Moriwaki Z1000cc TTF1

Sit up and beg? - Like hell! - Sit up and take notice!!

I arrived in Japan in 1978 for testing prior to the first Suzuka 8 hour event and was given a Moriwaki Kawasaki Superbike to ride. I could not believe how fast and stable it was. First time out I was 2 seconds under the lap record. This bike was a real cracker. Tony Hatton and I then rode the bike in the 1978 Suzuka 8 hour race and finished in 3rd position. Despite Tony running out of gas and having to push it back to the pit area we had a ball. That bike formed the building block for my 1979 attack on the UK racing scene in 79. The English tabloids all played on the theme that I had a "Sit-up and Beg" bike as it had high bars and not the traditional clip on's. Well, it made lots of people sit up and take notice. I finished 2nd in the TTF1 British Championship without having to change the bars to clip-on's. That bike put me into a factory ride the following year.