Friday, March 27, 2015

Today in motorcycle history, March 27, 1965

  

  








  Roy Orbison breaks his ankle at Hawkstone Park.








  While on tour in the UK Roy Orbison visits the legendary Hawkstone Park as a spectator during the 1965 500cc British Moto-cross Grand Prix. An avid motorcycle fan, (Orbison and his wife, Claudette, often rode their matching Harley-Davidson's together), he was offered the chance to try a lap of the circuit on Dave Bickers' works CZ. As familiar with the road as he was, off-road was not Roy's forte. Unfortunately, the "Big O" had to bail in one of Hawkstone's notorious bombholes, braking an ankle in the process.


  But, the show must go on, Roy Orbison dusted himself off and appeared live on ‘Saturday Night at the London Palladium’ that evening with his foot in a plaster cast.






  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk