Tony Smith RIP (Brize Norton, Oxfordshire)

Ian Smith

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Nov 15, 2013
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Hi, unfortunately after a short illness my Dad, Tony Smith passed away on weds, the funeral is on the 11th May at 12.30pm at Brize Norton Church, Oxfordshire. If anyone would like to come you are more than welcome. Thanks Ian
 
Sorry for your loss Ian.

I only got to know Tony in the last 10 years or so. A super nice guy and an encyclopaedia of knowledge!

He’ll be sadly missed, and fondly remembered.
 
Sincere condolences to you and your family Ian.

I met your father in 1975 when I started racing a Commando. Over the next couple of years he was very helpful to me and I visited the workshop he had at the farm in Brize Norton for both advice and some useful ex Thruxton parts.

My wife comes from Bampton, but we rarely go there now since her parents passed. Living in Normandy, it would be difficult to attend, but we will be thinking of Tony.

But he is and will continue to be fondly remembered in the Norton Commando world, and beyond.
 
Ian, sorry for the sad news of your loss. Condolences to you and your family. I never met your father, but vividly remember him and Pete Davies duking it out during the Avon production race series. A great racer, as this picture vividly portrays...


Tony Smith RIP (Brize Norton, Oxfordshire)


R.I.P.
 
My wife has put the kybosh on my racing because she thinks I might die. I am 81 - do you think I might die ?
Here is a question - if you were me, how would you want to go - in a hurry or slow ?
We all worry too much about things which we cannot change. What I valiue most is a happy life experience.
 
cliffa said:
Ian, sorry for the sad news of your loss. Condolences to you and your family. I never met your father, but vividly remember him and Pete Davies duking it out during the Avon production race series. A great racer, as this picture vividly portrays...


View attachment 106090

R.I.P.
Click to expand...
Looking at that photo - that is the best - I would love to be doing that again. Anyone who has not road-raced a motorcycle has not really lived. Unless they were a Spitfire pilot.
I am sorry your dad has died, but seeing the photo makes it OK. Soon that sortof opportunity might be gone forever. I wish I had a photo of myself doing that.
 
Hi Ian
I'm sorry to hear the news. Your dad was a terrific rider & I'm sure you will have many great memories of him & his racing days. I look back fondly on dragging my kids round various circuits, sleeping in the back of the van. He raced some of the best times.
 
Seeley920 said:
R.I.P Tony

A hard rider who showed just what a Commando can do in the right hands
Click to expand...
That is actually quite an achievement. I don't think I could do that. My bike is a long way removed from a normal Commando. The weight difference alone would be very significant.
In that photo, the bike has separate exhausts, so the power delivery probably has a surge in the middle. The rider needs to ride around that.
 
I don't feel sad when somebody who has actually lived, dies. When you look at that photo- what do you see ? I was with my wife the other day, and saw a Leopard tank outside a Returned Sevicemans' Club. I said it looked beautiful - but to my wife it looked sinister. 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. In that photo, the deceased was really going for it.
I am 81 and about to die, but I am happy with what I have done in my life, so thinking about death holds no problems. I know what I have achieved, and it was quite substantial.
Some of the guys who worked under me have ended up in top jiobs in defence. A lot has to do with mindset.
 
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