Legendary mechanic Nobby Clarke passed away on Saturday morning, aged 81, after a long illness. It was Rob Iannucci. Legendary mechanic Nobby Clarke passed away on Saturday morning, aged 81, after a long illness. When Yamaha climbed back on the GP wagon a few years later Nobby was with them, working his motorcycle mechanic magic as a new era of racing unfolded.
For instance, if you are torqueing something, eventually you can actually feel one kilo of torque, so you don’t really need a gauge. Nobby Clark, however, deserves to be well known. The sound and the fury: celebrate the machines that changed the world!
I hope so. Clarke joined him in 1960, and in 1961 swept to both 350cc and 500cc championships, before retiring abruptly midway through 1962 – only to die in a Formula 1 car in South Africa later that year.Now Redman recruited Clarke to the burgeoning Honda team, where his skills and personality won such favour that the factory took him on directly in 1964.
“That’s one of the things the Japanese liked – they didn’t have to have an interpreter.
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The Yamaha TX500 He became fluent in several other languages, with a working knowledge of others, to a total of seven.
He had been battling cancer for many years, but this year it came back and he was told that it was terminal. I had the fortune to spend a few days with Nobby recently, at the Bonneville Vintage GP at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele. With decades of experience working the GP circuit, and with some of the biggest names in our sport, you'd think Nobby's name, at least in our corner of the world, would be a household word.
The Triumph T140V Bonneville You should have feel when you work on the engine. But his closer relationship was with the enigmatic genius Gary Hocking, who came from Rhodesia at full speed to earn a slot in the MV factory team. The former factory spannerman for a string of champions from Gary Hocking to Kenny Roberts died at a clinic at New York, where he had made his home after a peripatetic existence fettling factory bikes for MV Agusta, Honda, Yamaha and others.Clarke hailed from Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia, where he became involved with future international racing legends including multi-champion Jim Redman.
The list of champions with whom he worked included legends like Bill Ivy, Jarno Saarinen, Kel Carruthers, Barry Sheene, Giacomo Agostini and Kenny Roberts, as well as such as Marco Lucchinelli, when he rode for Cagiva.After quitting racing, Clarke played the crucial role in reviving (among other famous bikes) the Honda 6 for US revivalists Team Obsolete.Clarke felt his strong suit was “finesse.
A kind and unassuming man, until recently Nobby seemed unaware that anyone would care to learn about him or his experiences.
“That’s one of the things the Japanese liked – they didn’t have to have an interpreter.
full of exciting and evocative articles and photographs of the most brilliant, unusual and popular motorcycles ever made!Already a Member/Subscriber but haven't activated your account? He became fluent in several other languages, with a working knowledge of others, to a total of seven. Legendary mechanic Nobby Clarke passed away on Saturday morning, aged 81, after a long illness.
The former factory spannerman for a string of champions from Gary Hocking to Kenny Roberts died at a clinic at New York, where he had made his home after a peripatetic existence fettling factory bikes for MV Agusta, Honda, Yamaha and others.Clarke hailed from Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia, where he became involved with future international racing legends including multi-champion Jim Redman. 1,2, & 3/09, our first time in exactly 30 years. Nobby Clark Difficult not to know who Nobby Clark is…. Whether we get to be a part of the telling remains to be seen.
But as memories of the 1960s and 1970s racing era recede farther back in time, and as fewer of his contemporaries remain to recount them, Nobby is slowly appreciating the unique story he has to tell. After a long and brave battle against illness legendary technician, Nobby Clark has died aged 81. Legendary race mechanic Derek Rollo ‘Nobby’ Clark has died. Mr Clark, worked with every great rider from Gary Hocking and Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and Kenny Roberts was found dead in bed on Sunday morning. They’d just call me … and I could explain it back to them in Japanese,” he told me earlier this year, in his final interview.Clarke worked on a generation of legendarily complex Honda racers, including the five-cylinder 125. Google "Nobby Clark" and it's amazing how much information you won't find. Black Shadow Print A tuner and mechanic for some of the greatest riders in motorcycle racing history including giants like Mike “The Bike” Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Gary Hocking, Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, Jarno Saarinen and more, Nobby became a giant in his own right.
A dedicated and totally loyal mechanic to every rider he had worked for, Nobby is probably best remembered for his work with Mike Hailwood, and then with Giacomo Agostini. By then Clarke moved to Japan, taught himself Japanese, and was valued also as English teacher for the team. But just to be sure that it is exactly one kilo, I would always put a torque wrench on.”
Unlike the men he wrenched for, men whose exploits fill books and literally thousands of web pages, you'll find no biographies of Nobby, no paeans to his skillful and hugely important role in one of the most glorious eras of motorcycle racing. We were at Daytona Mar. By then Clarke moved to Japan, taught himself Japanese, and was valued also as English teacher for the team. At Yamaha in the 1970s, he made sure greats like Giacomo Agostini, or “Ago” as he's better known, made it around Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Daytona in the U.S. as quickly and reliably as possible.