Going full throttle at 76, the motorbike champion with one eye, an artificial hip and a pacemaker




He's got one eye, an artificial hip and a pacemaker but 76-year-old Henry Brody was born to open it up once he's on a motorbike.

Which is why the daredevil pensioner, like a British version of Anthony Hopkin's loveable character Burt Munro in the hit film The World's Fastest Indian, is the current UK motorcycle sprint champion in the veteran class.

Racing bikes made before 1946 he beats off competition up to 59 years younger than himself.

He's happiest when he's topping speeds of 100mph and won 30 races last year on his 1929 Douglas motorbike.

Motorcycle sprinting is quarter-mile action for bikes of all types and ages, from vintage Douglases and HRDs to scooters and Hayabusas.

Competitors perfect the art of riding a bike from a standing start for a quarter of a mile in the shortest possible time - with man and machine against the clock.



'Once you give up and you're just sitting around at home all day life's over really. You only get one life and you've got to get what you can while you can'
'The youngest competitor racing veteran bikes is 17,' said Henry, from Biddisham, Somerset.

'My wife, Norma, says I'd rather crash the bike than come second. She's probably right and I've had my share of broken bones. But you've got to keep driving yourself.

'Once you give up and you're just sitting around at home all day life's over really. You only get one life and you've got to get what you can while you can.'

Dressed in his 1940s leathers Henry lowers his goggles and revs up the impressive 600cc vintage bike which has been ridden to glory through eight decades.

Source link has more and some great photos to enjoy!

Source: Going full throttle at 76, the motorbike champion with one eye, an artificial hip and a pacemaker

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