John and Martine, a flat-tracking family
Usually by the time you reach your mid-50s, riding a motorcycle is confined to Sunday cruises, but not for John Kehoe. The Oakville resident feels he started late in the world of flat-track competition and continues to race on the dirt tracks.
“I was forbidden to race when I was younger,” said Kehoe, who was taking part in the final round of the Canadian National Championship sanctioned by Flat Track Canada. This event was held recently on the three-eighths-mile clay oval of Ohsweken Speedway. “So I didn’t start to ride until I was 21.”
But in those 36 years since, Kehoe has had an illustrious career. He was bitten by the Speedway bug, and in 1981 started riding in the division at Welland County. He started winning races in his first year aboard his Jawa, a 500-cc purposed-built racing motorcycle with one gear, no brakes, and an engine fuelled with methanol. And he continued to win races. Kehoe won his first national championship in 1988, his first of 22 such titles in Speedway, plus many half-mile national titles in other classes. He spent many weekends in Ontario, Quebec and the eastern U.S. perfecting his craft. In the early 1990s, he raced in California, built a new Speedway bike with Carl Bloomfeldt, and made his mark at the world level.
But about 10 years ago, racing in Speedway all but died in Canada. After some time, Kehoe said he had to get back on the track in some form of racing, and the encouragement to accomplish all this came from Martine, his wife of 22 years.
“I wanted him to get back at it,” she explained. “But with one condition — I go racing as well.”
So the couple compete in the Flat Track Canada events, John in the series’ Veteran class, and Martine in the Beginner class with her 400cc Honda. For Martine, her time on a bike has been much shorter than her husband’s.
“I had no experience until five years ago,” she said. “But I had lots of horse riding experience,” adding that this activity provided her with a feel of balance, jumping, and body English for hopping on a motorcycle and sliding through the turns.
Her husband’s motorcycle is a purpose-built racing machine using race-bred equipment and a Rotax engine of 600-cc with about 65 horsepower. “It is certainly capable of winning,” said Kehoe, adding that in his opinion riding on a Speedway bike is harder than regular flat-track riding.
And win it does. Kehoe, who was inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2015, won this season’s Veteran class. Martine placed second in points in her class.
Kehoe’s father, Mark, was a motorcycle racer when he was young, and he listened to the stories of his father competing with a factory backed Matchless which inspired the younger Kehoe. In 2001, Kehoe was able to race with father Mark and his son in a national event, and he has kept the family tradition alive racing with Martine. “Our family did it together,” he said.” The racing and the team is my family.”
Kehoe didn’t win the final at Ohsweken. He took second behind John Parker of Hamilton but had secured enough points for his class title. Martine Kehoe took third in Beginner, Doug Lawrence of Mississauga won in Expert, Brodie Buchan of Leamington took third in Open Expert with enough points for the title and fellow Leamington rider Luke Raham took third in Open Intermediate and also secured the title in his class.
Tim Miller is the author of several books on auto racing, and can be reached at timmillerthecarguy@gmail.com.