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I did well but had a serious accident at the Pembury circuit in Wales where I high sided the bike going into the first turn.

I broke 2 ribs, my pubis, my finger and contused my pelvis not to mention a major head trauma/concussion.

I still have my smashed up Axo helmet as a reminder that pavement is hard and dirt is soft.

I had great enjoyment building this bike, the front brake was off a Ducati 996sp, 320mm rotor, at the time it was de rigueur to race a CR500.

I built and installed a air activated launch system that held the front forks 4" down until I got to the first corner, other riders thought it was a joke....

They are now commonplace on motocross bikes these days and every time I watch SM on TV they all use a similar system.

I am wearing my freshly repaired leathers that a month earlier were cut completely off me after a serious super-moto crash.

Around 1997 I built a Honda CR500AF (aluminum Frame) motocross replica of what the RWJ factory teams were using.

There were no crf450 four strokes back then so horse power was only available using the best 500 engine ever made. (a Honda CR500)

I purchased two bikes, one a 1997 CR250 rolling chassis and the other a 1993 CR500, that had an engine built by the Honda factory mechanic Keith Thorpe.

Keith was the Father and mechanic to one of my best friends, 3 time world champion Dave Thorpe.

I had the radiators and engine mounts and frame modified by my buddy Mick George at PBH engineering. (see racerX)

I stripped down and rebuilt the chassis carefully installing the 500 engine. it was tight but it fitted perfectly.

Dave Thorpe got me a silent sport exhaust, the same used by the factory teams of that time.

I raced it at a couple of local races in England, it was awesome, the suspension was the only thing left to sort out.

I moved to the USA just as the bike was completed, I shipped it out to Florida and rode it a couple of times with good results.

Unfortunately my local track was a super cross track (Air Dania) way too small for a 500cc bike.

I stuck it on eBay and it immediately sold to a guy in California, when he got it he said it was the fastest thing he ever rode.

Maybe it was the engine, or the chassis, or both, or maybe it was just the way I put it all together.....

Around 1985 An old friend of mine Dave Wood gave me some boxes of old parts and told me it was a 1976 Suzuki RM370A.

I stuck them in my garage for months until another friend Stuart Baker told me his Aunt had the same bike in her shed and that I could have it!

We went round her house and sure enough at the bottom of her garden there it was.

We loaded it up and headed home, this first picture was the bike the day I got it home.

It took me about a year to rebuild and source some of the difficult parts, most of the plastics were new old stock.

I actually rebuilt the whole bike from the ground up, I even re-laced the wheels.

I never put gas in it and I never attempted to start it, but I new it would have run great, I just didn't want to spoil it by putting smelly gas in it.

I moved house and the bike sat in the hallway of my house for about 7 years, (last picture) I got great enjoyment from just looking at it all those years.

For some strange reason I decided to put a perfectly good Suzuki dr400 4 stroke engine in a Suzuki RM250 chassis.

A friend of mine picked up a surplus engine from Suzuki UK Ltd and I supplied my 1995 RM250 as the chassis.

I gave the frame and engine to a frame builder in Kent with the instructions "make it fit" ...2 months later it was back in my workshop.

I installed a white brothers cam kit with 441 big bore kit and supertrapp race exhaust.

My buddy Shane built me an aluminum tank, and I set about putting it all together. (too much to list)

It took about a month of late nights to get the thing finished, it ran great, accelerated pretty good and was very light.

I took it the 2nd round of the British four stroke championships at the Wakes Colne circuit in England and put it on the start line.

Riders looked at me like I was nuts to even try to race a 4 stroke with only 441cc`s.

next time out a week later after fixing the camshaft the engine momentarily seized.

I finally got it running.. perfect but the high cost of engine failures was making me nervous not to mention my wallet.

I sold it to a dealership who loved it, and bought a brand new RM125... and it never let me down.

06/14/10

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