Harkins, Bert, 1940-

LC control no.	no2018020837
Descriptive conventions	rda
Personal name heading	Harkins, Bert, 1940- *Browse this term in* LC Authorities or the LC Catalog
Associated country	Great Britain Scotland
Birth date	1940-04-15
Place of birth	Govan (Glasgow, Scotland)
Field of activity	Speedway motorcycle racing
Affiliation	Edinburgh Monarchs (Speedway team) Sheffield Tigers (Speedway team) Wimbledon Dons (Speedway team) World Speedway Riders' Association Bert Harkins Racing (Firm) Wembley Lions (Speedway team)
Profession or occupation	Motorcyclists
Found in	My crazy speedway world, 2018: title page (Bert Harkins) preliminaries, etc. (Robert Pearson Harkins; international professional speedway rider; he was a young fan in Glasgow in the late 1940s and 1950s and then twice qualified for the Cycle Speedway World Final; after doing road racing for a year, he rode speedway professionally for almost 20 years; he represented Scotland in a World Pairs Final and many international matches, the British Lions in Australia in 1971 and completed 10 seasons with the Edinburgh/Coatbridge Monarchs; in 1970 he joined the Wembley Lions; after 2 seasons he was recruited by Sheffield and then rode for Wimbledon for 3 years; he became the first British rider to join the new American Speedway League, where he helped the Bakersfield Bandits win the title; he rejoined Edinburgh for 3 seasons and spent his final season at Milton Keynes Knights; he also rode regularly in various European countries, Australia, New Zealand and America, and won the South African Championship; he was President of the World Speedway Riders' Association in 2008) Wikipedia, viewed February 19, 2018 (Bert Harkins; Scottish former motorcycle speedway rider; born April 15, 1940 in Govan Fire Station; he first rode a speedway bike in 1961; while working as a lawnmower mechanic for the Glasgow Parks Department he began his speedway career in the early 1960s; he began his career with Edinburgh Monarchs in 1963, riding for the team until 1969, after they had relocated to Coatbridge; in 1970 he signed for Wembley Lions where he spent two seasons, before moving on to Sheffield Tigers and then Wimbledon Dons, before riding for the Bakersfield Bandits in 1976; in 1977 he returned to British League action with Edinburgh, staying until the end of the 1979 season; his final season in British speedway was 1980, riding for Milton Keynes Knights; after speedway he concentrated on his motorcycle spares and accessories business, Bert Harkins Racing, and later managed the Scottish national team)
Associated language	eng