Three-time British Superbike champion John Reynolds was a schoolboy motocross racer who finished at the age of 18 because he, in his own words, “didn’t have the balls to do it”.
But it didn’t take him long to get the racing bug again and persuaded his dad to dig out the Velocette he’d raced in the post-war period so John could go vintage racing.
Three race meetings on the Velo were enough to convince John’s dad that his son meant business and to help him buy a 350 Yamaha. He quickly moved through the ranks to the British championship paddock and went on to a glorious career with title victories in 1992, 2001 and 2004.
John retired at the end of the 2005 season and now, at the age of 55, has an ambassadorial and testing role with Suzuki, with whom he won his last BSB title. Here are his hard-earnt words of wisdom…
Riding…
“There are two ways of riding – when I was racing that involved getting from A to B as quickly as possible. On a road bike I ride from A to B as safely as possible, without any risk. If I made the same mistakes on the road as I did on the track then I wouldn’t be here. People think I’m brave because I raced bikes, but it was all calculated risk and I don’t think I’m brave at all. I’m scared of hurting myself, but I raced bikes – and I’m scared of heights, but I’ve got a pilot’s licence!”
Maintenance…
“Believe me, you wouldn’t want me looking after your motorbike! My dad always looked after my bikes when I was racing schoolboy motocross and then I had teams after that. If something’s wrong I know enough to tell someone what it’s doing – but I’d rather ride than mend.”
Kit…
“Always pay attention to the quality. I’ve been offered sponsorship deals, but I didn’t go ahead with them because the quality wasn’t there. I’ve been with Arai helmets for ages. I once crashed head-first into a wall and broke a particular bone that meant the nurse thought she was going to be dealing with a vegetable when she read my notes, but I was OK.”
Best pearl of wisdom passed down to me…
“When I wanted to start circuit racing, a friend took me to see Ron Haslam. Ron was in GPs at the time and my friend knew him. His advice was to put my money into a bike I could afford to crash, as he said I would definitely crash it. Ron was brilliant and gave me the time of day, even though he was a GP racer. His wife Ann gave me a set of Ron’s old Elf leathers, which were my first set of leathers, and we’ve been friends ever since. Ron and his family are solid gold.”
My biggest mistake and what I learnt from it…
“I remember testing at Mallory Park – I’d not been racing long, but I had a factory ride on a superbike. I was going through Devil’s Elbow and remember thinking to myself ‘what a fantastic job!’. Then the bike spat me over the bars and the crash left me pretty beaten up. I realised then that I have to give it 100%. The 3% of concentration that I spent on thinking about the fantastic time I was having, that was enough to cost me. I knew from then on to think about everything that’s going on.”
