Historic Speedway (motorbike)

[EvilPumpkin]

Is this a good place to ask about speedway? My dad used to take me to this all the time at Hackney when I was small and I'm trying to find out about a particular rider.

If it's not the right place, shoo me away

If it IS, then let me know and I'll give details - I've found quite a bit on him in the time period he was "known" but I'm actually interested in what happened to him afterwards.

Cheers,

EP

[TimD]

Seems as good a place as any, EP. However, I'm probably not the person to ask. The only speedway rider I remember from when we were small is Ivan Mauger.

[David McKinney]

Ronnie Moore revisited Wembley recently
Being a New Zealander, I know a little about my countrymen in this field, but not a lot else...

[Peter Scillitoe]

I had better admit it. I was a regular at Hackney Wick speedway in the 60's (that's the 1960's before any one asks). I guess that it was probably before the rest of you were born.

[Quadrifoglio]

Which rider are you interested in? I was a Leicester Lions fan myself .

[EvilPumpkin]

His name is/was Reg Luckhurst and afaik he rode for the Wimbledon Dons in the early 70s. He would have been a contemporary of Mauger/Collins/Briggs

I was an Ole Olson fan myself - he rode for the Witches - I still have a signed photo of him

[EvilPumpkin]

Oh and Pete - you were hanging out there at the same time as my parents were if that's any consolation?

[Quadrifoglio]

According to the Ivan Mauger Speedway extravaganza purchased for me by my parents Christmas 1975 (I was 13 at the time)
Reginald Thomas Luckhurst born 11/11/35 Ashford kent.
Teams Swindon 1959, Edinburgh 1960, New Cross 1961, Southampton 1962, 1963, West ham 1964, Wimbledon 1965 to 1970, West ham 1971, Wimbledon 1973 to 1975 (when the book was printed)
Appeared in 1965 World Final and scored 5 points.
Numerous test appearances for England and great Britain

He must have retired around 1975 as 40 is pretty old for a Speedway rider (and for a lot of other things as well)!

I dont have any other info on him, I probably have a programme from a Leicester meeting with him in (they are in my loft). You will probably get more info from one of the many historic speedway sites on the web through a search engine.

I never liked Ole Olsen myself because when ever he came to Leicester he used to beat all of my favourite riders! Are you sure he rode for Ipswich? I thought he only ever rode at newcastle, Wolverhampton and Coventry. he is the main man in World speedway organisation nowadays.

Nice to see a mention of the dirt track racers on here, I stick with circuit racing nowadays, cars and bikes but I always like to chat about the good old days of Speedway.

[Peter Scillitoe]

Originally posted by EvilPumpkin
Oh and Pete - you were hanging out there at the same time as my parents were if that's any consolation?

Small world. I would have said hello if I had known. Seriously, I knocked around with a local South London speedway rider by the name of Pete Jarman. He actually raced for Wolverhampton, but on his free nights he went and helped other rider friends racing at London venues. One was Ken McKinley who raced for West Ham; another was Colin Pratt who (if my memory serves me well) actually raced for Hackney.

[EvilPumpkin]

Quad - you're absolutely right - I must have just had witches on the brain. It was Coventry Bees Olson rode for!

As for web research, I've had a look - I can find a lot of stuff on his racing career (and my Dad has pretty much every speedway programme he ever bought - dating right back to the early 60s and not just for UK tracks - tracks all around the world) but I'm actually wondering what happened to him after he retired. The whole thing came to mind as I was having a rummage and I found a single (for those of you that don't remember, singles were the black plasticy things we had before CDs) of Reg singing "In The Misty Moonlight" and it started me wondering what happened to him.

Peter, how do you know you DIDN'T say hello - you don't know who my parents are

I remember Pete Jarman's name but I can't remember why!

It's actually funny - one of the things that drew me to Circuit motorbike racing (for marshalling) was the smell of two stroke oil. It's a smell I always associate with going to speedway when I was a kid and I love it!

This may be after your time, but I also remember that before the meeting started, they ALWAYS played Dolly Parton singing "Jolene" - I've never quite worked out why though!