Norton Racing legend

Jack Ahearn (born 8 October 1924) was an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best season was in 1964 when he won the 500cc Finnish Grand Prix and finished second to Mike Hailwood in the 500cc world championship.[1] On 16 January 2001, Ahearn was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his achievements.[2]

Jack is Patron of our Bike Club and a true gentleman. He raced in pretty well every major event around the world in his day and had a ball doing it
Pictured here sitting on my bike he spoke of the days of the Castrol 6 hour race which he entered riding commandos and laments the advent of the Japanese
bikes that changed the face of bike racing

Those were the days!

Jed

A true gentleman.

Three cheers to Jack.......... So you'all can say to your wife that riding, racing and motorcycles and conjusive to a man happiness and wellbeing... And heres the proof at 90yrs...............

Cool!

Youll have to line him up & get a tape recorder ( maybe the cellphone :? ) and let us hear his opinions on the steering , and other things . would be most interesting . thanks .

Two friends of mine bought 350cc and 500cc Manx Nortons from Jack. As far as steering and handling of old bikes are concerned, Eric Hinton might be a better person to ask. He had the keys to the Norton factory and still has some very interesting bikes. I would not have thought Jack is still alive.
Just for you :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bknf2Bdm6Wg

' he spoke of the days of the Castrol 6 hour race which he entered riding commandos and laments the advent of the Japanese
bikes that changed the face of bike racing'

Ain't that the bloody truth ? If we'd separated two strokes and four cylinder bikes (as GP bikes) from thunderbikes (TT bikes) in the race classes during the 60s, we'd be having a lot more fun now. And we could still do that with benefit in historic racing. At least the races would sound right and look right.

Thanks for the link, Found myself turning the sound down on the football game. Great stuff those guys did! :wink:

Too bad the video didn't shed a little light on Jack's biggest prize, his beautiful daughter/model Meg. My vote for a new Norton girl!

http://www.starnow.ca/megahearn1/photos ... to-4184646

C'mon Garner, bring back the Norton girls!

Thanks for posting!

Meg is certainly a beautiful kid. If you are from around Sydney, you might like to find Jack Forrest - Ahearn or the Hintons probably know where he is to be found. He was a works rider with BMW in the 50s. In the early sixties I saw him at Bathurst on a Featherbed Dommie going extremely quickly. I think he still has a Rennsport BMW. He will tell you all about everything including how good he was. Just joking, my mate was simply pissed off because Jack Forrest blew him to the weeds at Bathurst.
If you are into old racing bikes, the old international riders are worth seeking out and talking to. You hear a lot of very strange things. Eric Hinton is still alive and still has his father's works 500 manx, the 350cc NSU Rennsport, and the Artie Bell manx.

acotrel said:

He will tell you all about everything including how good he was.

Click to expand...

One thing else I liked about your video link was Jack Ahearn's integrity and honesty when asked about the competition regarding the absence of the MV's and Hailwood, "did it bother him that they weren't there?" "No" he said "he would have beaten me" and explain he was more happy just to win the purse.

Guess he wasn't running on bullshit anyway.

In the old days the NSW riders were much faster than most Victorians. the Hintons, Ahearn, Forrest, Carruthers - all international riders and none of them are bullshit artists. I don't know if Jack Forrest is still alive, however if you want to look silly, get in a race with him on a similar bike. I once watched him on a Norton twin at Bathurst - he was so positive and aggressive, so competent. It is just that I got a laugh when my mate got upset when Jack told him all about Jack. If you are that good you are entitled to define your merit.
Jack Ahearn did it the hard way - in the 50s and 60s we all had the option to race in Europe, and my friend suggested we should do that. I decided to stay home, get educated and have a family. Before my friend died recently, I reminded him of what he said and told him that looking back he was right. I would have probably come home in an urn, however it would have been lovely fun. And there were ladies in England too, and possibly straighter in the head.
When Maurice Quincey went to the UK to race, they spent the months on the boat studying the Ordnance Survey Maps to learn the IOM circuit - he ended up in Noble's for a while.