bob smith was one of my racing hero's, the diminutive smith stood 5'4" but put him on a racing motorcycle and he turned into a double-hard bastard, i remember when bob got an invite to race in the easter tranatlantic match races, the british versus the yank superstars over three different cicuits, held over the bank holiday weekend, friday was brand's hatch, sunday, mallory park and easter monday saw the whole circus roll into oulton park, with the likes of sheene, grant and haslam taking on the mighty robert's, mamola and spencer, a lot of people were asking 'who's bob smith?' they soon found out, bob giving the american's a torrid time on his beat-up, shoestring financed tz750, when bob got a ride in the inaugaral battle of the twins series on the magnificent rgb-weslake, a rip-snorting 100 bhp, wrapped in a john caffrey built chassis and weighing in at a featherweight 295lb's, he battered his rivals including tony rutter on the work's ducati to take the championship, bob lost his life in an accident while racing at oliver's mount in 1983........
My Uncle bob sadly missed but like his big brother Frank my dad motorcycles are in our blood
ReplyDeletebig respect due mate, your uncle bob was one of the best, at the time of the first wave of 'superstar' racers, sheene, roberts, spencer, mamola etc. bob was just a really approachable bloke with time for everyone, he always had a chat and a laugh with me, i felt like a bit of a stalker! every race meeting i attended me and the then girlfriend would seek out bob in the paddock, kiss for the missus and a handshake for me, great bloke and fast as fuck!
ReplyDeletegrew up in the same avenue as bob when i was growing new is mum and dad frank and Doreen Remeber going to my girlfriends who lived next door always spoke to Mr smith and bob one time Mr smith took me to Aintree with bobs brother Micky what a great day
ReplyDeleteloved every second i still live in Hayes avenue today still talk to mick when i see him
it was though seeing bobs bikes that made me get intrested my first bike was a yamaha fs1e they were the days
grew up in the same avenue as bob when i was growing new is mum and dad frank and Doreen Remeber going to my girlfriends who lived next door always spoke to Mr smith and bob one time Mr smith took me to Aintree with bobs brother Micky what a great day
ReplyDeleteloved every second i still live in Hayes avenue today still talk to mick when i see him
it was though seeing bobs bikes that made me get intrested my first bike was a yamaha fs1e they were the days
Bob was sponsored by my dad from.1978 to 1980 my dad supplied bob with the 750 and a brand new rg 500 under the Marmac banner, we took bob in 1979 to Australia, to do swan series with his wife Linda and his mechanic allan, were bob raced will hartog, Bob was a great fella, used make me smile when all hus hells angels friends came to watch him.
ReplyDeleteBob was sponsored by my dad from.1978 to 1980 my dad supplied bob with the 750 and a brand new rg 500 under the Marmac banner, we took bob in 1979 to Australia, to do swan series with his wife Linda and his mechanic allan, were bob raced will hartog, Bob was a great fella, used make me smile when all hus hells angels friends came to watch him.
ReplyDeleteYes I was at Doni in 82... Bob was an absolute star! The RGB and Bob were a stunning combo.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. There's a trophy to be named after Bob at Scarborough road races. 16th/17 th April 2016. Official title The Spring Cub Bob Smith Trophy National Road Races. Legend.
DeleteWhoops spelling error.
DeleteThe Spring Cup Bob Smith Trophy National Road Races.
hi Darron, thanks for that info, very interesting, yep, bob seemed to attract some 'interesting characters' for sure! thanks also 'anon' for the info regarding the scarboro' trophy races, any idea who is behind it? is it the scarboro circuit or just a bunch of fan's putting up the cash for the trophy? anyhoo, a well deserved memorial to a great racer......
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteBob was a mate and hero of mine. I went to Scarborough for the gold cup this year with my sister Lynda Bobs wife first time since Bob lost life and asked could they do anything to
Honour his memory. They had a meeting and got back with news of the trophy which we're really pleased about. A fitting tribute to a great bloke and true racing legend long overdue. Also there is going to be a featured article on Bob in the Classic Racer magazine. Hopefully around the time of the Bob Smith trophy. I will keep you posted when I have more info.
that's brilliant that bob is finally going to get some recognition after all these years and about time too! i have every issue of classic racer magazine and can only remember a fleeting mention of bob, mostly in articles about the weslake, hope that he can finally get the recognition that he deserves. one of the things that has always bugged me is the lack of photos of bob that are available, i had a load from the early eighties that i took, some very poor 'action' pictures, but a lot of paddock pictures from the 'match' races and national meetings from back in the day, as these things happen, a split with the then girlfriend, a couple of house moves and they just seem destined to be memories.......thanks for getting back with the info, please keep me up to date with any developments, will deffo keep the gold cup meeting free for next year and please pass on my regards to lynda.
ReplyDeleteI've some great pics of Bob I can send you how do I get intouch
ReplyDeletewhoah! that would be great! would it be ok to post them up on the blog? no worries if not, you can get me at tim.dog@btinternet.com, thank you, regards, tim
ReplyDeletesuddenly out of the darkness of another boring sodium lit night on the streets of parr, sparks would ignite as the douglas dragonfly grounded its pegs around the sharp and dangerously rutted "oddfellows" bend.
ReplyDeletethe rider wrestled the ill handling machine, teasing out more and more performance than was ever intended,
in a split second blur of soundtrack and speed he had battered the corner into submission....he now owned it...
and off he sped...to his next task.
nailing it round the "horse shoe"..
"aye that will be bob then"...
said the teenager looking on in awe.
"aye that was bob"...
My husband was made up to come across this 'blog' about Bob Smith. He worked with Bob years ago and remembers him building a bike at work. He thinks Bob rode this same bike on his first race at Aintree which he was present at and remembers Bob had to have a push start off his brother-in-law. We managed to have a couple of nights out with him before we left the district. Unfortunately we lost contact. Bob was not only a top racer, but a top guy.
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Deletethanks 'anonymous' what's really great is that so many people remember bob with such fondness. anyone who had any contact with bob will remember that not only was a throughly lovely bloke but that he was a genius on a racing motorcycle. i am very honoured that bob's wife lynda and his brother in lawmike have sent me a load of photo's to eventually feature on the blog once we can get the copyrights and credits sorted, good news is that bob will finally get some recognition for his achievments in 'classic racer' later in the year and a trophy named after him for the winner at the scarborough road races, the scene of many famous victories.
ReplyDelete3 days to Bob Smith adoring Cup
ReplyDelete3 days to Bob Smith Spring Cup.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Fleet Lane all through my youth and visited Bob in his garage where he worked on his bike. He was the main reason for me loving bikes, flying up the backs along side Crosby Springs was just breath taking and a ride on the back even more. Bob was my hero and far better than Sheene in my and many others eyes, finest guy you could ever meet and thanks for sorting out my BSA Bantam which was a nightmare. I always tell my children about Bob and how I got into bikes, cryed for weeks when he passed away so here's to the Spring Cup.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Fleet Lane all through my youth and visited Bob in his garage where he worked on his bike. He was the main reason for me loving bikes, flying up the backs along side Crosby Springs was just breath taking and a ride on the back even more. Bob was my hero and far better than Sheene in my and many others eyes, finest guy you could ever meet and thanks for sorting out my BSA Bantam which was a nightmare. I always tell my children about Bob and how I got into bikes, cryed for weeks when he passed away so here's to the Spring Cup.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for all the lovely comments about Bob..the Bob Smith Spring Cup main race at Olivers Mount Scarborough will be re run at the Barry Sheene weekend this July ..my family and I will be there and I will be presenting the Trophy to the winner ..Lynda Smith Bob's wife x
ReplyDeleteI remember going to the races with Mrs Smith and Mr Smith,to watch Bob, Mike his brother was a good friend, after the race we would meet up at the caravan,and all have a great time,th thanks for the memory's to all the smiSm family.
ReplyDeleteI was mates with Bob for a couple of years before moving away I had some great nights out with him and the last bsa I had I bought off Bob.sadly I was on the back of a mates bike when we had an accident and he lost his life . After coming out of hospital I got shit faced round rainhill and Bob phoned his dad up to come and get me and they took me home flat out in the back of his van
ReplyDeleteHello mucker, sorry to hear about your loss. I lost my mate, [dangerous, Dave, Croftsy , the bloke helping me off with my leathers in one of the side photos on the blog] he was a massive influence to me and a great racer who inspired me to have a go at racing myself, I miss him so much. Bob was a proper bloke, my then girlfriend and me loved meeting up with him at the races, he was a real hero, battering the works riders of the day on his privateer machines, just epic, stay strong mate, regards, tim
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