Author Description

The 1950s was the era that gave us Rock and Roll. It was also a time when British and Italian motorcycles ruled motorcycle racing and record breaking. The Japanese motorcycle invasion had yet to become all conquering and American motorcycles were unsuitable for the short circuit competitions and public road races of Britain and Europe. It was an era where riders would switch from one racing discipline to another. Last week in Europe competing in a round of the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship on an MV; today racing a 350cc BSA around the narrow public roads at Oliver's Mount Circuit; next weekend taking part in a scrambles event near home before setting Land Speed records at Montlhéry a few weeks later. One such rider was Dickie Dale. Guy Martin is not the first Lincolnshire HGV mechanic to be a world class motorcycle racer and World Record breaker. That honour almost certainly goes to Dickie Dale, who raced and won against the best the world could offer. In a career that took him halfway round the world to Australia to compete in road races, he also got to set World Records on the most exotic racing motorcycle of its era: the Moto Guzzi V8, a bike that even some of the best riders of a generation could not tame and refused to ride.