A picture of Barry Sheene in Jan 76

[John Kat]

I had the opportunity of interviewing Barry Sheene in Brussels in Jan 1976.
It was right after his very serious accident at Daytona where he broke both legs and arms.
He proved to be a real nice guy on top of beeing one of the fastest on a racing bike.
Number 7 will not be forgotten!
Here's a picture of the two of us...

[steve murdoch]

Cool photo, John.
Were you writing for a bike magazine at the time?
I bet that jacket he is wearing was as loud as a race bike.

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing John!

I only got to see him in person once and that was here at Queensland Raceway when he got on and off the Matchless G50? (I think?) he was riding in the historic races and I was flag marshalling at the time.

He had to use his hand to lift his leg onto the footpeg and when he got off he could barely walk for a few steps. Must've hurt him to ride but he still obviously loved it

[John Kat]

Cool photo, John.
Were you writing for a bike magazine at the time?
I bet that jacket he is wearing was as loud as a race bike.

Yes, one of my friends was chief editor for a bike magazine and asked me to interview Barry due to the language barrier...
It took me two seconds to agree although I had never done an interview in my life!
The funny thing is that he had lost his Rolls Royce the night before as he forgotten where he had parked it when he came out of the night club
The alcohol content must have played a role in this story
He is the kind of guy who took a pack of cigarettes with him on the track in case he would have to wait to be picked up after a mechanical breakdown on the bike
No modern GP racer would do that today....

[allojohn]

You're a very lucky man John. Those were good days.

[Buffalo Bill]

Lucky you, Bro?

I dunno, those arms of his look to be workin' OK.
That must have been a couple months after, ?right after breaking both legs and arms.?
He was one funky dude.

[Guest]

He is the kind of guy who took a pack of cigarettes with him on the track in case he would have to wait to be picked up after a mechanical breakdown on the bike
No modern GP racer would do that today....[/QUOTE]

Not to be cynical, but aren't cigarettes what cut his life short? Lung cancer?

[John Kat]

You are right that's what killed him
I believe he refused to take any treatment knowing he would die in any case...
No ordinary guy for sure !

[fast pom]

You are right that's what killed him
I believe he refused to take any treatment knowing he would die in any case...
No ordinary guy for sure !

Not true he try just about every alternative treatment going but refused to go under the knife, A true racer and one of my all time heroes.

[Guest]

Not true he try just about every alternative treatment going but refused to go under the knife, A true racer and one of my all time heroes.

Yes, very true. He was determined to beat it the natural way... I admired him for that as well as a lot of other things...

[HaggisHombre]

Barry Sheene

Barry Sheene was amazing and one of my hero's. In 1978 I became a motorcycle mechanic for a large motorcycle dealer in Scotland. In 1979 we bought one of Barrys factory RG500s from a previous year for our head salesman to race. As I remember we could not keep it running. Barry Sheene and others then and since have provided us with incredibly exciting entertainment.