Cal Rayborn

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Calvin "Cal" Rayborn II (born February 20, 1940 in San Diego , California ; † December 29, 1973 near Auckland ) was an American motorcycle racer who was considered the best US driver on circuits in his seven years as a professional and was in Europe dismissed the view that American drivers are only real competitors in rail sports . From 1970 he held the speed record for motorcycles of 427.25 km / h.

Life

Cal Rayborn grew up in San Diego and started riding motorcycles at the age of eight. He earned his first money as a delivery driver on a motorcycle. In the late 1950s he met Don Vesco in a "drag race" , he became his friend and "tuner" of motorcycles, with which both competed in club street races in the early 1960s.

A back injury initially slowed his career, not until 1965 was he enough to make two podiums at the AMA championship, in Carlsbad (California) he won an “AMA national” race in 1966. Harley-Davidson race director Dick O'Brien noticed him and decided that Cal Rayborn was the best road racer he had observed alongside British Mike Hailwood - he seemed to have a special feeling for his machine going faster than others through tight corners bring to. This wasn't easy with the Harley-Davidson machines he only rode, which were heavy and had relatively small brakes. In 1968 and 1969 he had his best years as a works driver, winning the “ Daytona 200 ” race twice in a row , most recently as the remaining four-stroke driver in a field of apparently superior two-stroke Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. The AMA championship, which included road races as well as track races, he finished in third place in both years, an inconsistency on "dirt tracks" prevented a better result.

The superiority of Japanese two-stroke engines was overwhelming in 1970, but on October 16, 1970 the Harley-Davidson Streamliner achieved a record speed of 427.25 km / h on the Bonneville Salt Flats , which required a lot of courage after several accidents at high speed. An outstanding performance finally made him known in Europe. It was in the spring of 1972 at six "Match Races" events in England that made him the first to cross the finish line three times with his old 750 XR machine with iron cylinders borrowed from Harley Davidson employee Walt Faulk. Rayborn had won eleven "AMA national" races, the last win for Harley-Davidson he achieved on July 23, 1972 at the Laguna Seca race track in California . When there was little left of the competitiveness of the Harley-Davidson machines, Rayborn switched to Suzuki in 1973 . He had a fatal accident in a club race in New Zealand in December 1973.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Curbsideclassic - website: Cal Rayborn: The Life And Death Of An Icon. From: www.curbsideclassic.com , June 4, 2012, accessed April 26, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Rayborn, Cal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rayborn, Calvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American motorcycle racer, motorcycle world record holder (1970–1975)
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH San Diego
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 1973
Place of death Auckland