OBITUARY
DALE WYLIE 1949-2022
By Michael Esdaile
Former New Zealand champion Dale Wylie died at his home in Christchurch on March 21 , after a long illness . He had an inoperable brain tumour . Dale Wylie was a man of many talents . In his youth he raced as passenger on a speedway sidecar and made a decent enough impression in road-racing to earn a ride on a Lyster G50 Matchless owned by Christchurch furniture store owner Bob Harris . Results on the Lyster Matchless earned him a ride on Suzukis provided by the then New Zealand importer Percy Coleman Wholesale of Wanganui through enthusiastic Christchurch dealer Tommy McCleary . At that time Wylie was part of a Suzuki racing operation that included the late great Geoff Perry and in the summer , US domiciled Englishman Ron Grant and Napier ’ s Keith Turner . In addition to racing a T500 Titan in Production events , Dale had TR500s ( racing machines based on the production two-stroke twin ) prepared by famed Wellington tuner Dick Lawton . This saw him win the 1970-71 New
Zealand 500cc Road Racing Championship on an air-cooled TR500 before he was supplied water-cooled TR500s . In addition to these , he was also supplied an FIM Norton 750 Commando for Production races , and later a Triumph Bonneville T140V ,
Clockwise from left : Dale Wylie with his race face on in 1973 . In a very busy life , Dale Wylie has been a speedway sidecar passenger , a professional motorcycle racer in a nation of just three million people , a venison recovery helicopter operator , a successful business owner and a commercial pilot . Here he clings on at Templeton Speedway circa 1969 . An early shot of Dale Wylie on the Lyster G50 Matchless and a later shot of Dale Wylie on the Lyster G50 Matchless at Hangar Bend , Wigram — note disc brakes , a Colin Lyster first
26 KIWI RIDER