More CMR Racing Products Down Under

Phillip Island Classic Motorcycle Road Racing International Challenge Races. January 2018.

 Here is Denis with Phil and Roz Andrea at the Phillip Island race track near Melbourne Australia. Phil and Roz own two of our CMR-framed Yamaha TZ750s and this is the first time Denis actually met them in person. Old friends, instantly.

 The above photo show Marty Craggill in Race 1 of the Unlimited Forgotten Era Premier Race event.  Marty, on the Andrea CMR-framed TZ750 is in second place early in the race behind #88 Dean Oughtred riding Carl Cox Motorsports' 1982 Suzuki GSX1100.

In the second photo, Marty has gained the lead. He went on to win Race #1.





Here we are in the garage with the Andrea Race Team. From left to right, behind the CMR-framed Yamaha TZ750: Denis Curtis of CMR Racing, Marty Craggilll the rider, a fellow we didn't meet, Roz Andrea and Phil Andrea showing how delighted they are with Marty's performance on their bike.


In the photo below, the fellow in the middle beside Roz is the new engine man on the Andrea team.

In Race #1 Marty gained the win over #88 Dean Oughtred riding Carl Cox Motorsports Suzuki GSX1100. In third place came #31, Craig Ditchburn, riding Consortium Racing's Yamaha TZ750.

In Race #2, Dean Oughtred won the race and Marty finished second.  Scott Webster, #76, riding his Suzuki 1200, finished third, and #29, Barrett Long, from the USA, riding his CMR-framed Yamaha TZ750, came in fourth.

In Race three, Marty finished first again and #31, Craig Ditchburn, second. In third place was #88, Dean Oughtred.

In Race 4, Craig Ditchburn finished first, Scott Webster finished second, and Marty finished third.

The final result was a win for Marty Craggill with two first places, a second and a third. Well done Marty!


Here's a happy Phil and Roz Andrea with Denis Curtis of CMR Racing Products, discussing their rider Marty Craggill's overall win in the Unlimited Forgotten Era Premier Class Race Event.

 Why was Marty so fast?

Back in 2016 Phil and Marty joined forces to make their CMR-framed Yamaha TZ750 the fastest in Australia. Marty Craggill wasn't happy with the handling of the bike when he first tested it for Phil. Phil had been using a number of race engineers in Australia since he purchased the frames in 2014/15.




Marty, who had been racing in the USA in the Superbike Championships in the mid-2000s, retired back to Australia in 2008. The foremost suspension 'guru' during Marty's career was Jon Cornwell of Ohlins' Racing USA. John helped Marty win many races in the USA. So when Phil convinced Marty to come out of retirement to race in the Classic International Races at Phillip Island, Marty called on Jon to come over to Australia to help with the set-up on this new race bike.


Here are some photos of how Jon Cornwell of Ohlins Racing USA, using chassis development 'MotoSPEC' software designed by Canadian Jeff Laidman helped CMR Racing to upgrade the chassis geometry. on Marty's CMR TZ750 

The result enabled Marty to achieve faster lap times and win the Unlimited Forgotten Era Premier Class Race Event.

A huge thank you to Phil and Roz Andrea for making us feel so welcome in their paddock, to Marty Craggill for his compliments about the race-winning frame kits we produce at CMR Racing and to Jon Cornwell of Ohlins' Racing USA and Jeff Laidman of MotoSpec Chassis Development software for the outstanding collaboration.

Even More CMR Racing Products Down Under

A really nice thing happened just before we left for Australia and New Zealand in January 2018. Denis got a phone call from Joe O'Neill in Dunedin, NZ. Joe asked for verification of the pedigree of a motorcycle that he'd just purchased while on a business trip to Los Angeles. He said that he'd purchased it as a Seeley Norton. On leaving LA he'd travelled up to visit relatives in Vancouver, B.C. and showed them photos of the bike he'd just purchased. Someone knew of Denis Curtis and his frame-building business, and had actually seen the bike racing in the 1970s at Westwood track near Vancouver (it's since been replaced by a subdivision.)

Joe went on-line, found Denis' phone number, and rang him. Denis asked for photos, had a look, and wonder of wonders - it was the very first motorcycle frame that Denis had built in Canada. Now, that doesn't happen every day! If you go to the History section on the CMR Racing Products website (here's a good link) and read through to the '70s road racing section, you can read the rest of the story.

The frame the youthful Denis is working on was built into a Curtis Seeley Norton750; it was a replica of the Colin Seeley MkII Seeley 750 racer. The bike was built in the Curtis Racing Frames facility for employee Lief Sorenson, who went on to race it quite successfully. When Lief left Curtis Racing Denis lost contact with him, and the bike.

The photo opposite shows the bike in the early 1980s after it was purchased and rebuilt by the founder of the CVMG (Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group) Peter Gagan. Peter saw the launch of CMR Racing Products website in 2007 and kindly sent this photo. Peter eventually sold this bike to a fellow in Los Angeles to compete in AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association) and that was where the story ended, until Joe contacted us.

Here are the photographs Joe sent to Denis.

They show the bike in its current form, with the same tank and seat, fairing and exhaust system. The LA owner changed the frame and swing arm  from green-painted to nickel plated, the tank, seat and fairing to Ferrari Red. The bike has the same front forks, wheels and brakes as originally fitted.

Kevin Docherty

As it turned out Denis had been invited to be at the Phillip Island Races in Australia by Team USA. He was also invited to visit New Zealand and see some of the race bikes he had supplied to customers there, and also to the N.Z. Team.
Joe invited Denis to visit the bike at his place in Dunedin, South Island. This next series of photos was taken, the day Denis was reunited with the first Curtis Racing frame, built into this exceptional motorcycle.

Joe was called away on business, but Kevin Dougherty of Motoxtreme Services Ltd., Dunedin, who takes care of all of Joe's motorcycles, took Denis over to visit Joe's garage.

The best moment was when Denis got on board this bike, the first time since 1973, and found it alive and well on the other side of the planet.

Sincere thanks to Joe O'Neill and Kevin Dougherty for their hospitality.

Denis of CMR Racing Products in his happy place