York Wings: Wild World of Sports

With remote in hand, we can channel surf today through hundreds of channels, many of which are dedicated to sporting events around the world. In the seventies we had Wide World of Sports. For a few hours every Saturday afternoon, we could catch digest action of either drag racing, or skiing, or bob sledding, or motocross, or many other forms of sport all collected into one program. So it was a real big deal for us to be asked by Kawasaki Canada to assist them in putting together a friendly competition for ordinary riders right here in the city of Toronto (off the Don Valley Pky), and then have it broadcast on Wild World of Sports.

The concept was simple. Organized along the same lines as our Motorcycle Olympics, entrants would compete in different challenges where skill rather than speed played an important part.

Competitors went to great heights to win. (OK, OK, this was a stunt demostration!)

The competitors would be broken into classes based on engine displacement. Our club would provide the manpower to act as track marshals, time keepers, security, and administration. Kawasaki would provide the financial backing to secure a location, insurance, advertising, and of course, the prizes. This brave and ambitious project would be called: The Kawasaki Classic.

For all of us that volunteered our services that day, I can say without reservation that it was a total success. Although the number of entries was not as great as was hoped for, those that came enjoyed a good day of fun, and many left with prizes as well. We in turn all received special t-shirts, an end of day soiree, and the cheap thrill of seeing ourselves on TV several weeks later for our five minutes of fame.

One final note: for me the highlight of this one-of-a-kind event was the arrival of John Williams, champion hill climber, and his exotic Honda 500/4 hill climbing bike. We were privileged to watch him make a demonstration pass up a hill on the premises, and the wail of the engine as he climbed was just spine tingling. It was one wicked machine!