Photo from The Guardian |
PC 976 TD Graham Bailey joined the police as a 17 year old cadet and was on the beat at 19. Five years later he joined the traffic division. A member of the Plymouth Brethren, he would neither compete nor spectate on a Sunday.
In a 1969 interview with David Dixon for Motor Cycle he said “My early racing years, from 1961 to 1963, mainly on a Gold Star BSA, brought moderate success until I was off work for six months following a shunt with a 350cc Manx Norton at Aberdare Park. Of course, that made a big but wrong impression at work, so I packed up for three years and let the dust settle!”
He eased back into racing on his 998cc Vincent at the end of 1966 but a dropped valve convinced him that the bike was better for everyday use. So he used it to commute to work, riding a standard police issue Triumph Saint on patrol.
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Photo from Motor Cycle News |
Then early in 1967, he got a ride on Peter Butler's Bonneville. “I had a win and a second and George Hopwood, whose machine Peter rode, suggested I contact Neil Shilton at Triumph.
“Neil lent me his personal Saint and, in police time, I prepared it for the Production Machine TT. I finished seventh. The resulting publicity chuffed the force no end and made my problems of switching leave to coincide with race meetings easier.”
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Photo from the Gus Kuhn archive |
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The flying copper image was forged. It was reinforced the following year by a fourth in the production TT on a Bonneville and by various wins in 1969 on Gus Kuhn Commandos. The most memorable day brought five wins at one Snetterton outing!
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