John Hateley was reunited with his 1970 AMA West Coast Amateur Championship winning Track Master Triumph at the Perris SCFTA meet 3 15 14. One of the racers brought the bike from Arizona and John was delighted to get reacquainted with it again. John won the AMA West Coast Amateur Championship on this bike in 1970 and listed an impressive number of wins at tracks up and down the west coast. Winning that Championship meant the 43R was replaced by National #98 which he made famous right away by becoming AMA Flat Track Rookie of the year 1971. John was saying that when he ran the Miles and Half Miles his Dad had the bike set up with some big honking Amal GP carbs that were prone to flooding on the start line , so as he watched the Starter he would be turning the petcocks on and off to keep it from flooding and when the guy grabbed the flag and jumped on the Starter box he would turn both on and hope the guy didn't futz around with the flag and get them going right away. He said the bike was always slow off the line but as soon as the big carbs cleaned out ,he took off like lightening with the GPs working their magic. Check out the "Lil John" welded into the steering head. A Track Master tradition when they built a frame for the star riders.
The fun didn't end for John at Perris as his son A.J. Hateley went on the win the Pro Main in grand style .
