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Tuesday November 22 2016
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Life in the fast lane captured in book him at the time? Yes, working on the bikes and that kind of thing. I also took a position on his team after he finished racing. How old are you? I’m 64, very soon to be a pensioner! And what other hobknow all the fastest guys at bies do you have? the time. I’m quite into my So it was a bit of a windsurfing. I make world circuit? boards and fins and Yes, it was a bit. The all my own stuff major manufacturers really. I’m part of a would also bring their worldwide speed best bikes of the time sailing group as to race them. So we well. You basically had quite an adjust go sailing vanced racing comsomewhere with a munity so we could GPS system, and test ourselves against send the data over the best really. I built to a team in Hola few good bikes land, who give you a and got noticed worldwide ranking. and so next minute You just do your I was working for thing and see these American how fast you go, guys in the world really. championships, which How many started off what I SPANNER MAN: Author Kerry Swanson (left) and Mike Sinclair collaborated on the new people are you thought would be a book Mike Sinclair – King Kenny’s Spanner Man. competing one maybe two-year against? of thing. That’s where I wanted to I’ve lived all around the show adventure turned into I think it’s about 4000 across be. I started in a car spare parts but for a long time I wasn’t in about 25 years of work. shop while I was still at school New Zealand, just living wherever the world. Quite a lot. There’s So you went from working nowhere in New Zealand that is and then as soon as I could I the races were. Initially for my here and there building fast particularly quick – there needs was into the motor bikes. I had young family and I, we actubikes in Christchurch to workto be flat water with a lot of wind some good help from some good ally lived in caravans by the race ing for some of the world’s best which is hard to find. people to get me where I am. track. That was the style back in America? How did you get into windPeople tell me that you were then. They called it the continenYes, effectively. And it wasn’t surfing? in effect ahead of the game with tal circus. one of these things that you A lot of the guys I used to race your mechanical knowledge of So who is Kenny Roberts to can just learn from a book or with now also do windsurfing bikes. Why is that? What did you? something; there was no instrucbecause in a way it’s the same you do? In terms of motor bike racing tion manual, just learning from Well the first bike I had I always he was a huge innovator, he trans- physics. Leaning into corners and mistakes. I was working mostly trying to get to a certain point as kept notes on its performance. ferred an American style to Euwith American riders and their quick as you can. experimental bikes. We won three Whenever I modified it somehow rope, and he was able to generate Would you say you’re a bit of a sponsorship and money for his world titles in that time, and a big I was always checking its perforspeed demon? mance. What I did to it and how own team. He used the money to stack of grands prix on some of No, no. I’m too old to be a it affected its performance, that develop the bikes he was racing, the bikes I was looking after. speed demon now. kind of thing. I’ve still got my that’s how he kept ahead of the Where are you from then? Have you got family in South notebooks from when I was 16. game. He’s one of these racers that I was born in Taihape and New Brighton with you? You must look at some and people refer to as the GOAT – the shifted down here because dad Yes, my daughter is there and just say what was I thinking? Greatest Of All Time. People have grew up here after the war and my two grand daughters. My Yes, absolutely! I figured out different ideas about who’s the then all over the place. son is up in Auckland now, he’s a pretty early that it was an inforbest but Kenny was definitely one And what was your favourite musician and an IT man. mation game and the team with of them for a lot of people. He subject at school? •Mike Sinclair – King Kenny’s the most information would was an American dirt track racer My interests were kind of elseSpanner Man is available at usually win. who switched to road racing, where, I was a bit of a schoolboy www.fishpond.com and at all How did you end up in South which is a huge change. dreamer. I always knew who was good book stores. New Brighton? And you were working for leading in Europe and that kind
Mike Sinclair has lived such an interesting life that local author Kerry Swanson wrote a book on it. The 64-year-old spent 26 years tinkering with grand prix winning motor-cycles with ‘King’ Kenny Roberts. Fraser Walker-Pearce talked to him and Mr Swanson You’ve managed to get this book Mike Sinclair – King Kenny’s Spanner Man written about you Mike. It’s 330 pages, how have you managed that? Yes, I know it’s pretty big. It’s an indication of about 26 years in the professional motor-biking arena. So were you born riding motor bikes or did you grow into it? No not really, my family doesn’t have a background of motor bike riding, I just got an interest when I was 10 or 11, my mother bought me a plastic model and that was it, motor bikes were for me. And from then on I was always out of school as quick as I could be to get on the bike and on the race track. I raced here in Christchurch and won the 250cc national championship in 1972, but then I got more into the mechanical side of things, more than the riding. Did riding ever take you to overseas competitions and races? At that time you could buy basically a grand prix level bike and go and race in the world championships and be competitive. So quite a lot of the Christchurch guys were doing things like that. One of my mates was at that level and went off to Europe in 1976 and I went off to help him. Were you his pit crew at that stage? Yes kind of. In those days it was just the two of you if you were lucky, otherwise you’d be doing everything yourself. I did 1974 on the same basis with another Christchurch rider. We did the United States season in ’74 and then onto the European season in ’76. From that I got to meet a few of the world’s fastest guys in a competition in Christchurch, sponsored by Marlboro, and was therefore known all around the world. Through that we got to
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