1989 RACE Nationals | GTAMotorcycle.com

1989 RACE Nationals

N3WMAN

Well-known member
Sit down and grab some popcorn. Watch some of the absolute LEGENDS of the sport in their prime in canadian road racing.
[video=youtube;Oo0m4v8v-sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo0m4v8v-sw[/video]
This should get help some of you get through the winter.
 
Was there :D Damn I am old
 
So what was the difference between then and now? Why there was so much interest by the public then and not now? Cigarette money for advertisement?
 
So what was the difference between then and now? Why there was so much interest by the public then and not now? Cigarette money for advertisement?

- no such thing as track days. If you wanted to ride on a race track you had to race
- prize money from outside sponsors
- fans didn't have access to download anything they ever wanted and watch from home. You had to leave the safety of your own home to watch motorcycle racing!


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So what was the difference between then and now? Why there was so much interest by the public then and not now? Cigarette money for advertisement?
It was cheaper for everything back then is my guess. :dontknow:
 
Really eh! I wasn't in Canada at that time so I wasn't aware you couldn't do track days.

Good point on people having internet access to all videos, i guess it is easier to open Youtube than driving somewhere to watch live - Shame as there isn't anything as hearing the sound of the engines going by.

- no such thing as track days. If you wanted to ride on a race track you had to race
- prize money from outside sponsors
- fans didn't have access to download anything they ever wanted and watch from home. You had to leave the safety of your own home to watch motorcycle racing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think people used to do a lot more things together as a family
It was cheaper for everything back then is my guess.
dontknow.gif
 
Only watched a couple of mins of the clip this morning, i see Iron Man Paul Macmillan's name was mentioned.
 
If you keep watching you'll see a guy named John Bickle running 250GP at Shannonville. John Cornwell too.
around min 44, that is when Shannonville starts
 
I had a new 89 CBR600 back then....these guys were my idols. We used to ride to the tracks and camp out just to watch this stuff. Foreigners used to even come to race here. Imagine that!
I still wanna race these bikes.
 
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I still wanna race these bikes.

Some of us still do :D

I think 1989 was the first time I went to Shannonville and Mosport as a spectator. Back then, RZ Cup and Lightweight Production were huge classes. VRRA Period 4 Formula 3 is like Lightweight was back then.

I bought my FZR400 when Lightweight was still a big class. It wasn't a vintage bike when I bought it :cool:
 
I am coming out for vintage with ya this season

Amusing to see the interview with AMA rider Jamie James halfway thru that video- he says that there was way more factory involvement here in Canada thant he USA, and the fans were excited and eduated about the sport, and the fans loved it.
Those were the days I guess. Not just one or two, but many riders actually earned a damn good living at it.
 
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- no such thing as track days. If you wanted to ride on a race track you had to race
- prize money from outside sponsors
- fans didn't have access to download anything they ever wanted and watch from home. You had to leave the safety of your own home to watch motorcycle racing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


There were trackdays but most shops or people were too cheap or worried to run them. I rented mosport in 1995 and had a huge bike turnout including a few well known shops and people like Bar Hodgson who showed up and who within a couple years were running their own big events.
seemed like it just took someone or something to break the ice.
 
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There were trackdays but most shops or people were too cheap or worried to run them. I rented mosport in 1995 and had a huge bike turnout including a few well known shops and people like Bar Hodgson who showed up and who within a couple years were running their own big events.
seemed like it just took someone or something to break the ice.

The now long gone Kelly's Cycle in Brampton did what I think was the first trackdays for their customers they rented Shanny in 87-88ish The sponsored riders which I was one had to commit to do coaching/instruction for those days to get a deal. Long time ago but if I remember there were just two or three a season. tons of giveaways and catered lunch. McBride's wasnt long after that.
 
^ I think the first track day that I did was a Kelly's track day, probably 1990-ish.
 
Thx for the link Kyle- I spent a cpl hrs watching that instead of a movie Sat nite
 

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