Great interview. I was on the wall at Sears Point back in the day and was pretty impressed to be just a few feet away from Fred, Spencer, Cooley, Schwantz, Poland, Quarterly, and Chandler. Had 3 Interceptors; my favorite by far was the '84 1000. Good times, good times...
Great days at Sears Point back in the early eighties. Fun track to ride...took Keith Codes School at Sears Point. The Interceptor was a very fast bike for its day. I suffered with a 450 T Honda Hawk. Good motorcycle-reliable and easy to tune, but not very fast...lol.
Thank you Fred, you were one of the guys to inspired me to race from 1986-96. Hard days and great days. Good job Fred. I'm glad your still up and running.
Out of all the past US Superbike champions Fred Merkel is the most interesting. Happy to see him living life to his fullest. He was great on the RC-30.
Awesome Job Greg! Freddie is The Best! Saw him Kicking Butt many times up here in Brainard- Sure do miss thoses days! Great to see him doing so wll! Hard work does pay off eh!
Was at the 1988 Sac mile with Gary (Freds dad) and Dave Despain when we got the word that Fred had clinched the 1st world title. The entire pit area went freaking nuts, what a night that was!!!
I was lucky enough to do a racing school with him back in '97, and can say that he is one wild dude and the coolest guy ever!! Great to see him still in NZ... Someone there must have a vintage bike for him??
one of the great showmen back in the day what a entertainer he raced with Paul Lewis at Donnington wheeling all over did the same with Kevin schwantz super heroes in the pits with him at mallory Park race of the year where he won the race great times to go to the race tracks
No mention of the time he rode Chillis? 500cc Honda, I think it was at Donington Park. I was there during the Transatlantic Match Races, Fred always had the biggest smile on his face, he gave me (15 year old) a signed Flyin Fred baseball hat. I have it somewhere in my basement.
I had a great race with Fred and Bruce Lind back in '81 at a 250 gp/ Formula 1 race at Seattle international Raceway - HUGE purse- (10,000$ - 5K for the win, 3K for 2nd, 2,000$ for 3rd in both the 250 and Formula 1 - so I loaded up my van, and drove nonstop to Seattle and ended up getting 3rd in the 250 race- Lind won it, Merkel 2nd and me a DISTANT 3rd, but I WON the Formula 1 race on my TZ750 aftrr getting some help and tuning advice from Steve Baker's mechanic Bob Work - Driving back to Florida with 7,000$ in price money was something I'll never forget -
Yea, it wasn't even my bike !! DAVE BUSBY loaned me his tz and thr last thing I wanted to do was toss that thing on the ground - I was hanging with u guys for maybe half the race, but all 3 of us had pretty much gapped the field, so.take the money, right ? o@@fredmerkel1447
Are u coming to the Trail Blazers event in April?? Never been and am coming to my first one with my buddy Whitney Blakeslee- that will be some great conversations
Great interview. I was on the wall at Sears Point back in the day and was pretty impressed to be just a few feet away from Fred, Spencer, Cooley, Schwantz, Poland, Quarterly, and Chandler. Had 3 Interceptors; my favorite by far was the '84 1000. Good times, good times...
Great days at Sears Point back in the early eighties. Fun track to ride...took Keith Codes School at Sears Point. The Interceptor was a very fast bike for its day. I suffered with a 450 T Honda Hawk. Good motorcycle-reliable and easy to tune, but not very fast...lol.
Thank you Fred, you were one of the guys to inspired me to race from 1986-96. Hard days and great days. Good job Fred. I'm glad your still up and running.
excellent interview, really enjoy hearing the stories from the riders perspective
Out of all the past US Superbike champions Fred Merkel is the most interesting. Happy to see him living life to his fullest. He was great on the RC-30.
forever young fred merkel. looking great today
My Hero and inspiration to Ride..Thank You
Fred is a great American champion, he crossed the pond and got it done with style!
Awesome Job Greg! Freddie is The Best! Saw him Kicking Butt many times up here in Brainard- Sure do miss thoses days! Great to see him doing so wll! Hard work does pay off eh!
Very good lots of bir memories of Fred. Thank you Gregg for doing 21'21
This is a great series so far, many thanks 👍🇬🇧
Was at the 1988 Sac mile with Gary (Freds dad) and Dave Despain when we got the word that Fred had clinched the 1st world title. The entire pit area went freaking nuts, what a night that was!!!
Another awesome rider and great man . One of the Riders that got me into Racing
Great Interview !! Thank's Fred !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Fred, Greg and MA.
Right on mate. Good to hear from you.
Keep on Flying Fred !!! 😎
I was lucky enough to do a racing school with him back in '97, and can say that he is one wild dude and the coolest guy ever!! Great to see him still in NZ... Someone there must have a vintage bike for him??
one of the great showmen back in the day what a entertainer he raced with Paul Lewis at Donnington wheeling all over did the same with Kevin schwantz super heroes in the pits with him at mallory Park race of the year where he won the race great times to go to the race tracks
Ladies and gentlemen, Fred Merkel, the 2-time WorldSBK champion from California and the United States!
#fredmerkel
#motorsports
#worldsbk
#motoamerica
No mention of the time he rode Chillis? 500cc Honda, I think it was at Donington Park. I was there during the Transatlantic Match Races, Fred always had the biggest smile on his face, he gave me (15 year old) a signed Flyin Fred baseball hat. I have it somewhere in my basement.
I think 87 British GP at Donington Park he was on PF Chillis HB Honda, I have some photos back in the UK.
Hope to see you and Danny at Laguna this year!
I had a great race with Fred and Bruce Lind back in '81 at a 250 gp/ Formula 1 race at Seattle international Raceway - HUGE purse- (10,000$ - 5K for the win, 3K for 2nd, 2,000$ for 3rd in both the 250 and Formula 1 - so I loaded up my van, and drove nonstop to Seattle and ended up getting 3rd in the 250 race- Lind won it, Merkel 2nd and me a DISTANT 3rd, but I WON the Formula 1 race on my TZ750 aftrr getting some help and tuning advice from Steve Baker's mechanic Bob Work - Driving back to Florida with 7,000$ in price money was something I'll never forget -
Hahaha I actually won it! Still have the trophy 🏆 Yes those were awesome times... Cheers Mate 🏴☠️🏹🏁
Yea, it wasn't even my bike !! DAVE BUSBY loaned me his tz and thr last thing I wanted to do was toss that thing on the ground - I was hanging with u guys for maybe half the race, but all 3 of us had pretty much gapped the field, so.take the money, right ? o@@fredmerkel1447
And I apologize for saying Bruce won - nobody was gonna beat you that day-
Are u coming to the Trail Blazers event in April?? Never been and am coming to my first one with my buddy Whitney Blakeslee- that will be some great conversations
I'm so thrilled that u remembered that race - I've mentioned it to alot of my friends over the years, but nobody believes it actually happened
Stockton boy
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