Ted Havens

Pioneer -Motorcycling - Inducted 2008

Hartle, Rod Colman, Geoff Duke Ray Amm and the legendary Bob McIntyre, on the toughest circuit in the world.

Unfortunately Cooper crashed heavily in practice and wrecked his machine, so Havens was on his own. Rod Colman won the 350cc junior TT that year at an average speed of 91 mph, but in a field of 90 riders, Havens placed 15th, winning a Silver Replica at 84.8 mph. A young racer by the name of John Surtees was just ahead in 11th place at 85.4 mph. Havens took a second bronze trophy riding the 350 7R in the 500cc event and, incidentally, was the first 350cc bike home. A fabulous result for the young Canadian rookie.

Inspired by his success at the TT, Ted entered the Ulster GP in Ireland and it was there disaster struck. He crashed the 7R and was badly injured, lying in hospital unconscious for a week. Upon recovery, he caught the boat back home to Canada with his bike. Out of work and money, the AJS was sold and then went through a succession of owners, one of whom succeeding in blowing up the 7R's engine by dropping a valve into the cylinder.

Many years later, Murray Neibel of Modern Motorcycling Ltd. tracked down the pieces of the 7R and its engine and he and Ted lovingly restored the motorcycle and brought it back to life. More than 40 years later, man and machine were re-united.

Inasmuch as the AJS overcame grievous injuries to be re born, Havens too recovered from his accident in Ireland and continued his racing career in Canada, setting the Westwood lap record on a G50 Matchless in 1961. He retired from racing in 1964 only to return again in 1986, to race a GSX-8750 at the age of 60! Now in his 80s, Ted regularly rides an 1100cc Suzuki street bike, and you probably won't be able to catch him through the twisty bits.

Havens had had a successful racing career in Canada, winning the 350 cc BC championship in 1952. The following year he came third in the Canadian Nationals, and then made up his mind to race in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. So, in the company of his friend and fellow racer Bob Cooper, Havens headed off on a five-day trip to New York by train. Catching the boat to Liverpool, they landed in England on a cold January day in 1954 and marched straight to the old AMC factory, where they both found work.

The two Canadian lads purchased new AJS 7Rs and got their feet wet by racing the bikes at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. In May they quit their jobs and headed off for the Isle of Man to race in the TT, which Havens describes as, "A good education." The two small town boys from rural Victoria were thrown in at the deep-end, racing against the world's best riders including John

Bio and photos courtesy of Ted Havens, Modern Motorcycling Ltd and Peter Kellond

Ted Havens and friend Geoff Duke OBE, Burnaby 1990

Ted on 500cc Matchless G50, Westwood 1960s

(Ted Langton-Adams photo)

Starting grid for the 1954 Isle of Man TT