Steve Tayler races his good-looking Rotax in a WERA event at Grattan (Mich.) Raceway Park in July of 1986. In addition to his WERA appearances, Tayler scored a strong seventh-place in the 1985 Daytona 250 Grand Prix race. That performance earned him a national number and it’s his AMA No. 8 that his bike is wearing in this race.
Steve Tayler races his Rotax in a WERA event at Grattan (Mich.) Raceway Park in July of 1986. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
Steve sold me my first racebike way back in 1983 (so I guess I can blame him for the years of race induced poverty after that). His family came to most races, and were always great to be around. Oddly enough, after years of not seeing them, I noticed the unmistakable ‘mad scientist’ hair and handlebar mustache of Fred Tayler, walking through my neighborhood (a long way from where they lived). Turns out they just moved a block away from my house! Funny how some people come in and out of your life. Steve just turned 50, and is in phenomenal shape, which makes the shape I’m in all the more embarrassing, being 2 years younger. Steve and I go ice racing together each winter, and he’s still fast. Now if he could just break the habit of trying to get his knee on the ice…..
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Kevin
This photo doesn’t do Steve justice. He normally had the bike much farther over than this. I think this photo might have been from the weekend where they just paved Grattan. The pavement hadn’t cured yet and it was slicker than snot. I remember in the endurance race just about every team crashed.
It’s crazy some of the stuff you guys put up with to race.
Larry
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You’re absolutely right. I ran that endurance with Dave Barnard and John Thomas on an FZ600. We crashed twice, and still got third in middleweight. As I recall, out of 65 teams, 62 crashed at least once. Team Hammer crashed coming into the bowl, and the bike caught fire. The poor corner workers didn’t know what to do, as at times there would be simultaneous crashes in the segment after the jump, and there was only one station before the bowl, so they couldn’t cover everything that was happening. What a wild weekend…if you got 6 inches off line, you got into the fine black sand that was working up from the new pavement. It used to have phenomenal traction with the old pavement (just watch out for the holes). Grattan was never the same after that.
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Hi Larry:
What a great surprise! Scott Reavis sent me the link on my birthday by pure coincidence. Thanks for posting such a great picture! It was a dream come true to race at that time. Great experiences, great people. Thanks for the reminder and the nice comments 🙂
And what a fantastic website! Great pictures and interesting stories. Your work is a true treasure to the racing world. My kind of history!
Cheers,
Steve
P.S Kevin is still a nutcase…steering head bearings don’t last long in any bike he rides…!
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Steve
Glad you found the site. It’s fun going back through these old photos and trying to remember everybody. I came across some other photos of you, I think. The bike had a completely different paint scheme.
Take care and thanks for the investment tip. As long as Kevin is riding bearing manufacturing futures look bright.
LL
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Gee….could that be why Steve has never let me ride any of his bikes? Hey, real bikes have tapered roller head bearings, not ball bearings. They don’t seem to dent as easily on touchdown.
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