carlo
04-04-2007, 08:57 PM
Anyone ever wonder who invented "hanging off" and "knee dragging" and when?
Before about 1969, nobody did it outside of a few "coffee bar cowboys" (cafe racers) in London. They were trying to compensate for the limited cornering clearance fo their road model based Triumph, BSA and Norton cafe racers.
The technique found it's way to the track in the form of racers known as the "short circuit scratchers" who raced at places like Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Snetterton. These guys learned their skills racing around the "B" (equivalent to our secondary highways like Loraine and Territorial) Roads near London.
Here's a shot of a guy named Ray Pickrell taken at Snetterton in late 1968.
I scanned these photos from old issues of Cycle World Magazine, and posted them on their forum to avoid copyright issues. I'm only linking to them here.
http://forums.cycleworld.com/attachments/cycleworld/feedback/2830/1/Ray-Pickrell.jpg
Here's a picture of a racer named Paul Smart, taken 2 years later. I think this is possibly the first picture showing a racer in a position close to the modern technique.
http://forums.cycleworld.com/attachments/cycleworld/feedback/2829/1/Paul-Smart.jpg
Many people think that Kenny Roberts introduced the technique in the US, but I saw a discussion on another forum where someone quoted Kenny as saying that he learned it from Cal Rayborn. That makes sense because Cal Rayborn had spent several years during the 60's racing on the short circuits in England, and undoubtedly saw some of these guy's riding style.
Before about 1969, nobody did it outside of a few "coffee bar cowboys" (cafe racers) in London. They were trying to compensate for the limited cornering clearance fo their road model based Triumph, BSA and Norton cafe racers.
The technique found it's way to the track in the form of racers known as the "short circuit scratchers" who raced at places like Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Snetterton. These guys learned their skills racing around the "B" (equivalent to our secondary highways like Loraine and Territorial) Roads near London.
Here's a shot of a guy named Ray Pickrell taken at Snetterton in late 1968.
I scanned these photos from old issues of Cycle World Magazine, and posted them on their forum to avoid copyright issues. I'm only linking to them here.
http://forums.cycleworld.com/attachments/cycleworld/feedback/2830/1/Ray-Pickrell.jpg
Here's a picture of a racer named Paul Smart, taken 2 years later. I think this is possibly the first picture showing a racer in a position close to the modern technique.
http://forums.cycleworld.com/attachments/cycleworld/feedback/2829/1/Paul-Smart.jpg
Many people think that Kenny Roberts introduced the technique in the US, but I saw a discussion on another forum where someone quoted Kenny as saying that he learned it from Cal Rayborn. That makes sense because Cal Rayborn had spent several years during the 60's racing on the short circuits in England, and undoubtedly saw some of these guy's riding style.