Bill Paynter, rounding a turn.
Occasionally, you meet someone who has unusual stories. Bill Paynter is just such a man. After WWII, he was stationed in Germany. His men didn't want to go out on leave. Bill was adventurous and he took the opportunity to engage in the local life and culture around the base.
Waiting for a start.
He bought the same clothing that Germans were wearing. He met Germans that were having a great time Road Racing their motorcycles.
Riding through the country.
Intrigued, he purchased his own BMW 500, joined the club, and began campaigning his bike every weekend.
On the starting line.
In this series of video clips, he tells about home made beer baffles and helping out the BMW factory folks.
Here he talks about having to debate with officials around using his homemade baffles.
You had to get to the race course the day before to get practice runs in if you wanted to race at all.
He strategized with race partners to help everyone get what they wanted.
His best friend raced a Zundapp, and together they dominated the entire club. They were very closely matched, and agreed to alternate 1st place wins every weekend.
On the award stand with his Zundapp friend.
As a club, and as friends, everyone helped each other. Here he is giving a friend a lift, back to the friend's motorcycle so a flat can be repaired.
Riding 2 up.
Racing was done on the cobblestone streets of towns. They blocked off the streets to traffic, and set up a communication system with field-phones and wire. The race stewards were positioned around the course with the field-phones to report on racing infractions.
Riding past review stand.
Rounding a corner.
If you refused to let a faster bike pass, and a steward saw you, they would phone ahead to the next station, and you would then be flagged out of the race.
This was serious, high-speed road racing. On real streets. With real spectators. Just try to arrange an event like this today, in your home town!
Road Racing, with kids on the track!
At the time, it wasn't just Road Racing, it was also Closed Circuit Racing and Flat Track Racing.
Racing on a Closed Circuit, banked track.
On a Flat Track.
Although Bill didn't do Flat Track or Closed Circuit on his BMW 500, he did experiment with Off Road. He decided not to pursue serious Off Road, and you can see why...
Entering ditch.
Riding out of ditch.
Out of ditch.
