year, it’s got to be.”
He wants to race more bikes this year that he did last, and has already started sorting out another A7 – not a rightoff
this time – and has plans for having a go at the proposed New Zealand Motorcycle Championship series, now in
remits to the ACU. “I have been racing a few years and I might lose the initiative it I don’t try a few different things,”
he says.
But one thing is for sure – he will not desert the production racing field and its riders. Ask Graeme Crosby, who Bone
taught to race, and Rodger Freeth, another “pupil” of Bone, they will tell you how much Eric enjoys production racing.
Bone on the big 750 on Pukekohe
Page 10 The Post Classic January 2010

Even Bone himself will admit it, which is more than he will do for his age. While he says production racing is competitive,
honest, equal racing, trying to get how old he is, is like trying to get a pair of wet knee high waders on over a wet
woolley vest. He says with a smile “107” but I doubt that. This attitude can be disconcerting for some, because when
his flatmate, none other than Graeme Crosby, last made him a cake for a birthday, it cost him $2.75 just for candles!
“I think sometimes I am over 21,” he says.
For the future, Bone has no outrageous plans, but will still keep an open mind. He will also be keeping his eye on any
promising riders in production racing “The pace is so much faster now than it was. In 1970 the Yamaha TR3s were
lapping Pukekohe at about 1.14 sec to 1.15, and the Kawasaki’s are doing that now. Even though that was five years
ago, my bike is only 1971 so it can’t be just the bikes,” he says.
“In my day I have seen hundreds of riders go by, and there would be maybe one rider a season to show any form – if
you are lucky. The only two I have seen in the 750 class are Crosby and Freeth.” “I like making boys into racers. I
enjoy racing and will continue to enjoy it in the future. I certainly don’t mind being beaten by Graeme and Rodger,”
he adds.
Bone in his early days
and later on
The Post Classic January 2010
Page 11

Eligibility:
We all hear stories from time to time, the usual “that bike is not legal cos it’s got “x” fitted and I don’t think it should”.
The tech committee regularly fields questions or cops flack over questionable bikes. Sometimes it’s fine, and the bike
fits within the rules. Sometimes it doesn’t and the owner or rider will be approached asking if they can correct the
issue. Sometimes even after being approached riders will continue to run bikes that are known to be illegal in terms
of the MNZ rules for the class they are entered in.
But be warned at a recent meeting a machine was protested by another competitor (the owner of the machine in question
had previously been warned in writing about this technical issue). The protest was upheld and the offending
machine removed from the results.
Whilst I would hope that we can usually fix the problem before it gets to being a protest situation, I do applaud the
protester for not putting up with it any longer and actually making a stand, rather than just let it continue and the upset
this brings. Not that a protest doesn’t bring emotions to the fore!.
So people, the message is pretty clear that other racers are willing to make a stand, especially if you have previoulsly
been warned.
Tech Committee.
Page 12 The Post Classic January 2010