What year did Steve McQueen start the International Six Days Trial (ISDT)

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by Highwayman in Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Motorcycling, Motorsport, Places, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux

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Barbour, Competition, Steve McQueen

Stange title for this blog .. surely we all must know by now, but I have noticed in my site stats, the search engine query list keeps showing ‘What year did Steve McQueen Race the ISDT’ is a common search and is bringing a lot of visitors to the site and the Steve McQueen pages are getting a lot of action so I decided to google the search phrase to see what’s up?

it was then I discovered this year Barbour are running a promotion on the back of it’s Steve McQueen Limited Edition collection to win a trip to this years ISDE in Sardinia, this year is the 100th anniversary of the first ISDT. So not to let anyone else miss the chance to have a go at this wonderful opportunity to experience and ISDE wearing one of Barbour’s iconic ‘International’ motorcycle off road jackets here is the competition. If you don’t win and want to know a bit more about the ISDE and ISDT why not catch up with the Anniversary event being held to celebrate the centenary of the holding of the first ISDT in Carlisle in the English Lake District in August 2013

If you came here looking for the answer it is here ISDT East Germany and here is a page covering more about Steve’s exploits at the ISDT of that year

Barbour competition to visit the ISDE Sardinia 2013

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The price of fame: Steve McQueen and the ISDT

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Highwayman in Book, Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Media, Motorcycling, Motorsport, Photography, Places, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux

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Barbour, international, ISDT 1964, Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen‘s ‘star’ shines as brightly as ever these days, and the man is still relevant some 30 years after he left us. You will see his image on the pages of glossy lifestyle magazines promoting sunglasses, wristwatches, jackets and motorcars. Steve’s fan base is global and we know this from experience: when great McQueen property is offered, the telephones light up from Japan to Australia, from Britain to the United States.

While many of his contemporaries slip into obscurity, why does McQueen continue to hold our interest? Well, he starred in some of the most memorable movies of the Twentieth Century, he was an accomplished racecar driver, he was a great shot, he flew vintage aeroplanes, and he was also something of a hit with the ladies. McQueen could ride a motorcycle too; in fact he was bloody good — so good that together with pals Bud and Dave Ekins, Cliff Coleman and John Steen he represented the United States of America at the 1964 International Six Day Trials (ISDT).

the ISDT 1964 would take place in the Communist Eastern bloc during the height of the Cold War. On September 5, 1964 in a packed hall in Erfurt, East Germany complete with a large picture of Walter Ulbricht the then leader of the German Democratic Republic, McQueen — in what has been reported as one of the proudest moments of his life — carried the ‘Stars and Stripes’ for the US team at the opening ceremony.

I’ve got a box full of my old outdated racing licenses probably worth a grand total of £0.00 but Steve’s license a folded piece of card the size of a cigarette packet, Steve’s sold for US$ 42,700 …. the price and value of fame eh!

Photo of Steve McQueen’s FIM race license from 1964 (Courtesy Bonhams)

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Our results round up service…..

15 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Highwayman in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Isle of Man, Italy, Motorcycling, Motorsport, Poland, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux, Sweden, UK, Wales

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We have been diligently, with the help of many supporters, pulling together the images of the ISDT in a hope to protect the history of the event and convey how the changing century imposed its standards on the attire, machines and attitudes of those riding. However our most frequent request from readers is to see copies of historic results looking for the names of family members, history of bikes or other studies of the riders and venues for the events. I made an appeal to our faithful supporters to help to bring together the results of the event as it seems many national governing bodies no longer hold these in their archives.

The original emblem of the FICM

Thanks to the efforts of our secret agent in Germany, the FIM itself has stepped in and has scanned and provided all the remaining copies of Final Results and Stewards Reports they hold. The collection is substantially complete and and we will be releasing these as pdf files, hopefully with some analysis of the material they contain on the event pages. Speedtracktales wishes to thank Marc Pétrier of FIM Information Resources who has facilitated the scanning of the FIM archive of ISDT results material and is allowing us to make it available here as a public service. You will be able to download a copy of the original Results and Stewards Report.

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DVD REVIEW: THE 21ST INTERNATIONAL SIX DAYS 1939

23 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by Highwayman in Austria, Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Motorcycling, Motorsport, Places, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux, Video

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Austria, ISDT 1939

I recently had a chance to review a copy of what for many in the UK is unknown film footage of the ISDT. This video is available by internet order from Audi’s online shop in Germany.

Filmed for a patriotic German Audience it gives a good overview of the preperation for the event and scrutineering. You can’t avoid the ever present Nazi troop regalia as the German Army was heavily involved in running the event as well as competing. There are several shots of great British riders such as Marjorie Cottle fettling her Triumph in Sunday best as the Trophy Team Nortons. The other bikes are often NSU, a company part of Audi, and BMW’s . There are sections featuring the German great riders of the time, there is also a section where the German head of the motorcycle sport Adolf Huhnlein gives his presentation , presumably at the event opening, in a manner you may be similar to seeing many of the senior Nazi personalities in news reels of the time. Continue reading →

Future SpeedTrackTales Features

04 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by Highwayman in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Italy, Poland, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux, Spain, Sweden, UK, Uncategorized

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SpeedTrackTales

Approaching the end of the first 9 months after taking over and updating Taff Isaac’s old ISDT site I have mostly focussed on consolidating and correct the errors in the material as well as start filling some of the years missed. I have been able to re-discover some rare archive material. For the first anniversary I am hoping we can start to create new original material that adds to the understanding of the ISDT rather than just gathering old archive material to allow SpeedTrackTales to become more of a publication, although always free to anyone wanting to read.

I have been looking through the Search Terms that have driven visits to the site and looked in particular at those search terms I think we might be deficient in that appear high in reader search terms. I am proposing over the next year 3 months to prepare articles on the following and would encourage anyone who can help me with material or copy to make the articles from.

Photo of Brit Trophy Rider Ken Heanes looking happy in ISDT 1961

Zundapp Motorcycles
Ken Heanes
BMW R67
BMW R68
MZ
Cheney Triumph
Triumph Trophy
BSA Empire Star
Georg Meier
Marjorie Cottle

As a post script to this post I must sadly add that i have just discovered of the recent passing away of Ken Heanes in October 2012. Another great loss to the community of the ISDT and hopefully we can ensure his achievements can be preserved here for future generations of Heanes family members to discover.

http://www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk/news/2012-10/obituary-ken-heanes-mr-isdt

Appeal: Help us find the Pre War ISDT BSA’s

26 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by Highwayman in Austria, Enduro, Europe, Gelände Sport, Germany, International Six Day Trial, Internationale Sechs Tagefahrt, ISDT, Italy, Manufacturers, Motorcycling, Motorsport, Regolarità, Sei Giorni Motociclistica Internazionale, Six Jours Internationaux, UK, Wales

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BSA, Gold Star, ISDT

I can thank Dave Giles from the VMCC for providing all the content for this Blog which is very much an appeal for help in trying to locate any of the team or other BSA’s that were ridden in the immediate Pre-war period.

Photo of British Army Team Motorcycles #156 Sgt O. Davies Matchless 350cc #113 Pte. JL Wood BSA 496cc [EOG 22] #75 Cpl A C Doyle BSA 496cc [EOG 20] #68 Lt. J. F. Riley with Norton 500cc at ISDT 1939

I have been provided with a list of the last three events of the ISDT prior to the outbreak of WWII in 1939, an event which for the second time interupted the ISDT. If anyone is able to help us identify any of these bikes by providing a registration or other ID and if they are aware if any collectors have one of these bikes kept under wraps somewhere we would be grateful if you could contact us here by messaging on this post Continue reading →