The definitive life story of the seventies world 500cc motorcycle champion Barry Sheene – the Brit whose death-defying crashes and playboy lifestyle made him the most famous bike racer on the planet. Written by the only journalist to have ridden on the roads with him, and featuring interviews with closest friends, team mates and former rivals.Born in London's East End in 1950, Sheene was introduced to motor sport at the age of five, with his father Frank building him his first ever motorbike.His story traces his humble beginnings as a maverick opposed to every educational influence, through an apprenticeship as a part-time rider and full-time mechanic, to a works team racer, with a host of diversions in pursuit of the opposite sex.It charts his success between 1975 and 1982, a golden period during which Sheene won more international 500cc and 750cc Grand Prix titles than anyone, including the world 500cc title in 1976 and 1977. This despite the horrendous carnage from a series of near-fatal crashes from which Sheene miraculously survived and overcame, against all odds.Outside the sport, Sheene discovered an acting talent, appearing in the ITV show Just Amazing and in numerous TV commercials, making him a household name. On his retirement, he found fulfilment (and a friendlier climate for his battered body) in Brisbane as an expert motor sport commentator and an accomplished businessman. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2002 he shunned conventional treatments, preferring natural remedies, but died early in 2003.This is the complete portrait of perhaps the greatest circuit racer of them all.
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Stuart Barker. Barry Sheene 1950–2003: The Biography
BARRY SHEENE. 1950–2003. THE BIOGRAPHY. STUART BARKER
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 COCKNEY REBEL?
CHAPTER 2 THE RACER: PART ONE
CHAPTER 3 PLAYBOY
CHAPTER 4 NO FEAR
CHAPTER 5 THE RACER: PART TWO
CHAPTER 6 THE GREAT DIVIDE
CHAPTER 7 THE RACER: PART THREE
CHAPTER 8 CRUSADER
CHAPTER 9 THE RACER: PART FOUR
CHAPTER 10 WHAT IT TAKES
CHAPTER 11 NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
CHAPTER 12 CANCER
CHAPTER 13 A STAR WITHOUT EQUAL
BARRY SHEENE MAJOR CAREER RESULTS
MAJOR CLASSIC BIKES RACING RESULTS
If you enjoyed Barry Sheene 1950–2003, check out these other great Stuart Barker titles
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Magazines
Newspapers
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
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For my parents, Jim and Josie Barker,
for starting this whole thing.
.....
About the Publisher
But being a mechanic didn’t seem to be top of Barry’s job-hunting list. In fact, initially he didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do, and he soon found himself drifting in and out of jobs like most young people trying to find their feet in the world. Eventually he landed a job in a car spares warehouse unloading parts into different bins. The work was neither glamorous nor stimulating, and it paid a measly £5 a week, of which Barry pocketed just 75 shillings after paying tax and national insurance. Needless to say, he didn’t stick at the job for long. Within a few months he had moved on to a new position which was infinitely more exciting and one small step closer to his destiny: he became a motorcycle despatch rider.
